A/N: Howdy! I need to apologize for a very stupid stupid stupid mistake (which was caught by the perceptive Virgo Writer--thanks!) that I made while I was writing this. Since I only made minor changes, and so you won't have to re-read the whole chapter, I'll just tell you my mistake: I said before in previous chapters that Dawn used to date Gary, but in this one I said Dawn's never been on a date before. .. CLARIFICATION: Dawn and Gary dated! Dawn has already had a boyfriend! This is important for my readers to know, which is why I bothered to upload a whole new chapter instead of just leaving it. Anyway, thanks for reading and enjoy chapter 4!
-*-*-THIRD PERSON P.O.V.-*-*-
The sun was rising, stretching its early morning rays across the blue sky, causing its light to reflect off the shining hair of four young adults, warming up the two brunettes, the redhead, and the blunette. The teenagers had their hands high in the air, waving goodbye to a boy who was waving right back at them, with twice the enthusiasm as he walked further and further away from them. The boy had a Pikachu on his shoulder, who sent a thunderbolt into the sky as a final farewell salute. Neither party stopped waving until they were both completely out of each others' line of sight.
"Ughhh, my arm is so tired!" Brock groaned as he stretched out said arm.
"Tell me about it!" May laughed ruefully.
Zoey grumbled, "I doubt he even saw us waving back to him after he walked over that last hill."
"Aw, come on, guys," Dawn put in, "we probably won't see poor Ashy-boy for a long time! The least we could do was wave."
"Dawn's right," Brock said, sighing. "But that really doesn't do anything for the fact that I can't feel my fingers."
They all laughed at their own whiny complaints, and headed out to a field on the outskirts of Hearthome, where Zoey and Dawn could practice their coordinating. On the walk over, Brock came up behind Dawn, who was strolling along by herself, staring at the sky, completely oblivious to Zoey's and May's lively chatter. He tapped his unusually quiet friend on the shoulder and asked her,
"Still thinking about Ash, huh?"
"Coordinating, actually," came the quick reply.
Brock scoffed, "You really are a terrible liar." His face softened and he admitted, "It's because you're such an honest and good person, I guess."
"I'm not!" she blushed, but secretly, she was flattered deeply by the praise.
"Not a bad liar or not a good person?"
Dawn replied hesitantly, "Both, I think."
"Don't think like that, Dawn. You're perfectly sweet, even if Ash doesn't see it."
"I really am not a good person! And stop bringing up Ash!" she snapped.
Brock looked at her strangely. "Okay, really, what's bothering you?"
She didn't answer. She kept walking, not meeting the slanted eyes of her friend. They were almost to the field where Dawn loved to practice for contests. Brock knew exactly how to get Dawn to crack and spill her guts: you just had to keep quiet and not irritate her. She was a bit of a show-off, with her girly clothing and her easy grace on stage, so of course if you weren't hounding her all the time for her attention, she'd easily feel attention-starved and would try and do anything to win it back. He was right, naturally, because he was so good with Pokémon and people (except for certain Jennys and Joys...) He shook his head to focus, and noticed that Dawn's huffy walk had slowed and she sent him the occasional glance back.
"Fine, fine--I'll tell you! I wasn't thinking about Ash really, but boys in general..." she trailed off, probably to check his reaction.
Brock felt a little warm and nervous. "Uh, this isn't going to be about how hot guys are or anything like that, right? Cause I mean Zoey and May are right over there and if you need to gush about six-packs or whatever...I mean, I am the love doctor, but I'm still a man!"
Dawn giggled. "Brock, you can be so stupid!" She, ever the flirt, grabbed his hand and pulled him slightly closer. "I was thinking about a secret."
Brock rubbed his chin thoughtfully with the hand that Dawn hadn't captured. Dawn looked at him seriously before continuing, "If you want to hear my secret, you have to first tell me why you're acting so concerned about me."
"How is that fair? I mean, I did ask you first!"
"Fine, you win again," she grumbled. "But you gotta swear you won't say a word to a single soul about it."
"On my life and on my mother's life."
"That's not good enough."
Brock almost fainted. He just said he'd die for her secret and she wasn't satisfied?! What more did she want--did she need his signature on paper? Did she want him to swim to Kanto to get a piece of paper for him to sign? Did she want him to sign in his own blood?
"I want you to pinky-swear."
Brock almost fainted again. Girls and their pinky-swears...Brock could swear that he would never flirt with his Nurse Joy again, and Dawn would believe him as long as they shook pinkies on it. He linked his pinky with hers anyway, and repeated his oath. She smiled happily, then leaned in so close that their faces practically touched. Suddenly, she pulled away, and winked at him.
"We're here!" she turned to her two other friends and announced.
Brock hadn't even noticed that they stopped walking. He was too busy trying to control his hormones around this perpetually teasing flirt. He sighed exasperatedly, but didn't argue when the blue-eye girl pulled away from him and skipped into the field.
May gasped when she stumbled into the field after her friends. She was a sucker for romance and flowers and dreamy scenes like the one laid out before her. Dawn's practice field...well, that was too much of an ugly name to describe it. It was brightly lit by the midmorning sun that glowed above their heads. The grass was perfectly green, with rather tall stalks that swayed gently as the occasional soft breeze whistled through them. The clearing was surrounded and fenced in by evergreen trees that complimented the scent of the flowers. And the flowers! May adored flowers. There were patches and patches of all kinds of blooms that cheerfully colored the green and brown landscape. Their sweet perfume was almost too much, but it was diluted by the smell of the river running through the edge of the field. The water gushed through, adding to the harmony of sounds coming from the forest. The occasional Bidoof peeked from behind bushes, or a Starley chirped from high up. The entire place practically sang with life and serenity.
"Oh!" May sighed. "Dawn, how in Sinnoh did you find this gorgeous place?"
Even Zoey had temporarily lost her cool exterior as she skipped from flower to flower, sniffing them and gathering a few in her arms. She looked up at the sound of May's voice, her eyes shining. "This place is amazing--my Pokémon have got to see this!" She released her entire team, who were happy to be out and about. Her Finneon landed gracefully in the stream. Soon enough, everyone else released his or her own teams.
Dawn explained as the other three trainers watched their partners frolic through the wonderland.
"Well, Ash and Brock and I camped at this place while we traveling all those years ago. When I moved to Hearthome, I found it again, but by accident, Mamoswine escaped his PokeBall and rampaged it, looking for Poffins," and at this, her Pokémon looked up from where he was drinking and snorted. Dawn giggled and continued, "Then all these Pokémon came out, like more Buneary and Pokémon like that and when they saw their home all torn up, I almost cried from guilt after looking at their tiny heartbroken faces! So I returned Mamoswine and ran to the nearest Pokémon center so I could call Ash and borrow his Torterra. He used to Frenzy Plant to replant all the grass, and he helped me roll aside all the dug up tree trunks. Then I called Drew, to borrow his Roselia, who helped me plant all the flowers. After I returned their Pokémon, Piplup sprinkled the whole place with water...and he did it each time we came back. And from there, it just grew like this, I guess. All the wild Pokémon were so delighted with what we did that they never got mad when we visited and practiced." Dawn finished.
Zoey and May sighed in unison, satisfied with the happy story.
Brock laughed, "Only someone as stylish as you could pull that off. I never knew you were so determined!"
"I always get what I want," Dawn said playfully.
Zoey rolled her eyes, "Please, try to control that ego of yours, Princess. Let's get down to training, already!"
"Says the girl who just picked a bouquet of flowers for her hair," May mumbled under her breath. Zoey, who was too busy gathering her Pokémon around her, didn't notice, but Dawn turned and winked.
"All right, Buneary, spotlight!"
The little Pokémon stepped in front of her master. Brock settled next to May, and both prepared to be awed.
"Ice beam, aimed at sky, then jump and use Dizzy Punch!"
She did as Dawn bid, timing it so that when gravity started working on the ice shards that were created with her Ice Beam, she jumped into the air and gracefully destroyed the shards, leaving her to land among the sparkles.
May applauded, and Zoey nodded stiffly, acknowledging that it was a very impressive appeal.
Then she stepped to the center of the meadow, taking Dawn's place. "Okay, Leafeon, it's up to us!"
"I remember that Leafeon!" Dawn cried. "It helped defeat Cyndaquil and Mamoswine!"
"You bet," Zoey winked, "and watch it beat you again!"
Directing her attention to her Eeveelution, she commanded, "Energy Ball, then Magical Leaf!"
The Verdant Pokémon complied. She shot the shining ball of light straight into the air, then quickly sent the leaves after it, so that they circled the glowing light as it floated in midair.
"Finish it up with one last Energy Ball!"
Zoey's Leafeon did as she was told, and the second Energy Ball was even stronger than the last. It was so powerful it completely engulfed the ball of leaves and light, incinerating the leaves and adding to the light. The light dramatically faded, and all that was left of the Magical Leaf was a sparkly residue that gently floated to the ground and onto the graceful Leafeon's head.
"Wow," was Dawn's only remark as she stood there dumbfounded, while May and Brock whistled and cheered in the background.
Zoey grinned and took a bow. She praised her Leafeon and told her to go and play with the other Pokémon. Then Zoey ran over to her audience and asked them while grinning widely,
"What d'ya think?"
May squealed, "It was so pretty and graceful and elegant and you'll totally win your next contest!"
Brock nodded in agreement and added, "You and Dawn had similar appeals, but both were nicely and uniquely executed."
"Yours was better than mine," Dawn admitted. "You showed me I still have a long way to go before I really am ready for the Grand Festival."
Zoey glowed from the praise but insisted, "Don't put yourself down! Dawn, your appeal was really good, too."
"Yeah, okay, but wait and see--let's have a battle right now and see who can win!"
The girls spent the rest of the morning practicing their contest battling. Sometimes Zoey won, sometimes Dawn won. By the time the sun was at its peak in the sky, all their Pokémon were completely exhausted, and the girls were worn down with shouting commands. Sensing this, Brock pulled together a delicious lunch for everyone, including Pokémon. He called them all over,
"LUNCH'S READY!"
The ground shook as a stampede of girls and Pokémon rushed over to a grinning Brock. They grabbed a bit of the food on the giant platter he was holding, emptying it completely. Dawn pouted and whined,
"Where's our food?!"
Brock pulled out four other plates and handed them to the girls, leaving one for himself. They munched on the fried vegetable rolls and noodles for a while. Zoey let out an obnoxiously loud burp and leaned back and sighed,
"That was so delicious."
Brock blushed modestly. "Aw, shucks, it was nothing."
"Dawn, you'd be so lucky to have Brock as your man--he'd cook for you all the time," May murmured contentedly, obviously not thinking about what she was letting out of her mouth.
Brock turned to Dawn confused.
She chuckled weakly, but inside she wanted to slap May silly.
May jolted up from her sleepy position, as she finally realized what she just said.
"Oh crap, was that out loud?!"
Dawn groaned and Brock sat there expectantly waiting for some clarification.
"Oh well, you see, that's the secret I mentioned before...it's a funny little story..." Dawn tried to begin.
Brock raised his eyebrow.
"Fine, fine! It was a bet!"
"A bet." he echoed flatly.
She backed off a little at the look on his face. "Uhh, yeah... Zoey says that I have to find out which of my guy friends are in love with me."
"So all that drama with Ash the other day...was part of a bet?"
"Wellll," Dawn stretched out the word to give her time to wrack her brains for an excuse. Zoey and May shot each other nervous look, worried that Brock would blow up.
"Well, what, Dawn?" Brock cut her off. "Is this a game to you? A sick little game where you play with boys' hearts?"
"N-no!" Dawn gasped.
"'Cause trust me, my heart's been played before. All those Nurse Joys and Officer Jennys. And you know what Dawn? It's not fun. And it's not a game."
He stood up, brushing off his pants, packing up his bag, and recalling his Pokémon. Dawn grabbed his arm, and begged,
"Brock, please, don't go off on me all angry. I wouldn't do it like that! I'm tired of being alone, and I want a boyfriend. And we just figured this would be the way to do it!"
May added, "So I take it you don't love her?"
Zoey punched her in the gut in an attempt to get her to stop.
May realized what she'd done but was--once again--too late to take back what she had said. She looked to the ground, mortified, and whispered, "Oops."
Brock shook his head disbelievingly. "Dawn, I love you like a little sister, which is why I'm telling you this--as long as you keep acting like a spoiled child, no man will ever love you."
He strapped his bag onto his back and walked from the girls. They didn't try to stop him. They knew it wouldn't work.
When he was finally out of sight, May turned to her blue-haired friend and looked at her beseechingly before saying,
"You know I didn't mean to screw everything up. I'm so sorry!" May teared up a little, and Dawn couldn't resist.
"No need to worry--you're forgiven. Besides, I told you I wouldn't make a big deal out of this, right? I'm over it." She smiled.
Zoey sighed. "That sucked. I hate having friends mad at me."
"I think he'll get over it. Brock's too kind-hearted to hold a grudge."
"Still. I really don't feel like practicing anymore."
May brightened marginally. "We should go get ice cream!"
Zoey and Dawn looked at her like her brains were spilling out through her ears.
"Ice cream always makes everyone feel better," May argued defensively.
Her two friends laughed and consented. They gathered their Pokémon and cleaned up their mess from lunch before heading back to the city.
-*-*-DAWN'S P.O.V.-*-*-
I licked the ice cream that was dripping off the edge of my chocolate cone. Yum!
"Dawn, if you're serious about continuing this bet, I think you should get everyone over with as soon as possible," Zoey told me before taking another sip from her strawberry-banana smoothie.
"Mphmphmmm," May swallowed the remains of her sundae. "I mean, I agree."
"Okay, I'll do it right now!" I said brightly, and before anyone could protest, I pulled out my Poketch and dialed Barry's number.
"Wow, I didn't expect it to be that fast!" Zoey said.
I grinned and explained, "I already have it figured out: first Barry, then Lucas, Drew, Paul, and Gary!"
May choked on her water but before she could say anything, she was interrupted by a familiarly impatient voice.
"Dawn! Hiya! How ya doing! What did you call for?! Did you just say my name?! Why aren't you answering any of my questions?!"
I laughed and waved at the Barry that appeared on the screen of her Poketch. "Hi, Barry! I wanted to know if you wanted to hang out tonight?"
"Wait, where?" He asked.
"In Hearthome, of course!"
"Well, I'm in Twinleaf right now, but I bet I could make it there by 7! So I'll see ya then. I gotta get going! Don't want you to fine me for being late!" Barry cried before hanging up.
"Ugh. How can you stand that blabbering?" Zoey groaned, pretending to bang her head on the table.
May giggled but I ignored them both. "I think it's kinda cute," I humphed, and took a dignified lick from the top of my cone.
"Let's go pick out your outfit!" May cried, and she jumped up from her seat in the ice cream parlor's bar and grabbed both of our arms. She towed us toward the exit as her captives (aka me and Zo) struggled to break free and finish our ice cream at the same time.
May sighed in delight when she opened the door to my walk-in closet.
"I will never stop being jealous of this," she said as she dreamily twirled around, running her hand over the racks and racks of clothing. She looked at each piece critically.
"So, what are you gonna be doing with Barry?"
"Not what you think we'll be doing," I snorted.
"You perv!" May cried. "I just meant were you will be going."
I thought about it. "Well, knowing Barry, he'll want to do something...energetic. So I was thinking maybe we could go to the arcade and waste time on the bumper cars," I concluded, smiling happily at my plan.
Zoey got up from her lazy, sprawled position on my couch and started helping May rifle through my many, many outfits.
"Geez, Dawn, you're such a girl. How many dresses do you need?!" she said distastefully.
May snapped her fingers impatiently, trying to get us to focus. "It doesn't matter 'cause she's not going to be wearing a dress to an arcade. I was thinking: jeans, tight shirt, cute hoodie."
She tossed me a pair of skinny jeans that I didn't recognize, and found a bright solid pink cami that I also didn't recognize. To top off her grand masterpiece, she picked out a yellow hoodie that was patterned with hearts.
"When did I get this?" I mused. "I guess I really do shop too much."
"No such thing!" May gasped, appalled.
Zo groaned again, "You guys are going to drive me crazy with all this talk about clothes."
"Hey!" I protested. "You know you like it just as much as we do."
Zoey grinned guiltily. "Maybe. In small, tiny, miniscule doses."
"Enough about Zoey's closet girly-ness!!" May snapped. "There's a date that you need prepping for!"
She shoved me in a chair and pulled out a brush, a straightener, and some nail polish with a rather frighteningly dangerous look in her eyes. I turned to Zoey and remarked,
"Well, it's not every day you get to see May stand up and take charge."
Zoey fell to the ground laughing while May got her revenge on me by yanking the brush through my knotted hair.
To be honest, I was a little afraid to see how I'd turn out with May working on me.
-*-*-THIRD PERSON P.O.V.-*-*-
Zoey sighed impatiently. It was almost seven, and Dawn was still getting dressed with May. Yes, Zoey did have fun shopping with her two girly friends, and yes, sometimes she enjoyed getting dressed up for big dates with her boyfriend, Kenny. But the entire afternoon--wasted on doing hair and nails? That was just ridiculous.
Okay, Dawn, she thought. Enough's enough.
She marched over to her two friends and shook them both, lecturing, "You two are out of control! You've spent thirty minutes debating over which shade of pink better matched the freaking yellow hoodie. You've spent an hour straightening her naturally straight hair, and you're still not dressed even though Barry should he here in any minute. Dawn, I am putting my foot down! You are going to be completely dressed and ready in ten minutes, whether you like it or not!"
Her voice rose in volume during her dramatic speech, until she was near shouting by the end. May and Dawn were stunned speechless. Suddenly, Dawn was brought back to life when her eyes saw the clock: only fifteen minutes to seven!
"Ohmigoshohmigosh!" she cried. "How am I going to finish in just fifteen minutes?!"
Zoey slapped her forehead exasperatedly. "You're almost done, for Mesprit's sake! Just put on your clothes!"
"Oh," Dawn said sheepishly. "Right."
May tossed her the outfit that Zoey had neatly ironed while they were wasting their time over pointless minute details. And what do you know? She finished in ten minutes, just like Zoey asked, with five minutes to spare so she could collect herself and calm her nerves.
"How nervous are you Dawn?" May asked as she fussed and fluttered around Dawn, straightening her outfit here and there, tugging on a few loose threads, running a brush through her blue locks one last time.
Dawn replied, "Well, technically speaking, this is just a hangout, not an actual date. Once I realized that, I guess I just got over my nerves."
"That's good," Zoey nodded in approval as she tossed random bits of trash from the makeover into a waste bin. "Don't let a guy have so much power of you. Be in charge!"
Dawn giggled and was about to say something back when they were startled by the sound of someone pounding on the door and calling,
"Dawn! Dawn! Dawn!"
She scurried to answer her apartment door. She threw the door wide open and greeted her impatient blonde friend with a wide hug.
"I can't believe you got here so fast!" she squealed. "How'd you do it?"
"Well, I flew over on my Staraptor, so I got here at around four in the afternoon. Since I had so much time, I just ran around and around Amity Square and now I'm energized. I'm so pumped, MAN, I AM PUMPED!!" Barry exclaimed.
Zoey and May rolled their eyes at the blunette and mouthed, Have fun with the hyper kid, before turning away and trying to fight back their laughter.
Dawn stuck her tongue out at her friends, and somehow, the whole exchange went by unnoticed by Barry. She waved goodbye to them and quickly dragged Barry out the apartment before her friends could grab at the chance to say something else rude.
As they left the building, she told Barry her plans, to which he gladly agreed.
"I knew about Veilstone's Game Corner, I didn't know there was an arcade in Hearthome!" he cried as they entered.
"You find a lot of things that you never even noticed before once you move into a city. And here are the bumper cars!"
Barry shouted with excitement and hurried into line, pulling a blushing Dawn with him. Dawn hastily apologized to all the people he had shoved into as well as she could.
"How do you do it Barry?" Dawn asked once they were settled in line. "How the heck do you get all your energy?"
"Well, I just need to get around, you know? I need to be the best, the strongest, the toughest, the fastest, so I can be better than my father, Palmer!"
"I guess that makes sense, but why do you have to compare yourself to him? Palmer makes a strong frontier brain, but I think you're a great gym leader and being a gym leader calls for more skill, if you ask me."
Barry lit up at the praise and said, "Thanks, Dawn! You're such a good friend!"
They had reached the front of the line and they slipped into their own cars.
"You better watch out, Dawn! I'm not gonna go easy in you!"
"Bring it on!" she called back, grinning devilishly.
The starting bell dinged, and soon everyone was zooming around the bumper car pen, trying to hit as many people as possible. Dawn was bumped so many times that she lost count. Barry, on the other hand, was flying around like a maniac, bumping into everyone he passed.
He was going so impossibly fast (after all, these were bumper cars and they had set speeds, but somehow Barry's seemed faster) that he didn't even notice that the big muscle-y guy who was playing bumper cars too. Dawn had no idea what the heck someone that old and scary-looking was doing at an arcade, but she wasn't about to step up to him and ask. She watched helplessly as her friend bumped into his car for the seventh time in a row. The big guy looked so pissed off he was practically steaming.
At the end of their turn, Barry jumped out of his car and ran over to Dawn to help her out of her own car, which Dawn thought to be very sweet and chivalrous. She tried to hurry him towards the exit and away from the Machamp lookalike, but for once, Barry wasn't in a hurry. He was too busy describing in detail his countless successful hits in the bumper car game.
"...and then when he turned around I zoomed into him again! And the look on his face was so priceless that I--"
"What were you saying about me, kid?" a deep voice growled from behind us.
"Nothing rude," Barry answered back calmly.
"Oh yeah?" the guy cracked his knuckles threateningly.
"Barry, let's just go," Dawn urged, nervously tugging on his hand. The last thing she needed was a fight in which she would not be able to help at all.
But Barry, standing firm, ignored me and answered back again to the old guy, "Yeah, do you got a problem with that?"
The Machamp lookalike was disturbed by the boy's calm. Punks like him always ran in fear at his mere glare. He grumbled as he walked away from the two teens, "Eh, it ain't worth beating up a little baby boy like you anyway."
Barry grinned at Dawn, whom he noticed was paler than usual. "That was a close one!"
"Ugh! He was so freaky. I can't believe you were so brave about standing up to him!" Dawn said as she looked up admiringly at him. His face, she noticed, was pretty cute. It had gotten more angular, and his messy blonde hair fell just above his amber eyes. He was much better looking than Brock, and maybe even Ash, she thought to herself.
"Thanks! But it's just that I hate guys like him! So mean and rude and just overall jerks and bullies. I can't stand 'em!"
They walked over to the other arcade games. She paused in front of the PokePokeEvolution game, which was basically a mat and a screen where you had to step on the arrows on the mat that matched the ones on the screen. If you won, the Pokémon you were playing as evolved. It was a fun way to practice dance moves, and was one of Dawn's favorite games.
She realized something as they were digging up money to put into the machine's coin slot. "But wasn't Paul your idol when we were kids? I mean, Paul must have been the biggest jerk of all!"
"Yeah, but Paul has the reasonable excuse of having adorable purple hair and mysterious black eyes."
Dawn choked on her own spit. Noticing her skepticism, Barry asked,
"Don't tell me you disagree!"
Dawn blushed. She clearly recalled thinking Paul was attractively mysterious just a few days ago when they last spoke. In fact, she still had his jacket!
"Uhhh, it doesn't matter what I think!" she covered up quickly. "What matters is what you think! What is up with that? You find Paul...attractive?!"
"Of course! It's kind of impossible not to!"
"Do you find all other males attractive?"
"Ugh, no! Come on Dawn, I have some taste. Do you find all males attractive?"
"Well, no," Dawn admitted. "Does that mean...you're gay?!"
Barry lowered his eyes, fidgeting with the quarters in his hand. "No need to say it like it's the end of the world."
"Oh! I didn't mean it like that! I have no problem with...with gays!" Dawn fumbled. "It's just that...I didn't know you were one!"
Barry sighed. "I wanted to keep it a secret, because I do have a crush on Paul and he must never ever find out. But you were being so nice before...and I'm tired of hiding."
Dawn couldn't take it anymore. She fell to the ground and laughed and laughed and laughed. This was just her luck. Well, I sure as hell can cross him off my list, she thought as she cracked up over her own misfortune. Barry stood above her, confused, but patiently waited for her to recover herself.
"How was that funny? I just confessed myself to you, and you laugh?" he asked, a little hurt.
"No, Barry, I was laughing at myself. I thought you were straight, and I spent the whole afternoon trying to look pretty for you, and then the whole evening trying to get you to fall in love with me, and I find out it was for nothing. That was just me, laughing at my luck."
"Then I forgive you. No fines for Dawn! But," he grinned as he slipped their coins into the PPE machine, "It doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on you in this game. I'm gonna kick your ass!"
"Please," she scoffed as she stepped on the mat. "I'm the girl, and I'm the coordinator. I have this game in the bag!"
"But I'm the gay guy, and I have been practicing this in my room since I was six, because I wanted to be able to dance just like Fantina."
"Bring it on!" Dawn yelled as the game started.
-*-*-DAWN'S P.O.V.-*-*-
"I still can't believe how badly I lost to you," I moaned as we slowly made their way back to my apartment. I know, right? Slow with Barry? It must be the end of the world!
"I warned you that I've been practicing since I was six," Barry smirked smugly.
"But if you wanted to dance like Fantina, then why'd you become a trainer instead of a coordinator?"
"I wanted to be tough like my dad," he admitted. "I thought that maybe if I could show him how tough I was, he'd accept me for who I am."
I hesitantly asked, "So does he accept you for who you are now?"
"Yeah," Barry smiled contently. "Turns out he knew anyway, but he was proud of me for battling tough even though I am gay. So the training wasn't really all that necessary, but I don't care anymore. I'm happy as leader of Oreburgh an I wouldn't change it even if I got the chance to."
"Wow, Barry," I said. "You really are brave. Standing up to that old guy, standing up for who you are. It all takes a lot of gut."
"Thanks, Dawn. You know, you really are a sweet girl," he smiled at me. "You're so understanding."
"I've been trying harder lately," I admitted, recalling Brock's words to me from this morning. I realized we reached my building and I reached up to Barry to hug him goodbye.
"Thanks for listening, Dawn, and I hope we can hang out soon," he said softly as he pulled away. He called out his Staraptor from the PokeBall and mounted the bird's back. I waved to them both as they flew away before heading up to my room. It had been quite an interesting evening, and I couldn't wait to tell my two best friends about it.
A/N: This is my favorite to write (so far!) What more could possibly go wrong in poor Dawn's screwy love life? You'll find out in two weeks! Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! Please review--criticism is greatly appreciated! Love you all, even if you hate the story3.