The moonlight guided Dawn to Dusk, who had stopped in his tracks.
"What's wrong, Dusk?" she asked, catching up to him.
"By any chance, Dawn...is that the cave you mentioned back in Oreburgh?" Dusk pointed into a dark cavern.
Dawn gulped. "That's...That's it..."
"I lost 'em going through here..." Dusk turned to his comrade, who was kept from the moonlight by a tree's shadow. "I don't want you to follow me."
"What?! Why?"
"Through this cave is Eterna Forest," he explained. "I've heard that it's brutal in there at night. You've been through so much today as it is, I don't need anything else on my conscience."
"Well tell that conscience of yours to shut up, because I'm not leaving you!" Dawn practically shouted.
Dusk blinked from the stun of being yelled at. Finally, he chuckled. "Alright, you win...but Dawn, if anything happens to you in there..."
"Didn't you hear me?" Dawn spoke much more softly than her previous statement. "I'm not leaving you...That means that you'll protect me. Right?"
Dusk's face flushed red. He scratched his cheek, grateful that it was nighttime. "...With my life."
Dawn smiled and nodded. "Here Charmy, you return for right now." She pulled a Pokéball out of her traveling bag and shot a beam at her Pokémon, causing it to disappear back into its home.
"C'mon, let's go hunt us down a couple of dogs, and get Monkey back!" Dusk took off into the dark cave.
"Right!" Dawn followed.
Inside the cave, Dawn tripped and landed on the dirty floor. Dusk quickly ran over to her side, only to be embarrassed that she didn't fall because of the Coronosis. Rather, her foot hit a rock and she couldn't regain her balance before tripping over. Dawn had stood up and stuck her tongue out a him, teasing him for worrying about nothing. "I think I need to relax a bit..." Dusk told himself.
They navigated out of the cavern and found themselves staring at what they were expecting to...Brush. Lots and lots of brush. A sea of trees covered the sky from sight, and where there weren't trees, bushes were scattered on the ground. They were grateful that, while narrow, there was a path they could follow. They began their trek across the forest, understanding that the odds of getting lost, even with the path on the ground beneath them, were high.
"Wow, this place is...kinda scary..." Dawn shivered, unknowingly walking closer to Dusk
"Especially when you consider there might be those goons from before anywhere in here," Dusk added.
A chill surged up and down Dawn's spine. "Well, thanks alot! Now how am I supposed to get to sleep?!"
Hours passed, yet they were still treading around without any set goal. Feeling guilty for scaring her, Dusk made sure he and Dawn were always talking about something, in order to keep her mind busy. One subject, however, settled deep with both of them.
"Um...Dusk? I know you want to rescue Monkey and everything, but...What are we going to do about food?" Dawn tried to block out the sound of her stomach growling, which was demanding dinner.
Wizard, who had woken up recently, slapped himself in the face. He couldn't believe neither of them thought that far ahead. "Pika chu..."
"Uhh..." Dusk's mind froze. He began rubbing the back of his neck, quite embarrassed that his willingness to save his Pokémon got in the way of a detail like that. "Well, we could always try eating berries! Pokémon seem to like th--OW!!"
Dusk's suggestion was quickly put out of commission when he got Dawn's handbag swung into his face.
More time passed. Silence's seeds sprouted as Dawn was resting her head on Dusk's shoulder. Granted, it wasn't very comfortable, but she was getting tired of all the walking they were doing. Actually, she was just getting tired, period.
Dusk looked up from the amazingly confusing trail. They had somehow reached a clearing in the woods. For the first time all night, they were allowed to peer at the star-filled nighttime sky. On their right-hand side was a small lake, which reflected the moon's light back at it. "Let's stay here for the night."
Dawn picked her head up and off of Dusk's shoulder and rubbed her eyes, forcing herself to stay awake. "No, Dusk, we don't have to quit searching just because of me. I'm fine..." The latter part of her sentence ended with a yawn.
Dusk lifted his hand up and looked at the Pokétch, activating its backlight. 23:47, so it read. "Nah, we really need to get some sleep, or tomorrow's only going to be worse than today...Could you believe something like that happening?"
They walked into the clearing, only for Dawn to come up with another wrench in their plans.
"How are we supposed to sleep?"
"Here..." Dusk unequipped his backpack and unzipped the top half. Inside was the smooth, ever-so comfortable blanket that he had given to her the other night. He pulled it out and threw it across the ground, expanding it as wide as it would go. "You can sleep on that."
"But what about...you?" Dawn asked, worried that he had addressed her specifically.
"I'll just sleep on the grass. I'll use my backpack as a pillow, so I don't think it should--"
Dusk was interrupted as soon as his partner realized what he was saying. "Oh no you don't! You aren't always going to play the hero of this story, Umbreon!"
That cringe he received from being called his full name came back.
A few minutes later, both were soon comfortable on opposite sides of the blanket. Dusk was laying down, but Dawn was just sitting on it, observing the awe-inspiring deep black sky that laid inactive above them. Wizard was at their feet, inbetween them, sleeping contently. He was covered up with Dawn's bandana, with Dusk's beret on top of that.
"Why do you always do that?" Dusk asked, not being able to get to sleep with Dawn towering over him.
"Do what?"
"Look at the sky like that! I've seen you do it every time we quit moving," he explained.
"I enjoy seeing what I can find up there!" she replied cheerfully. "Like those stars...don't'cha think they look like a Pokéball?" She pointed at a bundle of stars, though Dusk couldn't accurately make out which ones she was talking about. She brought her arm back down and giggled.
"Dawn..." Dusk also sprung up to the same position Dawn was in, setting an arm behind him for balance.
"Every time you start a conversation like that, it always ends up sucking somehow," Dawn sighed.
"Nevermind," Dusk's eyes turned to Wizard. "it's not that important."
"Dusk...I'm your friend. You can talk to me about anything but cats, remember?"
The Trainer laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right, aren't you?" he asked rhetorically. His aura quickly turned serious. "Back at the east gate...I mean, before we even met up with Brendan and May again..."
"Yesterday morning?" Dawn clarified.
"Yeah...You said something into my shirt, but I couldn't hear it. What was it?"
Dawn fell down on her back and turned her head away from Dusk. "Er..."
"...I know, I shouldn't have asked. I'm sorry," Dusk said sincerely.
Dawn reached over and grabbed a patch of grass in her hands, gripping it tightly. She wasn't sure what made her do that. "...I asked...you...not to leave me..." She clearly had a hard time getting the words out of her mouth.
Dusk blinked. "Leave...?"
"In...well, you know, a few months from now, we'll have to return to Sandgem before the Professor leaves, and..."
"Dawn," Dusk interrupted. "I'm just a town over. We're going to stay friends."
"I know, but I..." Dawn stopped. She had no idea how to continue without the consequence of crying herself to sleep tonight. She released the grass and started circling a small area of the lawn with her index finger instead. "I just don't want to be lonely, that's all..."
"Lonely? Sure, Rowan'll be gone, but doesn't your family live in Sandgem too? Can't you stay with them?"
Dawn's finger stopped running around in circles and her hand dropped. She may have possibly stopped breathing for a second or two. "...N-N..." was all she could actually get out, and even that was difficult to hear.
Dusk combined the tension with her silence and figured out where this was headed. He gravely regretted ever bringing the conversation up. He was beginning to gravely regret coming into this forest at all. Just when Dawn needed them the most, Dusk couldn't get any words to leave his mouth, no matter how hard he tried.
Dawn sniffled.
"...So, what do you think May and Brendan are doing right now?"
Dawn shook her head. "No, Dusk...You deserve...to know. It's my fault for hiding it this entire time..." Her voice was stuffy, which was to be expected.
"Dawn, please don't...I don't want to see you cry anymore."
"That's why I have my back turned, Dusk..." Dawn replied cleverly. She reached into her bag and pulled out a tissue, probably the same one she had used back in Rowan's lab. After calming herself, she rolled around to her back and watched the sky some more. "So what do you want to know?" she continued, surprising herself how excitedly that came out.
Dusk was trapped. On one hand, he didn't want her to continue. If she told the story of her past, it's possible that neither of them would get a minute of sleep that night, which they couldn't afford. On the flip side, he was dying to know what was on her mind, and he could possibly even help get rid of some of her regret. "...Start from the top," he slowly muttered out.
Dawn closed her eyes as an insurance policy. She didn't want to cry, but if she did, she didn't want Dusk to see her. "My mother's dead, my sister was killed, and I've never seen my father in my life."
Dusk blinked. He couldn't believe she recounted the past fourteen years of her life in a single sentence. "Um..." escaped from his mouth. He would have done anything in the world to take that back.
The female Trainer, eyes still closed, smiled. "Sorry...I guess that doesn't help much, does it?"
Once more, Dusk felt like he was in the same position he was thirty seconds ago, since he virtually was. He didn't want her to continue for the same reasons, but he may never get a chance to hear her full story again for quite some time. He laid back down on the blanket.
Dawn was confident she could finish her story without those blasted tears rearing their heads once more. "I've always been told that my father ran away before I was born. I've never seen a picture of him, nor do I know his name...It's kind of odd, but I guess it just hurts too much to think about it, which is why I never questioned it..."
"I might have a clue what happened to him..." Dusk thought to himself, thinking back to what Roark had said.
"Then, when I was eleven, my mother became deathly sick...The doctor didn't think she was going to make it through the week, but through the power of miracles alone, she survived an entire year before...she left me alone, to take care of my sister. Let's see, I was twelve, so my sister must have only been five..." She sighed. "...Miss those days..."
Dusk looked over at her to make sure she was okay. Surprisingly enough, she didn't show a single sign of breaking down.
"I don't know how we survived...I mean, we were just kids. We didn't have the money to pay for things like electric and insurance. Nevertheless, we got through...On my sister's seventh birthday, I promised her that we'd travel to Jubilife for a vacation, celebrating...Well, life, I guess. It was there, that..." Dawn cringed, but calmed herself down and continued. "It was there, that...When walking out of a shop, my sister got hit by a drunk driver, and...she died, at the scene...I don't know what happened to the driver...I mean, I was a little preoccupied with my sister at the time," Dawn laughed, hoping to kill the drama. "I mean, don't get me wrong...I'm hoping he made out alright and all that, but..."
Dusk took a moment to let everything sink in. Suddenly, he sprang up, causing Dawn to open her eyes and look at him. "Wait...You're fourteen now, right?"
Dawn nodded.
Umbreon did some math in his head. "Dawn...how long ago did that happen?"
The person in question closed her eyes and bit her lip. As hard as she tried, tears seeped through her shut eyelids. Realizing she failed at her mission of not crying, Dawn smiled. "Two months and thirteen days, tomorrow," she replied.
Dusk was awed. He couldn't believe how well Dawn was doing, just a small two months after the death of her last family member. And she hasn't even mentioned it the entire time he's been with her, either. A sudden rush of guilt charged through his body as he recalled being shook up over the death of his goldfish for an entire month.
Dawn lifted up her own Pokétch. When she saw the time, two heavy tears poured out of either of her eyes at once. "...Today," she corrected. "You know what the last thing Ashley bought was?"
He couldn't respond. He still couldn't get over everything.
Dawn looked and reached over to Dusk's side of the blanket, alerting him. Finally, her shaking hand grabbed and started stroking the present she had given him back in Oreburgh City: the scarf.
"...H-How could you give this to me? It has to be way too special to you."
Dawn waited for the breeze that blew through the area to vanish in order to continue. "If we had to burn the entire city of Jubilife down, there was..." Dawn wiped the rest of the tears in her eyes on her T-shirt sleeve. "...No chance I was going to let the last thing I have of my sister's go up with it." She tried chuckling, though it got mixed in with tears and ended up coming out as a choke. "I still remember...I was going to buy a blue one that looked just like this, but she ripped it out of my hands and said that it'd look tacky with my blue hair..." It was becoming increasingly difficult to stop the flood. Her hand clenched Umbreon's blanket. "...So she bought that for me instead..."
Dusk closed his eyes, unsure of what to say or do. Eventually, he reached behind his neck and untied the warm scarf. He set it on his partner's stomach. "Well, we don't have to worry about that Jubilife thing anymore. I can't keep this from you any longer. Oh, and, um, Dawn...?"
"Yeah?" Though she was getting tired, she sat back up and started wrapping the scarf around her neck. She felt bad for accepting a returned gift, but she couldn't stand being separated from her sister any longer.
"My mom'll probably kill me for this, but..."
"...Mmm...?" Dawn said, accidentally a bit seductive.
"...Do you want to stay at our house? I mean, just until Rowan gets back..." Dusk was uneasy about asking her. It's not that he didn't want her to have a friendly home. He just didn't want the lecture that came with living with a close, female friend.
That, however, wasn't Dawn's reaction. Her face began beaming, but after a moment, it quickly faded. She looked down at the design on the blanket, trying to divert her gaze from Dusk. The prospect of this subject instantly washed away the previous subject, and took Dawn's tears with it. "N-No, I...I couldn't. I mean, you know, money's tight and everything...I-I'd probably just hurt everything even more. I--"
Dusk looked at her and smirked. "You can't always play the heroine, Dawn."
Dawn gasped. She couldn't believe that came back in her face. "Do you...I...Would...your mother really not mind?" Dawn walked in and out of three different questions. She still couldn't manage to look at Dusk.
"If I can pester my way into getting a Pokémon, I can sure as yesterday do it again," he laughed. "Granted, it might take me one or four years, but I--"
He was cut off when Dawn reached over and threw her arms around his neck, with her face resting on his shoulder. "You'll never know how much this means to me, Dusk..."
He wouldn't have minded the moment so much if it wasn't for something hard and cold being on her wrist. "What's...?" He reached for her right hand and pulled it in front of him.
Dawn pulled herself away and turned her head, blushing.
Since the darkness blinded his vision, Dusk pounded the object a few times. It created a hollow type of sound. "...Is that a cast?!"
Dawn's face was still red. She was grateful the night covered it. "I'm sorry, Dusk...I was going to tell you in the cave, but then I fell and we got talking about that, then I was going to tell you when we entered the forest, but then we got talking about other stuff...Eventually, I was just going to wait until morning, since the dark seemed to be covering it up pretty well...I'm really sorry. Now that you've invited me into your home, I feel horrible to return the favor by lying..."
"How did it happen?"
"Well, you know...back on Route 203..." Her voice drifted away.
"Your arm broke because of that?" Dusk almost yelled, but remembered the sleeping Pikachu at the foot of the blanket and stopped himself.
"Well...I guess so, huh?" Dawn smiled. "Nurse Joy fixed it for me, that's why it's in a cast. And that's also why I was late to arrive at your party. Again, sorry..."
Dusk noticed Dawn acting strangely apologetic tonight. "Is there something...you're not telling me?"
Dawn paused for a minute, then shook her head. "N-No. I was just, um...thinking about your offer, um..."
"Oh, well that was very convincing." Brendan's sarcasm was rubbing off on Dusk. "You could fool the government with those lying skills. Not that that's much of an accomplishment, but I'm just saying."
"Finished yet?" Dawn pouted. She didn't often enjoy sarcasm. "I just...don't want you to get mad at Wizard, that's all."
"Wizard? What did he do?"
Dawn stroked the side of her well-padded vest. "...If...he wasn't in my vest, then I could have landed on it, which probably would have taken most of the blow out..."
"You broke your arm...so Wizard wouldn't get hurt?" Dusk asked.
The somewhat emotionless sound in his voice confused Dawn on how she should reply. She let out a wry smile. "I guess so..."
"...Thank you."
"Huh?" Dawn let out quickly. She was surprised, and actually expected him to kick Wizard into the lake.
"Thanks...for saving Wizard. It means alot."
Dawn could have sworn she saw a tear in his eye, but she just figured it was her tired eyes playing tricks on her. "Just...doing my job."
"That reminds me, didn't you want to talk to me about something? When we were alone?" Dusk thought back to when they had left the Jubilife - Oreburgh cave the second time.
Dawn's eyes twinkled as she continued looking at the stars. "You know? We should really get some sleep," she replied, obviously wishing to dodge the subject.
They both laid back down on the blanket, using their bags as lumpy pillows. Moments later, Dusk dug into his pocket, took something out, and slid it over to Dawn.
She picked it up and felt the material. It was a crumpled piece of paper. "What's this?"
"Put it in your bag and read it the next time you feel lonely." Dusk hoped rolling over, giving Dawn his back, would end the conversation.
After she slipped it into a side compartment of her handbag, nothing else but the nocturnal Pokémon and Wizard's slight breathing could be heard for the rest of the night. They both dozed off, which eventually turned into a peaceful sleep.
The next morning came. Dawn sat up happily and stretched her arms, letting the sun wash her entire body. Wizard was at the lake, lapping up water into his mouth. She turned her head to the other side of the blanket, only to see a wounded Shinx Pokémon laying where Dusk had been the night before.
"What the--!?" she screamed. After she calmed down, she picked the Electric-type Pokémon into her arms.
It was unconscious.
Dawn turned her head quickly, looking everywhere for Dusk. She actually got somewhat dizzy from moving her head so fast. "Wizard? Where's Dusk?"
He looked up at her with a curious expression on his face. Some of his fur was dampened from the lake. "Pika?"
"What do you mean, 'Who's Dusk'!?" she replied, somehow understanding him. "Your Trainer, that's who!"
Wizard stood still for a moment, blankly looking at her. He slowly began shaking his head.
"Wizard!!" Dawn shot up from the blanket.
Wizard, who was at the lake lapping water into his mouth, turned around and looked at her. "Pika?"
"Wait...what?" Dawn looked around. "That was...a dream?" she mumbled to herself. She turned to her side, only to see what frightened her the most. Laying on the blanket, where Dusk had been, was an injured Shinx. "AH!!" she yelped, rolling off the blanket and into the grass. "Um...Dusk?"
"Pikachu!"
Dawn turned her head to the Pokémon. Some of his fur was dampened from the lake.
"Pika pika, chu, pi Pikachu!" Wizard pointed into the forest.
Unfortunately, Dawn couldn't understand him quite as well as she had in her dream. "Dusk went back into the forest?" She sighed. "Unbelievable...Only Dusk would leave his only Pokémon here to--" She paused and gasped, feeling herself blush. "...To...defend me..."
"Pika?" He turned his head and scratched behind his ear. The distance between the two didn't allow him to hear the last thing Dawn said.
Dawn dropped the subject and crawled over to the small, unconscious Pokémon. "What's wrong with this Shinx? It's so cute..."
Normally, Shinx had huge, warming eyes, but they were closed at the moment. Dawn couldn't help but feel bad upon noticing all of the scrapes and cuts that were on its body.
"Pika! Pika Pika!" He started making a bunch of strange motions. Charades seemed to be the only way to get Dawn to understand him.
If this was an anime that Dawn liked so much, a sweat-drop probably would have appeared somewhere on her face at this point. "Umm..."
Luckily, the sound of Dusk's shoes dashing across the leaves on the ground interrupted them. Dawn turned her head to see what he was doing.
"Wizard, here!" He ran past Dawn, never even noticing she was awake. "Start piling these sticks up, I'll grab--" He finally turned to her. "Oh...Morning."
"What's going on?"
"About half an hour ago, this Cyndaquil dragged that Shinx over here," Dusk explained with Wizard hard at work in the background. He pointed down to his feet where a small echidna-like Pokémon sat. There was a burning blaze on the top of its body, insisting that it was quite flared up about something. "I decided to get a fireplace going and see if that would help any. Poor thing's freezing."
It wasn't until that was said that Dawn realized the Shinx in her arms was at freezing temperatures. She frowned, but soon decided to lighten the mood. "So you caught that Cyndaquil?"
Dusk laughed. "Not exactly. It just promised that it'd help me look for wood, then it'd ignite it once we got back here. Wizard wanted to come too, but I didn't think leaving an unconscious Pokémon to guard and unconscious girl was a good idea."
"You could have woke me up, you know!" Dawn snapped.
"We're getting out of this forest today, and to do that, I needed to make sure you got some sleep," Dusk explained calmly.
"Oh...wait, you want to leave the forest? Don't you want to find--"
"Chances are those idiots are already out of the forest..." Dusk bent down and started helping Wizard plant the sticks in a fashionable pattern. "So the longer we stay here, the worse it gets. We just have to hope we find Eterna's exit before Jubilife's, that's all," he laughed.
Within a few minutes, the twigs and branches were ready to be ignited. Cyndaquil took a deep breath, then shot flames out of its mouth, causing the target to catch on fire. Dawn walked over and set Shinx as close to the fire as she could without burning it.
"It's going to be alright, isn't it?" Dawn asked, surprisingly concerned. She reached for her bandana that was still on the blanket where Wizard had been sleeping and tied it around her hair.
"Of course. I just hope it gets better soon. The faster we get out of this place, the better..."
"Dusk, I was..." Dawn stopped and planned her words. "I was thinking...I never really got to ask you what I wanted to."
Dusk bent over and picked up his blanket, which had been on the ground the entire time. "What is it?"
Dawn averted his gaze again. "What...exactly...happened at the Oreburgh Gym? I mean, after...?"
"Well...nothing that you don't really know about. I'm just happy you got healthy again after you got some fresh air."
Dawn saw what he was trying to do. And had no intentions of letting him do it. "...Please don't lie to me..."
Dusk sighed and zipped the blanket back into his bag, causing it to bulge out slightly. He walked over to Shinx and began petting it, not once making eye contact with Dawn. "You didn't faint...Not when you think you did, anyway," Dusk put bluntly.
"So...I was just doing nothing mindlessly? Because I don't remember anything past it..."
What Dusk would do to get off this subject right about now. "Not exactly..."
"Then what did I do?"
"We were just...talking. You asked me to take care of Charmy, if..." Dusk stood up. "Well, you know..."
"If I continued my family tradition, huh?"
Dusk didn't reply. He decided to leave out the part about her saying 'Don't stop holding me,' though he remembered her saying it full-well...And the whole part of Roark almost killing her himself. "You really don't remember saying anything?"
Dawn's head fell. "Not really...I probably sounded like an idiot..."
Dusk had a hard time believing she couldn't remember anything. "She was holding an entire conversation with me..." he pondered. "You sounded just fine," Dusk assured her. "Is that all that's on your mind? I want to make sure..."
"Huh? Make sure of what?" Dawn wondered.
"Well, after last night, I'm just worried you're not telling me something..."
Dawn blinked and reached into the farthest corners of her mind. "Um...I can play the guitar. That count?"
Dusk couldn't help but laugh. "I think that answers my question."
"...So? It's your turn," Dawn scoffed.
"...What?" Dusk turned around and looked at her, despite not knowing if that was a good idea or not.
Her hands were on her hips. "You seem quiet today. Is there something on your mind?"
Dusk laughed as an excuse to turn around. He wasn't sure what his expression would be, but chances are, he didn't want Dawn to see it. "After telling me about your life, my problems don't seem like anything."
He was caught off-guard when a hand landed on his shoulder. Its gentle touch forced his heart to forget about beating once.
"It's not a competition, Dusk," Dawn said softly. "My problems don't, and never will take precedence over yours...C'mon, what's wrong?"
"Actually, it's just a little funny. I've, uhm...Never really seen my father either, so..."
"I'd like to say I don't know how that feels..." Dawn seated herself on an old tree stump that was laying by the fire. "But you have a loving mother. I could tell how close you two were by how much she cried while you were packing."
"Dawn, I...I'm sorry, I just don't really want to talk about this right now." Dusk couldn't deny that it felt good to get things out to a close friend, but he still felt like it was wrong to complain about something like this when that friend has it, literally, three times as worse.
Dawn saw right through him. "Is it because of me?"
"W-What?"
Dawn stood up. "Is it because I don't have a living mother anymore, that you don't think I should talk about it? That I don't know how it feels to have a mother care for me?"
Dusk felt even worse. Dawn had completely taken his message the wrong way.
"Let me tell you something!" Giving the innocent boy the five-star course of verbal pain, Dawn pointed her index finger at him threateningly. "I knew a great mother for twelve years of my life, so before you just assume I don't know what I'm talking about, think about..." She paused only for a moment before storming off into the woods.
Wizard was somewhat frightened at her anger, even though he was no part of that conversation.
Dusk didn't move. His brain couldn't process the situation fast enough.
Seeing his Trainer's reaction, Wizard dashed off after Dawn himself. "Pika!"
Dusk sat down on the tree stump Dawn was just on, took his beret off, and ran his hand through his hair. "Maybe she should have slept a bit longer..." he noted out loud. He leaned forward and started petting the Cyndaquil.
------------------------
By the time Wizard had found her, she was leaning against a tree, crying. "Pika, Pika!"
"Stupid Dusk, stupid, thinking he can just say whatever he wants...No decency. It never occurred to him that this might be a touchy subject to me?" she rambled out before deciding to acknowledge the Pikachu. "Did Umbreon send you out after me?"
"Pika Pikachu..."
Dawn sighed heavily. After a moment of thinking and composing herself, she bent down and picked Wizard up. "You're right. I know he didn't mean to make fun of me...Your Trainer's too nice for that..."
He began rubbing the side of Dawn's face with his paw. "Pi ka chu!"
"I'm sorry, Wizard. I'm just beginning to forget what it's actually like to be loved so much, and it scares me. And besides that..." She looked up at the trees. Sunlight was seeping through various holes in between the leaves. "I just miss my momma..."
-----------------------
"...Stop it! Stop it!"
The Shinx had risen and was full of vigor. It had tackled Dusk to the ground and started licking his face as a means to say thank-you. Dusk was forced to laugh at the ticklish tongue lashing against his face.
"Alright, alright, that's enough..." Dusk picked the Shinx up and set it on the ground, allowing himself to sit up again.
"Shinx!" it barked.
Umbreon continued petting it behind its left ear. "Man, you remind me of Nuclear...If you can eat three slices of ham in thirty seconds, then--"
"Dusk?"
The sudden voice behind him startled him, though he soon recognized it. He didn't stand up quite yet. "Oh. Dawn, I--"
"PikaCHU!" Happy to see the revived Electric-type, Wizard leaped out of Dawn's hands and began playing with it. Cyndaquil quickly joined.
"I really do want to apologize...I took what you said and blew it completely out of proportion. I'm sorry," Dawn blushed. She hated admitting she was wrong about anything.
"No, it's my--" Dusk couldn't get more then that out.
"Don't take the blame for this one, Umbreon!" Dawn commanded.
Again, that cringe...
"It's my fault. I know that you wouldn't...er, nevermind." She owned up with herself that she couldn't possibly ever tell Dusk what she had told Wizard. "Anyway, I see that Shinx is doing fine."
Dusk was really curious 'what he wouldn't' do, but decided the change in subject was more important. "Yep. It's still got a few scratches on it, but it'll be fine."
Dawn randomly hugged her friend. Blood rushed to his head, but Dawn's eyes were shut during the embrace, so she couldn't see it.
"Um..."
"From now on, I'm going to do this whenever I want something, okay?"
Dusk laughed. It helped cool his face down. "Alright, I'll remember that. What's it for this time?"
Dawn turned around instantaneously and started kicking the dirt with the bottom of her shoe. "Well, it's just, you know," she stuttered. "We've been with those two Pokémon for quite awhile now, and no Trainers have come by to pick them up or anything, so I just kinda got the thought that--"
"Do you have enough Pokéballs?"
"I only need one." She reached inside her bag and pulled out two Pokéballs: one Charmy's, the other one being empty.
"They seem like good friends, you probably shouldn't break them up..." Dusk suggested, looking at the three Pokémon playing together.
"I'm not..." Dawn spun around for the sole purpose of giving her friend a sly look. "...Because you're getting the other one!"
"What?! This isn't my idea!"
"Look, I was just hoping that, since they're good friends, we should each get one...They aren't that much different than we are, you know..." Dawn reasoned.
"Minus the snout and ability to shoot fire and electricity from our mouths, right?" Dusk smiled cheerfully. "You only have one Pokéball, don't you?"
"...And there's that," she answered quickly. "But I'm just trying to say...!"
"Don't worry. I still like your first reason." Dusk reached for his belt and took off one of two Pokéballs he had attached to it. "Which one you want?"
"Please let me get the Shinx! It's so cute!"
"Good thing you backed that up, or I was going to say that the only reason you want the Shinx is because it's already weake--GUH!"
Again, Dusk was interrupted by a handbag thrown into his face.
"Alright!" Dawn yelled out. "How would you two like to come with us?"
"You're supposed to battle them, not reason with them..." Dusk sighed. "I swear that I'm leaving if you bribe them next."
The three of them stopped playing and turned to the humans.
"Pika?"
"Cynda?" the Fire-type Pokémon asked Wizard.
"Pika! Pika pika chu, pi!" he replied with a cheerful nod.
"Alright! Let's go, Char--my?" Before she could stop herself from releasing Charmy, she felt Shinx cuddling up to her boot. Eventually, it laid down on it.
As he came out of the Pokéball, Charmy kept his expression firm, deciding to intimidate his opponent right off the bat. His reaction turned to surprise when he looked back at his Trainer to see the rival Pokémon was sleeping on her shoe.
Dawn could feel that anime sweat-drop again. "...Uhm...So now what?"
"It obviously wants to travel with you anyway...Wouldn't fighting it kind of be like fighting your own teammate?" Dusk wondered out loud.
"Right, so...Pokéball...go?" She dropped the empty Pokéball on her foot.
It bounced off the still-sleeping Shinx and captured it. The ball rolled twice, then calmed down.
"I caught Shinx!" Dawn shrieked suddenly, her tone as high-pitched as Dusk had ever witnessed. He rubbed his now-ringing ears.
Charmy, much like his Trainer, also felt that anime sweat-drop roll down his face. "Piiiplup..."
After regaining his senses, Dusk found it hard to take his eyes off of his target. "Doesn't look like Cyndaquil plans on going down that easily."
Cyndaquil's flames burned high. Though Wizard had explained that Dusk and Dawn were amazing Trainers, its pride stopped it from rolling over for them like the Shinx did.
"And I wouldn't have it any other way. Ready, Wizard?"
"Pika!" Wizard leaped through the air and skidded on the ground in front of Dusk.
Dawn looked over at her partner. "Dusk wasn't even this flared up when his Pokémon got stolen...He's got a one-track mind..." She felt herself blush, so she turned her head in another direction. "...Kinda cute."
Wizard shot a glance at Cyndaquil, who didn't really want to fight its new friend. Nonetheless, Wizard's competitive glance assured him it was all for fun. Cyndaquil lowered its flames to a smolder, until they eventually burned out.
Dusk didn't waste any time. "We got work to do. Wizard, Thunderbolt!"
"Pikachu!" Wizard yelled quickly, soon discharging a bolt of lightning at his foe.
The Cyndaquil jumped out of the way. Soaring through the air, it launched a multitude of small fireballs at the yellow mouse.
"Pika?!"
"Whoa, that thing's fast!" Dawn complimented.
Some of the fireballs hit Wizard in the face, causing him to lose his balance and fall over.
"Wizard! You alright?"
The Pokémon quickly stood up, appearing as though it was barely hurt at all. A wide grin came to his face. He was glad that his friend wasn't holding back.
"Great. Change of plans, Wizard. Let's give Quick Attack a shot!" Dusk set aside his special attacks and decided to try a physical assault.
"Pika...Pika...Pika..." Wizard began moving so fast, it could easily be mistaken for vanishing and reappearing across the battlefield.
"Now move in for the strongest Tackle you've got, buddy!"
Wizard jumped through the air, forcing everybody on the ground, including Cyndaquil, to watch him. He landed on the other side of Cyndaquil and rammed his head into its side.
"Um...That's one way to do it," Dusk mentioned quietly. "Alright, try Thunderbolt again!"
"QUILLLL!!" Before Pikachu could launch its attack off, Cyndaquil opened its mouth, releasing black smoke around the entire area.
"This can't be very good for the environment..." Dawn thought, covering her mouth from the smoke with her arm.
"Wizard! Run around in a wide circle using Agility!"
Wizard began dashing at incredible speeds again, only this time in a circle, as Dusk had commanded. After running around a few times, the vision-blinding smoke began to get caught in the whirlwind Wizard was producing. Eventually, it became a full-fleshed tornado of black clouds.
"Cynda...QUILL!!" The Fire-type Pokémon released a blazing Flamethrower from its mouth, hitting Wizard dead-on, and knocking him behind a rock. The cyclone ceased, along with the black smoke it carried.
Dusk got anxious. That Flamethrower looked cindering. "Wizard..."
A moment of dead silence passed. Wizard jumped out from behind the rock.
Cyndaquil ran up and Tackled it, but it went right through Wizard, causing him to disappear.
Even Dusk didn't know what was going on. "W-Wizard?"
Suddenly, Wizard jumped out from the other side. Then another, and another. A final one jumped on top of the rock.
"He must be using Double Team..." Dawn thought out loud. "Did you teach him that?"
"Not that I'm currently aware of..." Dusk mumbled. "Wizard! Use Skull Bash!"
Every single Wizard clone looked more threatening than the next. "Piiiika..."
Cyndaquil started panicking. Too much was happening too fast for the tiring echidna. It tried Tackling three of them, attempting to break their concentration, only to have the real one, the one on the rock, left standing.
"Chu!" Wizard launched himself through the air at amazing speeds, straight into where his last physical attack had hit.
Cyndaquil was sent flying, slamming hard into a tree. It slid down and writhed.
"Alright, almost done. Pokéball, go!" Dusk shot a familiar orb spinning through the air.
Wizard, however, jumped up into the air and intercepted the ball with his tail, launching it back to its sender. "Chu," he shook his head.
Dusk looked behind his Pokémon to see Cyndaquil standing. Bruised, but standing. "...What?!"
"That thing just won't quit..." Dawn added.
"Wizard, Bite it!"
"That thing knows Bite?!" his partner yelled.
Dusk broke away from the battle long enough to look at Dawn. "When you think about who his original Trainer was, can you say you're surprised?"
She slumped back. "...You're right."
Wizard lunged at it and clamped his teeth into Cyndaquil's back.
The Fire Pokémon retaliated by igniting the flames on its back again. Since Wizard still refused to drop it, Cyndaquil began running in circles, hoping to shake the Pikachu loose. When that didn't work, it began rolling on the ground. Once more, it still couldn't shake Wizard off of its back.
"Wizard, give it a solid Thunderbolt!"
Though the active flames made it difficult, Wizard heard the command. He surged electricity through Cyndaquil's body. As could be imagined, Cyndaquil quickly stopped running as the lightning tore up and down its spine.
Finally, Cyndaquil's flames stopped and it fell on the ground. Wizard rolled off of him, burned and tired.
"One more time...Pokéball, get it!" Dusk shot a second Pokéball at Cyndaquil.
This time, it collided with its target, and trapped it inside. The Pokéball rolled an unusual four times, but Cyndaquil eventually stopped struggling and let itself be captured.
Nobody would guess that Dusk's blood was pumping. A smirk of pride on his face, he shoved his hands into his pockets and walked towards the ball at a casual pace.
"Charmy! Try to cool Wizard down with a Water Gun," Dawn told her Pokémon.
"Pip!" He nodded and waddled over to Wizard. "Luuuup...!" He sprayed a gentle flow of water from his mouth, revitalizing the mouse.
"Pika...? Pika!" Wizard was happy to not only be revived, but be revived by a close friend, too. He grabbed hold of Charmy's flippers and danced around with him.
"Thanks, Dawn." Dusk was glad to see his Pokémon burn-free. He bent down to Cyndaquil's Pokéball and looked at it intently.
"No problem. Congratulations on catching Cyndaquil!"
"Thanks..."
"Oh? Seeing as how this is the first time you actually captured a Pokémon, I was kinda hoping for a bit more excitement..." Dawn stated, slightly confused.
"I just got thinking...Since we each have one now, what should we nickname them?" Dusk asked.
Dawn, a bit relieved that was the only problem, pondered the question for a few moments before snapping her fingers. "You could name Cyndaquil Moonite!"
"Moonite?" Dusk didn't like the name at first, but after saying it, it did kind of roll off the tongue.
"Yeah! And I'll name Shinx Sunnite!" she continued with vigor.
"...Your amount of energy is terrifying me, Dawn."
Dawn folded her arms. "Well, no matter how many Pokémon we catch, we're still trapped in this forest...Better to laugh than cry, my mom always said..."
"At any rate, let's get out of here. Our new solar system Pokémon need an intergalactic PokéCen--"
Dawn put her hand up to Dusk's mouth, instantly quieting him.
The wind chimed, rustling the trees. When it died down, a single voice could be heard. "Biiii..."
Dawn quickly turned around to see where it had come from, but found nothing. After standing still for atleast a minute, waiting for it again, she removed her hand from Dusk's face, allowing him to talk again.
Dusk rubbed his mouth. "...A 'shut up' would have worked."
"S-Sorry. I thought I heard something. Did you...hear that too, by any chance?"
"I heard something, but it was probably just some random Pokémon..."
Dawn sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right..." She turned her head over her shoulder one last time. "...Maybe, anyway."
At 9:22, they picked up their bags off the ground and continued on their trek through the forest, with Charmy and Wizard right behind them.