Thanks to splitheart1120, AikoAkahana, Light-Sakura, Midnightmoon602, AnimexLuver4Ever, LuckyTigger and Raveon21now22 for reviewing :) Hehe! Well, here's part two of the festival. How will Dawn and Paul deal with their first 'date'? Read to find out!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon :(

Seven:

Dawn was fretting about the dress she was wearing. It was the night of festival and she had tried on three outfits already. She melted onto her floor, comical tears pouring down her cheeks. She hugged a hanger close to her body. May poked her head round the door.

"Is something wrong?" May asked.

"I can't do it!" Dawn yelled, "I can't find the right clothes."

"That outfit looks nice," May commented at the dress Dawn was wearing. It was red in colour with frills at the bottom in an orange colour. Dawn looked at May.

"It clashes with my eyes," Dawn snapped, "And Paul hates orange."

"Oh," May said. May walked further into the room and looked through Dawn's wardrobe. She pulled out a few things, asking Dawn's opinion on it but every time Dawn would shake her head.

"I'm going to say I have a cold," Dawn said finally, admitting defeat. May patted her friend on the shoulder.

"I'm sure Paul won't mind what you're wearing," May said.

"He might not but I do," Dawn replied, "If I don't look my best then I won't feel my best and I want to be my best for Paul."

May thought for a minute before a smile appeared on her face.

"What makes you fell confident?" May asked. Dawn thought about the question for a minute. "You know, when you go on stage for a contest, what makes you think you can do it?"

"You're telling me to treat Paul like a contest?" Dawn asked. May nodded. Dawn smiled. "That's a brilliant way to think about it. If I make it a casual contest then… I know exactly what to wear."

"Glad I could help," May said as she left Dawn to get changed. Dawn danced round the room as she pulled out her outfit. She stopped in front of the mirror.

"This will be perfect," she told her reflection.

Meanwhile at Reggie's house a similar thing was happening.

"How about this one?" Drew asked Paul. Paul was sat on his bed looking quite bored as Drew attempted to get dressed. Drew was holding up a green blazer. Paul shook his head. Drew flustered and went back to looking through his suitcase hurriedly. Paul had been dressed for a while. He was wearing jeans, a black shirt and a purple jacket. Drew was being totally over the top with his outfit.

"Are you sure you're not actually a girl?" Paul asked. Drew stopped looking through his clothes so that he could shoot Paul a glare. Paul didn't react to the glare.

"I don't know how you've decided on your clothes," Drew said, "You're the one going on the date and you're so calm."

"I don't care much for clothes," Paul replied. He tugged at his shirt, glancing at it in distain. OK, he had fussed slightly more than usual with his clothes, but he was reasonably happy with what he was wearing. No doubt Dawn would be fussing.

"You got her a present?" Drew asked. Paul blinked.

"Why do I need to get her a present?" Paul said.

"To show her how much you loooove her," Drew teased. Paul thought about this for a minute. Did he need to give her a present? He wasn't sure. Drew looked at his cousin, confused and concerned about the sudden silence. "You're actually nervous about this aren't you?"

"Not particularly," Paul replied. Should he be? Drew stood up and pointed at Paul.

"You have nothing to worry about," Drew yelled, "I Love Master Drew shall help you!"

"Now I am worried," Paul commented, "You can start by getting dressed so we can go already."

"Right," Drew nodded.

Twenty minutes later both boy walked downstairs. Reggie was stood talking to Maylene. She had scrapped her usual attire and was wearing jeans and a blue top. She also was wearing a short sleeved sports top that somehow went with the rest of her clothes. On her feet were some simple sandals. Reggie was wearing something similar to his usual clothes, although his top was a lighter salmon colour and he had the sleeves down to his wrists.

Drew put his hands in his pockets. He had finally decided on a purple shirt and black jeans. Drew looked at Paul and winked at him.

"You two look good," Maylene said with a smile on her face, "I sent Lucario to pick up the girls since we were running a bit late."

"We're late?" Drew asked.

"It took you an hour to decide on your clothes," Paul snapped. The two of them glared at each other. Reggie just laughed.

"Well, we should get going," Reggie told them. The four of them left the house and began walking towards the festival where the meteorites were in the park. Maylene and Reggie were happily talking about Pokémon while Drew and Paul walked in silence behind them. Drew spotted May before anyone. He waved at her, yelling her name. The brunette turned and waved back, a large smile on her face. She dragged Dawn towards the guys and Maylene, Lucario following them.

"You guys finally made it," May said, "I take it Drew took a total of three hours to get ready, huh?"

Reggie and Paul were silent as they looked at Drew. Drew flushed red before he yelled at May, claiming that he didn't take three hours.

"Actually," Reggie said, rubbing his head, "It was more like three and a half."

"A-ha," May said. She was wearing her blue bandana with a light blue dress and sandals. A navy blue belt hung round her waist. "Let's go! I want to find some food!"

May grabbed Drew by the arm and led him off. Maylene and Reggie followed leaving Dawn and Paul on their own. Dawn was looking nervously at the floor. Paul looked at her. She was wearing a denim skirt to her knees with a purple top. It was sleeveless but had a high neck. Her usual yellow clips had been replaced by purple ones. She was wearing purple ballet pumps on her feet. Paul felt like he should complement her on the way she looked but was at a loss at what to say.

"Purple suits you," he said plainly, making her look at him. She smiled.

"You think?" she asked doing a twirl. Paul nodded and began to follow his brother and cousin. Dawn walked beside him, smiling happily. She looked around in awe as she saw the hue of Chinese lanterns hanging on strings round the park. She grabbed Paul's arm and pulled him along faster.

"It's beautiful," she gasped as she looked around all the stalls. There were some selling food while others were game stalls. Dawn looked round in amazement until she realised she had linked arms with Paul. Paul didn't seem to mind. They walked together, realising that Reggie and Maylene as well as May and Drew had disappeared.

"Where do you think they will have gone?" Dawn asked. Paul shrugged.

"Who cares?" he asked, "The less we're around my family the better."

"You're so mean," Dawn told him.

"No doubt Drew is planning something," Paul muttered, "He often gets carried away with things like this."

"What do mean things like this?" Dawn asked confused. Paul shook his head.

"Doesn't matter," he replied, "Just be careful if you see him."

"OK," Dawn said with a nod.

The two of them walked round the stalls. Dawn attempted a few of the games although she had to admit she wasn't very good at any of them. Paul watched her, smirk on his face, as she attempted to hook a water balloon. She admitted defeat. Paul stepped forwards.

"The pink one no doubt?" he asked. She nodded as she watched him skilfully pick the balloon with the small hook. He held it up and handed it to her. Dawn thanked him.

"How did you do that?" she asked as they walked away from the stall. Paul put his hands in his pockets and shrugged.

"I've had a lot of practice," he told her, "Drew used to be useless at it and used to cry whenever he lost. Reggie couldn't do it either."

"I thought Reggie would be good at that," Dawn said, "Since he has a lot more patience than you."

"Are you saying I'm impatient?" Paul asked. Dawn nodded.

"Yes," she replied, "Because of the way you train your Pokémon."

"You would say that," he said, "I train my Pokémon so they know they are strong quickly. That means using strong moves quicker. They get the confidence to do well early and it pays off."

"I suppose I never looked at it like that," Dawn said, "You're mean at them so they're not scared by mean looking Pokémon while battling, aren't you?"

"If they can deal with me, they can deal with a hundred Ursaring," Paul said with a nod. Dawn giggled at him. She grabbed his arm once more and hugged it. Paul glanced down at her. She was smiling happily.

"Yo!" Drew's voice rang out in front of the pair. Both of them stopped and stared at Drew. "What are you two up to?"

"Nothing," Dawn replied.

"Well, have you seen the meteorites?" Drew asked, pointing to his left, "They've dressed them up."

"Dressed them up?" Dawn asked, looking at Paul for an explanation. He let out a soft sigh.

"They do things to them year after year," Paul explained, "Like put lights on them or flowers or something."

"Can we go and have a look?" Dawn asked. Paul nodded. Drew walked on the other side of Paul.

"Things are going well, no?" Drew whispered in his cousin's ear. Paul glared at Drew but didn't reply. Dawn hadn't heard anything and Paul wanted it to stay that way. Drew merely shrugged and went on to tell Dawn about previous festivals. Her eyes lit up when he told her about the Pokémon display later in the evening.

Soon they had arrived where the meteors were laid in the ground. This year they had been decorated in lights. The lights were placed so the meteors looked like Pokémon. Dawn pulled Paul over to one that looked like Piplup's head.

"Wow," she said, "It's so cool."

She looked further along to see one in the shape of a Turtwig. She pulled Paul along again. She was surprised that he didn't complain at being dragged but thought it would be best not to do it again. She let go of his arm as she looked at a Jigglypuff styled one. These were really good but you could still see the meteor underneath the lights. It was amazing. Dawn turned round and walked into Paul accidentally. She stumbled and was about to fall when he caught her and steadied her. She sweat-dropped.

"Sorry," she said. Paul led her over to another meteorite. She looked down at it to see it was a Pikachu designed one. Dawn smiled at it widely. "It looks just like Ash's Pikachu."

"Do you miss travelling with him?" Paul asked. Dawn's smile faded a little.

"I do and I don't," she replied honestly, "I like being a stylist. After going to Hoenn on my own I decided I didn't like travelling much. I missed the company back then."

Paul nodded slowly. Dawn looked at him, smile reappearing.

"But now I have you and Reggie and Maylene to keep me company so I don't mind," she said. Paul felt himself smile slightly.

"Travelling is hard when you're on your own," Paul commented as they walked past more meteorites, "Reggie never travelled on his own."

"I bet you followed him everywhere," Dawn said, but Paul shook his head.

"When Reggie started his journey, mum was still around so I stayed at home," Paul explained, "Reggie travelled with some people from Johto. When mum died, I joined him to go to the Kanto Battle Frontier. His friend was the one who gave me Turtwig."

"It must have been bad your mother dying," Dawn said sadly.

"It was hard," Paul admitted, "But one of the people Reggie travelled with took really good care of me. She was always nice to me."

"She?" Dawn asked. Dawn looked down at the floor. Paul's eyes had lit up when he had been talking about this girl. Maybe that's why he didn't like her, he was already in love with someone else.

"She was there when Reggie and I had a massive argument," Paul went on, oblivious to Dawn's expression, "We had quite a big fall out when I set off on my journey. She said she would travel with me and do the league with me."

"I bet you really loved her," Dan muttered. Paul nodded.

"She left me after the first gym battle," he stated, "Because she knew I would be better on my own or with people my own age. She was right. She was far too strong to be travelling with a rookie like me. She flattened me in the semis that year."

"But you still love her?" Dawn asked, stopping suddenly. Paul looked at her. He was confused suddenly by her reaction.

"Of course," he replied, "The same reason I still love Reggie even after our argument. Sparrow's like my sister. I could never stop loving her over something so small."

"Sister?" Dawn asked.

"She's like five years older than me," Paul explained, "She took over from mum."

"Oh," Dawn said, forcing a smile onto her face. There was an odd silence for a few seconds before Dawn brushed past Paul. "I'm going to find May."

Paul followed her wondering why she had suddenly gone so quiet. True he did feel a little stupid opening up to her like he did, especially about his mother. He wondered briefly how Sparrow was doing but no doubt she was still running rings round some poor champion somewhere. Dawn had spotted May and was running towards her. Paul noticed a cart rolling towards her. Fortunately he was quick.

He grabbed onto her waste and pulled her out of the way of the cart. They landed backwards on the floor. Dawn blinked as she landed on the floor, noticing the cart for the first time. She gulped. She would have been flattened by the cart if Paul hadn't got her out of the way. It wasn't like it was out of control either. It was being pushed by two Machokes since it was so huge. Dawn glanced at Paul, realising she was sat on him.

"Sorry," she muttered as she stood up. Paul got to his feet and dusted his trousers off.

"You should take more care," he told her, "I would hate for you to be flattened."

"Why?" she asked.

"It's a pain filling out police reports," he replied.

"That's so mean!" Dawn yelled at him. May walked towards them, recognising Dawn's yell. In her arms there was an assortment of different festival foods which May ate as she watched the argument between Paul and Dawn bounce back and forth.

"You two argue a lot," May commented. Paul and Dawn looked at the brunette to find she had a kebab in her mouth, eating it in an Ash like way. "You must really get along well."

"How did you come to that conclusion?" Paul asked.

"You're still here, right?" May said, "You're still talking to each other."

Dawn and Paul looked at each other. That much was true. Even though they argued a lot they still hung around together a whole lot. May was chewing on something else by this time. Dawn sweat-dropped.

"Where's Drew?" Dawn asked. May shrugged.

"Beats me," May replied, "I suppose we should go and find them."

The three of them walked through the festival. Dawn was walking beside Paul, still feeling a little upset about before. May was still eating food as she walked. It was no surprise when she walked into someone.

"I'm so sorry," she said quickly.

"Get away from me you hillbilly."

"I'm not a hillbilly!" May yelled. Dawn and Paul smirked at each other but continued walking, pretending not to know May at all.

"Hey, Dawn?"

Dawn turned round to see Trip stood staring at her. Dawn waved at him before walking towards him.

"Hi Trip," she greeted, "You made it to Veilstone already?"

"Yeah, it was easy," Trip told her. Paul walked over to them, generally annoyed at the sudden appearance of Trip. Trip eyed Paul cautiously. The two boys soon entered a staring contest. May looked between the two boys before sweat-dropping.

"You three know each other?" May asked.

"We met in Sandgem Town," Dawn explained quickly, "Trip challenged Paul to a battle and then took me out for a drink."

"Wow," May commented, "Explains the rivalry."

"So what are you doing here?" Dawn asked, disrupting a very intense staring match. Trip didn't look at her.

"I came to challenge Veilstone's worthless gym leader to see if she was any good," Trip explained.

"Veilstone's 'worthless' gym leader happens to be a very good friend of my brother," Paul growled.

"If she was any good, why should she need your brother?" Trip asked. Dawn honestly though Paul was going to punch Trip but something seemed to snap in Paul's brain, restraining him instantly. Paul glanced at Dawn then at May.

"We should find Drew," he stated, "Who knows what trouble he'll be in."

"Your hillbilly friend?" Trip asked.

"No," Paul replied, turning his back on Trip, "My grasshead cousin."

"Who's the hillbilly eating like a pig anyway?" Trip asked Dawn as the two of them followed Paul. May fumed once more but didn't say anything. Instead she pushed past Trip and walked beside Paul.

"I'll kill him for you," she muttered to the purple haired teen, "If you'll be my alibi."

"Don't tempt me," Paul replied. May smiled at him.

They only had to walk a little way before they found Drew. He was with Reggie and Maylene. Reggie noticed his younger brother walking towards them and then noticed the new comer. Drew too seemed to see Trip before he saw anyone else.

"You made a new friend?" Reggie asked. Paul glared back at Trip, although Trip was too busy smooth talking with Dawn to notice. Dawn had a worried look etched onto her face. She didn't like this situation one bit, especially since Paul had already told her that he didn't like Trip. She didn't want to make the situation worse.

"This is Maylene," Dawn told Trip suddenly, interrupting him talking about something. She wasn't listening anyway. Trip looked at the pink haired gym leader. He looked her up and down.

"This is it?" he asked. Everyone froze. "A pink haired little girl?"

"Hey," Drew yelled, "Maylene happens to be one of the best gym leaders in this region."

"Yeah, she looks it," Trip commented, "Do you use Cleffa or Igglybuff?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Maylene snapped.

"You look like a pretty pathetic gym leader if I'm honest," Trip said. Dawn looked at Paul for help, but Paul wasn't paying attention. Actually, maybe that was a good thing.

"Hey," Reggie said, "You have no right to say such things about Maylene before you've battled her."

"Whatever," Trip said. He took Dawn's hand. "Hey, I think I saw a Ferris Wheel over there. Let's go."

Dawn found herself being pulled along by Trip. She didn't want to go with him, especially after what he'd just said. Paul suddenly snapped back into attention, probably because Maylene was trying to claw at Trip and was having to be restrained by Drew and Reggie. Paul glanced at Trip's grasp round Dawn's hand. Paul clamped down on Trip's wrist. Trip turned and looked at Paul, so did Dawn.

"What?" Trip asked.

"I would prefer not to drag her," Paul said in a monotone. Dawn's eyes widened as Paul pulled Trip's hand from around her own. Everyone else seemed to be too preoccupied with Maylene to notice this show down between Paul and Trip. Paul was thankful since there would no doubt be a comment or five from Drew.

"You think you're so cool," Trip snapped.

"That's because I am cool," Paul replied, "Now please leave us alone. After insulting everyone and trying to drag Dawn away from us against her will, I think it's best that you leave."

"Why should I listen to you?" Trip asked.

"Because Lucario will be here soon and there's no way they'll be able to hold back both Maylene and him," Paul replied calmly. Trip bit his lip and then smirked. He looked at Dawn then back at Paul.

"Fine," he said, "When I beat Maylene, I'll have a rematch with you. Then we'll see who's best."

He turned to Dawn and smiled at her.

"Sorry," he said, "I'll make it up to you next time, OK?"

Then he was off. Paul watched him disappear into the crowd of people, glad he was finally gone. Dawn launched herself at Paul, hugging him tightly. Paul looked down at her, confused at her sudden motion.

"Thank you," she muttered into his shirt.

"Honestly, I don't know what you see in him," Paul said.

"Not about that," Dawn said shaking her head, "You called me Dawn."

Paul paused. She was thanking him for calling her by her real name rather than saving her from that creep? Girls were weird. Dawn only beamed at his confused face.

"You're funny when you do that," she said. Paul rolled his eyes. She leant up and pecked him on the cheek. "That's for getting rid of Trip."

"He's annoying," Paul stated. Dawn giggled.

"I know you hate him," she said, "But I do fancy going on that Ferris Wheel he was talking about."

The two of them looked at their friends. They hadn't even realised Trip was gone. The two of them sweat-dropped. Paul moved his elbow so that Dawn could hook her hand round his arm. She smiled as she did this. They turned and walked away from their friends.

"Hey!" May had finally realised there was no more Trip. The brunette dragged Drew away from Maylene and Reggie and pushed him in the direction of Dawn and Paul. "Wait up you two!"

May trod on Drew's heel, making Drew fall over. May tripped over Drew, knocking him into to the side into a rather large mud puddle. Paul and Dawn stopped to look around at their friends in the mud. Drew had fallen face first into the mud but had acted as a shield for May. She wasn't half as muddy as he was. May sweat dropped.

"Sorry, Drew," she said, rubbing her head. Drew rolled onto his back and glared at May with anger burning in his eyes. May looked genuinely scared. The two's attention soon slipped onto Drew's cousin and Dawn. The two of them were laughing. Paul was actually laughing at them. Drew felt a new surge of anger race through his veins. He scooped up some mud in his hands a flung it at Paul. Paul instantly stopped laughing as the mud hit his neck. He grimaced at the feeling a wet slime on his skin. Dawn put her hand over her mouth but resumed laughing a few seconds later. Paul wiped the mud away from his skin but only for it to be replaced as Drew threw more mud at his cousin and the girl beside him. Paul stepped in front of Dawn to shield her from most of the mud.

"That's it," Paul muttered as Drew stopped his barrage of mud attacks. By now May had got to her feet and was stood behind Drew, looking at him like he was an idiot. Paul glared at his cousin before walking up to the green haired teen. Paul scooped up some mud and put it down Drew's shirt. Drew yelped. Paul got more mud and rubbed it into Drew's usually glossy locks.

"WAR!" Drew yelled. Dawn and May watched as the usually cold Paul and usually cool Drew fought like three year olds in the mud. Dawn smiled at them, liking this childish side of Paul, but May was not impressed.

"You wanna get some candy floss?" May asked Dawn.

"Sure," Dawn replied. The two girls walked off, leaving the guys to their little fight.

"It didn't sound too bad," Lewis commented as his father stopped speaking.

"There are only two things you can ever do to show yourself up in front of a girl," Paul told his sons in a truly serious manner, "Talk about ex-girlfriends and act like a three year old."

"Daddy, you're funny," Josh said.

"Why did mummy marry you?" Amber asked. Her father looked at his daughter with a look of surprise on his face. Lewis folded his arms and nodded like he was agreeing with his sister.

"That's true," Lewis agreed, "So far the you in the story has been useless, stupid and childish. Mummy made a very bad choice."

"That's right," Josh and Amber said, adopting the same pose as Lewis and nodding in time with each other. Paul hung his head. His children had turned against him. This was the end of all respect from them. At least Alfie wasn't here, he still had one left.

Dawn walked down the stairs and saw the small dark cloud looming over her husband's head. She laughed softly. Poor Paul. He always did have to put up with a lot.

Poor Paul. Oh well, he should be used to it by now. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the Ikarishipping moments in this, there are more in the next one. Yay! Update will be soooon! Don't forget to review.

RSx