So we'll finally see the end of the contest here, and with that, there'll be some new elements to allow the plot to progress at full speed now. Now, I'll say this beforehand so that I can dictate how the chapter is read: I've tried a bunch of new stuff in this chapter in that a lot of both plot devices and writing strategy that are implemented here I have never implemented before, so if something is off, do me a favor and let me know in the review so I won't make the same error twice, or even worse, more than that.

Chapter 10: All for a Good Show—Part III

"I've never seen so many spectacular battles from rookie coordinators!" Helena said as she gallantly entered the stage once more. "Alyssa is the victor of this match!" she said, raising Alyssa's hand high, as he had done to Dawn before her. "Well, we have one more match ahead of us: today's finale! In a few minutes we will see the first Sinnoh finale battle between rookie coordinators in ten years, and, ladies and gentleman, I'm sure it'll be one that is hard to forget!"

The audience wildly roared in anticipation as the contestants and Helena promptly exited the stage. In the front row of seats, Barry sat nervously twiddling his thumbs while Lucas sat staidly with an empty stare at the floor of the stage. "No matter what happens in the coming minutes, we should agree that both Alyssa and Dawn are equals, even though one has to win," Barry politely proposed to Lucas, trying to remove any future rivalry that could be espoused by the current situation.

"I thought that went without saying, but I agree," Lucas responded, removing his hat and letting his hair free. He balled it up in his hands and slid it into his pocket. A sudden emptiness in the space next to him came to his attention, and he turned his head to the right to observe: Valerie and her company had apparently left their seats during the last battle.

All for the better. I hated her.

"We've got a gym battle of our own coming up, don't we?" Lucas began, "It's in Oreburgh, right? The rock-type gym?"

"It is; the leader's name is Roark. I don't think beating him is gonna be very tough. I mean, we've got a grass and water type Pokemon already, and he uses Rock Types," Barry confidently said.

"Barry, if we're planning on battling him in our current state, we're in deep shit, you know that?"

"What? Lucas, we have the type advantage. How are we gonna lose to—"

"Our starters may have the type advantage, but you don't have any other Pokemon and my other two Pokemon are at a disadvantage. Our game is all in one basket right now." Barry held a serious expression for a moment before he broke and started laughing. "What? I didn't say anything funny."

"No, you rarely do," Barry jokingly shot back, causing Lucas to narrow his eyes with a look of humorous dissatisfaction. "But I just remembered that I haven't told you what happened yesterday after I left you and Dawn after the, uh, incident."

"What happened?"

"I caught a Starlee and a Shinx."

"Oh," Lucas said half-mindedly before realizing what Barry had just said to him. "Wait what? A Shinx and a Starlee? What'd you name them?"

"I named the Shinx Alexander and the Starlee Gawain."

"Gawain?"

"Yeah, why?"

Lucas chuckled, "I named mine Galahad."

"We keep this up and we'll have ourselves a complete Round Table," Barry promptly joked, eliciting a short laugh from the two friends until Helena appeared on stage again, this time with Dawn and Alyssa by either of her sides. Both seemed to have a very cheery look on their faces, as though they couldn't be more ecstatic to see each other on the opposite sides of the stage.

"We will now begin our final battle for today, and based on what we've seen so far, I'm sure we can all expect to see something unexpected and wonderful in the battle to come. Without any further ado, let's get ready for the battle between the two semi-finalists: Dawn Avery and Alyssa McClide!"

The audience quietly applauded, as though their tense anticipation for their battle had numbed their motor skills. Alyssa and Dawn each walked to the opposite sides of the stage as they had done for their two prior battles as Helena exited. The screen once again brightly lit up with the names of the contestants, their Pokemon, the countdown timer, and the healthbar. Once again, the audience thundered a countdown initiating the gallant duel that was about to envelop in front of them.

"Julia, dazzle them!" Alyssa said, releasing her furry, brown Pokemon onto the stage floor. Dawn responded by silently releasing Hazel, who jumped out of the ball and materialized with seemingly more energy and enthusiasm than when the audience last saw her. Both Pokemon furiously eyes each other as their pictures and level appeared on the screen.

"Wait, what?" Barry said, looking a bit shocked by what appeared on the screen before him. "I thought that Hazel was just a level ten, but it looks like she's a level eleven now?"

"That last battle must've given her just what she needed to increase to another level," Lucas said with a smirk that indicated he saw the battle beginning to lean to Dawn before it even began.

"Julia, use Tackle!" Alyssa called out, and Julia almost instinctively began making a beeline for the Pokemon right in front of her.

"Hazel, keep moving and dodge that!" Dawn countered. As Julia began to plow across the stage, lowering her head to create a more streamlined charge, her furry and soft feet allowed her to move swiftly and silently as though she was a cute, plushy, ambush predator, Hazel used her multiple limbs to quickly weave and dodge with drastic changes in velocity, making it harder for Julia to find her target. But Julia's padded feet seemed to give her more grip on the stage and allowed her to keep up with Hazel's swift movements, and as she closed in on Hazel, she seemed less and less likely to miss. At the moment that the two Pokemon would seem to have collided, Hazel used her forelimbs to give a final push into the ground that moved her quickly enough to the side to miss the full force of the tackle, but Julia still managed to hit her rear limbs, knocking the little monkey over and sending it tumbling for a few feet.

Dawn's expression was tense: a level 15 Furfrou could not handle Hazel's speed and agility, but a level 12 Eevee seemed to be able to hold on just fine. She looked at the screen: Hazel lost a tenth of her points while Julia only lost a twentieth because of an incomplete hit. "Hazel, use Ember!" she ordered, and Hazel gladly obeyed, firing up a little ball of flame and throwing it at the opposing Julia. Julia began to quickly move in order to make herself a difficult target as Hazel had done before her, but to no avail. The small set of hot flames that Hazel spat hit her dead in the chest, searing her and making her give out a yelp in pain. Shaking off the weak fire-type attack, Julia regained her stance and awaited her next order.

"Now! Use Sand Attack!" Alyssa said, balling up her left fist. Just as she had done in the previous battle, Julia prepared an attack of blinding sand and dust.

"Counter that with Smokescreen!" Dawn shot back, and Hazel began to collect smoke and ash from a fire smoldering inside of her. Julia threw her attack first, having the higher speed, but just as she released the volume of sand and dust, she collapsed and small sparks and embers began to fly off from her torso where she had been hit by the Ember attack. The audience gasped as the Julia was on the floor, shaking as she tried to get up while her Sand Attack made contact with Hazel.

The little monkey persisted through the searing irritation of the sand on her face and eyes and continued to build her smoke and ash and finally released a second later, but the damage was done. The Sand Attack had reduced her accuracy far enough for her Smokescreen to almost hit Alyssa instead of her actual target. Dawn and Alyssa both gritted their teeth in frustration as they saw both of their points to dip to the halfway mark.

"Hazel, use Smokescreen again!" Hazel once again began churning a fire and collected all of the ash and smoke in her mouth to blind Julia.

Alyssa seemed more than happy at Dawn's particular choice of attack. "Julia, use Quick Attack!" Julia bolted to Hazel in a flash and used her agility and speed to slam into the monkey's torso while it was still in the middle of its attack. In the blink of an eye, Julia charged, hit, and fled back to Alyssa's side while Hazel, unable to perceive the incoming attack, was thrown to the side, and had her building smokescreen explode around her, clouding her in a massive swarm of smoke and ash.

Alyssa had the smile of impending victory printed across her face as she began her final assault. "Julia! Use Quick Attack again and again!" Julia once again bursted into a high-speed charge and knocked the dazed Hazel before she could recover from the misfire of her own attack.

"Hazel, use Ember!" Dawn said, hoping to get more damage off of the already burned Julia, but before Hazel could attack, Julia bashed her again with lightning speed, knocking the little monkey back into the smoke cloud. Crawling out of the other end of the now dissipating cloud of smoke and dust, Hazel shakily stood up, her points only at a tenth of their maximum while Julia had almost 45% of hers remaining.

"One more Tackle, let's finish this!" Alyssa strongly said, tasting victory.

"Don't move, Hazel," Dawn said, much to Alyssa's surprise. The audience gasped with shock at Dawn's confidence at what seemed like a ridiculous order but obeyed without question. She stood her ground and saved her energy as Julia charged at her head on with increasing speed.

"NOW! Use Ember!" Dawn called, and just as the charging mass of fur neared Hazel, she released a small ball of fire that hit Julia square in the face, making her waver and veer before realigning her course at a slower, weaker pace. She was mere inches away from a Hazel who was defensively covering herself with her arms when a fire once again erupted from her burn wound, causing her to collapse and hit the floor head first at full speed before sliding into and colliding with Hazel, sending the two into a rolling heap of fire and dust before they finally separated and splayed out on the floor. The audience held their breath as the screen now showed a camera's view of the two Pokemon. Hazel lay on the floor, clearly unconscious and incapacitated while Julia lay on the ground next to her, her tail ever so slightly swaying before she too stopped moving and fainted alongside her competitor.

The audience began to roar with delight and appreciation like it did for no other match before, so loud, in fact, that Helena's speech and announcements a few minutes later were barely audible to crestfallen Lucas and an ecstatic Barry in the front row. Barry, shooting a smug look at Lucas, reached out his hand to Lucas and rubbed his thumb and index finger together.

On the stage, Alyssa gave the sweetest and impressive smile to the audience, exuding a look of both gratitude and confidence, but, much to Lucas's surprises, was no different in appearance to Dawn. Lucas expected to see a difficult smile that hid dejection at a loss, but Dawn seemed genuinely enthralled in the current circumstances, washing away his own anguish at her loss and allowing him to hand over Barry's rightfully and luckily earned money with a smile. A few minutes later, Dawn retired to the backstage right before the judges came out to deliver their commendations and ribbon to Alyssa, who gratefully accepted them and blew one last kiss to the excited audience before also returning to the backstage. Helena gave a few closing remarks and left the stage herself, bringing the tumultuous and intense first contest of the season to a definite close.

Barry and Lucas slowly rose from their seats along with a majority of the audience. "See you in a bit. I think I'm going to talk to Dawn first and see, you know, how she's doing and all," Lucas said to Barry.

"Yeah, I was gonna the same thing about Alyssa. I guess we'll see each other at the gym then?" Barry said a bit nervously.

Lucas caught onto his slight warble and realized what was about to happen: "She's supposed to give you an answer about going on a journey with you, isn't she?"

"Exactly, pray this turns out well."

"I will, and I hope Dawn took this well because I don't want this loss to shadow over her or slow her down at all."

"Did you see her on stage? She took it really well."

"She could have been acting."

"Never thought about that…" Barry said allowing both to contemplate a plan of action to talk to their respective partners. Barry broke the momentary silence: "I'm going to leave. I want plenty of time today to train my Pokemon for that Gym Battle, you know."

"Same here, catch you later, then!" Lucas responded as the two finally joined the exiting crowd and once again entered the massive contest center looking for Dawn and Alyssa. After they'd exited the auditorium, Lucas quickly swiveled and scanned the relatively short crowd for Alyssa and Dawn, finding two people who seemed to resemble them in the throng. "Hey, Barry," he said, tapping Barry's shoulder, "I think that's them," he said, pointing to Alyssa and Dawn, who were in the midst of what seemed to be a humorous conversation.

"They're talking to each other; wouldn't it be weird if we just interrupted them?" Barry cautiously asked, worried as though the slightest misstep on his part would result in a rejection of his offer for Alyssa.

Lucas on the other hand, seemed to have a spine of steel and gave a reassuring response as they walked forwards: "No, and for two reasons: if they really were just having a conversation, they'd be talking and exiting the venue, but they're not, which means they're waiting for something or someone. Two: regardless of what the situation is, I think it's much weirder to camp here until they're done talking."

"You have a point," Barry said, nodding. The two reached Alyssa and Dawn, who were giggling, laughing, and otherwise commending each other, in a less than a minute.

Dawn was the first to take notice of the two and eased out of her laughter before waving. Lucas waved back and when they finally met, Dawn nearly threw him to the ground by suddenly lunging out and giving him a hug. Lucas's steel spine seemed to be molten by then because he simply held a dazed expression and was shaken like a rag doll while Dawn held him, making it terribly difficult for Barry and Alyssa to hold back their laughter.

Barry seized the moment of levity and quickly asked Alyssa if she wanted to have lunch, and she replied that she "most certainly would" with him. Barry and Alyssa said their goodbyes to Lucas and Dawn before heading out of the contest center, leaving Lucas and Dawn together as they strolled out the of the venue soon after. Lucas twiddled his thumbs uneasily. "So, uh, Dawn…"

"Mhm?"

"I-I just wanted to say that no matter what the results were, everyone in that audience knew that you perform exceptionally well and that you have more than enough talent and skill to make it to the Grand Festival. I know what it's like to miss your first shot, but I just want to make sure you're not giving up just yet, especially considering how awesome you were today."

"It's very nice of you to say that to me, thank you, but I'm not bummed about my loss at all," she giggled.

"You're not?" Lucas said, quite surprised. "I know that I'd be down at least a couple days before I wrapped my head around a coin-toss battle like that."

"I'm more than happy with how I performed today, even though I'm sure I could have done things better, and I'm even more happy about the fact that I was able to compete against Alyssa. I actually got a chance to talk to her right before the appeals round; she's really sweet, and I think we'd be perfect partners and rivals for contests, don't you think?"

"Like me and Barry, then?"

"Exactly."

"So…Where do you want to get lunch?"

"Let's just get to Pokemon Center and eat in the mess because that contest took a lot out of me, and I don't think I can walk too much."

"You're right, but if you want, we can just have pizza delivered to the room, you know?"

"That actually sounds perfect, can we do that?"

"Of course, I know a dude who works there and he owes me one, so let's say I'm cashing in a chit for us."

"Really? What'd you do for him?"

"It's a really long story, but shortened, it basically reads like this: I got him a job."

"How'd you do that?"

"That's the long-story part, and to be honest, it's not a fun one to tell, either."

"Okay," Dawn shrugged, dismissing the situation. Lucas, on the other hand, breathed a small sigh of relief, happy that his uncertainty about how Dawn would register to his story of him doing backdoor politicking and strong-arming was no longer an issue. The two silently and slowly strolled halfway to the Pokemon Center until Dawn suddenly broke the silence.

"She said yes," she almost blurted.

"What? Who said yes to what?" Lucas almost instantly said, confused by her sudden statement.

"Sorry, I was on a train of thought and forgot to give you context," she said, giggling.

Lucas would have given the world to stop time right there just to watch her laugh and enjoy her company in the cool wintry air. My goodness, does she have to be so cute when she smiles or laughs?

"Anyway," she continued, "I was talking about Alyssa. She told me about how you and Barry met her at the Denny's and how Barry asked her to join him on his journey today. She looked like she wanted to say yes, so just pressed her on that, especially because I know how much better you made this journey for me." Lucas tried hard to keep from melting on the spot while she continued to speak. "She said she thought it'd be a good idea to go with him, especially because she's new to the region and she thought it'd be best for her to spend time with somebody who knew their way around," she finished.

"I'm sure Barry's found out by now, and Alyssa's probably wondering how to contain him when he's excited right about… now" he joked, and the silence enveloped them again until they reached the mess at the Pokemon Center.

As usual, they quickly munched on the delicious food and went back to their rooms wearily and eager for a nap. Lucas plopped onto his bed like a rag doll and simply lay there, letting a dead stare into the ceiling while Dawn switched into her pajamas and fell down on her own bed.

Dawn turned over on her side and watched Lucas, his hands under his head, his cap by his side, and a powerful look of stern confidence and contemplation that exuded from him. She would have simply gotten up and cuddled next to him, considering how warm and inviting he looked at the moment, but her pessimism got the better of her and held her in place. She instead just asked him, "Whatcha' thinking so hard about?"

Lucas took a deep breath before answering. "I've got my first Gym Battle tomorrow."

"You do? Where is it?"

"Oreburgh. Barry and I agreed to be there by 11:00 p.m. in the afternoon, but if I know him, he'll be there long before I do and lunching with Alyssa by the time we get there," he said a smile betraying his otherwise staid expression.

"I for one can't wait to watch you battle."

"To be honest, I don't think it'll be fun to watch," Lucas somewhat glumly said, much to Dawn's surprise as she raised an eyebrow.

"What? Your Pokemon love you and you're not the kind of guy to overplay your hand, so no matter what you say, I'm going to watch the battle and have myself an awesome battle and have myself a good time doing it. Besides, I promised you that I'd watch all of your gym battles."

"But I don't how well I'll do if I'll do much of anything at all. I mean, I've studied Pokemon in school. I know how the battles work and how the Pokemon work, but I've only ever fought in one Pokemon battle and that was with Barry. As for skill, I don't even know what it takes to win a battle. By all measures of reality, I'm supposed to lose."

Dawn, amusedly curious, raised a pressing question: "Tell me," she said, smiling, "is that what you thought when I went to compete today at the contest? Because our situations aren't very different. I may have studied with the Professor for while, but like you, I never knew Pokemon personally, and just like you, I never had any real experience with the world of contests…" she said, her expression shifting downwards slightly. Lucas opened his mouth to speak when she placed her finger over it, effectively shutting him up. "Lucas, when you told me that I'd do well at today's contest, you don't know how happy I felt, how elated I was to finally hear somebody say that they believed in me…" Lucas felt a bit uneasy in the silence and opened his eyes for a moment, only to be caught in an endearing look from Dawn. "Did you mean it when you said that?" Lucas's gaze remained unwavering as he looked deeply into her longing eyes.

And then he laughed. A chuckle at first, before he erupted into a fountain of near childish giggling. Dawn, on the other hand, did her best to resist her temptation to laugh alongside him, instead grabbing the pillow from underneath his head and hitting him with it.

"Stop that. This isn't very funny," she said as seriously as she could, still involuntarily urged to laugh with him.

"Okay, okay, okay," he said, his laughter subsiding into short bursts of chuckles. He took a deep breath and regained his composure as he looked again into her mesmerizing, glowing blue eyes. "I was laughing because I can't believe that you thought I'd say something like that to mess with you. And what motive would I have to remove the captivating sparkle from those beautiful blue eyes?" He paused, temporarily caught off guard by her reddening cheeks, and continued. "And don't you dare sell yourself short like that: you may not think that have had a lot of experience with Pokemon personally, but I think you do. Nobody forms unbreakable trust with their new Pokemon in a matter of a week, but you did it with Hazel and showed an audience of hundreds how powerful that trust was. I've considered Pokemon battling to be nothing but a foolish child's dream for as long as I can remember, something like winning the lottery, and I didn't change my opinion on that until…" he said, closing his eyes as he remembered his mother's face. "Until I forced to embrace it with no other rational choice on my hands."

He opened his eyes again and sat up, his faces not far from Dawn's. He turned to face her now wildly blushing face and continued: "But you, you always wanted to be top coordinator. You've watched contests since childhood and studied the components of success and failure, thereby unconsciously molding yourself in the cast of victory. But still, even if I had absolutely no idea of those facts I would have still said you ready, destined, to become the Top Coordinator when I met you on the edge of Route 201. You know why?" He paused, as Dawn almost unconsciously moved her head closer to his.

"Why?" she softly whispered, now close enough for Lucas for Lucas to smell the intoxicatingly light-sweet scent of her perfume.

Lucas remained unfazed and warm despite the slowly closing distance between himself and Dawn, although he felt as though he had to keep every muscle and tendon of his under the weight of bricks to bring them into his control; even his jaw felt a non-existent stutter threatening it. I've said harder things to tougher people before. And what's the worst that could happen? She'll leave in disgust or distaste is all. Oh shit, now that I think about that, that's a terrible fucking ending. Screw it: high risk, high reward. "You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, and I wouldn't believe it if anybody told me that you weren't destined to be anything but the best."

Dawn's eyes had now widened to the point where a kind kindled joy flooded out of them and into Lucas as she pulled her beanie off to hide her still blushing face. Lucas kindly smiled at her adorable antics and spoke again: "You know, you look even cuter when you blush," he chuckled. Dawn slowly put the beanie in her lap and faced Lucas again, the distance between their faces even less than before and a covert conversation ensuing between their eyes. She closed her eyes, moving ever closer. Lucas could feel his heart pounding at his ribs like a horse's hooves.

"Yeah, I, uh, should have a rest," he weakly said, falling back into his bed, using his left hand to grab the pillow out of Dawn's hand and place it under his head in the moment before it hit the mattress. Dawn just sat there, eyes suddenly open, her posture at just an odd slant now that Lucas was on the laying bed on. "I-I have the gym battle tomorrow, and I also thought that, you know, you could maybe help me train today evening or something?"

"Yeah. I could," Dawn said, a bit of feebleness battling over the strength and joy she had seemingly had only a few moments ago. "I guess I'll wake you up in a few hours. I'm not feeling all that sleepy myself."

"You're not going to sleep? But you had that contest today; you've got to be very tired."

"Well, looks like I'm not," she almost heartlessly said. The guilt now flooded Lucas with full force as he cursed himself over and over again in his head. You masterful jackass. She was gonna actually k—HOW? HOW could you fuck that up?! You actually managed to PUNT on first down. Congratulations, I've met rocks with higher intelligence.

"I-if you're not going to sleep, then I'll stay awake too, keep you some company if you'd like," he shakily replied.

"Um, n-no thank you. You have your battle coming up, and as you said, you need your rest," she said, a bit of pain in her voice. Lucas lightly nodded before turning over and sleeping with his head under the pillow, as though it would give him any cover from the guilt that was now filling his head. His brain fought itself to understand why Lucas did what he just did, and in a few rather difficult minutes, he mentally exhausted himself to sleep.

As dusk neared and the light began to retreat from the room, Dawn pulled out her headphones, paused her music, and slowly made her way over to a peacefully sleeping Lucas, remembering the awkward moment they'd been through not too long ago. Maybe h-he doesn't like me. He doesn't have to. Maybe he wants someone… better, someone who's stronger, braver. Like him. But he never said he didn't like me. Does that mean he does or that he doesn't not like me? Lucas, would it have killed you to just give a straight answer?!

She sat beside him on the bed again, suddenly forgetting why she came by as she looked at his relaxed and warm face as he slept soundly under the cool, white covers.

She then began giggling as she pulled his Pokeballs out from the drawer where he had kept them before he went to sleep. Shuffling through the ones there, she found what she was looking for: a Pokeball with a small blue bird on the indicator screen that showed what Pokemon was inside.

"Caesar, I'm gonna borrow you for a second," she said, releasing the proud penguin from the ball and into her lap. Caesar stood up shakily after crawling onto the bed and looked at the sleeping Lucas and then back at Dawn. Dawn nodded approvingly, and Caesar began gently pecking at Lucas, but Lucas just turned his body the other way and continued to sleep.

"PIPLUP!" his little Pokemon yelled frustratingly. Dawn just laughed and picked up the little bird, aiming it at Lucas's face.

"Okay, Caesar, use Bubble," she said, trying to imitate Lucas's voice in battle. Caesar fired a series of little bubbles at Lucas's face, soaking him and part of his pillow in a thin coat of mist and water.

By the time the first bubble had barely made contact with his skin, however, Lucas had shot his eyes open and flew awake. "Argh," he grouchily said as he sat up in a flash, one arm shielding him against the bubbles and the other raised to attack what his instincts perceived to be an assailant.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's just me!" Dawn said, defensively holding Caesar in front of herself.

Lucas looked at the little blue Pokemon as it happily tweeted at his soaked discomfort, its large eyes glistening with the joy of a successful prank. "Very funny, Caesar. Maybe you don't want to battle tomorrow?" Caesar shut up immediately and was stiff as a soldier. "Nah, I would never do that. Come here," he said, smiling, and picked the penguin away from Dawn ruffling its feathers and setting it down on the bed where it played around on the fluffy terrain, trying to maintain balance on the unstable surface. "You turned my Pokemon against me!" he joked, turning to Dawn. "I'm sorry, but the rules say going to have to get you back for that."

"You can't exactly ask Hazel to use Ember on me while I'm sleeping," she laughed.

"You're right, but I've got other plans in mind."

"What kind of plans?"

"I don't know: the kind of plans that involve, you, Alyssa, Barry, me, and a battle in about twenty minutes."

"Wait, Barry and Alyssa are practicing with us? You didn't tell me that."

"I just thought of the idea. I mean, Barry needs the practice, too, so I thought it'd be nice if all four of us battled together, since we've all got tougher battles in our future anyway."

"Hmm… I like that idea. Maybe practicing with Alyssa will give me a better shot when we meet for the next contest, don't you think?"

"It sure it will, and I'm sure she'll be thinking the same thing."

"Are we just going to have a free for all or will we have 2v2?"

"Considering that I need to stand opposed to Barry, and you want to stand opposed to Alyssa, I think that we should have a 2v2: you and me against Barry and Alyssa. How does that sound?"

"That… that sounds wonderful. But are you sure you want to battle with me? I mean, I don't know if I'm at your skill—"

"Dawn, this was exactly what I was talking about when I said don't sell yourself short. As far as I know, you've actually shown more potency in battle than Barry or me when you went to perform during that contest today because the last time he and I battled at all was more than 24 hours ago. My point: I would be pleased to battle with you; besides, battling with me is the only way you can get back at Alyssa. You know that right?"

"Yeah, I know that. Alright then, you want to call Barry while I freshen up for a bit?"

"Sounds good," Lucas said, nodding. After receiving the OK from Barry and Alyssa, Lucas and Dawn departed from their room, picked up Hazel from the healing center downstairs, and headed out the door to Route 203 where they said they agreed to battle. Once they'd departed from the bright lights and multi-colored glow of Jubilife, the quiet, peaceful dusk set in around them.

As the sun gave way to its starry cousins, the air drew the crisp scent of pines and Hill Hardy rosemary as the breaths of Lucas and Dawn instantly condensed into thick clouds of steam in the frigidity. Walking side by side, they both seemed entranced by the suddenly visible city of stars in the sky above them.

Dawn shuddered as a light breeze made her silky hair catch the air and Lucas's for a few moments. "It's a bit chilly, isn't it?" she smiled.

"I'm guessing you're not used the cold yet?" Lucas said, laughing.

"No," Dawn sadly said, "I came to Sinnoh last year in the winter, but I stayed inside for most of the time helping the Professor with research, and to be honest, this is my first time actually walking around in the snow and cold."

"Well as cute as you look, Dawn, those aren't exactly winter clothes," Lucas laughed, imputing the blame on her mini-dress and skirt. Dawn's complexion began shifting rapidly to pink, but she thanked the early onset of the night in the winter for concealing her blush. "Here," Lucas said, removing his coat-jacket, "Put this on." He carefully wrapped the thick, wool-lined coat around the shiver Dawn, and although it fit him properly as a coat, it was almost a little blanket when scaled against Dawn. "Better?" he asked a now relieved Dawn who nodded with delight at both the increased warmth and soft crunching of fresh snow underneath her feet. "Before my gym battle tomorrow, we should go get you a nice jacket or something because the cold only gets worse, trust me."

"We'll do that. I got some money from the contest, so I guess buying winter clothes is a good way to spend it," she said quietly, as though the chill was removing the air from her lungs too quickly. Slightly perturbed by her persistent and clear discomfort with the cold, Lucas ever so carefully wrapped his right arm around her, causing the otherwise cold Dawn to suddenly become warm enough to melt in his arms. Feeling his reassuring warmth and firmness of his arm, she moved closer to him until their shoulders touched, comfortably resting her tired head on the cozy, soft wool sweater that was on Lucas's shoulder.

Lucas gently patted her, keeping his arm wrapped around her and holding her close to him. "The sky is so pretty, isn't it? Each of those stars is a like a little pearl," Dawn said, marveled by the night sky that was otherwise obscured by city lights.

"I can name almost every constellation up there," Lucas said, pointing to the sky.

"Oh really?" Dawn said, somewhat quizzically.

"Don't believe me? Point to any set of stars and I can tell you what constellation they're part of."

"Um… that one," she said, pointing to a large constellation with three bright collinear stars.

"That's an easy one: Orion."

"Yeah, you're right. How about that one?" she asked, this time pointing to a set of five bright stars that formed no real shape.

"Cassiopeia," Lucas confidently replied.

"Wow. I didn't think you'd get that one. Okay, that one over there," she said, this time pointing to a massive cluster of many stars that looked like the mangled remains of a brittle star more than a real constellation. There's no way that's an actual constellation.

"Perseus."

"What?" Dawn confusedly asked, sure that she should have stumped Lucas with her last query.

"Yeah, that's the constellation Perseus," Lucas replied, not sure why she would be puzzled at all by his answer. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, of course not, it's just that I was sure that that was not a constellation. I mean look at it, how do you look at that thing and call it a Perseus?" Lucas laughed, pulling Dawn in closer. She, of course, didn't object, snuggling comfortably into his hold.

"I don't think you who Perseus is, huh?" Lucas said, smiling cheerfully.

"Who? I thought Perseus was a thing," Dawn chuckled, slightly embarrassed.

"No, he's actually an ancient mythical hero from Kalosian Mythology," he said. "Dawn, how do you feel about a hearing a quick story?"

"Ooo," she said with delighted surprise, "I'd love to hear one. Especially from you."

Lucas had a bright grin on his face as he began. "Alright," he started, using a slightly deeper voice that he employed for speeches or narrations in particular.

"There are actually two parts to this story, but I'll tell you the part that everyone knows about. Perseus, after slaying the Medusa—"

"What's a Medusa?"

"It's a monster: turns anyone who looks at its eyes into stone."

"Woah."

"Yeah, he's a mythical hero for a reason. Anyway, he kills this monster and is on his way back to defeat the king who wanted to marry his mother by force when he sees a beautiful maiden chained to a rock on the sea, waiting to be eaten by a sea monster. She's there because of her mother, Cassiopeia—"

"Wait… like the constellation?" she endearingly asked.

"Yeah, that constellation is named after her."

"Interesting, well, keep going!" she urged

"As I was saying, her mother told the gods that she was more beautiful than any of them, which consequently angered them, and they decided the rightful course of justice would be to chain her daughter Andromeda to a rock to be bait for a sea serpent."

"That's a bit…harsh."

"Hey, I didn't make this stuff up. Perseus slays the serpent, and Andromeda, smitten by his heroic action, marries him. He returns home with the Medusa's head, kills the evil king by turning him to stone with the head, and lives happily with his mum and step-father. The end. Well, there's the part where he accidentally but prophetically kills his grandfather, but again, it's not all that important."

"I'm expecting bedtime stories from now on, okay?"

"Didn't we already agree to watch a movie every day?"

"Why can't I have both?" she tenderly asked, enlarging her eyes and squeezing the sympathy out of Lucas.

"I'm going to have to find a way to still say no to you when you make that face, but sure, you can have both," Lucas yielded.

"Aw, thanks," she gushed, tightly hugging him for a moment. "Can ask you something?" she asked, investigative curiosity saturating her voice.

"Uh, ask away," Lucas replied, not knowing what to expect.

"The stories and the constellations: how do you all about them? I mean, that's pretty cool stuff, and I only remember learning very little about them in like 3rd grade."

"My father, mainly. He and I used to go on these long walks alongside Verity's shores at night, and in the summer and spring, the water was clear enough to reflect the whole night sky. Planets, stars, supernovas: you name it, he told me about it. He'd help me memorize all of the constellations he knew, and he talked about the stories that people gave to the constellations, and he used to say that if I tried hard enough, they'd make a constellation for me. He'd even tell me about the Sinnoh creation stories sometimes. You know, the ones about Arceus creating the universe in one Big Bang and how Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina formed and governed different parts of the universe. I walked there alone for a long time after he died, but it wasn't sad or anything. You just can't be sad in a happy, beautiful setting like that."

"Well, when we do get back home, can I take a walk with you?"

"I'd hate to go without you."