Dawn and Paul rode through the forest on the bike. The blunette had bought a pink halter top and a pair of jeans. A gold scarf was wrapped around her waist, and the Arceus ring was on her white jacket. Paul decided on a purple tee shirt and grey cargo pants. A white jacket was wrapped around his waist, and his pin was secured near the hood of the jacket. The two had decided to keep the running shoes, since they were well made and comfortable.
"When should we get to Striaton?" Dawn shouted over the noise. Paul looked at the screen on the bike, showing a map of the region.
"Tomorrow at the most." Paul answered. Dawn nodded and rested her head on his back, watching the forest zoom by.
"Paul, stop!" Dawn shouted. Paul screeched the bike to a stop and watched Dawn jump off, running to the tree line.
"What's wrong?" Paul asked.
"I thought I just saw an Audino…" Dawn sighed, looking around "but I guess I was mistaken." She muttered.
"If you want to search for pokemon, then we can walk instead." Paul offered, climbing off the bike.
"Are you sure?" Dawn asked, looking back at him.
"Yeah, I should probably catch a pokemon for my first battle anyway." Paul shrugged, pressing a button on the bike, turning it into a cube with lights. He placed it in the belt, keeping it secured. Paul started walking on the path, leaving her behind. Dawn smiled and followed after him, looking around for pokemon.
Dawn and Paul walked side by side, looking out for pokemon. A yellow spider swung passed them causing Dawn to shriek and grab Paul's arm.
"Don't tell me you're scared of spiders." Paul groaned.
"I had a bad run in with a group of Ariados in the beginning of my first journey!" Dawn shouted at him. "So YES I hate spiders!" Paul looked behind her, raising an eyebrow.
"What?" Dawn growled, turning around, coming face to face with the yellow spider. She froze before jumping behind Paul, hiding herself. Paul took out his pokedex, scanning the yellow pokemon.
Joltik, the Attaching Pokémon. Joltik cling to larger Pokémon, and absorb static electricity, storing the energy in a special pouch.
"Oh come on, he's harmless." Paul muttered.
"Actually, I'm a girl." The spider told him.
"Sorry, she's harmless." Paul corrected.
"Like I said, a bad run in with a nest of spiders. I hate them." Dawn whimpered.
"Ariados are large pokemon, look at this thing, she's tiny." Paul muttered.
"I may be the runt of ma's Joltik litter, but I'm the strongest!" The Joltik insisted. Paul stared at the Pokemon, assessing her strength. His pupils dilated, becoming smaller.
"You are strong for a pokemon of your size, I'll give you that." Paul told her, his pupils returning to normal, "but you're far from your potential." Paul told her.
"No I'm not!" Joltik gasped, shooting web at him. Dawn jumped back, watching Paul get wrapped up by the web.
"Hey! Let me go!" Paul shouted.
"Let go of him right now!" Dawn shouted, glaring at the pokemon.
"Jol tik tik jol jol joltik joltik jol tik!" Joltik shouted.
"Oh no…" Dawn muttered, taking a step back.
"She's challenging you. Not to a battle but she wants to know what you're willing to do to free me." Paul told her. Dawn nodded and grabbed the thread that Joltik was hanging from, pulling on it until it broke. She brought the spider close to her face, glaring at it.
"Let him go…" She growled, glaring at the thing. Joltik nodded and broke the web, letting Paul free.
"Took you long enough." Paul muttered, rubbing his arms.
"Well, sorry." Dawn muttered, handing him the Joltik.
"Alright, so why did you attack us?" Paul asked, setting the pokemon on the ground. He handed Dawn one of his ear cuffs so she could know what the wild pokemon was saying.
"My brothers kicked me out of the nest. They said I was too weak and pa stood by them." Joltik frowned "I want to prove to them that I can fend for myself."
"You don't have to do it alone you know." Dawn told her.
"What do you mean?" Joltik asked.
"She means that you can find a trainer to travel with." Paul told her. Joltik looked between them and shook her head.
"No! I have to show them that I can take care of myself!" Joltik insisted.
"Strange…" Dawn muttered, looking through her pokedex.
"What?" Paul asked, standing up and looking at the device.
"It says that Joltik normally live in caves, and deep forests, around large trees. According to the map, there aren't any large trees for a Joltik or Galvantula nest to be. And we aren't near any caves deep enough." Dawn informed him. Paul turned back to the tiny pokemon, his hands on his hips.
"Want to tell me what you're doing here?" Paul asked, leaning forward to glare at her.
"Alright, my trainer abandoned me. I wasn't strong enough for him and he ditched me for a Woobat in the nearby cave." Joltik sighed.
"I get it, you don't like people because you were abandoned by someone you trust." Dawn smiled, crouching and hugging her knees. "You know, not all humans are bad."
"I didn't say that! I just think people that judge pokemon based on their appearance are bad!" Joltik told her.
"Okay, I deserved that." Dawn sighed, standing up.
"To be fair, you never judged her; you just reacted badly because of your past experience with a nest of spiders." Paul reasoned.
"Alright, are you through talking to me?" Joltik asked.
"Yeah sure," Paul nodded, walking off.
"Bye bye!" Dawn smiled, following her partner. Joltik stared after them before shooting out a string of web and swinging off.
"I think that went rather well." Dawn smiled.
"I guess." Paul shrugged.
"Come on! You're getting better at being nice." Dawn smiled.
"That still isn't worth it." Paul muttered, looking away from her. Dawn smiled and leaned forward, looking up at his face. "What?" He blushed, glaring at her.
"You're really nice when you want to be." Dawn noted "You should be nice more often." Dawn told him, running ahead of him, only to stop when she came across a lake with a herd of pink deer. "They're so darling!"
Deerling, the Season Pokémon. With the change of each season, Deerling's appearance changes as well.
Dawn turned around, watching Paul scan the pokemon.
"Let's go." He told her, shifting his head towards the road. Dawn sighed and nodded running toward him as they continued their journey. "Should we see how badly this Joltik wants to follow us?" he asked, taking out the cube that turned into their bike.
"You just want an excuse to drive the bike." Dawn smirked.
"Also true." Paul smirked, placing the cube down and pressing the button, allowing it to transform. "Come on." He smirked, climbing on the bike. Dawn sighed and climbed on behind him, wrapping her arms around his torso.
"Let's go." She smiled. Paul nodded and turned the bike on, revving the engine and speeding off.