Rule #8: He puts your happiness first. (Part 2)

"Hey, Conway!" Maylene shouts in a very obviously loud voice, making the dancers instantly pull away from one another. Maylene and Reggie were smirking at the scene of Paul dancing. They didn't see that Paul and Dawn were about to kiss. Nonetheless, Maylene knows Conway would have questions if he saw Paul and Dawn dancing closely, so she decided to save her friend and future brother-in-law.

Paul turns away with a deep blush and scowl on his face. Just what was he doing? He almost kissed a taken woman! Paul knows the rules, so he should follow them for Dawn's sake. He shouldn't be her friend, and he shouldn't be getting close to her like this. That's a huge no in a relationship. Mentally cursing himself, Paul shuts his eyes in embarrassment.

Dawn takes in a few deep breaths while trying to cool her blush before Conway makes his way over to them. She's upset that she almost kissed Paul. She almost cheated on her boyfriend who has been nothing but kind to her. Conway doesn't' deserve this. Paul's rules have been right so far. Maybe she can't be friends with the opposite gender when in a relationship?

"Hey, Maylene!" Conway grins at the pinkette and then he walks to Dawn's side where he quickly hugs his girlfriend. Paul's scowl returns as he avoids his gaze out of annoyance. The ache in his chest is really bothering him a lot right now.

"Hey, Conway." Dawn smiles and kisses his lips, making Paul's chest tighten more. The champion just wants to crawl in a hole right now.

Conway looks over at Paul and grins. "Paul Shinji! I haven't seen you in years!" He extends a hand to Paul who just glares down at it. The intense ache in Paul's chest, and the fact that he almost broke one of his rules, just pisses him off a lot. Is he taking out his anger on Conway? Maybe. But Paul thinks Conway deserves it. Even though Conway is great to Dawn, Paul still feels like Conway doesn't deserve her.

"Say hi, Paul." Dawn awkwardly giggles. Instead, Paul turns to walk away. He's tired of this. He'll train to clear his head. This whole wedding and all of these people are just very irritating. The Top Coordinator watches her friend walk away. Normally, she'd tease him about being a grouch, but it doesn't seem like the right moment to do that.

"It's okay, Dawn. I remember that he doesn't talk much." Conway smiles at his girlfriend whose eyes are still on Paul's retreating figure. Conway is always so nice and understanding. Dawn is lucky to have him. He's been very patient with her, especially due to the demands of her career and the wedding.

Sighing, Dawn feels her own chest tighten. She must've hurt Paul's feelings or something, which is why she feels really guilty right now. "Yeah."

Dawn eventually learns that Conway wanted to surprise her. She did invite him to be her plus one before she left for Veilstone City. He decided to show up early to help her with planning the wedding because he has time and he misses her. Despite the kind surprise, Dawn feels disappointed that he's here.

She's never brought him around Paul before because she likes her alone time with Paul. They're friends. Thus, now she will be using that time with Conway because he's her boyfriend, and Dawn should be hanging out with Conway rather than Paul who knows other people in the city. Conway was back in Oreburgh City working. He got time off early to surprise Dawn today despite already being her plus one to the wedding in a few weeks. This week has been very fun with Paul, though now Dawn knows she won't be having that fun anymore.

Kanto

Gary makes his way to the Viridian City Gym. He has an errand for his grandfather which could've been done through the mail, but Gary Oak likes frequenting this gym. Of course, he called ahead of time this time because he has a valid reason to be here. Walking into the gym, Gary hears battling going on in the arena. He decides to observe the battle because he loves watching Leaf battle.

She's always so focused that she never notices him enter the arena. Gary admires her beauty and grace. She's powerful yet gentle. Mew, she makes his heart pound. He smirks as she effortlessly knocks out the young challenger's Charizard. Leaf Green fears no one. Gary sees her coolly command her Pokemon around the battle arena.

After the battle, and the defeated challenger leaves, Leaf walks up the stands. "Didn't think I'd notice you, Gare?" She winks at him.

Chuckling, Gary lays back in his seat. "I'm hard to miss, Leafy."

She rolls her eyes as she sits beside him. "What did your grandfather want me to have?"

"I can give that to you later." He suggestive raises an eyebrow at her. "I'd rather give you something else right now."

"Too bad. I'm working."

"I'm always working when you visit, but I can take a break for you." reminds the man.

Leaf smirks at him. "Well, unlike you, I can control my lust."

"I can control mine too." Gary knowingly remarks. "Work gets boring, so I like to find distractions."

"Oh?" Leaf raises a playful eyebrow at him. "I'm a distraction."

Gary inches his face towards hers. "Always, Leafy. I like distractions."

"Like how you like me?" Leaf is entranced by his dark viridian eyes, like she always is. This man always manages to make her heart pound. They've been going at this flirtatious battle for too long, longer than she'd like. Leaf fears she may catch feelings with how much they're interacting. She did want to challenge herself in breaking the playboy, but now she may have dug a hole for herself. Gary better crack soon, else Leaf may just have to back out of this completely before she falls for him.

Gary winks to also give him time to register her words. Normally, he'd agree and tell a girl he likes them so that he can get them. However, he knows Leaf is a player. The moment anyone admits their feelings, she will leave, and he doesn't want that. He wants her still. "You first." He presses her. "Do you like me?"

Leaf's breath hitches in her throat as he closes in on her. She almost agreed. No! This is absolutely wrong, but it feels so right. She really messed up when starting to flirt with Gary a few years ago. "Leaf Green has no romantic feelings for anyone." She reminds him.

Gary chuckles. "Same with Gary Oak." It's why they agreed to interact with one another in the first place. They both want to see who cracks first. This is one tough battle.

"I guess we have a problem then." Leaf softly says.

"I guess we do." agrees the man's husky voice before Leaf's lips land on his. He slips his tongue into her mouth while she does the same to his. Soon, both are on the ground in the stands with their hands removing some clothing on each other. "Lock the doors?"

"Always." She saw him come in and had an idea something like this would happen. Thus, Leaf locked the doors and put up a sign after she escorted her challenger out.

Unfortunately for them, in the middle of their little entanglement, Leaf's pokenav goes off. Gary is surprised. This isn't her normal ringtone, which is the default one. It's a song, and a love song at that. Deciding that it's very fitting for what they're doing, Gary continues, but Leaf quickly pushes him away to reach for her pokenav.

"Hey! We're in the middle of something here!" He always ignores his pokenav when he's with her. She usually does the same, even if it is the League.

Ignoring him, Leaf hurriedly answers the pokenav. "Hey, Silver!"

Silver? Gary frowns and buttons his pants because he's instantly not in the mood anymore. She just interrupted their time to pick up her ex's call? In front of Gary too! Even Gary knows to not answer other girls' calls when he's with a hook up. Leaf is a player, so she should know this too. It just gets the player in trouble.

Leaf stands up where she uses her free hand to fix her clothes and hair. She starts to walk off, so Gary curiously follows. "Yeah, I'm free right now. Why?"

"Free?" Mutters the annoyed man. She is definitely not free right now. Gary reaches for her free arm, but she pulls herself away from him.

"I can close up for lunch, and then we can hang out later if you're still in the area." suggests the brunette.

Gary is pissed. She's really making plans with another man in front of him? Gary even called ahead of time to let Leaf know he'd be here today. However, she's blatantly disregarding him for someone else. This hurts his heart a lot, so he pins her against the wall to crash his lips onto hers while she's mid conversation with Silver.

Leaf angrily pushes Gary off of her. Shooting him a glare, she tells Silver, "I'll be alone. See ya soon, Silver."

Once Leaf hangs up, Gary furiously exclaims, "What the fuck was that?"

"You need to leave." Leaf pushes him towards the door.

"No fucking way!" Gary shoves her arms away. "You cleared up your day for me! I called last week!"

Leaf rolls her eyes at him. "I don't clear up my day for anyone but myself, sweetie. You should know that better than anyone."

"This is bullshit."

"You know I'm the biggest player from Johto." Leaf shrugs. "And you're the biggest player in Kanto. I thought we understood that we're just fuck buddies, Gary."

"Silver doesn't even see you in that way! You told me that he's just a friend! But you're kicking me out for him? I give you more than he does!"

"You're not Silver." Leaf narrows her eyes at the auburn haired man. He has no right to talk about her friend like this. She's had a crush on Silver since they were kids, but SIlver being Silver, only cares about getting stronger. He's currently an Elite Four member at the Indigo Plateau, which is also partly why Leaf took the job as the Viridian City Gym Leader. She's a lot closer to him geographically, so she has seen him a couple of times due to this.

Growing up as orphans, Leaf and Silver became friends. They ventured out on separate journeys around Johto once they were able to, and Leaf has always tried to stay in contact with Silver. When she was a young teen, she confessed her feelings to Silver who rejected her. He said he prefers their friendship the way it is because he doesn't see her in a romantic way.

Leaf assumed this is because Silver doesn't look at anyone in any way. The closest person to Silver is Leaf. He doesn't know what romantic feelings are because he's never experienced them before. For all Leaf knows, Silver could like her, but he doesn't know it. She's been trying to make him jealous by getting with other men. Sometimes, Silver will lecture her, though he claims it's because he cares for her as a friend rather than being jealous.

Nevertheless, everytime he wants to hang out or calls, Leaf always answers. She hopes it will lead to what she's always wanted to hear from him. Silver won't even give dating her a chance due to fear that it'll ruin their friendship. He likes the relationships he has now, and he doesn't feel like he needs any romance. Gary knew about Leaf's crush on Silver, but he figured it was just a silly childhood one.

Despite Leaf's recent feelings for Gary, her feelings for Silver are stronger since they have been around longer. Thus, the brunette pushes him out of the gym. "You really want him?" Gary exclaims.

"I've always wanted him." Leaf doesn't catch feelings because she's already had them for someone else. She accepted that long ago. Her slightly apologetic green eyes lock with Gary's hurt and pissed viridian ones. "Sorry, Gare."

Gary angrily shakes his head. "Don't treat me like your past toys! I'm not them!" Gary has behaved this way to girls he's played in the past. It's how he knows Leaf isn't really sorry. She's just playing the game.

Leaf heads back inside her gym. Most of the men she's been with say the same thing after she gets rid of them. "Bye, Gary."

"I love you!" shouts the furious man whose eyes linger on Leaf as she freezes at the door.

Men have confessed to her plenty of times before, but she has never been affected by their words. She could always continue cutting them out of her life, but how come her heart is aching and beating rapidly right now? With her now sad eyes locked on Gary's desperate ones, she tells him, "You lost the game."

As Leaf locks up the gym again, Gary fights back his tears. He feels his chest aching immensely, like his heart just shattered. Seeing Leaf look at him through the glass door, he spats, "I hope you're happy now."

"I am." lies the brunette. She then turns to walk back into her office. Taking in a deep shaky breath, Leaf wipes at the tears that had escaped her eyes. Why did he confess? That ruined everything. Normally, Leaf loses all interest once men confess to her, but this time, she just feels like crying her heart out. This sucks.

Nevertheless, she quickly composes herself for when Silver arrives. She's always wanted the redhead, and she will try to get him again today. She needs to be successful because she doesn't have a fallback plan if Silver rejects her today. It'll take her a while to find someone she wants to play around with. Gary was her best player, and she just lost him. She should be feeling happy that he loves her because it means she won, but she doesn't.

Sinnoh

"I thought I'd find you out here." giggles the bluenette walking up behind the champion. He had sensed her, so he isn't surprised. Paul glances over quickly and then resumes training his Pokemon. Rolling her eyes, Dawn sits on the cool grass beside him. "You should speak when spoken to."

She knows he doesn't like being interrupted when he trains. However, Dawn needs a break from the wedding and Conway. With the wedding being next week, things have been very hectic. Guests are arriving from all over for Reggie and Maylene. Dawn spent the week solely focused on the wedding while Paul managed the guests. The two rarely saw one another except in passing.

As much as Dawn enjoys her boyfriend's company, sometimes she just wants to be alone. A lot of going on with the wedding and her job. Despite needing time to herself, Dawn ventured out in search of her friend who she also noticed was missing from the wedding planning. It's late at night, so few people are still up helping with the wedding. Dawn figured Paul would be training or hidden somewhere since she couldn't find him in his room.

She likes spending time with Paul because he doesn't talk much. He's a low maintenance friend. With Conway, she feels like she needs to entertain him as his girlfriend. Nonetheless, with Paul, Dawn can just quietly be beside him, and she won't feel awkward or boring because she knows it's what Paul prefers from people (if he has to be with them). Moreover, she's missed his company. They always have lots of fun together; well, she does.

Paul is still ignoring her as he trains his Ursaring and Torterra. The wedding is annoying. Reggie and Maylene are annoying. All these people suddenly showing up are annoying. Nevertheless, what he finds most annoying is this woman who just won't leave him alone. She has a boyfriend, so she shouldn't be hanging out alone with another man. Besides, Paul's chest aches too much when she's around, and he hates it.

All of these irritating wedding things is the reason he left the wedding planning as soon as he could. He needs to train to clear his mind and relax, though now he's bothered again. There was a time Paul enjoyed Dawn's company, but with the intense ache in his chest and the fact that she shouldn't be hanging out alone around him, Paul prefers to be strangers again. Life was a lot easier prior to her coming back into it.

"Paul?" Dawn's large curious midnight eyes gaze up at him.

A bead of sweat runs slowly down the side of his face. Dawn can see that he's slightly sweaty and panting. Paul really puts his all into training, so she doesn't mind that he isn't responding. Instead, she now chooses to admire the handsome man focused in his own world. Under the moonlight, Paul looks very attractive, though he is pretty attractive in broad daylight too. Something about the mysterious night really compliments him.

After some time, Ursaring staggers from exhaustion. "Stand down." Paul commands his Pokemon before they're enveloped in red beams into their pokeballs. While he enjoys training, he won't push his Pokemon too far. He knows better than to let out his frustrations on them.

Before he can walk back to the house, a hand grabs his leg, and he already knows whose it is. "Paul." the woman smiles up at him in obliviousness.

He doesn't want to look down at her. Paul knows once his eyes land on her midnight blue orbs, he's done for. He won't be able to control the rapid beating in his chest or the way his body just wants to be close to her. He'll want to capture those soft lips while holding her tightly. Closing his eyes tightly, Paul breathes out heavily through his nose. Stop it, Paul!

"Why haven't you talked to me yet?" It's been days since they last spoke. The last time they hung out was dancing before Conway came. Dawn blushes slightly remembering this. The two were very close to one another, and she doesn't know what came over her. Despite being with Conway, Dawn really wanted a closer look at Paul's face.

"Let me go." comes the gruff response.

"Paul-"

"Now." His tone is so cold. It makes her shiver, and her grip loosens, though it's not enough for him to want to walk away. It seems like she still wants him here, and he wants to be here too. He wants so much from her that he can't have. "Stop being troublesome."

"Did I do something wrong? Are you mad at me?" Dawn finally releases his leg to stand up. He won't look at her, but she wants to read his eyes. That's where she can see past his stoic exterior.

"I only gave you one rule of a relationship." He reminds her.

"And I said I'm not gonna stop being your friend just because I'm in a relationship, and you're a guy. Conway isn't insecure like that." she knowingly responds with her arms crossed as she still tries to get a peek at his face he keeps avoiding her from seeing.

"For now. He must be bothered by it."

"You don't know him." Paul hasn't even tried to speak or interact with Conway. Dawn knows Conway isn't who Paul thinks he is.

"Don't need to."

"You can't just judge people without getting to know them!" Dawn glares up in his face where she notices his eyes are closed. Is he tired? Frustrated? Why won't he look at her?

"I don't need to get to know them." Paul coolly replies.

Huffing out an annoyed breath, Dawn exclaims, "That's not a way to live, Paul! I want my boyfriend and friend to get along."

"You can't force people to get along." Paul prefers being alone. Life was better this way, and he's relieved to resume that lifestyle once this wedding is over. He won't have any reason to interact with her. Then this annoying ache in his chest will finally stop.

"Look at me." insists the woman. Why are his eyes still shut? Why won't he look at her? Why is he being so distant? What has she done?

Paul sighs and slowly opens his eyes to meet her furious blue ones. Usually, she'd be bubbly and happily gazing up at him. Never has he seen these angry orbs. "There. Now leave me alone."

"Why?" They haven't seen each other in over a week. Doesn't he miss hanging out with her too?

"We have no reason to be together anymore." He helped her get a good boyfriend to date, and she's almost done helping with this wedding.

Furrowing her brows, Dawn exclaims, "We're friends! We don't need reasons to hang out!"
"I don't have friends." Paul calmly replies. He just has Reggie and his Pokemon. Now, Maylene is a part of his life, but that doesn't mean he needs to force himself to be friends with Maylene.

Dawn feels her chest tighten at his words. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she stares at him with more intensity. "You don't mean that." All the time they've spent together must mean something to him right? She was having fun, and she thought he was. While they would first hang out under the guise of their deal, they would ultimately just spend time talking or doing other things.

"You don't know me." Paul's cold eyes glare down at her. She doesn't know him at all. She doesn't know that his life was simple without her. She doesn't know that she makes his heart beat faster. She doesn't know that she turns him into someone he doesn't recognize. She doesn't know him, and she makes him not know himself. This isn't the Paul Shinji he was comfortable with.

"What are you saying, Paul?" Dawn's voice quivers.

"We're strangers who work together. That's it."

She shakes her head in disbelief. "Why are you doing this? I thought we were friends."

"You thought wrong." He reminds her. Please just go already! He's finding it hard to keep up his cold demeanor, and he really doesn't want her hearing his heart beating. This ache is really intense too.

"Well, you're right!" Snaps the furious bluenette. "I don't know you! But I do know you're an emotionless loser who is gonna die alone! You know all these rules for a successful relationship, but they can't help you!"

Emotionless loser? Did she just call him a loser? Him. Paul Shinji. The reigning Sinnoh Champion. He is definitely not a loser. Emotionless, yes. A loser, no. "I'm not a loser."

"Yes you are!" Dawn shouts, making him furrow his brows. "You're a loser who hides behind his title and coldness but deep down, you're a lonely loser!"

Pissed, the champion glares down at her unwavering gaze. "At least I'm not throwing myself at everyone trying to get a second date."

Dawn is taken aback by his remark. He did not just use her weakness against her. That is rude and a low blow. She struggled with dating, which is why she entrusted him with help. It wasn't for him to use it against her in an argument. "You're an ass! Thank Arceus we're not friends!"

Seeing that he doesn't need to waste his breath anymore, Paul walks past her back to the house, leaving her alone in her thoughts. He's glad she isn't following him, which he half expected she would do. Nevertheless, things are better this way. This is exactly how everything was supposed to be. They can just go back to their professional relationship where they rarely interact.

Watching her with Conway this week has really been irritating Paul. He sees how happy she is with Conway, so Paul shouldn't intervene in her happiness. She may not know it, but Paul knows a man and woman can't be friends, especially when one of them is in a relationship. Therefore, he ended their friendship for her to be fully happy with her boyfriend.

She only got involved with Paul to find a good man. Now that she has one, Paul has done his job. He helped her find a good boyfriend, and she helped him with this annoying wedding. They can go back to enjoying their lives with those troublesome tasks done. However, why do they both feel worse than before all of this even started?