Sorry about the year-long wait. Writer's block and rewrites hit this chapter hard. I wanted to be sure that this served as a bridge to the next few chapters, as well as the one I think everybody is looking forward to.

Also, despite the name of the chapter, I promise you there will be no singing of any Disney songs in this chapter!

Enjoy!

"Are you alright, Paul?" asked Dawn, as Paul was pushing his way through the snowy path.

"Why wouldn't I be?" asked Paul.

"You're just looking really tired right now."

"I'm...not tired," Paul said, as he struggled on.

"Yes, you are! You sound out of breath!"

"It's because...we're at a higher altitude. That's why...it's harder to breathe."

"Really? Because I can breathe just fine. Come on, Paul. We'll just have to walk the rest of the way."

"I can...make it," panted Paul.

"Oh don't be stubborn!" snapped Dawn. "You know you can't pedal your way through the snow."

"Yes...I...can," wheezed Paul. "Just...watch me!"

Despite Dawn's objections, Paul tried his hardest to keep on going. But the more he tried to push himself, the slower he got. He found the bike's front wheel sinking deeper into the snow, which was getting deeper and deeper with every turn.

Paul and Dawn were making their way towards Snowpoint City onboard Paul's rental bike. After the fiasco their Pokémon caused last night at the Browncliff Town movie theater, Paul and Dawn had quickly slipped away and left early in the morning before the police found out that it was their Pokémon that started the riot.

From the moment they left Browncliff Town, Paul and Dawn refused to say a word to one another. The very few times they did, it was only to argue about whose fault it was and whose Pokémon were more poorly-behaved.

Eventually, Dawn became fed up with Paul's stubborn attitude. She jumped off the back of the bike and walked right past him. "Alright, I guess I'll meet you in Snowpoint City," she said, annoyed.

Dawn walked farther ahead of Paul without turning back to check on him. After a few minutes, she heard what sounded like Paul throwing the bike to the ground and kicking it. She stopped in her tracks and listened to the sounds of Paul's footsteps in the snow.

Stomping his feet angrily in the snow, Paul walked right past her, looking very angry. "Don't say anything!" he snapped.

"What happened to your bike?" asked Dawn.

Paul didn't reply. He just kept on going. Dawn crossed her arms angrily and sighed. "Really? You're gonna give me the silent treatment?!" she asked, angrily.

Paul said nothing and continued on his way, refusing to even look at Dawn. "Don't you have a deposit on that bike?" asked Dawn.

"I said don't talk to me!" argued Paul. "It would be best for both of us! Just be quiet until we get to the next Pokémon Center."

Dawn stomped her feet angrily. Her face was starting to turn red. "You know what?! That's fine by me!" she said, angrily. "But don't come crying to me if you lose the deposit on the bike because you were too stubborn to go back and pick it up."

The two of them walked a few steps before Paul suddenly stopped in his place. He quickly walked back to where he threw his bike down and picked it up off the ground. "That's what I thought," said Dawn.

"Didn't I tell you to not talk to me?" Paul asked, angrily.

Since the snow was too deep for him to pedal through, he had no choice but to get off and push the bike manually. But even as he pushed the bike, the wheels kept sinking into the snow and getting stuck. This only frustrated Paul even more than he already was.

Dawn kept her eyes forward, not bothering to look towards Paul's way. Nevertheless, she could hear Paul cursing under his breath every time his bike stuck in the snow.

Dawn let out a frustrated sigh as she and Paul trudged through the snow. As she kicked the snow away with her boots, Dawn suddenly had an idea. She looked back up and saw that Paul wasn't too far ahead. She kneeled down and quickly scooped up some snow in her hands.

Paul continued walking onwards, refusing to slow down or stop for Dawn. He kept his eyes forward, not looking back for even a moment. He was determined to make it to Snowpoint City without any arguments or trouble.

Suddenly, he felt something soft hit him in the shoulders. Paul wasn't too bothered by it. He just rolled his eyes before he kept on going. But then he felt something hit him on the back of his head.

Paul turned around and glared at Dawn, who was holding a dozen snowballs in her left arm. "Really?" he asked, annoyed.

Dawn's only response was to throw another snowball, this time right at his face. Paul dropped the bike and quickly put his hand up to block the snowball from hitting his face. "That's what you get for being a jerk " scolded Dawn.

"Throwing snowballs? Really? What are you, five years old?" Paul asked.

Paul quickly dodged as Dawn threw more snowballs at him. "Okay seriously, knock it off!" he yelled. But Dawn continued the assault until Paul was brought down to his knees. Paul knew there was only one way to deal with Dawn's beahvior. "Alright, that's it," he said.

Paul reached down and packed as much snow as he could into a snowball. He then threw it at Dawn, who quickly stepped out of the way, narrowly missing the snowball.

"Oh, now you want to play along?" she asked, as she threw another snowball. "Who's the five-year-old now?"

"You started it," argued Paul, as he prepared another snowball. He then threw it at Dawn, who only jumped out of the way. "Wow, you're terrible at this," she said, taunting him.

The two of them then spent the next few moments throwing snowballs at one another. At first, they both did it to get back at each other. However, after a few minutes of running around and playfully trying to hit each other, they slowly felt less and less angry at one another.

"Alright! This one is going right for your head!" shouted Dawn.

Before Paul had time to react, Dawn threw another snowball at him. The snowball hit him right in his eye! Paul let out a yelp as he grabbed his eye and fell to the ground. He began groaning as he writhed in pain on the ground. He had his face covered. "Oh come on, Paul," Dawn said, unimpressed. "It's snow. It didn't hurt that much."

Paul didn't reply back. He just lied on the ground, covering his eye and wincing in pain. Dawn grew worried as she realized that Paul wasn't joking around. "Paul?" Dawn asked, worriedly.

She dropped whatever snowballs she had left and raced over to Paul's side. "I'm sorry! It was just a snowball!" she said, frantically. "I didn't think it would hurt that much! Here, let me see it."

Right as she got close to him, Paul quickly shot up and threw a snowball right in Dawn's face. Dawn was caught off-guard and tripped over her feet. Wasting no time, Paul quickly threw another snowball at Dawn for good measure. Dawn looked up and saw that Paul was fine. "Ha! I finally got you!" Paul said, proudly.

"That was a dirty trick!" scolded Dawn.

"Maybe, but I finally got you with a snowball."

Dawn only glared angrily at Paul, not amused at being deceived by him. To her surprise, Paul began laughing. "You think that was funny?" Dawn asked, confused.

"No, it's not that," he laughed. "It's just...what are we doing? We're throwing snowballs at each other like a bunch of little kids."

Dawn couldn't help but smile a little bit. She stood up and brushed the snow off her clothes. "That was kinda fun, wasn't it?" she asked.

"Yeah, a little," said Paul. "Last time I had a snowball fight was with Reggie when we were kids. We don't get too much snow in Veilstone City."

"I hope you had better aim as a kid because you were terrible just now," said Dawn.

"Hey, I managed to get you with that last one."

"Only because you tricked me!"

Paul took a deep breath and regained his composure. "That was entertaining," he said, brushing the snow off his clothes. "But we should probably get going, unless you want to sleep in the snow…"

"No way!" protested Dawn. "I'm not sleeping in this cold! Let's go!"

Paul picked up his bike and the two of them started walking up the snowy path towards Snowpoint City. Unlike before, this time the two of them were in a much better mood.

Along the way, Paul noticed the clothes that Dawn was wearing, a maroon jacket and a puffy white scarf. "You're wearing the clothes I bought you yesterday?" he asked.

"Of course," replied Dawn. "Why do you ask?"

"I didn't think you'd wear them, that's all."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I thought you were angry at me."

"Oh."

There was a long silence between the two as they suddenly remembered that they were both supposed to be mad at each other. Their little snowball fight had caused them to forget momentarily.

Dawn took a deep breath. "Listen, Paul," she said. "About last night…"

"Alright, I'm sorry, okay?" said Paul.

Dawn was surprised to hear Paul apologize first. "Wha?" Dawn asked, confused.

"You're not to blame for what happened," continued Paul, "I know my Pokémon can be...difficult. And most of that is my fault. I never really taught my Pokémon how to be nice to other Pokémon. Torterra seems to be the only one whose manageable."

Dawn didn't quite know what to say. It was only about ten hours ago that Paul was putting the blame on her. She was certain that Paul would continue doing so for the rest of the day. "Well...it was kinda my fault too," she said. "As much as I love my Pokémon, I can admit they can be a little immature. I try my best to keep them in line, but they can be a handful, especially Buneary and Pachirisu."

They both then let out a frustrated sigh. "I don't know what else we can do," said Dawn. "I suppose my Pokémon could use some more discipline…"

"I don't know," Paul said. "You don't seem like the discipline type to me."

"Kinda like how I don't see you as the type to bake poffins or make costumes for your Pokémon?"

"Are you kidding me? They would look terrible in costumes. And I don't know anything about Poffins."

As they walked along the path, Paul and Dawn began thinking of ways that they could get their Pokémon to get along with each other. "I got it! I think we should have our Pokémon battle each other in one massive brawl!" suggested Paul.

"It's always battling with you, isn't it?" Dawn asked.

"I just think," explained Paul, "maybe if we have the Pokémon battle each other and get all the aggression out of their system, they'll get along better."

"Oh yes, because my Pokémon are the aggressive ones," Dawn said, sarcastically.

Dawn didn't like the idea of having her Pokémon battle Paul's Pokémon, especially since she knew Paul's Pokémon were far more powerful than hers. They wouldn't stand a chance against them.

Dawn began kicking at the snow at her feet. "Sure is a lot of snow here," Dawn said.

"Nothing gets by you, huh?" replied Paul.

"I wonder if there's enough snow to build a snowman."

"I don't know, maybe."

Suddenly, Dawn grabbed Paul's hand and held him back. "Huh?" Paul asked. "What is it?"

Dawn looked Paul right in the eye and smiled. "Paul...do you want to build a snowman?"

Dawn pushed the snowball all around, gathering more snow to make it bigger. "You mean to tell me you've never made a snowman before?" Dawn asked, surprised.

"Like I said, I don't usually see snow very often," explained Paul. "And the times I did, it was too cold and I never wanted to go outside."

"Oh come on, you could not have been that miserable of a child," she replied.

She then stopped in front of Paul, her snowball now reaching up to the bottom of her skirt. Dawn grinned and then placed her hand on Paul's shoulder. "Well mister, today we're going to build a snowman!" she said, proudly.

"Uh...okay," Paul said, hesitantly.

"So, I just finished making the bottom part," Dawn said, pointing to her newly-formed snowball. "Now, you got to make the top part."

Paul kneeled down and created a small little snowball. He rolled the ball around, gathering up more snow and making the snowball bigger. Once it was big enough to be the head, Paul reached down and picked it up. But when he tried to put it on top of the snowman's body, the snowball crumbled in his hands. Paul cursed loudly as the snowball broke into pieces and fell to the ground. "Sorry, let me try that again," he said.

Paul reached down and quickly made another snowball, just like the one he made before. He then slowly picked it off the ground, making sure not to squeeze too tightly, or else it'll break apart in his hands again.

He was close to putting it in place on top of the snowman's body when the snowball unexpectedly split into pieces again. "Seriously?!" Paul shouted, angrily. "I was being careful that time!"

"It's okay Paul," reassured Dawn. "Here, let me help you."

"It's fine, I got it," Paul said, trying to shoo her away.

"Oh come on, Paul! I'll help you."

The two of them created another snowball, which was about the same size as the last one he made. When it came time to put it on top of the body, both Paul and Dawn worked together to lift up the snowball. "Steady now," Dawn said, as they carefully fitted the snowball on top of the other snowball. "There we are! Now we just need to find some sticks to use for arms."

They then went and found some sticks to use as arms and then used a bunch of rocks for its eyes and mouth. After putting the finishing touches on their snowman, Dawn and Paul took a step back to admire their handiwork. "And that's how you build a snowman. So what do you think?" asked Dawn.

Paul looked over the very basic-looking snowman. "Not...bad," he said. "But I feel like it could be better. It needs something...extra."

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked, confused.

Dawn looked at their snowman and thought long and hard about how it looked.

Finally, Dawn had an idea. "I know!" she exclaimed, happily. She quickly went into her bag and found her old pink scarf. She then walked up and wrapped the scarf around the snowman's neck. "What are you doing?" Paul asked.

"You said it needed something extra, right?" Dawn asked.

"But isn't that the pink scarf you usually wear?"

"Well, I figured since you bought me this new scarf, I can just use my old one for the snowman. Besides, the pink color makes it stand out, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, but...this is supposed to be a boy snowman, right? I mean, a male snowman wearing a pink scarf..."

"Oh, don't start with that," replied Dawn.

Paul had to admit that Dawn had a good point. Her old pink scarf helped to make the snowman stand out from the cold, white environment around it. "I don't know, I still think it needs something else," murmured Paul.

"Like what?" Dawn asked, confused. With her old scarf being the only piece of clothing that could be considered expendable, she couldn't think of anything else that they had to spare.

Paul thought hard about the snowman's appearance when he then came up with an idea. "I got it," he said, somewhat happily.

All of a sudden, Paul swiped Dawn's hat off her head. Dawn quickly put her hands, covering her now-bare head. "Paul, what are you doing?!" she asked, surprised.

Paul ignored his girlfriend's protests and placed her hat on top of the snowman's head. Paul backed away and smiled. With her scarf wrapped around its neck and her hat adorning its head, the snowman looked much more like Dawn. "Check it out," Paul said. "It's a Snow Dawn!"

Dawn pouted angrily. She thought that Paul was making fun of her. However, once she got a good look at their snowman, Dawn couldn't help but smile. "It does sorta look like me, doesn't it?" Dawn asked. "It's kinda cute."

Paul then had another idea. He quickly reached down and put together two more snowballs on top of each other, placing them right next to the Snow Dawn. "What are you doing?" Dawn asked.

Paul grabbed a stick and used it to etch in a few details into the small snowman, such as wide eyes and flippers. Dawn laughed as she caught on to what he was doing. "Is that supposed to be Piplup?" she asked, happily.

"That's what I'm trying to go for," said Paul.

Paul then stood back up. The "Snow Piplup" was very small, only standing at a foot tall, similar to a real Piplup. The beak, eyes, and flippers were etched into its body. "That's actually not bad," Dawn said. "Are you sure you've never built a snowman before?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," answered Paul. "I guess I just have a knack for it."

It was now Dawn's turn to have an idea. She rolled up two more large snowballs and placed on top of one another right next to the Snow Dawn. Paul quickly deduced what she was trying to do. "Are you really going to make a Snowman version of me?" he asked.

"Why not?" Dawn asked, cheerfully. "Unless you want the snowman version of me to be lonely…"

Paul decided to chip in and help. He found two more sticks to use for the Snow Paul's arms. Dawn also used rocks to create the face and eyes. But Paul noticed something about the face. "Why does he look so grumpy?" he asked, concerned.

"I just wanted it to be realistic," she teased.

"Hey!" protested Paul.

Dawn only laughed. She then went to work making a small Snow Turtwig to go along with the Snow Paul. Much like Paul did with the Snow Piplup, Dawn used a stick to etch in details such as Turtwig's shell and his large jaw. Afterward, she placed the stick on top of the Snow Turtwig's head to mimic the small sapling that appears on a real Turtwig's head.

"Pretty good, huh?" asked Dawn.

"I'm surprised you actually made it look like Turtwig," said Paul.

"That's how I felt when you made that little Piplup."

The two of them looked at their creations. "Wow, our snowmen turned out pretty good, didn't it?" Dawn said, proudly.

"I still don't like that mine looks grumpy," said Paul.

Dawn smiled wickedly as she thought of another idea. "Maybe it's because he's cold," Dawn said, playfully.

"Well, of course he's cold. He's a snowman," Paul said, not picking up on Dawn's hint.

"Maybe he needs a jacket."

Suddenly, Dawn lunged at Paul and tugged at his purple jacket. "What the hell are you doing?" Paul asked, angrily.

"Come on, give me your jacket!" Dawn pleaded as she grabbed his collar.

"Are you crazy?! I'll freeze to death!"

"But it would look so cute!"

After a few more minutes struggling, Paul eventually gave up and let Dawn use his jacket to decorate the snowman version of him. He covered his arms, as he was left in only his blue T-shirt. He shivered every time the cold wind blew over him. "H-hurry up, will you?" Paul asked.

"Just a moment," replied Dawn. "I just want to make sure it looks right."

After carefully putting the stick arms through the sleeves and adjusting the jacket around the snowman's body, Dawn took a few steps back to admire her handiwork. "There! Now it looks more like you!" she said, happily.

Dawn then noticed the displeased look on Paul's face. "Haha, even the faces match now," she teased.

"Yeah, yeah, very funny," Paul replied, nonchalantly.

Dawn laughed again. She and Paul took another look at the snow couple and their Pokémon. "They sure make a cute couple, don't they?" Dawn asked.

"If only the snowman wasn't so grumpy," Paul said.

"He looks grumpy now, but…"

Dawn then wrapped herself around Paul's bare arm. Paul knew what she was implying. "I think after spending some more time with the snow woman, he'll relax a little bit."

Paul only shook his head. He started laughing quietly and covered his face with his free hand. "Hey, what's so funny?" Dawn asked.

"This is so corny," Paul said, giggling.

"It is not!" protested Dawn. "It's cute! And it's great that you're loosening up and doing fun stuff like this. You should do more often."

"I mean, I'm getting better at it, right?"

Dawn then thought back to the past few months that they've spent together. She remembered reteaching Paul how to swim at the Grand Lake Resort, taking down Team Galactic on the Sunmoon Islands, their date at the Eterna City Festival, and their movie date back in Browncliff Town (before their Pokémon ruined it). She couldn't help but smile at how far the two have gone since they started regularly seeing each other. "Yeah, yeah, you've gotten a lot better," sighed Dawn."

Dawn hugged Paul's arm more tightly. Paul smiled and placed his head on hers.

Their moment didn't last long, however, as the cold breeze wind chilled their bodies. "Okay, I need my jacket now," Paul said, frantically.

"My hat too. My hair is getting cold," complained Dawn.

Paul and Dawn carefully took back their clothes off the snowman. Dawn fixed her hat on her head while Paul zipped up his purple jacket. "That's better," Paul said, relieved.

He then turned towards Dawn. "Let's get going," he said.

"Right," replied Dawn.

So the two of them gathered their stuff and got ready to continue their journey. Paul then noticed that one of the snowmen still had Dawn's pink scarf around it. "Hey, aren't you going to take your scarf back too?" he asked.

Dawn looked back at Snow Dawn and saw that her pink scarf was still wrapped around its neck. She thought about taking it back, but she decided against it. "I think I'll let the snowman have it," said Dawn. "I think the old scarf really suits it. And besides, I have this one that you gave me. I'll be fine."

"I don't know how I feel about leaving the scarf behind," Paul said.

"If you want it for yourself, be my guest," joked Dawn.

"Why would I want it for myself?" Paul said, angrily. "Fine, we'll leave it for the snowman."

Paul and Dawn then went on their way towards the next city. Once they were out of sight, the wind picked up again, blowing hard at the two snowmen. Their stick arms swayed back and forth as the wind pushed them closer together until eventually, their hands were touching each other. For the rest of the day, the two snowmen held each other's hands. Two rocks that formed the Snow Paul's mouth were blown away, changing its expression from a grumpy one to a slightly-happier one.

TO BE CONTINUED...

A/N: I know this was much shorter than how my chapters usually turn out, but I didn't want the story to drag any longer. I felt this was a good place to stop and continue it to the next chapter.

Once again, I sincerely apologize for the long wait. Hopefully, the next chapter won't take a year to write. Of course, with all the big changes happening in my life right now, as well as Ikarishipping activity slowing down severely...I wouldn't hold me to that. But I will try to get the next chapter out faster.

Next time: Continuing their way to Snowpoint City, Paul and Dawn happen upon a new ski resort that has just opened up nearby Lake Acuity. After having to spend a night in the snow, Dawn is more than eager to spend a day at the ski resort, maybe even spend some time with Paul learning how to ski or snowboard.

At least she was...until she and Paul reunite with some old friends. What will they think of Dawn and Paul's relationship?