Chapter 12: Love Trouble
The group spent the next several days hiking through the forest. Nothing eventful happened until they decided to take a break by the river late one morning. They were approaching the water when they saw two people who seemed quite familiar with their backs to them.
"Hey, isn't that Dawn and Kenny?" Shelly said.
"I think it is," Gary agreed.
The two people turned around and noticed the group. Sure enough, it was their friends. "Oh, hey guys!" Dawn said, waving as the group approached.
"Hey, Dawn," Shelly said, "hey, Kenny."
"What are you doing here?" Kenny asked.
"We're on our way to Castelia City for my gym battle," Dani replied.
"And my contest," Shelly added. "Will you two be there?"
Kenny shook his head. "We're just spending some time in the forest to train so we'll be even more prepared for our next contest."
"That's kind of what I'm doing," Gabri said.
"It can be good to take a break and focus on training," Gary said.
Dawn smiled. "Exactly. Hey, Shelly, how about you and I have a contest battle right now? It would be great practice! Plus, I need to get back at you for our last battle."
Shelly smirked. "Sure. Is one on one good?"
"That works for me. You can choose your Pokemon first."
Shelly handed her egg to Gary, and the two girls headed to a grassy area while their friends stood on the side to watch. The middle sister thought for a second before pulling out a Pokeball. "Come on out, Paws!" Her Meowth appeared with a flash of light.
"Let's go, Pachirisu!" Dawn said as she threw a Pokeball in the air. A happy looking squirrel appeared in front of her.
Just then, there was a flash of light by Gabri, and Cashew the Emolga appeared in the air. He flew up to Gabri's shoulder and stared at the Pachirisu. "Emolg?"
Gabri blinked. "Cashew?"
Gary smirked. "I think he thinks Pachirisu is cute."
Gabri glanced at the flying squirrel on her shoulder. "Is this true?"
"Emo!" Cashew said enthusiastically.
Pachirisu looked over at the Emolga curiously. "Pachi pa?"
"You can talk to him later," Dawn said. "Now it's time to battle!"
"Right!" Shelly agreed. "Paws, use Scratch!"
"Pachirisu, dodge it and use Discharge!"
Paws raced towards the Pachirisu. The electric type dashed out of the way with great speed. Then she released sparks of electricity from her cheeks, and one of them hit the Meowth.
Shelly was not pleased by the start of this battle. "Hang in there, Paws. Use Fake Out!" She watched as the Meowth clapped his paws, sending a wave of air at the Pachirisu, pushing her onto her back. It would take her a moment to recover, so now was their chance! "Now Growl and use Bite!"
While the Pachirisu was down, Paws dashed forward while growling. When he got close, he bounced on the squirrel and bit into her back. The electric type cried out in pain and shook her body until the Meowth released her.
"Great job, Paws. Now Scratch!"
"Super Fang!" Dawn countered.
"Dodge that!"
Pachirisu's fangs grew larger and started to glow. Paws dashed out of her way. He rounded her and extended his claws, slashing her. The Pachirisu tripped and fell to the ground.
"Now use Fake Out," said Shelly.
"Sweet Kiss," Dawn said.
Before Paws could attack, Pachirisu kissed the air, sending a heart towards the Meowth. Paws immediately seemed to be in a daze, looking at his opponent loving.
"No," Shelly said with greeted teeth.
"Emolga!" Cashew complained from Gabri's shoulder.
Dawn smirked. "Pachirisu, use Spark!"
Still close to the Meowth, Pachirisu let out sparks of electricity that struck Paws, causing him to cry out before falling to the ground, fainted.
"Paws is unable to battle," Kenny said. "Pachirisu and Dawn are the winners!" He seemed pleased about this.
Pachirisu jumped up and down for joy. Cashew flew down to her to congratulate her. Dawn smiled as she walked up to her Pokemon. "Great job, Pachirisu."
"Thanks for trying, Paws," Shelly said, returning the Meowth to his Pokeball. Then she gave Dawn a slight smile. "Good battle."
Dawn nodded. "Thanks. It was fun."
"Is anyone hungry?" Gary said. "I can start cooking us some lunch."
"Ooo... can I help?" Dawn said eagerly.
Gary smiled at her. "Sure."
"The rest of you can relax." Dawn winked at Shelly before walking over to Gary and Gogoat.
Gabri blinked at Dani and Kenny. "What was that about?"
Dani shrugged. "Who knows? Anyway, I'm going to get in some quick training with Mo before lunch." The Cyndaquil on her shoulder smiled as she walked away.
"Oh, ok," Gabri said, watching her leave. Now she was alone with Kenny, which was a little awkward for her. When she looked at him, she saw him watching Dawn and Gary with a small frown.
"You didn't think she likes him, do you?" he said.
Gabri looked at him in surprise. "No. Why?"
"Oh. I - I was just wondering." He blushed and looked away.
Gabri raised her eyebrows at him. She was usually not good at telling when people liked each other, but Kenny was being quite obvious. "Uh huh..."
The boy sighed. "Fine; maybe I do. I don't think she feels the same way about me, though."
"Are you sure?"
"Well, she's never given any indication that she likes me as more than a friend, though she agreed to go on a journey with me..."
Gabri thought about her sister Dani, and she knew what to tell the boy. "Sometimes it takes girls awhile to realize they like a guy. Often they don't know it until the idea is suggested to them. Do you want me to talk to her for you?"
"No, that's ok," Kenny said quickly. "I should tell her myself... but not now."
Gabri nodded. "Tell her when you're ready. For now, focus on showing her that you care."
Kenny smiled slightly. "Thanks for the talk, Gabri."
"You're welcome." That had gone better than she thought it would. Maybe this journey was making it easier for her to talk to strangers. She was excited at the thought of making new friends!
The group of friends had a nice lunch, and afterwards, they decided to all take a break and hang out near the river. Shelly found herself talking to Dawn alone by the water. "You and Gary cooked well," she said slowly.
Dawn smiled. "Thanks. I couldn't really tell if he likes you, but he at least wants to be your friend."
Shelly blinked in surprise. "You talked about me?"
"Of course! That's why I volunteered to cook with him. You still like him, right?"
The pink-haired girl nodded. "Yeah. I think I'm getting better at being friends with him. I talk to him more."
"That's great! Just keep it up. He'll be loving you soon."
Shelly smiled slightly. "Right." That was her hope. She would work to achieve her goal!
Meanwhile, Dani and Gary were chatting further away from the area. Mo sat near Gogoat watching his trainer's Eevee egg. Dani looked around at the trees with a small smile on her face. "This place sure is beautiful," she said.
"It is," Gary agreed. He paused before continuing. "Do you want to go explore it a bit before it gets dark? We never really get to stray from the path."
Dani brightened at the idea. "Sure!" It was much different to explore a forest than to walk through it because they were trying to get to a destination. She glanced behind her at the two Pokemon as she started to follow Gary. "You two keep watch over that egg."
"Cynda!" Mo called after her.
Gabri and Kenny had been standing nearby, and they had heard the plans of exploration. The youngest girl was about to say something when Shelly and Dawn walked over to them. "Where did Gary go?" Shelly asked.
Gabri hesitated before responding. "He and Dani are going to explore the forest."
Shelly blinked in surprise. "What? Alone?"
Dawn glanced at Kenny, who just shrugged. "I'm sure it doesn't mean anything," the girl said.
"I still don't like it," Shelly muttered.
"You like Gary?" Kenny said.
Shelly bit her lip and nodded.
"Dani doesn't like Gary like that," Gabri said slowly.
"But what is Gary likes her?" her sister countered. "She could naively encourage him."
"You just have to get him to like you first," Dawn said encouragingly.
Shelly sighed. "I guess so."
Gabri and Kenny exchanged a look. They could sense trouble.
"Are you glad you decided to come on a journey with us?" Dani asked Gary as the two of them walked together through the forest.
"Of course I am," Gary said. "It has been a lot of fun traveling with you guys. I have not had much of a chance to make friends other than professors, so it's been good to get to know you."
Dani smiled. "It's been great for us to get to know you as well."
Gary smiled in return. Several minutes passed before he spoke again. "You know, this is the first time we've ever truly been alone. Mo is not even with us."
Dani bit her lip and glanced at the ground as she walked. Why would he mention that? "I guess so."
"Do you think people act differently when they're with a person alone than with others?"
Dani looked at him in surprise. "I've never really thought about that. I suppose it depends on the people involved... and the topics being discussed."
"That makes sense. I think it's easier to get to know who people really are when they're alone."
Dani wondered why he was looking at her that way, though she did not mind that much. "You want to get to know me?" The thought made her happy.
"Of course. I think you're a great girl."
This admission pleased her. He had complimented her in the past, but it had always been based on her skills as a trainer. This was the first time he had really shown that he wanted to connect with her as a person, and it made her happy. "I think you're a great guy."
"Thanks, Dani."
The way he was smiling and looking into her eyes made it hard for her to look away. She only snapped her head forward when she saw out of the corner of her eye that she was going to walk into a tree. Then the moment was broken, and they continued on in silence, though it was a comfortable silence.
"It's getting dark," Gary finally said to break the silence. "We should head back."
"Yeah," Dani said. "We don't want everyone else to worry." They turned around and began the trek back to the campsite.
When they got back to the river, they found that Kenny and Shelly were already cooking dinner. "Smells good," Gary called out to them.
Shelly glanced at him quickly and looked away. "Thanks," she said softly.
Mo ran over to Dani and climbed up onto her shoulder. His trainer chuckled lightly. "I missed you too."
Gabri walked over to her older sister, seeming somewhat hesitant. "Um, can I talk to you for a minute?" her eyes shown with concern and uncertainty.
Dani blinked. "Sure." The two of them stepped off to the side so they could talk in private. "What is it?"
"Uh, well, maybe you should be more careful of spending time alone with Gary. Shelly likes him, and you're making her think that you two like each other."
Dani frowned. "That's crazy. We don't like each other, and I'm not going to stop spending time with him just because Shelly has some crazy notions!"
"I'm just saying you should be careful how you present yourself."
Dani brushed her off with a wave of her hand. "Shell should mind her own business. I don't have to answer to her." She walked away, feeling irritated at the conversation. What a way to ruin a great afternoon.
Gabri sighed as she watched her leave. Something told her that her sister might actually like Gary as more than a friend, and if that was the case, there was definitely trouble on the horizon.
"It was nice running into you guys," Gary said to Dawn and Kenny the next morning. His group was already set to leave, but the other two were planning on staying by the river a little longer.
"Yeah, we had a good time," Dawn said. "I hope to see all of you soon!"
"Us too," Dani said, waving as she and the others turned to leave.
"Bye!" Kenny called.
"See you later!" Gabri said.
"I can't wait to get to Castelia City!" Dani said as she bounded forward.
Gary chuckled as he sped up as well, his hand on Gogoat's back. "Don't get too far ahead."
Shelly purposefully slowed down and pulled on Gabri's sleeve to make her do the same. "I have an idea," she whispered to her.
Gabri glanced at her and blinked. "What are you talking about?"
"I just have to get Dani to like someone other than Gary," she replied. "How about Paul? She seemed to like him." She had no idea why, but that did not concern her at the moment.
Gabri felt uneasy about this plan. "I don't know... Shouldn't Dani be allowed to like whoever she wants?"
"Not if it will conflict with who I like! Besides, it seems like she already likes Paul, but she needs a push towards him. You seem to like him as a friend, so you should help get them together."
Gabri frowned. "Even if I wanted to, I'm not a matchmaker."
"Just casually mention the idea to her, ok?" Shelly pleaded with her with sad eyes.
Gabri thought about it for a minute before responding. "Fine. I'll try."
Shelly grinned and hugged her form the side. "Thanks! You're the best."
Gabri rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever." She had a bad feeling about this, but what could she do?
