Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. Still. BUT Harry Potter comes out in three days! We we we so excited. Sorry, felt the need to quote Rebecca Black. Because it is coming out on Friday.

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Dawn shut the door to her bedroom and walked numbly to her bed and flopped face-down onto it. She lay there, thinking nothing. Trying to feel nothing.

Several minutes passed agonizingly slowly. I need to do something, Dawn thought lamely. To take my mind off this.

She heaved herself out of bed and padded to the door. She reached for a Pokéball – without looking at her hand (she didn't need to see the ring that now blemished her finger) – and continued out of her apartment. She walked up three flights of stairs without pausing, and pushed the door to the roof open.

Dawn took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She laughed to herself, thinking this is what I always do before a contest I'm really nervous for.

She opened her eyes and threw the Pokéball high in the air. Her Togekiss appeared in a flash of red light.

"Kiss!" the Pokémon cried, twirling once before floating down to Dawn's level.

"Hey, there, Togekiss," Dawn murmured, stroking the Pokémon's head. "It's been a while since you and I have practiced together, hasn't it?"

"Kiss," Togekiss agreed. She could tell something was bothering her trainer – perhaps a good, hard training session would make Dawn feel better. Besides, Togekiss has something she'd been hiding for a few days, waiting for the perfect time to show her trainer...

Togekiss soared into the air as Dawn watched, trying to think of a new way to show off Togekiss' unique beauty.

"Well, let's start with a warm-up, Togekiss!" Dawn called. "First, Aura Sphere!"

Togekiss loaded a ball of bright blue energy between the tips of her wings and then released it straight into the sky.

"Now, use Air Slash on that Aura Sphere!"

Togekiss sliced her wings through the air, shooting miniature sonicbooms at the now descending Aura Sphere. The two moves collided, and the Air Slash cut the Aura Sphere into a million pieces that fluttered down around Togekiss, giving her a pretty blue sparkle. Dawn nodded in approval.

"That's great, Togekiss!" Dawn smiled. "Now, use Safeguard!"

An eerie green shimmer surrounded Togekiss and the shattered Aura Sphere, which showed Togekiss cloaked in a sparkly green light.

"That looks good," Dawn muttered to herself. "Maybe I should do a twist of this in my next Contest..."

The green-blue shimmer was fading as Dawn watched her Pokémon twirl. Togekiss looked like she was about to do another move, which Dawn hadn't called for.

"Wait, Togek –"

Togekiss began spinning fast, and the Safeguard-Aura Sphere combination picked up again, making Togekiss looking hauntingly beautiful. As she spun, tiny bright golden stars began to appear around her. Dawn cocked her head. Togekiss couldn't use Swift...

"Kiiiiiss!" Togekiss gathered all of the little stars above her, and shot them down at a solitary tree on the roof. The stars circled the tree several times before shooting in and exploding in a bright gold, blue and silver light. Dawn stared in awe – it was one of the most beautiful moves she'd ever seen.

"Togekiss! That was amazing!" She cried, running forward and hugging the big flying-type Pokémon. Togekiss smiled, happy that she could take Dawn's mind off of what was troubling her. "What move was that?"

She didn't have her Pokédex with her, but she knew that wasn't a Swift attack. She thought back to the Contests and other battles she'd had over the past ten years, trying to match this attack with one she'd seen before. She couldn't recall seeing anything quite like this, though. "Hang on just one second, Togekiss, I'll be right back."

Dawn ran down the three flights of stairs and rushed into her apartment. She snatched her Pokédex from her bag and hurried back upstairs to the roof.

"Okay, can you use that last move one more time?" Dawn asked. Togekiss rose back into the air and repeated the beautiful Swift-like move.

"Last Resort," Dawn's Pokédex chirped. "A damage-dealing move that cannot be used until all of the user's other moves have been fully executed at least once during a battle."

"Wow," Dawn breathed. "Togekiss! It's so great that you've learned this new move! It's so pretty.. I guess because we're not using it in a battle, you didn't have to use all your moves before Last Resort. Togekiss, let's use that in out next appeals round! We'll win it for sure with this combination we just tried out."

Dawn and Togekiss spent several more minutes working to perfect the combination before Dawn decided to let her Pokémon rest.

"Thanks, Togekiss," Dawn sighed. "You were fantastic."

Dawn stood on the roof and closed her eyes, smiling, feeling the way only coming up with a new combination made her feel.

Great that it could happen today, too. I really needed a pick-me-up...

She opened her eyes unhappily. I can't keep avoiding this. I'm engaged. I. Am. Engaged.

Dawn knew the thought of being engaged was supposed to make her happy. Spending the rest of her life with someone was supposed to be the greatest adventure of one's life. Well this certainly will be an adventure, Dawn thought drily.

Dawn took a deep breath and looked down at her hand, and the ring that lay nestled between her pinky and middle fingers. It was the first time she'd looked at it, really. It was a simple silver band with one circular diamond. She blinked.

It was beautiful. She hated it.

That miserable idiot, Dawn screamed in her mind.

She turned around and stomped down the stairs to her apartment. She dropped Togekiss' Pokéball into her bag with the others, and went back to the kitchen. It still looked awful – May clearly hadn't tried to clean up while Dawn had met with Paul.

I'll work on the poffins, Dawn decided. Just get life back to normal. Or... As normal as it'll ever be again.

She released her Pokémon and turned on some loud music. Piplup and Lopunny exchanged a look. They knew something was really wrong with Dawn by her face and mannerisms.. But they didn't know what.

Dawn resumed her search of Figy berries, finding them at the very back of the top shelf of one of her cabinets. She turned on the stove and added her usual ingredients and left them to boil. She then pulled out a bowl and spoon and opened the jar of Figy berries. They smelled just right. She emptied the soft berries into the bowl and methodically crushed them with the back of the spoon. The familiar rhythm calmed her down, and allowed her to think about the day almost objectively. Almost.

So, she was engaged. No big deal, really. Well, except that she was engaged to Paul, a man she didn't love. She didn't even like him. But, honestly, it was just an engagement. That was it. They didn't have to get married, technically. And even if they did marry, they could get divorced as easily as they got engaged.

No need to worry, really, Dawn thought as she dumped the pulverized Figy berries into the poffin batter. She stirred the mixture carefully and contemplated calling her friends to tell them she was engaged, to avoid Zoey's hurt feelings and Ash's anger at finding out from the press.

I'll call them a little later. Still tonight, before the press releases it in the morning... But after I talk to Paul.

Dawn continued stirring the poffin batter as she thought about what she would say to Paul when she saw him.

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A/N: I know Togekiss can't learn new moves. But I like Last Resort. So yeah. And this chapter was really short, so I'll update the next one later today. Maybe tomorrow.