Dawson is a character based in Cornova's Pokewars alternate universe.
April 22nd
Dawson let out a loud yawn as he leaned back in the stadium's seats. His legs were up and resting on the chair in front of him as he reclined. In his hands was a large book he was currently leafing though. To his left his Shinx snoozed peacefully, Dawson's new egg resting near her, every so often waking up and shifting position before going back to her nap. Next to him sat Simon who was near constantly fidgeting as they waited.
The stadium was mostly empty with only a few other people sitting down or walking in. There was easily enough seating for several hundred people around the two trainers. The contest hall was designed not only for large crowds but for ideal viewing. Despite this Dawson managed to convince Simon to cut their training practice early in favor of getting good seats for Samantha's upcoming contest.
Dawson was doing his best to block out the boy's constant fidgeting by trying to focus on the book but it was proving to be impossible. Sighing he looked over at the antsy child and leveled a dissatisfied look at him. Simon immediately stopped moving and started talking.
"Dawson this is boring! We were doing so well training outside, why'd we have to come inside so early?" He said with a whine.
"We wanted to get good seats didn't we?" Dawson said, "Besides it was less training and more you stomping my Pokemon with little effort."
"That's not true." Simon said, "You are getting better."
"You and I both know you can't improve over the course of a day or two." Dawson replied.
"Well at least you have something to do, I don't have anything at all." Simon said.
Dawson sighed and rolled his eyes, "I warned you to bring something to do when we're waiting for the contest to start." The trainer said.
"I thought we'd be battling for longer then that." The boy said, "So what are you reading then."
"Supplemental research material." Dawson said.
"Supple- what?" Simon said giving the trainer a confused look.
"I'm studying." He said, "The classes constantly mentioned things I had no clue about. I'm looking them up so the next one we go to isn't as boring. I mean I can't believe they're talking about my Pokemon stabbing it's opponent, although the mental image is amusing."
"What? No Dawson that's STAB." Simon said.
"Yeah that, I'm just imagining my Turtwig fighting someone and pulling a knife on them." Dawson replied smiling.
"NO! It stands for Same-type attack bonus." The boy replied, "It's like how some Pokemon can use moves outside their type set. Like a Turtwig being taught rock smash. It can use the ability but it's not going to be as powerful as a fighting type using it."
"Oh." Dawson replied, "Why have I never heard of this? I know I'm not exactly the most up to date on Pokemon..."
"It's not really used outside the few Pokemon academies and schools." Simon said, "Most trainers don't use the word since the schools are somewhat out of touch with actual battling."
"Oh yeah that makes me feel like my time is being well spent." Dawson said, "nothing like taking classes that are considered out of touch with the real world."
"Hey they're not that bad. It's not like you're taking advanced classes anyways. Even if they are out of touch at least the basics are still useful. I mean you still have trouble with type weaknesses and strenghts." Simon said.
"Yeah yeah," Dawson replied dismissively, "Hardly matters now, the judges have arrived and it looks like the contest is about to start."
As the stadium filled the three judges entered and headed towards their seats. Dawson watched as they made their way to the booth that was in the front of the seats. Observing them he was surprised when Nurse Joy gave them a small wave. Both he and Simon quickly responded with their own.
"She apparently remembers us." Dawson said.
"Well we've been staying at the center for a while now." Simon said.
Next to Joy sat the two other judges. Immediately to her right was a short man in a suit. His hair was buzz cut and Dawson wasn't sure if he could see since he had yet to see the man open his eyes. Next to him was an older man, his graying hair signaling that, and he wore a red suit topped with a bow tie. Dawson's observations were cut short as the room went dark and a single spot light illuminated the center stage where the announcer stood.
"Welcome everyone to the Jubilife Pokemon contest. I hope everyone is ready to see our contestants give everything for the Jubilife Ribbon. I'm Marian and I'm thrilled to be your master of ceremonies, thank you all!" Marian said waving to the crowd, "Now let's introduce our judges. First is Mr. Contesta head of the judging committee and Pokemon contest director!"
Standing up the red suited judge waved to the crowd. "Thank you, I look forward to seeing some great teamwork between Pokemon and coordinators."
"Next up we have the president of the Pokemon fan club, Mr. Sukizo!" Marian said pointing her hand towards the short buzz cut man.
"Remarkable is the word." He said waving to the crowd, "Thanks."
"And last but not least is our own Jubilife city's Nurse Joy!" Marian said as Joy stood up.
"I can't wait to see all the wonderful Pokemon." She said waving.
"Now without further ado let's begin the contest! I can say with certainty that we're all eager to get this contest started." She said as the crowd cheered.
"Can say it with that much certainty..." Dawson said to himself crossing his arms, "But you'd be wrong."
"Is this seat taken?" A voice to the trainers side asked.
Dawson looked up to find a woman standing near the seat that held his Egg and snoozing Shinx. It was hard for him to tell but he guessed she was slightly taller then him. Her brown hair fell straight down below her shoulders and it was clear she spent a lot of time taking care of it. Dressed like she would fit in more in an casual office then the stadium. Dawson thought her face was attractive but in a very subdued way as not to draw attention unless someone wanted to look at her.
Pulling out his Pokeball before he was called out on looking he returned Shinx to her Pokeball and picked up the egg container, "Not at all," He said placing it in his lap.
As the woman sat down Simon leaned forwards, "Hi, I'm Simon this is Dawson." He said smiling at her.
A warm smile was returned as she greeted the young boy, "Nice to meet you Simon and Dawson I'm Amelia. I take it from your Pokemon and egg you two are trainers?" She asked.
"He is, I'm more of a chaperone then a trainer." Dawson replied.
Simon was about to say something else but was drowned out as the crowds began cheering at the start of the contest. He sat back in his seat and watched as contestant after contestant began showing what their Pokemon could do. The hall was lit up with the effects of Pokemon attacks as each contestant and their Pokemon gave it their all. After nearly an hour of coordinator displays and cheering crowds Dawson sighed and started slouching in his seat.
"They're not very good so far..." He said lazily.
"That's just because you don't like coordinating." Simon replied.
"Yeah I admit I think it's stupid but seriously nothing up there has really wowed me at all so far." He said watching as another contestant began their performance.
Next to them the woman had leaned forwards and had crossed her fingers under her nose. "Your friend is right." The woman said.
Simon looked over at her, "Are you a coordinator?" He asked.
"Yes." She said looking at him, "So far no one had really put forth an amazing performance. From a technical standpoint as well as a aesthetic one. The only one who's been close has been that gown wearing girl near the beginning who had her Starmie put on that aquatic psychic light show. The problem with her performance was it was all flash and no substance."
"It also looked a bit excessive." Dawson said.
"Shhh" Simon hissed, "Sam's on now."
Sure enough his sister had finally stepped onto the stage. She had put back on her Sunday clothes and was standing in the center of the stage. Crowd quieted as Samantha stood rooted to the spot. She clutched her Pokeball tightly to her chest while murmurs began to ripple though the crowd at her lack of movement.
"Contestant Samantha?" Marian asked.
"Ah! yes sorry!" She said readying her Pokeball. "Light up the floor Chimchar!"
Releasing her Pokemon from it's ball Chimchar leapt onto the sage accompanied by jets of flame from his Pokeball from the fire seal she had put on before. Landing with an acrobatic flip Chimchar awaited his orders from Samantha. Hesitating for several more seconds Dawson watched as she attempted to, from what he could see, gulp down whatever was causing her to seize up and outstreched a hand.
"Alright Chimchar, just like we practiced!" Samantha commanded.
With that cue the fire Pokemon started spinning rapidly, his body becoming wreathed in flame. In seconds a small tornado of fire had formed around Chimchar. With an acrobatic leap he jumped out of the center and began spinning again forming another tornado after the first. This continued three more times and in the end five fire spins occupied the stage.
Chimchar stood in the center it started forming another fire tornado, bigger then the others by a significant margin. As the center fire spin grew the others began moving on their own, getting drawn towards the center like water to a drain. Once the five spinning fire tornadoes got close to each other and the center one Chimchar was in they began to merge together. Each one spinning up the larger center one as they merged together to form one that nearly reached the stage lights.
"NOW Chimchar fury swipes!" Samantha called out over the roaring fire.
From the top of the pillar of fire Chimchar leapt out. As he hovered in the air for a second, his momentum wearing off, he angled his body downwards and began to rapidly slash at the roaring inferno. As gravity took hold his claw attacks began to cut into the fire. Each slash shaving slices off the top of the tornado. As the fire was cut off it would flare outwards for a brief second before burning out.
As Chimchar gained speed as he fell the slices of fire grew and grew each one flaring outwards with greater ferocity. The final slash sent a wall of fire spiraling outwards. As it reach the edge of the stage it burnt out and the front row audience was hit with a burst of hot air from the attack. In the center of the large scorch mark in the center stood Chimchar with his arms outstretched after landing in the center of the now dissipated fire tornado.
"A wonderful presentation by our young coordinator Samantha!" Marian said as the crowd cheered, "Now let's see what our judges think!"
Dawson leaned back in his seat as the judges gave their score, "Eight point one, Seven point six, and eight points flat... that amounts to a little under eight total." He said.
"Seven point nine total." Ameila said, "It wasn't a bad performance, but for someone just starting out it was a bit risky."
"What, how was it risky?" Simon asked.
"Fire is a dangerous element at the best of times." Dawson said.
"Yes, for new trainers if you don't know what you're doing it could easily spiral out of control." The woman added. "Your sister's flame tornado almost reached the lights at the top. If a wire had been damaged or the curtains caught on fire it might have been disastrous. As it was she lucked out."
Simon looked confused as the three of them watched Samantha head off stage, "But if she pulled it off why were her scores so low?" He asked.
Ameila sighed at the question, "For one her stage fright really set her back right at the start." She said, "Secondly the judges knew her fire tornado was risky, and thirdly she had almost no interactions with her Pokemon, it was just commands. She should be grateful she got the score she did."
"How do you two know so much about this?" Simon said, "I mean Dawson you don't even enjoy coordinating."
"True... but I know what I like." Dawson replied.
"As a coordinator you have to appeal to a very large audience." Ameila said, "That includes both people who enjoy the show and those that don't. Actually the latter is often more important because if you can give a performance they like it shows your skill that much better."
"Hey finalists are up." Dawson said as a large screen was lowered towards the stage.
"OH Samantha made it!" Simon said with joy.
"Well duh, not to bash on her skills but the competition wasn't really that fierce." Dawson replied.
"Yes." Ameila agreed, "The highest score is a eight point seven which isn't really that impressive."
"That was that psychedelic Starmie right?" Dawson asked.
"Yes, if your friend doesn't have anything other then her Chimchar the battle round will be difficult for her." Ameila said.
Simon looked somewhat nervous, "Well she has a Burmy." He said.
"A freshly caught Burmy, she has at most a half dozen battles with it." Dawson added.
"Hmm... even with my training regime a Burmy isn't exactly an ideal stand in." Ameila said.
"But she has Chimchar and he's really agile right?" Simon said.
"Well we're about to see what she does. Her first opponent is up." Dawson said indicating towards the stage where Samantha squared off with her opponent, "Thankfully it's not that rich kid and her Starmie."
The three watched as the battle began and Samantha and her opponent did their best to attack, defend, and dodge. All of this done while attempting to keep their moves crisp, clean, and beautiful. Her Chimchar was well suited to face the Munchlax used by her opponent as it's agility allowed it to dance circles around the slothful Pokemon. It was thankfully a short match as Samantha's opponent had scored even less then her and managed to both botch several smaller moves with her Munchlax and screw up her only chance to counter attack effectively.
Dawson found his attention slipping again as he watched. He barely cared to watch Samantha's match but now that the other two finalist were facing off he couldn't have been more disinterested. It was only the conversation between Simon and Ameila next to him that kept him watching. It also didn't help that he was out of his element as he watched the battles in front of him.
"That Starmie seems to enjoy just overpowering her opponents rather then going for grace." Ameila said.
"Can that work?" Simon asked.
"Sometimes, winning that way is valid but it's looked down on by other coordinators." Ameila said with, "If you win that way you might as well be a trainer."
"You say that like its a bad thing." Dawson replied sardonically.
He could see from the corner of his eyes Ameila bristle slightly, "Its not a bad thing but a coordinator's job is to please the audience, an audience that came to watch Pokemon at their most beautiful moments. Not just another match between trainers."
The conversation died down slightly as the finals started between the last two coordinators. Samantha had made it though with her win and the other trainer's Starmie had use sheer force to batter her opponent for her win. Marian stood in the center stage as both coordinators faced off.
"Well we've seen an impressive number of trainers and their Pokemon today all showing us what they can do." She started addressing the audience, "Now we've made it to our finals and of these two trainers one will take home the Jubilife Ribbon. To my left we have Samantha from Hearthome city who's Chimchar's acrobatic ability has impressed everyone here today in her debut contest. To my right we have Celestine from Alamos Town who's Starmie has wowed everyone today with it's power and force. So without further ado let's get ready for the Jubilife contest finals!"
Marian had barely stepped off the stage when the first attack was called out by Celestine, "Starmie water gun!"
With the force of a cannon ten shots of water burst from the tip of Starmie's star points. More complex then her previous attacks each stream of water was also angled in different directions. The crisscrossing water was then able to spread more effectively much like a shotgun. The resulting attack not only had impact but covered a surprisingly large area.
"Chimchar Flame wheel into the center of the water." Samantha commanded.
Dawson watched as the fire Pokemon surrounded himself in flames and dived into the very center of the water gun attack. The two attacks connected near in the center of the stage and a cloud of steam formed as the fire around Chimchar boiled the water attack. The audience could still see Starmie but Samantha's fire Pokemon had vanished into the cloud.
"Could Chimchar always use flame wheel?" Dawson asked.
"No, Samantha spent almost all the time we were in the trainer school teaching that to Chimchar." Simon replied.
"It was clever of her though." Ameila said, "The watergun attack covered a wider area but without being able to focus it meant it was weaker overall."
As they continued their commentary the battle unfolded before them. Chimchar had leapt out of the steam cloud and managed to land a clean hit with it's fury swipe attack. That and the avoidance of the water gun attack meant her opponent lost a fair amount of points overall. Her retaliation was as swift as the swift attack the water Pokemon used. Small stars shot forwards and sent Chimchar reeling back. Samantha's score dropped slightly as her Pokemon recovered and she readied another attack.
"Wait that didn't take many points off." Dawson said as he looked at the scoreboard.
"Swift is an attack that has a major advantage in that it almost always hits." Ameila said, "The only way to avoid a swift attack is to have it hit something else in most cases. Because of that it's scored less then other attacks."
The three watched as Chimchar launched a fire spin at his opponent. The flame tornado shot out from his mouth and flew across the stage catching the water Pokemon in an inferno of fire. As it surrounded Starmie Celestine had already shouted out her next order. The water Pokemon began to spin from inside the fire. As soon as it reached a sufficient speed water shot out from each of it's tips. It's own spinning wall of water contacted the fire wall around it and they both dissipated in steam.
This however left it blind as Chimchar leapt forwards on the attack. Darting though the steam it raked its claws across Starmie for a second time that match. Before the water Pokemon could respond Chimchar pushed off it's body and leapt back into the steam cloud. As Dawson watched he found himself amused by how Samantha's opponent began to react.
"Starmie use water gun on the cloud, get rid of it!" She shouted to her Pokemon.
"Poor girl is getting played." He said smiling.
Simon nodded in agreement, "She used to do to this to me all the time back home." He said watching as Starmie hit the cloud of steam with several streams of water.
"My opinion of your sister just went up a bit. If you can't win though strength make your opponent lose because of it." Dawson said.
As they watched the cloud only got bigger as the streams of water shot though it. From the center was a glowing aura which Dawson could only assume was Chimchar. Each shot that went into the cloud that hit the fire Pokemon's attack resulting in a larger cloud being formed.
"Now Chimchar, finish it! Fury swipes!" Samantha shouted.
"Its coming from the air like the last time, use Confusion above you!" Celestine commanded.
Tilting it's body upwards Starmie's center crystal upwards. Sending out a shock wave of purple energy. Unfortunately it's retaliation was predicted as the fire Pokemon darted out from below this time. Rolling out of the cloud he slid to a stop underneath Starmie he pushed off the ground with his legs and launched himself at the water Pokemon. With as much energy as he could mange he scratched the back of Starmie relentlessly.
Once his momentum began to die Chimchar grabbed Starmie in it's paws and pulled it to the ground with him. Moments before he landed he swung the water Pokemon towards the floor and slammed it into the ground. Landing and rolling away Chimchar stood ready as he watched Starmie struggle to get up, it's core flashing red in warning. After a few seconds trying to get up at it's owners command it collapsed onto the floor and the light in the center stopped flashing.
"And the winner though a technical knockout is Chimchar!" Marian said stepping back onto the stage.
At this announcement the crowd in the stadium exploded in cheers and applause at the result, "What a magnificent battle, both of you should be proud of yourselves." Mr. Contesta said clapping.
"Both of you were remarkable out there, be proud of your skill." Mr. Sukizo said nodding in agreement with the other judge.
"I agree it was a wonderful match." Nurse Joy added.
"And without further ado let's award our winner with her first Ribbon!" Marian said calling over Samantha.
Smiling and standing up Ameila looked over at Dawson and Simon, "Thank you for the conversation. I look forward to seeing how far you sister can go." She said leaving the seats for the exit.
"Well I think I'm going to follow her lead Simon." Dawson said getting up, "You and your sister can make it back to the Pokemon center right?"
"You don't want to stay to see her get her Ribbon?" Simon asked.
"Not my thing, I'm already pushing the limits of my tolerance for this by sitting though the entire contest and battle." Dawson said heading to the exit, "I also have a feeling your sister is going to be insufferable after this."
It didn't take him log to make it outside, the circular design of the building made exiting easy for large numbers of people. Walking out into the less crowded fresh air was a relief for him. Walking towards the Pokemon center he found an empty bench to sit down on. Placing the egg next to him he let out a sigh and looking up at sky, it's clear blue being slowly replaced with the first signs of dusk. it was due to his sky gazing that he never noticed someone approach him.
"Oh ho ho were you so enamored with me that you had to follow me out here?" Ameila said teasingly.
"Huh? Oh its you..." Dawson said after bringing his head down.
"Well that's not a very nice response." She said.
"Sorry?" He replied, "Should I have responded with some poem about how my aching heart couldn't stand to be so far away from you after meeting an angel for the first time... Because I don't really do stuff like that."
Ameila smiled and sat down on the opposite side of the bench, "You really have a beautiful egg there." She said looking at the contents of the Egg case.
"And there's something I don't expect people to say to me." Dawson said.
"If you wouldn't mind, could I see your Shinx again?" She asked looking up at him.
"Yeah sure I guess." Dawson replied as he fumbled around for the electric Pokemon's ball.
A flash of light and Shinx was released on the bench. Ameila shifted over to Dawson's Pokemon and started to pet her lightly. Shinx purred at the treatment letting her head shift into the warm hands of the coordinator. Several minutes of petting passed and Ameila looked up at the trainer.
"You don't do much training with your Pokemon do you?" She asked.
"huh? No not really, I had a few battles with her but that's it. I'm not trying to be a trainer or anything." Dawson said leaning back on the bench.
"I don't mean battles, I mean actual training." Ameila said, "Like how people take their Pokemon out for walks, or how some take their fighting types to the gym to get stronger or lose weight."
"No I really haven't done much of that." He replied.
"You should... Even if you don't plan to be a trainer just letting your Pokemon lounge about is only going to do them harm." She said, "Some can live like that, Glamglow and Persians for example, but without some sort of work your Pokemon will suffer in the long run."
He watched her pick up Shinx and hold her to her chest. "Oh..." He said.
"If your staying in the city for a bit longer I could give you some advice on training them." She said.
"No, we're heading to Oreburgh tomorrow so that's not likely." He said.
"Following the path of the gyms then?" She asked.
"Yeah, at least those kids are. I... think I'm going to stay in Oreburgh when we get there. It's my home and I was only supposed to stay with the kids as they got their travelers feet." He said looking down at the ground.
"Pity," Ameila said sadly, "Perhaps one day I'll stop by and I can show you what you need to do... if you want to learn that is."
"Sure sounds like it could be a welcome distraction from digging up rocks all day." Dawson said.
Putting down Shinx on the bench she smiled at his response, "Well then I'll look forward to the next time I visit Oreburgh." She said as she turned and walked off into the city.
Several minutes passed of Dawson waiting for his two charges before his mind finally finished it's realization, "Wait was she interested in me?" He asked aloud, "What... wait what... No that can't be right. No one, much less the female population found me interesting before, why no-"
His rambling was cut off as Shinx rubbed her body against his side. Looking down at his Pokemon Dawson paused for a moment as he watched her curl up and start napping again. His eyes widened as his brain made a second realization in a single day. Pulling out his Pokedex he punched in the entry for Togepi. Seeing the little egg shaped ball of adorable that it egg would hatch into he saw what had changed with him.
"Oh my god! You guys are the perfect wing men... You're cute, adorable, and you act as an excuse to meet girls. I.. I might actually want to be a trainer now." He said looking at his egg and electric Pokemon.