Thank you for the encouraging reviews, guys! And my crush and I talked things out. We're not together, but we're still good friends. I'm actually okay with that.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.

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Dear Dawn,

I'm glad that your vacation is already going so well! I really miss you Dee Dee. And I can call you that as much as I want in these Emails, because you can't punch me through the computer screen ;)

Barry threw me into a bush yesterday. It hurt. And Lucas didn't even help me! He just pointed and laughed! Some great friends I've got, huh?

Well, it's midnight here in Shinnoh, so I'm going to end the letter here. I love you, Dawn, and I can't wait until you come home.

Love, Kenny

Dawn smiled to herself as she read the words on the glowing computer screen. Kenny was such a sweetie. Even though his Emails were always short and kind of redundant. It was always the typical 'I love you, Babe' kind of letter, with a joke or two attached. She doubted that Kenny could write a long sappy letter if he tried. In fact, it would probably kill him.

Leaf had already left for the lecture about an hour ago. They'd made eggs and toast for breakfast, and then the brunette had rushed out the door.

Right now, Misty was watching the television in the room. May was napping on the bed beside Dawn. The poor girl still wasn't feeling well, but luckily she hadn't thrown up again.

"I think she's going to stay in bed for most of the day," Misty said. "Do you want to just go somewhere so that she can rest without being disturbed?"

"That's probably a good idea, but I hate to leave her all alone," Dawn answered.

"She's not alone. She has her Teddiursa doll," Misty joked. "Leaf will be back in a few hours anyway."

"Well... okay," Dawn shrugged, giving in.

They'd both already showered, so the two girls just had to change their clothes. Dawn wore the purple zebra-print halter top that she'd bought a couple days ago with some black shorts and black flip flops. Misty wore a plain dark blue T-shirt and white shorts with white flip flops.

"Where should we go?" Dawn asked as she softly closed the door behind her.

"How about we buy a gift for May? I think that would cheer her up," said Misty.

"That's a great idea, and I know exactly where to go!" said Dawn, clapping in excitement.

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May heard the door close and she sat up, sighing in relief. Finally, she was alone. She felt bad for pretending to be asleep, but she'd been secretly hoping that Misty and Dawn would leave.

Faking sickness made her feel guilty, but May had to do it. How else would she explain her sudden puke attack last night? Quick thinking had saved her when she'd thought up the hot dog excuse, but it had been too close of a call for her.

The chocolate-haired girl hugged one of the light blue pillows to her chest.

"They can never know," she murmured into it. "I can't ever let them find out, even if they are my best friends."

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"And this is how you calculate the force of an object due to gravity. Just remember the equation F=ma. F stands for force, m stands for mass, and a stands for acceleration, which will always be 9.8 meters per second when dealing with gravity."

Leaf rolled her eyes. This was all stuff that she already knew, and from the looks of things, everyone else already knew it too. People were texting, drawing pictures, and a few were even napping rather than listening to this oh so interesting physics lecture.

Gary was sitting beside her, drawing a picture. She looked closer and saw that it was two stick people holding hands. Above it were the words 'Gary + Leaf 4ever'.

Leaf knew he was doing it to annoy her and get her attention, and she reached over with her own pencil and crossed the words out, causing him to scowl at her. Underneath where the words had been, he wrote 'You know you want it as much as I do.'

'No, I really don't.' She wrote. They were now passing the paper back and forth, having a little hand-written war of sorts. When it was over, the conversation ended up like this:

'Yes you do.'

'Nope. You aren't qualified to be with me romantically. You don't fit my rubric of romance'

'And just what is on your "rubric of romance"?'

'Any guy who wants to date me must: 1. Have good grades, 2. Have common sense, 3. Be able to hold an intelligent conversation, 4. Plan on going to college and getting a job, 5. I have to be attracted to him in some way, and 6. He must not be a jerk.'

'... isn't number 5 a bit materialistic? And where do I lack in any of these areas?'

'5 is not materialistic. It is just a fact of life. Not everyone in the world is going to be attractive to me. And you lack in areas 2, 5, and 6.'

'I have common sense! And you have to find me somewhat attractive! Oh, and I'm not a jerk.'

'Right. You're more of a pervert.'

'Wrong again, Leafy! I just have a healthy teenage sex drive!'

Leaf stared over at the auburn-haired boy. He was smirking at her triumphantly. This was going to be a long lecture to sit through.

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"Wow, this is a really great idea, Dawn! Let's make one for Leaf too!" said Misty.

The two girls were standing in the middle of a "Build a Pokemon Workshop". It was a store where you could choose pretty much any Pokemon you wanted and make a stuffed doll of it. Then you got to choose a cute outfit for it to wear.

"I know right? I haven't been in one of these places since I was, like, eleven," Dawn said with a smile. "I forgot how much fun it is!"

"How did you even know they had one of these places here?"

"I noticed it when Leaf and I went out for groceries," Dawn answered. " I thought it might be fun for all of us to come here together, but I think this is a much better idea. What Pokemon do you think we should make for May?"

"How about a Torchic?" Misty suggested. "I'm making a Marill doll for myself. What about you, Dawn?"

"I'm making a Pachirisu. I already have a Piplup and Buneary doll from a long time ago. The Piplup wears a tuxedo, and the Buneary wears a wedding dress."

Dawn picked up the Pachirisu outline and turned back to Misty. "What Pokemon should we make for Leaf?"

"Good question..." Misty said, looking around.

"Ooh, Cleffairy!" Dawn said, pointing to the doll outline.

"Perfect!" said Misty. The two girls walked over to the stuffing machine and filled up all four doll outlines with the white fluff. It was strangely exciting to watch the Pokemon get fatter and fatter until they were the perfect size.

"Now comes the best part! Choosing the outfits!" Dawn said, rushing over to the different clothing choices. She immediately picked a pink cheer leading outfit and pink and white pom-poms for her Pachirisu doll.

Misty decided that she wanted her Marill to be a male, and chose orange swim trunks and sun glasses for her doll to wear. She thought it would look good against the Pokemon's blue body. "You do May's Torchic, and I'll do Leaf's Cleffairy," she said, passing the Torchic doll to Dawn.

The bluenette looked for an outfit that May's Torchic could wear. It felt extra soft in her hands, having fur that resembled feathers. In the end, she chose a red tank top with glittery music notes, and a black mini skirt. She even found a head phones accessory for the doll.

"That's perfect!" Misty said. "May will love the music theme! Check out what I found for Leaf's Cleffairy!" The doll wore a white lab coat and some nerdy black glasses. It was obviously dressed as a scientist.

"Awesome, Misty! I'm sure she will love it! I can't wait to show May and Leaf their presents!"

The two girls went to the checkout to pay for the dolls. Dawn hoped that this would make May feel better. She was kind of worried about her friend.

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Leaf was returning to the hotel room. She was happy to be free from the boring lecture. Hopefully the next one would be more interesting.

Gary had tried to hug her at the end of the lecture, and she'd shoved him away. Leaf wasn't exactly a powerhouse, so the shove was little more than a light bump to the boy.

The stupid ass even had the nerve to laugh at her as she stomped away, and the brunette was still fuming inside.

I can't believe I have to go on a date with him. Arceus, that's in how many days? Four?

Leaf was still distracted by her thoughts when she opened the door. She was about to go make herself some lunch when she heard soft crying noises. Turning around, she saw that May was lying face-down on the bed. The poor girl looked like a mess.

Leaf softly padded over to the bed.

"May?" she asked softly, placing a hand on the girl's back. May flinched at the touch, and Leaf dismissed it as her being surprised. She probably hadn't heard her come in.

"Did you throw up again?" she asked.

May shook her head no, refusing to look up. She had stopped crying, but she wouldn't lift her head.

Leaf breathed out a deep sigh. "You're not really sick, are you?" It came out as more of a statement rather than a question.

Once again, May shook her head no into the pillow.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong, or would you prefer not to?"

May didn't respond, which Leaf took as a sign that the girl wasn't going to answer.

"It's okay, May. You don't have to tell me. Please though, remember that Misty, Dawn, and I are your friends, and that we love you and want to help you."

With that, Leaf left the girl to herself. She would make them both some lunch.

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"We have presents!" squealed Dawn as she opened the door. She wore a radiant smile on her face as she saw the look of surprise May and Leaf were giving her.

May had stopped crying, and had cleaned herself up. No trace of her break down was visible.

Misty carried in the four bags that each held a stuffed Pokemon doll. She gave the green bag to Leaf, and the red one to May.

Dawn watched as the two girls each pulled their Pokemon dolls out of their bags. Leaf let out a gasp and hugged her Cleffairy doll, smiling. May petted her Torchic's soft feathery fur and smiled happily.

"It's so cute! Thank you so much, guys!" May said. She was feeling a lot better now. It was heartwarming to see all of the thought that her friends had put into her gift.

"We got dolls too, so we all have one!" Dawn said, holding up her Pachirisu. Misty pulled her Marill out of the blue bag.

"So they're like... friendship dolls," Leaf said.

"Yeah. You could say that. They symbolize our friendship!" Dawn said happily.

"Symbolize..." Leaf trailed off. She was playing with a charm bracelet on her wrist. No one must have heard her though, because the other three girls carried on with the conversation.

May seems happier now. I wonder what was bothering her? I understand that she doesn't want to talk about it. I don't want to talk about my secret either...

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So, more of a May and Leaf centered chapter. A bit of a deeper look at what's going on with them. I'll probably skip to the day before the dates next chapter. I may or may not start the dates. It depends on what I decide needs to happen first :)

Please review and tell me what you think!