You get another update right away to make up for the long wait on the last chapter. I'm still hoping to have this thing done by my birthday, July 16. That means I basically have to update every 2 days. We'll see how that goes.

Thank you to everyone who is reading this! It means a lot to me that I have so many readers. I never expected this to be as popular as it is :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.

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"I'm a drug addict," Paul said, breathing a heavy sigh. They'd gone back to the hotel, and opted to go to the girls' room. Dawn had taken care of the scrapes all over her body from the fall, and now they were seated on one of the beds. The air conditioning felt good on their exhausted and overheated bodies.

Dawn nodded. "I sort of knew. Drew said as much, and then there was that time when you were talking to me and you were clearly stoned."

"I did?"

"Yeah."

"Sorry about that. What all did I say to you?"

"Umm... you said that we should kiss again-"

"Yep. I was definitely stoned. What else?"

"You told me that your mother is dead."

Paul didn't answer. His eyes turned stone cold and he just stared ahead at the wall.

"Paul... What happened to her?" Dawn asked gently.

"She died. She died when I was eight years old. I'm over it."

Dawn knew that he definitely wasn't over it. But this seemed to be an extremely touchy subject for him. She decided not to press any further.

"Drew feels like sh*it you know. Your brother told him to look out for you."

"My brother is a pathetic excuse for a human being," said Paul. "And Drew isn't my keeper. I make my own decisions. And my decisions are my own fault."

"You don't have to keep making bad decisions. Let's try to get you clean."

"You don't want to see what that's like."

"What do you mean?"

"Withdrawal. It sucks. It's not as bad with pot as it is with the heavier stuff. God, with the heavier stuff you have to lock the person in a room and stay with them for a few days while they scream about how much they hate you and writhe around on the floor. With pot, I'll just be even grumpier than I already normally am and I'll probably say some really bad things to you."

"You already do that," Dawn pointed out.

"This will be different. I also won't be able to sleep for weeks, and I'll have headaches that feel worse than a hangover for the first few days."

"We can get you through that," Dawn insisted. Heck, I'll even stay up with you at night."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because I care."

Paul looked away. "Does this mean you've forgiven me?"

"Yeah. It does. I know you're actually sorry for what you did to me. I'm not saying what you did was okay, but... I can get past it."

"Thanks. At least you got a nice ring out of it, right?" he said with a smirk.

"Right," Dawn smiled back.

"Well, I'd better go. I don't want your stupid friends to find us together and start acting all crazy."

"Okay. See you tonight then?"

"Sure. We can go for a night walk or something. Though the symptoms probably won't kick in until tomorrow night. Might as well get used to it though." Paul left, shutting the door behind him. Dawn broke out in a goofy grin. Paul wasn't so bad after all. Sure, he was still an a*ss, and he had some serious problems, but he didn't try to justify them. He was even willing to let her help him. Although, she felt like he hadn't told her the whole truth. She expected he'd left out several pieces of the story, and not just the story behind his mother's death. No need to worry though. She was finally getting somewhere.

Dawn decided to take a shower. She was still sweaty and she felt totally gross. The water tugged at the band-aids she had put on her scrapes. She'd have to put new ones on. After she'd blow dried her hair, her friends had still not returned. Dawn settled onto her bed and took out her laptop. She read an email from Kenny that more or less said the same thing as usual. He loved her. He missed her. He hoped she was having a good time.

It felt like Kenny was so far away. Their emails were boring. She was keeping things from him. She hadn't been able to see him, hug him, kiss him... He almost seemed unreal now. Almost unconsciously, Dawn began to type a response.

Dear Kenny,

There's another guy here who is friends with the guys May, Misty and Leaf are flirting with. (Misty and Ash got together by the way!). His name is Paul. At first he was really mean to me, so I didn't bother telling you about him. Then I was forced to go out on a date with him because we lost to the boys in a Pokemon battle. At the end of that night he kissed me, but I didn't kiss back. Later I found out that he only kissed me on a dare, so don't worry. I've been spending some time with him, because I've wanted to help him with some problems he has. But nothing has happened between us and nothing will. He's like a friend who doesn't even act like a friend.

I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about any of this for so long. I was worried that you wouldn't understand or that you would get mad because I went out with him. Or mad because he kissed me. Or mad because he treats me like dirt. That's why I'm not giving his full name. I know you well enough to know that you would try to find him online.

I hope that you will read this and be accepting of what happened. None of it was my fault. Everything was done with reluctance by me. Accept for my trying to help him. But Kenny, I really hope you realize that there is nobody in this world that I love more than you. I've felt terrible keeping these secrets, and I hope you will forgive me. I love you.

Love, Dawn

Without even thinking, Dawn hit send, then she allowed herself to breathe. Now it was done. Now she could allow herself to think about what she just did and shudder in horror because she'd told her boyfriend all of the things she should have told him weeks ago and he'd probably be angry. Normally she would panic, but she told herself that there's nothing she could do. It was done. Now all she could do was wait for Kenny's reaction.

Hopefully Dawn hadn't given way to a storm.

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"So, where are we going?" Dawn asked.

"You'll see."

"That's very specific, Paul." The lavender haired boy only grunted in response. Seriously though, where are we going?"

"Would you be patient? You're driving me nuts."

"You're welcome!" Dawn chirped. Paul was so fun to mess with. He probably secretly enjoyed it.

"Okay, Troublesome. We're here."

"Uh... Paul? You know we can't go into the mall at night, right?"

"Well, most people can't."

"Paul. We're not here to steal something else are we?"

"Have a little faith, Troublesome. Follow me." The two of them snuck by the security. Dawn felt like she was in a movie. An extremely uncomfortable movie.

Once they were inside, they began to walk faster. It was weird being in the strip mall at night. There wasn't a person in sight, and each and every crevice was swathed in shadows. The moon shone brightly above, illuminating the places that didn't have shadows cast over them. It was beautiful, in a way.

"This is where we were going," Paul said, snapping Dawn back to attention. She looked up. The jewelry store.

"Why are we here?" she asked nervously.

"I'm returning the stuff I stole. I haven't traded it in for cash yet." Paul took a plastic bag out of his pocket and put on latex gloves."Stay here. I'll be back in a flash. If you do see anyone, hide behind the fountain and call my Pokegear. It's on vibrate."

"Okay." Paul slinked away, going inside the jewelry store. Dawn knew it would take him a while to get through all of the security. She decided to be cautious, and she knelt down beside the fountain. Paul was really returning the jewelry. She couldn't believe it. She was so happy that she thought her heart would burst.

She was beginning to doze off a bit when he returned. "It's done," he said. Now let's get out of here and we'll take a walk somewhere legal."

"Great," Dawn said. "... I'm proud of you."

"Thanks."

The two of them snuck back out of the mall and decided to head down town. No one was outside, and it seemed like they had the whole place to themselves.

"So how did you learn to get past security so well?" she asked. "I know that isn't exactly easy to do."

"A friend taught me," Paul answered.

"And how did he learn?"

"Not sure. Coincidentally, he's the first person I got high with."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"... You're going to get better, you know?"

"I hope so."

"Paul Stone, I won't let you fail. With me by your side, you can stand up to anything, because I'll be there to back you up."

"Wow. No one's ever said anything that cheesy to me before. Except for Reggie."

"What's the matter? You don't like cheese?"

"Troublesome, shut up." They spent the entire night walking together in the moonlight and talking. Dawn could only think one thing. This was some really weird form of happiness.

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"Where the heck are Ash and Misty?" Leaf asked in exasperation. She, Gary, May, Drew, Dawn, and Paul were all sitting in the park by a statue of a Pokemon called Serperior. The Pokemon was foreign to all of them. Leaf had asked everyone to meet her here, and they all had - minus one happy-go-lucky couple.

"They probably lost track of time while they went to an all-you-can-eat buffet or something," Gary joked.

"Ugh! They better get here soon! I need to make my special announcement!" Leaf cried.

"You get exasperated so easily," Gary chided. "It's not very lady like."

"Well, you would be one to know how to act like a lady," Leaf said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Ooooooooooh," Drew yelled. "She got you good, Gary!" The auburn haired boy glared at him and then glared at Leaf.

"Conniving vulpix."

"Shaymin head."

"Squirtle breath!"

"Chimchar butt!"

"This is what we came here for?" Everyone turned to see Ash and Misty approaching on bikes. They stopped and got off, letting the bikes fall on the grass. Misty was the one who had spoken.

Leaf let out a deep sigh. "No. But at least you guys are finally here. Now I can give my special announcement. As three of you are aware, my birthday is next week-"

"Happy birthday, Leaf!" Ash shouted. The girl just stared at him. Misty slapped Ash on the shoulder and he gave an apologetic look.

"As I was saying, my birthday is next week, and I called my father to make a special request, since it is my 18th birthday and I'm not even home for it. He was a total pushover by the way. I probably could have asked for anything I wanted. Anyways, all eight of us are taking a trip to Castelia City!"

May, Misty, and Dawn all squealed in excitement while the boys covered their ears.

"When?" Dawn asked. "When are we going?"

"We leave in five days. It's perfect, because Gary and I don't have a lecture to go to next week. It's a two day trip to get there. We take a train to Nimbasa City, and then we take a bus into Castelia. We'll spend two whole days there, and then we'll travel back."

"This is so awesome! Castelia City is the biggest city in the whole region! We so have to go shopping!" Dawn squealed.

"Totally!" May agreed. And there's a whole bunch of other places we can check out too!"

"Your dad is really letting all of us go?" Drew questioned.

"Yep," Leaf answered.

"That's really amazing, Leaf! Thank you!"

"Hey, Leafy. You'll be eighteen, and I'm already eighteen, so we can get into a whole new level of bars and clubs," Gary said. "How about I take you out for your first drink?"

"The drinking age is twenty-one. Not eighteen, you idiot," Leaf said.

"Ah!" Gary said, holding up a finger. "Back in Shinnoh, the drinking age is twenty-one! But here in Unova, it's eighteen!"

"Really? Heh. I bet my dad doesn't know that," Leaf chuckled.

"So, what do you say?" Gary asked.

"We'll see. Depends on how nice you are to me these next few days," Leaf said with a smirk.

"You are a charming, beautiful lady who deserves a whole hillside of heavily scented daisies and marigolds," Gary said.

"Eww. Talk like that again and we definitely won't go to a club," Leaf said.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to use such flowery language," he replied.

"Literature joke!" Leaf yelled. The two of them laughed.

"I don't get it," Ash whispered to Misty.

"It's because they're nerds," she whispered back.

"Oh."

"Paul, isn't this great?" Dawn asked him.

"Yes," Paul said unexcitedly.

"Aww! You're making progress!" Dawn said with a smile. "You didn't grunt or say something negative!"

"Shut up."

"So is everyone happy?" Leaf asked.

"Yes!" they all replied.

"Great! Everybody be packed and ready in five days!"

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Things start getting rapidly exciting from here, guys. I hope you're all ready for awesomeness! I know I am. Six chapters left and then it'll be complete! I've been planning this part of the story forever! Wasn't sure this story would even make it this far :) It's because of all you awesome readers that it's become this good! I thank you all for that.

Well, please review! I've actually come up with 2 new story ideas. More information on those later. I'll probably put up a poll for them, because I don't know which one to do! I'll write summaries for both of them and put them up a few chapters from now so you can see which one you think will be better. If you even want to read anything else by me that is.

I'll update in a couple days! Bye now!