Chapter 2: Misplaced Nostalgia!

The chirping and singing of Kricketot and Kricketune emanated from the nearby forest just outside of Hearthome City where Goh was asleep in his room's bed for the night. The young boy tossed and turned on top of the mattress and comforters, his right hand's fingers twitching and contorting into the posture that it would have if it were grasping a Pokéball. Goh murmured in his sleep with Grookey on top of his bed, dozing off.

"I just… gotta… get… one more…" Goh's arm instinctively threw itself forward, as if he were releasing a Pokéball from his grip, the limb falling limply back down onto the bed, "Go… Pokéball-"

Goh's body arched as he groaned, his hands covering his face, "I-I can't take this anymore!"

"G-Grookey?" Goh's partner rubbed its eyes, coming to its senses to see what its trainer was up to.

Goh, still in his pajamas, fastened his backpack on his back, and looked back at Grookey, "Wanna help me get some Pokémon that come out late at night? We'll be back before Dawn notices, then we'll get some sleep!"

Grookey, once again unaware of the importance of Goh refraining from overexerting himself, gave a happy hoot, and leaped onto his shoulder.

"Then it's settled. Maybe we'll run into some Stunky or Skuntank… I've read that they're nocturnal!" Goh whispered to Grookey, making sure to keep his voice down in an effort to not alert Dawn, who was in the room next to Goh, "Alright, let's get going! But we gotta remain quiet about this…"

Grookey nodded, and hunkered down on Goh's shoulder. Together, the two opened the door of their room, and made a double-take towards each side of the hallway. With the coast seemingly clear, Goh smiled at Grookey and whispered, "Alright, let's go- WAAAAAHHH~!"

The moment Goh attempted to take off down the hallway, Dawn's door slammed open and a hand reached out to the collar of his silver and gray pajama T-shirt, gripping it from behind, causing Goh to overrun and get yanked straight down onto his back. Grookey flailed in the air before coming back down and landing on Goh's stomach, painfully knocking the wind out of him.

His backpack opened up, and Pokéballs rolled out, spilling onto the Pokémon Center's floor. The clattering finally got Goh to come around to his senses, and adjust his blurry vision to focus on Dawn standing over him in her pink pajamas.

"I knew you'd try and go outside and catch Pokémon!" Dawn pointed her finger down at the guilty boy, who quickly waved his arms in denial.

"I-I was just going to the bathroom!" Goh's eyes now focused on the Pokéballs rolling around on the floor, as well as the fact that he was laying on top of his backpack.

"Man, you're even worse of a liar than Ash!" Dawn huffed, crossing her arms, "Now go back inside, and go to bed!"

Goh groaned, shamefully scooping up the capsules that were scattered all over the ground, muttering beneath his breath, "Okay, Mom. "

"What did you just say?!" Dawn leaned down towards Goh, her eyebrows narrowing.

"N-Nothing at all! Let's get some sleep, Grookey!" Goh shouted in panic as he took both his backpack and the arm of his partner, who was still confused about the whole ordeal, back into his room and closed the door, his chest heaving up and down with labored breaths of exhaustion. The boy, once again, let out a groan as he slid down against the door, his backpack falling to his side, and Grookey retreating away from Goh to hop back onto the bed.

As Goh made his way back to his bed in defeat, outside of his room, Dawn shook her head and went back inside to see a rather annoyed Piplup having been woken up from its peaceful slumber. Dawn giggled and waved at her partner, "Sorry, Piplup! Just… had to stop Goh from running outside to do what he always does!"

Dawn then yawned, and made her way back to her bed, "I can't believe how much Goh really needs this."

The sunlight that pierced through the window and entered his room was the signal for Goh to awaken from his slumber, stretching as he sat upright in his bed. The boy blinked a few times before realizing something strange. Goh focused his attention on Grookey, who was still fast asleep.

"That's strange…" Goh tilted his head in puzzlement as he thought to himself, "I usually get woken up by Grookey…"

Goh then looked at the clock by his bedside. It read "6:37".

"Wait, really?" Goh muttered as he picked up the clock and looked out the window, "When was the last time I've woken up this early?"

Then, it hit Goh. He didn't just feel awake, but… refreshed. Goh couldn't even remember the last time he woke up on his own without one of his Pokémon bringing him out of bed.

Then, right on cue, Grookey wheezed as it got up from its rest and turned to Goh, suddenly falling backwards in surprise with a "Rook?!"

Goh couldn't help but laugh, "Sorry, buddy! Looks like I beat you for once!"

Grookey tilted its head, blinked, then gave a happy root to his trainer, hopping onto his shoulder so the two could start their morning routine.

The two had gotten dressed and tidied themselves up in no-time, getting out the door in no-less than five minutes. Goh was already pumped to start the day with Dawn and get underway with the signups, exiting his room and giving Dawn's door a knock.

"C-Coming…" a dreary voice crept out from within, and slow footsteps were heard approaching. Dawn opened the door to see Goh already fully dressed and ready to head out.

"Good morning, Dawn! I hope you're up to get some breakfast-" Goh's eyes then cleared up the image of Dawn before him; her hair was in a frizzy mess, a sprig springing out as Dawn met Goh's eyes. Goh stumbled on his words as he took in the absolute state of Dawn's bedhead.

The door slammed in front of him.

Goh and Grookey stumbled back in surprise.

Then, a hushed voice came from within Dawn's room.

"Q-Quick! Piplup, use Bubble Beam!"

"Piiiip-lupluplup!"

A few seconds later, the door opened once more. Dawn greeted Goh with her familiar long hair, moisturized and no longer a mess, "Good morning! You're up awfully early!"

Goh laughed, "Well, it's thanks to you. I actually feel refreshed."

"That's wonderful! Just give me a little bit, and we'll get some breakfast and head to the registration!" Dawn reassured Goh, who responded in kind. As Dawn disappeared back into her room, Goh leaned up against the wall, taking out his Rotom Phone to check the weather report for the day.

"Clear, sunny skies. As per usual…" Then, Grookey began to make a fuss, pointing at Dawn's door, then back to Goh's Rotom Phone, "What's the matter- oh, you want me to look up the contest while I wait?"

Goh looked up at the ceiling, "Well, I guess I should start my research as soon as I can, considering I've never even seen one of these contests before… hey, Rotom Phone! Can you look up the Hearthome City Doubles Pokémon Contest?"

Goh's Rotom Phone gave a quick jolt as it began to describe its search results, "The Hearthome City Doubles Pokémon Contest is a new style of Pokémon Contest that merges traditional performances with new flavors of coordination found all around the world. A notable departure from other contests is the requirement of two performers working in teams of pairs, emphasizing teamwork and communication to be the recipe for success and high scoring at the hands of the judges."

The trainer nodded through all of the information being read to him as he thumbed away the web pages and saved them into numerous files, organizing them into different sections that ranged from "History of Contests" to "Tips for Good Scores". It certainly was a lot to take in at once, but Goh needed something to occupy his mind that wasn't looking up routes and outbreaks of wild Pokémon to set up his next catching expedition. Besides, any research he could get started on sooner, the better.

Perhaps he'd manage to pick up on a thing or two that would surprise Dawn.

Goh kept scrolling through the web, and just as he was about to get to investigating what the contest itself consisted of and the registered coordinators, the door in front of him opened, and out came Dawn in her usual outfit, looking refreshed and ready to go, "Good morning, Goh! I'd say it's time to grab a bite to eat?"

Goh nodded, "I was hoping that would be the first thing on your mind."

Dawn then pointed a finger up and confidently remarked, "Of course! After all, breakfast is the most important meal of the day! But that's not going to mean you can skip out on lunch like yesterday!"

"Piplup! Piplup!" Piplup mirrored Dawn by pointing a flipper into the air.

Goh chuckled.

"I hope Ash and Chloe are taking care of all of the Pokémon at the lab. At least once in a while…" Goh drummed his fingers on the table that housed empty plates with leftover crumbs on them.

"No need to worry, I'm positive that they're all doing just fine!" Dawn finished downing her orange juice before leaning forwards, "Alright, now with our bellies full, I think I should tell you a bit about the Hearthome City Pokémon Double Contest! Well, for starters, it's a new kind of contest that brings together what's usually-"

Goh then perked up, "Oh, I think I already know all of this. It's a contest that merges traditional performances with new coordination that's found outside of Sinnoh. Right?"

Dawn was taken aback at the revelation of Goh's knowledge on the subject matter, "Are you sure you've never been to a contest before?"

"I haven't, but I've read up on the basics while I was waiting for you on my Rotom Phone. Isn't it such a handy device?" Goh beamed.

At this, Dawn's cheeks flushed with a small tinge of pink, "Aw man, was I really taking that long in my room to get ready?"

"Not at all. I'm just a fast learner!" Goh gave a proud look with crossed arms, changing Dawn's embarrassed expression to now rolling her eyes. At this, Dawn got up from her seat and ushered Goh to come outside in order to head down to the Hearthome City Contest Hall, which was just a short walk away.

The city was absolutely bustling as it usually was, with cars honking and Flying-type Pokémon swooping around to either find a place to perch, or lifting off from where they were resting. Pedestrians, some with Pokémon outside of their Pokéballs, walked to and fro on the sidewalks and across intersections when the crosswalk lights allowed them to. Goh hadn't noticed it before last night, but advertisements for the Doubles Contest were everywhere, the signature silhouetted designs of coordinator pairs commanding their Pokémon in dazzling displays rendered in beautiful detail.

As the two were crossing a street, Dawn smacked her fist into her palm, "So, I bet you don't know what we'll actually be doing. Well, no better time than now to fix that problem!"

Goh kept his hands tucked into his sweater pockets, glancing over to Dawn, "Yeah, I didn't get to that yet when I was doing my initial research."

Dawn snapped her fingers as the two weaved around pedestrians walking in the opposite direction of them, "Alright! So since it's a doubles contest, we'll each be using one Pokémon at a time in the three rounds of the contest, kind of like a tag-team battle!"

Goh nodded, making sure to absorb every word that came out of Dawn's mouth, "Seems pretty self-explanatory."

"Right! But what isn't is what each of the rounds entails, and how they're scored!" Dawn began to count on her fingers, "The first round is the Performance Stage. It's where coordinators have their Pokémon performing their moves in stylish and extravagant ways to show off their flair and wow the crowd!"

"I see… what's so special about- whoops! Sorry, sir!" Goh fumbled in apology as he bumped into an office worker who was talking on his phone, and then quickly ran back to catch up to Dawn, "What's special about these moves the Pokémon are using?"

"I'm glad you asked! Oftentimes, coordinators make their Pokémon combine moves with one-another to create dazzling displays! The trick is that in a doubles contest, both coordinators will need to, well, coordinate perfectly, as well as their Pokémon with each other, or it'll spell disaster. Later, I can show you some pictures taken of my signature appeal moves!" Dawn proudly touted, which got a boastful confirmation from Piplup, as it had been the star of many appeal moves throughout Dawn's contest career.

"Combining moves…" Goh quickly jotted down a note on his Rotom Phone, "And… what's the second stage?"

Dawn smiled, pointing at one of the advertisements of the Doubles Contest that was scattered around the city. The poster showed a design of musical notes complete with outlines of coordinators in freeze-frame of dancing moves, alongside their Pokémon.

"Remember what you read about combining the traditional Sinnoh contest experiences with new flavors from around the world? Well, that would be the Choreography Stage! It mainly comes from Pokémon Showcases in the Kalos Region, and the new Contest Spectaculars in the Hoenn Region, but with a bit of a twist!" Dawn gave a quick spin, causing Piplup to hold on for dear life, "Both coordinators and their Pokémon will perform a dance routine, testing the limits of their teamwork and their style! Appeal moves are also a must to really get that 'wow' factor of the routine, and since it's new, I've been dedicating a bunch of my time to learning how to dance."

Goh's eyes widened, and he held up a finger, "Oh, actually, about that-"

Dawn interrupted Goh with another grin, "No need to worry! When I'm through with you, your feet will be a blur on the stage!"

The young boy stuffed his hands back into his sweater pockets, "Well, you're the expert. So… the third round?"

As the two narrowly avoided walking head-first into a trainer and their Toxicroak, Dawn began to explain the final stage of the contest, "The third round is going to be the hardest of them all: the Battle Stage. There, coordinators will battle each other in special Pokémon battles that emphasize spectacular uses of appeal moves! The judges will award or deduct points based on how wonderfully your appeal moves work, if they can actually land against their opponents, and for your Pokémon to avoid getting hit by them!"

At this, Goh had a few questions pop into his head, "Wait, a Pokémon battle using appeal moves? What happens if, say, a coordinator just battles normally with the intent of knocking out their opponent? Wouldn't they still win?"

Dawn shook her head, "I figured you'd ask that question, but it's definitely worth explaining to you. Y'see, the judges have really cracked down on that kind of stuff where before it was just considered bad sport. Now, if the judges think you're battling normally and only going for a knock-out, then they'll begin deducting points, or even disqualify you entirely! So it's really important to make the battle a spectacle, but also make sure your Pokémon aren't getting wiped out! Remember, it's style over brute force!"

"Huh. That actually makes a lot of sense," Goh admitted, quickly going back to his phone to jot down this very important set of notes, mulling to himself in his mind, "Battling with style…"

Then, Dawn pointed ahead, "Oh, hey! I can see the Contest Hall from here! Let's get going!"

"Piplup!" the little Water-type Pokémon called after.

"H-Hey! Wait up! I was taking notes!" Goh scrambled to put away his phone and hurriedly dashed after his friend.

"Grookey!" Grookey waved its stick around, enjoying being a part of the ride.

As the sliding glass doors opened to let Dawn and Goh enter the Contest Hall, Dawn marveled at the decorations and marble architecture adorning the lobby, "Wow, they renovated the entire place since I've last been! It's absolutely stunning~!"

Even Goh was impressed at the presentation of the building's interior. Other coordinators and their Pokémon were going about, conversing with each other, or heading towards the sign-up area. Staff members and contest crew were running about, while three men were walking in unison, having a discussion with one-another.

The shortest man among them sported a gray business suit with a red tie, and appeared to be the most jovial of the three in their talks. Another one sported a sharp, red buttoned suit with a black bowtie, and seemed to be the intermediary of the group, pitching in his opinions and ideas as the most striking man out of them all to lead the conversation. The third gentlemen among them donned an absolutely stunning and luminescent black and blue tuxedo, with blue highlights that appeared to radiate light, along with a top-hat of the same color adorning his head.

To Goh, there was no mistake about it. Those were the judges of the contest.

"Hmmm… I should look up what kind of little things each would offer a better score for…" Goh was already three steps ahead, typing the next query into his Rotom Phone's search bar.

"There you are!" Dawn came back to retrieve her soon-to-be official partner in the Doubles Contest, "Come on, we need to get signed up!"

A strong double-grip on Goh's arm and the boy was once again pulled along through the beautiful lobby, "Okay, okay!"

"Dee Dee?"

Dawn froze, a shade of uneasiness falling over her forehead as if sludge had seeped from her hairline, dribbling down her temple. Needles pricked at her spine as her shoulders felt like gelatin, melting and wobbling away to leave a slimy mess. Even Goh could feel Dawn's grip suddenly tighten, crushing the boy's arm and causing him to double down in agony and yelp, "D-Dawn! My arm!"

The coordinator gasped and released her iron grip, profusely apologizing to Goh, "I'm so sorry! I don't know what came over me-"

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she laid her eyes on a very familiar boy that she had known since she was in preschool. A stocky, yet youthful boy with dark auburn hair and a shirt with a thick white stripe that cleaved the color green in half stood in front of the two, with a quizzical, yet rumenescent look. Dawn smiled.

"Oh, it's Kenny! It's been a while, hasn't it?" Dawn walked on over, still leaving Goh to recover from the vice grip that he'd endured.

"It really has! I was just stopping by the Contest Hall to enter into the Doubles Contest," Kenny pointed a thumb towards the direction of the sign-up registrar.

"That's fantastic! If you don't mind me asking, who's your partner?" Dawn asked, with Piplup on her head also wondering the same thing.

"Oh, well… I was kind of hoping it'd be you," Kenny nervously rubbed the back of his head with an anxious grin, "Considering I heard that Zoey was unavailable, and a bunch of other coordinators have gotten their partners ahead of time, I thought that we could make a great team!"

At this, Dawn felt a small twinge of guilt overcome her. Kenny didn't seem to notice it, but a tiny part of Dawn's heart did feel sorry for the boy, considering that she was actually going to give him a call on her Pokétch while she was walking through the forest to get to Hearthome City, but had gotten interrupted no thanks to somebody . With that, Dawn gave a sigh and began to come clean to her old childhood friend.

"I'm really sorry, Kenny, but… I have a partner for the contest already."

At this, Kenny blinked.

"A… partner? Already?" Kenny took a step forward, putting one hand on his hip, "Who's going with you?"

Finally, Goh managed to make his way over to the conversation, rubbing his arm, "Ow… did I miss anything?"

With Goh here, Dawn thought it a good opportunity to introduce a new friend to an old friend, "Kenny, this is Goh, one of Ash's best friends, a new friend of mine, and my partner for the contest! And Goh, this is Kenny, someone I've known all the way back since we were little kids, and someone who's been performing in contests even before I was!"

At this, Goh gave a smile and extended his non-crushed arm for a handshake, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Without a word, Kenny took his hand and gave it a shake. Goh's smile shrunk slightly. The handshake from Kenny's end felt… apathetic.

"Uh-huh… y'know, I've never seen you around in contests before. How many have you competed in?" Kenny asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, this is actually my first contest-"

"What?!" Kenny was visibly taken aback, "You've never entered a contest before, and you're signing up with Dee Dee for the Doubles Contest?!"

"Ugh, I've told you a million times before to knock it off with that name!" Dawn crossed her arms and now dropped her outgoing demeanor, adopting a more defensive and annoyed look, "And yeah, he hasn't. So what?"

Goh, at this point, began to feel tension in the air, and started to wonder if his presence wasn't giving the two coordinators that were friends in front of him a good environment.

"You picked some random guy who doesn't know a thing about contests to be your partner? Are you actually trying to lose on purpose?!" Kenny accused Dawn, "Are you really picking this guy over me?!"

Goh's eyebrows began to narrow. Whoever this "Kenny" guy was, no matter if he was a friend of Dawn's, his attitude was beginning to become reprehensible towards her. The boy also wasn't very fond of these indirect insults that Kenny was plastering onto him as well.

"He's not some random guy, Kenny! He's a good friend of mine, and no, I'm not trying to purposefully lose; what an insulting thing to suggest!" Dawn's face could no longer betray her growing anger now, "And what's with you trying to peer into who I partner up with and who I don't?!"

"Seriously, Dee Dee? I feel like I should be the one feeling insulted, considering you're partnering up with someone who doesn't know anything about what Pokémon Contests are over me-"

"Hey, I think you should knock it off."

Dawn turned to Goh in surprise. Kenny turned to Goh in mild annoyance, yet also with a speck of interest. Both Piplup and Grookey were watching on the sidelines, neither daring to make a sound.

Goh slid his hands out of his sweater's pockets, and crossed his arms, "Dawn's saying you're a friend of hers, but with the way you're not only acting towards me, but Dawn as well, I'm having a really hard time believing that."

At this, Kenny curled one of his hands up in a fist and held it up in front of him, "Excuse me? Who even are you, and why did Dawn ask you of all people?!"

Dawn took a deep breath.

Then, she let it all out.

She turned to Goh. "Goh, do you mind if you could head on over to the registrar and get our names in?"

At these words, Kenny silently fumed. Goh didn't move for a few seconds, keeping his arms crossed as his eyes darted between Dawn and Kenny.

"No need to worry, Goh. I'll be by you in a bit, okay?" Dawn reassured him.

Her soon-to-be partner was nowhere near convinced that this was a good idea, and yet, resigned himself to step away as he considered the possibility that this was a personal matter between Dawn and Kenny, and his involvement could sour things further.

"Okay. C'mon, Grookey. Piplup, you wanna come too?" Goh offered, to which Piplup accepted quickly, and scampered off.

Dawn turned her attention back to Kenny. She opened her eyes back up, and then put a balled hand over her heart.

"Y'know, that letter I left for you after you battled Ash... I think that was a mistake," she opened up, her prior feelings of guilt now replaced with spite as she began to speak the sharpest words she ever had in her life, "I should have sent a firmer message by not leaving you anything."

The words made the color drain from Kenny's face.

"Come on, you don't really mean that Dee Dee-"

A finger shot up and pointed straight at Kenny's mouth, causing Dawn's childhood friend to zip-it.

"That. That name, right there. No matter how many times I've told you over, and over, and over again, I hate that nickname. It's not just some 'playful flustering' that comes from my end that you find to be cute, I genuinely hate it. And I've been as clear as I've possibly been in telling you this. Zoey and Leona took the hint. And you can't?" Each of Dawn's words was released with malice and anger, this amount of boiling tension never before making its way to the top until now.

"But you said you'd gotten over it! I don't get it! Why did it start bothering you again?" Kenny finally managed to speak up, pointing out Dawn's comments to him back at the Sinnoh Grand Festival. Dawn lowered her head, clutching her hands into fists.

"You're right, Kenny. At that time, I had gotten over it. Had. Maybe it was just the air of the Grand Festival that steeled my nerves then. But after being free from hearing it for so long, when you said that name again, those bad memories hit me just as hard as they did before; especially when you bring it up in front of a new friend. Couple that with your attitude, and I don't have to stay over it," Dawn angrily fired back, causing her childhood friend to develop a look of horror at what he had managed to cause.

Kenny was utterly speechless at what was coming out of Dawn's mouth. Never in his life had he seen this side of her.

"But I know what you're thinking right now. 'It's just the name! I'll stop calling her Dee Dee every time we see each other!' Well, buster, 'Dee Dee' is just a fraction of the reason why right now, I don't even want to look at your face," Dawn jabbed a finger at Kenny's chest, pressing him backwards, "It's because not only did you insult me, but you insulted my friend as well, and that will never, EVER be acceptable from me. He even tried to give you a handshake when you were already acting up, and you went and hurt him even more."

"Dawn… I-"

"Don't you 'Dee Dee' me, and don't you even 'Dawn' me!" the girl raised her voice unknowingly, causing a few passersby to take a quick stop to see what all of the commotion was about, "I don't even want you to speak to me until you've decided that it's time to GROW UP!"

With that, Dawn stood there for what was a few seconds, but to her and Kenny, it felt like an eternity. She then turned away from him, and began to walk off to where Goh was by the registrar.

"And you really expect me to be your girlfriend? As if."

Dawn picked up her pace, walking over towards Goh. She passed by marble columns and managed to reach her friend, who was standing away from the registration desk with Piplup and Grookey happily waving over to her. Goh felt anticipant at seeing Dawn return, as he had overheard brief flashes and outbursts of her and Kenny's conversation when it seemed like she was getting heated.

"Hey, Dawn. Is… everything okay?" Goh already knew the answer to this question, and he already knew the response Dawn would give him.

"Y-Yeah. No need to worry! Let's just… get signed up," Dawn huffed and returned to Goh's side.

"Got it taken care of," Goh motioned towards one of the flat-screen displays listing the names of those signed up to participate in the Doubles Contest. Sure enough, both Dawn and Goh's names were listed in their own brackets. Dawn sighed in relief. It felt good to smile again.

Kenny was left standing in an uncomfortably familiar position. He remembered when he had gotten the letter from Dawn at the lighthouse he told her to meet him after he had defeated Ash Ketchum in a battle to decide who Dawn would travel with from then on out. Dawn didn't come as he asked, but instead left him a letter. He could swear that he could hear her voice when he read over its contents.

"Dear Kenny…

"...For the time being, I've decided to go with Ash and cheer him on at the Sinnoh League. I'll have to think about what I'm doing after that, and only I can figure that out. But I can guarantee you one thing for sure: No matter what else happens, I'm going to keep on working toward my dream of being Top Coordinator. And as long as we share that dream, Kenny, I'm certain we'll meet again.

"Count on it.

"P.S. I have to admit, and I hope you don't mind, you looked kind of handsome when you beat Ash."

To Kenny, Dawn's actions spoke louder than her words. She's been distancing herself from Kenny ever since that day, and now she's even resigned to competing in major contests like the Doubles Contest without him, and with someone who couldn't even compare to his expertise in the field of performing. Meeting again was a fluke; Dawn wanted nothing to do with her friend anymore. He was convinced of that.

Kenny looked over back towards the registration area.

There she was with that other boy; a smile had grown back on her face in his presence. The implications couldn't have been more obvious to him, and it soured his mood even further. There was nothing for him here, now.

Kenny turned to leave, until a voice called out from behind him.

"Wow, that was pretty harsh. Even for me."

The boy glanced over his shoulder, and then faced the person who spoke up. A girl with peach-colored hair done in voluptuous, swirled pigtails and sporting a turquoise-colored dress with long white sleeves now stood in front of him.

It was Ursula, another coordinator that Kenny had competed against in the past, and knew from her heated rivalry with, and loathing of, Dawn. Kenny wasn't fond of Ursula either, considering how nasty the girl was to his friend, but during these times, his reaction to her presence wasn't one of immediate uneasiness.

"I don't want to talk right now. Especially not to someone like you," Kenny spoke up, putting his left hand on his hip.

"Come on, I overheard all of that stuff Dawn said to you. Is she really worth calling a friend after saying all that?" Ursula crossed her arms, leaning on a marble pillar, "You make a good point. There's no way I'd have chosen some loser who's never been in a contest before as my partner."

Kenny raised an eyebrow, "And where's yours?"

Ursula brushed aside a pigtail, "Flaked on me. No idea why."

The boy could stand to think of a few good reasons, but had his train of thought interrupted as Ursula walked away from the pillar, revealing where Dawn and Goh were now standing, the two talking with smiles. Kenny could see Goh quickly whip out his phone after Dawn had said something, seemingly taking notes. Dawn then laughed.

"I've got a spot open, you've got a spot open, so why don't we do the obvious and team up to really show Dawn who's the wrong one in this equation?" Ursula offered, reaching out with a hand, "Because I doubt it's you."

Kenny blinked, and looked at Ursula's hand. He felt as if he was being tempted by a Dusknoir to sign his soul away, but the boy took another glance at Dawn and Goh conversing in the distance. This time, Dawn had said something, and it got Goh to laugh.

Kenny's eyebrows narrowed, and behind his closed lips, he grinded his teeth.

He grasped Ursula's hand, and shook it.