A/N: Another quick update :D Let's get ready for this one, and thank you all very much! And thanks to anjumstar for pointing out a small mistake, it's fixed now!

To Guest: Yeah, it was sad… Thanks a lot for reviewing! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the picture used as cover (though I did edit it).

Days

The day with the campfire

Paul

Thursday, November 28th

"Shall we set up camp here?" Dawn asked, not waiting for his answer and simply putting her bag down. He narrowed his eyes but she just grinned back weakly. "Sorry." She didn't sound apologetic. "But we seriously do need to stop, though, it'll be dark before you know it."

He repressed a sigh. "Fine."

"Great! I'll gather the firewood, you did it yesterday," Dawn said, and a moment later she disappeared into the forest.

Paul watched her go and then allowed the sigh to come out. It was certainly an experience to travel with Dawn. He had lost the Contest in Jubilife City, only getting to the quarter finals this time, and thus their strange deal had been put into practice.

They were now on their (roundabout) way to Eterna City, because Paul knew that Gardenia was easy to beat, even for an inexperienced trainer like Dawn, and they would have enough opportunities to train while on the road. They were also planning on catching a Contest in Celestic Town, since neither of them had won the one in Jubilife.

Paul put down his bag and started to take out the supplies for dinner and the Pokémon's food. There was no need to set up the tent, because the sky was perfectly clear and it was warmer than it should be in November, and with their well-insulated sleeping bags they should be just fine.

He had been pleasantly surprised that Dawn was not the kind of girl who insisted on always using a tent, and while she was obviously not used to his pace, she had hardly complained. In return, Paul didn't complain when Dawn picked their camping spots.

Yes, he progressed more slowly than he would have on his own, but Paul had to (reluctantly) admit that she had already fully attempted to help him, even though it wasn't showing in his work yet.

Dawn returned with the firewood, and Paul was busy dividing the Pokémon's food into the right portions. In a routine they had tentatively developed over the past few days, Dawn started the fire and when Paul was done feeding his Pokémon, he took over and worked on their food while Dawn fed her own Pokémon.

While feeding her Pokémon, Dawn was chattering lightly to them and Paul did his best to tune her out. He was used to silence, but that had become a rarity with his newly acquired travelling companion. Admittedly, she did seem to try and keep silent, but it never lasted for more than a few minutes. At least the awkwardness due to… previous events had disappeared, which was the only good thing that seemed to have come from her constant talking.

After the Pokémon were fed, Dawn sat down by the fire and he handed her the warmed, canned food. She thanked him cheerfully and he simply hm'ed in response, before enjoying the silence that always ensued when they were eating.

The short days of winter limited their training time, but Paul refused to waste the time between setting up camp and going to bed with idling around, and so he thought up strategies. He always had the intention to discuss those with Dawn, but so far she had always been faster with initiating a conversation.

"Do you know what kind of Appeal you're going to use for the next Contest, Paul?"

Ah yes, there it was.

Paul swallowed his food and tried to piece his miserably small amount of Appeal ideas together. At the previous Contest, Dawn had sent Ice Shards at him, and as she had explained, destroying those in one way or another could create a beautiful effect and thus could have gained him points. Considering his creativity when it came to thinking up beautiful moves was horribly lacking, he had continued with the Ice Shard idea.

"Ursaring knows Slash, Weavile knows Ice Shard," Paul said. "I was planning on pitting them against each other and that Ursaring will cut through the Ice Shards from Weavile."

It sounded stupid to his ears, but Dawn beamed. "That's a great idea!" A mischievous quirk pulled at her lips. "You can draw inspiration from everything, you know."

Yes, he knew, she had told him before, but he just… failed horribly at that. He clenched his teeth. "Yes. Thank you," he said shortly. "We should set up camp earlier tomorrow."

Dawn nodded, and once again seemed completely serious. "Yes, making them practice those moves together while on the road would make it unnecessarily complicated for them."

At least she wasn't completely stupid.

"It won't take long," he said, but Dawn frowned.

"I don't know…" she said hesitantly. "Your Pokémon are really strong, but you shouldn't underestimate it. It'll take some time for Ursaring and Weavile to be able to match their attacks to each other."

"My Pokémon can handle it."

"Of course they can!" Dawn backtracked a bit at his tone. "I'm just saying that you shouldn't underestimate Contest moves. It's just some advice, that's all."

Paul was about to say that he didn't need her advice, but he bit his tongue and instead glared. He actually did need her help, after all.

Dawn looked at him warily, but he didn't say anything anymore and neither did she.

Well. For some time. In the end it was Dawn who broke the silence. "Do you think I should continue with the target practice or should I move on to something else?"

It was a normal question, but she sounded more hesitant than before. Something squirmed uncomfortably in his stomach.

"Continue," Paul answered shortly. Dawn had followed his advice in making her Pokémon practice to hit targets, and while her Pokémon had no problem actually hitting them, they still missed the power behind the attacks. Her Pokémon's attacks were subtle and careful, with perfectly balanced energy, very economic, but in a real Battle, they needed to go all out.

"Tomorrow we'll see if your Pokémon can get one of mine down," he added after some consideration.

"Okay," Dawn said simply, looking at the ground. The thing in his stomach continued to squirm. Paul shifted uncomfortably. The silence stretched on and for once he didn't relish it.

"They are making progress," Paul suddenly said.

Dawn looked up, somewhat confused.

"Your Pokémon. They are making progress with their training," he clarified.

A small smile appeared on her face. "You really think so?"

Otherwise he wouldn't have said so, would he?

He nodded and Dawn's smile widened.

Paul turned his eyes back to the fire, and silence fell again, but this time it felt lighter, though he couldn't say why.

A/N: Thank you very much for reading! So, Dawn and Paul are travelling together, but they'll have some road bumps, otherwise it would be too easy, eh? XD Please review!

Recommendations:

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Pokémon: Seven by I am Lu. FFN. Anjumstar recommended this to me, thank you! This is a very sweet, funny and adorable story showing how it took seven kisses before May and Drew got together. Complete and definitely recommended for ContestShippers!

A Song of Ice and Fire: The Ned Stark Lives! series, with Ned Stark Lives!, Ned Stark Lives! Part 2 and Ned Stark Lives! Part 3 by cbstevp. FFN. Rated M! This is a very cool and absolutely awesome AU showing what could have happened in Westeros if Ned had lived. It's huge and it features a lot of characters and basically tries to tie everything together with a somewhat happy ending. Definitely recommended!

Recommendations are always welcome!