A/N: Thank you all for your heartwarming support! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

To Duvarishka: Thank you for your review! Ash is definitely nervous, and you're right that he should tell Misty. They're in this together, after all ;) I'm glad you enjoyed it, thank you!


Days

The day with distractions and decisions

Paul

Sunday, February 23rd

"Water Gun, Piplup!" Dawn called out, and the penguin Pokémon did so.

Paul watched as his Magmortar easily and reflexively jumped out of the way. Paul shook his head, and the large Pokémon almost seemed to sweatdrop, before he took a battle stance once more, bringing his arms up over his chest.

Piplup fired off a Water Gun again, and this time Magmortar did as Paul had meant him to do; he used his Fire Punch to block the water attack.

The water evaporated, steam rising around Magmortar. Good. This was a good way to deflect weaker water attacks.

"That's it," Paul said in approval.

Magmortar nodded and took a ready stance once more.

Nothing happened, and Paul looked at Dawn, who seemed to be lost in thought.

"Dawn?"

"Oh!" she snapped back to attention. "Piplup, just keep up the Water Gun!"

"Pip!" her Pokémon said in confirmation, and resumed his attack once more.

Dawn was distracted. He watched her, packed up in her thick red coat, her arms crossed over her chest as she watched the Pokémon. Maybe she was just cold? Her eyes had a faraway look in them, though.

He shook himself out his thoughts. Maybe Dawn was distracted, but he couldn't be.

They had enough to train for, after all. His first battle of the Elite Four was coming up, against Aaron, and he wasn't going to underestimate him and his bug types.

Paul frowned slightly as a thought occurred to him. Dawn, actually, didn't need to train for anything at the moment.

The Grand Festival was over, and there was usually a month or two break before the Contests started up again. His attention turned back to Dawn. Her dark blue hair whipped around her in the icy wind, and he wondered if her loss in the finale of the Grand Festival had anything to do with her distraction.

Dawn hadn't even seemed so bothered by it at the moment, he considered. She had been rather happy about getting so far, telling him that now she had shown the Contest world that she wouldn't be forgotten so easily, but still... Maybe he was just imagining things.

He mentally shook himself. Focus. Magmortar was tiring, the constant water attacks taking their toll.

"You're doing great, Magmortar," Paul encouraged. There was no need for his Pokémon to go all the way, but it would be good to test his endurance like this. "Keep it up."

Of course, Dawn had seemed distracted before, during the Grand Festival, and he couldn't help but feel that there was just something... off.

Paul half-opened his mouth to call her out on her distraction, but then closed it again. He was here to train, not to psychoanalyze Dawn.

With a strong shake of his head, he refocused his attention on the training.

Magmortar was trembling, though he stood his ground. Piplup's water attacks kept going on as strong as ever. Paul slowly walked a broad circle around the two, forcing himself to stay focused.

Piplup's attacks were getting a bit slower, perhaps. Paul finished his round, and looked back at Dawn. She was staring at the two Pokémon, but didn't react when Piplup's stream missed Magmortar for the first time since the start of the training.

Arceus, her distraction was distracting him!

"Dawn."

She looked up sharply, almost jumping at his voice, which threw him off. What was she thinking about?

"You're distracted," he pointed out.

Dawn ducked her head in her scarf and laughed sheepishly. "Sorry! Uh, I think Piplup is getting tired, don't you think so? And Magmortar, too. Maybe we could try another combination, like my Mamoswine against your Gliscor?"

Paul considered this, glancing at his Magmortar, who was breathing heavily, and Piplup, who puffed out his chest when he caught Paul's eye. He allowed himself a small smile at the reaction.

"Alright." He nodded. "You did well, rest now." He recalled Magmortar, while Piplup returned to Dawn's side under her cheerful encouragements and compliments. Dawn and her Pokémon conversed for a moment, though Paul couldn't make out the words. It resulted in Piplup waddling back through the snow towards the house; obviously the penguin Pokémon had had enough of the cold weather.

Paul found himself smiling a bit, and then released Gliscor, while Dawn called out her Mamoswine.

The two Pokémon faced each other, and Paul quickly told them what was expected from them. Mamoswine looked at Dawn for confirmation and when she nodded with a smile, Mamoswine let out a grunt and took a battle stance.

Mamoswine fired Ice Shards, while Gliscor was forced to stay grounded and face the attacks head on. She used Poison Jabs in an attempt to catch and break the icicles, while occasionally using Harden to build her defense against the super effective attacks.

"Alright, Mamoswine, you're doing well, keep up the pace," Dawn said. "Don't focus on strength, focus on speed."

At least she seemed to be paying attention now. Her face was flushed from the cold and she was pacing around as she watched the battle.

With an inward start, Paul realized he was more often looking at Dawn than at the battle, and he felt like hitting his head against a wall for that. He walked to the side of the battlefield, so she wasn't in his direct line of vision anymore.

The Pokémon soon caught a rhythm, though Gliscor was tiring faster than Magmortar had. Which was logical, since she was less experienced.

"You're doing well, Gliscor," he told her, as he walked back to his place on the field across Dawn.

Mamoswine seemed to have no trouble keeping up the attacks, undoubtedly being in her element with the current cold temperatures.

Paul slowly walked around the field again, and paused when he neared Dawn. Her eyes were still on the Pokémon, but there was a glassy aspect to them.

"You're distracted," he said. She started again, and her cheeks grew redder.

"Uh, yeah, a bit, sorry," she said, obviously intending on leaving it at that.

"Why?"

He wasn't even sure why he wanted to know, except that she had been distracting him with her lack of attention.

"Oh, no reason, just... Eh, well, the Grand Festival, and all, just some things," Dawn said, with a careless wave of her hand. "I'll be fine."

Paul didn't say anything. Well, if she didn't want to tell him, that was fine. He didn't need to know. He was perfectly fine this way.

He continued his walk around the field.

Dawn now seemed intent on showing him that she was not distracted, because now she occasionally called things to her Mamoswine, encouraging and cheering her on.

What was on her mind? He didn't believe it was just the Grand Festival, no matter what she said-

Damn it! Dawn was distracting him, again. He couldn't have this. He needed to be sharp for his battle tomorrow, and for the days after.

He had always been fine on his own. His training had always been fine. The addition of her Pokémon was a good challenge, but was it worth the constant distraction she seemed to be to him?

Paul frowned to himself.

He had needed her with the Contests, and he had repaid her by helping her with the competitive battles. He had even stuck around to help her with the Grand Festival while she helped him prepare for the Elite Four challenges.

And yes, he could admit to himself that he enjoyed her company, but this was something he had been working for his whole career

"Dawn, I think this has been enough training," Paul said, making a decision.

Dawn seemed a bit confused, but nodded anyway. She recalled Mamoswine with some grateful words. Paul didn't follow her example, but instead briskly walked past Gliscor to Dawn's end of the battlefield.

"Yeah, sorry, I keep getting distracted..." she said, and Paul nodded. "It'll be good to take a break."

"Yes, I think so, too," Paul started. He hesitated, wondering how to formulate his thoughts. "In fact, I think it would be better if we took a longer break from training together. I need to concentrate on my battling right now, with the Elite Four challenge coming up, and you…"

He trailed off for a moment, realizing again that Dawn didn't seem to have anything to work towards right now. "And you can work out what you want to do next. So..."

Dawn was frowning, confusion mixed with something else, and Paul realized that perhaps she was taking offense.

"I really do appreciate all the help you've given me, and I have learned a lot. I simply think that for now it would be better to go our separate ways," he explained. Because you're distracting me too much. However, he was certain if he said that, she would certainly take offense.

Dawn's expression softened somewhat and awkwardly, Paul extended his hand. "Thank you, this has been a pleasant cooperation. We will probably see each other again in the future."

Something he couldn't define flitted across Dawn's face, and the smile around her lips didn't quite reach her eyes. She shook his hand gently and shortly.

"Thank you, too, Paul, and I'll see you around," Dawn responded in a strangely flat voice.

She gave him a last smile and then turned to leave, pulling the scarf tighter around herself as she left. She seemed to be shaking her head as she briskly walked away.

Paul felt the urge to call after her, though he had no idea what more he wanted to say. He closed his mouth again and nodded determinedly.

Time to get back to work.


A/N: Thank you for reading! So, yeah, Paul and Dawn… We're going to get more drama first, people ;) I'm looking forward to hearing what you thought about this, so please leave me a review!