Apologies for the huge delay!
This story is actually being updated on AO3. if you'd like to read up to Chapter 8 immediately, it's all up there on ready. I had been avoiding updating this story on FFN due to structuring issues on my end - as I mentioned previously, AO3 allows you to add parts, while FFN doesn't. Now that I've fully outlined the story, I'll be making the changes and updating the story accordingly here.
This does require me to split up the first chapter up more, so, if you're not new here, you may notice that the first chapter is now split into the first three chapters, apologies! I intend to post all of the chapters up to Chapter 8 like AO3, so it may get funky for a bit, apologies.
2. Of Requests and Partnerships
Dawn loves the feeling of the warm sun on her body, combined with the sand between her toes.
Being from Sinnoh, she's rarely visited any beaches. She's only been to a handful of beaches with Ash and Brock, and once in Sandgem Town with her mother, but the low temperatures and wind breezes made it less pleasant than it should have been.
But here – here, in Undella Town, where the ship has stopped for a 24-hour layover, after 6 days at sea – Dawn can enjoy the warmth to complement the beach.
She woke up especially early this morning to go shopping right as the nearby stores opened, so that she could get to the beach before noon and soak up some sun with her Pokémon.
She walks towards the middle of the beach barefoot, with her flip-flops in her hand and her trusty tote on her shoulder. She wishes she had bought an umbrella from one of the stores so that she can avoid getting sunburn in the sun (even though she has applied a bunch of sunscreen).
Luck would have it though, that Dawn immediately sees Paul under his own big umbrella, sitting on a very large blanket, reading a book. She tries not to pay attention to the fact that he is clad only in a pair of swim trunks, but she feels her face redden anyway. Suppressing her flustered reaction, she walks over to him.
He looks up when she approaches him and nods in greeting. Though it is fleeting, his eyes pass over her body – she's wearing her brand-new green, skirted bikini today – and it makes her blush more.
"Can I sit here?" She scratches the back of her head nervously. "I forgot an umbrella." Her voice is sheepish.
He shrugs, but in contrast to his mild annoyance yesterday, he seems indifferent. He moves over slightly to give her space to sit on his large beach towel. They aren't that close to each other, but it's enough for Dawn to be aware of their proximity. It's not uncomfortable, but it is a little unnerving, considering she's never been this close to Paul before – not even that morning before his battle against Ash in the Lily of the Valley Conference, when she had a real conversation with him for the first time.
When she settles in comfortably, she brings out all of her Pokémon and urges Paul, who has gone back to reading, to do the same. He doesn't answer and simply rolls her eyes at her.
"Oh, come on! You have to give them a break every once in a while and let them relax . . . remember what I said last night?"
He sighs, setting his book down in his lap. "Hmph. Fine. Just stop grating on my nerves with those kinds of talks. You sound like my brother and Ash." He pulls his backpack close to him and grabs his Pokéballs to let his Pokémon out as well, causing Dawn to beam at him.
His Pokémon all seem surprised to be let out of their Pokéballs, but Paul shrugs at them and waves a hand towards the water, indicating that they should go and enjoy.
They cry out happily and move to mingle and play with Dawn's Pokémon, except for Quilava, who curls up near Dawn's feet, not wanting to go near the water. Hariyama and Froslass get along nicely with Pachirisu, Buneary, and Piplup, while Mamoswine and Torterra rest in the sand near each other. Honchkrow, of course, immediately flies to Togekiss, who serenely smiles back at him.
Dawn can't help but let out a giggle. It is amusing to see the "big boss" Pokémon become soft in front of her Togekiss.
Paul raises an eyebrow at her. "What?"
She grins. "I think your Honchkrow has a crush my Togekiss."
His eyes widen in shock. "What?" He grits his teeth and turns sharply to his Pokémon with hers, before looking back at Dawn. "I have a lot of training to do with him and don't need your Togekiss to be a distraction." He reaches into his backpack to retrieve Honchkrow's Pokéball.
This time, it is Dawn's turn to roll her eyes at him. "Geez, relax, Paul. Don't get so worked up over it. It's just a crush. Buneary, too, has had a crush on Ash's Pikachu for the longest time, and it's never affected either of their battling. And besides, it's just a crush. It won't last forever."
"I don't care. Honchkrow!" he calls out to the bird Pokémon, raising his Pokéball up in the air. "Retur – "
"My, my, well, look who it is."
Paul stops at the sound of the familiar voice, (and Honchkrow goes back to twittering at Togekiss), and Dawn, too, gasps in surprise as she looks up to see the woman with the long, silvery, blonde hair smiling down at them.
"Dawn, Paul," her lithe voice takes on a slightly teasing tone. "I'd never thought I'd find you two together here."
"Cynthia!" Dawn cries out in surprise, quickly scrambling to stand up. "It's so good to see you!"
Paul also places Honchkrow's Pokéball on the blanket with his book and stands up to bow respectfully to her. "Hello," he greets her simply.
Cynthia shakes his hand, and then looks at Dawn's Quilava and crouches down to pat him lovingly. "It's good to see you both again, too, especially travelling together." There's a different air to Cynthia, Dawn realizes. Apart from her change of clothes, she seems more relaxed.
Before Dawn can tell her that it just happened to be that they were on the same ship to Hoenn, she continues speaking.
"The journey is always better with another person – you know that already, Dawn, but Paul, now that Dawn is travelling with you, you get the advantage of a battle partner who can train with you, you have a constant companion, so the journey feels less daunting and lonely, and you can take care of each other; split the chores, talk to each other, help one another out . . ." Cynthia's face is wistful. "I travelled with a friend when I went on my Pokémon journey, too." She then smiles at Paul. "I'm happy to see that you'll be getting to experience all of these wonderful things, as well."
"Hm," is all that comes out of Paul, but otherwise, he is quiet – pensive, maybe.
Dawn is also lost in thought. Travelling with Paul? That would be interesting, for sure, and she can't help but admit that she really wouldn't mind it.
"Where do you plan to go?" Cynthia asks, breaking Dawn out of her reverie.
Dawn racks her brain to explain this to the Sinnoh League Champion in a way that doesn't reveal that she and Paul aren't really travelling together, as so not to dishearten Cynthia. "Um, well, our ship has stopped here until tomorrow, but then – "
"We're travelling through Hoenn together."
Dawn's eyes widen in surprise, and she turns to look at Paul. He, though, is looking straight at Cynthia, refusing to even glance at Dawn.
Cynthia beams. "You'll enjoy it a lot. It's nothing like Sinnoh, and the weather is even hotter than it is here, but it's a nice change of pace. You two will enjoy it for sure."
Dawn is about to whisper to Paul regarding what he just said, but Cynthia exclaims, "Oh!" making her pause. "I just remembered something. Please, come with me to my villa. I have a very important favor to ask of you both."
Dawn and Paul look at each other and nod. They call their Pokémon back into their Pokéballs, except for Piplup, who stays in Dawn's arms, as always. Cynthia helps them pack up their things, apologizing for having them end their beach day a little early for her sake, but it is absolutely vital that they come with her to her vacation home, which is a short walk away from the beach.
As they walk to her villa, Cynthia calls someone on the phone and asks him call Professor Rowan and tells him to retrieve "his sent items."
"Also tell Professor Rowan that I have Dawn Berlitz and Paul Rebolledo with me, as well, please . . . thank you, Jervis, I'll see you soon."
.
Dawn stares at the tray with two Pokéballs that Cynthia has set in front of them. She is already feeling so overwhelmed by the huge, beautiful villa Cynthia invited them to (and she's only seen the living room), and now, Cynthia is about to ask them for a serious favor.
Her eyes slowly slide over to Paul, but he appears unaffected and is simply looking at Cynthia.
"As a part of Professor Rowan's research on evolution, he entrusted me with two Eevee that he wanted me to evolve into Espeon and Umbreon, with the use of a Moon Shard and Sun Shard that he found in the Orre region." She opens up a case that holds the two shards – and Dawn gasps in awe when she sees them glinting in the sunlight that shines through the windows. "These two types of shards have been used to evolve Eevees into those two evolutions. Professor Rowan is curious to see if these shards only help to evolve Eevee in the Orre region, assuming it has something to do with the electromagnetic fields in the region, or if it can be used anywhere. Unfortunately, though, I simply don't have the time to raise these two little ones, and have been looking for two responsible trainers to raise and evolve them."
She grins at them. "You both happen to be responsible trainers, with different styles of training your Pokémon, which will serve to help Professor Rowan's research even more . . . All you would need to do is occasionally check in with Professor Rowan with a call, update him on any new developments, your Eevee's evolution, and learnset. So, would you both be willing to help us out? It will work out even better since you're travelling with each other. Professor Rowan and I would be pleased if you could aid us."
Dawn beams and nods enthusiastically. "Of course!"
Paul, too, nods. "Yes."
Cynthia smiles back at them, pleased. "Perfect. Both of you must decide amongst yourselves which Eevee you want, since one of them is a shiny Pokémon, and which evolution you each will choose."
Dawn reaches into her back pocket to pull out her Pokédex. "Let's see," she mutters, scrolling though the logs to find Umbreon's entry.
"Umbreon, the Moonlight Pokémon. When it is agitated, its pores secrete a poisonous sweat, which it sprays at its opponent's eyes." Dawn then selects Espeon's entry, which is easier to find. "Espeon, the Sun Pokémon. It uses the fine hairs that cover its body to sense air currents and predict an opponent's movement."
"I'm going to evolve mine into Espeon," Paul announces, as he leans away from Dawn's Pokédex. Dawn almost jolts in surprise – she didn't realize he was that near her in the first place.
"H-Huh? Wait!" Dawn's outburst has him turning to look at her, an eyebrow raised in response. "What if I want Espeon?"
To be honest, she really doesn't know which evolution she wants. She only knows that she would like to have the shiny Eevee, though.
As if Paul can read her mind, he tells her, "Let me evolve my Eevee into Espeon and you can take the shiny Eevee. I don't care much for aesthetics, anyway."
With that option in front of her, Dawn is relieved that Paul has her work cut out for her and agrees. Cynthia chuckles and gives them each their respective Pokéballs and shards. Dawn and Paul then have their Eevee come out of their Pokéballs and Cynthia introduces them to their new trainers. She asks the two trainers to be gentle and patient with the Eevee, as they are newly hatched and are still young Pokémon.
They eat dinner at Cynthia's villa, and while they eat, Cynthia makes a cryptic remark about the Rubello Town Pokémon Contest in Hoenn, urging Paul to participate, as, if he wins, it will do him some good.
Paul nods. "Yes, I received the news a while back."
"I gather that is why you're travelling to Hoenn," Cynthia states.
"Among other reasons, yes."
"It will do you especially good to have Dawn as your companion then, as she is an experienced Pokémon coordinator."
Dawn is confused, and asks Cynthia for clarification, but Cynthia apologizes, and with a wink, tells her the information is privy only to League participants.
Paul, competing in a contest? Dawn can't even fathom the thought.
When they finish eating, Cynthia drops them off to the port where their ship awaits them. Dawn and Paul thank Cynthia for everything. Cynthia warmly wishes them good luck on their journey, and tells them if they ever come back to Undella Town, they are welcome to stay at her villa. She waves them goodbye after they board the ship and begin to set sail. They, too, wave goodbye to her as well, from the upper deck, standing together, side by side.
.
"Did you mean it?"
"What?"
She purses her lips. "When you told Cynthia that we would travel through Hoenn together?" He doesn't answer her, causing her to sigh. Guess not.
"Dawn."
Her eyes widen, and hearing her name fall from Paul's lips for the second time has Beautifly fluttering in her stomach.
"I need you to teach me about contests."
"Huh?" She is taken aback by his request. "Is . . . is this about the Rubello Town Pokémon Contest that Cynthia told you about?" she asks hesitantly.
He sighs, exasperated. "Will you teach me or not?"
She and Piplup share a look, before they look back up at him. "Um, y-yes, sure."
He cracks a small smile, which surprises both Dawn and Piplup. "Good." He nods. "Then our first destination will be the Dewford Gym."