A New Dream

Can you Keep a Secret?: Paul's POV

As we walked away from the hotel and back towards the city the feeling that I had made a huge mistake hung over me. Now that Dawn was back to her smiling self I wondered if I had overreacted and mentally cursed at myself. But no matter how upset I was, I also knew that I wouldn't go back on my word. I was just going to have to be very careful to keep a wall between Dawn and me.

"So where are we going?" Dawn asked, startling me out of my thoughts. I looked down at her briefly.

"Have you faced any of the other totem pokemon yet?" I asked and Dawn sheepishly shook her head.

"I've been too busy practicing for the showdowns," she explained and I nodded once in acknowledgment.

"Then we'll head to Wela Volcano," I said decisively. Dawn was silent. As I looked down at her she looked pensive, as if she were thinking of something unpleasant. "What?" I asked, wondering if she had been hoping to go somewhere else. 

She blinked up at me, her unhappy expression vanishing as she met my eyes and it was replaced with a slightly awkward look.

"Do you mind if we don't spend the night in a PokeCenter tonight?" she asked hesitantly and I raised an eyebrow at her in a silent question. "It's just that the pokemon centers in Akala run footage from the showdowns. Last night I had a bunch of people come up and talk to me about my dance battle with Traavi and... I don't really feel like talking to strangers today," she explained, looking off to the side so I couldn't see her expression, but her slumped shoulders told me enough.

"That's fine with me," I agreed simply and she gave me a grateful smile, making me turn away from her so I wouldn't stare too long at her eyes.

"Hey, Paul, what did you think about my dance today?" Dawn asked, and I noticed that she didn't seem to have any trouble keeping up with my pace. 

I'm glad Dawn is tall for a girl, I thought briefly before thinking back to Dawn's performance today.

"You're my friend today, remember. So no insults," Dawn said hurriedly and I arched an eyebrow at her.

"You want me to lie to you to make yourself feel better?" I asked bluntly and Dawn grimaced.

"Don't lie to me. I want you to tell me if I should improve something... just don't be mean about it," she mumbled with a frown and I looked away from her for a second.

"It was captivating," I muttered, keeping my gaze in front of me as we walked down Main street towards the path that would take us to the volcano.

"Really?" Dawn's voice sounded more surprised than I thought was warranted, but I nodded. Without looking at her I tried to think about her performance objectively while not thinking about the emotions I had felt during the performance.

"Your dance moves were a lot more complex than most of the other performers, and you made good use of Cutiefly's strengths," I said without emotion.

"Was Cutiefly hard to see?" Dawn asked, concern obvious in her voice. Looking over at her I was surprised to see her biting her bottom lip and looking conflicted. 

I wonder if someone told her that, I thought but as she shifted her gaze to look up at me I quickly turned away from her.

"I was in the back so I couldn't really see her at the beginning, but once you used Double Team it was a lot better," I said gruffly. "You were the second name called, so it obviously wasn't a problem for the judges," I pointed out. From the corner of my eye, I saw Dawn smile while looking relieved.

"Thank you, Paul. I like you as a friend," she announced, turning her sparkling eyes on me and I swallowed.

"Yah, well, don't get used to it," I said gruffly. She laughed and I felt the corners of my lips quirk up but I quickly scowled to cover the almost smile.