Paul and Dawn: First Light

Chapter 12: Continuance

Chapter 12: Continuance 

The rest of the day Dawn and I spent apart. Bagon and I worked on his Ember- it still resembled a hiccup as we finished for the night, but I didn't expect progress in just a few hours and told him that, which seemed to refill his hope of successfully learning the move.  

I met Dawn for dinner, which was leftover stew, and she seemed disappointed about how training her Togekiss had gone. 

"We started learning Roost." Dawn sighed. "And it wasn't easy. We still don't think it's restoring any health, though she is glowing now." 

"Don't expect much. Moves are hard to teach, even when you know what you're doing." 

Her face turned red. "Are you saying that I don't know what I'm doing?" 

"Do you?" 

"Of course!" 

"Have you read any books about Flying type moves or Pokemon?" 

"No..." 

"Exactly." 

Dawn sighed angrily. "You still won't help me. What am I supposed to do?" 

I tapped a finger on my leg. "How about at meals we discuss our problems, or should I say your problems, and that way you can't say that I never help you at every chance you get. Agreed?" 

"It's better than nothing, I guess." Dawn shrugged. "So what is the best way to teach a Pokemon Roost?" 

I then explained to her the easy theory behind Roost and how simple meditation, like a small power nap, could restore the health of her Togekiss. 

"Oh, I didn't think about it that way. Thanks, Paul." She smiled. 

I shrugged. 

"Want to talk about training Bagon?" 

"No." 

"What'd you do this afternoon, try to make his Ember better?" 

I gave her an irritated look. "I said I'd help you. I didn't say anything about sharing what happened to me today." 

She decided to tell me how she felt anyway, "You know, Ash told me his Cyndaquil couldn't use Fire attacks until he was all warmed up in battle. Maybe that's how your Bagon is. I mean, he is just a baby, after all. Maybe Fire attacks can't be used by all Pokemon right off the bat." 

I frowned. She had a point. After lunch, we didn't exercise enough for Bagon to get warm enough to use a Fire attack. That is, if her theory was correct. "I'll see if that's true or not tomorrow." 

"I'm not as stupid as I look, Paul." Dawn stared at her feet. "I may be a pretty new Trainer compared to you, but I did travel around with Ash and he's raised a lot of Pokemon and been to five regions now. I may talk a lot, but I do know how to listen too." 

I paused. "I'll consider what you said tomorrow when I train, what more do you want?" 

Dawn looked up, straight into my eyes. "Time." 

I sat up straighter, feeling like I'd been insulted. What had she meant by that?  

"I'm going to bed. Good night Paul. Bagon." She went into her tent, followed by Piplup. 

I sat by the fire, staring into it, yet again wondering what I'd gotten myself into before extinguishing the flames and crawling into my sleeping bag.

The next day, with the help of Dawn's advice, Bagon was able to use Ember after a half hour jog. It was true- all he needed was to be warmed up. Still, that would not do in the middle of a battle when a Fire attack could so easily take out an opponent.