Paul and Dawn: First Light

Chapter 17: Relaxation

Chapter 17: Relaxation 

The next morning, Dawn was back to her normal cheerful self, which was hard to endure. I was on edge from my promise of half a day off. Even when we were walking toward the next town, I made my Pokemon train by running. This whole six hours I'd promised of nothingness made me want to bark complaints about them being lazy imbeciles, which I had promised not to do. 

Dawn sensed my unease. "You ok?" 

"Just peachy," I growled. 

"Uh, you don't sound very peachy."

I glared at her. 

She shrugged. "Fine, be that way. Piplup and I are going to work on his Ice Beam." She paused, "Thanks for that battle. It really helped us learn. We'd love to battle you again, Paul." 

Shocked by her sudden gentle tone, I said nothing. She stood up and left with Piplup while I stared at the ground, suppressing a groan. 

"Ok, you fat, useless lumps. What are you all doing today?" I called to my Pokemon. Torterra rolled his eyes and the others, except Bagon, chuckled. Bagon shifted his weight nervously. He looked tired from all the training yesterday. 

I studied him and pulled a handful of Oran Berries out of my bag. "Eat these berries. They'll help you recover your strength." 

Bagon jumped slightly and accepted the berries, swiping them from my hand as if he were reaching into the mouth of a Feraligatr to retrieve them. 

Was I really that scary? 

"Your only rule is to be back here for lunch and then be back here at 2:00 to resume training, which will be light today." I looked at all of them in turn. "And don't get into any trouble." 

I hoped that the others wouldn't mind having Bagon tag along. I still wasn't sure if I trusted him to be off on his own yet. 

With a nod, they began dispersing. Torterra decided to remain behind and lay next to me, sunbathing. I smirked and laid a hand on his head for a fraction of a second before removing it. 

It'd been awhile since Torterra and I had had some time to ourselves. As my first partner, he understood me better than the others and we trusted each other fully. It was also easier to open up to him, although most of the time our exchanges were silent. We usually just knew what the other was thinking. 

His rocky voice intruded on my thoughts, "Terra." 

I looked at him and followed his line of sight. Bagon was standing on the ground at my feet, looking up at me. 

I frowned, and then smirked. "You have no idea what to do with your time, do you?"  

Bagon shook his head. I nodded in understanding. "I don't know what to do with my time either. Training is what I live for." 

Bagon's eyes shimmered and I knew he felt the same way. 

I stood up. "Tell you what. There's a pond not far from here. Why don't we go for a swim? It's exercise and it's supposed to be fun." 

If it really was fun, I didn't really know. I usually just did it for exercise. 

Bagon smiled and Torterra nodded in approval, so we all stood up and walked through the forest to a pond that was about ten minutes north. A small waterfall about five feet high trickled into it, sending ripples along the water. 

I stripped to my boxers, feeling very self conscious, but mostly because I didn't know how to make swimming fun. Torterra answered for me, jumping high into the air and crashing into the water, taking up about a tenth of the pond and sending water cascading over me and Bagon. Bagon laughed and raced in after him, his splash minuscule in comparison, not that that deterred his charge towards Torterra. I couldn't help but smile at their size difference. 

I went to sit at the edge, my legs submerged. The water was a bit chilly, but Torterra and Bagon didn't seem to mind. They started playing a game that seemed to consist of Bagon trying not to get tagged by Torterra, staying in the shallows so that Bagon could stand up and not drown in the huge waves that developed as Torterra moved. 

Torterra eventually did catch Bagon, who then climbed up onto Torterra head and whispered something into his ear. Torterra's eyes brightened and he smiled. 

I frowned, wondering what they were talking about when something slammed into my back, pushing me head first into the water. Gasping, I emerged and sputtered as Torterra and Bagon laughed at me. I glared at the Frenzy Plant vine that had forced me into the water, then at Torterra. 

My feet wouldn't move quickly in the deep water, but I went over to Torterra and began splashing him. I hit Bagon so hard with a wave that he fell off Torterra's head, splashing into the water. He was wearing a dripping, shocked expression. 

I smiled and splashed again. Torterra jumped forward, pushing a wave at me. It was so powerful that I fell over, my body submerging yet again. As I broke the surface, I felt something small moving the water next to me- Bagon. He grinned and nodded. Apparently we'd team up against Torterra. 

I nodded back and eyed the waterfall above us. Bagon followed my gaze and seemed to understand my plan. Right when Torterra was about to splash us again, we took a deep breath and swam underneath the waterfall. Bagon pointed upward to an opening large enough for the both of us. We squeezed through and took a gulp of air, treading water as we looked around a cavern. A natural stairway was lit up by a sunbeam. 

Silently, we made our way up the stair-like rocks and found ourselves at the base of the small river. We peeked over the top of the hill- Torterra was below us, searching for where we had gone. Smirking, Bagon and I waited until he was far enough away before jumping off the cliff, our bodies forming cannon balls. Torterra only had time to look up and gasp before we landed, sending a tidal wave over his head. 

Bagon and I swam to the surface just in time to see Torterra shake the water off, his laughter booming. I couldn't help but chuckle a bit myself and Bagon grinned. 

"Nice teamwork." I smiled at my Dragon Pokemon. He beamed at me. 

Not training isn't so bad, I thought. Maybe I should concede to days like this more often.  

Right then, a voice called, "Paul???" 

I looked at the edge of the pond where Dawn and Piplup were standing, looking at me as if I was a ghost. 

And with that, my face hardened, my muscles tightened, and I felt angry again. "What?" 

"What are you doing?" Dawn asked. 

"Training, what do you think I'm doing?" I barked. 

Dawn bit her lip. "Um, swimming with your Pokemon?" 

"That's ridiculous," I snapped. "We're testing Bagon's endurance in the water. What are you doing here, anyway?" 

She flinched at my tone. "We were going to see if Piplup's Ice Beam could freeze over the water." 

By now, Bagon had swum over to Torterra, unsure what to do. Torterra shifted his weight. 

"Well, we're done training anyway." I stood up out of the water, my limbs dripping. I was fully aware of Dawn watching me dry off with my jacket and had to force myself not to snap at her for that as well. Why bother seem like I care if she looked at me? 

I put my clothes on quickly and held my wet jacket in my hand. "We're leaving." 

"Are you sure you want to? I mean, it sounded like you were having fun," Dawn said hesitantly. 

"We're leaving," I repeated and began walking, Torterra following me out of the water, Bagon riding on his back.