A/N Obviously I do not own the song "What About Now" by Daughtry. But I do love the song ^.^

Dawn was true to her word and she did her best to act as if nothing had changed between us. I knew this was torturing both of us but even with that knowledge, I couldn't leave her yet. When she proposed her ridiculous wager I knew I should refuse, that I should have left her then and there so that both of us could try to forget about our feelings... but I couldn't do it. She was right. I was in love with her. And I didn't want to leave her any sooner than I had to.

But I will, I told myself resolutely as I looked over to where Piplup was helping her select ingredients for dinner. We were on Poni Island again, and when we found the Whiscash houseboat Mina had described her family told us she'd stepped out and wouldn't be back until tomorrow. So Dawn and I went to where I used z power successfully for the first time and made camp.

To my surprise, she had actually started watching me train my pokemon and she insisted that we continue with my lessons for her. I knew that she wanted to learn as much as she could so that when I left she could train and try to get strong enough to beat me at the pokemon league, but she made no mention of our bet and had virtually stopped touching me. Looking over at her I tried to forget how right it felt to hold her in my arms. I'd never felt anything like the passion that erupted when I snapped and kissed her in the river.

But thoughts of that kiss would inevitably lead me to remember Dawn holding out her hand to shake mine and then her breaking down and crying. Her tears had nearly broken me because I knew that they were 100% my fault this time. She cried because I'd been foolish enough to think that her feelings for me were platonic and when I lost control of myself her own feelings that she had been holding back came to the surface. And then I crushed them.

"Because you hate me? Well, that won't change the fact that I like you." Dawn's angry words floated through my head constantly throughout the day and I tried to convince myself that her stubbornness was annoying instead of charming. 

Sighing heavily I leaned my back against Torterra's shell as he ate his dinner and he strained his neck to try and look at me. Absently I patted his spike of an ear and he let out a worried rumble in his throat. I didn't think any of our other pokemon had noticed a difference between Dawn and me, but I could tell that Torterra knew something was wrong.

"Did you want to have your battle first tomorrow, Paul?" 

I flinched as her words washed over me and seemed to pull my eyes over to her. She was stirring something in the pot over the fire and I had to blink away the fantasy of going over and looping my arm around her waist as she cooked.

"Sure," I responded flatly, swallowing my stupid emotional urges. 

Dinner was miso soup with bits of tofu and nori and hand-rolled mini sushi. Eating the delicious food was becoming harder and harder because I knew the days when I could enjoy Dawn's cooking were dwindling. Just the fairy trial and the kahuna battle left, I thought to myself and tried to squash down the pain that the thought caused. After finishing my meal I stood up abruptly, causing Dawn to flinch back slightly.

"I'll wash the dishes when I get back," I mumbled without looking at her and shoved my hands into my jeans pockets. 

It was foolish, but I thought I could feel Dawn's eyes follow me as I turned away and walked towards my pokemon, telling them that I was going for a run. To my surprise Torterra looked up and grumbled, taking a few lumbering steps toward me.

"You want to come with me?" I asked in surprise and he nodded so I shrugged. Usually, I let my food settle before going to exercise, so it might be a good idea to take it slow and go at Torterra's pace. 

I turned, again wondering if I was imagining the feeling of Dawn's large eyes following me, and began to run towards the beach. Torterra ran behind me, his huge body slowed him down but he kept pace with me as I jogged down the beach and tried to keep my mind empty. I don't know how long Torterra and I jogged side by side but I did know that both of us were panting by the time we came to a stop. The sun had long since set and I was a little surprised that none of my other pokemon had come to join us on our jog.

"Terra torterra tor," Torterra rumbled at me after he got his breath back.

"What?" I asked, wiping the sweat from my forehead. 

Torterra walked through the shifting sand and butted his forehead against my legs before turning a concerned expression up at me.

"I'm fine," I said gruffly, a little disconcerted that Torterra could sense my mood so well. A green glow caught my eye and I ducked just as a large leaf zoomed above my head. "Are you trying to give me brain damage?" I growled.

Torterra grinned slightly before turning and walking slowly up the beach. Sighing and letting out a low chuckle I followed after him, hesitantly reaching out and resting a hand against his shell. Torterra flicked his large black eyes up at me and I thought I saw him smiling gently in the moonlight before he focused on his path once more.

As we walked up to our campsite a clear voice rang out gently. Frowning slightly I walked alongside Torterra as we got closer and I saw that all of my and Dawn's pokemon were sitting in a semi-circle facing Dawn. She was sitting next to the campfire and as the flames cast shadowy light on her I realized that she was singing. Her eyes were closed and my throat went dry as she sang.

The sun is breaking in your eye
To start a new day
This broken heart can still survive
With a touch of your grace
Shadows fade into the light
I am by your side, where love will find you

What about now? What about today?
What if you're making me all that I was meant to be?
What if our love never went away?
What if it's lost behind words we could never find?
Baby, before it's too late, what about now?

Now that we're here
Now that we've come this far, just hold on
There is nothing to fear
For I am right beside you
For all my life, I am yours

My heart clenched at Dawn's gentle voice and the depth of emotion that she was singing with. All of our pokemon seemed to be entranced by her voice and I tried to tell myself that I should leave, that I shouldn't be listening to this. But I was rooted to the spot as she continued to sing.

What about now? What about today?
What if you're making me all that I was meant to be?
What if our love had never went away?
What if it's lost behind words we could never find?

What about now? What about today?
What if you're making me all that I was meant to be?
What if our love had never went away?
What if it's lost behind words we could never find?
Baby, before it's too late
Baby, before it's too late
Baby, before it's too late, what about now?

As the last note rang out Piplip clapped his little flippers together which caused a chain reaction and soon all of the pokemon were clamping or stomping their feet. Dawn turned away from the fire with a gentle smile but the flickering flames reflected a trail of tears on her cheeks as our eyes met. 

I watched helplessly as Dawn's eyes widened and she stood up quickly, holding a hand over her mouth as pain and remorse rushed through her expression. Before I could even think of what I should say though, she turned and ran into her tent. Piplup and the rest of her pokemon, besides Arcanine, followed her into her tent while Arcanine settled down in front of the tent opening.

A loud thwacking sound rang out as my head jerked forward from being hit by a Razor Leaf but I didn't even raise my head. Turning silently, I walked away from my pokemon while shoving my hands into my jeans pockets and not even caring where I was headed. It was several minutes before I realized that I could hear something walking behind me. Turning around slightly I was shocked to see all of my pokemon following me silently with Torterra in the lead. I stopped and faced them.

"What are you doing? If you're not going to train then you should go to sleep," I said, my voice sounding distant and unfeeling even to my own ears. Torterra stepped closer to me and I noticed that the rest were all hanging back.

"Tor terra tor," Torterra sighed in a gentle voice, gesturing back towards camp.

"You go sleep. I need to clear my head," I stated flatly, turning around and nearly smacking into a large root. Turning around I saw that Torterra had used Frenzy Plant and was once again gesturing towards camp.

"Torterra, I really need to be by myself right now," I growled.

To my surprise Torterra growled right back, once again gesturing towards the camp and Dawn's tent. Frustration boiled up in me and I glared down at Torterra.

"Leave me alone, will you? Go spend time with Dawn, we're not going to be traveling together much longer," I growled but my anger fizzled slightly at the shocked expression on all of my pokemon's faces. 

Great. Just great. I thought to myself, running a hand through my bangs and trying to sort through the mess of emotions that was roiling through me. Things were so much simpler when the only thing I cared about was how to defeat my next opponent.

I felt a pat on my leg and looked down to see Riolu had walked up and was giving me a confused look. Slowly I raised my head to see that all of my pokemon were giving me the same look, except for Metang who looked downright enraged. That made me chuckle lightly since Metang used to despise Dawn and her chibi pokemon. That is until she made him some special poffins. Now he practically worshiped the ground she walked on.

"Dawn and I will only be traveling together until we finish the island challenge," I stated firmly, hating the churning in my stomach that the words caused me. "After that, we're going to be focused on training for the pokemon league." 

Torterra bowed his head and slumped as if I just announced that he would never battle again. Shaking my head I couldn't help but admire the bonds that Dawn could so easily create with others and I decided I wouldn't tell them about our 'bet'. I didn't want to give them any false hope.

"So enjoy the rest of your time with her," I urged quietly before turning away. A thin vine wrapped around my shoulder as I tried to walk away and I looked back to see Torterra giving me a sad look. "It's already been decided, Torterra. You can't change my mind," I said firmly. 

He slowly released me and turned away, lumbering over to Dawn's tent. After a pause, Metang, Incineroar, and Lycanroc all left me and followed Torterra. Glancing down I saw that Riolu was looking up at me with a piercing gaze.

"Sorry if you're disappointed," I said gruffly, turning away and continuing to walk through the tall grass. 

To my surprise, I could hear Riolu walking beside me but I didn't turn him away since his silent presence was surprisingly comforting. We walked until I came to the edge of the plain where it overlooked the ocean and I leaned my back against a tall palm tree. Riolu sat down next to my knee and looked up at the moon silently.

Closing my eyes I thought back to the very first time I met Dawn back when she was traveling with Ash. Honestly, I hadn't given her a second thought. She'd seemed like an abrasive little girly-girl who would've lasted less than a second in a battle against me. Then seeing her on the boat I had been struck by her level of observation and maturity, and yet innocent happiness that seemed to bubble out of her.

"I should just stick to battling," I breathed out painfully, trying to wipe the image of Dawn's smiling face from my mind's eye. 

Riolu growled softly in response and I opened my eyes to look down at him. He was looking down at his paws and then up at the sky.

"Why aren't you with Dawn? Don't you want to say goodbye to her?" I asked tiredly.

Riolu looked up at me and a hesitant expression transformed his normally expressionless face.

"What?" I asked in surprise, never having seen this emotion from Riolu.

Riolu tapped his ears and waved his paws out a little. I raised one eyebrow to show my confusion. Riolu clapped a paw over his eyes and if I didn't know better I would have thought that he looked embarrassed. With a finger I touched my own ear and waved it out, trying to figure out what he was trying to say. Suddenly it came to me and I glanced down at him in surprise.

"Mirageon?" I asked. Riolu's small ears wiggled like crazy and he continued to cover his eyes with his paws. "What about her?" 

Riolu uncovered his eyes and glared up at me. I raised an eyebrow at him and he sighed looking down at his fists before he punched out one of them and a crackling sound sparked as he punched at the air. He lowered his extended arm and glanced up at me, once again touching his ears and waving his paw out to mime her sand ribbon ears.

"Were you wanting to show her you are getting stronger?" I asked slowly.

Riolu growled, suddenly jumping up and punching my leg. I felt a small electric shock from it, causing me to yelp and pull my leg back.

"What was that for?" I growled at him.

He slumped his shoulders, looking dejected, and suddenly I knew exactly what he was thinking. He hadn't mastered Thunder Punch and he knew he was relatively still weak, so he didn't feel strong enough to face Mirageon. I sighed and ran a hand through my bangs, looking down at his dejected form. Riolu had done great work since I caught him, but this was the first time he showed me any true emotion. If this was a few months ago I probably would have told him to forget his feelings and focus on training... but the words wouldn't come now.

"You know I was planning on having Metang battle tomorrow," I said bluntly and Riolu looked up at me sadly. "You're at a disadvantage against a fairy type and if you faint before you show off your strength then what will you do?" 

Uncertainty twisted Riolu's mouth but then he set his jaw and looked up at me fiercely, growling determinedly.

"Even if you impress Mirageon we're still leaving after the kahuna battle," I reminded him quietly.

Riolu nodded his head in understanding, still looking at me with determination. Cracking a small smile I reached out and flicked Riolu on the nose, causing him to sneeze lightly.

"Then I think it's time for some intensive training," I said firmly.

Riolu's eyes sparkled with excitement. We worked for hours on new moves until Riolu was nearly falling asleep on his feet and my own eyes were having trouble staying open.

Rubbing my eyes I told Riolu to stop and we headed back to camp. As we made our way back I was surprised to see that instead of sleeping in her tent, Dawn was curled up on the ground surrounded on all sides by our pokemon. She was using one of Arcanine's paws as a pillow, her back was pressed against Lycanroc's side, one of her arms was circled around both Piplup and Mirageon, and her other arm was stretched out and brushing against Torterra's leg. Ribombee and Vulpix were both sleeping on Arcanine's head, Incineroar was stretched out at Dawn's feet, and Metang had settled on the ground in between Torterra and Lycanroc.

Shaking my head slightly I slipped into Dawn's tent and pulled out the blanket she always laid out in there. Stepping carefully around Incineroar I flipped the blanket and let it fall gently on top of Dawn, some of it covering Lycanroc and the two curled up next to Dawn. She mumbled something inaudible at the slight disturbance but didn't move and I cautiously backed up from the sleeping group. While getting the blanket Riolu had sat down on Lycanroc's other side and seemed to have fallen asleep.

Smiling sadly I turned away from the scene and walked to the now cold fire pit where Dawn had left the dishes that I'd neglected. Taking ten minutes to clean up I walked back to my sleeping bag and curled up in it. Turning so I was facing away from Dawn and our pokemon I told myself that this was the only way to make sure that Dawn wouldn't suffer the same depressing fate as my own mom.

The next morning I was woken up rudely with a Force Palm to the back. The energy force blasted me off the ground and caused me to roll for several feet before coming to a stop, twisted awkwardly in my sleeping bag. After making sure my bones were all in one piece I glared angrily at Riolu and he returned my glare with a blank expression.

"Oh my goodness. Are you okay, Paul?" I flinched as Dawn dashed towards me from where she had been sitting by the fire pit. "Riolu, why would you do that?" she asked in surprise as she dropped down next to me. I quickly sat up, grimacing as my back twinged painfully.

"Don't worry about it," I muttered gruffly as I tried to avoid her sapphire eyes. "Last night I decided to change my strategy for the totem battle. Why don't you go and do your battle first today? Riolu and I need to do some special INTENSIVE training," I growled while glaring over at Riolu, promising him silently that I would get him back for the bruise I was sure was spreading along my back.

"Oh... are you sure?" Dawn asked, moving an inch closer to me but not trying to reach out and touch me. Reluctantly I allowed myself to meet her concerned-filled eyes and I nodded slowly.

"We need another day to train," I said simply, trying to not get distracted by her familiar scent of vanilla and honeysuckle.

"I see..." Dawn said, trailing off and breaking eye contact with me, but I was surprised when she didn't immediately move. "Paul I'm... sorry about last night. I didn't realize you were listening. It was just a song that I like. It didn't... I wasn't..." 

Dawn trailed off and bit her bottom lip, reminding me of how much I had enjoyed biting it myself. Shaking my head I extricated myself from my twisted sleeping bag and stood up, looking down at her as she remained kneeling on the ground.

"You have a pretty voice." 

The words were out of my mouth before I knew it. I groaned inwardly, trying to keep a straight face as she looked up at me with surprise, the sunlight causing a few strands of her hair to gleam.

"Uh..." Dawn started and I turned, gesturing for Riolu to follow me.

"Good luck with your battle. Go ahead and eat without me if I come back late," I said over my shoulder. 

Riolu followed me as we began to leave the small clearing behind us. Stopping only briefly to tell my other pokemon they could train however they wanted today I left with Riolu and we spent the entire day training. I knew I was asking a lot of him by trying to teach him two new moves and perfecting a third within less than 48 hours, but he was making surprisingly good progress.

The sun had set long before Riolu was able to successfully execute his new moves, but a fierce sense of pride ran through me as I looked at his exhausted but determined body. Deciding that he deserved some food sooner than later, and not really trusting myself around Dawn right now, I poured Riolu some food. In addition, I gave him three of the precious poffins that Dawn had kept me stocked with since we started traveling together. For myself, I ate a cold dinner of some traveling bread and cheese while telling myself that I needed to get used to this kind of dinner again.

When Riolu and I got back I wasn't surprised to see that my pokemon were once again surrounding Dawn on the ground, all seeming to be asleep. However, as Riolu settled into a comfortable position against Lycanroc's side Dawn's eyes opened and she turned to look at me. Swallowing quickly I tried to gesture for her to go back to sleep, but she stood up and cautiously made her way out of the mound of bodies surrounding her. I watched her warily as she stepped over Incineroar's waist and rounded Metang's large body to stand in front of me.

We looked at each other silently in the moonlight and I tried to think of something to say. Dawn looked away from me, glancing at our sleeping pokemon, before hesitantly reaching out and taking a small portion of my sleeve fabric in her fingers, tugging it at the same time as she gestured with her head for us to move away from them.

Don't do it, Paul. Just tell her to go back to sleep, my inner voice ordered sternly and I groaned inwardly as I felt my feet move, following after her silently. 

Dawn let go of my sleeve as she walked over to where her tent was set up and she sat in front of it, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms loosely around them. Telling myself to be strong I sat down facing her, making sure to keep enough distance so that if I reached out my arm I wouldn't be able to touch her.

"The battle today was interesting," she whispered.

Instantly my muscles relaxed and I felt slightly foolish for assuming that Dawn had pulled me over to speak about us. She said she would forget the kiss and she apologized for singing a love song when she thought I wasn't listening. Give her some credit, Paul.

"Tell me about it," I urged quietly, and she smiled at me. 

She explained that the totem is a ribombee the size of a small child and it called in a pelipper to help it. I listened quietly as she explained the battle, mentioning the incredible speed of the supersized Ribombee. Her eyes lit up with excitement as she described how Arcanine used Wild Charge to take out the Pelipper and I couldn't help but chuckle as I remembered her hair becoming a field of starlight and static when Arcanine had first used Wild Charge with her on his back.

"I wish you had been there." Dawn's wistful voice pulled me from my thoughts and I swallowed, glancing over to see that she was leaning her chin against her knees and looking at me. The moon was behind her so her face was slightly in shadow and I couldn't tell exactly what expression she was making, but I did know that it was taking most of my self-control to not go over and slip my arm around her and pull her next to me.

"You don't need me to be there," I forced myself to say and I saw a ghostly smile turn up the corners of Dawn's lip.

"I may not need you there, but I feel more confident when you are," she whispered so softly that I almost allowed myself to lean forward to hear her better.

I cleared my throat and rubbed the back of my neck, knowing that I should end our conversation but weakly wishing to find an excuse to keep talking to her at the same time.

"Will you let your pokemon watch my battle tomorrow?" I asked and she straightened her back, lifting her head from her knees and tilting it in consideration.

"I hadn't thought about it, but that's not a bad idea," she mused quietly and I sighed inwardly. 

I felt a little guilty for taking Riolu away now that I knew he had feelings for Mirageon, but at least I'd give him a chance to show off for her one last time.

"I, uh... I should probably go to sleep. Riolu and I were up late last night," I said awkwardly, wishing that I could talk to Dawn normally.

She stood up and, to my surprise, walked over and offered me her hand to help me up. I looked at her hand, noticing for the first time how long and thin her fingers were, and tried to decide whether it would be safe to hold it one more time. 

Her fingers began to curl inwards as if closing a door. Without thought I instantly reached out and grabbed it, feeling a strange desperation to not let her pull away from me. Dawn's grip tightened on mine and she pulled, guiding me off the ground. As I stood I found myself within inches of Dawn. Her scent of vanilla and honeysuckle wafted towards me and as she tilted her head back to look up at me I imagined closing the distance between us and telling her that I wouldn't let her go... But the image of my mom's crying face as she huddled on the kitchen floor appeared to replace my fantasy and I released my hold on Dawn's hand before laboriously taking a step back.

Dawn lowered her hand slowly to her side, her eyes never leaving mine as we stood under the moonlight gazing at the person we loved. To my relief and shame, Dawn was the one to look away first and I sucked in a breath, realizing only then that I had been holding my breath. I took another few quick steps back and turned.

"Goodnight," I mumbled over my shoulder softly before going to my sleeping bag. 

As I climbed in I watched Dawn walk back over to the circle of pokemon. She laid down on the soft ground, curling up next to Arcanine's side and not looking in my direction at all. 

This is better, I told myself. It's better for us to hurt now rather than when I have to leave her alone for months at a time.

She probably would get sick of you before long and leave you anyways, my inner voice commented snidely and I turned around, facing away from Dawn and sighing. Admitting to myself that it was probably right.