AnonymousThank you! Anyway, this one needs a little context before I can dive right in — this summer in the ikarishipping discord, we were talking about an AU where where Brock is not the part of the traveling trio in the DP Series, but Paul is. So here are some brief glimpses (yeah, there’s more than one minific here; really it’s a collection) into that scenario, because I don’t have enough ideas to craft a full story. If you’re interested, I’ll be posting this on AO3 and (maybe) FFN and an appendix with little tidbits about the AU that couldn’t make it into the minifics at the end!
READ W/ APPENDIX: AO3
U-Turn - After making its attack, the user rushes back to switch places with a party Pokémon in waiting.
“Tch. Fine. Have it your way,” Paul grumbles to his Murkrow, whose beak is turned away defiantly from the poffin in his hand.
A sweet giggle comes from beside him. “Hey! Come on, guys, one at a time!” Hmph. Dawn’s Pokémon — and his and Ash’s, for that matter — are all over her poffins.
“Aww, c’mon, buddy! Mine can’t be as bad as Paul’s!”
“Pika … ” Pikachu looks apologetic as he makes a face at the taste of the burnt poffin in his mouth, before scampering to Dawn.
Murkrow, too, looks intrigued by the crowd forming around Dawn. “Krow!” he declares, before flying to her side like the rest of Paul and Ash’s Pokémon have.
“Aww, man … “ Ash bows down in defeat, before he looks back up, determined to prove his Pokémon wrong by trying one for himself. But as his Pokémon have indicated, he finds the taste to be awful, making a gagging sound and spitting it out into the nearest trash can.
Paul grimaces at the scene, but then turns back to his starter Pokémon, the only one who hasn’t flocked to Dawn’s poffins, and holds a poffin out to him. But Torterra, too, simply shakes his head, before moving to Dawn.
He lets out a sigh. He knew this was a bad idea — he told Dawn that making poffins was not something in his range — and questions why he listened to her pathetic idea in the first place.
.
He hates it every time she wears that stupid, short, and very pink outfit for his and Ash’s gym battles. He doesn’t need a cheerleader, and he especially doesn’t need her carrying pompoms.
.
Paul catches her curled up and crying to herself the night she loses the Solaceon Contest.
Dawn lifts her head up as he approaches her, sensing his presence.
Without looking at him, she whispers, “I’ve lost in only the appeals round two contests in a row.” From the soft glow of the bonfire starting to burn out, he sees tears rolling down her cheeks. She sniffles, but makes no move to wipe away the tears.
Paul stares at her wordlessly.
She whips her head up to him. “Why are you quiet?!” she cries. “Aren’t you going to say something? Tell me how pathetic I am like you normally do!” When he offers no response again, she lowers her head. “Forget it,” she mumbles, her eyes averting his. “It’s not your business to deal with, anyway.”
“ … You’re trying too hard to make your Pokémon look good.”
Surprised, Dawn looks up at him through her tears, with furrowed eyebrows. “Huh?”
“Isn’t a coordinator supposed to help enhance how good a Pokémon already looks?” he continues. There is no stern expression on his face like she expected, but, instead, a blank face. “You don’t appear to be very confident in how good they look. That’s not fair to them.”
It takes her a moment to process his words — she’s still in shock that he’s speaking her her. With a start, she she realizes that he’s right. Her mind begins to run through her mistakes during training and the past two contests, but Paul’s low murmur breaks her out of her thoughts.
“You need to have more confidence in your Pokémon … and in yourself.” He holds out a hand to her.
Dawn’s not a bad coordinator — in fact, Paul has learned many techniques through watching her contest battles — but, even to him, it is clear that she still has a lot to learn.
She quickly brushes away her tears with a hand before nodding. With a newfound confidence, she takes his hand and allows him to help her up.
Since that day, he has pushed her to do better, in his own silent but supportive way.
—
A few days later, when she battles Maylene, the gym leader he deemed pathetic after crushing her in battle, Paul intently watches them display their strength on the sidelines with Reggie and Ash.
He gains a newfound respect for both Maylene and Dawn after that.
.
The corners of his lips twitch, threatening to turn upward.
He used to be completely uninterested by contests, and in fact, refused to come and see Ash and Dawn in the Jubilife City contest, until Dawn forced him to watch her participate in the Floaroma Contest. Impressed by how she handled her Pachirisu’s stage fright, he decided to continue attending her contests with Ash. Since then, he has learned many techniques from her — including counter-shield and evasion.
Next to him, Zoey — Dawn’s rival and friend, one he finds to be a nosy pest — and Ash cheer.
She did it. She won the Wallace Cup.
An unfamiliar feeling of pride bubbles up in his chest, and now he’s actually giving off a small smile, unable to suppress it any longer.
.
Paul holds some disdain for Ash and his training techniques, but has learned to tolerate him. Sure, they have their disagreements, but Dawn (who Paul gets along with the most), manages to mediate and helps them to understand that they are two different persons … not to mention that they happen to battle it out a lot as a way to see who is the stronger trainer. It is obvious to anyone that sees them fight on the battlefield that Ash and Paul clash in an equal battle of strength and power, each with their own radically different ideals.
Surprisingly though, it is with Dawn who Paul fights the most.
Whereas he mostly fights with Ash over major things that differentiate them as trainers, he and Dawn usually fight over little things when they travel — she’s loud and troublesome with no sense of direction (and a Togekiss who has his Honchkrow smitten), and he’s a grouch who is always in a rush to get to where he needs to be (and hates it when she spoils his Pokémon with her poffins).
There are times, though, where they have more serious fights, where Dawn will yell and maybe cry as well, and Paul will disappear for the remainder of the day (though he tends to do that when he gets into a more serious disagreement with Ash, too).
During the times he wanders off on his own, Paul wonders why he listened to Reggie and Professor Rowan’s idea in the first place and decided to travel with Ash and Dawn, but the thought of separating from them — and to his surprise, especially Dawn — unsettles him.
In the beginning, he clearly remembers trying to keep to his own, promising himself that after the first gym, he would part ways with them. Dawn and Ash were too rambunctious and distracting to travel with, anyway. There were always needless stops along the way and irritations like Team Rocket popping up were all a waste of Paul’s time.
And he nearly did leave after beating the Oreburgh Gym, but curiosity killed the Delcatty, since he decided to watch Ash’s first and second matches against Roark — though the second time was to examine the strength of Roark’s newly-evolved Rampardos. He planned to depart the day after Ash’s victory, but Dawn struggled to catch a Pachirisu, and then, that hunter, J, swiped his Elekid and Ash’s Pikachu, and then, they ran into a Coordinator with a very powerful Magikarp that all three of them were unable to defeat in battle …
Somewhere in between all of the events that grounded him to the group and made him stay, the lines he had so carefully drawn blurred, and he got used to having them by his side.
And that’s what brings him back to Ash and Dawn at the end of the day, and quietly resolve his disagreements with them.
.
The opened refrigerator greets her with a burst of cool air. Ignoring the shiver that runs down her arms, she immediately reaches for the orange juice.
“Huh? Orange juice? Who drinks that?”
With her hands on her hips, Dawn rolls her eyes at Ash. “Paul, of course!” she immediately answers. And then, her cheeks flame, realizing how attentive she has become to Paul’s likes and dislikes.
Isn’t that normal, though? she questions internally, seeing her reddened cheeks in the reflection of the refrigerator door. She’s been traveling with Paul and Ash for quite a few months now. Surely, it’s normal to know their favorite juice by now. But when she tries to think of what Ash’s favorite juice is, her mind draws a blank.
Why is it that she has subconsciously been focused on Paul more than Ash?
Averting her eyes from her reflection, she makes a mental note to learn what Ash’s favorite juice is.
.
“You battled well, Paul,” she says softly to Paul. She’s never seen such burning passion in his eyes before, and, frankly, it unsettles her a bit.
He jolts, turning away from his intent gaze on the Battle Pyramid and scowls at her. “I don’t need your pity. I lost today, but I will win against him next time.”
The pain she sees clouding in his stormy grey eyes also worries her.
(She will find out the estranged, paternal relationship Brandon has with Paul is what lies beneath that pain — but only two years later in Kanto, a few nights before Paul’s final battle against the man.)
.
“I’m going to challenge Paul to a battle now. If I manage to win…”
“Then, what?”
“Then, Dawn, I want you and I to go on a journey together.”
“Journey?” She’s thoroughly surprised at this.
“I know this is out of nowhere, but I had to tell you how I feel!”
Paul, leaning against a nearby tree, watches as Kenny runs away and Dawn calls out after him.
He’s never liked Kenny.
During Flint and Jasmine’s battle, he, Dawn, and Ash were discussing Flint’s defensive style, when Paul noticed Kenny looking over Dawn — in his eyes, Paul easily identified envy.
And then those envy-filled eyes met Paul’s.
Paul will admit it to himself that afterwards, he leaned over to engage Dawn in further conversation regarding Jasmine’s Steelix, just to spite Kenny.
With the glare Kenny shot him in that moment, Paul got the feeling that Kenny’s never liked him either.
.
“When does Buneary’s Poké Chic campaign finish?” Paul asks Dawn quietly, as they watch the ship depart the port in the sunset. They have just bid Ash farewell, as he has gone back home to Kanto.
“Huh?” She turns to look at him, confusion crossing her face. “Um, in two weeks. Why do you ask?”
“I’m going to Hoenn in a few weeks. Come with me.”
