Chapter Text
Dawn sighed, her next challenger woefully inadequate for her team. When she turned 16, she was old enough to become Champion, and Cynthia took that time to start travelling, free from her duties. Lucas, too, started on a new path when he turned 16. He went off to Hoenn with his father to study the ancient legends of their legendary weather trio. After finding a relic which seemed to depict Rayquaza in Sinnoh, they went to see if they ever interacted with the creation trio. His research kept him busy, so Dawn was getting fewer and fewer chances to speak with him as the years drew on. Of course, she was happy for him. He was pursuing his dreams and seeing different parts of the world- but it still meant Dawn desperately missed him.
Barry, on the other hand? She saw almost too much of him. He took up his father's mantle in the Battle Frontier, and so saw Dawn quite often in meetings and other things of that nature. Nevertheless, she was always happy to see him, especially because of one other new arrival.
But she shoves the rest of her thinking aside when she gets a message from the front.
"We have someone here to see you, miss Dawn," the voice spoke. It was Gerald, the attendant who managed anyone wanting to challenge the Elite Four.
"Do I have any more challengers?" Dawn asked.
"You do, but they seem more than happy to wait. I'm not too sure why."
"Alright," Dawn sighed, "I'm on my way." Probably another news anchor wanting to ask her questions or a fan asking an autograph. She meandered through the side door and down the darkly lit side passage, past the other Elite Four rooms, out to the front. Reaching the door, she opened it, and was greeted by Gerald.
"Who's here to see me?" she inquired. Gerald gestured to her right, where a small crowd had formed. In front of them, she locked eyes with a certain gray eyed man.
"It's been a while, hasn't it?"
Dawn gasped, and nearly burst into tears. "Lucas!" She yelled, leaping towards him. Her arms wrapped around him in a tight hug, like she was making a desperate attempt to strangle him. He held onto and returned the hug, the force of her jump causing him to spin her around, before placing her back on the ground.
"Well someone's excited to see me." He deadpanned.
"You got taller." Dawn complained, her arms still hooked around his neck. When he left, he was barely a few centimeters taller than her, but now, he was an entire head above her. He had changed in other ways, too. He had grown a bit broader, his jawline sharper, and he overall looked more confident. He was still wearing his familiar outfit, his hat snuggly on his head, and he also now had glasses. They were thin, almost dainty black glasses with rectangular lenses.
Dawn loved the look.
Once she managed to escape the trance of Lucas's eyes, she tuned into the chorus of 'aww's and 'ooo's the crowd was belting out. Lucas seemed unbothered, but Dawn turned redder than Flint's hair. It made sense why her challengers wanted to wait. News stations and the like typically alluded to some kind of relationship going on between the champion and the researcher. Of course, they were all completely unfounded, and she'd denied it before, but they still persisted. Grabbing Lucas's wrist, she dragged him over to the door.
"If you ever see Lucas, he can always come through here and visit me. No questions asked." Dawn instructed.
"You know that's not allowed." Gerald sighed.
"I will make it allowed, Gerald." She retorted, before yanking Lucas into the hallway. Gerald just smiled. Dawn knew that Gerald didn't mention Lucas's name on purpose.
"What's this?" Lucas inquired.
"This is how us Elite Four and Champions get to our battle arenas." She replied, walking up the metal grated stairs. Lucas hummed in response, following closely. "I've got a few challengers left for today, but you can watch, and then we can catch up!"
Lucas sat down on a bench behind Dawn during her next battles. His arrival had put a spark in the girl, and her next battles were fought and won with extreme skill and ferocity. She couldn't perform poorly in front of Lucas, after all. She would occasionally look back to see if he was watching and impressed, and she felt her stomach flutter when she saw him smile.
After beating the last challenger (Dawn was so focused that they couldn't even get past her first Pokémon), Dawn practically skipped over to Lucas.
"I'm impressed, Dawn. You've gotten even better since last I saw you. Watching you is awe inspiring!" The researcher beamed.
Dawn felt herself turning red again. "T- thanks, Lucas. Do you want to come with me to the Villa?" She asked, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Sure, it's been a while." He smiled. She made for the door, but stopped when she saw someone there.
"Hey there, gorgeous." The man said. Dawn sneered.
"Hey." She replied flatly. Bertha, the sweet old ground type trainer, had retired from the Elite Four two years ago. Dawn was sad to see her go, as she quite enjoyed the old woman's company. However, the worst part was her replacement. She was replaced by another ground type trainer, Henry. It wasn't the fact that Henry was a guy- she got along quite well with Lucian, Flint, and Aaron. She especially liked to have tea with the former. Henry, however, liked to flirt with her. Not something Dawn particularly enjoyed.
"What? That's all I get?" He complained. "No 'hey Henry, I'm happy to see you'?" Dawn rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Ohh, well who is this? I thought you don't date, Dawn."
Dawn blushed. "I don't date, Henry. This is Lucas, an old friend of mine." She asserted. "Lucas, this is Henry. The new ground type Elite Four member."
"Hey there, Lucas." Henry greeted. Lucas noted a slight venom in Henry's voice, which caught him off guard.
"Hi," Lucas greeted, shaking his hand, "nice to meet you. What happened to Bertha?"
"Bertha retired." He informed. "Now I, the amazing ground type trainer Henry, have replaced her."
Lucas rolled his eyes. Noticing Dawn's discomfort, he goes to give her an out. "Dawn, shall we go?"
"Y- yea, let's go." She replied, swiftly exiting the room with Lucas hot on her heels. Henry trailed behind them slowly until he reached his battle arena and went in. "Thanks for that." Dawn said, quietly. Lucas hummed and nodded.
"You don't date?" He asked curiously.
"Wha- W- well I-" Dawn stammered, "I just told him that so he would stop bugging me, but it didn't work."
"So you do date, then?" Lucas teased, bumping her side.
"N-no! Not- not anyone at the moment..." Dawn trailer off, breaking eye contact.
When they reached the door to the main area, they were greeted by another familiar face.
"I am going to fine you 10 million for not telling me that you were coming!" Barry yelled, before surging forward and pulling Lucas in for a strong hug.
"Barry!" Lucas yelped in surprise. "It's been a while."
"When did you get here, Barry?" Dawn asked.
"Just a minute ago! I saw on the news that the 'Star Crossed Lovers' had reunited, so I got here as fast as Staraptor could fly!"
"W-what?!" Dawn blurted. "Star crossed huh?!" She stepped towards Barry and away from Lucas, once again going red. "How did it spread this fast? And speaking of, why were there so many people waiting with you, Lucas?!" She yelled, turning to the aforementioned boy.
"Well, I uhh, y'know..."
"Lucas..." Dawn warned.
"It's just- they have followed me ever since I flew in from the airport. And, well, I couldn't just turn them away..." Lucas mumbled.
Dawn felt like melting. The researcher was still as shy and meek as ever.
"It's- it's okay, Lucas! Don't worry!" Dawn frantically tried to backtrack, feeling terrible for her outburst.
"I'm going to fine you." Barry announced. "So where you off to?"
Dawn recomposed herself. "The Villa."
"Already? You don't waste any time, Dawn."
"Shut up, Barry!" Dawn yelled. Lucas looked at her confused, and she awkwardly smiled at him before looking back at Barry. "Do you want to come?"
"I'll tag along for a bit."
So the reunited trio left the Pokémon league and headed for the Villa. Along the way, Lucas told the two about his research, how he got to meet Steven Stone, the hypothesis that Rayquaza once had a cataclysmic battle with Palkia in space, and much more. Once they arrived at the Villa, Dawn hurried into the kitchen.
"Dawn, it's fine, I'm not hungry." Lucas told her.
"Well I am! Do you have any poffins?" Barry called.
"Barry, you know those are for the Pokémon, not for you." Dawn rolled her eyes.
"They're good though!" He protested. As the girl continued to ruffle through the kitchen, Barry caught Lucas in thought. "What's up with you? Pondering the mysteries of the universe again?"
Lucas snorted. "Nothing like that. Was just thinking about that guy that replaced Bertha."
"Ugh, why would you think about him of all people?" Dawn groaned.
"Because he was bothering you." Lucas said flatly.
"Y-you don't need to worry about little old me..." The flustered girl replied.
"Well, I do." Lucas asserted, rolling his eyes. "What do you know about him, Barry?" He asked, turning to the blond.
Barry laid across the couch, his feet off the edge. "He's a weirdo for sure. Keeps flirting with Dawn, or really any girl he comes across, but mostly Dawn. He's not actually that amazing of a battler if I'm honest, I'm sure Aaron could have beaten him if his team didn't have so many rock types. I think he's annoying and talks too slowly." Barry rapidly belted out. Lucas chuckled as Barry started going off on a tangent at an incompressible speed.
"Woah woah, slow down there Barry." Lucas laughed, putting his hands in the air. Barry rolled his eyes. Dawn returned with a plate of biscuits and tea. Dawn went for the tea, while Barry and Lucas snatched a biscuit.
"Well this gist of it Lucas," he said, taking a bite of the biscuit," is that you should go on a date with Dawn."
Dawn immediately spat out her tea and stood up, the tea now partially covering herself and the table. Lucas choked on his biscuit.
"W-what are you even SAYING?!" Dawn yelled, blushing like mad, while grabbing some napkins to clean up the mess she accidentally caused.
"Woah woah woah, calm down!" Barry yelped. "This is why you guys need to listen to me the first time!" Barry angrily complained. "I was saying that Lucas can take you on a date in front of Henry so that he knows you're taken and will stop bothering you!" The blond explained hastily.
Lucas, after clearing his throat, spoke next. "I mean, it's not the worst idea."
"I'm gonna have to change now..." Dawn complained. "And who knows if it will even work? How do we get him to see it? Where do we go?"
"Calm down with the demands woman!" Barry yelled. "It's simple."
"Is it now?" Dawn grumbled, grabbing a biscuit off the plate, standing next to the couch where Lucas and Barry sat.
"Yup. Lucas goes to get you once you're finished fighting challengers for the day, Henry is sure to visit you then. Lucas will ask you if you are ready for the date, and you will go with him to a restaurant or something. Or actually, Flint's birthday party. Simple." Barry explained, seemingly proud of himself.
"That's- actually not such a bad idea." Lucas said.
"Why do you sound so surprised?!" Barry questioned. "I'm well known for my smarts." Dawn rolled her eyes.
Lucas rose off the couch, grabbing a napkin. He turned to Dawn, and wiped the splash of tea and the biscuit crumbs off her face. Dawn froze. "So what do you say?" The man asked. "Will you go on a date with me, Dawn?"
Dawn felt like she was going to spontaneously combust. Her heart pounding at a million metres per second, she tried desperately to compose herself. "I- uh... I w- erm, what I... You- I would..." She stammered. The girl took a second to breathe, failing to control her emotions. "I'll go on... I'll go on a date with you, L-Lucas. I uh... Need to go get changed out of these clothes now, yeah."
With that, the Champion of the Sinnoh region extracted herself from the situation immediately, and scampered up the stairs.
"Is it just me, or is she acting weird?" Lucas asked, pointing to the stairs.
"You've got no idea." Barry laughed.
__
Barry decided to leave for his place, saying that he needed to train his Pokémon for his fight with Flint tomorrow, leaving Dawn and Lucas in the Villa for dinner.
"Are you going to stay the night, Lucas?" Dawn asked awkwardly- she still hadn't recovered from Lucas 'asking' her out.
"If you don't mind."
"Of course I don't! You can stay with me as long as you like." She reassured him. "Uh, I don't have too much in the way of a proper dinner, I hope you don't mind eating leftover pasta."
"I'm fine with whatever." Lucas replied. Dawn reheated the pasta and slid him a bowl across the table. "So Dawn, about our date," the girl visibly stiffened, but Lucas obviously didn't notice. "Where should we go, and when should I get you?"
"I- uh... You can get me at maybe a little before 6?" The champion replied, biting her lip. "There is a festival thing being held tomorrow in Sunnyshore, actually. Volkner is doing something for Flint's 30th birthday. That's why Barry is going to fight him tomorrow, to keep him occupied before he goes to Sunnyshore."
"Wouldn't Henry be there?"
"That's even better, we can prove to him that we are actually on a date." Dawn pointed out.
Lucas scratched his chin, continuing to eat the pasta. "Well that's convenient timing, huh?"
"Mhm!" Dawn squeaked. It's not like she hadn't been fantasizing about taking him to literally any event that occurred in the 4 year span he was gone. Finishing her food, she hastily got up from her chair and put her bowl in the sink. "I'm gonna- go get your bed ready."
Lucas rolled his eyes, before getting up and approaching the girl. "You're such a mess, you know that?" He teased, using a napkin to wipe the sauce that remained on her face in a repeat of what happened only an hour previous. "How did you ever survive without me?"
"I- y'know..." She mumbled, before turning away to hide her red face, and hurrying up the stairs.
Shortly after, Dawn returned. "Alright, your bed is ready, Lucas."
The boy didn't look at her, continuing to do the dishes. "Thanks, Dawn."
"What will you do tomorrow?" She asked, approaching him.
"I think I'll go to Sandgem. Visit my family and Professor Rowan." He explained, drying the bowl.
Dawn took the bowl and put it away. "How are you going to get there? Do you have a Pokémon who can fly?"
Lucas nodded. "Yes, I do. I have taken quite the liking to fossil Pokémon, and I found Old Amber during my research, so..."
Dawn gasped. "You have an Aerodactyl? What else do you have?"
Lucas chuckled seeing her so excited. "Would you like me to show you?"
"Yes!" She celebrated, running out to the backyard. Lucas followed, and he found himself on a Battle Arena.
"Oh, did you want to battle me?"
"Well, only if you want to." The girl replied.
"It sounds fun. Let's do it. But, erm, let's only do like, two Pokémon. It's getting late."
"I won't need that many." Dawn teased. Grabbing her Pokéball, she sent out her starter, Empoleon. However, before Lucas could even send out his Pokémon, Empoleon rushed him. "E-empoleon! What are you-" she stopped, as the large penguin picked up Lucas in its large flippers in a hug.
"H-hey there Empoleon! Yea I missed you too!" Lucas laughed, hugging the Pokémon he raised back.
Dawn giggled. "Alright Empoleon, are you ready to battle with Lucas?" Empoleon squawked in reply, and returned to the other side, readying itself.
Lucas chuckled, and pulled out his first Pokémon. "Rise, Steelix!" Out came the giant metal snake, which towered over Empoleon.
"Where did you get a Steelix from?" Dawn called.
"We found him at the dig site!" Lucas yelled back. "Alright steelix, start us off with an Earthquake!" The snake roared, lifting up its tail and slamming it into the floor, shaking the battlefield.
Dawn gritted her teeth. "Empoleon, Hydro Pump!"
"Block the water with Iron Tail, Steelix!" As the penguin let out a giant blast of water, the snake sliced through it with its tail, lessening the already devastating damage.
"Empoleon, Ice Beam!"
"Steelix, Ice Fang!" The beam of ice came rocketing towards Steelix, but using Ice Fang was able to block part of the attack, landing the hit on Empoleon.
Dawn smiled. "Flash cannon!" Lucas's eyes widened. Steelix was too close to dodge or defend against such an attack, and it fell. Lucas recalled the snake.
"You're the champion for a reason, I suppose." Lucas smiled. "Alright, then. Rise, Aerodactyl!" The Pokémon made a deafening screech, and landed in front of Lucas.
"Let's finish this one quickly, hey Empoleon? Use Hydro Pump!"
"Aerodactyl, Earthquake." Easily dodging the water attack, it slammed its body into the ground, shaking the battlefield and the house. The attack dealt heavy damage to Empoleon, knocking it out.
"Why do all your Pokémon know earthquake?!" Dawn complained, returning Empoleon. "Alright, go Staraptor!"
"I forgot you and Barry both have staraptors. Giving me a type advantage this time?"
"You need it." Dawn joked. "Use Close Combat!"
"Fly!"
Staraptor came in close to Aerodactyl, but the ancient Pokémon was much faster, flying up into the air.
"Staraptor, Aerial Ace!" The bird readied itself, unable to see the Aerodactyl. Suddenly, it came diving down, knocking staraptor into the floor.
"Now, Aerodactyl! Stone Edge!" Summoning many sharp stones, it flung them at Staraptor.
"Quick attack!" Dawn yelled. Staraptor was able to dodge many of the stones, and hit the Aerodactyl for low damage. Then, another stone came hurtling at Dawn's Staraptor. It stabbed into it, and sent the bird Pokémon flying into the Villa, smashing a window and probably a few walls in the process, knocking out Dawn's Pokémon.
The pair stood in silence for a while. "That was your room, Lucas." Dawn mumbled.
"I guess I won, then?" He grimaced. The Aerodactyl flew towards him, unaware of what it did wrong. Lucas just smiled at his Pokémon, petted it, and returned it to its ball. Dawn returned her Staraptor to its ball.
"I guess so. Should we go inside and see the damage?" Lucas nodded, and the duo headed inside and up the stairs. The stray stone had seemingly destroyed two connected guest rooms, luckily leaving any water fixture's pipes intact. "I'm sorry, Dawn. I can pay you back for the-"
"No, no." She interrupted. "Don't worry about it, Lucas. I guarantee that I make more than you anyway, I can get this repaired."
"Should I take your Pokémon to the Centre while you... Sort out whatever you can here?" He asked. Dawn nodded, and handed him the two Pokéballs.
___
Lucas returned a short time later. He felt really bad, so went to get Dawn her favourite donuts as an apology. "Dawn?" He called into the- now quite drafty- house. Placing the box on the counter, he heads upstairs. To the left of the stairs was 3 partially destroyed rooms, being the two bedrooms and the bathroom which connected them. He went to the right, where he assumed the master bedroom was. "Dawn?" He called again, knocking on the door.
"Come in."
Lucas pushed the door open, and popped his head in. "Hey." He gingerly entered the room. He saw Dawn sitting on her bed, drying her hair. She had seemingly showered and changed in his absence.
Seeing his dour expression, Dawn spoke up. "You shouldn't feel bad, Lucas. It wasn't your fault, mostly the fault of me using the backyard arena instead of a safer one."
"Y-yea, but..." He trailed off. "When I was out, I brought you donuts." Lucas said quietly. "Your favourites."
Dawn lit up like a lightbulb. "Really? Lucas, you didn't have to- well you have to eat some too!" Grabbing his arm, the girl pulled him downstairs excitedly, seemingly forgetting about the massive hole in her house. As Dawn grabbed a Donut, Lucas pre-emptively handed her a napkin.
"Whah?" Dawn said, chewing the donut. "Not gonna wipe my face for me again?" Lucas laughed and grabbed one for himself.
"So, I guess I'll take the couch tonight, then?"
"Of course not! I'm not angry with you."
"Dawn, where am I supposed to sleep, then?"
Dawn felt herself turning pink. "W-well, since I suppose there is only one bed in the house now, I would think the answer is pretty obvious..."
Lucas rolled his eyes. "But that's where you're sleeping."
"I-I mean, it's a pretty big bed..." Dawn mumbled. Dawn couldn't believe she was actually trying this.
"It's fine, Dawn, I can just-"
"It's not fine!" She cried. "I- I don't have any extra blankets... Staraptor hit the closet that had them all... I can't make you sleep down here on the couch without a blanket- it's cold out! And there is a hole in the wall! You'll freeze!" Dawn held her breath as Lucas thought about it.
"If you insist."
"Y-" she stopped herself from cheering, "yeah, good. Now you should go shower, you'll have to use the one in the bedroom." Lucas nodded, and went upstairs.
"Where did you put my stuff, Dawn?" He called down.
Dawn froze, realizing she had pre-emptively put his bag in her bathroom- a move that could totally blow her cover. "It's in the bathroom already!" She yelled back. She waited for him to call her out, to say anything.
"Found it! Thanks!" Dawn breathed a sigh of relief. As much as she's head over heels for him, he's still as oblivious as ever.
Dawn stopped herself from eating all the donuts- she's already embarrassed herself enough in front of Lucas over her food eating habits. She put the box away, and went upstairs. She looked at the destruction of half the upper rooms, but was silently thankful for the position they ended up putting her in. Thankfully the damage didn't affect the rooms or the ceilings much at all. Entering her room, she heard the shower running. She felt giddy looking at her bed. She elected to take the right side of the bed closer to the door. She grabbed the magazine off her nightstand and started flipping through it. She sometimes wanted to see the public's perception of her and the Elite Four, so she ordered them daily to her house. She really shouldn't have been surprised by what she saw, but she was anyway. The magazine must have been made with some insane turnaround to get the news Barry heard in it already.
'Star-Crossed Lovers Reunited: Pokémon Researcher Lucas Returns from Hoenn and Reunites with the Champion Dawn.'
Dawn felt herself squealing. It was a picture from right after she hugged Lucas, her arms still around his neck and her gaze lost in his. She read on, about the different theories people had about their relationship status. When she heard the door open, she quickly stuffed the magazine into the table drawer, and started fussing with her hair.
"Oh, hey Dawn, didn't hear you come in." Lucas said, exiting the washroom. Dawn turned crimson when she saw he wasn't wearing a shirt. "Sorry, I don't have any clean pajama shirts..."
"I- it's okay! D- don't worry about it!" She replied quickly. The girl squirmed, and squashed her legs together, trying to ignore her rapidly increasing libido. Hundreds of her fantasies were coming true. "See, I did say you would freeze down there, and you don't even have a shirt."
"Yeah, yeah." Lucas mumbled. He stopped next to the bed, clasped his hands together, and stretched, arching his back. He let out a pleased, low grumble. Dawn tried her hardest not to pass out. Lucas, of course, was oblivious to her fawning, and slid into the bed next to her. He nestled into the sheets comfortably, and Dawn reached for the lamp and flicked it off, and slid under the covers.
Turning towards her, Dawn could barely make out his face in the dark. "Good night, Dawn." Lucas said quietly.
"G- goodnight, Lucas."