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Dawn had an issue.
Not a serious issue, at least not as serious as recent months, being abducted from her home by Arceus (He really couldn't have taken anybody else? Dawn never agreed to any of this!), forced into the past, to survive in an untrusting group that she knows will become the very team she stopped in the future, with significantly less advanced science, architecture and understanding of pokemon, being forced to fight giant enraged (likely divine) pokemon that she had never seen before.
No, that wasn't her current issue, she still had some time before quelling lord avalugg, after all. Her issue was a very simple one.
Irida. The leader of the pearl clan. A group that worshipped palkia (Not that they know who Palkia is, Dawn hoped that they wouldn't have to find out they were real the way Dawn did)
Irida herself wasn't the problem, she was a nice (after an admittedly rocky start), kind, and pleasant person to be around. So the two girls quickly became friends, despite their significantly differing backgrounds. They hung out whenever they passed by, they battled from time to time, normal things between normal friends, really.
And that's where the issue was. Dawn had a massive crush on Irida, no matter how much she tried to deny it. And she did try to deny it, so as to not ruin any of the bond there was between the two. Dawn didn't know too much about the history of her time, but she did know that many areas weren't accepting of people like her in olden days.
She had used that logic for a while to prevent her mind from thinking anything more about her crush, but it didn't work. Time and time again she would go back to daydreaming about her, about the time they spent in each other's space, and her heart would flutter every single time.
It hadn't helped that many of her friends had noticed how Dawn felt about her. While she knew the people of Hisui being at least somewhat accepting of gay people was a good thing, it came with the tragic consequence of being forced to do something about her feelings.
Laventon, Rei, Azeru, Mai, Ingo, Volo and somehow even Cyllene had found out about her little secret. She didn't even talk to Cyllene other than for purely professional reasons!
Ingo knowing did make sense though, as she and Ingo got along well together. Both having a love for battling (even if the subway master had lost most of his memories), being spat out of the rift and feeling like outsiders brought them together. Ingo was like an uncle to her.
This however meant that she had to endure constant questions about how it's going between her and Irida, likely only said to annoy her since Ingo could talk to Irida a lot more than she could! Life could be cruel, but only half as cruel as an uncle with a poor sense of humour and a sneasel poison immunity.
How anybody else knew other than him was a mystery, though.
Dawn felt a cold object hit her hand, and she smacked it away with a yelp as she came back to reality.
She had somehow gotten lost in her own head while crafting, startling her pokemon in the process. shaking her head as she tried to focus herself back into it. Her Decidueye (lovingly named Robin Hoot, real creative there) gave her an oddly judgemental stare before going back to whatever slumber he was getting beforehand.
Dawn sighed, at least somebody could get some rest.
“Maybe you shouldn't be crafting while sleep deprived two days before you face a giant walking iceberg, Dawn” she scolded to herself, before chuckling. Irida would totally have done the same thing in her shoes, she was always too harsh on herself, although Dawn was intensely aware of the hypocrisy she was placing upon herself at that.
As she started to get back into autopilot on her pokeball crafting (she loved personalising pokeballs for her team members, and she wanted a zoroark), her brain slowly but surely wormed its way into another daydream about Irida.
She was way out of Dawn’s league, and that’s assuming she was even into women. Dawn loved everything about her, from her dedication and passion to her clan, to her outfit, to her weird way she handled heat, practically melting at the coastland’s firespit island but somehow managing to deal with the iceland’s frigid temperatures that felt like they were freezing Dawn over, in nothing but her casual outfit.
Was it a casual outfit? Did it have significance in the clan’s history? She supposes she’ll never know.
Dawn loved the weird quirks that Irida had, she had always thought that it was better to be weird than boring, anyway. Most of her friends were weird anyway. From Barry to Volkner to Flint, she was sure that Irida would have fit right in if she were with her in the present.
Wait-
“God dammit Dawn, get a hold of yourself! You can't be thinking like this.” She scolded herself again. Stifling a yawn as she started her work on some potions for the upcoming battle, now that her pokeballs were finished making.
Like a fly that refused to leave a room, or the constant requests from Zeke asking her to find his sister, her brain drifted back into thinking about Irida, as per usual.
The times they hung out together rattled inside her brain, replacing all of her thoughts with a content smile as she thought back on them.
— — — —
It was in the fieldlands when they first hung out, at the grand tree arena after the quelling of Lord Kleavor had taken place, Dawn had been in a panic for most of the fight, being reasonably unprepared to fight a GIANT BERSERKING BUG WITH AXES FOR ARMS, It was far more violent and menacing than any scyther she’d ever seen, and somehow almost as fast. She ended up with quite a lot of cuts from that fight, particularly on her arms, but a few had slashed her legs, too. If nothing else she had managed to hide it from the others.
Lian had walked off, presumably to feed Kleavor or, do whatever it is wardens did with their nobles, Dawn didn't know. Either way, she was left all alone as she sat on a log that Lord Kleavor had chopped during the frenzy, slowly healing her pokemon while trying her damnedest to ignore the pain and blood from her own arms.
Robin Hoot and Ribbon were both luckily able to be healed up with some potions, and while Ribbon’s fur would need grooming later, she sadly didn't bring a pet hairbrush to a life or death battle, so it would have to wait until she managed to stumble back to her tiny house. Calling it a house felt disrespectful to the actual houses, honestly.
She hissed sharply as Ribbon licked her arm, trying her best to clean the bleeding wounds Dawn had obtained.
“Hey, don't worry about me, Ribbon. I’ll be okay, alright?” Dawn spoke to her Sylveon, trying to reassure her. Ribbon clearly didn't believe her in the slightest, but returned to her pokeball nonetheless.
Dawn sighed, what was she going to do? She’s never been injured this badly, and while it's certainly not on track to give her an early end, it would make field research much more difficult, which would lead to less value out of her which would lead to distrust which would then probably lead to her being kicked out and forced to-
“Hello, Dawn! Are you doing okay?” Irida asked, walking up from behind her, before noticing the injuries on her body. “Oh Almighty Sinnoh, what happened?!”
Hm. Not good. Just play it off casually. “Oh, these? Yeah, Lord Kleavor got a few lucky hits on me, nothing serious.” Dawn explained
“Nothing serious?! You’re bleeding! Come on, I'm sure I can get you bandaged up! I made sure to bring some supplies with me in case anybody got hurt.” Irida countered, not one to just leave somebody to suffer.
“..Thank you then, Miss Irida” Dawn weakly replied, trying to sound polite. “Im surprised you’re willing to help out somebody from the Galaxy Team”
Irida’s expression morphed to one of confusion “What do you mean? I will admit I don't have the highest opinions of your group, but we all share hisui’s vast space, it would be cruel to leave you in this state.”
Dawn was speechless, she had honestly assumed Irida to be selfish and cold, at least from earlier interactions, maybe that was just a front? Dawn couldn't blame her if so.
Irida walked away for a moment before coming back with the bandages, while not as perfected as the ones in the present day, they still seemed to be made out of a reasonable material. Dawn didn't know what though, crafting had never been her strong suit, and she’s never needed bandages before either.
The bandages came on slowly, as Irida delicately wrapped them around Dawn’s arms, in a comfortable silence. This feeling of touch made her feel a way she couldn't describe, something weird, yet pleasant, something she missed.
Eventually, the process was complete, and Irida had a satisfied smile on her face.
“There! All better! Make sure not to take them off for at least a few days, try to get them replaced if they get dirty, however.” Irida told her, clearly happy to be of help.
“Uh..yeah, got it. Thanks again, Miss Irida” Dawn responded, unsure as to what to say
“It's no issue, wouldn't be the first time I've had to bandage up somebody, the Alabaster Icelands can be vicious sometimes, you see.” Irida replied.
The icelands? Maybe she could go there sometime, new pokemon to survey and all that.
The two girls chatted for a while longer, before Irida had to leave, mentioning having an important meeting to attend. Dawn decided that she should probably get back too.
— — — —
Dawn snapped back to reality once more as she felt a very heavy presence on her back, it appeared that her Drapion, nicknamed Fang, tried to drag her into bed. It was only then when she looked outside her window.
“ Oh fuck. It has to be like 4am, I need to get to bed!”