TEEN: Summer School Reunion! (HeatTagShipping)

[manathief]

Synopsis: When Dawn takes advantage of her last chance to attend the Pokemon Summer Academy for a second time, she encounters someone she hasn't seen in a few years. Will Conway be able to confess his love before the Academy ends? And what about her nascent feelings for him?

Chapter 1

Also posted to fanfiction.net: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7891758/1/Summer_School_Reunion

 

[manathief]

Chapter 1

With one hand on the handlebars of a shiny new bike (product of a debt repaid) and the other in the pocket of an old pink coat that no longer hid her curves or functioned as a dress, Dawn coasted to a stop in front of a brick wall she hadn’t seen in three or four years.

Though her experience here had been short-lived, it had also been really fun, and she’d learned a lot. Dawn had secretly rather enjoyed going to school when she was little, and was the only person she knew who hadn’t resented the online courses the Pokémon League had made mandatory the year after she became a Trainer.

Since next summer she would be too old for this program, this was Dawn’s last chance to participate in the Pokémon Summer Academy again. She’d kept putting it off because she didn’t want to do this without her friends —– she missed them terribly sometimes -- but she couldn’t pass up this final opportunity.

Dawn dismounted and walked her bike through the open gate into a smallish throng of people ages 13 (her friend Ash had become a Trainer a year before they changed the age requirement) to 17 (Dawn had turned 17 almost a year ago). There seemed to be more present than Dawn remembered. And there was Professor Rowan, presiding over the whole thing. He seemed shorter than the last time Dawn had seen him, and she knew it wasn’t just because she’d gotten taller --- the professor was slightly stooped over from age, but still as imposing as ever. Wading through the sea of other teenaged trainers, she made her way over to him to ask where she could put her bicycle.

“Not even a hello?”

Dawn froze, starting to sweat. She opened her mouth to speak, but Rowan continued.

“That’s alright, I suppose, but don’t let it happen again. Don’t think you can dispense with greetings just because you’re a celebrity now,” he joked.

Right. Dawn laughed uneasily, jamming her hand into her coat pocket again to finger the Grand Festival ribbon to which he was referring. “Sorry, Professor Rowan. How’s it going? I haven’t seen you in maybe a year…”

“Perfectly well, thank you. I’m making fair progress in my research on the legendary Pokémon of Sinnoh. And how have you been doing, aside from your recent triumph?”

That seemed to be all everyone talked about now. “I’m doing alright. I just don’t know quite what to do next. But…no need to worry, I’ll figure something out.”

“Well, I wish you luck in all your endeavors, whatever they may be.” Professor Rowan sounded gruff no matter what he said.

“Thanks.” Dawn released the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding in. “You too,” she added. It seemed lame compared to the sentiment it was returning, but she didn’t know what else to say.

“There’s a bike rack just around the corner…it’s not folding, eh? Do you have a lock?”

“Of course. Thank you.” She wheeled the shiny pink ten-speed over to the rack and secured it firmly. She would have been fine with a folding bicycle, but Ash had insisted. Not that he wasn’t right in his assessment that girls tend to like shiny, expensive things (although his own girlfriend, Angie, who he’d met at this very place those three or four years ago, didn’t), but this bike, as beautiful, well-made, and sturdy as it was, was a real hassle to store and carry. Bikes like this were rapidly becoming less common, and Dawn could see why.

As Dawn returned to the main courtyard, she remembered she needed to check the bulletin board to see which team she was on. Unfortunately, since she’d taken the time to talk to Professor Rowan, everyone else was crowded around the board and she wasn’t sure she felt like pushing past people again. So she stood there, craning her neck in a futile attempt to see the board, until a labcoat-clad intern noticed her struggling and came over.

“Can’t see the board?”

Dawn nodded sheepishly.

“Here.” The woman pulled the top sheet off of the nondescript clipboard she was carrying and handed it to the young Master Coordinator. “Hey, I’ve seen you on TV. Congratulations on winning the Grand Festival. My whole family was rooting for you.”

“Thanks.” Dawn wandered away, not really feeling like doing that whole conversation for the umpteenth time. It wasn’t like she didn’t appreciate the admiration, but there were only so many times she could say the same thing before it felt like she was plagiarizing herself.

When Dawn reached the edge of the crowd, she stopped walking, figuring that among other traveling Trainers, only other Coordinators would recognize her. Here, she looked down at the printed list she’d been given. Searching for her own name, she found it in the green box in the center of the page. And a few rows below it, she saw another name that made her do a double take.

Her not-so-secret admirer. Wow…Dawn hadn’t seen him since the Lily of the Valley Conference, back when she was traveling with Ash and Brock. Was he really here? She couldn’t be sure, but figured that wasn’t exactly a common name…well, if he was here, why hadn’t he shown himself yet? Every time they met, possibly including the first time, he would creep up behind her…

Dawn was almost certain this meant it was just somebody else with the same name, but she found herself looking around anyway. And there he was, near the opposite edge of the crowd, his face at a right angle to her field of view as he chattered away to someone standing near him.

Dawn may not have felt like pushing her way through the crowd a few minutes ago, but she did now. This was a truly priceless opportunity. So she did her best to slide around her fellow Trainers, frantically deciding what to say, hoping he didn’t notice her moving towards him…She reached her target slightly bruised but undetected.

It was time to give him a taste of his own medicine.