Fire and Ice

Denial

I'm only going to say this once, okay? I do not, in any sense of the word, love Hawlucha.

You got that? I don't love him. Not at all. Not even one tiny little bit.

I'm not saying that I don't like him, of course. He may be cocky and arrogant and pretty much everything that I'm not, but I can still tolerate him. I just don't love him, that's all.

I don't love him and Hawlucha, no matter what he might say, doesn't love me either.

It doesn't mean anything that he's the only one besides Ash who can make me smile. It doesn't mean anything that he comforts me whenever I wake up from a nightmare about one of my old trainers. It doesn't mean anything that I find myself almost disappointed whenever we can't train together. It doesn't mean anything that he once stayed with me all day when I was sick, getting himself infected in the process. It doesn't mean anything that he seems to smile at me differently than the other Pokémon in our group. It doesn't mean anything that he pushes me harder than the others, yet at the same time is always gentler with me than them as well. It doesn't mean anything that he puts on a "too cool for school" act in front of our teammates, yet once cried after I shouted at him, in a fit of anger, that there was no way I would ever want to be friends with someone as arrogant as him. It doesn't mean anything that I've done that to several other Pokémon and gotten similar responses, but never felt quite as guilty as when I broke his heart. It doesn't mean anything that, despite all I've said and done to him, he never stops letting me know how much he cares for me, be it verbally or via some other method.

It really doesn't mean anything. None of it. It's just what friends would do.

It doesn't mean either of us love each other.

Got it?

Good.