My mom and I always tuned into contests taking place throughout Sinnoh.
When I was little, I just liked to watch the Pokémon on screen – they were so cute.
Mom liked to watch their moves, commenting on their execution and reminiscing about the old days. The older that I got, the more I started watching it like mom; she taught me everything I knew.
Sitting there on the couch, that's when I decided that I wanted to be a top Coordinator as well.
I could be on television then; I could have fans, be famous, and dare I think it, meet other top Coordinators.
Ten years old . . . I only had two years to go and I couldn't wait to get started. I had it all planned out: I'd conquer Sinnoh first before moving on to Hoenn. Then, it was toss up between Kanto and Johto; the southern continents had just gotten into the contest scene. Then, I would train under the great Wallace and he'd want to marry me – but that was a whole other story!
Oh yeah, and I'd planned to do all that by the time I was sixteen.
"Dawn," Mom would tell me with her hands on her hips. "You'll need more Pokémon then the one Professor Rowan gives you. And training –"
I waved her off saying "I know all about contests from you!"
She'd just grin and continue on with what she was doing. The older I became – well old being nine – I noticed that a lot of the Sinnoh Coordinators were older then me; how could I stand up against them?
Alright . . . maybe I'd stretch my dream out till I was eighteen.
We never watched many of Hoenn's contests – we didn't know any of the Coordinators – but on a rainy day (Sinnoh's contests having been cancelled cause of weather) we'd turned into the other station.
Immediately, I was hooked. Not only because they used Hoenn region Pokémon, but because a lot of the Coordinators were younger; around my age. One girl had caught by eye; I think the judges had said her name was May Maple and she was only ten – just like I was going to be. If she could do it, maybe I could too. Mom wasn't too sure about that she said she got off to a shaky start.
But, she'd conquered Hoenn and then moved to Kanto because her friends were going home; that's what she always said in interviews. Kanto seemed nice from what I saw of it – I'd been there once when I was seven – yes, I'd add that to my list, right after Hoenn. The press had caught up with her when she'd returned to Hoenn (she seemed good at avoiding them) and she said she'd been going to Johto next.
I admit; I was disappointed when she said that she was going to Johto; I was just about to start out on my Pokémon journey. It would have been great to start out knowing I could have a chance encounter with a star. It would have been great to meet her, to talk to her.
In her interview she said her friend was going to Sinnoh; maybe I could meet them and they could introduce me to her . . .
No, I shook my head. I wouldn't know what to say; she was kind of my idol, right up there with Wallace and my mother.
Before I knew it, it was time to start out on my journey . . . if I'd known it was going to be that rough, I'd have stayed in bed longer. I'm so bad with directions so it took an eternity (and like twenty wrong turns) to find Professor Rowan's lab. Then, by the time I got there, all the Pokémon had somehow run away and Piplup hated me. To top it off, my bike got fried by some wild Pikachu who turned out to belong to some kid named Ash.
He owes me a bike.
I started following him after that – and boy, am I so glad I did that!
Ash and his friend Brock are really amusing; especially when Brock sees Officer Jenny or Nurse Joy. Apparently, Brock's been doing that forever and he can tell all the Jenny's and Joy's apart. I have no idea how he does that. They all look the same if you ask me.
I was kind of relieved when Ash said that he was going to be challenging the gyms – I didn't really want to travel with another Coordinator; that would be really strange. He said he'd already battled through Kanto, Orange Islands, Johto and Hoenn; Ash was pretty accomplished. The same went for Brock; he wanted to be a Pokémon Breeder and he'd already made a bunch of connections with other breeders, nesters and the like.
As I travelled with them, I eventually realized that they were pretty well connected from their journeys – so much that they had even met famous people and thought nothing of it. When we met Gary Oak, I was kind of star struck. This was Professor Oak's grandson; I do admit I was kind of bummed that he didn't write Pokémon poetry but he made up for that because he was cute. It also turned out that Professor Oak gave Ash his Pikachu, so Ash totally has to introduce me! I would love to hear one of his poems.
So, Ash knew both Gary and Professor Oak – I was kind of jealous. It eventually dawned on me that if Ash knew the Oak's that well; that he would have to know Professor Oak's Aide/Pokémon Watcher Tracey Sketchit.
"Of course I know Tracey," Ash had said, a smirk on his face. "Misty and I met him on the Orange Islands while trying to help out a Lapras. Last I heard, he was spending a lot of time in Cerulean, right Brock?"
"Lucky him," Brock had replied, jealousy in his voice. "Daisy and her sisters are –"
"Wait!" I'd yelled, waving my hands before me, surprise on my face. It couldn't be . . . but the pieces all lined up . . . "Are you talking about the Waterflower Sisters?" Mom and I had gone and seen their underwater play when I was seven, the one with the mermaid and the prince . . .
Ash grinned wildly, throwing his arm around my shoulders, pulling me to him. He was going to gloat about it, wasn't he? "Of course – who else would it be? I almost got to be the Prince once . . ."
That was so not fair!
"You're going to have to take me to Kanto sometime . . ." I told him; mentally deciding I needed to find an autograph book and soon.
Not only had they met so many famous people . . . but they had seen legendary Pokémon to boot. I had found that out after looking though Ash's Pokedex; I think my eyes had almost bugged out of my head. Sure, I was wowed by the fact that he'd seen almost every Pokémon from Kanto to Hoenn but the fact that there were legendaries included . . . well; I changed the way I looked at him.
Ash was lucky . . .
In nine years of travelling, he'd seen eighteen legendary types! Eighteen! He'd seen Articuno to Mew; Suicune to Ho-Oh and Lugia; Kyogre to Jirachi and Manaphy.
No, he was beyond lucky . . . and he was going to be my good luck charm!
It turned out Ash was lucky . . . his luck kind of rubbing of on me! On our way to Eterna City for Ash's next gym match, I saw a Suicune. Well, I sort of saw it; I saw its silhouette in the mist. Ash and Brock said without a doubt it was a Suicune – I took their word for it. Granted, luck didn't really help me with my Coordinator dream; I had lost three out of four contests. For a while, I just wanted to quit, run away and go home, but just watching Ash train with his Pokémon inspired me to keep going.
We were on our way to Pastoria City when we heard about the Contest that was taking place in Lake Valor. I couldn't help but grin like a maniac when I heard that Wallace – the Wallace – was going to be judging the contest! Ash told me to calm down as I let out a squeal of excitement before twirling Piplup around.
Wallace was going to be there . . . Wallace was going to be judging . . . I had to compete.
I could hardly contain my excitement; I had to get out and practice – I wasn't going to loose.
If I was going to marry Wallace one day; I had to make a good first impression.
But, all I did was blush red and stammer when Ash, Brock and I ran into him and Milotic on the lake. I was speechless standing there, my heart hammering in my chest, and when he asked if I would show my contest skills before him . . . I thought I was going to die, melt into a puddle right there. Wallace had taken an interest in me; I was one step closer to my dream.
Then . . . Wallace said he couldn't wait to see me in the competition.
Me, Dawn . . . he wanted to see ME!
When Wallace left, I let out another squeal, swinging Piplup around. I think I was on Cloud Nine; things couldn't get any better.
At the Pokémon Center, I was still preoccupied by the morning events, Ash got a call from Snowpoint City. I wondered how he knew someone from there, but shrugged it off. Ash knew so many people so I wasn't as surprised as I would have been months ago. My mind was stuck on the green haired elite Coordinator when Ash had come back; Brock immediately asking who it was; curiosity eating away at him.
"May's coming to compete in Wallace's Cup as well." I frowned at that – another competitor? This was so not fair! "She's coming down tonight – she'll meet us at the docks at nine."
Great . . . in twelve hours we'd have another competitor – and she'd be following us around. This was going to be awkward . . .
Sitting on the dock the next morning; I wasn't too impressed. I was tired (I worried a lot over night) and I didn't think my hair looked too good. It had seen better days, to tell the truth. When we saw the ferry on the horizon, I pushed myself off the barrel, slightly interested. A Beautifly came to greet us; it looked very pretty in my opinion as it perched itself on Ash's shoulder.
I raised an eyebrow, confused by the motion, whereas Brock and Ash just exchanged a look, saying May had arrived. I was slightly curious then – she took real good care of her Beautifly – and then the brunette appeared, waving manically. From where I stood at the dock, I think I dropped Piplup, my mouth hanging open.
There was no way that was the May Maple I'd seen from my couch in Twinleaf Town. I glanced at Ash and Brock; the two waving back, yelling out to her when the ferry came closer. There was no way that Ash and Brock had been the friends she'd spoken about at her last interview . . .
Oh. My. God. OH MY GOD! My mind screamed at me as Beautifly left Ash's side, perching on May's shoulders – just like I'd seen on television. I was star struck – hadn't I told myself I was going to meet her? I could hardly speak, I let out a blush and squeaked out a thanks when she past me a present as well. She said Ash had spoken to her about me, I wonder what he said?
Later on at the restaurant, when she said she wanted to battle with me instead of Ash or Brock; my heart beat so hard against my ribcage.
In less than twenty four hours I'd met both Wallace and May . . . something I claimed I'd do by the time I was eighteen.
Now all I had to do was train under Wallace and then marry him.
Who knew I'd get off to such a good start – maybe it was a good thing Pikachu destroyed my bike.
But like I'd say that to Ash – I still want my bike back!
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AN; After watching some of the original Pokemon Movies and seeing a repeat of Gary's appearance in Sinnoh and just finishing the Wallace Cup, I could just see Dawn as the starstruck fangirl of people.