I'm not much of a writer, but my friend loves Dawn and Clemont, so I wanted to attempt to write a one shot for her. This isn't really a shippy fic, just more of something I thought was semi-plausible if they ever were to meet. (There could be a few shippy hints if you squint your eyes though.) Also, I've only seen the first few episodes of XY, so I did my best to characterize Clemont correctly. I'm sorry if it seems off, but I tried!
Dawn's deep blue eyes were wide with wonder as she explored the cobblestone streets of Lumiose City. She had heard that it was the biggest city in all of Kalos, but she never imagined it would be quite as big as it was. The sights, smells, and people were all so new and interesting to her. She had just arrived only a few hours ago, but quickly decided to explore the city rather than sit around in her hotel room all day. The bright sun shone down on her as the soft wind blew through her dark blue hair. Her pink boots thudded on the streets as she walked through several shops and cafes.
"Wow Piplup, have you ever seen so many people in one place before?" she asked her small Pokemon companion who was nestled in her arms. Piplup was amazed too, but he was particularly interested in all of the food stands. One particular one that caught the duo's interest was a galette stand.
Dawn approached the stand and waited in line to purchase a Lumiose Galette. She excitedly received her galette after a few minutes of waiting, and then found a bench to sit down on. She split the flaky pastry in two and gave Piplup half of it, and the two of them took their first bite.
"Mmm, this is delicious! I've never tasted anything like this before, have you Piplup?" Dawn happily asked, holding her hand to her cheek in happiness. Piplup let out a sound of delight in reply.
The two of them slowly ate the rest of their pastry in silence, listening to the sounds of the city. After Dawn ate her last bite, she stood up and brushed the crumbs off of her pink skirt. She then looked up at the sky, realizing that it was starting to get late.
"Hey Piplup, we'd better get back to the hotel before it gets too dark. I'd hate to get lost out here at night." Piplup placed himself on Dawn's shoulder and the two searched for their hotel.
"I knew I should have brought a map," Dawn dishearteningly said. "I could have sworn we stayed on the same street, how did we get so lost?"
It was completely dark now, but the city was still lit up brightly. Dawn considered asking a passerby for directions, but had spent a lot of time observing the shops and cafes on her search, and by now many people were making their way back to their homes. She pulled at her white hat and sighed, not knowing what to do. Her eyes then locked on to a tall tower in the central part of the city, brightly lit up against the night sky.
"Hey Piplup, that must be Prism Tower! I bet it has an observation deck at the top, maybe if we go there we can see how to get back to our hotel!" She excitedly ran to the tower, hoping she'd be able to find her way back soon while still being able to sight see a little longer.
She entered the tower and ascended the staircase. She was fairly sure there was an elevator somewhere, but she wanted to get the full experience of a tourist and see everything that there was to see here. As she climbed higher and higher up the staircase, the city outside of the large glass windows looked smaller and smaller. Despite that, there were still lights and buildings as far as the eye could see. Dawn wanted to go to the very top before she left, though.
Once she reached what appeared to be the top of the seemingly never ending staircase, there was no observation deck, but instead a large, stadium like room. She wandered around the room a bit, realizing that perhaps there was no observation deck. It seemed silly not to have one on such a tall tower, but this seemed to be somewhere where battles were held. Maybe the tower had some other purpose.
"Hey! You're not supposed to be here, battles are done for the day."
Dawn turned to see a small girl, perhaps about eight years of age. She had light blue eyes and blonde hair, which was pulled over to the side in a ponytail. She was wearing what appeared to be Tyrantrum pajamas. She looked irritated at the coordinator.
"I'm supposed to go to sleep soon, so my brother can't have any more battles tonight."
"Oh, I'm sorry! I got lost so I was hoping to find an observation deck to find my way back, but there doesn't seem to be one."
The girl's irritated expression turned to one of concern. "Oh, so you're not here for a battle? Wait here, I'll go get my brother!"
Dawn was left standing there, waiting. Confused. But she realized that she'd been sight seeing for far too long now, and really needed to get back to the hotel, so she was not going to argue with the little girl's attempt at finding help. After a few minutes, the girl ran back toward Dawn with an older boy, probably about Dawn's age, following behind her.
"See Clemont, I told you someone was here!"
Dawn examined the boy. He had blonde, messy hair and the same light blue eyes that his sister had, though his were hidden behind glasses. He wore what appeared to be blue pajamas-or was it a jumpsuit? Dawn couldn't really tell.
"Bonnie tells me you were looking for an observation deck?"
Dawn blushed a bit, clearly embarrassed now. "Yeah, I got lost and I was going to see if I could see my hotel. But if I'm not supposed to be here, then I can leave!"
The boy smiled and shook his head. "No, it's fine. Here, follow me."
He then looked at his younger sister. "Bonnie, go ahead and go to bed, I'll be back soon." He motioned Dawn to follow him, and she did.
She was led through a door on the other side of the stadium and brought into a long room with a large window overlooking the city. It was an observation deck.
She smiled widely and ran to the window. "Thank you so much-Clemont, right? Thank you! Oh, I haven't introduced myself, have I? My name is Dawn, it's nice to meet you!"
Clemont approached the window and stood alongside Dawn. "You're not from around here, are you?"
Dawn shook her head. "No, I came from Johto. I'm here for the Wallace Cup."
"Oh, so you're a Pokemon Coordinator?" Clemont asked with a twinge of curiosity.
"That's right! I entered the Grand Festival in Sinnoh last year, and now I'm aiming to enter it in Johto too! But I just had to take a detour to enter the Wallace Cup. Lumiose City is so big and beautiful, so I was exploring the city with Piplup, and we got a bit lost."
Clemont softly laughed. "If you're not familiar with the city, it's easy to get lost. Why didn't you take a taxi back to your hotel?"
Dawn's eyes turned to look down at the floor. "Well, you see.. I spent all of my money. I went to the museum, got Piplup groomed, ate a Lumiose Galette, and stopped at a few cafes."
The boy's face looked concerned. "I see, well that is a problem. I'd lend you some money, but I'm afraid I don't have any."
"More importantly though," Dawn continued, "I'm really sorry for coming here when I'm not supposed to be here. I didn't know it was a place for battles."
"Oh no, it's quite alright! This is actually the Lumiose City Gym, but it's also a big tourist attraction. You're not the first person to come here this late at night."
"Wait, this is a gym?" Dawn wondered if her old traveling companion had challenged this particular gym yet.
"Yes. I'm actually the gym leader here."
Dawn was shocked. "Wow, really? I've never met a gym leader so young before! That's amazing, you must be really strong!"
Clemont's face turned a light shade of pink. "N-no, it's really not all that amazing."
Dawn giggled at Clemont's modesty as he scrambled to change the subject.
"So the Wallace cup is in a few days, right?"
"Yeah, I'm really excited! I'm just sad that my friends couldn't make it to cheer me on. But I know they'll be watching it on TV, so I'll be fine! There's really no need to worry."
Clemont bashfully looked down at his feet, wondering if he should say what he was about to say, considering Dawn was a complete stranger to him. "You know, I could always go to cheer you on. I've never seen a Pokemon Contest before, and I know Bonnie would love to see one too."
"Wow, would you really? Thank you so much, that means a lot! I'd love it if the two of you could be there!" Dawn smiled, relieved to have found a friend in Clemont, and continued looking for her hotel.
Their conversation fell into silence for a few minutes. Clemont stared at Dawn's face, examining her soft features as her blue eyes were scanning the skyline. She was nervously twirling her dark and silky hair between her fingers and soon realized that she couldn't find her destination. She let out a heavy sigh.
"Hey Clemont, do you know where Hotel Richissime is?" She asked in desperation.
"You're staying at that place?" Clemont was clearly surprised that an ordinary coordinator could afford such a fancy hotel.
"My mom insisted that I stay at the best hotel I could find, so she made me a reservation before I even got here."
"Well then, I can show you the way back, if you'd like. Since I know my way around the city, it'll probably only be a fifteen minute walk."
Dawn smiled widely. "That sounds fantastic! See Piplup, no need to worry! We're going to get back there soon!" She hugged Piplup tightly and let out a gleeful laugh.
Clemont smiled at the sight and started to walk back toward the stadium, ready to walk Dawn back to her hotel. Before leaving, Dawn took one last longing glance out of the window. "It really is beautiful."
Clemont turned back to see Dawn staring out of the window, the lights from the city below casting soft shadows upon her face. "Yeah, it sure is."
After seeing the episode "Clemont has a Secret". I realized I made it seem like they live in the gym. Well I feel silly for making such a silly mistake. I'm very sorry about that.