Brock stood at a fork in the road carrying all his belongings on his back, on the other side of the fork Ash with Pikachu perched on his left shoulder, and Dawn stood exchanging a final conversation on a brisk fall morning.
"Thanks for all you did for us Brock." Both Ash and Dawn said in unison.
Brock just grinned, "I really would love to stay and hang but Pewter City gym is calling and I can't be two places at once."
"Yeah Brock thanks again," Ash said, "You made the best stews!"
"That's probably why he's your friend." Dawn chimed in jokingly which resulted in a friendly chuckle between Brock and Dawn.
"Ha-ha very funny," Ash grumbled, "that's not the only reason."
"Come on Ash it was just a little joke." Brock said.
Ash understood and smiled once again. "Good luck back at the gym."
"And good luck to you too on your future adventures," Brock continued, "And if you need to ask me something important just call me up."
The two nodded in agreement.
"Well, I'll see you two." Brock said, starting down the trail on the left.
"Goodbye Brock!" Ash called out.
"Pika Pika!" The yellow mouse like Pok mon chimed.
The two continued to wave and shout goodbye to their friend until they could no longer see him, then walked down the other trail.
"I'm sure gonna miss that persistent guy." Dawn remarked,
"I know," Ash agreed, "we'd been traveling together almost since the very start of my journey."
Dawn could only smile, "I'm sure you two will cross paths again soon."
"We always do." Ash smiled back, Pikachu chimed in happily, "but that brings up a problem."
Dawn's smile became a worried frown, "That being?"
"How are we gonna feed ourselves?"
Dawn rolled her eyes as she perked up a smile again, "That's my job I guess, no need to worry, I got it."
"Problem solved I guess." Ash said,
Dawn giggled softly while they continue to walk along the trail on the way to who knows where.
"Oh Ash," Dawn thought, "he's so damn cute!"
It was now the afternoon and the duo had set up their tent and had begun to unpack their belongings. Ash, not having much to unpack sat in a shady spot under a tree listening to all the chirping and sounds of nature around him, despite having been around it for many years the world never ceased to amaze him at how peaceful it is in the stark contrast to the dangers and problems he and his friends faced near every day.
Dawn saw Ash sitting under the tree with his hat tucked over his face, thinking that he was asleep; she silently made her way over and sat right beside him.
"Thanks for the help !" She said semi-seriously.
Ash, who was very much awake, tilted his head in her direction. "You probably wouldn't want me touching the stuff in your bag, why ask for my help?"
"Not all of it's my unmentionables!" Dawn stated, nudging Ash's shoulder.
"Really?"
Dawn opened her mouth to say something but stalled when she thought back and remembered that most of her stuff was composed of her clothing, contest dresses, sleepwear, and casual wear, not counting undergarments. "You're actually right there." She said.
"See?" Ash yawned.
Dawn sighed, and sat back against the tree looking towards the sky and the clouds that filled the blue empty void with shape. She looked over at Ash who was actually trying to nap this time.
"I don't think I've gotten this close to him in a while, well just the two of us." She thought, and she tried to bring up a fresh conversation.
"So Ash," She started, "what are you gonna do after all this travelling?"
Ash looked over at her, "I never thought about that, it's never been a thought in my mind."
"Oh you'll probably stop and settle down somewhere with a certain someone."
"A certain someone?" Ash asked, puzzled.
Dawn giggled and rolled over, cuddling up against Ash's right side. "You know, someone you like?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're so dense Ash," Dawn cooed, cuddling up more against Ash's chest.
Ash stayed silent, but found the feeling of Dawn huddling with him a very nice feeling, his cheeks turned a faint shade of red.
Dawn lifted up her head and looked into his eyes. "You know we've never spent time together like this before."
"Uhhh no we haven't." Ash stammered, unsure of what to say.
Dawn just giggled again and rolled on top of him. Ash's blush became more noticeable and looking at his face made Dawn's cheeks turn red too. "He's just so cute," she thought, "and he's mine." Dawn leaned in to kiss him but just before their lips touched, the silence was broken by the sound of a loud screeching sound followed by a cacophony of musical notes being played at a very fast tempo.
Both Dawn and Ash broke out of their little moment and looked as Pidgys scatted from the trees to get away from the noise.
"Of all the times ugh!" Dawn groaned angrily, pulling Ash to his feet and dragging him into the forests looking for the source of all this noise pollution.
As they walked through the trees the noise began to sound more clear and audible but still very very loud and a few yards away was another open field and upon a tree stump sat a man playing a guitar.
The man had long brown hair that went a little more than halfway down his back, had a small goatee developing on his chin, and was wearing black t shirt reading Megadeth under a worn out kutte denim vest adorned with an assortment of patches from various bands, and some worn out Jeans. The guitar was odd in its color palette. Most of the guitar was all black but the pickups were a bright green, the pick guard had a bright green stripe on it, position inlays on the neck were green, and the logo saying Ibanez was also green, beside the fact that it had 7 strings rather than the more common 6.
Right next to the man was a beat up half stack amplifier, the stack was black with white trim and the head and cabinet were labeled in a fancy looking font saying Marshall that appeared to be hooked up to a collection of car batteries.
The man didn't see Ash or Dawn as his face was partly shrouded by his curtain of hair and the fact that his eyes were closed.
Ash plugged his ears and tried to yell to the man over the sound of the guitar however his efforts were futile as the loud volume easily drowned out his shouts.
Dawn had had enough and walked forward and turned off the head powering the cabinet and the noise stopped. The man also stopped when his signal suddenly cut out. Confused he looked up and saw Dawn, whose finger was still on the on/off switch. The man also became visibly annoyed; he stood up and put his guitar down.
"NEVER do that to a musician, EVER!" The man shouted finger pointed.
"I didn't appreciate all that noise you were making." Dawn retorted.
"Well I'm sorry I have to turn this damn thing up to 11 so it doesn't sound like shit."
Both Ash and Dawn didn't seem to appreciate the man's attitude, let alone his language.
The man then shook his head, "Let me apologize for my anger, I'm not really in a good mood, I'm not a very bad person really but that's just fucking rude to do to a musician."
"Its fine," Dawn sighed, "do you want it back on now?"
"Nah," The man replied, "I think I'm just about good with that for now, what did I do to make you walk up and turn my amp off? I'm just curious."
Dawn's cheeks reddened again. "Well you kinda ruined a moment with me and this guy." She said, motioning towards Ash.
"Oh-hoho I gave you the ol' cock block eh?" The man grinned, looking at Ash "Heheheh ah sorry about that."
Ash obviously had no idea what the man was talking about so he just nodded and listened on.
"Why are you out here in the open anyway?" Ash decided to ask.
"I could ask the same question honestly," The man replied, "but really I'm just a nomad; just wandering around and playing music and stuff, not necessarily a busker if that's what you're thinking of."
"Okay then " Ash carried on, "do you travel alone or something."
"Other then the one pokemon I have on hand, yes." The man stood up and expanded a single pokeball
"Hey Machop," He shouted tossing the ball, "wake up!"
And in the bright flash of light, a Machop appears, Dawn got out her Pokedex.
"Machop, the superpower Pokemon, it has special muscles that never tire or strain no matter how long it trains and excercises."
"That's your only Pokemon?" Ash asked.
"It's not my only Pokemon," The man said, "I always have Machop with me, I have at least 7 others in reserve, I don't really do battles or contests or all that jive. He really just helps me with my traveling carrying my cab while I carry the head and my guitars and stuff and also moves obstacles out of our way."
"That seems kinda boring to me." Ash said.
"Well that's just you," The man went on, "I mean I do love Pokemon but music is my passion."
Then the man thought of something. "Say, where are you kids going?" He asked.
"We're on our way back to my home in Twinleaf town," Dawn said, "why?"
"Okay, can I tag along with you?" The man asked again, "Cause I'm looking to sell this stack cause it's a real bitch to carry around and how I'm powering this thing is so damn inefficient and I'm running out of money. If a Plusle and Minun appears outta nowhere so I can somehow recharge batteries I'd be good but that ain't happening."
"Yeah my friend would be glad that didn't happen," Ash pointed out.
"It's not that bad anymore Ash," Dawn growled, "they still freak me out though."
"Uh-huh interesting," The man sighed, "but you didn't answer my question, can I travel with you or not?"
"I don't see why not." Ash said.
"Cool," The man grinned, "you can call me Jeremy from now on."
"Nice to meet ya," Ash smiled, "I'm Ash."
"And my name's Dawn!" Dawn chimed in.
"You seem like a cool bunch of kids," Jeremy remarked, "your Girlfriend's pretty cute Ash, you lucky motherfucker."
Ash and Dawns faces reddened immediately after he called Dawn Ash's girlfriend. They silently turned to look at one another,
Dawn smiled sheepishly at Ash and jumped into his arms.
Jeremy smiled too watching the two have their moment seriously resisting the urge to shout "D'awwwwwww!" loudly and ruin their moment.
Their embrace lasted for about a minute or two before they let go of eachother.
"You know what Dawn?" Ash said, "I've been feeling the same way about you. I didn't really think it was anything until this point."
Dawn smiled brighter then before and hugged him yet again. She then opened her left eye and say Jeremy sitting in front of them, staring at them.
Dawn, who had completely forgotten that Jeremy was even there gasped and jumped back when she saw him.
"When did you get here?" She blurted out.
"I've been here this entire time." Jeremy answered, confused.
"Oh, right..."
"Alright kids," Jeremy said standing up, "I let you have your little moment now where's your little camp out if anywhere?"
"Uh, just on the other side of those trees." Ash answered, pointing to the wall of trees behind him.
"Cool," Jeremy said, starting to pack up his stuff, "let's move my shit over there and stuff so we can go places."
Jeremy disconnected the amp head and cabinet from his little car battery jig and then disconnected the head from the cabinet.
Machop instictively picked up the cabinet effortlessly and followed them over to their campsite.