Hi guys. Been a while because I've been working on this little thing. Dolphin02 was a terrific partner in writing this and I have nothing but great things to say about her. I believe this may be my best work yet so I hope you all like it. This originated from a roleplay I did with MikeV1 and it just kind of snowballed from there. Disclaimer on everything except my OC, blah blah blah. On with the show.

Even though it was the dead of night, in a small part of the world that was concealed by trees and in front of a roaring campfire, four friends sat, full of energy and with smiles from ear to ear. There were three young men and a young girl.

Ash let out a groan that matched the loud rumbling of his stomach as he watched his marshmallow slowly cook above the fire.

"Oh man, can't these be done yet? I'm starving." His Pikachu was in agreement, its stomach letting out howling cries of hunger as well.

"Come on, Ash. That's the fun of roasting 'mallows." Troy chuckled while rolling his eyes at his apprentice's impatience. He turned his marshmallow over, seeing it was cooking the way he wanted it. "You've got to wait for the right time."

Brock nodded to Troy's advice.

"It all just depends on how you like your marshmallows," he said. "If you like them cooked well, it takes less than a second. If you like them a little brown, it takes a while."

Suddenly Troy's marshmallow caught fire a little at the top. He quickly blew it out before giving a smile to Ash.

"See what I mean?" He winked before putting it on the chocolate-covered bottom of the graham cracker. He then put the top on and started scuffing away.

Dawn rolled her eyes at them as she pulled back her perfectly browned marshmallow. "You guys sure are impatient. Just give it time," she politely urged them.

Doing exactly not that, she watched as the two pulled the bag of marshmallows over to them and began savagely devouring what little they had left.

"Or not," the girl sighed, taking a bite out of her cooked sugary treat.

"Hey! Save some for the rest of us!" Troy stopped Ash. "That's all we've got left."

Ash looked over and managed to laugh, despite his mouth being completely full. Although what little laughs came through sounded like a muffled Donphan. He gulped the marshmallows down in one go and patted his stomach.

"Well, now I don't really need to worry abou-" The complete charring of his own marshmallow that he'd forgotten in the fire interrupted him. He pulled it out and blew on it for dear life, but it was now nothing more than just a blackened piece of ash. "Aw man, I was gonna save that one for later."

Dawn let out a slightly annoyed groan while Brock and Troy laugh at his misfortune. "See, this is why you should listen to Troy more often instead of eating the rest of our marshmallows."

Ash hung his head and quietly apologized. "Well, at least we've still got crackers and chocolate, right?"

"Yeah well you can't make s'mores without marshmallows. Now can you, Ash?" Dawn shot back.

Pikachu returned to its trainer's lap with a handful of crackers, smirking mischievously. "You could at least share," the boy pouted before they stared each other down in contempt.

Dawn narrowed her eyes at the two. "I guess they'll never learn." She looked back at Troy with a smile and asked, "So, what's next on the agenda for you? Are you gonna go for the Indigo League again?"

"Nah, I'm done." He answered. "I've done all I wanted in battling. My job is to make sure Ashy boy gets to where he wants to be. And keeping a close eye on him too." He grabbed Ash into a headlock and laughed a hearty laugh while ruffling his hair. Ash managed to break free before long and sat back down at his spot.

"We have had too many near-misses than I would like to have," continued Troy. "You would not believe the things we've experienced."

"That's right," Brock nodded. "Too many times Ash has gone running in head-first into things and almost gotten himself seriously injured or killed in the process. He almost took us down with him a couple of times."

"Like that one time when we were in Johto." Troy started, remembering the events very well. "So I end up kidnapped with Ash's mom by an Entei because there was this little girl that was lonely and stuff and she wanted a mother and an older brother. The cowboy over there comes in guns a-blazing and we almost died when we tried to escape."

Dawn reeled back a little in shock, her eyes widened. "Really?" She looked over at Ash who was now locked in a war with his Pikachu for the crackers it had. But it was innocent. Playful. Certainly not the kind of play that would involve injuring someone. It was a little hard for her to grasp. "I mean, he's rushed into things a few times- that's just him. But going so far that he gets hurt? Or even drawing you guys into it?"

"Let's not continue this." Troy tried to stay away from the topic at hand. He noticed Ash and Pikachu going at it for the graham crackers. "Chill out, you two," he admonished. "I don't think killing each other is going to do you any good."

"Aw come on, we were just playing around," Ash moaned. "Have a little fun."

Troy gave him a stern look. "Save your energy for when it counts, ok? You've still got a few more badges to go."

Ash nodded slightly before conceding. "Fair enough." He then turned to Pikachu. "Hey Pikachu, think you could hand me one please?"

Pikachu nodded and handed his trainer one. Ash then grabbed a marshmallow out of the bag and stuck it back on the stick he was using before sitting there silently.

"Now that that's over," said Troy, thankful for the return of the light-hearted atmosphere. "Let's talk about Brock's girl problems."

"Shut up, Troy." Brock shot a glare, or what looked like a glare, at him.

A mischievous gleam shined in Troy's eyes. "Say, do you remember that girl we met in Jubilife City? The cute one?"

"You stole her from me!" Brock snapped with an accusatory tone. "I was just about to make my move but then you had to come in and steal her away."

"Oh please," Troy shook his head. "She came to me. I did nothing to sway her opinion. It's not my fault that girls find me irresistible."

"At least I can tell the difference between a maple leaf and a pot leaf."

"Oh really? Well at least my dad does not redefine pussy whipped!"

Dawn's eyes fell to the fire as she found herself deep in thought while drowning out her two older companions' bickering. "Just what could he have done?" she whispered to herself.

Ash fell back into his seat with a yawn and looked up at the twinkling, starry backdrop in the night sky. "Man, I wonder just what's out there, you know? What kind of strong opponents I'll face next?" Those words alone made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. The mere prospect of battling always excited him, no matter the opponent. Just then, he let something slip. Something he had intended to wait until he really made up his mind. "I wanna go after the Elite Four."

With that, his mind was instantly made up. Ash shot up from his chair, fists clenched and lips curled back in a wide smile. "Yeah! That's what I wanna do! I wanna go after the champion!"

"You are going to have to do some serious training for that to happen, Ash." Troy brought him back down. "And that includes winning the Sinnoh league. You know of course that the Elite Four live up to their name. It's gonna be tough."

Ash looked back at his mentor with a quick nod. "Yeah, I know. But I can do it!" He looked back up at the night sky and clenched his fist tight. "One day. I'm gonna get even stronger than you, Troy and I'm gonna become a Pokémon Master."

Troy chuckled. "I'm sure you will, buddy." He then chewed on another s'more that he made. "Since you're so amped up, let's get up early and do some training huh?"

Ash's eyes lit up with that suggestion. "I like the way you think!"

There was a certain fierceness to his tone that sent a chill down Dawn's spine. She had seen him proclaim things before then get talked down Troy for his usual overzealousness, but he handled things differently this time. He actually AGREED with Troy that he needed more training. She looked up at the sky and searched for her passion to be ignited. Something, anything that could get her fired up about becoming a Pokémon Coordinator like him to his dreams.

"What is this?" she asked herself. "Why don't I feel like him? Is it because I don't want th-" she stopped herself. That was a stupid thing to say. "Of course I want this. So then why... don't I feel like I really do?"

Dawn stood up and took her contest ribbons into her hand- three in total. Just two shy from being able to compete in the Grand Festival. "Maybe I need to try harder," she surmised. "Or maybe-" she paused, looking down at her ribbons with vivid memories of her most recent contest, a complete and utter failure, washing over her. "- No. I know I'm good enough. Maybe not yet, but I have to keep trying. Just like Ash."

Dawn clenched her ribbons in her hand and immediately shot Troy a serious glare. "When did you realize that you wanted to do what you do? When did you discover that passion you had that kept you going no matter what?"

Troy saw the look on her face. He knew that look all too well. It screamed 'I'm having doubts and need some support.' He experienced them way back when his mother died and he didn't want to continue on. Troy finished chewing his s'more before answering her question.

"Well, Dawn," he started after wiping his mouth to clean off the leftover marshmallow. He got up from his sitting spot to sit next to her. "My reasoning for doing what I did was simple: I wanted to be as good as my dad because he was a former champion himself. When my mother passed, it was rough. I had a long and difficult soul-searching that took a while. I then knew right there that my mission was to continue on battling for my mom. I did it until I knew that my time was up and it was time to move on with my life. You have to have a reason for why you do something. If it isn't strong enough, you will feel empty and directionless after a while. Find a stronger reason to continue on and it will guide you throughout your life. Do you want to be known simply as Johanna Berlitz's daughter for the rest of your coordinating career or do you want to be Dawn Berlitz, coordinator? You can't let other people define who you are. You live your life the only way you know how and you shouldn't apologize for it."

Dawn let a soft smile pierce through her serious composure. She finally let out a breath and her body relaxed. "Thank you, Troy. That's exactly what I needed to hear." She put her ribbons away and gave him a hug. "You're the best ever."

Troy smiled as well. "You're a good kid, Dawn. You'll go far in life. I'm sure of it."

He then moved to sit back down in his spot, right between Brock and Ash. To everyone's surprise he pulled out a violin from behind the log they were sitting on.

"Whoa. Where'd you get that?" Ash asked.

"I sold my guitar for it," Troy explained before resting his chin on it. "I started taking up the violin before I came here and fell in love with it. Any requests?"

No one spoke up. Troy took that as a sign to play what he wanted. He started to play a slow, melodic tune that seemed to put everyone at ease.

He played a piece that he had come up with before transitioning into 'A Thousand Years' by Christina Perri. Everyone was mystified by their oldest companion's new skill as he played. The whole atmosphere seemed to come alive by the song. The breeze blowing gently through the trees, the night-prowling Pokémon making their sounds, the full moon shining brightly down on the earth below, and the crackling of the fire made it all mystifying to our heroes.

With one final long stroke up, the song was done.

"Wow." Brock smiled. "That's great."

"I'll say." Dawn echoed.

Ash wasn't even paying attention, instead stuffing his face with s'mores along with Pikachu. He had a lot of marshmallow stuck to his face that he could have been mistakenly thought to have rabies.

"These s'mores are awesome!" He exclaimed, causing everyone to anime fall.

Troy shook his head with an exhale through his nose and a small smile creeping up his face. Sometimes Ash could be so single-minded that it drove him crazy.

"Alright, guys. Time for bed." He said as he grabbed the sand bucket to put out the fire. Once the fire was extinguished, Troy tossed Ash a napkin to wipe his face.

"Wipe your face." he ordered. "You look like you have rabies."

-Time Jump-

Everyone had changed into their sleep wear and were ready to turn in for the evening. Troy and Ash share a tent together while Dawn had hers and Brock slept outside in his sleeping bag.

"Good night everybody." Troy called from his and Ash's tent. "We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow. We should reach Veilstone City about mid-afternoon if we get up early enough."

"Good night." Brock and Dawn replied from their sleeping areas.

Troy then turned over a little bit to try and get comfortable. The thing about Ash that he hated the most was he took up a ton of space when they would share a bed so he might as well pick a spot and defend it.

"G'night buddy." Troy looked over at Ash with a friendly smile. "I'm setting the alarm for six so we can get some good training in for your battle."

"Sure thing," Ash smiled back. "You know? I'm so lucky to have someone like you in my life."

Troy appreciated that compliment. "Well you're just such an eager student that it makes my job easy. I love traveling out here with you, Brock and Dawn. You make me feel like I still have a purpose."

"Do you ever think that they'll write ballads and tell tales of us someday, long after we are gone?"

"Not sure," responded Troy with a yawn. "But I know I'll tell my kids and grandkids about our adventures. Stories are known best by those who lived it rather than those who heard it."

Ash sighed in thought. It would be incredible to hear other people telling stories about him long after he was gone. "Alright, good night."

"Sleep well, buddy."

The apprentice and the teacher soon fell into peaceful sleep.

Aw. Some nice campfire bonding. Nothing better in the world to start a story with. Hope this got you guys set on a good note because the action will be coming soon enough. Stay tuned. Leave a review saying what you think is going to happen next. Chao.