Seconds to You

Ikarishipping

Welcome to another ikarshipping fanfic! :)

First, I'd like to thank PH for the review from Perfect Together for inspiring me to write this story! It's been sitting around for a while, so I'm not sure it's the best (apologies in advance!), but I hope you all enjoy~!

Soulmate AU; where everyone has a timer that counts down until you meet you're soulmate.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon

24 hours, 1 minute and 6 seconds...

Dawn clutched at the small heart shaped device in her hand tightly. Since the moment she had stepped into Veilstone City, the timer on the device had changed to twenty four hours and was continuously counting down second by second. In less than a day, she would meet her soul mate. She would be able to find her perfect match, at least she hoped so.

After the success of creating the Pokétch a few years back, the Pokétch Company had then created the device she held called the "matchmaker". It was a simple heart shaped device that showed a countdown clock. The moment anyone received their matchmaker, the time would start to count down until the moment they encounter their perfect match, or as most people referred them to, their soul mate. Although it had been released only in the recent years, the device had been working without many complaints. Occasionally, there would be an accident were the matches weren't right or a malfunction of some sort, but those cases were rare.

"Less than one day," Dawn muttered to herself. Staring at the time, she sighed and tucked the matchmaker into her pocket. "Maybe he's been in Veilstone City this entire time?"

Everyone who had ever met their match had always reminded her that she should continue her day as normal, it was how the matchmakers worked. This way, there would less chance of missing her match, since the matchmakers assumed you kept doing whatever you did throughout a day. Less change in plan made the chance of meeting higher.

Brushing away the stray thoughts, she looked up, hearing someone call her name.

"...Dawn!"

Turning to the sound of his voice, Dawn smiled when she spotted her raven haired friend.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed, quickly walking over to where he was standing. "Did Brock say we were going to the Pokémon Center?"

"That was the plan," Ash agreed with a nod, looking around to see if he could spot their older travelling companion. "But then he got distracted by some girl while I was trying to convince him to find somewhere to eat lunch."

The familiar sound of Croagunk came from behind them. Turning around, the two sweat dropped at the sight. As usual, Croagunk had been the one to stop Brock's advances towards the girl that had caught his interest and was now dragging him back.

"Brock doesn't have a matchmaker, does he?" Dawn wondered out loud.

Ash looked over at the blue haired girl and nodded. "Brock believes he can find his true love without it. Don't ask for details unless you want to hear his twenty minute explanation of love." He paused to think about his words. "At least I think it was about love..."

Then there were exceptions to the matchmakers. Not everyone owned one, some people like Brock, chose not to get a matchmaker. Dawn wasn't sure how it worked, since the matchmaker usually paired people with matchmakers as well, but some people claimed they were matched up with people who didn't have one. Perhaps Brock held onto that one glimpse of hope.

"Got it," Dawn said. "We should probably go find lunch. Do you remember seeing a restaurant on our way over here?"

"Yeah, right over there!" Ash pointed to a nearby building. "Hey Brock, let's go get lunch! I'm starving!"

Brock let out a groan but managed to pull himself up and join the two as they walked to the restaurant. As they were walking there, Dawn started to think about the matchmaker once again. Every step she took meant she was get closer. Every second that passed by was bring the two of them closer together. She could help but feel nervous and excited. Brock didn't use the matchmaker device, but she knew Ash and Misty were together. Was it because of the matchmaker? She made a mental note to ask her ginger haired friend later that night.

As for now, she was more than ready to eat lunch.

16 hours, 32 minutes and 41 seconds...

It was sometime after dinner, and Dawn was sure a gym leader's responsibilities wouldn't be affecting her friend around this hour. Hoping for the best, she broke into a smile when the line connected and she saw her.

"Misty!" she cried out happily, waving at the screen.

"Hey, Dawn!" the gym leader cheerfully replied. "How's it going?"

"Good, we're in Veilstone City and Ash is planning on training for the next three days before challenging the gym."

"Ooh, I'll wish him good luck next time he calls me. Or I call him. Whichever happens first."

Dawn smiled, seeing how the relationship between the two still worked out with the distance. She hoped she and her match would be able to do the same in the future.

"Did something interesting happen?" Misty asked, peering into her screen at Dawn. She was able to tell by the bluenette's expression there had to be something that caused her to smile like that.

"I guess so," Dawn answered. She paused for a moment before bluntly asking her question. "How did you and Ash end up together?"

The orange haired gym leader sat back in her chair, a fond smile appearing on her face. The memory of happened seemed to bring good memories to her. Waiting for her to start her story, Dawn watched her friend relax.

"Ash and I went to buy our matchmakers together," Misty explained, reminiscing about what happened. "We both decided to get our at the same time, just to see who would find their partner first. We never did find out who it was, seeing that they both timers were already at zero when they were activated. We thought they were broken at first."

"But it turned out you were each other's match," Dawn finished, cooing over how cute the story turned out. "That's so sweet!"

Misty giggled, seeing her friend's enthusiasm about finding her match. "Yeah I guess. Turns out that happening is uncommon, but it does happen with some people. The matchmakers were right though, even though Ash and I don't always get along I think we were meant to be."

Dawn nodded understandingly. She really hoped that she would share that kind of bond with her own match. Feeling the urge to look at her matchmaker, she nearly jumped when she heard Misty shout through the screen.

"Ash!"

Turning around, Dawn spotted the raven haired trainer stop in his tracks and immediately beeline his way over to their conversation.

"Hey, Mist!" he greeted, smiling. "How are things going?"

"Great!" Misty replied, eyes sparking with happiness.

Deciding to leave the couple together for some alone time, she excused herself and headed off back to the room they were staying in for the night. There were less than forty hours until she would meet her perfect match, and she was starting to feel more than antsy.

No need to worry, Dawn thought, nodding to herself reassuringly. No need to worry.

4 hours, 37 minutes and 9 seconds...

"Come on!" Ash exclaimed, hurrying towards the direction of the Veilstone City gym. "I want to go challenge the gym right now!"

"Ash! Slow down!" Dawn called out, chasing after him. "We don't need to go so early, do we?"

"The gym isn't going anywhere," Brock added, trying to keep up with them both. "Besides, look! I think that's the gym leader over there!"

Brock pointed over to the open field with various trainers training, the majority of them being male, and among them was a young girl with pink hair. Next to her was a Lucario, looking as readily to practice as she was. Through how everyone was engrossed with their training, it was clear to see they were still in the midst of training, no signs of ending anytime soon.

Ash seemed to completely ignore the fact and called out to them.

"Hello? Are one of you the gym leader of the Veilstone City gym?"

The girl raised her hand and walked over. "That would be me. May I help you?"

"I want to have a gym battle!" Ash declared. "My name is Ash."

"Alright," she agreed. "I'm Maylene the Veilstone City gym leader and I accept your challenge." She paused and looked back at the group of trainers. "Right after I finish up the training. Feel free to join us if you want."

15 minutes and 3 seconds...

Sitting at the table outside near the Pokémon Center, Dawn watched Ash and Pikachu finishing up their food with a smile.

"Thanks for the food, Brock," Dawn said, looking over at their older travelling companion. "It was great."

"Yeah, thanks!" Ash chimed in. "Man! Winning the gym battle and getting a fantastic lunch! This day keeps getting better."

Smiling to herself, Dawn quietly muttered, "I hope so."

There were less than fifteen minutes now until she would meet her match. Anticipation was flooding through her veins, and she wasn't sure what feel was fuelling it, nervousness or excitement. Either way, she took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

It wouldn't be long now.

Deciding now would be the perfect opportunity to ease her nerves by taking a walk, Dawn stood up. She needed the chance to calm down before anything else happened, ensuring that she had nothing to worry about.

"I'm going for a walk!" she called out to Brock and Ash. "I'll be back soon."

Not staying around to hear their answers, Dawn soon found herself in the midst of a busy street in Veilstone City. Looking at the window displays that the stores had up, she smiles at the elegant styles of clothing they had for Pokémon.

"How cute," she murmured, thinking of clothing ideas for her own Pokémon.

Just as she turned a corner, Dawn bumped into someone.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" the blonde haired male exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at her.

"Sorry!" Dawn exclaimed, noticing the guy's fallen matchmaker. Picking it up, she handed it over to him. "Here, I think this is yours."

Resuming her walk again, the blue haired coordinator froze when she heard the sound of a matchmaker going off. Digging around her bag, she pulled hers out to see it glowing lightly and making a repetitive ping sound. Skimming the crowds, she could hear another one going off as well. Catching the dark eyes of someone who was holding their own matchmaker, Dawn's face lit up as she started making her way towards them.

Just as she stood in front of him and their matchmaker's stopped making their pinging sound, someone put their hand on Dawn's shoulder.

"I finally caught up to you!" the trainer from before exclaimed. He smiled, looking at Dawn. "My name is Barry. I think you're my match."

"What?" Dawn exclaimed, confused. She looked over at the purple haired trainer whose matchmaker matched with hers, he looked indifferent but the quirked eyebrow showed his confusion. "How is that possible? My matchmaker matched up with his."

Barry held up his own matchmaker, showing the time of zero.

"Well, my matchmaker looked like this when you handed it back to me."

The purple haired trainer spoke up to intervene. "I don't know if you noticed, but her matchmaker matched up with mine."

"But the time stopped when she was with me!"

Before anyone else could say anything, Dawn held up her hands. "Hold it! What if we go to a Poketch store and go get it all checked. I'm sure we can get everything cleared up then. Is that okay with everyone?"

"Fine by me!"

"Tch, whatever."

...

"So? Do you think you can tell who's her match?" Barry asked, watching the man working at the Pokétch Store within the Veilstone Department Store check over his matchmaker.

The man's eyes hovered over all three of the matchmakers in front of him, checking to make sure they were all in good condition. This wasn't his first time in trying to figure out matchmaker issues, and this most likely wouldn't be his last.

"Well," he started, "besides the slight malfunction with yours, young man, I think we can try this again if I reset them all."

"Will the results change?" Dawn pressed, leaning forward. Curiosity in finding her soul mate was slowly gnawing at her, hoping she would find her source of happiness. She didn't want to get her hopes up too much, but the person who was destined to be with her was just within reach.

"Not at all," the man responded. He handed the matchmakers back to their respective owners. "Just hold the button on the side and you'll find out just who it'll be in within seconds."

Looking over at her companions, Dawn could feel the nervous energy building inside of her. Barry looked as if he were excited to find out what would happen, while Paul on the other hand still had on his poker face.

"On the count of three," Barry declared. "One... Two..."

Dawn's finger hovered over the button, waiting in suspense.

"Three!"

At first, there was a pause, nothing but silence filling the air as they all held their anticipated breaths. Little beeps rang out once again, stopping the moment Dawn turned to her right.

Paul.

He was her match. Paul was her soul mate.

"Aw, man," Barry mumbled, looking a little disappointed. He shrugged it off, knowing his time was still continuously counting down. "Well, congratulations you two."

"Thanks!" Dawn smiled, still trying to comprehend the situation. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Paul curtly nodding to Barry. That was expected, seeing she had known Paul for a few minutes, she was starting to understand what kind of person he was. She was sure she would learn to understand him better over time.

"Is that the newest Pokétch app?" Barry exclaimed, his interest quickly being redirected.

Thanking the man at the store as well before heading out, Dawn stuck her hand out to Paul.

"We never properly introduced ourselves," she explained, seeing him eye her hand. "I'm Dawn."

"Paul," he responded, shaking her hand. "Honestly, I never cared too much about these matchmakers, my brother got it for me since everyone has one."

"Oh?" Dawn asked, startled. A frown quickly replaced her cheerful expression. Did this mean he didn't want to be her soul mate?

"But, you don't seem to bad," Paul added, a small quirk of a smile appeared on his face. "I look forward to learning more about you, Dawn."

The blue haired girl smiled. Obviously things weren't going to be an instant click like they were for Ash and Misty, but she knew she would have her own story to tell when people asked about her soul mate. Nothing was going to change that.

"Dawn!"

She turned, seeing Ash and Brock head her way. The promise of returning soon hit, making her realize just how much time had passed.

"Sorry," Dawn apologized, taking her bag gratefully from Brock. "I met my soul mate!"

Gesturing to Paul, she watched everyone interact, noting Paul didn't change his calm demeanor much. Perhaps one day she'd be able to see more of his reactions, maybe a genuine smile, but for now, she knew she could take things slowly.

After counting down seconds and having a delay, a single potential thought kept her mood up.

All the seconds she would get to spend with him.

Honestly, I feel like some of the characters are a bit OOC, but I hope you guys enjoyed the misunderstanding that brings out the truth. :)

*dreamy sigh* Wouldn't it be awesome to know there's someone out there who's meant for you? I love the idea of soulmates and soulmate AUs.

Stay amazing, you fellow ikarishippers! :)

Thanks for reading and have a beautiful day!

~Skitty13