A/N: this fic contains Lightrockshipping and possibly others, including Rocketshipping and Advanceshipping. It starts off slow, but it'll be better!
"Dawn, come on! You've been in there for forever!" A hand rapped the bathroom door, and a foot impatiently tapped on the floor. Another hand ran through messy red hair and Zoey sighed. Dawn always took an eternety to get out of the bathroom.
"I'm not done yet," Dawn replied from behind the closed and locked door. "I'm still getting ready."
"Still?" Zoey barked, banging her head on the door. "You don't have to make yourself look perfect, you know!"
"Yes, I do!" Dawn stared into the bathroom mirror, brushing her dark shade of blue hair repeatedly. She was nearly done, but not quite there. She had to perfect her appearance, or else who knows what would happen? What if Ash or Brock made fun of her? What if Gary or Kenny did? She shuddered and continued to brush her hair.
Zoey gave up on trying to force her roommate out of the bathroom. She learned within the first week of living together that there was just no point, anyway. Instead, she retreated to her room to get dressed in there.
Dawn finished her brushing and fixed her hair up, putting her brush away and unlocking the door with quick movements from her fingers. Wait, she had to check one more time... Dawn returned to the mirror and looked over herself.
Her blue eyes were clear and cheerful, her hair neat and clean. She wore a smile and her work uniform was fixed nicely over her body. She nodded to herself and left the bathroom, calling out to Zoey that she was leaving for work. There was an "Okay!" and then Dawn was off.
Work was not quite what she dreamed of. She worked as a chef at a nearby popular restaurant with a friend or two. Really, she wanted to work as a coordinator, but when things got rough, she needed to pick up a job and quick. So she found herself working there, preparing food for strangers. It wasn't all that bad; she liked cooking, and besides, this was just until she could get her dream job as a Pokemon coordinator!
"Bye, Piplup. I'll see you later!"
"Piplup!" Piplup waved goodbye and tottered off to the living room.
Dawn moved to her car and hopped in, putting the keys into ignition and starting up the car with a twist of her wrist. She really did feel bad for stopping with the Pokemon contests. She was spending so much time apart from her Pokemon that she started teaching them how to cook so that she could bring them to work, much like Brock did. It wasn't uncommon for that to happen. Pokemon could be great cooks, all they had to do was take a simple test to see if they were skilled or not.
Dawn pulled into her parking space and walked inside of the restaurant. It was peaceful, for it was still closed and only the employees were present. The first to greet her as she came in was Meowth.
"Hey, twer- uh, I mean, Dawn. How's the mornin' been for ya?" Meowth was holding a bowl full of soapy water and making his way towards a sink.
"Good," Dawn replied. "You?"
"It's been fine. Jessie an' James were rushin' me outta the house, though, since they were late for work an' I don't got a key. They got work early on Tuesdays. I- waah!" Mewoth tripped and the bowl flew out of his hands, sending water flying everywhere.
Dawn ran over to help him up, holding back a laugh. "Are you ok?"
"Peachy," Meowth snapped, sarcasm dripping from his voice as he noticed the smile on her face.
Dawn couldn't hold it back and laughed freely. Meowth was an entertaining Pokemon. She was glad that she and Meowth had become friends. In fact, she was glad she and her friends got along with the Jessie and James, too. After Ash became champion and the years passed, the trouble-making trio Team Rocket quit their jobs and became police officers. All accept Meowth, who picked up cooking, claiming that he "specialized in noodle-making". They became friends after all the trouble they caused each other.
"What're you laughin' at? It ain't funny!" Meowth hissed, picking himself up and shaking himself a bit to free himself from the clutches of soapy water.
"Sorry," Dawn giggled. "Is Brock here?"
Meowth nodded as he picked up the now empty bowl and jumped onto the sink. "Yeah. He's out cleanin' up tables, though."
"Okay." Dawn headed off into the dining area of the restaurant, leaving the kitchen and finding Brock straightening up some tables.
"What are you doing?" she asked. "Shouldn't that be left for the guys who clean up?"
Brock didn't stop as he spoke. "Everyone could use some help now and then."
Dawn blinked. He was right, she supposed. "So I see you work the morning shift today?"
"More like this week," Brock replied, turning away from the table and giving her his full attention. "Next week I work the night shift. I have to say, the day shift is much better."
Brock worked part time at the restaurant since he was in school to be a Pokemon doctor. He never worked as long as Dawn or Meowth did, but he made food twice as good. Everyone agreed that he and Cilan were the best that prepared food there.
"Hm. I bet. And, you know what? I think I'll have Piplup start coming to work soon. That would be nice, wouldn't it?" she grinned and tapped her fingers on a table near her.
"Yep." Brock turned his attention to another table. "This will be the last table I fix. Today's gonna be busy. Monday's always are."
"At least that's the day everyone comes in," Dawn commented.
"It should be hectic, as usual."
"Heh, yeah. I like it that way."