This story is set six years after Diamond and Pearl…yes, I know I should include Ash's companions from the Unova region…but, eh, I was lazy. Besides, I'm not that into it…

Just to give you an overview, this story mainly contains Ikarishipping (Dawn/Paul), has some to very little traces of Pokeshipping (Ash/Misty) , Contestshipping (May/Drew), Handymanshipping (Tracey/Daisy), whatever Gary/Leaf aka Green/Blue Is called, Questshipping (Jimmy/Marina), and Soulsilvershipping (Lyra/Silver)

Anyway, here are the set ages of the characters (don't expect all of them to be major characters...some of them are strictly minor)

Dawn, Lyra - 16

Paul, Ash, Gary - 18

Misty - 19

May, Drew, Leaf, Silver - 17

Brock, Tracey, Daisy - 21

Dawn was, simply put, lonely.

She was just sitting there on that simple low wooden chair, which had forced her to place herself in a position that required her to move her lower part nearer toward the front edge of the chair, and to bend her legs in such a way so that her knees were very close to each other. With the position of her legs, her thighs were just there in front of her, making them perfect spots to rest an elbow on each one, while her palms rubbed against her cheeks and her fingers grazed her temples.

Just by looking at her, you could tell that something was up.

Actually, if someone were to zoom out of Dawn's situation and observe the atmosphere around her, they could probably guess what her problem was.

From her tiny chair, Dawn forced herself to scan the room and after she did so, she gave a depressed, self-pitying sigh and stared back down at the floor again.

This is supposed to be a party, Dawn reassured herself for the hundredth time. Shouldn't I be talking to my friends, instead of just moping around here?

But then she remembered why she felt like this in the first place…and once again, she became a small, gloomy patch of darkness in a place full of bright light and vibrant energy. She sighed again and ruffled her hair before finally giving up and rising to take a seat in one of the more comfortable chairs.

God, Dawn, relax! It's a party, for Pete's sake! Come on, interact!

But she couldn't. It would feel way too awkward if she would approach even one of her friends. She felt like an idiot for thinking like this…but if you were in her shoes, it would make sense, too.

Ash Ketchum, her ex-traveling partner six years ago, had invited her to his house for some kind of reunion party. Of course, Dawn had fervently agreed to meet him again in Pallet Town, for they were still close friends to this day, and a reunion sounded like a lot of fun…maybe she could even make some new friends and meet some new people…or if not, she could just chat with her old friends…

But, God…she didn't think that chatting with old friends would be so hard to do so...and awkward, at the very least.

She glanced from her place at Ash, who was on another table, stuffing himself with burgers, pizza, pasta, and the like, while beside him, Misty, his girlfriend was chatting animatedly with Ash's mother, Delia. And in another part of the room, on the couch, May, a close friend of Dawn's and one of her coordinating idols, was lying there, with her head sitting on the lap of Drew, who was May's rival…or rather ex-rival now. There was Misty's gorgeous older sister, Daisy, by the food table, who had just grasped the hands of Tracey, a Pokemon artist, and the guy she was seeing. Tracey blushed and Daisy's eyes sparkled, as if she had just thought of a brilliant idea. Gary, Ash's old rival, was seen checking out Leaf, this new girl who had just moved to Pallet Town, and it was obvious that Leaf reciprocated those feelings, because she looked at him an awful lot, too. And, finally, out of all people, Brock had found himself a girlfriend. Lucy the Pike Queen wasn't here at the moment, but the sound of Brock's joyful voice announcing his eternal love for her somehow rubbed the matter in Dawn's face even more than seeing the others have their public displays of affection.

She was just so envious. Actually, jealous seemed like a more suitable word for that feeling growing inside of her. She was jealous of all the people in the room, but, especially of Misty and May. God, how they were with Ash and Drew, it was just…

Ash and Misty were known to be each other's first…traveling partners, that is. They traveled together with Brock for about a year, and Misty said that the separation between the three of them was very emotional, especially for Ash ("I didn't cry!" Ash had objected when Misty recalled the story. "It was just Brock's sandwich…you know…there were onions in it…"). A few years later, they had met up again, and after a few bumpy trips with his feelings, Ash finally realized was in love with Misty. Misty had felt the same way, of course, and from then on, they had become a couple. They usually argued and yelled at each other, but everyone, especially Brock and Tracey, knew that this was how they really showed how much they loved each other.

And Drew and May…they were just so sweet. Dawn didn't know how else to describe them. Drew would usually taunt her and May would give him the silent treatment a while later…but at the end of the day, they would apologize to each other, hug or kiss, and then it would all be over. Dawn had been the third wheel on enough of their outings together to know that this always happened on their dates. But when they weren't arguing, they were holding hands or linking arms, or just talking to each other quite sweetly, as if they were in Paris or something. In fact, May said that their first kiss was already a good, long one.

Seriously, was she the only person in this room who was alone? No, actually…lone Professor Oak was just standing there a little ways off, talking to May's single younger brother Max…hmm…what if she…

What the hell! Am I really that desperate? Dawn shook the forming mental image out of her head before it could disgust her any further.

"Hey, Dawn!" Misty appeared suddenly beside Dawn, dragging Ash, who was still carrying his plate.

"Oh, hi, Misty! Hey, Ash! Great party!" Dawn forced a cheerful tone.

"Thanks." Ash replied with his mouth full. "What?" He said cluelessly when Misty glared daggers at him.

"Anyway," the redhead said, clasping her hands together, "All of us figured that we all just sit on the couch and tell each other what's going on nowadays. That okay with you?"

"Yes, I'd love to do that!" This time, the sound of happiness in Dawn's words wasn't faked. This was finally an opportunity to chat with her friends properly without feeling awkward (She couldn't interrupt the friends she wanted to talk to when they were already busy with someone else…).

"Alright! Come on, to the couches." Misty grabbed Dawn's hand and pulled Ash away from the food table for the last time and so the three of them headed for the sitting room for some conversation.

"Oh, God! Not here! Get a room, would you guys?"

"What's going on?" Dawn wondered out loud. All the people in the sitting room were laughing, except for Max, who was obviously disgusted by what he'd seen. His face was red and he seemed really embarrassed. When Misty saw what was on the couch, she immediately burst into laughter, and so did Ash. Dawn stayed silent , but managed to crack a fake smile.

"Come on, people, let's sit." Delia said, coming out of the kitchen with a bowl of chips and setting it down on the tiny coffee table in the middle of the room before sitting down on one of the chairs herself.

"Alright," Max said, his voice hard. "But I am not sitting on that couch! My sister just made out with him there!"

"Whatever, Max." May rose from her position on top of Drew, and began to flatten out her messy hair. "You're such a kid. It's just a kiss." Drew sat up in the couch, too, to glare at Max.

"Just a kiss!" Max said sarcastically, throwing his hands up in the air. "Yeah, right! I swear that I could see his hand going-"

"May we all please sit down?" Delia turned to face everyone with a murderous glare and such a scary edge to her voice that it made everyone settle down on the couches immediately. Dawn never thought that she would be grateful for Ash's mom's unpredictable mood swings. Now even Max didn't care where he sat. He cowered beside his sister on the long couch. There was an awkward silence until Delia smiled again and put her hands together.

"So, what are we talking about first?"

"Oh, Mom…" Ash sighed in embarrassment.

"Ash, honey, since you volunteered, why don't you start first? What's going on with your life?"

Dawn smiled inwardly in contentment. Now, this is interacting. Talking just about you, yourself, and you. And no one else.

"Well…I dunno what to talk about…"

"Pika!" Cried Pikachu, strong and faithful as ever, perched on Ash's shoulder.

"What was that, buddy?" Ash said, looking inquisitively at his Pokemon.

"I think Pikachu wants you to talk about you and Misty." Gary teased, elbowing Ash. It was meant to be a joke, but to everyone's surprise, Pikachu excitedly jumped off Ash's shoulder and sat itself comfortably on the floor. It said its name one more time before looking up intently at Ash, urging him to begin.

"A story about me and Misty?" Ash echoed, scratching the back of his head.

"What was that?" Misty suddenly demanded. "Are you saying you can't recall any of our dates?"

"I didn't even say anything yet!" Ash retorted. "I just thought the kind of story I would be telling is one about battling or something…"

"So you would rather talk about battles and Pokemon than talk about us?"

"You didn't even let me talk yet!"

The two kept up the argument for a long time, their voices growing louder, and their comebacks and reasons becoming more and more implausible by the second. It even reached the point where they actually rose up from their seats to challenge each other further. But no one even tried to stop them; it was as if this was perfectly normal. Gary rolled his eyes at them, but Brock and Delia seemed to really enjoy this. Tracey even had this sudden urge to express Ash and Misty's mixed feelings by means of sketching.

But this was torture to Dawn. We're supposed to be talking, not having some lovers' quarrel! She knew perfectly well that this was how Ash and Misty really bonded and in a bizarre way, it sort of made sense. She couldn't explain it, but this was even more painful to watch and hear than seeing Drew and May "get it on" on the couch.

Maybe she should just walk out of the room right now.

"Right," Dawn began, once a gap of silence had finally come between the quarrelers. "Excuse me, but I think I have to-"

"Ash Ketchum, do you even care about me anymore?"

At Misty's words, Brock's smile slowly began to disappear from his face. Delia began to look worried. In fact, everyone except for Ash and Misty sat in stunned silence as they waited for Ash's answer. It became clear to Dawn that something this serious had not yet been brought up in their arguments. She became quiet again.

Ash looked as if he had been struck by one of Pikachu's attacks. He stared at Misty, whose eyes were beginning to blink rapidly (Dawn had never seen Misty so vulnerable before). After what seemed like a long time, everyone seemed to release the breath they had been holding in as Ash walked towards Misty and placed his hand on her shoulders.

"Come on, Misty, you know I would never think that. 'Course I care about you! You're like the thing that I really need. I'd trade a life of being a trainer just to be with you."

When Misty took in his words, she blushed and immediately brought her hands to her eyes to wipe away the tears; some of which had already rolled down her cheek and left tear stains there. She looked at Ash again in a less murderous way and said in a sarcastic tone:

"What is this, a soap opera?"

Ash could only grin and hug her tight, and Misty couldn't help but hug him back. Relieved smiles and a warmer atmosphere spread across the room.

Except for the black aura that was emanating from Dawn. No one noticed her fists clench and unclench. No one noticed her eye twitching from the effort of trying not to glare. No one predicted her heartbeat pulsing faster and faster from the immense jealousy that was coursing through her veins.

That was the last straw.

"STOP!" Dawn took action, springing to her feet. Once she did so, her mind was whirling with so many things she wanted to say. She was sure that she would regret this later…but it was too late. She had to say what she had to say now or she would explode. "I thought we were supposed to be talking! You know, talking? Like, just about us? About our lives and our Pokemon and stuff? How the hell did it come to being like this? Can we just stop all this lovey-dovey crap and get back to the topic of just you, Ash? PLEASE?"

After her harangue, Dawn's temper began to cool and she began to regain control of herself. There now! She had said all she wanted to say...but...why didn't she feel satisfied? Why was there still some sort of burden left on her shoulders? She certainly said everything that was longing to burst out of her mind...but where was the relief in all this?

And then she realized.

Oh, God...are they...

Yes, they were.

They all stared at her, shell shocked at what had just happened. Plain surprise reflected visibly on each of their faces. Even Ash and Misty let go of each other and looked at her at the same way. Dawn had been so keen on letting everything out that she didn't stop to think of the outcome of her actions.

Oh, great...

Dawn was surprised to feel something warm traveling down the side of her face and realized that she was actually crying. But she kept on standing erect, breathing hard, and glancing at everyone. Let them stare, she thought. It's their fault I'm like this, anyway.

"Dawn…are you okay?"

Hearing May's concerned voice suddenly began to unstitch Dawn in a blur. The floodgates of her mind opened and all her trapped emotions poured out of her. She sniffed as more tears began escaping from her blue eyes and she covered her face with her hands.

"No." She said in a whisper.

May was the first one to stand up and wrap her arms around her. A hug from a friend when she was crying always made her want to cry harder. And so she did. Misty walked up to her, too, and feeling guilty, embraced her tightly as well. Everyone else didn't stir from their seats, afraid that they may do something to make the blue-haired girl feel worse.

And none of them even understood how she felt.

I'm terribly sorry if I made Dawn sound like a Bella Swan... D: (God, how I hate her...)

Reviews are very much welcome. Smell ya later!