"What was taking you so long?" Ash huffed as Dawn finally emerged from the shopping centre. She had been in there since six and it was now eight o'clock. It was freezing and people were now heading home with their coat necks pulled up to their noses.
"What? They had deals for the holidays!" She chirped as she scuttled towards him holding about ten bags. A cold wind ruffled Ash's raven black hair and he pulled his cap further on his head. Pikachu hopped from his shoulder and the mouse jumped into one of Dawn's bags, Ash chuckles as he sees the Pokémon's tail stick out as it rummaged around.
"Pi-pi!" It chirped with joy as it discovers a bottle of ketchup. It hopped from the bag back onto Ash's shoulder with the bottle in its little fists. The young man sniggers and scratches it under its chin. The mouse cooed as it licked the sauce from the top of the bottle.
"Yeah, I couldn't forget that." Dawn smiles at its antics "So, should we head back?"
"That's what I have been suggesting for the last two hours!" Ash sighed before turning around to walk down the streetlamp lit street with Dawn at his side. It was the start of November and the weather was cold and blustery, the black clouds in the navy sky indicated the presence of rain was due in the next hour or so. The shop's windows were lit and the Christmas decorations were already up along with banners announcing the apparently "low low prices!" of their products. Dawn always seemed to believe those things as she had been nipping in and out those shops for the last week or so.
As they walked down, a number of small boys would turn to stare at Ash as if he was Arceus. He was used to this, he was well known for his abilities in battles and his knowledge of Pokémon, which was thanks to Brock, a good friend of his who was coming to celebrate Christmas next month with hi and Dawn. A boy ran up to Ash with a Poke ball, begging him to sign it.
"I hope we don't get any more of your fans bugging us on Christmas." Dawn giggles as Ash signed the boy's Poke ball. Ash smirks as he hands it back to the boy, who ran off waving it towards his friends. He remembered being that way when he was ten, wide-eyes, eager and easily fascinated by the world of battling. He would never have guessed thirteen years later he would be famous for it.
"Oh, and your fans are better?" Ash smirks at Dawn's annoyed expression "I hope they save their screaming for the contest."
Dawn turned to smile at him and as she does, her left foot flies up in front of her due to a patch of black ice. She lets out an "Aieeh!" as the bags in her hands went soaring. Ash grabs Dawn by her arms before she hit the deck. Pikachu yelped as it tumbled from Ash's shoulder when he bent down.
"Oh, thank you, Ashy." She pants as she was lifted back onto her black Ugg boot covered feet. She dusted her pink jacket off and started gathering her dropped items, a Nurse Joy from a close PC scuttled out on her heels, giving Ash a fright.
"I saw you fall over, are you ok?" She asked as she helped Dawn to pick up her goods. "Did you bang your head or anything?"
"No, Ash caught me." Dawn said, waving her hands a little in a dismissive manner. Ash grabbed the ketchup bottle, which now had a dented top but he only had it for a second before the mouse Pokémon grabbed it back.
As the three walked further on, the sound of sirens caught Ash's attention. What alerted him the most was that they sounded close. Dawn seemed on edge too, she was clinging to her bags even more now. She kept glancing inside them.
"No need to worry, Dawn." Ash said, saying the same words she always said to him when he was frazzled.
"I know! But with those sirens, I don't want anything to have been stolen!"
"Nurse Joy made sure everything was in there, chill out." Ash smirked before planting a peck on her cheek. That seemed to help as she returned the favour.
"Come on, it's getting colder, I don't want to catch a-"
CRASH!
"-AARGH!" Another person had collided with Ash, knocking him to the ground. Dawn yelped and side-stepped out of the way. Pikachu leapt onto her shoulder to avoid being crushed under Ash as he fell.
"Get off!" Ash yelled as he shoved the person off of him, knocking her onto her backside. She had her eyes screwed shut and was rubbing the back of her head. She was wearing a pair of blue shorts and a black hoodie with a black bandana around her mouth and nose.
"What the hell was that for!?" Ash snapped as he scrambled attempted to get up but struggled due to the frozen ground.
The person opened her eyes but before she could answer him, Officer Jenny careered around the corner on a motorbike, the red and blue light flashing on the back of it.
"STOP!" She shouted.
The girl swears before scrambling over Ash, he gagged as she stood on his chest while escaping. He hears the motorbike zoom past him, presumably in the same direction as the girl.
"Ash! Oh, god are you ok?" Dawn pulled him to his feet. Ash groans and massages his lower back. He turned around to see both Officer Jenny and the girl had disappeared.
"I'm fine, don't worry." He answered her.
"Chu!" Pikachu jumped back onto Ash's shoulder.
"I'm ok, mate." He scratched Pikachu behind one of its ears. The Pokémon sighed contently and settled on his shoulder like a parrot.
"Who the hell was that? She must have done something pretty bad to annoy Officer Jenny that much." Dawn pouts in the direction the fugitive ran off in.
Ash scratched his head, thinking for a moment. Suddenly, something hit him. In the slit second he saw the person's eyes he noticed that they were a deep sapphire blue which were wild and shining with fear.
Where had he seen them before?
"Wait…" He mutters. His chocolate eyes suddenly brighten.
"What?" Dawn asked with deep confusion in her voice.
Ash turned back around in the opposite direction.
"..May?"