Ash had only been sleeping for an hour when he was suddenly shaken by a pair of very small hands. As he opened his eyes and yawned, he saw that the thing that was shaking him was Celebi, the Legendary Grass Pokemon.

Ash quickly put two and two together and realized that Celebi must have been one of the Pokemon which was foretold by Gengar. "Are you one of the three Pokemon that Gengar mentioned?"

"I am." said the Pokemon. "I have been granted special powers for this meeting. Powers given by the master of time itself, Dialga. I have the ability to travel through time on my own, but now I can bring along others as well. Those powers have also given me the ability to speak with you and for you to be able to understand me. The other two Pokemon, who you will later meet, have these powers, too. I have come here to take you with me on a journey to the past."

Celebi then began to glow and opened a portal in the middle of the room. "Come with me, there is much to show you." said Celebi. Ash seemed hesitant at first, but Celebi assured him it was safe, and he stepped through with the Pokemon following behind him.

As Ash passed through the portal, his room disappeared in a bright light. When the light vanished, Ash found himself at a campsite in the middle of a forest. Looking at his surroundings, Ash saw an identical version of himself and Pikachu sleeping in their sleeping bag on the ground while Brock made breakfast.

"Woah! What is this?" Ash asked, shocked by noticing that there was another Ash.

"Don't worry." said Celebi. "Nobody can see or hear us. This is simply a memory of the past."

"You brought me back in time?"

"Ssh. Watch, remember, and learn."

Everything seemed normal until a scream came from the nearby tent.

"I'd recognize that scream anywhere." said Ash. "That's Dawn!"

Ash watched as his past self woke up from the sound of the scream and ran to the front of the tent. "Dawn, what's wrong?" the Ash of the past said to the voice coming from the tent.

"Don't you dare come in here! My hair's a complete mess and nobody's allowed to see it!" Dawn yelled.

"Dawn, don't sweat it. Come on, that's what hats are for."

"Well, isn't that a typical male response?"

As the Ash from the future looked at the events playing out in front of him, or in this case, "replaying" in front of him, he couldn't help but laugh a little and say, "I remember how Dawn was like this almost every morning that we traveled though Sinnoh. You know, at the time I never really did understand girls that much and why having good-looking hair was so important to them."

"And what do you think now?" asked Celebi.

"Well...I will admit that over time, I came to see that it did make her look very...nice."

"That's what most girls want that special someone to think when they see them looking like that."

"Do you think Dawn did that to impress someone?"

"Yes..." Celebi said, looking over at Ash.

"Wait a minute? You mean ME?" Ash said in disbelief. This moment he was seeing was very early on in their Sinnoh journey. Had Dawn really loved him for that long?

"Do you believe in love at first sight?" asked Celebi. "She didn't believe in it until you came along and helped her and Pikachu fight Team Rocket, remember? Or do I have to show you that memory, too?"

"No, that's fine. How could I forget that?" Ash replied.

"Good. Moving right along, I have more to show you." At Celebi's words, the forest disappeared in a glow and the next thing Ash knew, he was looking at his past self standing in the Oreburgh City gym. Celebi showed Ash his gym battles with Roark, Maylene, and Volkner; each of the times Dawn had dressed up and cheered for him during his gym battles.

"Can't you see all the encouragement she gave you throughout your journey?" Celebi asked.

"Wow, I can't believe I took it all for granted." Ash said in disbelief. "Not even Misty or May went to those lengths. It shows just how much she wanted me to succeed at my dreams."

"Don't forget that you were there for her each step of the way, too." Celebi reminded him.

"That's right." Ash said, remembering. "This really shows that she cares for me a lot...and that I care for her a lot, too. But is that really love?" Ash was still uncertain.

"That's something you have to answer on your own, Ash." Celebi said wisely. "But you are finally starting to recognize and understand your true feelings and emotions. Now it is time to show you the most important memories of them all."

As the next location of Ash's past came into focus, Ash found himself floating in the air inside a dark void. When he looked down, all he could see was darkness, there was no ground. The only buildings left were two towers which were quickly vanishing into nothingness before their eyes. Ash immediately realized where he was.

"This is Alamos Town!" he exclaimed. "The battle between Dialga, Palkia, and Darkrai!"

"Yes, and look over there." Celebi motioned to the staircase.

"That's me and Dawn and our Pokemon. I remember how we worked together to save the town."

Suddenly, the walkway where Ash's past self was standing dissolved. He slipped and fell but Dawn grabbed his hand and tried to pull him back up. But Ash's weight was too much for her to hold and they both fell, all the while holding each other's hand. Luckily, Buizel shot out a Water Gun that pushed them through the air safely onto the side of one of the towers. Dawn finally let go of his hand when she realized they were both safe.

"Do you see?" asked Celebi. "She couldn't pull you back up, but she held onto you anyway. She wouldn't have let go, even though she knew you could both fall. She was willing to sacrifice her life for you."

"Wow..." Ash said in awe, amazed that there could be anybody who would do that for him. His Pokemon would do it perhaps, but her?

"You don't know this, but we Legendary Pokemon have an ancient saying for things like this." said Celebi. "'There is no greater love than to give up one's life for one's friend.' That is the greatest love anyone can give. I think Dawn's just proved that to you right now."

"The greatest love? Does Dawn really care about me enough to die for me?" Ash wondered. This was some pretty serious stuff to take in and ponder.

"We need to go, my time grows short." said Celebi.

Ash looked around as Alamos Town disappeared. Now he saw he was in Dawn's room in Twinleaf Town. He saw Dawn lying on her bed crying into her pillow.

"What is this? What's wrong with Dawn?" Ash asked Celebi.

"This was just after you left her and went back to Kanto." the Pokemon answered.

"So I did this to her? This shows how much she didn't want me to leave?" he asked himself. "If I had known that Dawn was going to miss me this much, I would have never left. I can't believe I've hurt her like this. It hurts me to see my friends hurt, and twice as much so if I was the one responsible for it in the first place." he said in his mind. "I'm so sorry, Dawn. Please forgive me."

Ash then looked toward Dawn's bedroom door as her mom, Johanna, came in the room.

"Dawn, what's wrong?" Johanna asked her daughter.

"It's Ash, mom. I really wish he didn't have to leave. I...I really like him a lot. And...and I feel like it's my fault that he left." Dawn answered sadly.

"Why do you say that it's your fault?"

"Because there was something that I had to say to him...but I was too scared. If I had said it, maybe he wouldn't have left."

"You were going to tell him that you love him, weren't you? You love him, right?"

"Y-Yes. I...I think so." Dawn reached over and hugged her mom.

"Don't worry, Dawn." Johanna said, embracing her daughter. "I know Ash will come around eventually. He'll realize his true feelings for you. If he could see you right now, I'm sure he would want to be the one holding you."

Johanna had no idea how true her words were ringing at that moment.

As the room vanished, Ash's eyes never left Dawn. When they faded out of sight, he was now back in his room.

"Please, Celebi. Don't show me any more. Why do you keep showing me the mistakes I've made, the signs of love that I've missed, and the missed chances I've had to tell Dawn?" he asked with a heavy heart.

"Good or bad, the past makes you who you are. Even the pain you've caused, the pain you've felt, has good consequences. They've made you stronger; they've guided the course you've taken in your life. You can't go back and fix things, but you CAN do one of two things: either keep running from your past and avoiding your feelings like you've done so far, or you can learn from the past about how to make a better future for you and Dawn." Celebi said encouragingly.

"I've shown you all you need to see for now." Celebi concluded. "You seem to be understanding things better and I hope it leads you to do the right thing. Farewell, Ash Ketchum. The next Pokemon will be here soon." And with that, Celebi vanished.

Author's Note: So Ash has seen the past and is beginning to understand what it is the Pokemon are trying to teach him. Can you guess which Pokemon he will meet next? And what will he see next?