I'm still alive! Sorryy! I know I haven't updated in like forever D8 and I'm sooo sooo sorry for that =/ uni is like so demanding x.x i finish one assignment and the next class, i get given another -.- i have midsemester break coming up soon though :D hopefully i'll be able to update during then - if not, i'll still definitely work on my chapters.

As for 'Washed Up Popstars', I'm kind of stuck =/ like, i know what I want to happen, but it's so hard to write it x.x i've gotten like just over 2000 words done so far and that is really bad considering how long its been since i updated and how long my chapters usually are x.x okay, midsemester break is dedicated to W.U.P only - in terms of my stories.

Anyways, chapter four is here for you :D I made it super long too, so hopefully that'll make up for the delay :) it's like 18,006 words so enjoy. There's loads of pearlshipping in here, a little cavalier, tiny bit of twinleaf and midgety amounts of belle. There is also indirect oldrivalshipping ;) and i'm not sure if the drew and may parts are contestshipping...you guys can decide :)

Ooh! By the way! do you guys like my new book cover? :D If it's bad, i'm sorry, i don't have photoshop so i made it on microsoft powerpoint XD I was feeling bored and creative one day so i decided to make it :p now i just need to make one for my other stories :)

Okay, any mistakes, please let me know

Read Away! 8D


"Dawn..." May spoke in a sarcastically sweet voice "Can I talk to you for a few minutes, please?"

"Um, sure?" the bluenette stood up slowly and followed May over to a tree "Is everything okay?"

"Did you kiss Gary when we went shopping yesterday?" she crossed her arms over her chest

"Actually...he kissed me" she gave the girl a sheepish look but when May's disappointed expression remained, she sighed "Alright fine, we kissed...but I didn't know at the time that I shouldn't. He was so sweet." she couldn't help the blush that grew on her cheeks "He leaned in to kiss me and I kissed him back, it didn't last long though."

"Dawn" May shook her head and sighed "You're new so you don't understand how things work around here." She put a hand on the bluenette's shoulder "When you let Gary kiss you...you pretty much just told him that you like him and now, he's gonna keep trying to get you to go out with him."

"I told him today that I didn't want a relationship with anyone and he respected it." she attempted to explain but May raised an eyebrow.

"Then why is there a hickey on your neck?" Dawn slapped a hand to her neck and covered the small, purple mark.

"H-He caught me off guard with that!" her blush deepened "He said it was his 'hickey of approval' or something."

"Of course." May snorted "He's such an idiot" she rolled her eyes before giving the bluenette a stern look "I can't stop you from liking him or going out with him, but I'm just warning you – be careful."

"Don't worry May" Dawn smiled "I promise I'll be careful around him and the other guys too." she then gave the girl a hug "Thank-you for caring."

"No problems." the brunette chuckled as she hugged her back "If you do end up getting together with any of them and they hurt you, just let me know, Misty and I will have them regretting it in a second."

Dawn giggled and nodded as they walked back to the table and rejoined Misty, who was looking at the curiously.

"What were you guys talking about?"

"Nothing" May replied nonchalantly as she pulled a sandwich out of her bag "I was just telling her to be careful around 'you-know-who'."

"Oh." The redhead nodded before looking at Dawn "You should heed her advice. We can't force you to stay away from them and by all means, be friends with them...but be careful with Drew and Gary."

"Speaking of Drew" Dawn mumbled and looked at May "He's coming right now."

"Oh great." May rolled her eyes as the chartreuse-haired boy reached the table and sat down next to the brunette "What do you want?"

"Your forgiveness" he answered nonchalantly "I said I was sorry, now all you need to do is forgive me and everything will be perfect again."

"No." She answered simply and he stopped half-way through flipping his hair to stare at her in surprise.

"What?"

"I said 'No'. Since the day I met you, you've been nothing but a total jackass to me – why should I forgive you?"

"Because I said sorry?"

"A simple word is not going to make me forgive you."

"Well, I tried." He shrugged before turning to Dawn "I said sorry to her, so now will you forgive me and go out with me?"

"Sorry sweetie." The bluenette gave him a sarcastic smile "I'm not forgiving you until May does, and don't even delude yourself into thinking that I'm going to agree to go out with you." She rolled her eyes.

"What? Why?" he looked at her in both shock and insult.

"You're not my type." She shrugged before pulling out the apple from her bag. She looked at it once before mumbling to herself "I hope these are washed."

"How can you be so sure?" he sat down next to her "You hardly know me, just go out on one date with me. If you still don't think I'm your type, then fine, I won't bother you anymore."

"Not until May forgives you." She stated simply before giving the apple her approval and taking a bite from it. Drew then turned his head to May and gave her a pleading look, but before could utter a single word; she put her hand up in a 'stop' symbol.

"Don't even." She rolled her eyes at him "If you want my forgiveness, you're gonna have to work for it." The chartreuse-haired boy looked back and forth between May and Dawn before sighing in annoyance.

"Fine...what do I have to do?"

"You can figure that out on your own." She stated simply "Do whatever you want to try and make it up to me – if you want me to forgive you, that is."

"Alright, how about I carry your books for you for the rest of the day and walk you home?" May's eyes widened slightly as she realised something and Drew looked at her strangely "What?"

"I completely forgot! I have to stay back after school because I was late to class this morning" she turned to Dawn with an apologetic expression "I'm so sorry Dawn."

"Don't be" the bluenette smiled "It's my fault, how about I stay with you? Then we can walk home together."

"No, I couldn't make you stay back with me" May shook her head "That wouldn't be fair on you at all."

"Hey" Misty spoke as she came up with an idea "Maybe Ash can take her home? He lives like one street away from you." She looked at Dawn apologetically "I would take you, but I have swim practice."

"I live pretty close to May too" Drew intervened "I can walk Dawn home."

"Ash has his car, yours has gone for servicing." The brunette spoke in an obvious tone "Besides, I'm sure he would love to take Dawn home." a sly grin graced her lips as she thought of how he wanted to know about the bluenette – she was positive that he had a crush on Dawn.

"I don't want to put him through any inconvenience though" Dawn seemed unsure "I can walk by myself; it'll be good for me to get to know the route properly."

"Don't be silly, you can learn the route when you walk home with me tomorrow." May stood up and took Dawn's hand, pulling her up before gesturing for Misty to also stand up "We'll go talk to him now."

"But-"

"No 'buts'" Misty smiled "Ash won't mind at all, he's a sweet guy."

"Fine..." The bluenette sighed in defeat and allowed the two girls – plus Drew who trailed behind – to lead her towards the basketball court where Ash was playing a game with Gary, Paul and Barry.

"Hey Ash!" Misty cupped her hands around her mouth to help project her voice "Ash!" she called again and he turned around, calling a timeout to the others and jogging towards the four.

"What's up?" He questioned whole wiping some sweat off his forehead. Dawn noticed that he hadn't bothered to change out of his P.E uniform – none of the boys had.

"I have detention this afternoon" May began "And I don't want Dawn to walk home by herself, so I was hoping you could take her home?"

"Don't worry if you can't" Dawn cut in "I'll be fine on my own."

"Sure" he nodded and smiled "It'll be faster if I drive you anyway, just let me know what your last class is and where, I'll pick you up and drive you home."

"Are you sure? I mean, it's out of the way and I don't want to trouble you"

"Nah, May lives like one street away from me; it's not out of the way at all."

"Hey!" Gary called as he walked over "What's taking so long?"

"Nothing, May was just asking if I could take Dawn home after school" the raven-haired boy shrugged "She lives really close to me so I agreed."

"Why didn't you ask me?" he looked at the fellow brunette in surprise "I live close to you too"

"Ash lives closer" she replied simply "Plus, I trust him."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Oh come on, even you're not that stupid" Misty eyed the boy up and down before snorting "Actually, I take that back."

"What?" he squinted his eyes at her in confusion before he realised her meaning "Hey!" Dawn began to laugh and Gary smiled at her "I love your laugh, it's so melodic."

She immediately stopped laughing and blushed a light pink before hiding slightly behind May – who rolled her eyes.

"Wow Gary, you're such a charmer" she gave him a sarcastic smile "But you should stop – really."

"Hey, you can't blame me for speaking the truth." he shrugged nonchalantly before turning to Ash "Come on; let's get back to the game."

"Yeah" he nodded once – as the male brunette jogged back to the others – and then turned to Dawn "Just let me know what class you have last period and I'll pick you up from there, yeah?"

"Okay" the bluenette smiled and nodded "Thank you!"

"No problems" he smiled back before waving and running back to Paul, Barry and Gary.

"See, Dawn" May nudged her lightly and winked "I told you he wouldn't mind."

"That's really nice of him" she managed to stop from blushing as they walked back to their table and sat down. She pulled out her timetable from her bag and handed it to May "What do I have for fifth and sixth period?"

"We all have advanced maths" the brunette explained "The way it works with English and Maths, is that everyone who takes advanced maths, has it at the same time, and some of the people who take general maths have it the same time as advanced too, but the other half have it at a different time."

"But we're split up into classes and all have different teachers" Misty continued "As for English, whether you take standard or advanced, we all have English at the same time, but once again, we're split into classes with different teachers. Standard students learn different stuff to advanced though, and same with general maths and advanced maths."

"It sounds simple, and yet confusing at the same time." Dawn had a slightly puzzled expression "So, we all have maths next period? But we're in different classes?"

"Yes to the first" May nodded "We all have maths next, but you're in our class –luckily" she smiled "Maths is not a subject you want to be alone in."

"That's good" she sighed in relief "What do I have last?"

"You have art last" Misty stated as she looked over May's shoulder at the timetable "Unfortunately, May and I have Business Studies."

"Ugh, don't remind me" the brunette whined "I hate business; I can't believe my parents made me take it!"

"Hey, at least they didn't make you take economics, and they let you take Dance – mine didn't."

"Okay, I have to agree with you there" she chuckled "Economics sucks."

"Tell me about it."

"Do you know if any of the boys are in my class?" Dawn had a hopeful expression but both girls shrugged

"Paul has business studies with us" Misty stated "And I think Ash has biology or something – we don't really pay attention to the others."

"Yeah" May nodded "'Cause they're annoying and they suck."

"That's not very nice, you know." Misty and May turned around and Dawn looked up to see Barry – who had spoken –, Ash, Drew, Paul and Gary standing behind the brunette and redhead.

"It's not very nice to eavesdrop either." Misty countered as she stood up walked over to Paul "You should know better."

"We weren't technically eavesdropping" Drew defended "We came to ask what subject Dawn had last period so Ash knew where to pick her up from."

"Ash needs to know, so why are all of you here?" May raised an eyebrow before turning to the raven-haired boy "She has art last period in 'G two point fourteen'."

"Hey, that's my class!" A huge grin spread across Gary's face "Guess you have someone to keep you company now." He winked at the bluenette "And so will I."

"That's good" Dawn smiled and then looked at Ash "So you'll pick me up after class?"

"Yeah, the science rooms aren't that far from the art rooms and I have Biology, so it shouldn't take me more than a couple of minutes to get to you. Plus I need to pick up my animal model from there too." He gave her a smile and a nod, just as the bell rang for the end of lunch.

"That was quick." Drew mumbled as he looked at his watch "I didn't think forty-five minutes could go by this fast."

"Time flies when you're having fun." Misty stated as she, May and Dawn stood up. As soon as the female brunette picked up her back, the emerald-eyed boy took it from her.

"I'll carry your bag for you" he smiled "We have the same class anyway."

"There's no need" she attempted to take her bag back "I'm perfectly capable of carrying my own bag."

"Come on, just let me carry it for you" he tightened his grip "You told me to do whatever I could, to prove to you I was sorry." He pulled the bag and managed to get May to let go "Let's go, you know what Lucian's like, he hates it when people are late." The brunette looked at him strangely before nodding and following him towards their class.

"Are you guys in our maths class too?" Dawn asked the remaining boys as they all began to walk towards their classes. While Barry and Paul nodded, Gary and Ash shook their heads.

"Gary and I are next door" Ash explained "You're lucky you have Lucian, he hates it when people are late to class, but he's a really good teacher."

"Yeah" Gary nodded "We have this guy called Byron – he's so annoying." He rolled his eyes "All he ever talks about is himself and somehow manages to bring everything back to how he regrets the way he treated his son."

"Wow." The bluenette looked at them strangely "Does this mean you guys are failing that class?"

"I'm passing" Gary said proudly before looking at Ash "This little dumbass on the other hand, is failing."

"I am passing you dumbass!" he glared the brunette before looking at Dawn "Don't listen to him."

"Yeah, barely." The brunette continued to tease before turning to Dawn "The only subjects he's actually getting good marks in are P.E and English, and that's 'cause P.E is easy and Bertha favours him."

"She does not favour me!" Ash defended "She just hates you."

"She's just mad because she's too old to date me." Dawn burst out laughing at his response

"I don't think that's the reason" she managed between laughs "From what I saw this morning; she doesn't like your attitude."

"She's old" he shrugged "And stupid."

"That's mean" the bluenette scolded "She may be a little old, but she's not stupid. I really enjoyed her class this morning, actually."

"She always loves the new students" he answered simply "Especially when they're girls. She's a total sexist."

"Not really" Ash shook his head "She hates a lot of girls of in our class too, like Brianna. She spends almost every lesson telling her to shut up and stop trying to sniff Drew's hair." He chuckled lightly at the memory of Brianna sticking her nose in the back of Drew's head before taking a huge whiff.

Drew had been leaning back in his chair and Brianna was sitting behind him, when he felt the brunette's nose touch his head, he let out a yelp and fell forward, slamming onto his desk. The entire class had burst out laughing and Drew was feeling extremely violated and terrified as Bertha told off Brianna and forced her to move to a different seat. There were some very interesting moments in Ash and Gary's English class.

"Brianna's that obsessed with Drew?" Dawn had both eyebrows raised as she questioned the boys. When they both nodded, she held a look of disgust "That's so creepy" she shuddered "I almost feel sorry for him."

"He kind of brought it upon himself" Gary shrugged "He was nice to her when he shouldn't have been and now she's obsessed with him."

"So, he was supposed to be mean to her?" she raised an eyebrow and snorted

"Pretty much. She said 'hi' to him, and he turned to face her – I'm sure you can guess the rest."

"She's in love with him because he looked at her?" her voice was full of confusion and eyes holding disbelief as she tried to stop herself from laughing. "She's weird."

"She's more of a lunatic actually" Ash corrected as they finally reached their classrooms. "Your class is this one" he pointed to a classroom what was a few steps infront of them "Gary and I are in the one next door." He pointed to the room that was right beside it and glanced inside the bluenette's room "Wow, they all already went inside."

"Really?" Gary looked slightly surprised as he saw Misty, Paul, Barry, Drew and May already sitting inside as their teacher spoke. "Huh, you'd think they'd be nice enough to wait for Dawn." He then looked back at the girl and smiled "Don't worry, we'll take you inside."

"You don't have to" she shook her head "I can manage."

"You sure about that?" Ash looked at her, slightly unconvinced "Lucian's pretty cruel to people who are late – even when they're new."

"I'm a big girl" She winked at him flirtatiously "I can handle myself."

"I'd still feel more comfortable if we took you." He couldn't help the pink blush that rose to his cheeks and Gary nodded.

"You're already more than ten minutes late, Lucian's gonna throw a fit, might as well let us take you inside, you'll get in less trouble."

"Alright, let's go" she smiled and gave a single nod as the two boys led her inside the room. As soon as they entered, Lucian was leaning casually on the side of his desk in the far corner of the room with his arms crossed over his chest.

The man appeared to be in his late twenties to early thirties and was quite tall. He had the same purple hair as Paul, but it was slightly wavy as it came across his forehead in a side fringe and fell down to his shoulders. He was dressed in a maroon-coloured suit with a black, collar shirt underneath and a pair of black, business shoes on his feet. He wore a pair of glasses over his eyes and held a serious look upon his face.

"Nice of you to finally join us, instead of standing outside talking to these two." His voice was stern as he spoke to the bluenette "Late on your first day – I'm not impressed, young lady."

"I'm sorry sir!" she gave him an apologetic look "I got a little lost along the way and they were helping me." She gestured to the two boys behind her "When we got here they said you got angry at people who were late so they wanted to bring me in."

"I heard." He deadpanned before looking at Gary and Ash "You boys disrupted my class with your chatter outside. Both of you get to your class now or I'll give you detention for the next two weeks." He then turned to Dawn "As for you, considering you were brave enough to want to face me alone and it's your first day – I'll let you off with a warning this time. Don't be late to my class again, understood?" when she nodded he gestured to the back of the room "Go take a seat next to Barry and start copying the questions from the board."

"Yes sir." She nodded and quickly made her way next to Barry, before pulling out her books and pencil case so that she could take notes. Lucian turned back to the door and glared Gary and Ash.

"Why are you boys still here? I thought I told you to get to class." They gave him a quick nod and scrambled out of the room and next door to their own.

Dawn pulled out a blank book and wrote 'Maths' on the front before opening it and beginning to copy the notes from the board.

"Wow, you're really brave" the bluenette looked up to see Barry staring at her in admiration "Lucian is not easy to stand up to." He whispered in her ear and she smiled

"Thanks" she took a quick glance towards the front to see Lucian sitting at his desk. When she was certain that he was too engrossed by his book to look towards her, she turned back to the blonde "He does seem a little scary though" she kept her voice low "I'm glad I don't have to be in his class alone."

"Yeah" he nodded before giving her an apologetic look "I'm sorry you can't sit next to May though" he gestured to the brunette a few seats infront of them, and then to the chartreuse-haired boy next to her. "Drew usually sits with me and May is usually by herself or with Misty, if she's not sitting with Paul."

"Don't apologise" Dawn smiled as she wrote down the answers into her book "I don't mind sitting with you. You're good company" Barry immediately turned his head back to his book as his cheeks turned a light pink. "Are you okay?" the bluenette tried to get a better look at his now hidden face.

"I'm fine." He mumbled quietly "I just need to finish this before the end of the lesson or I'll get detention."

"You can copy my answers, if you want." she moved her book towards the blonde boy, being careful that the teacher didn't look up "I'm done with it."

"How did you finish so quickly?" Barry turned to her in amazement and Dawn simply chuckled before giving a shrug

"The maths here is so primitive"

"What?" he squinted his eyes at her in confusion and her own sapphire eyes widened at the realisation of her 'slip-up'.

"I-I mean..." she stuttered "I'm in the top class for math back home, so this is really easy for me." She pushed her book closer in his direction "You should probably write down the answers before the teacher looks up."

"Right, yeah." He nodded and quickly began to copy down the answers and working out into his book, before looking at the bluenette gratefully "Thanks"

"You're welcome"

The rest of the lesson passed in silence as Dawn scribbled on a piece of paper, while Barry copied the rest of her answers into his book. When the bell finally rang, Dawn grabbed her book and stuffed it into her bag before Lucian could see that Barry was looking at it, and then stood up from her seat as May walked towards her.

"Hey!" the brunette waved "I'm so sorry I didn't sit with you, but Drew just randomly came and sat down next to me and wouldn't move." She rolled her eyes "He's so adamant about me forgiving him. I wish he'd just get it through his thick head that I'm not going to."

"I'm still here, you know." Both girls looked up and saw Drew standing infront of them – looking slightly irritated "It's not nice to talk rudely of people behind their backs."

"It's also not nice to spend every waking moment of your life insulting an innocent girl for eight years, and then insisting she forgive you when you know you don't deserve it." May retorted and he grumbled before looking at Dawn, then to May, to Dawn again and then grabbing May's bag.

"Come on, I'll walk you to your next class – you're right next to mine."

"Oh my god" Dawn spoke while laughing "I can't believe he's this desperate for a date" she then turned to May "You should enjoy this while it lasts – make the most of it." she winked as Barry walked up to her.

"Hey Dawn, can we talk?"

"Sure" she smiled and nodded "I guess I'll see you when you get home then, May." the bluenette waved to her brunette best friend and then to Misty before following Barry outside – completely oblivious to the smirks she was receiving from the two.

"Okay, if he asks her out – I won't object." Misty stated as she, Paul, May and Drew exited the classroom

"Why would Barry ask her out?" Drew raised an eyebrow and the brunette slapped across the back of his head

"Because he likes her – duh!"

"He's not allowed to 'like her'" he growled angrily "I like her."

"Get bent you loser." All three figures turned to see Gary – who had spoken – and Ash behind them "I like her, and she likes me – you can't like her."

"Just because you kissed her, doesn't mean that she likes you." The chartreuse-haired boy stated simply "She's promised to go on a date with me, if May forgives me – that clearly means she likes me."

"She didn't technically promise." May raised an eyebrow before turning to Ash "Aren't you going to say anything about this?"

"No, why?" he gave her a confused expression and the female brunette rolled her eyes

"Because!" she spoke as if it was obvious "You have a crush on her too."

"What?!" his cheeks turned a bright red as he noticed Gary and Drew turn their glares on him "I do not!"

"Sure you don't." Paul snorted before looking at the others "I can't believe you're fighting over a girl. Moreover, a girl that doesn't even want any of you." Misty nodded as she leaned closer to Paul so he could wrap his arms around her.

"Don't hold your breath with her, she already told us that she doesn't want a boyfriend right now."

"Yes, but she hasn't experienced the full charm of 'The Great Gary Oak'" Gary gestured to himself and smirked "And I have a whole one hour period to spend with her."

"Barry just kissed her." Ash stated

"He did what?!" Gary almost screamed as he and the others all turned to see Barry remove his lips from Dawn's cheek and then run off in the direction of his class. "Oh he is so gonna get it from me!"

"Why are you getting so worked up?" May looked at him in confusion "I thought Dawn told you she didn't want to get into a relationship with you."

"No." Gary replied curtly as he relaxed "She said to me that she wasn't up for relationship 'right now'. So that means, eventually she will want to get into a relationship and I want to make sure that when she does – I'm her first choice." He winked before walking over towards the bluenette who currently had a stunned expression and a hand on one of her red, tinted cheeks – the one Barry had kissed.


"What did you want to talk about?" Dawn questioned as she and Barry stood out of the way of everyone else that made their way to their last period class "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no, not at all" the blonde boy put his hands infront of him and shook his head hastily "I was just wondering how you were liking Pallet Town so far?"

"It's great, I'm really loving it here" she smiled, but then looked at him curiously "why do you ask?"

"Oh you know..." he tried to act casual "Just curious. After all, I'm from Sinnoh too, so I wanted to know how you were comparing the two."

"Well, this is a very big change" that was true "And I am missing Sinnoh quite a lot" that was a lie "Solaceon Town will always be my home."

"I thought you said you were from Twinleaf Town?" he raised an eyebrow at her and she mentally cursed her forgetfulness

"I-I am" the bluenette tried to cover up her mistake "I am from Twinleaf Town, but like I said, I'm originally from Solaceon Town – so it will always be home." She chuckled nervously

"Okay..." it was obvious he wasn't convinced, but he didn't want to argue with her – she'd never like him if he did.

"Anyway, I should really get to class, I need to introduce myself to teacher and stuff." She turned to move but before she could, he grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to him.

"Wait, I need to give you something first."

"Wha-" before she could finish the whole word, Barry leaned forward and pressed his lips to her cheek for a brief second before pulling away and giving her a quick wave as he ran off in the direction of his class.

A deep blush crept onto her cheeks as she brought a hand to the cheek Barry had just kissed. She was completely shocked at what the boy had just done. Did Barry have a crush on her too? The bluenette sighed at the thought. How many more boys were going to start crushing on her? It wasn't fair on both them and her. She clearly couldn't date them, and she couldn't tell them why either – for obvious reasons.

Before she could allow any more thoughts to run through her head, Gary appeared infront of her with a smile on his face.

"Hey, you ready to go to art?" his voice was sincere and it made her wonder if he had seen Barry kiss her. "If you wanna skip, it's fine. I can take you home early if you want?"

"No." she shook her head and recomposed herself "I'm fine, just a little surprised – but I'm okay now, I shouldn't be skipping class on my first day. It won't bode well for me with my mother when I get back home."

"Alright" he nodded and held out his hand for her "We're already pretty late, but the art rooms are only a short walk from here."

"Won't we get in trouble?" she accepted his hand and allowed him to lead her towards their room "If we're so late, won't the teacher get mad?" he shook his head

"Whitney is a student teacher – she's barely older than us" he chuckled lightly "You don't need to be afraid of every single teacher here, only a few."

"Thanks for the heads up." she joined him in laughter as they walked inside a large hallway that opened out into a series of different rooms. Once they reached the second-to-last room, Gary knocked on the door and all the students looked up from their work, making Dawn suddenly feel very self-conscious.

"Ooh awesome!" both figures turned to see a pink-haired woman, who couldn't be older than twenty-three, walk towards them "The new girl's in my class!" her voice held excitement as she took Dawn's hand and pulled her inside, closely followed by Gary.

"Whitney, this is Dawn." he explained and she nodded

"I know" she nodded "You're an exchange student from Sinnoh for two months."

"Who did we exchange for her?" A black haired boy, wearing a white beanie – who Dawn recognised from her P.E class – asked dreamily as he stared at the bluenette "Can they stay there, and let her stay here?"

"Stop acting like a total love-struck loser, Brendan." Whitney snorted before turning back to Dawn and smiling "Don't worry about these boys, when I first came here last year, they were all hitting on me too. It'll die down after few days."

"I hope so." Dawn groaned. She just wanted to spend a peaceful two months here learning about the ways of humans and life on earth. She didn't want to be hit on by every single boy that saw her – so far only Paul hadn't hit on her, but he was dating Misty, so that was obviously why. Regardless, she was grateful.

"So, Dawn." She was brought out of her thoughts by Whitney "We're working on clay models of animals. We'll only be working on them until next week though, so you can try and make something if you want? It doesn't have to be very big, just some kind of animal."

"Is every art class making animals?" she questioned, remembering how Ash had told her that he was also making an animal.

"Yep" the pink-haired woman nodded "There are only four twelfth grade art classes and we all do the same thing."

"Sounds fun!" she scanned the room to see what other people were making so that she could decide what to make. The animals here were also quite different to the ones in Lynphea and if it wasn't for her kiss with Gary – she wouldn't have had a clue. "I think I'll make a penguin."

"Nice choice" Whitney nodded and gestured to a table with two empty seats at the back "You can go sit with Gary over there; I'll get you your supplies and then you can get started." The bluenette nodded and walked over to the back of the room and took an empty seat while Gary went and got his model from one of the tables in the far corner.

"So, what are you making?" she asked as he took a bag off from over it and sprayed it with some water "It looks interesting."

"It was supposed to be a dog for my sister" he explained "But then a week ago she told me she wanted a fox instead – so I had to change it and now it looks kinda like a mix." He shrugged "I don't really care, I just need to pass."

"It's really sweet of you to make something for your sister." she smiled while studying the medium-sized clay model "This is just a suggestion, but I think it would look good if you painted it black and put yellow rings on it – Ooh and make its eyes red!" Gary looked at her strangely before looking back at his model.

"Alright" Both of them snapped their heads forward as Whitney appeared "Here's your stuff" She set down a wooden board with a large clump of clay on it, a blunt knife, a strip of wire, a paddle-pop stick, a wooden skewer, a spray bottle filled with water and a plastic bag infront of her. "Use the wire to cut through the clay, the knife and paddle-pop stick will help you with shaping and the skewer is for adding detail – you probably won't need that today, but just incase." She then gestured to Gary "And you can use it to keep him off too."

"Hey!" The brunette glared and both girls laughed before Whitney walked back to her desk. "She's crazy." He looked at Dawn and brought a finger to his temple, moving it in circular motions to emphasise "You have nothing to worry about."

"We'll see." She winked at him before picking up the wire and cutting out a large chunk of clay "I think your animal looks really cute, by the way." She didn't bother facing him as she flattened out the clay till it was about one centimetre in thickness and was long enough to create a body. She lifted it up on its side and created a hollow circle – that was open at the top –, joining it at the ends and smoothening it together till the lines had disappeared.

"Well, that's not exactly what I was aiming for." He sweat-dropped "I kind of wanted it to look badass."

"Would your sister like something that's badass?" she turned to him with a curious expression

"Good point." Gary shrugged "I guess it's fine as cute, then." He continued to rub the water he had sprayed carefully over the model's head so that the clay would soften out. The brunette then took two small pieces of clay, used a skewer to cut out a shape and then carefully stuck them onto either side of its head, smoothening out the edges until they were attached to it as eyes.

"Wow" Dawn admired his skills "I had no idea you were so good at art." His artwork honestly did look like a mix between a dog and a fox, but it didn't look strange at all. Its body was sleek, like a fox and its face was like a dog, with two, thick, bushy ears atop its head. It had a bushy tail that was exactly like its ears, but slightly thicker.

"Thanks" he chuckled "This, and sport are probably the only things that I really good at." He shrugged "I still pass everything else, but never really any higher than a 'C-plus'...or on occasion, a 'B'."

"Well, you're model is coming along great and I'm sure your sister is going to love it." she gave give a warm smile before flattening out another piece of clay – slightly smaller than the first – and leaving the bottom open. She placed it on top of the body and smoothened it at the edges until it was stuck together completely.

"Yours is looking pretty awesome too." He stated "Damn girl, you work fast."

"Penguins aren't that hard to make." she shrugged "He's going to be a chubby-bubby." she giggled and gestured to its body before pulling out a small piece of clay with the wire and rolling it into a small, hollow cone shape. The bluenette put the cone in the middle of its head, moulding it together at the edges and then took the skewer to draw a line halfway through the cone to create a beak.

"He does look kind of chubby." Gary chuckled before looking at her curiously "What were you saying about putting rings on my dog-fox-thing?" he looked back at his model, studying it intently "I want to give it some detail, I think the rings might be a good idea."

"You should put one on its head, and one on each ear and its tail and legs too!" there was excitement in her voice and he could tell that she wanted to do it herself. He handed her the toothpick in his hands and gestured to his model.

"Knock yourself out."

"Yay!" Dawn squealed, but managed to keep her voice down; she didn't want to give the other boys in the class an excuse to stare at her. She could already tell that pretty much all of the girls in this class hated her – infact most of the girls in the whole grade hated her. She drew a long, ring on the model's head before drawing a smaller one inside. She moved then to its right ear and drew the same two rings around it, before doing the same to the left ear.

Honestly, Dawn was really annoyed. Why couldn't they just take a hint? She didn't like them and she was sure she'd made it clear. So far, almost every boy she'd met had either made it clear they were crushing on her or had flirted with her. Drew flirted with her, Gary flirted with her, Barry made it obvious he had a crush on her – so did Lucas, and now Brendan who she hadn't even talked to made it obvious he liked her. Ash...she wasn't too sure about. He'd called her beautiful – not hot. He wasn't really flirting, was he?

The bluenette looked back at the model and realised that she had drawn in the detail for both eyes without even realising. She looked back and Gary sheepishly

"I'm sorry, I didn't even realise that I'd drawn in the eyes too. If you want to change it, I'll rub it out for you."

"Nah, it's cool" The brunette smiled "I like it." he then gestured to her model "I put in the hands and legs for your penguin, is it okay?"

"It's perfect, Thank-you!" she smiled widely as the bell rang. "That was so quick!" She pouted "I was having fun."

"We have Art third period tomorrow." Gary smiled "Continue it then." He then picked up his board with his model and carefully took it to the back table so it could dry "Mine's done, I just need to dry it out so I can paint it."

"I think that I might be able to finish mine either tomorrow or the lesson after that." Dawn spoke as she covered her penguin with a plastic bag and then picked up her board to follow Gary to the table, setting her work with all of the other unfinished works.

Once they had both washed their hands, they picked up their bags and walked out of the classroom to wait at the door. Within minutes, Ash appeared and Gary waved 'good-bye' before disappearing inside the crowd of students, all in a rush to get home.

"Hey!" Dawn waved at the raven-haired boy "Are you going to get your mouse now?"

"Yeah" he nodded "I'll be back in a second." He disappeared down the end of the hall, into a dimly lit room, but returned after a few minutes with a small, yellow item in his hands. Once he returned to the girl, he held it up towards her "This" he began "Is my retarded mouse." He chuckled once before pulling off a small paper taped to it "C-plus." He shrugged before throwing the paper in the bin nearby "Good enough."

"Aww!" Dawn cooed "It's so cute!"

Ash's animal was a short, chubby-looking thing that vaguely resembled a mouse. It had long ears that came to a point with a black tip and black, beady eyes. Its tiny mouth resembled a side-ways three and on either cheek, was a small, red circle. It had a small, chubby body with two short hands with five, stubby fingertips and its feet had only three toes. Its tail was in the zigzag shape of a lightning bolt. The animal was covered head-to-toe in a bright yellow that had become glossy due to the glaze, but it had two, brown stripes on its back and the bottom of its tail was also the same brown.

"Yeah." Ash chuckled as they began to walk out of the building "I think that's only reason I managed to get a C. Otherwise, I probably would've failed."

"Do you have Whitney as your teacher as well?"

"I wish" he snorted "Barry, Drew and I have Erika. She's nice and pretty laid-back about most things, but when it comes to marking artwork – she's stricter than anyone could ever imagine."

"Wow, that sucks." She gave him a look of sympathy "It's too bad that you're not in mine and Gary's class – Whitney is really nice."

"You're lucky, so far you've gotten all awesome teachers." He looked at her in envy "Bertha, Fantina, Crasher, Lucian and now Whitney." Before she could respond, Ash quickly shoved his 'animal' in her arms. "Until we get to the car – this is yours...not mine."

"Huh?" The bluenette looked at him curiously before laughing in realisation "Are people really going to make fun of you for making this cute little animal-thing in art?"

"Yes." He answered instantly with a single nod as they walked down a single flight of stairs and then turned right until a car park came into view.

"Nice car." Dawn commented when the lights flashed on a silver Mercedes Benz as he pressed the button on his keys to unlock it. He pressed the button once more and the passenger's seat and back seats also unlocked, allowing her to enter the car.

"Thanks." He smiled as he opened the driver's seat and pulled two white, square magnets with a red 'P' sign on them, before sticking them on both the front and back of the car. He walked back to his seat and sat down, closing it and putting on his seatbelt before inserting the key and turning on the car. "It was a present from my mum after I passed my driver's test." He explained "When I got my learners, I did all my hours pretty quickly and then got my red provisional license in my first try so she gave it me as a congratulations gift."

"Do the others have their licenses too?" she asked as they pulled out of the parking lot and towards the exit.

"If you mean the guys – yeah." He nodded, making sure to keep his eyes infront of him so that he didn't hit and students that were leaving. "We did pretty much all our driving together...Drew and Gary exaggerated a little in their log books about how much they drove, though." He chuckled as he remembered seeing the two write down how they drove from Pallet Town, all the way to Saffron City and back. "So, they got their licenses a bit earlier than Paul and I."

"That sounds like them." Dawn giggled; continuing to hold the model in her arms, protecting it from falling and breaking. Before either of them could continue their conversation, Ash's phone began to vibrate from where he had placed it in the drink holder.

"Who is it?" he questioned and Dawn picked up the phone, checking the caller ID

"It's your mother."

"Can you answer it for me?" he gave her a pleading look "If I don't pick up, she's going to think that I've been kidnapped or something."

"Okay" she nodded and slid her finger across the screen before bringing the phone to her ear to answer the call. "Hello?" after a short muffling on the other end, she shook her head "No, no – this is Ash's phone; he's just busy right now, so he asked me to answer for him." She blushed a deep red at the woman's next words "No! I-it's nothing like that! H-he's driving – he can't answer the phone because he's driving!"

"What did she say?" Ash groaned irritably when he saw the girl's expression "Put it on speaker." She didn't reply, she simply nodded and pressed the 'speaker' button so that Ash could hear his mother. "What's wrong mum?" he rolled his eyes, even though he knew she couldn't see.

"Ash Ketchum, who is that girl in your car?!"

"Relax, mum." He groaned at his mother's interrogative tone "She's just a friend. I'm dropping her home because May has detention – that's it."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Ash..." there was a warning tone in her voice and the boy sighed in annoyance

"Fine...Pinky promise."

Dawn held back a giggle. It was so cute how he and his mother had a special way of making promises. Ash gave her a playful glare and she instantly stopped grinning

"Alright" his mother's voice instantly became happy "You can drop her off, but you have to come home first. We have visitors coming soon and I need you to change one of the light bulbs on the chandelier – you know I can't reach it."

"It's daytime...how does it matter? I'll fix it later." He had an eyebrow raised as they reached a red light.

"Yes, but they'll be here until the evening and I don't want you to change it infront of them. It's looks so embarrassing!"

"Who's coming over anyway?"

"Your cousin Buck and his family."

"Why?!" Ash threw his head back against the headrest and groaned "I hate him! You know that! Why would you invite them? Aren't they in Sinnoh?"

"Don't use that tone with me, young man." His mother scolded and Dawn stared at the boy in confusion "They've come to Kanto for a visit and that means I have to invite them. You may not get along with Buck, but don't forget that his father is my brother."

"Whatever." He grumbled "Fine, I'll be home soon." He gestured for Dawn to hang up and she obeyed before placing the phone back in the drink holder. "You don't mind if we take a little detour to my house, do you?"

"Not at all." She smiled and shook her head before looking at him curiously "You don't get along with your cousin?" he gave a stiff nod. "I'm sorry for prying, but why not?"

"Buck used to live in Pallet Town too and we were actually really close." He began "But then when I turned four, I met Gary and we became best friends. Buck started getting the impression that I was completely ignoring him for Gary and ever since, he's hated me. When I turned ten, he and his family moved to Sinnoh and I hardly see him anymore – but every time I do, he always starts some kind of argument and I always want to strangle him, but I can't." He grumbled before mimicking his mother's voice "Because 'it is bad hospitality to strangle our guests.'"

Dawn giggled at his imitation and then gave him a look of sympathy "I wish I could relate, but I don't have any cousins, my father was an only child, and so is my mother. I have a sister – but we never fight. Sometimes we have small disagreements, but it never gets out of hand." The car continued to move at a snail's pace through the after-school traffic so she put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "But if he really makes you that mad, maybe you should invite a friend over so that you won't have to deal with him alone?"

"That's not a bad idea." He smiled at her "Why don't you stay?"

"Huh?" the bluenette looked at him in surprise "Me? Why not Gary?"

"Because, when Gary came last time, Buck left with a broken arm and I got grounded for six months. Gary got grounded too by his parents – but only for a week." He grumbled before looking at her with pleading eyes "You're coming to my house right now anyway; you might as well stay for dinner. I'll call May and let her know, then you can help me deal with him. If you're there, he'll be too interested in you to even think of pissing me off."

"Um..." she gave him an unsure look "I guess it would be okay...Will your mother mind?"

"Awesome!" he punched one hand into the air, but then put it back on the steering wheel as they finally escaped the traffic. "She won't mind at all."

"How long will I be staying for?"

"Probably till about eight at the latest. Don't worry" he smiled "I can drop you back around seven if you want – I can handle that jerk for an hour or two."

"Thanks" she smiled but he shook his head

"No, thank you. You are seriously doing me the biggest favour in the world!"

"You're welcome."

There was silence after that as Ash pulled into his street and up into his driveway. He parked the car and they both exited, walking towards the house as Ash searched through his keychain for his house keys. Once he had found them, he opened the door and walked inside, gesturing for Dawn to follow him. She nodded and slipped off her shoes and socks before following him towards the kitchen to see Ash's mother inside, pulling a batch of cookies out of the oven.

"Yum!" he ran inside and reached out to grab one, only to have his hand smacked away by the brunette woman. "Ow..." he brought his hand close to his lips, pouting at his mother.

"Not yet." She scolded "Wait until your cousin gets here, then you can eat them." the woman then looked passed him to see Dawn standing there, looking slightly nervous. She smiled at the bluenette and pushed Ash aside to walk towards her "You must be the girl that Ash was supposed to drive home. I'm sorry he couldn't take you straight home."

"Oh no, it's fine" she smiled "I'm Dawn; it's nice to meet you, Mrs Ketchum."

"Please, call me Delia." the brunette corrected before appearing to be in thought. Something about this felt like Déjà vu. She shrugged it off and turned back to Ash "There are some spare light bulbs in the garage, go get one and change the broken light – they'll be here soon."

"Ehh..." he groaned and nodded before trudging out of the kitchen and towards the garage. Delia rolled her eyes at her son's attitude and looked back at Dawn.

"I hope he wasn't like this at school too."

"Not at all" the bluenette shook her head and smiled "Your son's very sweet; he looked after me a lot today."

"Is this your first time in Kanto?" she looked at the girl strangely "Have you been here before?"

"I came once when I was really young, but I was only here for like, a day." Dawn shrugged "I've actually come back on an exchange for two months. It's part of a project I'm doing for school." there was nothing wrong with telling this part "I get to visit a different region for two months and study the differences of it from my own."

"It sounds like a lot of fun." Delia picked up a few cookies and set them on a plate before handing them to Dawn "Here, you can head on up to Ash's room with these; I'll send him up when he's done fixing the light."

"Alright, thank you" she began to turn around, but stopped abruptly and looked back at the brunette woman "Uh, where-"

"Upstairs, down the hall and second door on the right." she smiled, knowing what the girl was going to ask "There should be a big sign with his name on it."

"Thank-you!" the bluenette smiled and nodded before heading towards the stairs and up to Ash's room.

Once she disappeared from sight, Delia quickly walked over to where Ash was busy trying to screw in the new light bulb. The raven-haired boy carefully placed the small, broken orb in his pocket and start putting the new one in place as she arrived.

"Ash, I need to talk to you about Dawn."

"What about her?" he turned his vision from the chandelier and towards her "We didn't do anything, if that's what you're wondering."

"It's not that – although you better be telling the truth." When she saw her son's face, she returned to the original topic "I think she's the little girl you brought home all those years ago on Halloween."

"Not that again." He rolled his eyes and looked back at the chandelier, carefully screwing the bulb into place "I never met a little girl on Halloween. I don't know what you're talking about."

"You were young, so you probably don't remember." She explained to her son "But I do. When you were six, you brought home a little girl that thought she was a real fairy." Ash dusted his hands as the bulb was fixed into place "She said her name was Dawn and she had blue hair and sapphire eyes just like this girl does."

"You're kidding right?" he snorted "When I was six, I hated girls – why would I bring one home?"

"You got over your hatred of girls when you were five. You just pretended not to like them because Gary still hated them." The woman put her hands on her hips "She told me she came here once when she was really young and hardly stayed for a day before leaving. I'm telling you she's the same girl."

That was partly true. He'd gotten over his hatred of girls when he was only five because he'd spent every moment of his life that he could remember with a girl. His father had walked out on him and his mother when he was only a year old, so he'd gotten used to being only around a girl. Regardless, his mother was being silly right now.

"Okay...let's pretend that I did bring some girl home who was under the deluded impression that she was a real 'fairy'." He put up quotation marks for emphasis "Why is it such a big deal? I may have met her when I was six, she disappeared, I met her again now – so what?"

"You should talk to her about it." she responded as if it was obvious "Maybe she'll remember you too?"

"And when she tells me she isn't the girl, because I never met one, I'll be completely embarrassed because she'll laugh at me and think I'm weird!"

"She won't laugh at you and think you're weird." Delia rolled her eyes "She doesn't seem like that type at all."

"Whatever." Ash grumbled before pulling the broken light bulb out of his pocket and handing it to his mother "I fixed the light, where's Dawn?"

"She's in your room – I hope it's clean."

"Of course it's not clean!" The raven-haired boy looked at her incredulously "The guys came over on Saturday, how could it be clean?!" he slapped a hand to his forehead and slowly slid it down his face before running towards the stairs and up to his room.

"Make sure you keep that door open!" Delia called behind him but at the pace he had disappeared, she doubted he had heard her.

She sighed and shook her head before walking back to the kitchen so she could continue preparing food before her brother and his family arrived.

Dawn walked down the hallway with the plate of cookies in hand. Once she reached the second door on the right – as Delia has stated – there was a large sign saying 'ASH'S ROOM – KEEP OUT' and she couldn't help but giggle at the messy scrawl it was written in. He'd probably made this sign when he was really young and couldn't be bothered to change it.

She shifted the plate into one hand and opened the door to reveal a room littered with clothes, papers, books, pens and many more things. The bed was unmade with the blanket half on the floor and the few clothes that weren't on the floor were sticking out of his wardrobe in the corner.

"Wow..." The bluenette was stunned at the mess "I didn't think Ash was this untidy." She shook her head and walked inside, placing the cookies on Ash's study table before putting her hands on her hips and studying the room once more. "I think this room needs a little makeover."

She lifted her hands and a wave of sparkles emitted from them before moving around the entire room. The dirty clothes on the ground lifted up and floated towards his bathroom before placing themselves in the washing basket and the clothes in the wardrobe folded themselves so that the drawers could close. All of the different pencils and pens also lifted up and arranged themselves inside the pencil cup on Ash's study table, while the papers stacked themselves on the other side of the table. The books closed and flew over to the bookcase, neatly placing themselves inside.

After about five minutes, Ash's room was almost spotless. Just as Dawn was about to point to the boy's bed, she heard the quick pounding of footsteps becoming louder. She brought down her finger and walked over to his bed so that she could make it by hand.

"Dawn! I'm so sorry for the me-" Ash cut himself off when he saw the tidiness of his room "What happened?" Dawn fluffed up his pillow and then turned to face him with a smile.

"I decided to clean your room a little." She explained "You were downstairs and I had nothing else to do."

"But it was such a big mess" he looked at her confused "How did you fix it up in just a few minutes?"

"It wasn't that bad." The bluenette shrugged "There were just a couple of clothes, stationery and books on the floor – it didn't take very long to clean." She then picked up the plate from the study table and handed it to him "Cookie?"

"You managed to steal some cookies from my mum!" the boy instantly forgot what he was talking about and grabbed a cookie from the plate to stuff into his mouth.

"Actually" Dawn chuckled "Your mother gave them to me." Ash stopped chewing and looked at her in surprise. He swallowed quickly

"She gave them to you? My mum never gives me cookies when they're made for an occasion – I always have to nag her for some."

"I guess she just likes me, then." She shrugged before changing the topic "So, what does Buck look like?"

"Do we have to talk about him?" The raven-haired boy groaned as he took another cookie before sitting down on his now, fully-made bed. He slipped off his shoes and threw them in the corner.

"Well, if I'm going to spend the next few hours with both of you, I might as well know what to expect." She responded simply before also picking up a cookie. Unlike Ash, however – who gobbled his up in seconds – she only took small bites. Ash's mother made delicious cookies, the chocolate chips practically melted in her mouth.

"He's a year older than me, but we're about the same height." Ash began "He has bright red eyes and the same coloured hair which he ties into a high ponytail" he then snorted "But he's got this bright yellow streak in it. He thinks it makes him look cool."

"A bright yellow streak in bright red hair?" Dawn raised an eyebrow "It's not natural is it?" when he shook his head she gave him a puzzled look "That's strange."

"Yeah, well, he's a strange guy." He then sighed and lay back on his bed "Anyway, that's about it, I already told you his personality – a complete dickwad."

Dawn started giggling uncontrollably at this and it sent a pleasant shiver down Ash's spine. Why was it that every single time she giggled, he felt like this? It wasn't even just him. Gary – the guy who had practically every girl wanting him – was head-over-heels for her. It was the same with Drew. He really wanted to go on a date with her and he was willing to do anything to make that happen – even convince May to forgive him. When Barry had a crush on a girl, he never made it so obvious as to grab her and kiss her cheek in public. There was something different about Dawn, something strange, something-

Ding-Dong

Ash was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of the doorbell from downstairs – the jerk was here. He looked at Dawn sadly and threw his head back in frustration before standing up and holding out his hand for her. She accepted and stood up, before patting his shoulder.

"Don't worry, just a few hours." she smiled "And I'm here to help you through it, remember?"

"Y-yeah." He gave a quick nod. Gary was right – her skin was like touching a cloud. Why was she so different to every other girl around here? He shook his head and led her to the top of the staircase, where his mother was in view – walking towards the door. "Mum!" he called just before she reached.

"What's wrong honey?" The brunette woman removed her hand from the doorknob and turned to face her son.

"You don't mind if Dawn stays for dinner, do you?"

"Of course not" she smiled at the bluenette "You're welcome to stay here for as long as you like, Dawn."

"Thank-you, Mrs. Ketchum." The bluenette gave her a grateful look and she nodded before turning back to the door.

"Prepare to meet the devil." Ash whispered into Dawn's ear and she giggled quietly before nudging him lightly

"I'm sure he's not that bad."

"I'm sure you'll be proven wrong as soon as you meet him." Dawn didn't respond as Delia opened the door to reveal a brunette man, a red-haired woman and a red-haired teenager with a yellow streak in his hair.

"Bill, Diana! So good to see you two again!" Delia exclaimed as she opened her arms to hug them both. She then turned to the teenager and smiled "And look at you, Buck. You're growing taller and more handsome every time I see you." Ash snorted and Dawn nudged him a little harder this time.

"Well I am getting older, but I don't think it's possible for me to get any more handsome than I already am." Buck stated as if it were obvious and the three adults sweat-dropped while Ash rolled his eyes and Dawn raised an eyebrow. Wow, he was more stuck up than Drew.

"Why don't you all come inside?" Delia moved to one side and the three entered the Ketchum household, before walking towards the living room and taking a seat on the sofa.

"Come on." Dawn whispered and pulled his arm, gesturing for him to go and greet them.

"Can't we just wait up here till they leave?" he whined but she shook her head

"It's rude. Besides, they might get the wrong idea if we don't even bother to come down and meet them."

"What idea?" he looked at her curiously and she sighed at his denseness

"Just forget it, Ash. Let's go." She pulled him harder and he reluctantly agreed, following her down the stairs and towards the living room. As soon as they arrived, all four heads turned to face them and then three moved specifically to Dawn.

"Hey Uncle Bill, Hi Aunt Diana" Ash smiled and they waved back, commenting on how much bigger he'd grown and how handsome he was – much like Delia had done with Buck. He then looked at his red-headed cousin and spoke through gritted teeth "Buck."

"Ash." He replied curtly before turning to Dawn and eyeing her up and down with a sly grin "Who's your friend?"

"This is Dawn." He gestured to the bluenette "She's here on an exchange from Sinnoh for two months." he explained "I asked her to join us tonight for dinner tonight – you don't mind, right?" Bill and Diana shook their heads and smiled while Buck continued to stare and her.

"Not at all."

"Why don't you three go upstairs?" Delia suggested "That way Dawn can get to know Buck better while we catch up." she gestured to herself and Buck's parents.

"Fine." Ash sighed and took Dawn's hand before looking at Buck "Let's go...dickwad." he muttered the last word under his breath but loud enough for the bluenette to hear and she covered her mouth with her hand to stop laughing.

He smiled at her and led her up the stairs with Buck following close behind until they reached his room. Dawn sat down on the bed and just as Ash was about to sit next to her, Buck quickly took his place. Ash growled quietly and brought the wheelie chair from his study table forward to sit on that instead.

"So, Dawn, you're from Sinnoh too?" the red-head boy questioned while leaning forward slightly towards her

"Yeah, I'm from Twinleaf Town." She nodded uncomfortably and leaned further away from him

"That sucks." He sounded disappointed "I live all the way up near Snowpoint City – we're so far away from each other." He put his hand on top of hers and shuffled closer

"Eheh...yeah" she sweat-dropped nervously and turned to Ash, eyes pleading for help

"Hey, Buck!" The raven-haired boy cut in while swinging his chair from side-to-side "How are you going in school?" he then turned to Dawn "This guy's such a dimwit." He chuckled "He fails everything but History."

"Actually" he moved away from the bluenette and glared at Ash "I'm passing everything now, and I'm acing History." He then looked back at Dawn "I wanna be an archaeologist when I'm older – pretty awesome right?"

"Wow" she responded, trying her best to be interested "Sounds fun."

"Yup." He said proudly before turning to Ash and smirking "What about you? If I remember correctly – you fail everything."

"Actually, I'm passing everything too." The raven-haired boy lied. Letting that douche know that he was failing a few classes would just be digging his own grave.

"Somehow, I find that very hard to believe." He snorted "Do you get fifty percent on every subject?"

"That's not very nice." Dawn looked at the red-headed boy irritably before standing up and walking towards Ash "I'm in some of Ash's classes, and he's actually doing really well in them."

"It's not nice for him to call me a dimwit either." Buck barely managed to stop himself from growling at the girl

"He was only joking." She stated simply before looking at him "Right, Ash?"

"Of course." He nodded innocently "I would never insult you intentionally." The bluenette smiled at him before looking back at the ruby-eyed boy

"See, he didn't mean it."

"Sure he didn't." He rolled his eyes but decided to change the topic "So, are you liking Kanto better than Sinnoh?"

"I'm not sure yet." Dawn shrugged "I just came on Saturday night, so I've only really been here two whole days. I am loving it here though."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Despite that Buck was out of range to touch her, she continued to lean closer to Ash for protection. He noticed this and instantly stood up.

"Dawn, why don't you sit here?" he gestured to his wheelie chair "You shouldn't stand – your legs will get tired."

"Or you can sit on the bed next to me." Buck offered, but the bluenette shook her head quickly before taking Ash's seat

"I'm good here, I like wheelie chairs." She spun it around for emphasis "See, they're so much fun!"

"Uh-huh." he nodded, clearly not believing her as Ash took Dawn's spot on his bed

"Anyway" Ash began as he turned to his cousin "Why the sudden visit to Pallet Town?"

"My dad has some business in Viridian City so he decided to visit Aunt Delia on the way." The red-head shrugged "I wanted to stay back in Sinnoh, but he wouldn't let me." He rolled his eyes before looking at Dawn with a devilish grin "Although, now I'm glad I came along."

"That's nice." Dawn let out a nervous laugh and slowly pushed the chair further away from him.

"How come you didn't invite Gary this time? I was so looking forward to seeing him again." Buck questioned the raven-haired boy with sarcasm evident in his voice.

"Do you want another broken arm?" Ash pulled his phone out of his pocket "Because I am more than happy to call and ask him to give you one." He then turned to Dawn "You should watch those two fight, it's one of the most hilarious and entertaining things in the world."

"Speaking of 'calling people'" Dawn didn't bother to comment on the fighting "You need to call May and let her know I'm staying here. She's probably on her way home right now."

"Crap! I forgot about calling her." He bit his tongue and stood up "I'll be back." with that, he exited his room while dialling May's number into his phone, leaving Buck and Dawn alone.

"Why don't you sit over here?" the ruby-eyed boy patted the space next to him and Dawn shook her head.

"No, I'm fine right here." She spun around in the chair again "Whee! I love this chair!"

"What are you so afraid of?" he stood up and walked towards her "I don't bite." He stroked her cheek and she shuddered uncomfortably "When you go back to Sinnoh, you should call me" he whispered in her ear "Maybe we can get together." He moved away from her and winked

"I don't think that's possible." She tried her best to control the incredible urge she had to break his nose "Like you said, we live so far away from each other." The bluenette was actually very grateful he had shared that piece of information with her. Honestly, she had no idea what the geography of Sinnoh was like.

"I'd still go out of my way for you."

"How nice of you." It was at that moment, Ash returned and Buck quickly sat back down on the bed. She seriously wanted to grab the boy and hug him, the bluenette was on the verge of using her powers to freeze Buck from head-to-toe and then throwing him out the window.

"I called her." The raven-haired boy stated "She said it's fine, but if she finds a single mark on you, she'll murder me." He chuckled and Dawn smiled

"Silly, May. You wouldn't hurt me." She winked and Ash blushed lightly, but before he could say anything, Delia called the three downstairs for snacks. Buck instantly stood up and walked out, not bothering to see if the other two were following.

Dawn also began to head for the door, but Ash held her hand and pulled her back lightly.

"If you put a hickey on my neck like Gary or kiss my cheek like Barry did today, I swear I will slap you." She said while looking at him and he was surprised by the amount of anger in her voice.

"No, I just want to ask if you could do me another favour."

"Like what?" he quickly walked to the door to make sure Buck wasn't there, and then turned back to Dawn and whispered.

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

"I'm sorry, what?" the bluenette squinted her eyes in confusion

"Will you be my girlfriend? Please?" he spoke a little louder "Just for the rest of the night. I don't like the way he's treating you right now and if we tell him we're dating, he'll probably back off a little."

"Are you sure it'll work?" she looked at him warily "I mean, if he thinks I'm your girlfriend, he might try and come onto me even more – because he knows it'll annoy you."

"Not if you stick close to me." He reasoned "I'm only asking for your own good. You won't have to do anything 'lovey-dovey' with me at all, I might just hold your hand but I did that before anyway and I might ask you to sit on my lap, but nothing more."

"Alright." She nodded "If it'll stop him from touching me, then fine – I'll pretend to be your girlfriend." Before Ash could say anything, Delia called the two again to come down "Let's go before your mother thinks we're doing something we shouldn't be."

"Like what?" he raised an eyebrow and the bluenette rolled her eyes

"Don't worry." She grabbed his hand and led him out of his room and down the stairs to the living room.

Once they arrived, Ash ran straight to table to fill up a plate with cookies and chocolate brownies – completely ignoring the mini spinach and ricotta rolls and fruit salad that were also there. Dawn shook her head and grabbed his plate off him.

"Hey!" he whined "I wanted to eat that!"

"You can." She said while walking back to the table. She put back a few pieces of brownies and cookies that were untouched till there was just one of each left on the plate. "Just not this much." she picked up a spinach and ricotta roll and put some fruit in a small bowl before placing it on the plate and then handed it back to him. She then got a bowl of fruit for herself and picked up two forks, handing one to him and keeping the other one for herself.

"What's this?" the raven-haired boy screwed up his nose in disgust

"It's called healthy food. Spinach and fruit are good for you" she explained "Unless you want this little tummy of yours to become big" she poked his stomach and he flinched as a reflex "You better start eating them."

"I really don't like you very much right now." He grumbled while poking a watermelon cube with his fork.

"I thought you wanted me to be your girlfriend." She whispered into his ear playfully and he shuddered involuntarily "As your girlfriend, I'm supposed to care about your health."

"Fine..." he sighed and sat down on the sofa behind them, gesturing for her to sit beside him. Both of them had failed to acknowledge the strange expression they were receiving from Delia, the envious one from Buck and the smiles from his parents. "Why aren't you eating a spinach roll?"

Dawn shrugged as the raven-haired boy raised an eyebrow "I don't feel like it." she replied simply while popping a grape into her mouth.

"Yeah? Well I don't feel like eating it either."

"Ugh." She rolled her eyes and put her fruit bowl on the table before taking Ash's plate off of him "Fine. We'll share. I'll take the first bite, then you take one, then I'll take another one, and you take the last – deal?"

"Why do I have to eat the last one?" he whined and the bluenette resisted the urge to smack him

"I'm eating the first one, aren't I?" she took a bite to prove her point and chewed it a few times before swallowing. "See?" She then turned to Delia and smiled "Mrs Ketchum, these spinach and ricotta rolls are delicious."

"Thank you, dear" the woman smiled graciously "It's always nice to get a compliment." The female brunette then turned to her son and glared "I never get them from certain people who always complain about eating vegetables."

"Vegetables suck!" Ash countered, but when he saw his mother's expression and remembered that his uncle and aunt were sitting in the same room, he bit his tongue "I-I mean...I love vegetables! They're healthy and delicious and I eat them every day."

"Vegetables are good for you." Buck spoke for the first time and Ash and Dawn had to stop themselves from rolling their eyes – he was such a kiss-up.

"Here, Ash." Dawn brought the roll closer to the boy's lips and he reluctantly took a bite from where she had bitten it. The second his mouth touched the place where the bluenette had bitten it, he felt a strange tingle at his lips and the spinach and ricotta roll tasted much different to every other time he had eaten one his mother had made. The spinach had a sweeter taste to it and so did the ricotta – he loved it.

"Wow." He breathed before taking the roll off of the girl and eating the rest of it in one bite. As soon as he swallowed, his eyes brightened up and he leaned forward and grabbed another one off the table. This time, however, as soon as he bit into it, he almost spat it back out into the plate. The spinach tasted horrible and the ricotta was sour!

"Ash?" Dawn looked at him confused "Are you alright?" his face had gone a barely noticeable, pale green and she had a strong urge to laugh at him. He didn't like the spinach roll at all and he wanted to spit it out – but then...why did he like the one he shared with her?

"That was the most disgusting thing I have ever eaten in my life." Ash whispered under his breath after he finally managed to swallow the piece. He handed the rest to the bluenette and looked at her expectantly "You eat it."

She obeyed and took a bite before raising an eyebrow at him "I don't get it." she shrugged "What's so bad about it?" she handed it back to him and he very hesitantly took a small bite. Once again, he felt a strange tingle at his lips and the spinach and ricotta roll tasted exactly as the first one had. He handed it back to her – not wanting to risk eating another bite that tasted horrible – and looked at her strangely.

"Why is it that every time I eat a bite after you – it tastes great, but when I eat it alone, it's gross?"

"Excuse me?" both of them looked up to see Delia glaring at Ash with her hands on her hips "You think my food is 'gross'?"

"Eheh...of course not." Ash sweat-dropped sheepishly "I just don't really like the spinach." The elder Ketchum let out an irritated sigh

"Fine, just go back upstairs and wait for dinner."

"Great!" He instantly jumped up and grabbed Dawn's hand, forcing her up as well

"Whoa!" she let out a small yelp of surprise as the fruit bowl fell from her hands onto the sofa – luckily managing not to spill. "Ash?!" he ignored her and pulled her straight up the stairs until they disappeared completely from sight.

"That boy is crazy." Delia shook her head before looking up at Buck "Why don't you go and join them? You can take your food upstairs if you want."

"Nah, it's okay." he smiled while setting down his almost-empty plate onto the table "I'm not feeling too hungry right now, anyway." he then walked in the same direction as Ash and Dawn until he also disappeared up the stairs.

"Ash seems to be quite close to Dawn." Diana commented with a smile after a short silence "Has he met her before?"

"Well, I think he has" Delia shrugged "But he doesn't think so at all."

"Why is that?" Bill looked at his younger sister curiously

"When he was six, he brought home a little girl on Halloween." She explained "She had blue hair and blue eyes and she said her name was Dawn. This Dawn looks exactly like an older version of that girl, but Ash keeps insisting he never met a girl on Halloween when he was six."

"Is she the girl you told me about, all those years ago?" The red-headed woman looked at Delia in surprise "The one that thought she was a real fairy?" When the female brunette nodded, she held a strange look "Maybe he forgot about her?"

"Or, maybe she really is a fairy and erased his mind when they were six, so now he thinks they never met." Bill suggested jokingly and the three laughed before changing the topic of their conversation and eating the snacks.


"What was that downstairs?" Buck raised an eyebrow at Ash as they sat in his room. Buck was once again on the bed and Ash had retaken his seat in the wheelie chair while Dawn was in the bathroom washing her hands.

"What was what?" he looked at the redhead innocently before pretending to realise "Oh! You mean Dawn and I? We were just acting like any couple does." He shrugged

"Couple?" Buck gave him a look of disbelief "She's your girlfriend?"

"Yep." the raven-haired boy gave a single nod before looking at him seriously "And I'd appreciate it if you'd stop trying to flirt with her."

"Who said I was flirting?" the ruby-eyed boy said casually "I'm just trying to be friendly."

"A little too friendly." He growled in response. Ash couldn't understand why he was genuinely angry about this. He wasn't actually dating Dawn – so why did he want to rip Buck's head off for flirting with her? "Just back off of her."

Before Buck could respond, Dawn exited the bathroom and walked towards the two boys. Ash instantly stood up and allowed her to sit on the chair while he sat back on the bed.

"So, what were you boys talking about?" she asked with a smile "Anything interesting?"

"Ash was just telling me that you and he were dating." Buck explained "I found it quite interesting since you've only been here for two days."

"Oh..." Dawn did her best to hide the nervousness in her voice. They really should've thought about that part "Ash and I have actually known each other for a while, we just never met personally." She turned to the boy, her eyes telling him to help her.

"Uh, yeah!" he nodded "We were pen-pals for quite a few years. We used to send letters to each other all the time, then we started emailing, then talking on MSN and then texting."

"When I came here on Saturday, I texted and told him and he came to meet me instantly." Dawn picked up again "And he asked me to be his girlfriend." She had a dreamy tone in her voice and was hoping that Buck would be convinced by it.

"How come you never told me about her?" Buck looked at Ash strangely "I've been over loads of times in the past few years – you never mentioned her once."

"Since when do I tell you anything?" he shrugged nonchalantly before taking the bluenette's hand and pulling her into his lap "I didn't tell anyone actually – except Gary." He knew this would annoy the redhead.

"Why would you tell him?" he looked at the raven-haired boy angrily "He's probably just gonna flirt with her and try to steal her from you."

"You mean like you were, just then?"

"Yeah, but I didn't know you were dating. I won't do anything now." He was staring at Dawn with a mischievous grin the entire time he said this, and both Ash and Dawn knew he was lying.

"Gary won't do anything either." Ash stated "He didn't do anything at school today" he lied "He just said 'Hi'. Gary respects my relationships, that's why he's my best friend." By the expression on his face, Ash knew he was really getting to Buck.

"Good to know." He spoke through gritted teeth before turning to Dawn "Do you have any sisters?"

The bluenette glared at his question. Since he thought that she was taken, the jerk was trying to find out if she had any sisters that he could take.

"I have a fraternal twin." She began "But she's not single, if that's why you're asking." That was a lie. Leaf was completely single, but she seriously didn't want this idiot annoying her the whole night about trying to 'hook him up' with her twin.

"Who's she dating?" the ruby-eyed boy remained persistent and Ash rolled his eyes

"She's dating Gary ." he allowed Dawn to sit back in the chair "They were pen-pals just like Dawn and I. Gary went to Sinnoh on a holiday last year and he met up with her sister and asked her out."

"And she said 'yes'." The bluenette continued "We're all very happy together." She finished off while smiling lovingly at Ash.

"That's great." Buck deadpanned.

The next two hours progressed slowly and silently – with the occasional, short conversation as they waited to be called down for dinner. When they were finally called down, it was seven o' clock and Ash practically flew down the stairs, whining about how hungry he was. Dawn was giggling at his childishness and Buck was rolling his eyes at his immaturity.

"Awesome!" the raven-haired boy exclaimed as he saw all the food on the table. He took a seat next to his mother and gestured for Dawn to sit next to him, while his mother sat on his other side. Diana sat opposite Delia, Bill sat opposite Ash and Buck sat opposite Dawn – much to her dismay.

Ash stuffed his plate with everything that was on the table until there was no more room and then began eating as if no one else was around to watch. Dawn, on the other hand, took a piece lasagne – after discovering that Delia was also a vegetarian – and some salad before sitting back down in her seat. When she had almost finished her meal, she felt something crawl up her leg and almost screamed and the thought of a spider.

It was then that she felt toes.

The bluenette raised an eyebrow and turned to Ash – thinking that maybe he was doing this as a part of their façade – but saw that he was too engulfed in his food to even remember that they were pretending to date. She looked across the table and saw Buck looking at her with a wolfish grin and instantly knew it was him. Instead of yelling, she gave him a sarcastic smile and pulled back the foot he was touching before bringing it back forward and kicking him so hard that his chair was knocked back onto the floor. It too bad she wasn't wearing her shoes – it would've hurt him more.

Buck let out a yelp as he hit the floor with a loud 'thump' and his parents and Delia instantly stood up and ran towards him to help. Ash looked up from his food – with his fork mere centimetres from his mouth – and held a confused expression. He then turned to Dawn and saw the anger in her face and instantly knew that Buck had done something to her.

"You okay?" he whispered while putting down his fork and putting a hand on her shoulder

"I'm fine." Dawn let out an angry sigh before giving him a weak smile "I'd like to go home now, please."

"Are you sure?" he gestured to her almost empty plate "You haven't finished and there's still dessert."

"I'm sure." She nodded stiffly "I'd really like to go home." She pointed to the boy's plate

"Alright" he pushed his chair out and stood up before holding out his hand "I'm full anyway." The bluenette accepted and raised an eyebrow

"Really?" there was a flirtatious tone to her voice "The way you were eating, I thought your stomach was a bottomless pit."

"As if" He rolled his eyes but smirked at her "I don't eat that much." the bluenette snorted

"You eat more than a fat bear!" she then gestured to his mother with her eyes.

"Ash Ketchum" Delia put her hands on her hips and glared at him "Stop flirting with your girlfriend and help your cousin!" He knew the 'girlfriend' comment was supposed to embarrass him – and it did – but the woman had indirectly helped Ash and Dawn more than she realised – in terms of Buck, anyway.

"Can't." The raven-haired boy blushed a deep red. "I've gotta drop Dawn back at May's house – it's getting late." He gestured to the clock which stated it was almost eight PM.

Dawn had also turned a light pink, but managed to brush it off as she watched Buck stand up slowly with his left arm holding his right shoulder. He had most likely landed on it when he fell, but she really didn't care. He could go jump off a cliff – the stupid jerk.

"She kicked me!" The red-head glared at Dawn but she looked at him innocently

"What reason would I have to kick you?" she cocked her head to the side "I think you might've hit your head when you fell. Don't you remember? You were swinging on your chair."

"Yeah" Ash nodded as his face returned to normal "I saw him swinging too." Before Buck could defend himself, the raven-haired boy too Dawn's hand "Well, now that that's settled, I'm going to take Dawn back home."

"Thank-you for letting me stay tonight." The bluenette gave Delia a grateful look and the woman smiled back.

"Anytime, dear." Dawn waved 'goodbye' to Buck's parents and ignored him completely as she followed Ash towards the door, putting her shoes back on as Ash put on a pair of thongs and then they both left the Ketchum house.

"What happened in there?" Ash questioned as he pulled his car keys out of his pocket "What did he do?"

"He was rubbing his toes up my leg." She grumbled

"That asshole" he growled while unlocking the car "I swear he's gonna get it from me!" Dawn smiled at his protectiveness before looking at him strangely

"Doesn't May live in the next street over?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Why don't we walk then?" she suggested "We can spend a little more time together that way."

"Sure" The raven-haired boy shrugged "But your bag is still in here." He opened the passenger door of his car and pulled out the white shoulder bag before handing it to her "You might have a bit of trouble tomorrow without it."

"Right, thanks." She smiled sweetly and took the bag from him as he pulled out his art project and held it out to her

"Here" he smiled "You liked it, so it's yours."

"Huh?" she gave him a confused look "But...why?"

"I don't have any use for it" he shrugged nonchalantly "Besides, it looks stupid."

"Pikachu does not look stupid!" she scolded and Ash raised an eyebrow

"Pika-who?"

"Pikachu!" Dawn giggled "That's his name" she explained "Don't you think he looks like a Pikachu?"

"What's a Pikachu?" he was still confused but they started to walk down the driveway and onto the street so they could to May's house.

"It's just a name" The bluenette explained "I made it up, but don't you think it suits?" she gestured to the model that was still in his hands

"I guess" He shrugged and handed it to her "You've already named it; you might as well keep it."

"Thank-you, Ash." She took Pikachu from his hands and held it tightly "I'll treasure it."

"You're welcome, he'll be a lot safer with you anyway" the raven-haired boy chuckled lightly "Knowing me, I'll probably accidentally knock him off a shelf and smash him into pieces."

"Okay, I am definitely keeping him them." Dawn laughed as they exited the street.

Ash pointed to a street that was adjacent to his own "This is May's cul-de-sac." He then pointed right down to the end of his own street "Gary lives back there, right at the end and Drew's street is on the opposite side to him, through a pathway that's next to his house." He then pointed to the street that was directly opposite where they were standing "Paul and Misty live in that street – they're next-door-neighbours, actually."

"Wow, so you all live really nearby to each other?"

"Yup." He nodded and they continued to walk in the direction of May's cul-de-sac "Gary and I have a secret hideout we used to hang out in when we were younger." Ash chuckled "But we stopped using it after we turned eight – we couldn't fit inside the tree anymore."

Dawn stopped abruptly and stared at Ash's back – as he continued to walk – in slight surprise. He and Gary had a secret hideout in a tree? She vaguely remembered going to a secret hideout that was in a tree and sitting outside of it – was it one of them?

"What happened?" Ash stopped walking and turned around, looking at the bluenette curiously "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine." She shook her head and caught up to him "I just remembered that I need call my mother when I get home."

"Well Sinnoh is two hours ahead of Kanto so we better get you back quickly. It's already ten o' clock over there."

"Yeah." she nodded, but then changed the subject back to the original "So you had a secret hideout in a tree?" Before he could answer, she continued "Did you ever let anyone in there?"

"No." He snorted "That would completely defeat the purpose of a secret hideout. Not even Drew or Paul have been there – that spot was exclusively for Gary and I, we'd make all our plans there and plot our revenges, pranks, everything."

"Oh." Her face fell slightly...then again, how would he know? His memory was with her – if it was his memory, that is. There were a lot of trees that could make secret hideouts, it didn't necessarily have to be him or Gary. She couldn't get her hopes up high without having enough proof to know that it was him – then she would consider whether to break almost every Lynphean law and release his memory back to him...or be a good girl and just leave with the satisfaction that she knew who the boy was.

"Dawn!" The bluenette was brought out of her thoughts at Ash's voice.

"Huh?"

"I've been calling you for the past few minutes – where are you lost?" he raised an eyebrow and she sweat-dropped

"Nowhere" she chuckled nervously "I was just thinking about school tomorrow."

"You were thinking about school?" he looked at her strangely "Why?"

"Just wondering if it'll be better than today."

"You had a bad day?"

"No, it was good – if you ignore the flirting." Her tone was slightly irritated, but she shook her head and smiled at him "So, what did you want to say?"

"Oh, right." he gestured to the door infront of them "We're here."

"That was quick." She looked at May's door in surprise "I didn't realise it was this close." Her expression saddened as he rang the doorbell, but then returned to normal as she remembered that she would see him tomorrow. "Thanks for inviting me over, Ash. I had a lot of fun."

"Thank you for coming, you seriously saved my ass tonight." He was completely oblivious to the loving tone in the girl's voice and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes, by leaning over and kissing his cheek. Before she could pull away, the door swung upon to reveal May and they both turned a deep red.

"Took you long eno-oops!" May's jaw dropped as she realised she had ruined their moment "I am so sorry! Just come inside when you're done!" she instantly shut the door, but it was obvious she was still there – eavesdropping on their conversation.

Dawn finally remembered to pull away and removed her lips from Ash's cheek as they continued to blush.

"Uh...thanks." Ash stuttered nervously

"Anytime" she chuckled sheepishly "I'll see you tomorrow." She gave him a quick wave and opened the door – causing to May to fall backwards – and disappeared inside.

Ash stood there, somewhat dumbfounded as he brought a hand to the cheek that had been kissed. It was still tingling and he was starting to feel a little dazed. He turned around, stumbling slightly and stepped off the porch as he walked down the driveway and onto the road to exit the cul-de-sac.

It seemed that whoever Dawn kissed, would feel like this. Gary had kissed her on the lips and he started acting like a love-drunk idiot that had just come off anaesthesia. Since Ash had only had his cheek kissed, he wasn't feeling as affected as Gary had been – but he was still affected a little.

"What is with that girl?" he whispered to himself "She's just so...different." He shoved his hands in his pocket as the tingling finally faded away and his dazed feeling disappeared "I've kissed a bunch of girls and this has never happened – so has Gary." He rolled his eyes at the last part as he reached his street.

"I don't understand her." He reached his car – which he had idiotically left unlocked – and opened the door to pull out his own bag before closing and locking it and then walking inside. He didn't bother greeting anyone and just went straight to his room. "There is definitely something different about Dawn"

Ash threw his keys onto his study table and threw off his thongs before falling onto his bed "I just don't know what."


"Tell me everything!" May demanded the second Dawn entered the Maple household. "I need to know what happened there!"

"Calm down, May." The bluenette stared at her strangely "Nothing happened; his annoying cousin came over so I ended up going to his house to help deal with the douche – that's it."

"As if" The brunette crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes "If that was it, I wouldn't have caught you kissing his cheek!" she emphasised the last three words before grabbing Dawn's hand and dragging her up the stairs and into the girl's room "I want to know everything in full detail."

"Alright, alright – relax woman." Dawn put her hands up in defeat "I'll tell you everything."

"Yay!" May closed the door and flopped onto the bed, laying on her stomach before gesturing for the girl to begin "I'm listening."

The bluenette rolled her eyes playfully before explaining in 'full detail' everything that had happened. By the time she had finished, May's jaw had dropped down onto the bed.

"That jerk rubbed his toes up your leg!" when she nodded, the brunette twisted her face into a mix of disgust and anger "Ugh, some boys are just...I don't even know." She then smiled suggestively "But I can't believe Ash asked you to be his girlfriend!"

"It was only for pretend, May." The bluenette explained as a light blush grew on her cheeks "Just so that his dumbass cousin would leave me alone – it clearly didn't work though."

"Don't worry about that creep, you're never gonna see him again." She waved her hand dismissively before sitting up straight "The important thing is that Ash likes you!"

"Um – no." Dawn raised an eyebrow "He doesn't like me, he's just being friendly."

"Reasoning with you is so pointless." May rolled her eyes "But whatever, you'll see soon enough." She winked and stood up "I need to go change into my PJs." she gave a quick wave and then exited the room so that she could return to her own.

Once she was gone, Dawn sighed deeply and sprawled out onto her bed, on her stomach. There was no way Ash liked her – infact, she was worried that he was starting to figure that she wasn't from here.

"He acted so suspicious today at school." She mumbled quietly to herself "I need to be more careful, or he'll figure out my secret for sure."

The bluenette sat up and looked at her pokétch, before slapping a hand to her forehead lightly "I still need to call mother." She pushed down the small screen and it instantly made a dialling noise before a small hologram of her mother appeared infront of her.

"Dawn!" Johanna's holographic face lit up and the bluenette smiled

"Hi, mother" she waved "How are you? And how's Leaf?"

"I am well, and your sister is to." The fellow bluenette looked at her daughter with slight worry "How are you? Are you coping?"

"I'm fine, mother" She rolled her eyes playfully at the woman's typical concern "I had my first day of school today."

"Ooh!" Leaf pushed her mother out of the screen "How was it!" she was jumping up and down with excitement and Dawn couldn't help but chuckle lightly

"It was pretty good." Her tone then turned slightly irritated "Except for all the boys that kept hitting on me."

"The boys were hitting you?!" The brunette's jaw dropped in horror and Dawn face-palmed

"No! They were hitting on me." When she saw her sister look at her in confusion, she explained "They were flirting with me."

"Oh...ugh – were they at least good looking?" the twins now had mirroring expressions of irritation. Leaf was no stranger to the world of flirting.

"Yeah" she nodded "Most of them were really cute but the flirting just killed it." she rolled her eyes "I wish they'd just leave me alone. Out of every single boy I met today, only one didn't flirt with me – and that's probably because he has a girlfriend."

"Dawn" Johanna appeared back on the screen and shared it with Leaf "I should have mentioned this to you earlier – these boys' behaviour is completely normal.

"Huh?" the younger bluenette raised an eyebrow

"Unless a boy is already in love, seeing a fairy will cause an uncontrollable infatuation."

"What!" she glared "That is so not fair! Can't you make them stop? Like, a spell or something?"

"Unfortunately, I cannot." The woman looked at the girl with hopeful eyes "You are welcome to return home at any moment, if you wish."

"No way, this is just a minor setback." She sighed "I can deal with it."

"Aww" Leaf pouted "But we miss you!"

"I miss you guys too!" she looked at her sister and mother sadly "But I really need to be here for my assignment – I've already learnt so many things."

"Such as?" Johanna didn't seem convinced so the fellow bluenette explained

"Well, you already know that these people talk a lot differently to us" the woman nodded and she continued "Well, they eat animals here!" she kept her voice down but it was still filled with shock

"They do?!" Leaf's jaw dropped in surprise "That place truly is different to our world."

"I know, right?" The younger bluenette nodded in agreement before focusing her attention back on her mother "Their clothing style is also really different, but their schools are pretty similar to ours – except some subjects. For them, P.E is just playing games and exercising."

"That sounds boring." The brunette rolled her eyes and Dawn laughed before looking at her mother curiously

"Mother, when I was in P.E today, we played game called 'dodge ball' but I had no idea what it was. Then, I accidentally knocked a ball too hard and when they asked, I told them I played volleyball. Why is it that I knew what volleyball was, but had no idea what dodge ball was?"

"You probably didn't kiss that boy long enough to learn everything – it is nothing to worry about." The woman smiled "But you already know more than enough for your assignment, why can't you come home?"

"Because it would look weird if I just came for three days and went to school for one day and then suddenly disappeared. You said I could stay for two months and I really like it here, so please let me." The bluenette's eyes held a pleading look and Johanna sighed in defeat.

"Alright, I will not ask you come home again. However, if you do ever wish to return early, all you have to do is press the middle, white button on your pokétch. It will instantly open a portal back to Lynphea."

"Okay, thank you, mother." Dawn smiled warmly at the woman before looking back at her sister "You have no idea how much I miss you Leafy. I wish you could come here with me, I've never been this far away from you before – and anywhere for this long." She refused to let her eyes water up, but it was getting extremely hard.

"Dawn, who are you talking to?" The bluenette in question turned to see her door opening and cursed mentally

"I have to go!" She whispered frantically to her mother and sister "I'll call you tomorrow, I promise!" She disconnected the call and pulled her mobile out of her pocket as May entered her room.

"I'm sorry for just opening the door, but I heard voices." The brunette explained and Dawn shook her head

"It's fine, it is your house." She waved her mobile in her hand" I was on the phone talking to my mother and sister, I put it on speaker phone – was I too loud?" the bluenette bit her tongue sheepishly "I'm sorry."

"No-no" May shook her head and smiled "I was just walking passed your room and I heard. You weren't loud enough for me to hear from my room."

"Oh, okay" she stood up "Well, it's getting late – I should change into my PJs."

"Yeah, we have school tomorrow as well." The brunette rolled her eyes "How annoying." She then gave a small wave and exited the room "'Night."

"'Night." The bluenette waved back before walking to her closet and pulling out her nightdress. Once she had changed, she flopped down onto her bed and huddled under the blanket.

It was so cute that Paul was in love with Misty, but that was just one person she wouldn't have to worry about. She was so sure that Drew liked May and that was why he was always such a jerk to the poor brunette – apparently not. Maybe she could make Drew fall in love with May, but that would just be one more out of the way – there was still the majority of the male population left. She let out a deep sigh and snuggled down further into the soft bed.

"I so don't want to go to school tomorrow."


And voila! there is your extremely long chapter 4 :) I was going to end it at the part where Ash asks Dawn to be his girlfriend...you know, like leave you in a little suspense ;) but then i decided to be nice since it's been like forever since i updated XD I was also gonna make them kiss but then i decided against it cuz it's only chapter 4...too soon. So only cheek for now :p

By the way, about the 'eating animals' thing, i really don't mean it as an offensive thing, it's just a part of the story that in Lynphea they don't eat meat, so yeah, for those of you that eat meat, i'm sorry if you find it offensive...if it makes you feel better, i'm not a vegetarian either XD

Poor Dawn...looks like she's gonna have to deal with all the boys being in love with her ;) And Ash is continuing to get more and more curious about her. Pikachu has entered the story :D and so has Piplup, although he hasn't been properly created yet XD Ooh! And umbreon too! :D I love umbreon! It's honestly like one of my favourite eeveelutions, along with leafeon and glaceon ^^ Buck is evil XD and a total perv...

What do you guys think will happen next chapter? I'm not sure if you'll expect it or not but I'm hoping you'll like it :) There's also quite a lot of foreshadowing for a few different things in here, see if you can figure it out ) Thanks for reading and pretty please review :D

ShadowkittyxX