A/N: Here is Chapter Seven! This is where the real action begins! It's also the longest chapter yet! 4,345 words for you to read, he-he. I hope you enjoy it! Just to let you know, I have written another fic, so if you'd like to have a look at it, that would be amazing! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of the characters.

Chapter Seven: Life in Hoenn

Ash opened his eyes and a pair of large blue ones came into view. He thought it was Dawn for a split second but it clearly wasn't when it spoke.

"Jigglypuff!" It said, and was then grabbed by Brock who placed it on the floor.

"Looks like he's awake." Brock said. He gave Ash a smile. "That was just Jigglypuff. Remember? The one the Time Space Witch gave us."

Ash nodded and looked at Dawn. Her eyes were still closed and her body was like ice.

'We can't leave her like this! We have to help her before we go out searching.' Ash thought to himself.

Brock noticed Ash staring at Dawn. "We tried to dry her off. You both got pretty wet in the rain." He said. "Even when you slept, you wouldn't let the girl go. So you...er..." Brock trailed off since he didn't know Ash's name.

"My name's Ash,"

"I'm Brock, and him over there what'll we call you?"

"I have a name you know, and its Gary!" He said as he eyed Jigglypuff who was bouncing over to him.

Brock nodded. "Gary, huh? Got it." He laughed when Jigglypuff jumped on Gary's shoulder.

"Hey, you...thing! Get down from there!" Gary shouted angrily.

Brock suddenly noticed something glowing. He reached towards Ash who let out a yelp with surprise.

"What do you think you're doing?" Gary asked still trying to drive the Jigglypuff away.

Brock didn't answer his question. He held a feather in his hand and showed it to Ash.

"Is this what a memory is supposed to look like for this girl?" Brock asked. "It was stuck to your clothes."

Ash recognized it and remembered the Time Space Witch showing them one.

"Yes! It must have stuck to my clothes back at the Sinnoh ruins!" Ash exclaimed. He was truly glad that at least one of Dawn's memories had been found.

It floated out of Brock's hand and came towards Dawn. The feather seemed to go into her and Ash noticed that her body had become a bit warmer. He hoped that Dawn would awaken soon, however he was afraid of her well-being as he was told that this would be a dangerous journey.

"My question is how can we find more feathers now?" Brock said. "I doubt we'll find any more on our clothes..."

Jigglypuff then jumped high into the air. Ash, Gary and Brock looked up at it. It seemed as if it was trying to tell them something. Jigglypuff made its eye grow wider and it pointed to Dawn.

"Do you...know when a feather is nearby?!" Ash asked. The Jigglypuff nodded with a smile of its face. "Then could you tell us when you locate one?"

The Jigglypuff nodded again and it twirled around in circles in the middle of the room. Ash now had a way to find the feathers that he was desperately searching for.

"Search or not, that's up to you." Gary said suddenly. Ash and Brock turned to look at him. "This has nothing to do with me! Don't expect me to help you, I won't do it! I'm here because I want to go back to my own world." Gary continued, glaring at Ash.

"You're right...this is my quest. I'll try not to be a bother." Ash said and it certainly took Gary by surprise. Brock chuckled.

"Ash is so serious!" He said, trying to keep on the bright side of things.

"So, are you gonna help this brat out?" Gary asked Brock.

"I suppose so. My mission is to achieve my dream but I need to travel to gain knowledge. I'll help, sure!" Brock quickly explained.

Ash was thankful that he had Brock to help although the question still remained about Gary. Just then, the door to the room opened and everyone gasped, even Jigglypuff. A man and a woman stood in the doorway.

"Hey!" The woman said cheerfully as she made her way over to them. "You came from Ursula, right?" She asked.

Ash thought for a moment. "Ursula?"

"You know that witch person. The Time Space Witch...The Dimension Witch...she has lots of names." The woman said, still with a cheery voice.

The man came from behind and handed Ash a blanket for Dawn. Ash thanked him and carefully lay Dawn down.

"My name's Drew," The man said, he reached over to the woman and gently pulled her over. "And this is May." She waved at them and grinned.

"They told us the whole story," May said to Ash.

"It's nice meeting you and everything, but can I ask where we actually are?" Gary said, glancing around. May giggled.

"You're all in LaRousse City, in Hoenn!" She said excitedly. "There are many things to see here so maybe you could have a trail 'round?"

"I don't think we'll have time to..." Ash muttered to himself. Brock turned to look at him.

"We could go now since the girl is resting." He suggested.

"Yeah, I'll take care of her!" May added, giving them a warm smile.

Ash nodded but Gary wasn't sure whether he should go or not. He soon decided to tag along because he didn't have anything better to do. It seemed like they would be stuck in Hoenn until the next piece of Dawn's memory was found. That was why Ursula had sent them to Hoenn first, because she knew a feather was lurking around somewhere and she thought it would be an easy start for them. They all got ready to head out of the door and Ash kept glancing worriedly at Dawn. He knew May wouldn't let anything happen, but just the thought of leaving her didn't suite his mind. May noticed and patted him comfortingly on his back.

"She'll be fine, I promise. I'll be here in case she wakes up." She said.

"Yes...thank you for letting us stay here." Ash said, feeling slightly better.

"It's not problem, really!" Drew assured. He reached into his pocket and handed something to Ash. "Take this with you."

Ash stared at the Torchic-like purse. He opened it and found some money inside. "Y-you mean it?" He asked. Drew nodded and Ash thanked him gratefully.

"Hey, where do think you're going?!" Gary shouted as he ran after Jigglypuff who was making its way outside. Brock and Ash laughed. They thanked May and Drew again and hurried after Gary.

Once they all set foot on the busy streets of LaRousse City, it suddenly realized it was an extremely large place. Brock was the first to point out that they were already lost even thought they had only walked...

"Ten steps, to be exact." Brock said.

"Maybe we should ask around and see if people will give us directions." Ash suggested. Gary and Brock agreed.

"But where are we heading?" Gary asked. They all thought for a moment but none of them actually knew.

"Let's ask the first person that goes by." Brock said, walking forward with Ash and Gary slowly following.

A blonde-haired woman walked by and Brock ran up to her. He was about to ask where they were but never got to finish his sentence because his eyes had transformed into heart shapes. Ash and Gary sweatdropped as Brock took the woman's hand and began saying many things so quickly that not even Gary understood. Jigglypuff puffed a cheek out and hopped towards Brock. It used Pound and Brock fell to the floor. Jigglypuff dragged him away with the woman staring after him. Ash decided to take the chance to do the asking himself.

"Sorry about my friend...but do you know a good place to visit here?" Ash asked, taking a quick glance behind him and he saw Brock steadily recover.

"Oh, it doesn't matter," The woman said as she let out a nervous laugh. "I do know a place to visit though! There's a huge park which would be lovely to visit on a day like this! You just head east from here." She said.

"Wouldn't it be lovely to go with you?" Brock said as he jumped in front of Ash.

"Let's not bother her." Ash said, pushing Brock in Jigglypuff's direction. "Thank you." He said to the woman who was surprisingly still there. Ash thought she might have run away by now. He definitely would've done...

The woman smiled and nodded. With that, she walked away. Ash sighed and followed Gary who was pulling Brock by the ear. Jigglypuff skipped happily along side Ash seeming very proud about the good job it had done.

.: ~ * ~ :.

"We're finally here!" Gary exclaimed with Jigglypuff shouting with glee.

They looked around at their surroundings. People and Pokémon were everywhere and it was a friendly environment to sit back and relax which Ash and the others needed. A large water fountain stood in the center of the grassy area. There were benches to sit on and trees with wild Pokémon living in them. Some people were sitting on the ground since the weather was good in LaRousse City today.

"Looks like we got lucky, in terms of the weather." Brock said, looking up at the clear blue sky. Ash and Gary agreed but all of them soon began to wonder what there was to see in this park.

"She probably just wanted to get away from Brock and just told us to go to this random place." Gary exclaimed and Ash questioned himself whether he thought Gary might be right.

"Maybe we should ask-" Brock began but got cut off by Gary.

"Oh, no! We're not going through all of that again!" He said angrily.

"Is LaRousse an island?" Ash asked out of the blue.

"How'd you know that?" Brock said with a hint of shock in his voice. Ash shrugged.

"Just a hunch. How'd you know it was an island in the first place?" Ash said, looking a bit bewildered.

"Drew and May told us. Didn't you hear?" Brock asked.

Gary kept quiet as Ash and Brock fired questions back and forth at each other. He was getting easily irritated but controlled his anger for about an hour. After that hour past, he decided to say something and it was for the best.

"Would you two shut up!" He shouted, making Ash and Brock stop immediately. A few people turned to look at them but Gary didn't care. "Thank you, that was annoying..." He began walking back the way they came with Ash and Brock running after him.

They all gave up on sight seeing and thought that they had been outside for quite a long time anyway. LaRousse City was a nice place, but it didn't seem like a feather would be found in such a normal city. Ash began to worry about Dawn but he knew that he had Brock and hopefully Gary to occasionally help him out. They arrived back at Drew and May's house soon after they left the park. Brock noticed that they hadn't spent any money and told Ash to give it back to them. Ash nodded and took out the Torchic purse. He presumed it belonged to May, because she seemed like the sort of person to like such things. The door was soon opened by Drew who let them inside.

"Great timing! Just finished making dinner for you!" He said and he headed into the kitchen. Ash was certainly happy to hear that. He walked over to where May and Dawn were and handed her the purse.

"Thank you very much," He said as May took the purse and smiled. "Has she woken up yet?" Ash then asked, turning his attention to Dawn.

May shook her head slowly. "No, I'm sorry. I hope she will though since her body is warmer than it was this morning." She said. Ash nodded and stood up to join Gary and Brock for dinner.

.: ~ * ~ :.

"Good night!" May said as she turned the light in the bedroom off. The door slowly closed and May walked away.

Ash, Brock and Gary made themselves comfortable as May had told them to. Everyone was rather tired after today but Ash couldn't seem to get to sleep. Dawn was the only thing on his mind. She still hadn't woken and he was worried. At least her body was warmer thanks to the feather that was stuck to Ash. Even so, he wished that she would wake up and give him a bright smile, like she always used to do. Gary and Jigglypuff had dozed off so it was only Ash, along with Brock who were awake.

"I hope you don't mind, but I think I can't stay awake for much longer," Brock said, letting out a yawn. Ash nodded.

"That's fine. Good night." Ash said. He yawned too but couldn't shut his eyes for more than a minute.

"You should get some sleep, too. I have a feeling tomorrow's going to be busier than today." Brock said sleepily.

"...I'll try." Ash mumbled.

He did try, in fact he fell asleep for about half an hour but suddenly woke up again when he heard Pidgey outside. Ash thought morning had come already, but it hadn't since nothing had changed and the others were still sleeping. It didn't take long for Ash to fall asleep again but it would've been better if he had managed to open his eyes for ten minutes longer. As everyone was sleeping, the was a rustle from inside the room. The only person in the house who was awake was Dawn. She looked around feeling confused and a bit frightened. She didn't know who all these people were. Her blue eyes still shone, even in the darkness. Dawn stood up and walked over to a clock on one of the shelves.

'6:34am... I can stay awake until the others get up so I can ask where I am.' She thought.

Dawn realized that there was nothing to do in the dark room. She got under the blanket again and waited. Her eyes closed and opened seconds after many times, but she didn't want to miss anything. Dawn had already been taken to this place and didn't even know anybody. She assumed that they would wake up at around 7, or so she hoped. She sat up to keep herself awake and carried on waiting, glancing around to check if anyone else was awake yet.

Roughly twenty minutes later, an alarm went off. Dawn got slightly excited when she saw a hand reach up to turn it off. The man stretched and rubbed his slit eyes. He noticed Dawn immediately and ran over to Ash. He shook him until he opened his eyes.

"Hey, wake up!" Brock said and soon saw Ash wake up. "Look!" He added and moved out of the way so Ash could see.

"...Yeah?" Ash said quietly, still not fully awake but when he saw a pair of blue eye looking at him, he almost hit the ceiling. "Dawn!" He shouted.

Gary woke up after hearing Ash shout. Ash when over to Dawn and stopped in front of her. He slapped himself and blinked a few times.

"Am I dreaming?" He asked himself. Ash watched Dawn shake her head and she attempted to give him a smile. Brock, Jiigglypuff, and even Gary smiled as Ash reunited with Dawn. Although, the smiles didn't last long.

Dawn looked at Ash quizzically. "...Who are you?" She asked timidly. Ash paused when she said this. Brock and Gary seemed shocked, since they thought Ash and Dawn knew each other really well. Then Ash remembered what Ursula had said. His price.

"Very well, if you are to save her, your friendship with Dawn will never be the same again." Ursula had said.

It hit Ash hard as he noticed that there was no going back now. He had to start over again. Brock saw that Ash was in a surprised state so he jumped in to help.

"I'm Brock and that's Ash. Gary over there, too," He said as cheerfully as he could. Ash looked up to see Dawn who had a blank expression on her face. "You see, we're travelling and you're joining us, if that would be alright."

"That's right." Ash managed to say but it wasn't very lively. Dawn nodded and turned to Ash.

"Are...are you one of my travelling companions?" She asked. Ash gasped quietly but smiled at her all the same.

"Yeah, I am." He said. He was rather relieved when he heard the door open and May came in.

She grinned. "Morning! And it's great to see that your friend is up! Come join us when you're ready." She was in a good mood and thought that it was wonderful that Dawn was now awake. It was a wonderful thing.

'She just doesn't remember anything...' Ash thought and looked at the floor.

"So, shall we join 'em, then?" Gary asked, trying not to keep the silence going. He didn't like really quiet places. Action was what he needed at the moment.

Ash, Dawn and Brock agreed. All of them headed out of the room and stopped May and Drew in front of a small television. They greeted them and took note of what was being shown on the news channel.

"Something awful happened at LaRousse City's park at 7:13 this morning. A fire has taken place and is still blazing as we speak. The cause is unknown but people are doing their best to put it out-" The reporter said but Drew turned it off before they could hear all of what it was saying.

"This is awful." Dawn said. Ash agreed and ran over to the front door.

"Where are you going?!" May asked, following him. Ash turned before heading out.

"I'm going to see what's going on!" He said determinedly. Brock and Gary said they wanted to go as well. Ash was grateful for their help, but Dawn also wanted to come along.

"Dawn, please stay here...!" May said, holding her back. Ash nodded and set off to the park to stop the disaster.

May led Dawn back to her room and they sat down. She sighed and fiddled with her fingers.

"How could have happened?" She asked herself, feeling nervous about what was going on. She wanted to go as well, but she knew that Drew wouldn't let her. "How about something to eat?" May said, turning to Dawn. Dawn smiled and nodded.

When May left Dawn rushed to the door and poked her head around it to see if anyone was there.

'I'm going after them! I want to help my travelling companions!" She thought. Dawn sped across the floor but was sure to close the door quietly behind her.

May came back into Dawn's room and almost dropped the plate she was holding.

"Where is she?!"

Ash, Brock and Gary, along with Jigglypuff all hurried in the same direction to the park as they had done yesterday. They were glad that they knew the way and arrived in a sort amount of time. The fire was huge and people with Water-Type Pokémon were doing their best to put it out. However, it didn't seem to be working! Then Jigglypuff let out a shout which got hold of Ash's attention. He saw that Jigglypuff's eyes were open wide and he remembered what it told him.

"There's a feather nearby!" Ash exclaimed. "We have to put this fire out!" Pikachu volunteered to help but Ash didn't see how Electric-Type moves would work.

Pikachu then noticed something and pointed up at the sky. Ash, Brock and Gary all looked up. They all saw a helicopter approach and it blew out the fire when it landed in the park. Everyone let out a sigh of relief but things weren't about to get much better. A purple-haired woman stepped down from the helicopter. Ash and others thought help had come but they thought wrong. They were also unaware that Dawn was right behind them, hiding behind a tree. The mysterious person laughed.

"What a great tactic to bring them here!" She said, loud enough for Ash to hear. Suddenly, Ash noticed something.

"She's holding a feather!" He shouted and pointed to the feather in her hand. She turned to look at him and frowned.

"That kid knows about this?" She muttered to herself and gripped the feather tighter.

Dawn decided to rush up them now. She appeared behind Ash and gave him a fright.

"Dawn! W-what are you doing here?" He asked, grabbing her arm and moving her behind him. "Looks like they were the ones who caused this fire, didn't you hear what they said?" Ash said to Brock and Gary.

"Up to no good, eh?" Gary said, reaching for his sword but soon realized that he didn't have it. "That Witch has it!" He shouted angrily.

"Looks like we've got no choice but to fight for that feather, Ash." Brock said, running towards the feather. Ash and Gary followed with Dawn not far behind.

The woman noticed them but took a long hard look at Dawn. Dawn hid behind Ash and Pikachu hopped onto the ground, its cheeks sparking with electricity. Jigglypuff appeared beside him, sensing the feather.

"What, you want this?" She asked them, holding up the feather and laughing. "Come and try, but I won't let you ruin Team Galactic's plans!"

Ash glared at her. He was certain that he had heard that name somewhere before, but where? Now wasn't the time to think about all of this. Brock sent out his Croagunk and Gary had no choice but to make Umbreon help, too. They had to get that feather back!

"If it's a battle you want, then it's a battle you're going to get!" The woman said, throwing a PokéBall releasing her Skuntank.

"Ha, three against one, you've got no chance!" Gary said confidently. The woman was about to retort but a person ran up to her.

"Excuse me, Commander Jupiter but we have to..." The person began speaking but trailed off into a whisper so Ash and the others couldn't hear. So, Jupiter huh?

"Now's our chance! Pikachu, Iron Tail and Jigglypuff use Sing!" Ash shouted.

Brock and Gary shouted commands as well. The Pokémon began charging forward but skidded suddenly to a halt. The helicopter was taking off!

"There's no point in me staying for your childish games! You get away with it this time, but never again!" Jupiter shouted. She threw the feather down at them and it floated away in the breeze.

"No!" Ash yelled, running after the feather.

He didn't want those people to get away but he wanted the feather more. Pikachu hurried after his trainer. The feather wasn't very high in the air but Ash was only centimeters away from it.

"Pikachu! Could you grab it?!" Ash asked his loyal friend.

Pikachu jumped on Ash's shoulder and aimed at the feather. Ash kept running and Pikachu leaped off of his shoulder and stretched his arms out to grab the feather. Brock, Dawn, and Gary were running after them, watching the feather closely. Dawn was wondering why they wanted it so much. Ash gasped when Pikachu missed but its tail was able to catch it. Ash stopped and punched the air.

"Yes! Awesome job, Pikachu!" He said, going up to his Pokémon.

Pikachu landed and posed, feeling proud. He handed Ash the feather and when to sit on his shoulder. The others caught up and praised each other for a job well done! They headed back to May and Drew's house but were still concerned about the state of the park. They arrived not long after and barged through the door excitedly.

"We did it!" Gary said with Jigglypuff jumping up and down happily.

There was silence after that. They looked around but saw no sign of May or Drew. Dawn hoped they didn't go out to look for her! But that wasn't the case since both of them came down form the stairs. They grinned at them and rushed to both of them.

"You did it? Put out the fire and everything?!" May asked enthusiastically.

"Well...we got this!" Ash said, showing May and Drew the glowing feather. They stared at it, mesmerized by it's beauty. Brock came and tapped Ash on his shoulder.

"Don't you think you should give it to her now?" He said, glancing over at Dawn. Ash nodded and walked over to her.

"Here, this is yours." Ash said, giving the feather to Dawn. Gary quickly explained it all to May and Drew who were impressed by the story.

Dawn smiled as the feather faded into her. She blinked and shook her head a little.

"I...have a headache." She said, holding her head in one of her hands.

"Maybe you should lay down," May suggested, opening the door to Dawn's room. Ash agreed and told Dawn to rest.

"What was the feather for, Ash?" Dawn asked, looking up at him.

"I'll tell you tomorrow." Ash said. "Rest well, Dawn." He closed the door and sighed happily.

'It was all worth it.' He thought, smiling proudly to himself.

Brock and Gary grinned at him. Ash returned the smile to his friends. Yes, he could say friends now.

A/N: Did you like this chapter? I sure hope so! Please let my know in a generous review! :D Thank you for reading!