CHAPTER 10 – A DIFFERENT INITIATION

Ash sprang out of bed as the first rays of the rising sun hit his face. His enthusiasm sent Pikachu, who had been resting on Ash's chest, flying across the room and into the wall with a light thud.

"Pii pikachu!" it said, emitting sparks from its cheeks before tackling Ash. Good morning to you too… The two rolled around on the ground for a while before containing their excitement about the day ahead.

Ash got dressed as quickly as he could, checking to make sure that he had put his jacket on the right way round, before hoisting Pikachu onto his shoulder and dashing into the lounge room. He skidded to a stop on the wooden boards as he saw a figure lying on the lounge in the half-light. He moved silently towards the figure, trying not to disturb it, but he stopped and looked as he saw that figure was, in fact, two figures, lying next to each other; specifically, Ari and Dawn. Ash reckoned that they had fallen asleep on the lounge after he, Brock and Pikachu had left to go to bed. Ari was lying on the open side of the lounge – the side that fell on to the lounge room floor – and while one hand and leg fell away with the lounge, the other arm was stretched lovingly around Dawn's shoulders, and his hair had fallen over his eyes, rising as falling as he breathed. Dawn, however, had both her hands folded over Ari's chest, all of which were also rising and falling slowly. Her cheek was resting against his collarbone, and one of her legs was sprawled over the one of his that was still on the lounge. As he stared, Ash got the increasing sense that, once again, he was intruding on something private, but as he made to move away from the sleeping couple, Dawn stirred and lifted her head. She rubbed her eyes clumsily, and at this, Ari also woke up. He looked around sleepily, wondering where he was, and then he saw Dawn, who grinned at him and draped an arm over him. He smiled back and kissed her lightly on the cheek as he sat up. Ash cleared his throat noisily, and both of their heads snapped around, red-faced, to see him standing there, eyebrows raised and his hands on his hips.

"Uh, you two right there?" he asked them coolly, as Pikachu imitated his Trainer's expression, frowning slightly.

"Good morning to you too," Dawn grimaced, making a big show of fixing her hair as she stood up and turned away from all three of them. Only then did Ash notice that she was wearing Ari's round-brimmed hat, and as he looked over at Ari, who was sitting up groggily, and sure enough, Dawn's white hat was perched awkwardly towards the side of his head.

"Nice choice of headgear," Ash remarked. Ari's eyes flew up, and he hastily ripped the hat off his head, standing up and walking over to Dawn. He lightly took his hat from Dawn, who barely seemed to notice as she was still fiddling with her hair, and softly placed her hat in its rightful place.

"Thanks for the heads-up," he said. "Ow." He rubbed his hand against his side, because, Ash realised, it was the side that Dawn had been sleeping on all night. He jammed his hat back on his own head, and was adjusting it as Brock stumbled into the room.

"Morning, Brock," said Dawn, satisfied with the state of her hair as she went into the kitchen.

"Morning," Brock replied happily as he glanced around and saw Ash frowning at Ari, who was deliberately looking away, silently pleading at Brock to intercept.

"Hey, Ari, you're here early, aren't you?" he asked. Clearly he had misunderstood Ari's plea, and had said the wrong thing, as he watched Ari hang his head in defeat, and Ash let out a grunt that sounded like a laugh.

"Yeah, he's been here a while, actually," Ash muttered cryptically to Brock. Pikachu looked strangely at him, and Ari's head snapped up for the second time in surprise, but this time he stared incredulously at Ash, who, he had thought, was going to tell Brock about him staying the night with Dawn. Brock, oblivious to all of this, simply nodded in Ari's direction and walked over to Dawn in the kitchen to make breakfast.

"Thank you," Ari mouthed to Ash, who simply jerked his head towards the balcony outside. Ari walked up to be level with him, and they and Pikachu went out to the fresh air. Once they were outside, Ash closed the door behind him to make sure no-one was heard. He turned around, his back leaning on the door, and as Pikachu hopped down onto the ground, he crossed his arms and cocked his head sideways, scrutinizing Ari.

"Why didn't you tell Brock that I was here?" he asked. "Wait… I daresay he's known from the start about Dawn and me, but surely he can't have that bad a reaction to me sleeping over."

"Brock's very, shall we say, 'protective' of the girls who travel with us," Ash snorted. It was true; he always seemed to take up the 'older brother' mantle around Misty, May and Dawn when they were at large gatherings, particularly those that had lots of older boys around. "He may have a soft spot for you, but I get the feeling that it's because of your Pokémon, which is his prerogative. I also get the feeling that he'll get very touchy if he finds out that one of his new friends is getting a bit too comfy with Dawn," he warned menacingly.

Ari was surprised, taken aback by Ash's tone, but he held his ground. "A feeling that you seem to be displaying with yourself," he fired back calmly. Ash blinked. "Look, I know that you and Brock really care about Dawn. I can see that," Ari continued, unrelenting as he stared at Ash determinedly. "But I came to Ayers Island to fight some Pokémon battles. I had no idea that Dawn would be here, she had no idea that I'd be here, and I obviously had no idea that her and I would have this attraction for each other. It just… happened, out of thin air. If you hadn't run into Horazon, we'd never have met," he added mischievously.

Ash was silent, considering what Ari had just said. Everything he said was true; neither Ari nor Dawn knew that the other would be here. Also, he was right about Dusknoir and Ash's collision on the street; as he thought, he realised that he was, inadvertently, responsible for Ari and Dawn meeting. As the thought came to his mind, Ash looked Ari dead in the eye.

A minute earlier, Brock and Dawn had been eating breakfast in the dining room, glancing every so often at the two Trainers on the balcony. Dawn looked apprehensive, while Brock was curious.

"So what time did Ari come over here?" he asked Dawn casually, cutting into a syrup-laden pancake with his knife.

"Oh, about half an hour ago," Dawn invented wildly, trying to keep her voice steady as she bit into a piece of toast.

"Ah," Brock grunted. "So the two of you are a couple now, eh?" he said cheekily, shoving pancake into his mouth. "You've been here only two days, and you've already gotten yourself a boyfriend, and he's one of the strongest Trainers going around. Good work," he added, smirking, despite having a mouth full of food.

Dawn dropped her piece of toast on her plate and stared daggers at Brock. His smirk vanished instantly as she continued to eye him dangerously. Brock quickly grabbed his knife and fork and moved them away, fearing that his remark might have earned him a cutlery-related stab wound.

"Hey, it's not like I picked him out of a thousand Trainers and thought to myself, 'Hmm, he's a really good Trainer, and I've only just gotten here, I might as well go out with him for the sake of it'!" she stormed as she towered over Brock, who was slowly sinking into his chair. "It… just happened," she said, saying the last two words softly, unaware that Ari was saying the same words at the same time as her. She sank back into her seat as Brock sat up and eyed her curiously. And, just like Ash, Brock looked her straight in the eye.

"You like him, don't you?" Brock asked her, just as, outside on the balcony, Ash asked Ari, "You like her, don't you?"

As Ash looked at Ari's eyes, he could see a torrent of emotions going through his mind; he felt like he was reading Ari's mind. He saw passion, determination, and love, but he also saw fear, doubt and hesitation. Brock saw a similar range of emotions in Dawn, who looked to be battling with herself. The two turned away from their questioners, and didn't look back for several moments.

"I don't know," they both said at the same time. Ari turned back to Ash and Ash saw angry tears in his eyes. He felt deeply unnerved at this show of emotion; he knew he was intruding this time, but he had to push on, for Dawn's sake. Pikachu tugged nervously at his pants leg, trying to get Ash to stop the verbal offensive.

"I don't know," repeated Ari, his eyes stinging. "I think I do, but we've only just met each other. I can't answer your question for sure at the moment. I don't know her at all. I just know that we're interested in each other, because she told me, and I told her." He paused to brush the tears away from his eyes. "Are you happy now?" he asked Ash fiercely, and the latter physically stepped back in fear; such was the anger in Ari's voice, and, most of all, in his eyes. "Are you happy now that you've got what you wanted, even though you had no right to ask for it?"

Ash stared, unable to speak. As someone who had never fully embraced the idea of a romantic relationship, he was of course at a loss as to why Ari was getting so enraged over the subject. He frantically tried to think of an appropriate apology, but as he thought of one, the fire in Ari's eyes died down, and his expression crumbled. He slumped to the ground and shook his head, which sent his hair down his face, covering his eyes. He stayed in that position for a long time, and when he looked up, he saw Ash's hand in front of his face. He looked up further and saw Ash's face, full of remorse, as he grabbed the outstretched hand with his own, and as Ash pulled him up onto his feet.

Ari looked at Ash, who smiled. Ari smiled back and moved towards him, throwing his arm around and giving Ash a one-handed hug, the other still grabbing Ash's in a handshake. Ash returned the gesture, confused. As Ari stood back, he laughed at the expression on Ash's face.

"From where I come, it's a sign of friendship," Ari explained to a still bemused Ash, as Pikachu looked from one to another, just as puzzled as its Trainer. "Not even close to what I'm sure you're thinking. I am with Dawn, after all," he added, smirking. Ash smiled back at him, and after Pikachu had jumped back onto Ash, they walked back into the hotel room. What they saw met them with surprise; it appeared that Dawn had just smacked Brock over the head with a rolling pin, and the latter was cowering in the corner as Dawn raised the pin over her head, ready to strike.

"Who—said—that—it—was—your—business—to—interrogate—me—about—my—personal—life?" screamed Dawn in between whacks.

"Dawn! Ow!" said Brock, trying to explain while protecting himself with his arms, which were taking quite a beating. "I'm—Ow—only trying—OW—to look out for you—that hurts! Help!" he cried as he saw Ash and Ari hurrying over. Ari responded quickly by putting Dawn in a bear hug before lifting her up, throwing her over his shoulder in a fireman's grip, and carrying the now cursing girl away to cool off. Ash rushed forward to help his injured friend to his feet.

"Geez, Brock, what'd you do to deserve that?" asked Ash, laughing as Brock sat down in a chair. Brock slumped, staring at the opposite wall for a moment before he answered.

"I asked Dawn about her relationship with Ari," he said indifferently.

"So you did too?" Ash commented as he sat down next to Brock, who shot upright, surprised.

"You asked Ari bout it too?" he asked Ash incredulously.

"Yep," Ash said evenly. "It's a small world. I'd say our conversation went better than yours, though," he added with a snigger. "What'd you say to set Dawn off like that?"

"I asked Dawn if she likes Ari," Brock said dismissively with a wave of his hand. "What?" he asked Ash, whose jaw had just dropped.

"No way, that's what I asked Ari right before he went off!" Ash exclaimed.

"What can I say? It's a really small world."

"What did Dawn say?" Ash asked eagerly.

"She said that she honestly didn't know," Brock answered, rubbing his face with his hand. "She said that she'd never known what it was to like someone in that way, but she knew that they have something. Then…" He paused, frowning. "She started trying to pummel every square inch of me with that rolling pin."

"Geez, I should have just asked myself what she said," Ash muttered. "Ari said nearly the exact same thing about Dawn." He had purposefully left out Ari's reaction after he had explained his answer, as it was something that Ash still found disconcerting, and he didn't want to worry Brock. So, the two of them sat in silence for several moments before a bump in the next room made them stand up, sending their chairs falling to the ground. But it appeared that all was well, because next moment Dawn came through into the kitchen, red in the face.

"What's up with you?" Brock asked her defensively, raising his arms a little, expecting Dawn to come after him again. But Dawn clearly had no intention of hurting Brock anymore.

"I'm sorry for getting angry at you, Brock," she murmured, honestly. "I know you're just concerned about me, and I'm glad that you are. Really," she finished, rather awkwardly.

"Hey, nothing to it," said Brock encouragingly. "It wasn't my place to pry."

"Thanks," was her reply. The two friends smiled at one another. Ari walked back into the room, smiling as well.

"Everything working out well?" he asked politely. Everyone nodded, and his smile broadened. "Cool. Well, I've got to get going, last-minute things to do before I start my big campaign," he said.

Dawn groaned sarcastically. "Can't you stay just a little bit longer?" she asked him, pouting. But Ari wasn't going to fall for it.

"Sorry, Dawn, I really have to get going," he replied sadly. He walked over and locked her in a tight embrace. She hugged him back, just as tightly, clearly not wanting to let go, and let Ari go either. Finally, Ari gave her a soft kiss on the forehead, just like he did at the plaza the day before, and she let go. She leaned up and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, and he blushed. Ash and Brock snickered, but Ari smiled back at them, seemingly impervious to it. "I'll see you in a few hours," he said, squeezing his girlfriend's hand before heading out the door.

Trivia:

*The rolling pin was, of course, conjured out of Malletspace.

Quiz:

*Despite Dawn saying 'a thousand Trainers', how many Trainers exactly are participating in the tournament?