"Paul, hurry up!" Dawn yelled. The morning of the exhibition had come and Gary, Dawn, and Paul, were making their way down to the docks to catch the ship leaving for Hoenn.

"We're going to be late!" Gary shouted. A throbbing vein made its way to the surface of Paul's forehead.

(Ten minutes earlier)

"I know we're ten minutes early, but you'd think that Ash would meet us here before the time the boat leaves." Dawn said with her suitcase behind her. Paul sighed.

"Yeah, especially after you woke him up." Dawn's neck twitched.

"I thought he asked you to wake him up…" Paul gave her his most lackadaisical face, reserved for only the most lackadaisical situations. In this moment, he certainly had no daisies.

"No, he definitely asked you."

"So you didn't?"

"No, did you?" The two groaned.

"GARY!"

"How did you not even TRY to wake yourself up? Paul stop walking!" screamed Dawn.

"Because you said you would wake me up!"

"I'm not walking."

Dashing through the winding forest path, they reached the docks where a cross Professor Birch was waiting. His eyebrow twitched as much as the second hand on his watch. Which is an awful lot if you think about it.

"You're supposed to be representatives of the school! Exercise more becoming behavior!" The three bowed in apology.

"Wait, Ash isn't even here yet!" Dawn pointed out indignantly. Professor Birch contorted his eyebrows.

"Actually, he came on an hour earlier…" Gary hyperventilated, Dawn gasped, and Paul opened his mouth a few millimeters.

"Ash-early?!" Dawn ran onto the ship and to Ash's room. She found a figure swaddled in blankets, breathing softly. She sat down gently on the bed. Admiring the way the human body stayed alive in such a still state, Dawn was startled when she felt a sharp buzz go off on Ash's drawer. As she raised her hand to check his phone, five fingers suddenly grasped hers.

"Ahhhh!" she screamed.

"Ahhhh!" he screamed.

"What're you doing in here?"

"That's what I should be asking you, what're you doing in here, as in what are you doing anywhere early?" Ash thought for a bit.

"Well the time zone difference is about an hour, so I adjusted my internal clock so that my biological functions will remain at optimum levels in Hoenn time."

"That's surprisingly well-thought out."

"Not actually, Pikachu had a wet dream and-"

"PIKA!"

"Hahaha, okay." He turned to Dawn. "I actually get excited for these kinds of things." Quiet giddiness radiated from his body as he looked out the window at a sky with no ceiling. Seeing Ash excited about something (even quietly so) warmed Dawn to the point of reaching her hand out and grabbing his. Rather than being surprised, Ash looked down and seemed to take it in stride and looked into Dawn's eyes.

There's something to be said about being with someone important to you in the early morning. Humans are creatures meant to rise with the sun. In sleep, we are alone, trapped by Morpheus, begging for daylight stallions, instead of nightmares. But to wake up in these early hours where the air is cold yet the sky is bright, where noises are too loud, so silence drowns it out, where you feel like you have a whole journey to undergo...to see someone else so important to you in the dawn is a feeling like no other. Love doesn't have to shout in the early morning, because it has no competition while the earth is sleeping. It just has to whisper.

And it's with this feeling that the two smiled at each other and kissed ever so gently with a touch like gossamer. It was less "I love you," and more, "I want you next to me."

And it's in this moment that the food was done and-

"BREAKFAST TIME!" Gary yelled. Dawn and Ash slowly moved apart and gave each other a simple smile.

People often make a big deal about kisses. Kisses are just another way to communicate. Where you're so close, you can feel their breath and breathe their rhythm. So close that sight has no more meaning, and you can close your eyes and still completely understand the person right in front of you. Kisses are just touches that share more than the warmth of another.

(Slateport City, 12PM)

"By far, my favorite region." Gary said while looking out at the bustling city. A thriving farmers' and fishers' market had taken over the pier, where various sellers belted enticing words, attempting to get the masses of people gathered to buy something at a higher price than you would in a grocery store, under the guise of bartering. Professor Birch took a step in front of the group and gestured at the restless urbanity.

"Remember, the exhibition introduction starts at 6PM, so there's no excuse to be late. Because of their ties with our school, Devon Corp. has been kind enough to offer us rooms in their company office. So go ahead and relax, there's no need to be nervous, just-" Professor Birch turned around at the four representatives of the number-one ranked Pokemon academy in the world. Dawn and Gary were haggling with a shopkeeper over a jar of lettuce puree for Drew, Paul was lounging on a bench with a face that belonged in a morgue, and Ash was napping under a tree with Pikachu.

"Why do I even bother?" The Professor walked off towards the Pokemon Center, the repercussions of his seasickness not far behind.

"5 dollars!" shouted the stand-owner.

"4 dollars!" Gary responded.

"4.50!"

"3 dollars!"

"It doesn't work like that!"

"Oh come on, I just want it as a gag gift for my friend-"

"What?! You're using my award-winning blue-ribbon awarded lettuce puree as a GAG gift? Sonny, you've got something coming if you think I'm going to sell the greatest pureed lettuce to ever touch the tongues of mankind to an uncivilized child who knows nothing of its value!"

"Well, I mean if it's the greatest pureed lettuce, I guess I can-NO! Who the hell even purees lettuce anyway?"

"Obviously I do!" A not-completely uncomfortable silence followed.

"So 4.50?"

"Yeah, I'll ring you up."