UN: For those confused, I think the official Pearlshipping day is like Sep 28. But there actually 3 days & I think this is the less used day. But whatever, I had some time so... Anyways, I might continue this for the other days, I do have ideas to continue this on. Wish I had time to get a chapter out for Dusk and Dawn, but sadly I never got around to it. However, I'm still working on it!

Btw, I am far behind in the current anime. So if Ash knows someone here in the current anime and he's just meeting him here... well, I guess this is when before he meet him. In any case, I hope you enjoy :)

Goh was fast asleep as well as all of the pokemon, but Ash was wide awake yet again. Ever since he won the Alola League, he's thought more and more about Dawn. He's wondered how if she was ever able to win a cup, and how her pokemodeling was going. Ash headed outside in the middle of the night for a walk, as sleeping wasn't working out for him.

Pikachu heard him opening the door and followed him.

Ash and Pikachu sat under the tree and looked at the stars. "We've come a long way, huh buddy?" Ash asked.

Pikachu replied with, "pika?" He could tell something was bothering him, so he nuzzled up.

Ash petted Pikachu. He never wanted to separate with Dawn, but he understood that they had to take separate paths for their own goals. After they went their separate ways, he felt like he couldn't use Counter Shield or Ice Aqua Jet, as it was their technique. He couldn't keep using it as though it was only his strategy. Dawn was the one that was creative enough to thing of doing those moves, as Ash never was able to think of anything like that before meeting Dawn and after they went their separate ways.

"Pika pi!" Pikachu shouted. He was starting to really worry about Ash, as he not only left the lab, but is being extremely quiet.

Ash smiled and petted him. "I'm fine, buddy." He looked up at the sky. "Just taking in the scenery. It's nice and cool out tonight."

"Chuuu…" Pikachu knows something is bothering him. He doesn't understand why he can't just tell him.

Ash then gave a serious look. "I wonder… if Dawn knows I won the Alola League."

Pikachu gave a surprised look. He knows Dawn never left his mind after they separated ways.

Ash laughed. "I guess not… She's probably way too busy with all that she has to do." Ash looked down with a frown. "In fact… she's probably believes I'd never win any sort of league, with how many I have gone to and loss even before I'd met her."

Pikachu frowned, but then pulled out his phone and started poking Ash with it. "Pi ka!"

Ash smiled. "Its almost three in the morning, Pikachu. I can't call her now."

Pikachu shouted at him, telling him to call her when can.

Ash sighed. "I… don't even know her number." When Dawn left, Ash never thought about getting her contact information, especially when he never got anything to contact her with till Alola. "Even so, she's probably really busy…"

Pikachu sighed. It's obvious that he really wants to see Dawn again, so he doesn't understand why Ash is giving up so easily and making all these excuses. It's pretty odd for Ash. Pikachu ran off.

"Pikachu? Where are you going?" Ash quickly ran after him. "I'm sorry if I upset you!"

Pikachu led him to the entrance of Vermilion Airport.

Ash looked at Pikachu with a confused look. "But… I don't know where she is right now."

Pikachu shouted at him to go to her home and ask Johanna for Dawn's contact information and times she'd be available to call.

Ash looked at the empty lot on the other side of the fence with a serious look. It's the perfect time to go out. Goh's parents have some time off and they all agreed to take a vacation to Alola for a week. Ash was planning on taking this time to build up more to the master rank here, but he might be able to do it going to Sinnoh.

Pikachu yelled at him.

Ash put his hands up. "Okay! I know, I at least have to try! But… she hasn't visited me since Unova."

Pikachu wondered why only Dawn must make the plans to see him.

"And she might just be busy too… In which case, it's probably best I don't go bothering her."

Pikachu used Thunderbolt Ash to try and snap out whatever is bothering him.

Ash screamed as he got hit. "Okay… I'll go."

Goh and his family were heading on the plan to head to Alola. Ash told them to say hi to the people at the pokemon school there if they see them. He waved to them as they left and watched as the plane flew off from the window. He sighed, wishing he had some sort of human friend there coming with him. "Maybe I should just wait till Goh gets back to do this… He'd love to have the chance to catch more Sinnoh pokemon!"

Pikachu looked at him with a frown, wondering why Ash thinks Goh must go with them. It's not like Goh knows Dawn.

Ash looked at his plane ticket with a frown. "I guess there's no point wasting this though."

The plane for the Sinnoh region came, and Ash headed on it with Pikachu on his shoulder and his pokemon in his pokeballs. He sat down in his seat and decided to text Goh to calm his nerves. However, Goh didn't text back. Ash sighed. "He must not have his phone on him and is having a blast with his parents…" Ash thought. He went to text Chloe, but she replied to him that she was in school and to not bother her. Ash sighed, as he didn't really have other contacts besides adults who were also busy at the moment. It was going to be a long plane ride, so he turned to the person sitting next to him. "Hi, I'm Ash!"

"Ash… you a fan?" the guy asked.

Ash gave him a confused look. "A fan…?"

He sighed. "Guess not."

"I know who you are, Piers! I love you!" A girl screamed.

He crossed his arms with an annoyed look. "Of course you do… You followed me from Galar."

Ash smiled at him. "You're from Galar? How cool! I got a dynamax band from Leon there!" Ash showed him the band.

Piers looked at him with an irritated look. "Yeah… That's nice."

Ash gave him a confused look. "Something the matter?"

"No offense kid, but I'm just not a fan of that thing."

"That thing?" Ash asked.

"Only weak newbs like Dynamaxing!" the fangirl said.

"Oh…" Ash looked out the window with an uncomfortable look.

What felt like years on the plane, Ash finally made it to Jublife City's airport. Ash and Pikachu stretched out after getting off the plane and decided to head somewhere to eat.

He walked around the city, remembering when he decided to try contest with Dawn. It was a different experience and came out respecting Dawn and other coordinators for what they must do. It was hard seeing her work so hard, only to fail. Ash somewhat understands it a little, as he has lost plenty of battles. However, he can just rechallenge until he wins. When Dawn loses a chance to earn a ribbon, she lost out completely on it and they have to travel elsewhere to try to earn another ribbon. It was strange, as he never thought he'd ever enter any official contest until he met Dawn.

After they ate, Ash decided to rest at the pokecenter for the night. Even though he might not be able to sleep, he knows it'd be better to continue traveling in the daytime.

The Nurse Joy came out and recognized Ash. "Oh, you where the one that traveled with Dawn?"

Ash smiled. "Yeah!"

"It's good to see you again! Is Dawn with you?"

Ash gave a serious look. "No, but I'm here trying to meet up with her again."

"I see. Well, I hope you'll be able to see her again."

"Yeah, me too…" Ash looked down with a worried look.

"She's really grown from when she started, hasn't she?"

Ash smiled. "Yeah. I had no worries about that though. I knew she'd be great."

"Oh, what made so sure?"

Ash looked away with a small smile. "She just always… seemed so creative and really helped me on my quest."

"I see. Well, I need to get back to work. It was nice seeing you again!"

"Yeah, it was nice seeing you too!"

Ash headed to his room with Pikachu fast asleep on the bed. However, Ash could not sleep. He wondered if Dawn really wants to see him again. Afterall, he thinks he's so childish, or so he gathered from her visit in Unova. Would she really have the time and patience to want deal with him again. Ash sighed, believing that was the reason why she only visited him once. "The visit in Unova was enough for her to be done with me…" Ash thought. He sighed, wondering if he should just go back. His eyes went to Pikachu, who was the one who convinced him to go. Does he have reason to believe that Dawn wants to see him again, or that he forgets that Dawn sees him as 'such a little kid!' He understands Iris called him that just to tease him and knows she's a great and supportive friend. But when Dawn joined in in calling him that, for some reason it hurt him hard. And now he might understand why. Ash crossed his arms with a frown, realizing that she did spend a lot of time with him regardless and did seem to enjoy spending time with them. But that also could be that she enjoyed spending time with Iris and Cilan. Ash sighed as he sat on the bed, wondering what he should do.

When he looked at the clock, Ash realized it was getting close to be six in the morning and thus failed to get any sleep again. He decided to go and get ready for the day, still unsure what his next course of action should be. After his shower, he decided to see what Pikachu thinks. When they were eating breakfast, Ash told Pikachu about his worries with Dawn and Pikachu watched as he tilted his head.

Pikachu is quite worried about his trainer. He doesn't understand why Ash was this insecure. Dawn was extremely happy to visit him and went through the best and worst with him in their travels through Sinnoh. It just doesn't make sense to Pikachu that Dawn would just suddenly dislike him after visiting them in Unova, so he told Ash that and told him to just go and see her.

Ash smiled. "You're right, thanks buddy." He looked at his food with a serious look. "It's just so strange… I don't know why I'm getting so worked up about this." He laughed a bit.

Pikachu sighed, not really understanding why ether. But he sensed that Ash was feeling better and smiled with that knowledge.

Ash traveled to Sandgem Town for a stop. He went to visit Professor Rowan for a bit as he was in the area. As he stayed there, he remembered how Dawn saved Pikachu and made sure he got back to him before starting her journey. It was for that reason that Ash was completely fine traveling with her and enjoyed every moment with her.

They talked a bit, Rowan told him about what all Dawn's done after Ash asked. She has been really busy with pokemodeling. But also has won the Contest Cup in Kanto, and it was around the time he won the Alolan championship. Ash was glad to hear that she's doing so well.

After spending the night at the professor's place, he went onwards to Twinleaf Town. He smiled as he arrived, feeling like he's returned home. Ash took a deep breath as he walked up to Dawn's house. He then knocked on the door.

"Just a minute…" a voice shouted. Moments later, Johanna opened the door. "Oh Ash! What a surprise! What brings you here?"

Ash gave a nervous smile. "Well, you see, I came all this way to see if… you have a way I can contact Dawn?"

Johanna smiled. "Well, you have great timing, Ash! Because there's an easy way to do that now!"

Ash gave her a confused look.

Johanna turned around and shouted, "dear, you have a visitor!"

"All right, coming…" A familiar female voice responded. Not too long after, she walked right in front of the door, and she and Ash locked eyes.

"Dawn!?" Ash shouted.

Dawn dashed up to Ash and tackle hugged him with a huge smile on her face.

Ash gave a shocked look with a small blush on his face, but slowly returned the hug. "it's… good to see you again."

"Yeah…" After a while, Dawn pulled away with a huge blush. "Come in! There's so much I need to tell you!"

Ash smiled. "Sounds good… There are some things I'd like to tell you as well."

Dawn and Ash went inside, and they went to living room and sat on the couch. They talked a bit, and Dawn told how she became close friends with May and Serena.

Ash looked away with a thoughtful look when Dawn talked about Serena. The last time he saw Serena, she kissed him. Ash didn't know how to react, as when he happened his thoughts drifted to Dawn.

"So, have you heard about May and Drew?" Dawn asked.

"No, what about them?"

"They're an item now."

"Alright! I bet they are completely happy together!"

Dawn laughed. "They seem really happy together. So, after you won the Alola league, what have you been up to?"

"Well, I met up with this guy named Goh, and we have done research tasks and I've gotten into ranked battles to have the chance to battle again the best of the best, Leon!"

"Wow! That sounds amazing!"

"It's pretty fun, but really challenging as well."

"Well, I'm sure you'll make it though. You are the only one who managed to beat Tobias's Darkrai after all."

Ash smiled, hearing she has confidence in him. "Thanks, Dawn."

Dawn crossed her arms. "So… what made you want to see me, anyways?"

Ash narrowed his eyes as he looked down with a serious look. "I just been thinking about you a lot, and… just wanted to see you again."

Dawn looked at him with a surprised look.

"I'm sorry…"

Dawn gave him a confused look. "For what?"

"For taking so long to come and see you…"

"I understand. You were just really busy."

Ash shook his head. "Come on, Dawn. You where busy, yet still came to see me in Unova."

Dawn looked down with a frown, but then looked at him with a smile. "You're here now, though. So, there's no need to worry!"

Ash smiled a bit, hearing her say that again.

Dawn looked away with narrowed eyes. "And I'm really glad you came… I thought you were mad at me."

"What, why would I be mad at you?"

Dawn frowned. "You… seemed really upset that I teased you along with Iris, and that's why you stopped talking to me…"

Ash laughed.

Dawn gave him a confused look. "What's so funny?"

"It's just that… not too long ago I thought you hated me, because you saw me as such a kid."

"What? No, I was just messing around!"

Ash smiled. "I got around to understanding that…" he patted Pikachu.

Dawn frowned at him. "It did bother you, though. I'm sorry…"

Ash smiled at her. "I forgive you, Dawn." He looked away with a serious look. "I just realize that I'm hear now… just how ridiculous I've been."

Dawn gave him a confused look. 'Ridiculous?"

"I've been wanting to see you for so long, but… continued to make excuses as why I shouldn't. And made you think that I hated you."

Dawn narrowed her eyes and smiled. "I'm glad…"

Ash looked at her with a confused look. "You're glad?"

"I wanted to see you too, for a very long time." Dawn looked at him with a smile. "And so… I'm so glad that you came, even if it's been a while."

Ash beamed when he heard this.

They spent the rest of the day catching up, then the next morning quickly came. Dawn had to go met up with Paris for preparation for the next pokemodel event. Ash was fast asleep, as he finally was able to get a good night's sleep. Pikachu had to thunderbolt him awake, and just catch Dawn just before she headed in the car.

"Ash, you could've continued to rest. We know you had a long journey to get here…" Dawn started.

"I just feel I have so much more I want to say to you!" Ash shouted.

Dawn looked away with a smile, feeling the same. But at the same time, she wasn't sure what to do.

Ash faced away from her. "Sorry, I… it really was nice to see you again. I really missed you."

"I missed you too."

"I wish… we had more time together."

Dawn looked at him with a smile. "But there's no need to worry. I'm sure we'll see other again someday!"

Ash looked down.

"And we gave each other numbers for us to call me in our free time!"

Ash looked at her with a small smile. "Yeah… sounds good." Ash ran up and hugged her. "I just wish I can stay with you and…"

Dawn stood in shock with a huge blush on her face as she hugged back instinctively.

Ash pulled back and looked away. "Sorry, I don't know what came over me…" He gave a nervous laugh.

Dawn looked down. "Ash, I…" She looked seriously in Ash's eyes. "I wanted to tell you… ever since I visited you in Unova…" Dawn looked down with a uncertain look.

"What is it?"

"…How do you feel about Serena?"

Ash gave her a confused look. "Why would you wonder that for such a long time?"

Dawn looked away with a blush. "…She really likes you, you know."

"I know…"

Dawn gave Ash a surprised look.

"I just… see her nothing more than a friend though." Ash looked at her, realizing that he feels a lot more for Dawn than Serena or any of his other friends.

"…I see."

They looked away with their hearts beating fast, then a loud beep from the car broke surprised them.

"Oh, I should get going!" Dawn shouted. Dawn then ran into the car and shut the door. She rolled down the window. "Bye, Ash."

Ash put on a smile. "Bye…"

The car started to drive off.

"I love you!" Ash shouted.

Dawn gasped with a deep blush. Dawn asked the driver to stop the car, and she ran out after it stopped. "You… why are just now saying that?"

"I just realized this now…"

Dawn stopped in front of him with tears in her eyes.

"I… love how sweet, but strong and talented you are. I feel like I'm the happiest when I'm with you and feel so uplifted around you…"

"Ash…"

"And…" He looked away with a smile. "Your smile, I can never get it out of my head."

Dawn looked down.

"Sorry, I…"

Dawn grabbed the top of his shirt and placed her head in his chest.

"Dawn…?"

"I wanted to tell you in Unova… I really like you!"

Ash gave a shocked look.

"I loved how so supportive you were with me, and that you were so helpful with getting me to be able to use Ice Aqua Jet and… I feel the happiest when I'm with you."

Ash wrapped his arms around her. "Dawn…"

They held onto each for a while.

"…You probably should go," Ash said.

"Right…"

They let go of each other and held each other's hand.

"I'll call you whenever I can," Dawn said.

Ash smiled. "I'll be waiting."