I guess old habits die hard.

Hello everyone! Bet you thought I had died! Well, guess again, cause here I am!

This fanfiction is the result of taking someone who loved Pokemon all his life, and a die hard pearlshipper, , take Pokemon away for a year from him, got him to play X and Y, hype him the hell up with everything Pokemon, and this is my life right now.

As you may know, my usual style is to add an OC based around me to add to the story (You know no one better then you know yourself) but in this case, while it will still occur slightly, I want to focus this story around Ash and Dawn, so, here we go!

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Aboard the ferry that would take him back to Kanto from Unova, the Pokemon trainer, Ash Ketchum, stared up into the night sky. Ash was thinking about everything he had done over the years he had traveled. He had done so much, seen so many people and Pokemon, and made so many friends, people he never would - no, never COULD forget, even if he wanted to. Looking up into the night sky, seeing the stars that he had seen every night, he knew how lucky and happy he really was. He wouldn't change the experience for anything in the world, because this experience had been his whole world.

Now, he was headed home, back to Kanto.

He thought of home, and all his Pokemon waiting there for him. All of which were his friends, all helping to make his dream become reality. He thought of his Mom, who constantly worrying about him, so she would obviously be happy to see him. And of course, there was Professor Oak, who was always interested in studying the various Pokemon he caught when out in different regions. There would be so many people who wanted to see him again.

He also thought about all of the friends he had made over the years. Everyone everywhere, from Kanto, his first journey, he met Brock and Misty, to Cilian and Iris, who he just left back in Unova. Ash allowed himself to smile a small amount. His memories were very precious to him. But the smile didn't last for too long.

While he obviously wanted to go home, he found himself missing someone in particular.

Dawn.

Ash had met Dawn in Sinnoh, and though they didn't get on too well to start, Ash and Dawn had grown close, of that there was no doubt. Ash felt that she was, by far and wide, one of his closest friends. Give or take ambitions, they were nearly one in the same.

Dawn had the dream to be a top co-ordinator, which Ash took as being similar to his dream of being a Pokemon master. They aimed high, to be the best at what they wanted to be.

But, there was more to Dawn then how similar they were.

Ash tried to shake Dawns face from his head. He missed her, of course, but he missed May and Misty as well, and he had never had anything like this before.

Ash sighed. It was late. He decided to go and get some rest. Tomorrow he would arrive home in Kanto. He went back into the sleeping quarters of the ferry, where he collapsed onto the bed.

"Pika pika?" Pikachu had woken up slightly, but was still very tired. He only had one eye open.

"Oh, sorry, buddy." Ash said, petting his partner Pokemon. "Go back to sleep, pal. We'll be back home, soon."

Pikachu needed no more instruction, and fell asleep next to Ash's shoulder.

Ash smiled, and closed his own eyes.

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"C'mon, Piplup!"

Through Veridian forest, a Sinnoh Co-ordinator ran as quick as her legs would carry her, alongside her partner penguin Pokemon, Piplup.

"Piiiiiip! Piplup!"

Dawn turned to see her Piplup gone bright red out of breath, needing a few minutes to regain it's breath, much to it's trainers frustration.

"Piplup! Ash's boat arrives in the morning! We're really far behind! I want to surprise him for when he gets home!" Dawn told her Pokemon.

"Piplup! Pip pip pip Piplup!" Her Pokemon protested. Piplup and Dawn had been together long enough for Dawn to sort of understand what was being said.

"Hey, you're the one who cried when they had to leave, remember?" Dawn said, folding her arms smugly, in a sort of victorious manner.

Piplup went red again, this time out of embarrassment. He then found himself being picked up by his trainer, tucked into her chest as she ran down the road.

"Well, if you can't run, I'll carry you then! If we keep going at this speed, we might get there in time!" Dawn said, almost shouting as she ran.

"Piplup?" From what Dawn could see, Piplup was concerned about how much energy she had used up.

"No need to worry about me, Piplup! You focus on getting your breath back so you can keep up with me!"

Dawn kept running as quick as she could, ignoring any feelings of exhaustion she had, no matter how much they pulled at her.

She kept a massive smile of her face the whole time too. She had thought of hundreds of reactions that Ash might have, some she found realistic, and some where she knew she was downright fantasising at that point. Some of the thoughts made her laugh, and the others made her blush.

She pushed the thoughts to one side of her head, and focused on running down the pathway.

"C'mon, C'mon, C'moooooon!" Dawn said to herself as she ran down the pathway.

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Ash sat at the tip of the ferry, in the exact same place he was the night before, only this time he was with his Pokemon, who had finished eating their breakfast. Ash had just returned his Unfezant, when Oshawatt jumped out of it's Pokeball of it's own accord.

"Osha Osha!" Oshawatt said, jumping up and down in his excitable manner.

"I get it." Ash smiled. "You want to wave to everyone when we arrive home."

Oshawatt stood upright, with its chest puffed up, and nodded. "Oshawatt, Osha." He then jumped up and climbed on Ash's shoulder, opposite to Pikachu.

Oshawatt reminded Ash of Dawn's Piplup. He was a very proud and confident Pokemon. Ash remembered when Oshawatt climbed into his shoulder the first time, and had pushed Pikachu off!

He remembered Oshawatt and Piplups rivalry when they met again in Unova. They were so similar, and fought over Meloetta. He chuckled at the memories.

"Pika pika!" Pikachu pointed out to sea.

Ash turned, and saw the land of the Kanto region. "We're back home, buddy."

Seeing land meant that they were only a few minutes away from the port. Oshawatt looked from right to left, examining the land around him. A flock of Pidgey nestled in the nearby trees, whom seemed to be examining Oshawatt. They had never seen a Pokemon like Oshawatt before, and they examined with piercing eyes.

"Oshaaaaa..." Oshawatt went grey lightly. He had never seen Pokemon like Pidgey either.

"Don't worry, Oshawatt, its only a flock of Pidgey. They're like the Pidove of Kanto , they won't hurt you badly. You're stronger than they are, anyway." Ash said, reassuring Oshawatt. Oshawatt seemed to calmed down, but remained nervous about the unknown Pidgey Pokemon.

It wasn't long until the port became visible, and a sea of waving hands, greeting the travellers came Into sight. They had arrived in Veridian City, so Ash still had a ways to walk before reaching Pallet Town.

Ash picked up Oshawatt and pointed to the city "See that, Oshawatt? That's Veridian City. We'll have a bit of a walk before we get home, but its not far."

Oshawatt smiled and laughed, excited at the prospect of exploring this vast new region.

Once the Ferry docked, and all of their belongings had been gathered, Ash then had the problem of keeping Oshawatt from running to explore every alleyway, well, or building it could see. By nature, Oshawatt was a very curious Pokemon, and had often gone missing, but this was a bit much. Oshawatt didn't know it's way around the city, and could end up seriously lost.

"Oshawatt, stop messing around!" Ash yelled, chasing after his Pokemon, who was happily skipping ahead of him, exploring and laughing. He carried on until he found himself in a dead end alley- way, blocked by Ash on the only exit.

"Oshawatt, you can't be running off like that. You could get lost, or hurt. Remember, Oshawatt aren't usually found in Kanto, so some people might try to catch you." Ash said, kneeling down by Oshawatt.

Oshawatt looked down to the ground, and seemed to be apologising "Osha..."

"You'll get to look around later, Oshawatt. " Ash said, smiling. He reached for Oshawatts Pokeball. " You should get some rest, before you tire yourself out."

For some unknown reason to Ash, Oshawatt and Pikachu both began to hold back laughter. "Huh? What's so funny?"

"Pika pi!" Pikachu suddenly ran behind Ash, as if he had just seen someone.

"Pikachu?" Ash began to turn, and was almost instantly tackled by someone, hugging him.

"Guess who?!"

Within about a second, Ash instantly knew who it was. It was a girl, someone who he recognised. The person had hugged him in such a way that their head was right next to his, but on his shoulder, so he couldn't see their face. What he could see, however, was a glimpse of a white cap, covering up the top of what was their blue hair. it was done up with yellow hair clips which was practically all he needed to know who it was.

As if he needed more information, he saw exactly whom Pikachu had run off to see. It was a Piplup. Pikachu and the Piplup obviously knew each other, and were playing together, running around like old friends.

And then, just to really confirm it, Oshawatt seemed to run up to the Piplup, and at first seemed to be in massive disapproval of it, then alternated between staring the Piplup down, and greeting it as an old friend.

Ash now had no doubts.

"Dawn?!"

As he said the name, the person moved their head so Ash could see their beaming face. It was Dawn!

"Correct!" She said, smiling brightly.

When Ash saw her face, he felt his heart jump. Dawn had her bright smile on her face, which had never failed to make him smile himself. Her face was also a light pink, so she was lightly blushing. He also saw her blue eyes briefly, before she closed them and smiled at him. This was the Dawn he remembered, but she also seemed different then before too. She had a sense that she had matured since he had seen her last.

Ash then took Dawn back into another hug, unexpected by Dawn. This had gone down as one of the scenarios that she thought impossible.

"I can't believe it!" Ash said, after letting Dawn go.

"I heard from professor Oak that you were headed for Kanto, so I thought I'd wait for you here." Dawn said with a bright smile.

"So you were already in Kanto?" Ash asked. He assumed that was why she was speaking with Oak.

"Yep." Dawn said. In actual fact, this was a complete lie. She had been in Hearthome city with her Buneary's Poke model group, when she heard Ash was headed for Kanto. She had gone out of her way to get to Kanto specifically to see Ash.

But she was hardly going to admit that she went out of her way for the sole reason of just seeing him. To him, anyway.

"I actually was going to Oaks labs anyway, so it all fitted perfectly!" Dawn said, trying to make her story as believable as possible.

"That really IS lucky!" Ash said, with a smile on his face.

Dawn smiled back at him. Ash seemed really happy to see her. She was glad he was happy to see her. The last thing she wanted was to be a problem, or someone who got in his way.

In actual fact, to Ash, she was the complete opposite. He couldn't be happier when she was around. He relied on her friendship, more than anything. She wasn't some kind of problem. She was the complete opposite, no question.

In actual fact, they had just worried about each others dreams mutually. Dawn was worried she was risking Ash's dream by following hers, and Ash was worried he was risking Dawns dream by following his.

"Osha Osha!" Ash felt Oshawatt jump onto his head to see Dawn.

"Daaawwwww, aren't you still the cutest thing?" Dawn squealed as she saw Oshawatt. Oshawatt seemed very happy with himself, and stood upright on Ash's head with a massive grin. "Oshawatt!"

Piplup gave a small grunt.

Ash smiled "isn't he? Curious one, this guy." He chuckled, then brought up Oshawatts Pokeball. "Return Oshawatt, you need some rest." A red beam engulfed Oshawatt, before it was returned to its Pokeball.

Dawn smiled again, but deep down, she had the niggling fear that She and Ash would be separated again soon, but she pushed it away. He was here now. That was all that mattered to her.

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While Ash would have happily spoken with Dawn in Veridian City all day, he had told everyone he would be arriving in Pallet Town that day, so they had to carry on down the route down to Pallet Town.

As they walked, the fear Dawn felt a tug on her heart, which brought her down.

She didn't want to be apart from Ash, but as soon as they reached Pallet Town, she had few doubts that Ash wouldn't sit around and stay there for long.

"Where are you planning on headed next?" Dawn asked, completely out of nowhere.

Ash looked a bit shocked for a second, before relaxing. It wasn't so much the fact she was asking, but more that he hadn't been expecting it, completely out of nowhere.

"I'm not sure." Ash said. He hadn't thought about it so much "I thought maybe I'd take a bit of time off traveling."

Dawn gave Ash an odd look, followed by a grin. "Ash Ketchum, NOT immediately setting off on some grand adventure? "

"Hey, i need a rest too sometimes, y'know! Ash said, returning the grin Dawn gave him. "Willpower'll only take me so far, and leaves me exhausted afterwards."

The grin Dawn had given Ash had not been intentional. She was genuinely happy. Maybe now she could spend some time with Ash.

" What about you?" Ash asked.

Dawn's grin faded. She had no real reason for being in Kanto other than seeing Ash. "Urmm... I thought I'd just enjoy the scenery in Kanto for a while, I guess."

"Well, enjoy that scenery!"

Dawn looked in the same direction as Ash, to see the overlook of Pallet Town. It was much larger than Dawn had imagined. She had thought of a small village, but it really was a large town. Looking at Ash, he had his trademark grin on his face. Dawn recognised the feeling.

It was the feeling of being home.

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So, there we have it, my return piece! Let me know what you think, it's been a while since I wrote, and I'm so happy With the result. I plan to continue this ya !