I'm back! As promised here is the first part of the fourth installment in my 'Heart' series. As this is a continuation of the overall series it will begin with Part LXXX as 'Dreams Come From the Heart' ended with Part LXXIX. Unlike with Dreams, you should probably read at the very least Dreams before you read 'Winning Takes Heart' because there is a lot of references and spoilers to Dreams and the Supplement to it, as well as the occasional reference to Part X in 'Home Is Where the Heart Is' but you should still be able to follow this story without out it. As with Dreams, Winning is a full length story and then some and will be longer as there are currently around 100 Parts planned with the first 10 already drafted and ready for edits though the average Part length should be a little shorter than they were with Dreams. Currently the upload schedule will be weekly with Supplements coming between relevant Parts but this could become a fortnightly schedule depending on the real world so don't expect what I accomplished with Dreams as that was an efficiency I don't think I can match. As with Dreams, I will be releasing a few supplemental pieces to Winning that are designed to complement this series with events that have occurred during and in some cases are alluded to by this series but were either cut or not included in this series due to my poor planning, and will focus more on romance and battles than anything else and will be announced when the Part before the events is released. In addition I will likely be sporadically releasing pieces in a collection called 'Problems of the Heart' starting next month if I have the time and that will be a collection of short stories where Sabrina aids various girls who lost Ash to Dawn with 3 already planned out but unlike other side pieces, some of these will have occurred during Dreams, before Winning and at times during Winning so rough locations based on the Parts published will be noted for those curious as to where in the timeline those events occur. That is it for this long administrative note so onto the summery and standard starting note.

Winning Takes Heart is a continuation of the story so far and again starts in Pallet Town after Ash and Dawn have gotten back there following their time on Indigo Plateau that ended in success and crushing heartbreak for them. This time however they know what they are doing next, they are going with May to Kalos so that Ash can challenge the gyms there and try to finally win a Conference while Dawn helps May in the first Kalos Contest Circuit. New and old friends and rivals await or join them in Kalos as they continue their journey in a new region. What adventures lie on the horizon? What challenges will they face? Only time will tell as Ash and Dawn work together as Ash tries to finally win it all.

Unlike the prior installments, Ash will start at 18 years old (he was 17 for most of Dreams), while Dawn will be 17 during it though she will be 18 by the end. As with past installments, this will be rated T for occasional swearing and implied situations. That is all for this long intro note, please enjoy the sequel to 'Dreams Come From the Heart' with the first installment of Winning Takes Heart. Part LXXX: Shock to the System.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.

Part LXXX: Shock to the System

The party was in full swing as everyone gathered celebrated Ash's 18th birthday as well as his and Dawn's sendoff to Kalos in a few days. It wasn't as well attended as the year before, but it was certainly less drama filled as there was not upset Angie or angry Kenny or May having a breakdown with Misty this time around.

No, this time it was just all of their friends who could make it gathered in the marquee they'd set up on Professor Oak's ranch chatting and catching up after another year of adventures. There would be some drama of course but nothing compared to the year before as it would be more friendly rivalries rather than breakdowns and rage.

Currently Dawn was holding Ash's hand as they chatted with Anabel, Sabrina, and Misty about various things. The first two were new this year as Ash had reconnected with both during their year together in Kanto.

Meeting Sabrina had been planned as she was the Saffron City Gym Leader, so their paths were bound to cross when she accepted Ash's full battle challenge as part of Ash's training regime for the Indigo Conference. Anabel, on the other hand, had been an accident when they ran into her, quite literally, on the way to Cremini Town for Dawn's 7th Contest of the year.

Dawn had become friends with both women even if she'd learned about Anabel's feelings for Ash almost as soon as they met. Still, she had avoided any drama and had a civil chat with the Salon Maiden of the Battle Tower where they'd addressed everything, and Anabel had made it clear that she was not going to cause them any problems.

Naturally Dawn had still battled Anabel a few days later because that was just what Dawn did these days with her love rivals, it was a tradition at this point. The only surprise had been Dawn's unexpected victory though that was due to a mixture of extremely good tactics, type advantages, luck, and Anabel's own mistakes rather than Dawn being better than her.

Sabrina on the other hand held no romantic feeling for Ash but rather immense gratitude towards him for how he had helped get her life together when they'd first met almost 8 years ago now. After Ash's battle with her, they'd heard of Sabrina's tale and journey to regain control of her powers and never give into them again like she'd done before. It was certainly not something that Dawn had expected but she was glad the woman had control and did her best to help others with similar, though not exact as Sabrina was unique, issues.

It had been Sabrina's journey to regain control that had brought her and Anabel together as friends. It was why Anabel had gone to Saffron City after supporting Ash in the Indigo Conference to catch up with the gym leader and bring her here.

Sabrina's struggles where also partially why Misty was with them as the two gym leaders had formed a friendship since Dawn and Misty had had their own heart to heart in Hoenn after the rather shaky start to their friendship. Misty had realized her own issues with anger and jealousy and Sabrina, who had also needed the meeting to atone for a past indiscretion towards Misty, had helped her fellow gym leader.

As Misty's struggles directly related to Dawn, it centered around Misty's love for Ash, Dawn was grateful for Sabrina's help even if Misty had mended their friendship before talking with Sabrina. Misty was important to Ash, just as important as Dawn and she knew it, so being friends with her and not in a perpetual and petty war was a good thing for them. Dawn had seen the results when Misty had come to the Indigo Conference and already thanked Sabrina for all she'd done.

That had been at the start of the party though. Now they were currently chatting about battle strategies common in Kalos, which Sabrina knew from 2 years in the region where she'd spent most of that time as a student of the psychic type gym leader there.

However, these were things that Dawn didn't need to really pay attention to other than to note them just in case. She had won the Kanto Grand Festival a little over a month ago, so she was now a Top Coordinator and going to Kalos to help judge their first year of Contests with May. At the same time Ash would be challenging the gyms and entered the League Conference there as he tried to win it after coming within a second of winning the Indigo Conference a few weeks back.

Dawn took this moment to look around the party to see what the other guests were up too. All but one had arrived by this point so she could get a good look around at them while they waited for the last to show up.

May and Max were chatting with Professor Oak and Gary as they looked over Max's Gardevoir with intrigue, no doubt asking him a lot of questions about Gardevoir. That was to be expected as Gardevoir was one of the newly classified fairy types following a year of research that had concluded that a new type had appeared.

Dawn knew that May had gone to Hoenn to watch Max in the Hoenn League Conference there right after she'd supported Ash on the Plateau. Max had reached the quarters in his first Conference and was pleased with himself. He and Ash had already had a full discussion about their Conference performances when Max had arrived before they agreed to a full battle of sorts the next day. Max had also announced that he would be coming with them to Kalos next year so that he could compete against Ash for the first time.

That had been an interesting challenge and Ash was really looking forward to it. Max had been waiting years to really be a rival to Ash, who Dawn knew the boy saw as a mentor, and now it was a reality. Still, she was going to support her boyfriend of over a year now, that was an anniversary that they were going to celebrate in Kalos, when the time came but it would be nice for him to have a proper rival throughout the year while they were there. Ash always enjoyed a rival who could push him, and Max would do that.

Dawn continued her surveillance and her eyes fell on an interesting group of trainers all chatting, or more realistically listening to Barry's energetic, fast, taking and Morrison's booming voice. It was the 4 Unova trainers who had competed with Ash when he was there and again this year in Kanto, so it hadn't been an issue for them to come to the party again.

They had been joined by the boisterous Morrison who was a rival of Ash's from Hoenn and Barry, a rival from Sinnoh who still forgot that he and Dawn were from the same town. It was certainly and interesting group for sure and Dawn took note of how it formed.

Morrison had been the first to approach the Unova four and ask them about their home region. Apparently, Dawn could hear the story from where she was, he'd lost in the finals of the Lily of the Valley Conference to a trainer from Nimbasa City and was eager to see the region. He'd already decided to head out there after the party so was chatting with the Unova lot about what to expect there.

It was good for them as it turned out that Trip was heading to Hoenn next so he could chat to Morrison about it while Cameron and Stephan were heading to Sinnoh for their next adventure. Dawn expected them to ask her about it at some point but Barry was there so they could ask him, when they could get a word in that is.

The other Twinleaf Town resident had joined that group by running into Bianca at full speed and being hurled into the rest of them while yelling he would fine her. Bianca, for her part, started scolding Barry for it before Ash called out to them to remind Bianca that that was what she did to him only always near a body of water, so it was justice in a sense.

That had shut Bianca up and led to her and Barry talking. It turned out that Barry, who'd come top 4 in the recent Silver Conference was going to head to Unova next and Bianca was going to Johto so they could talk about that.

Speaking of Johto, Dawn's sweep found the Johto couple they knew who were present. Lyra and her boyfriend Khoury had met them in Sinnoh, and she had been the one to make Dawn realize that she liked Ash, before they returned to Johto. They'd come to the party last year and revealed that they were going to be in Kanto for a while. Something Ash and Dawn had forgotten until they ran into the couple on Cinnabar Island and realized that Lyra was likely going to be in the Indigo Conference that year as well, so she became a rival.

Turned out she was the surprise of the Conference as she'd gotten to the semifinals in her second Conference before losing to Ash. Lyra's run was a surprise because the other 3 semifinalists were seen as favorites for the Conference given their past experience.

It had been a memorable match because at one point Ash's Porygon2 facing Lyra's Porygon, two rare Pokémon that had never been seen in the Conference before. Ash had won but Lyra had put up a surprisingly good fight to prove she how much she'd improved since they'd met her in Sinnoh.

It had been a huge confidence boost for Lyra to get that far so she was eager for her next Conference. Her and Khoury were going to head to a new region soon to compete there and this time Khoury was going to try his hand at being a coordinator while there. They hadn't announced which region yet, but Dawn had a feeling that it would likely be one of the 4 regions not in this part of the world.

Right now, they were talking to another couple and two of the new attendees this year who had been invited thanks to Ash and Dawn's recent adventure. Giselle was a beautiful woman the same age as Ash who'd met him back when he was a rookie trainer, and she was a student at the prestigious Pokémon Tech. Back then she'd been, well, a stuck-up bitch but after getting beaten by Ash in a battle where she had a major type advantage and facing her own failures in repeating a course Giselle had mellowed out and found herself on a series of journeys.

They'd learned all of this when they ran into her by accident while traveling between Cerulean and Vermillion cities when they'd stumbled upon Pokémon Tech. It had been an interesting side adventure for them, but Giselle had shown she was much nicer now and a teacher at her alma mater shaping the next generation. She'd been invited and proceeded to bring her boyfriend Joe, the kid who had started out that adventure for Ash all those years ago, with her.

Joe had spent years traveling the globe, but he never advanced past a quarterfinal in any of the Conferences he'd entered and had recently retired to teach at Pokémon Tech as well. That had been where he and Giselle had reconnected and started dating a few months back. It was a cute story and brought Dawn's mind and eyes to the last people present at the party, everyone else invited had been unable to attend.

It wasn't hard to find the last group, they were the loudest of all. Whenever you put Iris and Georgia within 5 miles of each other they would end up finding each other and butting heads. This time it was worse because of the reveal of fairy types and their immunity to dragon types had added fuel to their rivalry, and Iris's nightmares apparently as she was now deathly terrified of fairy type Pokémon. It was so bad that she couldn't be near Mimey or Dawn's Togekiss and right now had her back to Max's Gardevoir so she didn't have to look at her.

Of course, almost as soon as Georgia had arrived, she'd made a beeline for Iris and asked about her views on fairy types all the while grinning like a madwoman as she loved the new type. That had led to their usual argument which had devolved into its usual grunting and glaring while people attempted to separate them.

Cilan was desperately trying to drag Iris away and back to helping him with the cooking but that was to be expected from Ash's Unova traveling companions as they often kept the other in check around their respective rival. What wasn't and what had been the one thing that Dawn really wanted answers to, was who was trying to pull Georgia away or more accurately how.

Zoey had her arms wrapped around Georgia's waist from behind and was trying to yank her away while whispering in her ear the entire time. That was not a position that Dawn had expected. She knew that the girls were friends, they'd bonded a year before as Zoey was heading to Unova to help out there while directing Georgia to her hometown of Snowpoint City in Sinnoh where her friend Candice was the ice type gym leader there, the type that Georgia specialized in, so that Georgia could train there.

They'd appeared together at the Wallace Cup after Zoey had been invited to it and brough Georgia to it so she could then head to Hoenn's ice areas for more training. In fact, Zoey had gone to Hoenn to help with the Grand Festival later that year and apparently spent it, and watching Dawn finally win her own Ribbon Cup, with Georgia.

All of that may have just seemed like two friends but Dawn knew in her gut that there had to be more. That was because she knew that Zoey was gay though she'd only learned that recently as it had never been a topic of conversation between them. That alone was a shock to Dawn because she felt like a bad friend for not knowing but that was nothing compared to what Zoey revealed a few days later during the Wallace Cup just before Zoey and Ash faced off against each other. She'd told Dawn that she had a crush on her.

That had come out of nowhere to Dawn and while she was flattered, she was both straight and with Ash. Zoey had understood that and just wanted to tell Dawn before her match with Ash so that he knew he had a different kind of rival in it.

All of that was why Dawn had a feeling that there was more going on between the girls than met the eye. Well, that and they'd shown up holding hands though only Dawn seemed to notice it and that had ended quickly when she and Zoey hugged as she congratulated Dawn on winning the Kanto Grand Festival.

The conversation Dawn was technically part of was currently on something to do with the best psychic types in Kalos. It wasn't something that interested her so Dawn decided that it was best to go and speak to Zoey and Georgia. Well, that and finally the two waring Unova girls had been separated, though that might be more because Iris was hungry and not an end to the argument.

"I'm going to go say hi to Zoey and see how she's doing." Dawn said giving Ash a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be back in a bit."

"Ok." Was all Ash could say before his attention was brought back to the topic he was discussing with Sabrina, Anabel, and Misty.

Dawn just smiled as she left the group. She wanted to know more about Kalos but the constant talk of gym battles and how to approach the Anistar Gym, the only one that Sabrina knew well, wasn't her forte. She and May could have a coordinator-based talk about the region soon as Dawn would need to understand more given their job in Kalos. For now, though, Dawn was going to get to the bottom of what was going on with Zoey and Georgia.

"I see that you and Iris are picking up right where you left off as was to be expected with you two in the same place at the same time." Dawn said joining her best friend and the self-proclaimed Dragon Buster who was still glaring at Iris. "How did I know that Georgia would bring up fairy types at the first possible moment."

"Are you kidding me." Georgia said with a grin as she turned and gave Dawn a once over that Dawn didn't understand. "A whole new type that is not just super effective against dragons but completely immune to their moves, how can I not bring it up. I just wish I'd been there when that wannabe master found out that some Pokémon can just shrug off a dragon type attack as if it were nothing."

"No, you don't." Dawn said with a grimace at the memory. "My ears were ringing for a week thanks to Iris. Seriously, I heard an Exploud's Hyper Voice in the finals and I'd rather heard that again then Iris's scream of unbridled terror when Ash decided to reveal fairy types to the world."

"Music to my ears." Georgia said with a grin as Zoey just shook her head. "And that battle, so glad Zoey wanted to watch it."

"It was Ash in the Indigo Conference quarterfinals." Zoey said with a shrug. "Course I was going to watch your boyfriend in that. I know what Ash can do so watching him in battle is always an experience as anything can happen. Georgia was with me at the time, so we watched it together. I've never seen someone so amazed in my life."

"I believe the term was turned on." Georgia said bluntly. "I've never been more aroused in my life then I was when I saw that Mr. Mime leap through a Dragon Pulse without being affect and then punch out a Hydreigon, one of the strongest non legendary dragon types, with an Ice Punch. Man did that get me going and usually its nothing specific that gets me like that. Greatest first time ever."

"I know, you practically tackled me onto the bed." Zoey said as Dawn's eyes went wide at that, her suspicions now confirmed as Zoey just looked at Dawn and winked. "Not exactly how I thought I'd lose my virginity but I'm not complaining, it was a great night."

"Ok hold up." Dawn said deciding to approach the topic she wanted to talk about without getting into anymore unnecessary details about her friend's sex life. "I suspected as much but how did you two end up together. For that matter, Georgia, you're gay as well?"

"I'm still not sure what I am." Georgia admitted with a shrug. "But obviously I'm not fully straight."

"Yes, Dawn we're an item." Zoey said with a smile. "As for how, well I think Georgia can start off because I came in a little later. She first had to discover things on her own."

"Georgia?" Dawn asked. "How did this happen?"

"You know Candice, right? The Snowpoint Gym Leader?" Georgia asked and Dawn nodded as she did know the rather hyper ice type gym leader pretty well from her first journey. "Well, she came to Shoal Cove sometime during my training there."

"Wait what was Candice doing there?" Dawn asked confused.

"She goes there once a year for training." Georgia explained. "It was how I heard of it in the first place. I had been there for a few months really training with my Pokémon by that point and my Piloswine had just evolved and we were all celebrating that accomplishment when Candice arrived. She was surprised to see me still there, but it was a good meeting as she was a mentor to me while I was in Snowpoint and I wanted to show her how much I'd grown thanks to her teachings."

"I see so you got to talking then." Dawn said recalling something that Georgia had said while they were in Hoenn. "And she had made move on you in the past if I recall or at least she's open minded when it comes to that kinda stuff."

"Several actually." Georgia said. "She's, for lack of a better word, bisexual but that's not exactly accurate."

"Miss senior goes with the flow." Zoey said helpfully. "If she likes you, she likes you regardless of gender or orientation so bisexual is the best term, but it doesn't truly describe what she's looking for. Her getting rejected by a gay man was a story I didn't expect to hear but that happened, so I know orientation isn't a major factor for her."

"Yes, that is probably the best way to describe her." Georgia agreed. "Well, we got to talking and she tried again but I told her I wasn't interested in her in that sense. That got us talking about that kinda stuff and well I revealed that I didn't actually know my own preferences when it comes down to a partner. I'm not asexual, I have urges and take care of them, but I'd never thought about who or what gender I liked. Thanks to knowing Candice I learned about various ways to tell what you were attracted to."

"And that helped?" Dawn asked confused. "Sorry, all of this is not something I understand."

"Not really." Georgia admitted. "But I did realize that I'd just been so focused on my mission to defeat all dragon masters and destroy the Village of Dragons that I'd never discovered my own sexuality, so Candice offered to at least test it if I was down."

"Test it?" Dawn asked. "How do you test it?"

"Dawn, you knew you were straight from the start, right?" Zoey asked and Dawn saw the brief flicker of pain in her best friend's eyes as she spoke. "What happened in Cerulean not withstanding but I know you don't want to speak about that."

"I guess it was more an assumption." Dawn said thoughtfully as she'd never really thought on it before. "And then when I realized I liked Ash it kinda confirmed it. I guess what happened with Misty also helped me realize that I wasn't also into girls in a sense but that was a really confusing day, and I wasn't at my best."

"Same with me and Miss Senior, course I'm not straight." Zoey said again showing a brief flicker of pain though that was because another girl got to kiss Dawn in a way she'd never get even if it did help confirm Dawn's heterosexuality. "But not all of us are like that."

"Zoey's right, I was so focused on my mission in life that I kinda stunted my own development in that department which was probably a bad idea." Georgia said. "I'm actually a little convinced that Iris is in a similar boat to me just the reverse goal but that's not relevant. Candice offered to test my sexuality by kissing me."

"Sounds like this was just a way to make out with you." Dawn pointed out. "A little sneaky in a sense."

"It was just a chaste kiss on the lips to test things for, nothing that I would call a real kiss." Georgia said shaking her head. "But I decided to try it because I had nothing else to do and Candice had made a good point that I should try and figure it out. I guess after seeing you and Ash together and hearing everything in the game we played, well I won't lie, I was a little curious and Candice's conversation convinced me."

"I see and it worked?" Dawn asked.

"I didn't dislike it so it kinda did." Georgia said with a small smile. "It at least allowed me to be open minded and while I wasn't into Candice in that regard as I always saw her as my mentor, I did start thinking of other people and well one person always came to mind."

"Zoey." Dawn said as Zoey beamed next to Georgia.

"Yeah, and I wasn't sure why which confused me." Georgia said. "Zoey was my friend, but I was seeing her differently now that Candice had gotten me thinking about sex in a more nuanced light. I wasn't convinced it was feelings but then Zoey herself showed up."

"Let me guess, Candice tried to play matchmaker?" Dawn asked Zoey.

"In her own odd way yes." Zoey said with a nod. "I told her that I was going to Hoenn for the Grand Festival as they wanted me to help out as one of the announcers. She said that Georgia was still there in Shoal Cove and I should visit her as we were in the same region, so I did."

"And that's where this happened?" Dawn asked gesturing at them.

"The beginnings of it yes." Zoey confirmed. "Georgia is not as feminine as I usually prefer but she can look it when she tries, I loved that outfit in the Wallace Cup, and she does prefer skirts."

"So did I." Georgia admitted. "I felt like an Ice Queen in it and I do like my skirts so I'm not as feminine as most, but I do embrace it in my own way."

"Which is what I like." Zoey said. "And I always thought that Georgia might be into girls, but I didn't want to make that mistake again just in case she wasn't."

"Sorry." Dawn said sheepishly. "I didn't mean to cause you any problems in your dating life."

"It's not your fault Dawn." Zoey said shaking her head. "I fell for you on my own because of who you are despite knowing the chances you'd like girls was low. Georgia though, well I had a suspicion so when I went to see her, I asked her to come to the Grand Festival with me as my date."

"You were that explicit?" Dawn asked surprised.

"No, she asked me to come with her as he plus one for the Grand Reception thing that was being held the night before and I said only if I was her date." Georgia said with grin. "I had been thinking of Zoey for a while and I figured this was the best way to sort out my confusion on the matter and, well, I knew she was gay, so I knew that there was a good chance she'd agree to it."

"Ah I see." Dawn said with a nod finally starting to get it, at least she thought she was getting it.

"Yeah, I was surprised but I said yes." Zoey said with a little blush. "It was my first real date as Candice and I never actually dated, so I was nervous and excited. We didn't really know anyone there but as a Top Coordinator I was well known so it was a good night and then, well…"

"I gave her a good night kiss and it confirmed that what I was feeling was romantic attraction." Georgia said. "I knew at once that I did have feelings for Zoey and when she responded I knew they were reciprocated. We've been dating ever since though I am still not sure about my own orientation so for now, I'm not labeling it."

"Yeah, though we only became official recently." Zoey said smiling and Dawn saw how happy her friend was with it. "You know, slow and steady before using labels but after watching the Indigo Conference and all that happened during it, I'm proud to call Georgia my girlfriend."

"That is so cute." Dawn said with a grin. "I'm happy for both of you."

"Thanks Dawn." Zoey said still smiling and glad that Dawn was happy for them not that she doubted that Dawn wouldn't be happy.

"Though I am glad you in particular came over so we could chat about this." Georgia said again looking Dawn over.

"You are?" Dawn asked confused.

"Course I am Dawn." Georgia said with a grin that Dawn was pretty sure she'd only seen Georgia use when facing Iris in battle. "This is the best chance to check out the first girl my girlfriend fell in love with. Gotta know what the standard is that I have to exceed and mark my words I will exceed it."

"Oh ok." Dawn said a little unnerved. "At least you're not, um, acting how I would around someone who's into Ash and not being respectful."

"Well, I know you're not a threat to me." Georgia said simply. "You have boyfriend and aren't into girls, so I have nothing to fear from you personally. I just need to really see what the girl that first captured Zoey's heart is really like even if she didn't realize she had my babe's heart at one time. You are that bar that I must clear and trust me, I will."

"Good, I hope you do." Dawn said still unsure how she'd ended up in this strange situation. "Zoey? You ok with this?"

"I've been fully honest with Georgia about everything." Zoey said. "I really like her, and I want this to work so I needed to be honest about my past feelings. I also know that communication is key in a relationship, so I was honest with her. You will always be my first love Dawn and will always have a special place in my heart as I know part of me will always love you, but I have accepted that my love is unrequited and have moved on. Georgia has helped me more than she knows in that regard, she's shown me that there is space in my heart for another, but I had to be honest with her about it."

"Which I am glad for because it gives me a goal to surpass in our relationship." Georgia said clearly fine with it. "Though I will give it to Zoey, you are beautiful Dawn so on a physical level I can see the attraction though not my type as you can tell."

"Um thanks." Dawn said with a slight blush at Georgia's bluntness.

"And from our past interactions you are a sweet and kindhearted girl." Georgia continued. "I can't match that given my attitude towards dragon types, but I can see why Zoey would have fallen for you, but she also fell for me, so I know there's something there."

"There definitely is." Zoey said and Dawn noticed that they were holding hands again and that Georgia wasn't wearing the gloves she usually wore. "But why don't we change the topic a bit, this little jealousy thing you have going with Dawn is starting to get me a little hot and we are at a party babe."

"Good to know." Georgia said turning and giving Zoey a chaste kiss on the lips while Dawn just blinked at all of this in utter confusion. "But I'm not jealous of Dawn, just wanted to see why she was so special to you and I can see it."

"Well, you are special to me in a different way." Zoey said softly to Georgia and Dawn started to feel really uncomfortable as she was clearly a third wheel now. "You are my first in more ways than one, something Dawn will never be."

"As great as that is, I think we should change the topic as I can now see why Ash and I getting cute can be uncomfortable for others." Dawn said with a loud cough before she changing the subject. "So, I take it you are going to Unova together then?"

"Yeah, I am judging there, and Georgia is going to travel with me to continue her Dragon Buster stuff now that she's honed her skills with ice types." Zoey said. "It's going to be a good year. I'm really looking forward to it and seeing how the Contests in Unova play out. I heard that Mollie, one of the favorites with you in Kanto and the only one seen as able to beat you Dawn, is going to be there so I can see her skills first hand."

"Mollie is good for sure; she'll easily be the top favorite in Unova." Dawn said. "My loss to her was probably the worst of the year because it wasn't a fluke or a narrow decision, she beat me without a doubt so she's someone to look out for."

"She will be and that assessment, coming from you, is high praise of her skills." Zoey said. "I'll make sure to judge at least one of her Contests."

"Yes, that is part of the plan, but I've also got to get me one of those fairy types though the only ones in Unova are Cottonee and Whimsicott which aren't really my style." Georgia said with a shiver that Dawn did not want an answer to as it wasn't one of fear. "Course my heart and skill is still with ice types but I want a fairy type as well to enhance my repertoire of anti-dragon Pokémon. Now if there was and ice and fairy type out there that would be a must have for me."

"Alas there isn't one that we know of." Dawn said shaking her head. "However, there may be one that has yet to be confirmed. Only 45 Pokémon at this point have been confirmed. The 42 at the time Ash used Mr. Mime in that battle along with Mawile, Klefki and Primarina who were confirmed in the last month, according to Professor Oak that is. The last of those is the first confirmed to gain the type upon evolution so that's opened the door to many more potential Pokémon and could be where the ice and fairy type would be, if one exists that is."

"I see." Georgia said with a grin. "Then I will keep my eyes open just in case a pure ice type is confirmed to have added a fairy type. Now that would be a great Pokémon to catch as it is the perfect antithesis to dragon types."

Dawn was about to say something but before she could her attention, everyone's in fact, was drawn to a sudden exclamation from someone in the marquee. It caused her to turn and look to the speaker and what she was saying.

"Lucy! What are you doing here?"

The exclamation had come from Anabel. Dawn looked at her friend and her wide eyes and followed her gaze to a sight that made her jaw drop from the lack of sense as she tried and utterly failed to process what she was seeing. Given the sudden silence, and the breaking glasses she wasn't the only one.

Standing there in the entrance to the marquee that had been set up for the party was a strikingly attractive and deadly looking woman. Lucy, a name Dawn knew she'd heard before, wore a short purple halter top that ended just below her rather impressive bust and showed off a flat, toned stomach. Her arms were wrapped in purple wrappings that matched her top that ran from her wrists to her upper arms. Fashionable purple boots covered by loose black pants held up by a gold belt completed her ensemble.

Deadly was a word that came again to Dawn's mind as she studied the surprise arrival even more closely. Her face was angular and feminine but at the same time gave off a calm confidence that only came with years of battle experience. Her blood red eyes and long jet-black hair that framed her face and cascaded down her back and past her waist only added to Dawn's assessment of the woman. Her hair was accented with red in the two long strands that framed her face and matched her eyes to complete her look.

Given the name and reaction from Anabel, Dawn finally deduced from past conversations with both Anabel and Ash who this had to be. Pike Queen Lucy, the Frontier Brain of the Battle Pike on the Kanto Battle Frontier. Why she was here was answered by the fact that she wasn't alone. She had her arm through that of her partner and that had been the sight that had shocked everyone. That was because her partner, and clearly her boyfriend based of how they were acting, was Brock.

"No fucking way." Misty said breaking the silence of the sudden arrival as Dawn continued to try and process how the impossible had just happened. "No fucking way that Brock has a girlfriend."

"No, he doesn't." Lucy said calmly speaking for the first time in a soft voice as she looked to Misty.

She then held out her left hand showing a glinting purple diamond on her left ring finger so that everyone could see, and Dawn's brain finally stopped working as Lucy topped her arrival. It was two words that no one present who knew the aspiring Pokémon Doctor ever expected to hear in the same sentence describing him.

"I'm Brock's fiancé."

Shocks, surprises, references to things as far back as Part X in Home and of course a nice little cliffhanger at the end, how could I resist starting off Winning like this. Naturally the next Part will deal with the fallout of the revelation that no one present expected and some other fun surprises and challenges in that Part and it will be the last of the birthday opening arc so shorter than the one in Dreams but then again that one was filled with drama that was important for the party or later on in Dreams. For those who are curious as to what is going on at the end please see my side piece 'Luck Strikes The Heart' which is a short collection of adventures set during Dreams that details the important, fun, or key parts of Brock and Lucy's romance. It is only 8 chapters long and the average chapter length is 4k words so short by my standards so check it out if you want but it will only be relevant for this Part, the next one, and maybe as reference when they talk about Brock. That should be all for this rant so as always please favorite (both this story and me in general to be notified of any new content I post), review as I really like hearing what you think of my work and your suggestions that help complete this story (and respond as best I can) and just in general keep enjoying my work. Until next time.

Stringdog