Season: Since this is the 25th chapter, I wanted to do something super-mega-awesome and terrific but... Eh! I underachieved with it. I was aiming for at least 5K words but hey, at a 3,980 word count, this is about the longest chapter in a while... I guess that's something too. I stayed up ALL NIGHT just to finish writing the last bits, so congratulations to me on those extra 1K words because you guys usually only get 1,500 words or so, so technically it's like you're getting a double chapter today!

Narrator: It's been 25 chapters already? Hah! That is actually something.

Season: Are, ... are you crying?

Narrator: No...

Season: uhhhh, well anyways! Enjoy guys. Thank you for all of you who have stuck this far. May we have 25 chapters more!

Narrator: Can you just end this story please? It's been like 6 years or something.

Season: I'm here for as long as the people want me to be!

Narrator: ... *sigh*

[-]

Stupidity Does Not Earn You Heaven

by: Season Of Magic

{-}

On the road, on the road! On the road, on the road! Ash and Brianna sang together.

"To where!?" Ash asked.

ON THE ROAD TO VIRIDIAN CITYYYYY! Brianna sang.

I'm on my way, I'm on the road, I'm on the road... TO VIRIDIAN CITY! They sang together.

Now here's the plan: We're gonna head down to the forest. Time to go camping. Go camping! Ash sang and improvised to the beat.

"GO CAMPING! WHOOO!" Brianna squealed at the top of her lungs.

Gary placed his hands to his ears. "Someone get me out of this nightmare..."

May and Dawn were providing back up clapping and cheers.

"Can't you stop being a sour candy for even two days?" May couldn't help but ask.

"With you guys? Even ten minutes is enough to drive me insane." Gary said.

May really wanted to roll her eyes.

"You know, I forgot to ask this before, which might have been a bad thing on my part..." Gary said after they had been for an hour on the road. "But why exactly are we going camping to Viridian Forest?"

"To be one with the wilderness!" Ash said.

Gary couldn't help but hit Ash in the head. "I know that Dawn, Brianna and May aren't from here but we are... did you darn nitwit just happen to forget what exactly lies in the forest?"

"Don't hit the driver unless you want us to crash you moron." Ash retorted back. "And of course I know what lies in the forest. I packed enough medicine that perhaps you won't get now."

"Gary calm down, I'm sure they wouldn't have brought us out here without a plan. There are safe parts within the forest if you look hard enough." Tracey said. "Brianna will be fine and besides this is perfect for her. She could learn about the area before she begins her adventure as a trainer."

Brianna who was munching on her sandwich almost choked. She took a sip of lemonade and once she was recovered enough simply stared between Gary and Tracey. "Sorry to burst your bubble for the millionth time but I'm still becoming a coordinator." Then she grinned and pat Gary on his head. "I'm definitely looking forward to interacting with the bug types."

"See? No need to worry your pretty little head Gary. Bri will be fine." May said.

Gary blushed and looked away. "I wasn't worried!"

They all snickered at that.

By the time they had arrived anywhere near Viridian, it was almost nightfall. Ash's navigation system from his Poketch ended up taking them near Pewter City and so they had to find a re-route to lead them south instead of north.

"I shouldn't have trusted this simpleton. Only he could get us lost." Gary retorted as he sat with his arms crossed. Watching Ash attempting to figure out where the navigation system had gone wrong between directions was fun but it was getting tiring.

Brianna unbuckled her seat belt and leaned forward from her seat and looked at the map in the Poketch. "It says that you didn't update the information before we left, so the system is giving directions to... hmm.." She stretched her hand out and clicked on the digital keyboard. "Pewter Gym."

Ash groaned. "You're right! I assumed that the Poketch would lead me in the right direction but how can it if it didn't know where I was going?"

Gary sighed. "You are such a imbecile."

Brianna leaned back in her seat and buckled her seatbelt again. "Just take the road left all the way to the end."

"Our left? Dawn and May's left?"

Brianna sighed. Sometimes even she was astounded with Ash's inability to understand certain things. "Our left. Just follow the big trees."

"Take a look around! They're all big!" Ash exclaimed.

Gary raised his hands and screamed. "Let me drive before you end up leaving us stranded."

"No!" And so Ash began to drive again.

{And the team was never heard from again! THE END! (A/N: Kidding, kidding.)}

Brianna ended up looking up their location in her Poketch and gave Ash directions for the next fifteen minutes.

"Ah, seems like we made it just fine." Brianna stated as Ash parked the van and one by one began to hop off the vehicle. "And you were so nervous you nearly puked Gary."

"Don't remind me or I might just get sick again." Gary said as he grabbed unto the handle for support.

"Ewwww." Brianna said as she hopped off the van.

"THANK ARCEUS FOR LAND." Gary said as he got off the van and kneeled on the ground.

Tracey simply watched and was laughing his head off.

"Dramatic much?" Ash couldn't help but say as he got off the driver's side and walked over to help Dawn off.

"I seriously haven't laughed this much in weeks." Tracey finally said once he recovered enough from his laughing fit.

Gary stood up and quickly began chasing after Tracey.

"See? You can relax." Tracey stated as he flashed a smile.

"If this is me relaxed," Gary said as he cracked his knuckles, "I can't wait to show you when I'm overjoyed."

Brianna ran over and got in between them. "Count to ten! Think of your happy place! Violence isn't the answer."

Tracey was still laughing as he glanced to Brianna. "I was kidding."

Gary glared. "Well, I wasn't."

Brianna was amazed by how quickly they had taken everything out of the van.

They had left the pitching of the tents to Ash, who said he was good with it and for them to be doing everything else while he set up. They all took his advice and hurriedly began to make the campfire before the night fully set in.

"Heave-ho!" Brianna said as she attempted to push the firewood.

"Don't hurt yourself." Gary said as he swat her hands away and began to pick it up.

Brianna huffed. "I picked this up with May so I'm sure I can do it."

"You picked up the lighting sticks. We," Gary stated as he pointed to himself and Tracey with his free hand, "picked up this."

Brianna crossed her arms. "Showoff."

"Grow a bit taller and maybe then you can do it too." Gary said.

Brianna stuck out her tongue. "Mayyyyy! Gary is being annoying but also nice. What do I do?" She said as she ran to find May.

"Just don't pay him attention he'll stop being a bother eventually." May said from where she was. She was currently putting food out for dinner.

"Can I help?" Brianna said as she reached her.

"Of course. Go grab the basket of fruits please. I think it's near the van." May said as she glanced towards Brianna then shoo'd her away.

For someone who wanted to be in charge of assembling the tents, Ash was not making much progress.

"Okay so this piece goes with... that piece?" He murmured out loud. When they didn't click together he sighed. "Maybe not."

"Need help?" Dawn asked as she walked over with a thermos and some plastic cups.

"I'm fine." Ash said as he attempted to unite the pieces once again. "It's just harder than I remember."

Dawn laughed. "Yeah! Tell me about it. I was always happy when I could stay at a Pokemon Center."

"You didn't get to?" Ash asked.

"Paul was more an outdoor person than I thought he was so we ended up camping out most times." Dawn said as she handed Ash a cup of coffee. "Here, take a break."

Ash took the cup. "Thanks." Then he stared at her. "You okay talking about it?"

Dawn nodded. "Yep! Don't worry about it." She winked and raised her hand up. "High five!"

Ash stared confusedly. "... Okay?" With his free hand he reached up and gave her a high five.

Brianna was carrying a picnic basket. "Mom! Mom! Mom!" She chanted.

"What? What? What!?" Dawn chanted back.

"Food!" Brianna said grinning.

"What kind of food?" Dawn said as she smiled towards Ash. "What we were talking about... I got the most wonderful thing out of it. So I'm totally okay."

"I'm not telling." Brianna said with a smirk.

Dawn laughed and ruffled her daughter's hair. "Okay put it down somewhere while we wait for Ash to finally finish putting up the tents."

"I can help." Brianna said proudly. "Remember the portable sauna? It's probably the same."

Dawn gasped. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because I'm the smart one." Brianna stated.

"Of course you are munchkin." Ash said as he too ruffled her hair. "Come on, help me decipher this freaking diagram so we can get our camping on."

Brianna nodded. "The quicker we're done the quicker I get s'mores."

Dawn shook her head at them but at the same time couldn't help but smile.

"Good job Ash!" May said as she leaned forward on the chair she was sitting on and pressed a marshmallow to a stick then passed it to Brianna who was sitting across from her.

The seating was; Gary who was tending to the campfire since, "I don't trust any of you dummies to handle this." was what he said. Tracey was next to him. May sat next to Dawn to gossip back and forth with each other. Brianna had decided to sit next to Ash across from them.

Brianna had said her decision was because she was, "too young to be sitting next to the fire." But she had secretly wanted to spend more time with Ash. She took the stick from May and was currently placing even more marshmallows into it.

"Okaaaayyyyy don't leave us on a marshmallow shortage the first night, muchkin." Ash said as he stared in awe.

Brianna stuck out her tongue as she placed one more. She had managed to stick a total of five marshmallows into it. She passed the stick to Ash.

"Toast em'! Toast em'!" She said.

Ash reached over to take it. "Alright, alright hold your horseas."

May clapped her hands. "Time for my favorite thing in the world!"

"Seeing the destruction of others?" Gary asked, hopeful.

May glanced over. "As if." She said crossing her arms. "I'm talking about ghost stories by the campfire."

Brianna twirled a strand of hair. "Ghosts aren't real." She said matter of factly as she watched Ash toast her marshmallows.

"They so too are." May said.

"You'd have a better chance convincing Ash." Dawn stated. "Munchkin doesn't really believe in the supernatural."

"Then how do you explain ghost types!?" May yelled.

"Malicious energy." Brianna said waving her hands around. "Or something like that."

"Are you really a seven year old?" May asked.

"Nope." Brianna grinned. "Gonna be eight soon."

"Don't remind me." Dawn said. "You're growing up too fast for my taste. Soon you'll be off exploring on your own and I'll never hear from you again."

"Isn't that a bit over dramatic?" Brianna said.

"If we're not going to tell ghost stories let's just go to sleep early." Gary suggested. "This place always gives me the creeps."

"Who's the big scaredy cat now?" Brianna said snickering.

"I'm not."

"Of course you're not." She pat his head.

"You're not rooming with me." Gary said to Ash as he kicked him out his tent.

"Buuuuuut Gary!" Ash said.

"Maybe Tracey will share with you." Was all he said not looking back. "Now good night!"

"But Gary, ghosts." Ash yelled.

"You're not a kid."

"Scary purple ghosts."

Gary sighed and raised his hands. "Arceus, what did I do to deserve this?"

Ash laughed and wiped the tears from his eyes. He was now close to rolling on the floor. "I can't believe you fell for it."

"I'm not illiterate Ash, I can count the number of tents there are."

"What if Bri was sleeping on her own?"

"Like Dawn would let that happen." Gary said. "You would even volunteer your tent if you had to."

"Good point." He said yawning. "Anyways it was fun but I'm going to sleep now. In my own tent, which I do have."

"Yeah, yeah." Gary said as he shoo'd him away. He closed the flap as a signal that he would no longer talk.

Ash began the walk over to his tent. He decided to check on Dawn's and lightly tapped on the flap. "You two sleeping yet?" He asked as he walked away enough distance just in case. He could still hear Brianna's soft snickering and that was enough proof that no, they were not asleep yet.

Dawn unzipped the tent a bit and poked her head out. "Hiya'!"

"Hi yourself, why aren't you two sleeping yet?" He asked as he got close enough again.

"We were betting on who would wear the other out first. The munchkin won when she said Gary would wear out first."

"You two were betting on us?" Ash asked amusedly.

"It sure beats telling scary stories to a kid who won't even get nightmares or stay awake and cuddle up to her beloved mother for dear life."

Ash shook his head. "Try to get some sleep we're getting up early to fish."

"Brianna unzipped the tent more. "We're going fishing!?"

"Not if you don't sleep."

Brianna extended her arms out. "Good night hug and kiss."

Ash laughed and reached out to hug Brianna and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Now sleep."

"Doesn't mom get a hug and a kiss too?" Brianna asked.

Ash gasped. "You're right! I nearly forgot to give my princess her kiss."

Dawn blushed and covered her face with the flap of the tent. Brianna noticed and instantly pushed it away from her. Unzipping the entire thing, she now pushed her mom towards Ash.

"Don't worry I got you." Ash said as he pulled her up and towards him. "Never letting go of this fantastic catch." He winked.

Dawn was now fervently trying to hide her face in Ash's shoulder.

Brianna grinned. "Why don't you two take a stroll?" She zipped up the tent. "Not letting you back in mom for at least fifteen minutes!"

"That's cheating!" Dawn muffled voice said from Ash's shoulder. "She knows the tent doesn't open up from the outside so easily."

Ash pried Dawn's face off his shoulder and began to guide her away from their campsite. "Let's just go on that stroll dear. It's not like we can go far anyways."

"Why not?" Dawn asked.

Ash leaned close to Dawn's ear. "Ghosts." He whispered softly. Dawn leaped off Ash's embrace and screamed. Ash quickly grabbed her hand and tried to make her relax. "I was only kidding."

Dawn lightly hit his arm with her free hand. "You freaking scared me!"

Ash pat her head and kissed her cheek. "Sorry. I didn't know you believe in that."

Dawn breathed in and out, trying to regain her normal breathing. "When you say it like that? Who wouldn't you meanie!"

Ash leaned in and kissed her on the lips. "Less talking, more walking." He said as he pulled her back on the safe trail again.

Dawn's face was once again flushed. "R-right," she said. "Or we can just... stay here and uhh..."

Ash leaned his face close to Dawn's again. "Kiss?" He suggested.

Dawn bit her lips lightly. "It's merely a suggestion."

"And I like that suggestion." He said as he released her hand and cupped her cheeks instead. "A lot." He gave her a peck. And another. And another. Each longer than the rest.

They were then kissing as if they had not kissed each other in days. Passion quickly took over and soon their tongues were playing with one another. They let go when they couldn't breathe.

The air was warm as it was but suddenly they were both flushed. As he regained his breath, Ash kept his forehead pressed against Dawn's.

"How long do you think it's been?" He asked.

"Doesn't feel like it's been very long." She responded.

"With you time always feels like it goes slow."

"Like it could last forever."

"I sure wish it would."

"We have a child to get back to." Dawn responded.

"That's what May is here for." Ash joked.

Dawn tsk'd as she checked her Poketch. She didn't have much signal but it was enough to send a message to May to check up on Brianna just in case. "That's not all she's here for Ash, you know she's our friend."

A message was quickly recieved back; I got her don't worry. We have bets on who kisses who first so you better have the scoop once you get back.

Dawn quickly messaged back. It's way past her bedtime. Sleep time for both of you!

Spoil sport!

Ash leaned over and laughed at the exchange. "Who kissed who first? Guess I won this round."

Dawn hit him on the arm again.

By the time they had gotten back to the campsite, the moon was shining fully bright up in the sky. Ash escorted Dawn back to her tent and watched as she made her way safely inside. May walked out a couple minutes later, giggling to herself. Dawn waved a hand as she zipped up the tent.

"My lady." Ash said bowing. "Your escort is here."

May wanted to roll her eyes but went along with it. "Why thank you for waiting kind sir."

"Of course let me just bid adieu to the lovely princess and we'll be on our way."

"She's not seeing you anymore tonight." She said breaking character as fast as they got into it. "Let's go Romeo."

"I still don't know who that is."

"Yeah, didn't think you would." May said as she linked arms with Ash. They both laughed.