I decided to do pearlshipping. Why? I always thought that Ash and Dawn would make a good couple. Also, it's my 2nd favorite ship for Ash. Note that Ash is a Pokemon master and that he is smarter but not enough as he still has no clue about romance. And that this story will happen six years after the anime ends (If it even ends.)

Ash-18

Dawn-17

Update- A slight overhaul to this story because I felt like it

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.


It's been six years since Ash finally became a Pokemon Master. After becoming a Pokemon Master he decided to live in Sinnoh with his friend Dawn. Right now Ash was currently training with his starter and best friend, Pikachu along with Greninja.

"Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt and then use Iron tail! And Greninja, dodge and counter with Water pulse!" Ordered Ash.

Both Pokemon did as they instructed and performed their parts flawlessly against each other. Ever since the Kalos league, Greninja and Ash began to train hard to master their Ash-Greninja form. They trained for several months until they were able to use it without passing out. This along with training with Ash's other Pokemon helped them win several leagues. As the three were training Dawn was currently watching them along with her Piplup and Buneary. Dawn was watching in awe as Ash was training with his Pokemon, noting how much stronger Ash has become since she first met him. After Ash was finished training she went up to him while Buneary went up to Pikachu and complimented him, making him blush. While Piplup tried to downplay Greninja's power by saying how much better he can do than what Greninja did, failing miserably as everybody didn't pay attention or ignored him.

"Ash! That was amazing!" Praised Dawn as she went to her friend and crush.

"Aw! It was nothing!" Said Ash, putting his right hand behind his back. Smiling a bit, Ash was about to leave so he can call his mother when Dawn suddenly spoke up.

"Hey, Ash. Do you have plans tonight?" Asked Dawn with a small smile on her face.

"No. Why?" Asked Ash, curious about where she was going with this.

"Well, I need some materials for my next contest and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me." Said Dawn. Ash thought about the offer a bit before deciding to accept.

"Sure! Why not." Said Ash. He had nothing better to do so he may as well hang out with his friend, even if it was a shopping trip.

"Great! Let's go! But let's leave the Pokemon here" Said Dawn, grabbing his hand and dragging him along with Ash's Pokemon wondering why they were forced to stay behind while Dawn's understood their trainer's intention and prayed for her success.

"Huh? Why?" Asked Ash as he was being dragged by Dawn, not understanding why she wanted them to love their Pokemon behind.

"Because I wanted to be alone with you, silly." Said Dawn as they headed for several stores.

After visiting a few stores, Ash was starting to think this was just a regular shopping trip and Dawn used him to carry her stuff around as he was carrying several bags with materials that had nothing to do with contests. His thoughts were confirmed to be true as Dawn came back from a shoe store with several shoe boxes.

"Seriously Dawn, I thought you wanted to get supplies for your contests. Not go shopping." Complained Ash, as he grabbed the shoe boxes from Dawn and carefully placed them in the bags. If any of those things she purchased go damaged because of him, he was in for it.

"We are. We're just buying a few things along the way." Said Dawn, hiding the fact that this was just a shopping trip and that she just wanted to spend some time with Ash.

"For some reason, I don't believe you." Said Ash, trying to hold all the items without dropping any of them. "Are we done?"

"Nope. We still got one place to go." Said Dawn, grabbing Ash's hand. After a few minutes of walking, they reached their destination. It was a simple park with only a few trainers and their Pokemon in it. The two trainers then sat on a bench.

"Man, Brock told me about women and shopping but I never expected this." Mumbled Ash, looking at the stuff Dawn bought, which was nothing but clothes and shoes. "Why did Dawn bring me along anyway? Is it to just carry her stuff or is there something else?' Thought Ash as he put some thought into Dawn's actions. "Hey, Dawn, why did you drag me into this shopping spree? You could have easily had some of your Pokemon do all this." Asked Ash, deciding it couldn't hurt to ask her.

"Well, it's just that I wanted to spend some time with you alone." Said Dawn shyly.

"Yeah, but why?" Asked Ash.

"Well…" Started Dawn but stopped.

"Dawn?" Asked Ash, wondering why she isn't answering.

"It's because I really like you." Said Dawn, looking away.

"…That's it?" Asked Ash, bewildered. That was the only reason.

"Yeah." Said Dawn.

"Well, I like you too Dawn." Said Ash, not realizing her implication.

"Really?" Asked Dawn with hope in her voice.

"Yeah. You're a good friend." Said Ash, not realizing he just pissed off Dawn with her recent sentence.

"…What?" Asked Dawn, getting upset as she felt her mind starting to go red hot in rage.

"You're a good friend Dawn." Repeated Ash, confused that she was getting upset. Twitching a bit, Dawn was about to yell at Ash when she stopped herself at the last minute. Instead, she just huffed and began walking away, confusing Ash.

"Dawn! What's wrong?" Asked Ash, concerned for Dawn as she left him and wondering what he did wrong. Following her, Ash continued to prod Dawn until she eventually snapped.

"Don't you get it!? I love you!" Yelled Dawn, eyes full of hurt.

"Love me?" Asked Ash, confused.

"Yes!" Yelled an exasperated Dawn.

"What's that? Is it just another way of saying "like you"?" Asked Ash, confused. His response caused her to actually grind her teeth in frustration. How dense is this boy!?

"You idiot! You saw Brock fall in love countless times and you still don't what love is?!" Screamed Dawn, temper now broke. She then slapped him and ran away home, leaving stunned Ash behind.

Shocked at this Ash sat there for some time, thinking about what he did to make Dawn mad and what love is while holding the cheek that Dawn slapped. "Love. What is it?" Thought Ash. "Maybe I should ask Brock. He'll know what it is. Dawn did say that Brock fell in love before." With that, he grabbed all the shopping bags and went to the nearest Pokemon center in order to contact Brock. After finding a vacant video booth he entered Brock's number and waited for Brock to answer. Sure enough, Brock answered in a few moments.

"Ash! How's it going?" Asked the brand new Pokemon doctor, having received his certification and first job as a Pokemon doctor a few months ago. He was on his break when he received a call from his longtime friend. Haven't seen him in a long time, Brock was eager to see him again, even if it was just a video call.

"Uh, not too well. You see Dawn and I had a fight." Said Ash as he rubbed the back of his head. Stunned, Brock spoke up.

"A fight? What happened?" Asked Brock, concerned about his friends. Ash then explained the whole thing to Brock. After he finished Brock got the whole picture.

"So she slapped you and ran away?" Said Brock, to clarify what happened.

"Yeah. She got mad because I said she was a good friend. Do you know why Brock?" Asked Ash. Brock just laughed good heartily at Ash's innocent answer. He loved Ash and treated him like a brother, but he knew just how bad he was when it comes to romance.

"It's because she loves you, Ash." Said Brock with a smile.

"Loves me? What's that?" Asked Ash, confused.

"*Chuckles* Ash, better take a seat. We're going to have a long overdue talk." Said Brock.


Night

Twinleaf Town


Meanwhile, in Dawn's house, Dawn was in her room, sulking. She was sitting on top of her bed with her knees pressed on her chest and with her arms wrapped around her knees.

"Stupid Ash…" Said Dawn, depressed at what happened today. "Doesn't understand romance even if it's right up in his face." She soon heard a knock on her door. "Go away, mom." Said Dawn, thinking that it was her mom trying to cheer her up. Unfortunately for her, it wasn't her mom. Unlocking the door, Ash through the door with an apologetic look on his face.

"It's me, Dawn." Said Ash, opening the locked door with a key given to him by Dawn's mother.

"Go away, Ash." Said Dawn, turning away from him. She wasn't in the mood to see him right now.

"Dawn, c'mon." Said Ash as he sat on the bed. "I'm sorry about hurting your feelings. I didn't know."

"Just go away." Said Dawn stubbornly.

"Not until we make up." Said Ash, just as stubborn as her if not more. Seeing that he wasn't going to go away until they sorted this out, Dawn reluctantly turned around to face Ash. Seeing that he was not going to budge, she complied.

"Are you really sorry?" Asked Dawn as she looked at her friend and still crush.

"Yeah." Said Ash. "I didn't know how you really feel about me. After you left, I went to Brock and he told me what love is."

"So you get it now?" Asked Dawn, pleased that Brock helped her out with this.

"Yup. And this is my response to that." Said Ash as he prepared to do something he hoped will fix all this.

He then cupped Dawn's face and kissed her. She gasped in surprise at first before closing her eyes and kissing back. After a minute of kissing each other the two then looked each other in the eyes.

"You love me?" Asked Dawn in hope.

"Yeah." Said Ash with a smile, holding her hands. "And I promise to be by your side from now on."

Dawn then cried tears of joy before kissing Ash again. While this was going on Dawn's Piplup, her mother and Ash's Pikachu were spying on them.

"*sniff* My dear girl finally found love." Said Johanna, dapping her eyes with a handkerchief, pleased that her daughter finally found love with a good boy. Oh, she was looking forward to calling Ash's mom and telling her that their children finally got together. Not to mention calling her sister.

"Piplup! [NOOO! Now I'll never beat Greninja!]" Cried Piplup, thinking that Dawn won't battle against Ash now, thus preventing him from ever proving that he was better than Greninja.

"Pika-pi. [As if you had any chance to beat Greninja at all.]" Said Pikachu as he looked at his friend with a deadpan expression on his face, not amused at Piplup. "Pikachu. {Besides you should be happy for our trainers. Not care about your ego.]"

"Piplup!" [But still!] Cried Piplup as he continued to bawl pitifully at his chance at proving his superiority over that frog now gone. And to make matters worse, he had to live with Gible of all people. Gible had evolved into Garchomp a while ago and he would no doubt launch a Draco Meteor in celebration of this. A move that, for some reason despite Garchomp mastering it back in his league debut, still attacked him for no reason. It still worked as intended, but for some reason, one of the meteors will always go for Piplup. And they were stronger than they ever were now that Gible was a Garchomp now.

Pikachu then sighed at Piplup as he began to go into a fetal position and cry at the thought of another Draco Meteor attack coming for him. Pikachu then looked at his trainer and his new girlfriend and smiled in happiness, pleased his trainer found love.