Hi there again. I would like to thank everyone that had read this far. Welcome to the fourth chapter of this story. This will probably be the birth of a ship. When it sails though will be different question. As always, enjoy!

Chapter 4: Dinner at Dawn's

The four children were making their way to Dawn house, although they were taking a different route. Earlier Lucas had been asked whether or not he had been familiar with the town. Lucas explained how he had just moved in a week prior to attend trainer school and had not gotten the chance to look around the town.

"So where did you say you were from Lucas?" Dawn asked. They had stopped by an ice cream shop earlier and had each gotten their own ice cream cones.

Lucas shivered as the cold dessert touched his lips. "Oh, I was born in Sandgem Town, but I grew up in many different places."

"Different places? Like what?" Dawn asked. At first Dawn expected Lucas to only answer in one or two other places but he started listing out all the places he had lived. Dawn recognized some of the places he mentioned, but some of the others felt like they were coming out of the blue.

"Oh, I've heard of that place," Leona said through a mouthful of ice cream. Lucas had just finished mentioning the last city he had lived in. The city that Lucas mentioned was called Valor City.

"Yeah, I've seen it on the Tv," Kenny said as well. He had just finished taking a big bite out of his cone was trying to suppress the brain freeze that came from it.

"Am I the only one that does not know of this place?" Dawn asked. She was dumbfounded that everyone else but her knew about this city.

Lucas chuckled before he began explaining the city. "It's a city that gets its name from its location between two mountains. It's also given other names such as the City of Harmony since people, Pokémon, and nature live together."

From his description, Dawn was picturing a small town occupied completely with treehouses. She didn't imagine there would be any large skyscrapers or structures.

Lucas continued with his description. "Due to the city's advancements in engineering and unique position in a valley and near the ocean, the city has become a modern marvel that is self-sufficient. Some have even gone as far as calling it the model city of the future."

Dawn was just nodding along pretending to understand everything that Lucas said. He was using words that they had yet to learn at school and concepts she could not wrap her head around just yet. Perhaps a picture of the place he was describing would be a better descriptor of the city than Lucas'.

"Say Lucas, why don't we make our way to the town library so you can show us where you're from," Dawn suggested. She had just finished her ice cream.

Lucas was still entranced from his ice cream that he looked up to meet with Dawn's eyes. He gave her small smile and nodded. The group of four made their way to the small-town library to check out the geography books. Lucas picked one out that had plenty pictures of the sceneries of the multiple settlements in the Sinnoh region and some in some other regions.

"Let's see…" Lucas started. He was flipping through the pages looking for the cities that he had lived in. "There's Alamos Town, Crown City, LaRousee City and finally the Valor City."

Lucas laid large book flat on the table, so everyone got to view the pictures of the city. Contrary to the image that Dawn had made in her head, the city was the complete opposite. Large structures made of glass and steel stood high above the ground giving the city its own unique skyline. What really made the city stand out was the sheer number of trees and plants everywhere. It was strange to see entire forests and parks growing on all around the building and on top of buildings. There was also the presence of numerous windmills and solar panels placed all around the area as well. Dawn and the others were dumfounded that such a city could exist.

The passage below listed a couple of fun facts about the city. They included how the city grew almost all of its food using new farming technology, how almost all the energy used by the city was clean energy and how the tallest building in the Sinnoh region was in the city. The Freedom Tower which adorned the city's skyline stood at 828 meters (2717 feet) in height making it not only the tallest skyscraper in the Sinnoh but also one of the tallest on the planet.

"Upon the completion of the Freedom Tower, the architect responsible for its design was tasked with designing the towers that would occupy the Sinnoh World Financial Center." Lucas' eyes gleamed as he was explaining the subject. "These would include a set of five towers. The first being the Valor Tower which will stand at 632 meters (2,073 feet). The following will be the Kingdom Tower which will stand at 509 meters (1,670 feet), Harmony Tower which will stand at 833 meters (2,733 feet), Cloud Tower which will rise 1008 meters (3,307 feet) and the crown jewel will be the Tower of Heaven will rise to an incredible 1345 meters (4,413 feet)." He had glossed over the fact that the one responsible for designing and providing the funding for the megastructures was Diamond Inc.

Lucas then went on his own lecture explaining to the other three about the city's history. How it used to be a small town like Twinleaf centuries ago and all the changes that the city went through over time. Since the other kids were not as interested as Lucas, and after a long school day, they ended up falling asleep in the middle of his lecture.

Dawn's eyes slowly closed and the last image she saw was that of Lucas showing them pictures of the current progress of the buildings. The loud snores of the kids make Lucas stop his lecture and quietly wished for the three to have a good nap. He took all the books he had gathered and returned them to their respective stops.

Now what should I do? The boy thought. He looked over at the other galleries of books on display while sitting on the same couch the other three were on. I guess a nap would not hurt. He leaned back on the couch and slowly closed his trying to welcome sleep's warm embrace.

The crimson rays of the Sun were shining through the glass windows of the library. Dawn's eyes were just opening from her nap. She didn't mean to nap on Lucas' little lecture, but she found that history was not something that she was interested in. She tried to move her position so she could stretch out her arms, but she found herself being stopped by two obstacles. One such obstacle was Kenny sleeping her left side, laying his head on her shoulder. The other one was Lucas his head on her right shoulder. Again, she tried moving but they would not budge. She sighed as resigned herself to being in the center of the two boys.

As one would expect, Dawn was as red as tomato berry. This was the first time that she had been this close to two boys. One boy she had already known for years, but the other one she had just met the day before. Despite her young age, she loved to dream about romance like the one portrayed in movies. Right now, it felt as if there was a camera broadcasting her very actions. Who would she pick out the boys?

Option number one was a boy that she had known for a couple of years now. She had saved him from being bullied in their earlier years and Dawn would never shut up about saving his butt since that day. She had grown quite attached to him, but she never considered him to be potential love partner. On the other hand, the dark-haired boy looked like something ripped out a romance drama. He had transferred in the day prior and was surrounded by mystery. In these types of dramas, the leading female would gradually get closer to the boy and they shared their long-awaited kiss at the end of the drama. A sense of familiarity had propelled the girl to get closer to him, as is she had met him before, but she could not pinpoint it yet. Her daydreaming was interrupted when she tried to move one of her arms but the boys didn't budge.

Would they get off of me already? I'm getting cramps. Dawn internally complained. If the situation had been better, then maybe she would have viewed this situation with rose tinted lens.

Dawn was about to start kicking if they didn't move soon, but that's when she was caught off guard. Lucas moved his head closer to Dawn's and this stopped the girl from throwing any kicks in any direction. Instead her face had grown a deeper shade of red.

Finally, relief came when librarian woke the remaining kids and informed them that they would be closing soon so it was best to gather all their things and head home before it darker. Lucas stretched out his arms and legs and looked at Dawn's red face.

"Are you sick Dawn? I think I have some medicine in my backpack."

Dawn exasperatedly waved her hands in front herself. "No, no, no, I'm good."

Apparently, the boy did not buy this as he tilted his head to the side curiously. He got closer to her and placed the back of his palm on her head. If Dawn wasn't heating up before, she definitely was now. Steam was coming out of her head as her face gained a color of red no one had seen before.

"Hey Dawn we should le-" Kenny started before he was pulled back by Leona.

"Kenny be quiet they're having a moment." She warned. She put his hand on top of his mouth.

Kenny wasn't sure how to feel, but all he knew was that they would get kicked out soon if he didn't leave. He released himself from Leona's grip and told Lucas that Dawn was not sick but he was. Lucas did the same to Kenny as he did Dawn which caused the boy to turn bright red as well. In the end Kenny ended up taking the medicine that Lucas gave him.

The four grabbed their things and headed out. They had a couple of small conversations along to the way to Dawn's house. It was then that Dawn asked a question that she wanted the answer to.

"Lucas, I think I passed by your house yesterday and it looked like you were upset. Why were you upset?" Dawn asked.

"Yesterday…," Lucas looked deep in thought recalling the events of the previous day. "Oh, you mean in the morning, by the garden?" He asked.

Dawn nodded and then Lucas began his story. He explained how he had been a bit upset since his parents could not see him off to school and but at the moment he was actually staring at a flower in the garden. He told them how the flower was special to him since it comes from his mother's hometown and was just surprised to see it.

The three of them put a hand on Lucas' shoulder and smiled to try to cheer him up. Lucas gave them a small smile back and continued making their way to Dawn's House. By this point the sun was nearly over the horizon.

"And this is my house," Dawn gestured. She extended her arms to emphasize her house.

"It's a nice house," Lucas responded.

Dawn lead her way to the door, turned the knob and opened it. She gestured for the three of them to leave their shoes near the entrance before making their way deeper into the house.

"Mom, I'm home," Dawn called out.

Lucas heard a welcome back from other side of the room.

"I bought some guests for dinner tonight," Dawn continued. She told the other three that they could leave their things by the entrance.

'Some guests huh?" Her mother questions. "Those guests wouldn't happen to be Kenny and Leona and that boy you were talking about yesterday?"

Dawn's face had turned a bright cherry red. "Mom stop," she yelled out hoping that her mother would keep quiet and not reveal much of what Dawn told her yesterday. Johanna was laughing as she came to meet the children. Kenny and Leona happily greeted her with a hug and a good evening.

As this was Lucas' first time meeting someone else's parents he wanted to make a good first impression. He offered a small vow and his own greeting.

"Good evening ma'am, my name is Lucas Diamond. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Johanna was taken aback by such a formal greeting. She felt as if she was the one meeting someone's parent and not the other way around. She hesitated for a moment before responding.

"It's nice to meet you too Lucas, you can call me Mrs. Johanna."

Lucas nodded and Johanna guided the children to the dining room where she told them to take a seat. The four took a seat on the table in front of the television. Lucas enjoyed the small, homely atmosphere of Dawn's house. Although his house was quite similar on the inside as Dawn's house, it always seemed to lack a special something that he could not place his finger on. Perhaps it was all the large empty rooms.

"Dawn I didn't expect you to bring so many people so dinner will be a bit late ok." Johanna said from the kitchen.

"Sure thing mom."

Presently Kenny and Leona were fighting over the remote control. Dawn snatched the remote from the two of them and Dawn asked Lucas if he wanted to watch anything in particular. Lucas shook his head and said he would be fine with anything they put on. Dawn smiled and changed the channel to one that was showing contest reruns of the previous day.

Suddenly a furry tail made its way across Dawn's nose and she let out a big sneeze. Kenny and Leona laughed while Lucas was also struggling to keep in a chuckle. Her mother's Glameow had decided that now was the perfect time to bother Dawn. Dawn shooed her away and Glameow made her way to other three where she curled around Kenny and Leona and finally made her way to Lucas. Glameow made her way to Lucas where she reached out a paw to him. Lucas reached out his hand and have her a small high five. Glameow then curled around Lucas' lap and allowed herself to be petted.

'I've never seen Glameow get so close to someone so quickly before," Johanna said. She was carrying dishes in preparation for dinner.

"Yeah Mrs. Dawn's mom. When I first met Glameow she scratched me," Kenny said.

"That's only because you're a blockhead," Leona said out of the blue.

Kenny and Leona quickly went into banter onto which of the two were the bigger blockhead. A little more had passed when Johanna came in with all the food for the kid's dinner. Johanna sat along with the kids and they began eating. While eating, several highlights of the yesterday's contest were showed.

"Do you think she'll win the Grand Festival?" Dawn asked her mom.

"I think she has a good chance."

"What do you think Lucas? Do you think she will the Grand Festival?" Dawn asked Lucas.

"I don't know that much about contest, but I know she will win," Lucas nodded.

"How are you so sure?" Dawn questioned.

'Oh… that's because she worked really hard for this," Lucas responded.

Dawn nodded along while continuing to watch the television. The spokesperson had just congratulated Maria for winning her fifth ribbon which would qualify her for the Grand Festival.

In a quiet voice so that it could barely be heard Lucas said to himself, "I know she will win because she is my mom."

"What was that?" Dawn asked. She was too busy watching the television that she heard murmurs coming from the boy.

"Oh, it's nothing," Lucas said. He returned his attention back to his dinner. Johanna who had sat on the opposite side of Lucas had understood what he had said.

She smiled and wished Maria the best of luck.

For anyone wondering about their age. I would have to say the kids are around 7-8. I will probably make a ton of time skips in future chapters so this catches up to the point where the anime starts. Also, what is this sense of familiarity Dawn feels towards Lucas? Have they met before? Maybe?

So, I made up the city where Lucas last lived. I had considered other options before this one like Alamos Town, Crown City, Larousse City, Jubilife City. In the end I ended up making my own city since the anime makes locations that are not in the games. I guess the best way I could describe the city that Lucas lived in last would be if you take Dubai, add trees everywhere, add wind turbines and solar panels.