A/N: I've finally finished Jinchuriki Family as a whole story, so now I can post new chapters on a semi-frequent basis again. Oh, and for the guest that made the most recent review, we're not going to go that far into the future. I'll do post game stuff and event only content from YouTube, but that's at most 2 years after the Pokémon League in this story. So there won't be any engagement, marriage and human children stuff.

After getting some pointers from Mia, having Ash's Pokémon healed up and given some food suitable for Togepi, the two teenagers continued their trek. Dawn decided to call her new infant Pokemon Spike, because they couldn't think up of any better names for it that didn't sound too cliché or wrong. They went back under the bridge and took a left on Route 207 just North of Oreburgh City. Like getting to Oreburgh City, the two reached a section of Mt. Coronet again at around sunset. Bringing out their Luxio's again, they entered the cave.

"Togepi!" The Spike Ball Pokémon chirped in fear from the dark as he hid in his shell inside of Dawn's bag kept open at all times now.

"Oh don't worry, Spike. I'll protect you." Dawn soothed the baby in a motherly voice.

"Yeah, don't worry little guy. Just stay in there until we find our way out." Ash agreed, running his finger over the Pokémon's yolk like flesh. "I'm so glad we have him with us. He's been brining us nothing but happiness." Even Dawn couldn't not smile from what he said about her Pokémon as she petted him.

"Yeah. It's been real good." While Dawn still hasn't fully forgiven her partner yet, Spike did help get rid of all the anger since he's imprinted Ash as the father. Along the way, the caught a clefairy, a nosepass, a meditite and a chingling. That also helped improve her mood since Ash tried his hardest to praise her for either performance and successful catching. But, during this cavern crawling, the two came across a tunnel that was blocking the path. Was it a small cave in.

"Huh. How do we get past that?" Ash pondered somewhat worried. He didn't know if any of his current Pokémon could break a boulder outright, and it was too small of a tunnel for Onix to do the job.

"I actually remember. Buneary, I choose you!" From the sphere came the normal type Rabbit Pokémon.

"Buneary!" She cried out, ready for what was to come.

"I remember that the Pokedex said Buneary could shatter large boulders with her rolled up ears."

"Hey, scan her again. I wonder if Rotom would say anything funny."

"Sure." Dawn obliged as she got out her Pokedex activating.

Yes? The electric ghost asked curiously.

"We already have an entry on Buneary, but we were wondering if you could use your sense of humor on her."

Certainly. Buneary, the Rabbit Pokémon. Their ears are always rolled up, and when they extend, boulders are shattered. However, most are known to be completely anti-social as they dislike strangers and trainers that just caught them.

"Yeesh, rough break for those that aren't you." Ash commented.

"Yeah, my buneary seems to be rather naive from most other of its kind. Anyway, Buneary, shatter that boulder!" Pulling back both her ears, Buneary jumped and punched her ears into the large rock, shattering it into many smaller pieces. "Good job, Buneary!" Dawn complimented the normal type.

"Buneary!" She said back, flattered. It was then that the Rabbit Pokemon found something among the broken stone, hopped to it and picked it up.

"What is it Buneary?" Dawn asked her Pokemon, which she gave to her master. The teenage girl then gasped. "Oh my goodness! It's a Dawn Stone!"

"A Dawn Stone? They literally named a rock out of you?" Ash chuckled but got softly punched in the shoulder.

"Hey, your namesake turns into rock that floats in water. A Dawn Stone is a rock that helps with evolution. It helps evolve Kirlia into the male exclusive form of Gallade. I can't wait to find a ralts or kirlia now." She sighed, thinking of the chances. For about a couple of hours from then, they pushed through the tunnels and occasional boulder, but eventually, they broke through the last one which showed the outside just less than 50 feet away.

"Alright, let's finish this!" Dawn cheered as they were about to advance when Cyrus stepped away from the corner, blocking their path.

"You almost crushed me with that last little act." He chewed them out coldly and spitefully.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry mister! Please forgive me!" The young researcher cried out, bowing down. Same went for Buneary.

"It matters not whether I forgive you or not, girl." He responded with the same attitude. "It is said that Mt. Coronet is where the Sinnoh region began. In a newly created world, where time flowed and space expanded, there should be no strife." He then looked off into the distance, not looking at anything in particular. "But what became of that beautiful world? Because the human spirit is weak and incomplete, strife has spread. This world is being ruined by it. I find this state of affairs to be deplorable and despicable." Cyrus shook his head as he pushed past Ash, not caring about asking nicely as he went off into the dark.

"I'm starting to get he's a nihilist." Ash remarked, creeped out.

"Me too. Let's get out of here." Dawn breathed out as they speed walked out of the cave and into the fresh night sky. What they saw on the other side astounded them. Instead of just being another field, it was a steep slope of the mountain with a waterfall that let a stream flow under a bridge 20 feet below just outside the cave they just exited and the rest of Route 208. "This is beautiful." Dawn gasped.

"Yeah. Reminds me of that combee waterfall that's smaller but more visible." Ash agreed. Dawn went first as they walked across the bridge over the stream down below. After getting through a few trainers, they are stopped by a ralts, a small Pokémon that had a white body, green bangs surrounding its head like a bowl haircut and two red horns out of its head.

"Oh wow, a ralts! And right just before finding a Dawn Stone! I'm going to-." But she was cut off when the psychic Pokémon just went up and hugged her boot.

"Well that's never happened." Ash remarked, confused by this. The researcher stooped down and picked the small Pokémon up, making it laugh 'Ralts! Ralts!'.

"What could it-" She was again interrupted when Spike woke up from his nap and looked around.

"Togi?"

"Ralts?" It only took two seconds before the two cheered as Ralts jumped into the bag and hugged Spike, with the Spike Ball Pokémon returning it the best it could.

"That's probably the quickest Pokémon friendship I've seen." Ash observed. Dawn then realized something as she gasped.

"Of course! Ralts are able to sense emotion with their horns, and they're attracted to positivity. And the togepi line are pretty much primal joy personified." The teenage girl explained to the trainer. She then turned to the psychic Pokémon. "Ralts?" It turned to her. "Would you like to come with me? You can hang out with Spike." She offered. Ralts raised its arms and said its name really happily as it hugged her. Everybody laughed until it was time for Dawn to grab a Pokeball and tap it on the Pokemon's head, absorbing it and waiting until it clicked. Grabbing her Pokedex, she scanned the new capture.

Ralts; the Feeling Pokémon. A ralts has the power to sense the emotions of people and Pokémon with the horns on its head. If its trainer is in a cheerful mood, this Pokémon grows cheerful and joyous in the same way. Though if you ask me, its hair looks stupid.

"Hey, that's not a nice thing to say." Dawn told Rotom off.

Sorry. It apologized. The Pokeball teleported away.

"Hurry Ash, we need to get to Hearthome City so I can have Ralts back!" The girl excitedly exclaimed as she almost began to run, Spike chirping along, before stopping and looking back smiling awkwardly. "Hehe, almost did it again." Ash just smiled though.

"Well, that just means you're starting to think before acting. Now let's go!" He laughed as he dashed ahead after her.

"Hey no fair!" Dawn complained but started to laugh as she chased after him.

When they entered the city, they could not believe how beautiful it was. Unlike the last two cities they've been to, this city was quite lively despite being night time, with many couples, families, and Pokémon trainers with their respective Pokémon. The streets were made of cobblestone and the buildings had a feel that was similar to Eterna City's buildings. From out of nowhere, a buneary was hopping in their direction, but stopped upon seeing them in front of it.

"There you are!" Catching up to the Pokémon was a woman with flowing shoulder length brown hair pulled back with a yellow headband. She wore a pink shirt with yellow accents with white skin tight pants and blue slippers. "Oh thank goodness you happened to be there! If it weren't for you two, I would've been late for the contest. Buneary, return." She said, withdrawing her Pokémon into its sphere.

"Contest?" Dawn asked curiously.

"That's right. I'm Keira Glitters; a regular judge for the Pokémon contests throughout the Sinnoh region." She explained. That really picked up Dawn's excitement.

"Oh, yeah! I know you from tv, but it's been a while since I've watched so it took a small while to recognize you. Do you know my mom, Johanna Berlitz?"

"Wait, you're mom is the Grand Contest winner Johanna? She told me about you but I never saw any pictures of you recently! I loved watching her as a kid. In fact, she's even here right now." This news shocked the young researcher.

"My mom is here?"

"Yep, and the rest of your family too. Want me to take you to them?"

"I would, but I need to head to the Pokémon Center first." Dawn shook her head.

"I understand. You know where to find me." Keira accepted as she picked up her buneary and walked toward the contest hall. Ash whistled, breaking the newly formed silence.

"Wow. Today's your lucky day. Finding a stone and a ralts, and your family in the same city we were heading. What are the odds?" He asked a bit amused.

"Well whatever they are, let's get going!" Dawn cheered gleefully as they went.

Dawn was able to get back Ralts at the Pokémon Center by sending Star home considering Ralts knows teleport. After that, they went to the contest hall to see what was happening currently. The interior was attention grabbing with its pink floor and three counter attendants. But in the room was a group of people Ash vaguely remembered while on the PC's. Her dad was tall, had black hair bombed to the sides, wore a blue button up shirt and black dress pants. He also wore metal glasses. The old man that was the grandfather had a beige sweater and a red vest and grey pants. He was balding and had a big white beard. The little 8 year old girl which was Dawn's little sister, her black hair prettied up by a red bow and a long yellow dress reaching her shins and red slippers. They were talking with Keira from earlier at a table, whom noticed them first.

"And there's my heroes." Dawn's family turned to their direction and shouted,

"Dawn!"

"Hey guys!" She responded happily as they surrounded her, forgetting about Ash for the moment, which he was fine with. He was even smiling. From her bag, Spike poked his out.

"Oh my goodness, Dawn! That's the most adorable Pokémon I've ever seen! What is it?!" The little sister squealed as she picked up the baby spike ball. He chirped happily from her positivity.

"That's a Togepi, Lucy. His name is Spike." Realizing that something was missing, she turned to Ash and invited him over. "Ash, you haven't really talked to my family yet have you? Meet my family personally." Stepping forward, the trainer extending his hand to the father.

"Hello Mr. Berlitz." He frowned.

"That's Dr. Berlitz to you, young man." Ash paled somewhat and sweated. He then burst out laughing. "Ha, that works every time! Don't worry, Ash. If what my daughter says is true, then I'm glad she's with such a good partner. At least better than if she went with Lucas. He's good and all... but a bit of a stiff."

"John, it's not nice to talk behind someone's back." Joanna chastised.

"Well, I must say it's nice meeting such a young man. Call me Will." The grandfather introduced himself, both shaking hands.

"So you're Ash Ketchum?" Lucy asked the teenager. He looked down to his right.

"Yes. The one and only." He said grinning.

"At first I thought your name was Ketchup." She told him. He chuckled from an old memory.

"Yeah, my friend Barry sure milked that for all its worth."

"Oh Dawn, when we heard that you were going to Hearthome City, Lucy wanted to see you participate in a contest. Even though she knows it's not your passion, she spent the past week with my help learning how to use a sewing machine to make you this special dress." Johanna told her daughter as she heaved up a bag from the floor onto the table so that she presented a pink dress with a red and yellow bow wrapping around the middle, a big white collar covering her upper chest, back and shoulders adorned with three red ribbons on each side.

"Oh my goodness, Lucy! This is so beautiful! I can't believe you made this!" Dawn exclaimed as she hugged her little sister, both laughing and looking so joyful. Ash smiled from this display. "There's no way I could decline this. I'll put this on right now."

"Wait, here's a box of accessories. They'll complete the look."

"Thanks Mom. Dawn said before going to one of the counter attendants to sign up and went off to where the participants. From the side doors, out came a woman with a glamorous purple dress and her purple hair looped four times. He went over to talk to her.

"Hey, you look pretty nice." He complimented her look. She smiled as she twirled around and spoke with a French accent.

"Oh, merci my little admirer. Contests you are here for, no?"

"To watch. A close friend of mine is participating it."

"How lovely. I hope very much you enjoy them. Incidentally, Melissa Fantina, the gym leader of Hearthome, is also a contestant. She is, how do you say, très fantastique! Fantina being myself, of course."

"You're a gym leader and a coordinator?" Ash questioned flabbergasted. She laughed with a noblewoman's laugh.

"Ohohohohohoho! Well, only in Hearthome City. I don't travel. I wouldn't be gym leader otherwise now would I, garçon? Are you trainer?"

"Yes. This will be my third badge." He said, looking determined.

"Trois? I see. You must be strong. Enfin, so it shall be. After contest, we shall see how worthy you are. Adieu." And with that, she went off into the deeper parts of the building.

"She's interesting." He dryly remarked with a smile. A woman's voice called out over the speakers throughout the hall.

"Contestants, the first round shall start in 30 minutes. You have 15 minutes for last minute touches."

"Ash, come with us to watch Dawn!" Lucy called out to him. He grinned as he went with them to watch.

People and Pokémon! Side by side creating all kinds of emotions! Ladies and Gentleman, the magic moment you've all been waiting for: The 51st annual Hearthome City contest!" Everybody in the stadium cheered with excitement and anticipation. "For our first round, the coordinator will use two Pokémon in an exciting double performance. "With the second round of double battle. It's beauty times two, it's battling times two, it's double the fun no matter how you slice it!" While Dawn was listening to the announcer, she noticed one of the people there; someone with bright orange hair. Could it be... it is! It's Zoey Morrison! She walked up to her idol. her dress looked reminiscent of a light blue tuxedo with the coat tails and yellow front, but her sleeves were a little poufy and she wore white skin tight dress pants to go with it.

"Zoey Morrison! You're my biggest idol!" Dawn came up to her idol, her eyes gleaming with awe.

"Nice to meet a fan." Zoey lightly laughed before extending her hand which Dawn happily shook.

"Oh, I'm not just a fan. If you've been reading the science papers, you might recognize my as one of Prof. Rowans' assistants." Zoey's eyes opened wide.

"Seriously?! So you're Dawn Berlitz? Wow, I never would've thought that I'd meet not only someone directly under the professor, but also the daughter of Johanna Berlitz."

"Yeah, being a coordinator isn't my thing, but my little sister made me this dress and I just couldn't decline such an opportunity."

"That's awesome. I look forward to seeing what you got."

"Me too Zoey." The two giggled as they put their attention back to the announcer.

"And now it's time to hear a few words from the judges!" In front of the stage were three people left to right; Mr. Contesta, Keira, and the local nurse of Hearthome City, Nurse Joy.

"Thanks. It's a real pleasure. I trust you're excited to see your performances as I am." Mr. Contesta went first.

"Hearthome City is remarkable!" Keira complimented the city.

"One coordinator and two Pokémon. I can't wait to see all the brand new combinations." Nurse Joy spoke her thoughts.

"Alright then, let's get started! Now it's time for the first round! Our first entry is Nando!"

But as time went on, Dawn was getting really nervous. Not only did she not have any special seals to make a flashy entrance, she had no time to properly plan! She only had time to put on her dress and choose her two Pokémon. Zoey noticed her nervous face.

"Something wrong?"

"I wasn't expecting all these people to be so great. I didn't have time to prepare. I was the last person to sign up before that closed, and I don't have an act."

"Well, I hope your improvisation is as good as your smarts." The coordinator tried to help with a hand on Dawn's shoulders. "In fact, some coordinators actually win on nothing but improve. It's rare, but it happens. I'm sure you won't suck." Dawn took a deep breath and turned to Zoey.

"Thanks. I needed that."

"Dawn Berlitz, you're up!" One of the employees spoke to the room.

"Break a leg." Zoey encouraged.

"Thanks." Dawn replied as she went to the stage.

"Now time for our next entry! It's Dawn Berlitz!" From the curtains, Dawn stepped out. Though she stopped dead in her tracks from all the people she was seeing and broke out in cold sweat. Her face was filled with fright.

"Dawn has stage fright." Ash realized while holding Spike, catching the attention of Dawn's family surrounding him.

"Oh my. I guess we didn't take into consideration of that." Johanna said worriedly.

"We need to cheer her on!" Lucy told them.

"You're right. Dawn, I believe in you!" Ash yelled at his friend. Dawn looked to see the loudest from the crowd, her family cheering super hard, and Ash. Even Spike was expressing joy from seeing her. Regaining her confidence, she took a deep breath while shaking her head before the girl threw out her two Pokémon.

"Prinplup, Ralts; Spotlight!" From the sphere's came out her water starter and newest catch. "Prinplup, use Bubblebeam straight up!" Aiming at the ceiling, she produced shiny bubbles that almost reached the ceiling before floating back down. "Ralts, pop them with Lucky Chant!" Ralts put his arms together and started to pray. The horns on his head started glowing which made the blue bubbles glow pink before popping, creating lots of neon blue and pink sparkles raining down. "Now use Confusion to make a whirlpool aimed at the audience!" He concentrated, and the sparkles gained a blue outline before spinning into a majestic whirlpool shining brightly from the stage lights. "Prinplup, jump into it with a spin using Peck and Metal Claw!" Taking a big leap, the blue penguin spun like a top with her wings glowing grey. Upon making contact with the whirlpool, Prinplup pushed the cone of it inside out, sending the sparkles right onto the audience, resulting in them laughing and cheering from the light shower.

"My first performance! You two were just awesome!" Prinrlup grinned almost cockily while Ralts ran back to Dawn to hug her leg.

"What a thrill! What a rare combo of using psychic type moves with the power of water like that!" The announcer exclaimed.

"That was an astounding performance! I've never seen anything like it!" Mr. Contesta said with a big smile.

"I agree. Interacting with the audience like that was a real pleasure to see!" Keira proclaimed.

"That combination was beautiful. I don't think I'll ever forget it." Nurse Joy nodded.

"Alright Dawn! I knew you could do it!" Lucy cried out to her sister.

"My baby girl. I'm so proud of her." Johanna cried, wiping away her tears of joy. Spike loved having the sparkles rain down on his head as Ash stared at Dawn with a look of admiration.

"Well done, Dawn." He tipped his hat off to her. "That's right Spike. That's your mommy up there."

"And that's it! the end to our spectacular preliminary round! So hold tight! The results will be presented in just a sec!" The announcer explained to the audience. Back stage, Dawn was talking to her two Pokemon.

"You two were super great out there. I'm sure we'll be able to reach the next level with that." Dawn complimented.

"Prinplup." Her starter said like it was obvious she did a good job, folding her flippers over her chest proudly. Ralts held his arms up to his master, so Dawn picked him up and hugged him. "Thank you Ralts. And thank you Prinplup." And with that, she went out to speak with her family and comrade. When she did, they flocked to her.

"Dawn! That was so pretty!" Lucy lunged at her feet, making Dawn giggle.

"Thanks Lucy."

"Dawn, even though you aren't following my footsteps, I am so proud of you in spite of your initial shock. I'm so proud to have you as my daughter." Johanna said completely sincerely. The teenage girl had tears coming from her eyes as the whole family hugged.

"Same goes for me. You're the greatest two little girls I could have." John added.

"Nice work, kiddo." Will said to his granddaughter. Ash smiled all the while before Johanna said to him,

"Come on. You can be in the group hug too." The young trainer was a little shocked, but shrugged it off as he awkwardly tried to hug in between Johanna and John.

"And now the moment you've been waiting for!" The voice of the announcer spoke to the crowds. Here are the 8 coordinators that made it through! These 8 have impressed our judges so much, they'll be advancing to round 2! And here they are!"

A/N: I'll just leave it off here, give you a bit of a cliffhanger. Ain't I a stinker? ;) Anyway, tell me what you think. I'm really looking forward to what you have to say. Sayonara