Ash was starting to wake up from his deep slumber. That was one of the greatest sleeps he had in months, but at the same time his body wasn't feeling the same as his refreshed mind. His body aced and he couldn't even feel his left arm. Opening his eyes he saw someone sleeping on him while cutting off circulation to his arm; his best friend, Dawn. Realizing what was happening, the trainer began to... sort of panic in the inside. He wasn't sure what to make of this. On one hand, he was feeling happy she was in his arms, and he remembered he did suggest sleeping together, but what if she doesn't and pushes him away in a fright. This was truly a predicament he was in. When Dawn herself started to stir, he closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep.
As Dawn was waking up she thought that last night's sleep was super comfortable, but the aches in her body said otherwise. Opening here eyes, the young researcher looked around herself to see they were in a crater with a spring in the center while Cobalt was off in the distance where he was throwing rocks up into the air with his eyes closed, moving out of the way within a second and catching them before throwing them up again. Like he was doing some convoluted form of juggling training. Then the rest of last night hit her. Getting up despite her body hurting from doing so, she shook her partner.
"Ash! Ash, wake up!" He abruptly opened his eyes and cried out,
"What?! What's happening?!"
"Do you remember last night?!" She questioned the boy. He did actually since he had a moment to be awake, so he answered,
"We went to a different dimension?"
"Yes!" Picking him up onto his feet, he could see that she was filled to the brim with joy, and every other happy related word out there. "And not just that, we survived! And we stopped Team Galactic! Can you believe it?! We're heroes!" As Dawn was going through an episode of self-celebration, Ash chuckled to himself. No way did he think he was going to save the world at the beginning of his journey. Heck, he didn't think he'd travel around with such an amazing girl like Dawn. It felt like without her, he would not have grown as a better person along the way... or exist perhaps since Team Galactic as a whole would've been too much for him. He then realized something. Everything that made the journey enjoyable to the extent it was and not feel like just a straightforward mission to the endgame, it was Dawn. She made him feel more alive and see the colors of life much more clearly through the whole thing. He then tuned into her still going on about how amazing what they did was. "I-I just can't believe it all! I just have so much joyful energy I just..." The ecstatic female stopped for a second before hugging him while kissing the trainer on the lips. This caught Ash by sheer surprise. In fact, he was so shocked from this action that his balance was nonexistent, causing them to fall over, his head being bashed both sides by the ground and Dawn's head.
"Ow!" He cried out.
"Ouch!" She also said from their faces being smashed together. "Ash, what's wr-" Then the girl realized what she did. She knew he had the hots for her from their conversation, and even gave him a kiss on the cheek, but this was their first kiss. And based on his history, likely the first kiss he's ever experienced. Her face rapidly started to blush from the action she just did, and started to stammer, "I-I'm sorry Ash. I'll just-"
"Wait." He requested, keeping her moving away by placing a hand over her back. "I... I...I liked it." Ash managed to say, his face just as red as hers.
"R-really?" She asked him, moving her face closer to his.
"Yes. I was just... caught off guard... is all." The boy explained himself.
"What were you thinking?" The girl inquired.
"That... I finally got something I wanted so badly without knowing what it was." The trainer responded.
"A kiss?" Their noses were touching.
"From you." Ash then made the last inch gone, kissing her this time. Dawn melted into his arms as they gently yet passionately made out. Ash loved how soft her lips were, and Dawn loved her much effort he was putting into it. The moment went from nice to bliss for them. And to them, this outcome almost seemed inevitable on a subconscious level. For Dawn, whenever they felt very close at the moment or did high fives after Ash won a gym battle, her heart fluttered. It seemed like with each city, they've grown closer and closer, her now seeing it was probably love in disguise. He helped along the way her goal while asking nothing in return aside from companionship, helping her feel better and safer all the time. The way he cared and supported for her and her dream, and that day when he admitted he found her hot, there was no use denying it anymore; she loved Ash Ketchum. Tears of joy wetted her eyes as they trailed down her nose.
For Ash, he recalled all the times he got a nosebleed whenever she looked more cute and beautiful than usual. But over the past month, perhaps sometime after winning his third badge, he frequently felt those same feelings without breaking a sweat... or blood for that matter. The way she put her full effort into everything that they did together; the training, the gym battles, catching Pokémon, or even just walking down a route, he experienced feelings he wasn't used to but was able to adapt. To think he got a small crush on her on practically the first two days of their journey together, and he couldn't be any more happier that he had. Dawn let her hands run through his shaggy hair while Ash played with hers with one hand while rubbing the small of her back with the other. When they eventually separated their lips, they gazed into each other's eyes. Brown and grey respectively.
"I love you." Dawn told him.
"I love you too." Ash recuperated, making her giggle in glee. He loved her giggle.
"There you two are!" A voice called out to them from above. They turned their attention to a certain boy from Sandgem with an Alakazam. It was Lucas. Dawn swiftly got off of Ash and he in turn pushed his arms into the ground with enough force his legs could do the rest of standing up. Lucas's Alakazam used its powers to let them descend through the air to face them up close. "Do I even need to ask how long you guys been doing that?" He asked coldly.
"Uh... well... I-uh..." Ash mumbled trying to explain himself when Dawn saved him.
"For your information, Lucas, we were simply tired last night, and shortly afterwards, we just proclaimed love to each other. Got a problem with that?" She asked, annoyed by how he worded his question. However, he went from cold to somewhat fearful while putting his hands up
"Whoa, whoa, I was just pulling your chain. Honestly, I could tell there was something between you two back in Veilstone City that time, even when you two weren't aware of it. I didn't say anything because it would've been too soon, but I'm glad you chose to be with someone like him. You're a cool guy, Ash." He told the two.
"Uh... thanks." Ash replied, still unsure about what he said.
"Well, thank you then. You came to fetch us or something?" Dawn asked curiously.
"Yeah. We were expecting you for hours, but you said so yourself that you were exhausted. Alakazam here knows Teleport so we can go home instantly."
"Ah. Yeah." The female researcher chuckled, sweating a bit from embarrassment. Realizing something, she called out, "Cobalt!" Paying attention back when Lucas appeared, he ran to his imprinted mother. "Ash, when we were in that other dimension, he helped me find you in there in time so I could save you in time."
"Really? Thanks Cobalt!" Ash thanked the Aura Pokémon. He smiled and grunted as a welcome.
"Other dimension?" Lucas questioned, out of the loop.
"I'll explain later. Cobalt, return." When he was returned to the Luxury Ball, Lucas told his psychic type,
"Teleport us back home." Nodding, Alakazam concentrated as he and the others glowed white before they instantly went from the spring to Sandgem Town, right in front of Prof. Rowan's house. "Thank you. Return." Once it was just the teens, they soon entered the laboratory. As soon as they were firmly in the building, a very familiar voice called out to them.
"There you guys are! I'm fining you both $10 million dollars for being late!" The two were then hugged very tightly by Barry while all the scientists in the room applauded the them with claps and cheers. "I was so worried about you two! I was waiting since daybreak!"
"Barry! Can't... breathe." Ash gasped. Letting go of his closest friends, he chuckled,
"Sorry. What took you so long though?"
"We were simply too tired. I think it was somewhere between two or three in the morning when we took a nap. Lasted much longer than we intended though."
"Yeah. Way too tired." Dawn agreed with him.
"Dawn." The four teens turned to see Rowan and Dawn's dad.
"Dad!" Dawn cried out as she ran to her father, and the two hugged each other in a strong embrace.
"I'm so glad my baby girl's okay. How are you Sweetie?" He asked her.
"A little sore, but I'm okay."
"That's wonderful. I'm going to get the others and Delia. See you shortly." John let go of his daughter and went up to the boys, ruffling Ash's and Barry's hair each. "Both of your mothers are a delight. Glad they raised such excellent boys." He then left the place. Prof. Rowan spoke up.
"If I can have your attention you three." Ash, Dawn and Barry lined up in a row. "I'm glad that all of you made it back safe. You three... you leave me at a loss of words. You three have saved everyone! Never before in my heart its pounded like a drum for so long before this moment. Kudos!" All three blushed and had various expressions of gratitude. "But... there's something else I need to tell you all. The three lake guardians seems to have returned to their home, and somehow replaced all the water that was evaporated from the explosions. Sinnoh is working on replacing all the water based and amphibious Pokémon lost."
"I'm so glad they're back in their natural homes." Dawn commented happily.
"Indeed. I previously gave you three an assignment, but for now, you can put that off for later. You've more than earned it. Ash, how many badges do you have?"
"Six. My next badge is going to be Snowpoint City, but after all this, I'm going to take a break. The past couple of days have been rather stressful." Ash shrugged.
"Understood. Saving the world is a lot for anyone, let alone younglings. For now, Cynthia and I are planning the celebration.
"Celebration?" Barry asked curiously.
"Yes. You think I'd just send you on your merry way with nothing more than a thanks? As heroes, you deserve to be rewarded as such. It's taking next week in Jubilife City. I trust you'll be there, yes?" The three of them exchanged looks before smiling and looking at the Professor. Ash spoke for them.
"We wouldn't miss it for the world."
Today was the day. Thursday, November 13th, 2008. Coincidently, two months to the day that Ash turned 17 and started his journey. Everybody in the Sinnoh region that could attend were seated on the main street of Jubilife City with a wide red carpet dividing the two groups. All sorts of people were around, but some of the most important were the gym leaders in seats sitting nearest to the carpet at each 1/4th mark along its length. In the front row were the heroes' family members. From right to left was Delia Ketchum, Fiona McDonald, and Dawn's entire family. Delia and Fiona sat in the middle corners while the Berlitz family sat left to Fiona. Fiona said Barry's dad couldn't make it because he didn't want to upstage his son's ceremony with his presence. When the event finally properly started, each of the Elite Four took their spots on a grand, giant stage that you typically see in concerts facing South at the North edge of the city. Bugsy, Bertha, Flint and Lucian sat down on chairs left to right. And coming together from both sides, was the Pokémon Professor Rowan, and the Pokémon Champion, Cynthia. Tapping on the microphone to see it was on, Cynthia spoke first.
"Hello everybody, this is your champion, Cynthia White. For two months, the Sinnoh region has been plagued by the villainous group who called themselves Team Galactic. We all thought they were an energy research company who aimed to change the world. They almost did, but not in a good way. Cyrus Hall was going to erase the world, making it his own were there was no spirit. No emotion. No willpower outside of his own. It all seemed lost, until three teenagers stepped up, stopping their plans multiple times when there was no reward, and eventually at the risk of their own life. They have stalled their plans, freed the captured lake guardians, had a hand in Team Galactic's HQ being destroyed, beat their commanders, and stopped Cyrus himself. Although I couldn't save him, and two of the three commanders have escaped custody as of now, this is not a day to worry about what's lost, but rather, a day to celebrate our regions' new heroes. And here they are!" Behind everybody, a fancy black limousine stopped at the end of the red carpet, and the heroes in question stepped out to the public, resulting in the crowd cheering. Dawn was the first to step out, wearing a white long sleeve dress due to the climate progressively getting colder. Holding a white miniature purse for the occasion, she took out her Pokeballs and threw them into the air with a laugh. With six flashes of light, all of her Pokémon appeared. All of them wore wore a bowtie, with Empoleon, Lopunny and Cobalt wearing white, while Spike, Gallade and Crystal wore black. As she walked down the carpet with her Pokémon following, Ash stepped out wearing a black tuxedo. Releasing all his Pokémon, Torterra had sparkles in his tree, Luxray, Floatzel and Dusknoir had black bowties, and Mamoswine had various colored ribbons on her tusks. After that, Barry came out the most excited of them all, waving to the people and calling out,
"Thank you! Thank you! You're a wonderful audience!" Throwing out his Pokémon, Infernape had a red bowtie, Tails and Thorn wore black eye masks, and Heracross had his horn decorated with bells for this special occasion. It took some time, but eventually all the Pokémon were at their places and none of the humans on the stage were behind the really big ones. Rowan this time spoke up.
"Children, you have gone above and beyond what anybody has done for not just the Sinnoh region, but the whole world as well. There's various awards for those who performs a feat that deserves global attention, but there is no current reward for those that save the whole world..."
"...So we and the rest of the world governments decided to make up a new medal for the humanitarian and service category." Cynthia finished his sentence as she was handed a small, yet wide black box. "For preserving the spirit, the emotion, the willpower and the knowledge of our world, I present you with the Spirit Medal." Opening the box showed three gold medals with red, white and blue loops for the neck. The imprint was a seven point star. Putting them on, everybody again cheered as loud as they could, especially the family members. "And, after discovering your living standards, on behalf of I and this region's elite four, I present you with this." From her pocket, she presented them with two checks. Looking, Dawn was surprised, but Barry and Ash were flabbergasted with their jaws nearly dropping to the ground to see that the checks were $2.5 million dollars.
"$2.5 million dollars?!" Barry screamed loud enough that several mikes let everybody know. Delia, Fiona, and the Berlitz family were also stupefied from this revelation.
"Usually when this money is given, it's either someone winning the lottery or an organization winning the donation of the year. But you three have certainly earned it." Cynthia then turned to the whole audience while a pokeball was thrown from the crowd and an Alakazam came out. "Well, we'd love and entertain the paparazzi, but now is time for our exit. Good day." And with that, they, and all their Pokémon glowed white before teleporting to Sandgem Town.
"Huh? What happened? That just happened out of nowhere." Barry questioned, looking around.
"Everybody involved except you made a plan that the elite four and Shawn would handle the cameras and reporters, while you and I can have a relaxing day on such a day of celebration."
"So, what do we do while everyone is in Jubilife?" Ash asked.
"Whatever you want. It's your day after all. I'm sorry I have to run children, but I'll have to await for when the elite four and Shawn finish with the press so that the rest of today's planning goes seamlessly." Bringing out her Togekiss and mounting her, she said,
"Again, thank you for everything." And with that, she took off into the midday sky. The three stood there for a couple of moments when Barry asked,
"Sooooo, want to play some videogames at my place?" Barry suggested.
"Sure." Ash and Dawn accepted nonchalantly.
Ash and Dawn gazed up at the night sky from Ash's roof at around 8 PM, back in their regular clothes. Sure, it was mostly cloudy, but it was getting where just the lightest fluff of snow was falling. The boys' mothers returned shortly after the ceremony and they all had a great day just being in a small yet loving accompaniment. Barry eventually tired himself out and went to bed early. As the two stared into the sky, Dawn was the first to speak.
"So, this is Twinleaf Town. It's still weird that something so small and quaint made both a hyperactive goofball and a perpetually bored boy that wanted to explore the region."
"Yeah. If I went alone, I wouldn't have thought the journey would be this much fun. Maybe the reason I wanted to become Pokémon Champion wasn't it." Ash stated, being reflective at the moment.
"What do you mean? Didn't you say you wanted to make friends along the way and not be a lonely kid?"
"I did, but when everybody was praising us earlier today, it felt good. Really good, but not as good as I thought it would be. If getting the adoration of the entire region didn't entirely satisfy me, than what was I missing. Than after hanging out with you guys and Mrs. McDonald... and mom, I realized. I didn't want the region's approval, I wanted my dad's approval. I wanted to show him that even though he abandoned us, I managed to make it to the top. That I reached the top without him, and he would say, 'Wow. You're a Pokémon Champion. I'm so proud of you, son." Ash stayed silent for a few seconds, looking crestfallen as he finished, "I love you, Ash my boy." He was in his own thoughts when he felt a hug from his best friend, whom was on the verge of crying.
"You don't need his approval Ash. I'm sorry he left, but it was his choice, and he decided to leave behind such a beautiful son and damaged his family by leaving. The people that you should focus on is your mother, and your actual friends. Barry, Maylene, Cynthia..."
"You." Ash ended for her. The girl blushed while lowering her head into his neck, but admitted.
"Yeah. I love you Ash. Even if there was no one else, we have each other. No matter what happens, we'll be together. I promise." Dawn didn't hear anything for a moment until she heard restrained sobbing. She turned her head to see he was trying not to fully burst out crying.
"I-I love you t-too...Da-Dawn. I d-don't know wha-what I'd do wi-without you." She hugged him tighter in response as she told her best friend,
"Let it out. I'm here. Just let it out." Unable to keep it in, Ash hugged Dawn tightly as he let all of his suppressed negativity out like in Jubilife months ago, but even more emotionally. All the loneliness, all the confusion, all the depression, all the times he was hurt as a kid and his mom was too much in an episode to help him, all of the frustration and resentment toward his dead-beat dad came all out full force as he cried his eyes out into the beanie on her head. This went on for a good twenty minutes before Ash stopped crying strongly, and another ten before he stopped crying all together. And Dawn was there to take it all, crying silently along with him. She would support him, no matter how hard it was. When he finally spoke, he whispered,
"I...I love you... Dawn." She smiled as they stayed there just a little bit longer.
"I love you too. I'll never leave you."
A/N: Hmm, I was expecting more reviews on the last chapter. Anyway, I certainly liked writing this. Especially the end there. I bet all of you for the most part forgot why Ash went on his his journey in the first place. Remember what he said back in chapter 3, 'Reality Sets In'? Well, here it is again but with a twist and stronger emotional impact for him and Dawn. Ash finally knows the full extent of what made him feel so damaged and stunted. So, what do you think of this chapter, and the previous chapter as well? Leave reviews down below. Oh, and one last thing. I haven't really been watching the 'Pokémon Journeys' anime. I've been too much focused on writing fanfiction and making sure it was of great quality. That would explain why I wasn't aware of Ash using aura again in the latest series. Anyway, reviews please.