The sun rose into the sky above the snowy town of Pallet, painting the ground orange. The sun's light shone through the window of the Ketchum house and onto the face of Ash Ketchum. As the light touched his face, he stirred and opened his eyes.

"What? What happened? Where am I? Am I dead?" he asked aloud. But as things came into focus, Ash saw that he was back in his own bed in his own room.

"I'm home?...I'm home! I'm alive!" he cried out. Ash looked down at the bruise he had gotten on his leg that night, and when he felt it tense up when he touched it, then he was sure that he was 100% alive. It also made him see that everything he had seen throughout the night had really happened, it wasn't just a dream!

Ash then looked at the calender on his wall and realized, "It's Valentine's Day! I haven't missed it! The Pokemon gave me another chance after all! Oh Dawn, just you wait and see, things will be different now!" And Ash knew just what he needed to do.

He got up, showered, and got dressed in his Sinnoh clothes. He asked Pikachu to stay behind because he had to go somewhere. As he passed the guest room door, he was relieved to see that it was still closed, meaning that Dawn was still in bed. Ash went to meet his mom in the kitchen, who was cooking breakfast. He gave her a hug, wished her a Happy Valentine's Day, and told her he would be back later. So he grabbed his coat, put on his sneakers, and went outside.

"Wow, he seems to be in such a good mood today. I didn't think Ash was the kind of person who liked Valentine's Day. I wonder what's changed his mind?" Delia thought.

Ash walked through the cold morning air as the snow crunched under his feet. He made his way to the flower shop in town. As he entered, he noticed the woman behind the front counter was reading a magazine. Ash guessed that she wasn't expecting customers this early in the morning, and she obviously didn't hear him enter the store.

Ash walked up to the counter and said, "Hi, can I get a dozen red roses, please?"

His voice made her look up and she noticed him. "Oh hi, Ash. I didn't know it was you." she said, as she went to get Ash his roses. A few minutes later, she came back. "Here you go." she said, handing the bouquet to Ash.

"How much is it?" Ash asked.

"That'll be $18."

"Here you go, keep the change." Ash said, handing out some money.

"You're my favorite customer." she said with a smile.

"Thanks a lot. Bye." Ash said as he left.

After stopping to pick up two Valentine's Day cards, he headed over to the Prof. Oak's Pokemon Lab.

He knocked on the door and heard Gary's voice say, "I'll get it!"

As Gary opened the door and noticed Ash, he was about to ask why he was here, when Ash simply handed him two greeting card envelopes, told him to hand them out to the girls, and then he ran off back towards his house, which left Gary feeling very confused. Gary closed the door and walked into the living room where Misty, May, and Tracey were eating breakfast.

They noticed the strange look on Gary's face and Misty asked, "Who was that at the door?"

"It was Ash, and he gave me these cards to give to...you and May." he said, noticing the names on the envelopes.

The two girls took their envelopes and opened them to reveal Valentine's Day cards. They opened them and read them aloud, for each card had the same inscription from Ash.

"Happy Valentine's Day to a very special friend. Thank you for always being there for me. Love, Ash."

"But Ash said he doesn't care about Valentine's Day. He made that very clear to us last night." said Tracey in disbelief.

"Something's changed in him. I could see it on his face when I talked to him at the door. He seemed so happy, so excited." said Gary. "He's different now. It's so strange."

"So all he did was just give you the cards to give to us and then he left?" asked Misty.

"Yeah, and it looked like he was in a hurry. I guess it had something to do with that bouquet of roses he had with him."

"Well, if I know Ash, I think I have a pretty good idea of who those are for." said May.

Ash walked back into his house, threw off his coat and sneakers, and walked up the stairs. As he looked into the guest room, he saw that Dawn was sitting in front of the mirror and had just finished brushing her hair. But before she could put in her yellow buckles, and put on her hat and scarf, Ash walked in and put the roses on the bed.

Dawn stood up in surprise since she had not heard Ash enter the room. Normally, she wouldn't want anyone to see her in the morning, but since she was dressed and had her hair brushed to perfection, she wasn't worried.

She looked at the roses on the bed and then at Ash who had a caring smile on his face. Ash then walked over to her, wrapped his arms around her, put his lips to hers, and kissed her passionately. Dawn's eyes widened with shock. She couldn't believe what he was doing! Ash Ketchum, the young man whom she had loved for quite a long time was holding her and kissing her! It almost seemed too good to be true. Dawn wrapped her arms around Ash and kissed him back; she had been waiting for this for a long time.

When their lips finally parted, Ash looked into her blue eyes and said in a soft voice, "I love you, Dawn. More than anything in the world."

Dawn had a confused look on her face as she stared at the eighteen year old boy. "But...I thought you didn't care about love."

"Well, things changed. I understand everything now."

"How did you change overnight? This is so fast!"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. You have no idea about what I went through to realize how much I love you." he said, kissing her again.

Dawn smiled at Ash and replied, "And I love you, too. You have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear you say that."

"Oh, I think I do." Ash said with an all-knowing smile, remembering the things he had seen during the night. "Dawn, I have something to ask you. Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Of course I will, Ash." she replied with another kiss.

Ash then walked over and picked up the roses, handing them to his new girlfriend. "These are for you. Happy Valentine's Day, Dawn."

"Thank you so much! And Happy Valentine's Day to you, too." she replied taking the flowers in her arms. "And God bless us."

"Yes," Ash said in agreement, putting his arm around her, "God bless us, everyone!"

The End

Author's Note: Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! I love each of you for reading my story and taking the time to review! Please let me know what you thought of my story! Have any requests for what I should write next?

Lastly, I dedicate this story to the world's biggest pearlshipper: my girlfriend! xoxo