A/N: Alright, here's chapter 4. The reason I'm uploading it two days after chapter 3 is because I JUST finished it, and I also finished chapter 5 today as well. I know, it may seem like I'm rushing things, but I have a bit of a bad habit when it comes to waiting and patience. However, I will not be uploading chapter 5 today nor tomorrow. I'll upload the next day I have free time, so possibly on Wednesday. If not Wednesday, then on Thursday. So in this chapter, we have a bit of PearlShipping. Oh, and also, forget what I said about needing info on the Arceus movie, because I got what info I wanted to use from a different movie from the Diamond&Pearl series. So anyway, here you go, chapter 4. Just one chapter away from the end and finding out who Ash chooses. And again, the title may not make any sense, but I picked it from the saying "It's always darkest before the dawn" and just used it for the sake of Dawn's name.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon
-Chapter 4: Darkest Before Dawn-
The next morning, Ash practically jumped out of his bed and quickly got dressed.
'This is it. The last day. Then I have to make my decision,' Ash thought to himself as he let out a sigh. 'Man, this is a lot tougher than any Pokémon battle.'
The young trainer walked out of his room and went down the stairs into the kitchen. But to his surprise, someone was up before him and eating breakfast, and it wasn't Brock.
"Morning, Ash," said the girl sitting at the table.
"D-Dawn? What are you doing up so early?" Ash asked his most recent traveling companion.
"Don't know. I guess I just felt like waking up early. I'm just glad I didn't wake up May or Misty on my way down here," Dawn said with a quiet giggle.
"I'm actually more surprised Brock isn't up yet," Ash said as he scratched the back of his head before getting some breakfast for himself and then joining Dawn at the table.
"So, how was yesterday with May?" Dawn asked.
"Huh?" Ash said as he nearly fell backwards on his chair, not expecting Dawn to ask, let alone even know, that Ash spent the day with May.
"She told me and Misty all about it last night. Well, maybe not everything. Kinda hard to tell when hearing only from one side," Dawn explained.
"I see," Ash said as he steadied himself back on the chair so he wouldn't fall over.
"And it seemed to cheer Misty up a bit too, hearing that all you and May did was hang out," Dawn stated.
'So that's why she seemed so depressed,' Ash thought to himself. "Well, I didn't tell Misty that I was going to hang out with May because then she might have thought I didn't like hanging out with her."
"I think Misty understands," Dawn said.
Ash just nodded and the two of them went back to eating their breakfast in silence.
"So are you going to hang out with me today, Ash?" Dawn asked after about 30 seconds of silence, causing Ash to choke of his food.
Ash pounded his fist into his chest until he could breathe properly.
"I guess May told you, huh?" Ash asked.
"Not really, though I thought it was kind of obvious since you hung out with Misty and then May, and we never really got the chance to back in Sinnoh since we were too busy training," Dawn answered.
"That's true, and yeah. I was going to ask if you'd like to hang out for today," Ash said.
Dawn squealed in joy, but kept it quiet so she wouldn't wake the others.
"Though it's a shame you didn't ask me yesterday. I would've loved to take part in the contest that you took May to," Dawn said as she rested her head in her hand.
"Actually, it's still going. They're having it today as well, so I was planning on taking you to it anyway," Ash said.
Dawn let out another quiet squeal.
"Thank you so much, Ash," Dawn said with a huge smile on her face.
Ash smiled back and then the two of them resumed eating. It wasn't long until the others were up. They were no longer surprised that Ash was up so early, but this time they were shocked that Dawn was up before them as well. Ash just chuckled, glad he didn't have to give his blank stares to them again, while Dawn just stuck out her tongue and scratched the back of her head. After everyone was finished their breakfast, Brock and Delia were once again cleaning the dishes. But this time, Misty, May and Dawn were looking at Ash, causing him to sweatdrop and step back a bit.
"W-w-what is it?" Ash asked.
The three girls then just grinned and both Misty and May turned to Dawn.
"It's your turn Dawn," May said to the blue-haired girl.
Dawn squealed again, though it wasn't as embarrassing for Ash as it had been when he walked up to Misty to ask her two days ago, and then had to wait for the red-head to leave before asking May.
"Alright then, let's get going," Ash said.
Dawn just smiled and headed out the door.
"Have fun, Dawn!" Misty yelled out to the girl before the door closed, then she turned her head to Ash. "Now don't do anything stupid."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ash asked, insulted that Misty would say such a thing after they hung out just two days ago.
Misty and May both just looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Ash just shrugged it off and went out the door to catch up to Dawn.
"Think they'll be okay?" Misty asked her brunette friend.
"Probably, but Dawn seemed a bit hyper after I mentioned that Ash might ask her to hang out today," May answered.
"You're right about that. So now I don't know if we should be worried about Ash doing something stupid or Dawn doing something crazy," Misty said, causing herself and May to laugh.
Dawn stopped about two houses down before she decided to wait for Ash, with a big smile still on her face. When Ash caught up with her, he immediately stopped and just looked at Dawn with her huge smile.
'Great, now I just have to remember what Brock said yesterday. I just hope nothing goes wrong,' Ash thought to himself.
"So, where to first?" Dawn asked.
"Let's get you signed up for the contest first and see how much time we'll have until it starts," Ash said.
Dawn practically started jumping for joy, but then stopped and seemed worried.
"Hang on though…" Dawn said as she put one finger under her chin.
"What's wrong, Dawn?" Ash asked.
"I forgot to bring a dress to wear," Dawn said as she started to sulk.
Ash did an anime-style fall, but stood back up soon after. He then gently placed his hands on Dawn's shoulders, not wanting to yell at her and make her feel upset like what happened with May yesterday.
"It's okay, Dawn. You won't need one. The contest is only for fun. It's not an official Pokémon contest and there is no ribbon to be won. It's just to have fun," Ash said calmly to the girl.
Dawn slightly blushed as Ash had his hands on her shoulders and when he spoke so calmly to her.
"Alright Ash, thank you," Dawn said.
Ash then slowly took his hands off Dawn's shoulders.
"Now then, let's go find that stage," Ash said.
Dawn nodded happily and the two of them walked around town to look for the stage. Ash knew where it was, but figured he'd just walk around town with Dawn for a bit just to pass the time and talk about the past, before they met each other. Dawn didn't really mention much aside from what she had already told him back in Sinnoh. But Ash took this opportunity to ask her a serious – serious to him – question.
"So Dawn," Ash started.
"Yeah? What is it?" Dawn asked.
"I'd still like to know why you won't tell me about that nickname Kenny keeps calling you by," Ash told her.
Dawn just stopped in her tracks and her hair seemed to stand on end. Ash turned around and, seeing this, took a step back knowing what was about to happen.
"I'm never going to tell you, Ash! It's too embarrassing!" Dawn yelled at him as her face turned bright red.
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I was just wondering if you were ready to talk about it," Ash said defensively, holding his hands up.
"No, Ash. I'll never talk to you about it. Why do you think I keep telling Kenny to stop saying it?" Dawn said.
Ash just looked away from Dawn, to which she let out a sigh.
"I'm sorry, Ash. I shouldn't have exploded like that," Dawn apologized.
"No, you had every right. I'm sorry I asked. It's just been bugging me for a while what the nickname was for and so I thought you'd be ready to talk about it," Ash said.
"It's okay. It's just something really embarrassing for me," Dawn said as she blushed lightly and held her left arm with her right hand.
"Well… what do you say we get going and sign you up for the contest?" Ash asked.
Dawn just smiled and she continued walking with Ash right beside her. Upon reaching they stage, they met with the director again, who recognized Ash this time.
"Oh, hello again," the man greeted.
"Hi," Ash greeted back.
The man then looked over at Dawn.
"Is she going to be signing up for the contest?" the man asked.
"Yes, sir," Dawn said, playfully sticking out her tongue.
The man then handed the clipboard and a pen to Dawn so she could write down her name.
"Say kid, what about that other girl from yesterday? The one with brown hair and the green bandana?" the director asked Ash.
"She figured once was good enough. She needed to relax from official contests for a bit and this one of yours really helped her out," Ash lied.
"I see," the man said, and then took the clipboard and pen back from Dawn once she was done. "Now then, the contest won't be until the late afternoon today. So you'll have plenty of time to come up with any combinations and get in any practice you may need."
'Late afternoon, huh? That's not so bad. At least it'll give me time to talk with Dawn and forget about May's contest from yesterday for a bit. After all, I don't want to look bored for Dawn's turn,' Ash thought to himself.
"Well then, let's go walk around for a bit, Ash," Dawn said.
Ash just nodded and the two of them started to walk away from the stage director. They continued to talk about the past, though Ash was the one who did most of the talking since Dawn didn't have very much to say.
"And this one time in Johto, Brock actually almost got married," Ash laughed.
"What?! He was actually about to get married?!" Dawn said in surprise.
"Almost. But it turned out the girl, Temacu, just wanted to know what it was like to marry someone after her cousin got married. At least, I think it was her cousin, I don't quite remember," Ash said.
"So what happened?" Dawn asked.
"Well, she was captured by Team Rocket, though it was by accident since they were trying to get Pikachu and her father's Pokémon. She then seemed to dump Brock immediately and wanted to marry James," Ash answered.
"James from Team Rocket?" Dawn asked.
"The very same. But then it gets a little twisted from there," Ash said.
"How so?" Dawn asked.
"Brock and James, though mostly Brock, were fighting over Temacu. She ended up getting injured and sent to the hospital," Ash answered.
"Oh my. Was she okay?" Dawn asked, worried that Temacu didn't make it.
"She was fine. But when she woke up and saw the doctor, she wanted to marry him instead of Brock or James," Ash answered with a laugh.
"Oh wow, that's actually kinda funny. What did the doctor say?" Dawn asked, laughing.
"He actually agreed to it. That was when Temacu's dad told us why she wanted to get married. It was actually a very weird day for us," Ash answered.
"I'm sure it was," Dawn said.
The two laughed a bit over the thought that Brock actually might have gotten married if Team Rocket had succeeded in grabbing the Pokémon instead of Temacu, then they started to walk in silence until Ash remember one of his previous adventures with Dawn.
"Hey Dawn, do you remember that crazy adventure we had at Alamos Town?" Ash asked.
"You mean with Darkrai, Dialga and Palkia?" Dawn asked.
"Yeah, that one," Ash answered.
"How could I forget? That was probably one of the most dangerous we've ever had. If we didn't get that song disk in the slot on time, we would've completely vanished from existence," Dawn said.
"Yeah," Ash said, but then looked up at the sky as he remembered one event that could've ended in tragedy from that adventure. "But I almost lost you, Dawn."
"Huh?" Dawn asked as she stopped, causing Ash to stop when he didn't hear her footsteps beside his own.
"When you fell out of the balloon. If I reacted any later, I wouldn't have been able to catch you," Ash said.
"Ash…" Dawn said quietly as a light blush appeared on her face.
"But I'm glad I got to you on time," Ash said to her softly.
"Speaking of that, I haven't thanked you properly for saving me then," Dawn said, then she looked up at the raven-haired trainer, still with the light pink blush. "Thank you for saving my life, Ash."
Ash's face then turned slightly red as he shifted his eyes away from Dawn and started scratching the back of his head. The two stood there in an awkward silence until Dawn spoke up.
"Well, should we keep going?" Dawn suggested.
"Y-yeah," Ash said as he shook off the blush that was on his face.
The two of them kept walking until a small store caught Dawn's eye. She ran up to the window and Ash just walked right behind her. Dawn just looked at some of the dresses that were in the window and Ash sweatdropped.
'Here we go again,' Ash thought to himself as he remembered from yesterday with May.
"Ash, could you buy a few things for me?" Dawn asked.
"Sure, but not too much. I don't think I have much money left," Ash answered.
"Yeah, May told me about it," Dawn said.
The two of them then walked in and Dawn went right ahead to looking at the dresses. Since the dresses were all that Dawn seemed interested in, Ash wasn't all too worried about being embarrassed about walking past women's undergarments again. Just remembering that when May dragged him along yesterday made him blush a little, but then he started to think if May was doing that on purpose just to mess with him.
'Nah, she wouldn't do that,' Ash thought to himself, but then started to have second thoughts. 'Would she?'
Dawn grabbed two dresses that she really liked and walked up to Ash.
"Could you buy these for me, Ash?" Dawn asked.
"Sure. I said I would, didn't I?" Ash answered.
Dawn lightly squealed so that no one else in the store would look at them weirdly. Dawn took the dresses to the cash register and Ash paid for them, taking the bag. The two then left and their stomach started to growl a bit. They'd been walking and talking for quite a while and it wasn't until after Dawn was done her shopping that she started feeling hungry, but so was Ash.
"Want to go get something to eat?" Ash suggested.
"Yeah. I don't think I'd be able to do well in the contest on an empty stomach," Dawn agreed.
The two of them then walked over to a small restaurant and got some food. While they were waiting for it, Ash looked at Dawn.
"So who are you thinking of using for the contest?" Ash asked.
"Well, I think I might use Ambipom. But as hyper as Ambipom can get, I'm having second thoughts," Dawn said.
"What about Buneary or Pachirisu?" Ash asked.
"I think Pachirisu is still a little shy about being up on a stage being watched by other people. I'm not sure about Buneary, though. I know Mamoswine isn't suitable for a contest," Dawn said.
"Yeah, and with both its size and weight, it might break the stage," Ash stated.
"That's true. Or I could use Piplup," Dawn said.
Their food then arrived for them and the two of them started to eat. Once they were done, Ash paid the bill and they checked the time.
"We should be heading for the contest soon," Ash said.
Dawn just nodded and they two of them started to walk towards the contest stage. Upon arriving, the two of them saw a lot of people already sitting down and others going to the back of the stage.
"Looks like we got here just in time," Ash said.
"Yeah…" Dawn said, a little nervous.
Ash saw this and placed a hand on Dawn's shoulder, causing her to blush slightly and look up at him.
"It'll be okay, Dawn. Remember, there's no pressure. It's just for fun," Ash said.
"Right," Dawn said.
The both of them grinned.
"No need to worry," the both of them said in unison, then they laughed.
"I'll be cheering for you, Dawn," Ash said.
"And I'll be sure to put on a big show," Dawn said.
Ash, holding the bag with Dawn's new dresses, then walked away to find a good seat while Dawn went to the back of the stage with the other contestants to get ready.
'I wonder who Dawn's going to use and what combinations they'll put together,' Ash thought to himself as he took his seat.
The contest was very much the same as the one held yesterday, all the contestants using small, cute or beautiful Pokémon. But there were a few who were using small/medium-sized Pokémon with incredible strength, such as Machop, Hitmonchan, and others. When it was Dawn's turn, she sent out Ambipom and did an amazing combination using Swift, Double Team, and Double Hit. (A/N: Again, I apologize for not going into very much detail. I suck when it comes to large details and descriptions) When the contest was over, Dawn's clever combinations got her a victory over the other competitors. The young girl just jumped and squealed for joy before meeting up with Ash backstage.
"Very impressive, Dawn," Ash said.
"Thanks, Ash. Though it was kind of hard to get Ambipom to do those combinations when we didn't have any time to practice," Dawn said.
"It just shows how good of a coordinator you are, being able to think up combinations on the spot," Ash complimented.
Dawn blushed slightly as Ash looked up at the sky.
"Seems like we should be heading back soon," Ash said as he looked at the position of the sun, which was just about to set over the horizon.
"Yeah. But I have to admit, I had a lot of fun, Ash," Dawn said as she smiled.
Ash smiled back at the blue-haired girl and the two of them headed back towards the Ketchum residence. Once they got to the front door, Dawn took her dresses out of Ash's hands.
"Thank you, Ash. I really had fun today," Dawn said.
"You're welcome, Dawn," Ash said.
The two of them then walked into the house and closed the door behind them.
"Welcome back you two," May said as she saw Ash and Dawn walk in.
"I hope you didn't do anything stupid, Ash," Misty said, giving the raven-haired boy a mischievous glare, to which Ash just glared back.
"No, it was actually a lot of fun," Dawn said.
"We were also hoping you didn't do something crazy, Dawn. You did seem kind of hyper this morning," May said.
"And just what's that supposed to mean?" Dawn asked in an irritated tone.
May and Misty just laughed as Brock walked from the kitchen.
"You're just in time. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes," Brock said.
"Alright," Ash and Dawn said at the same time.
Dawn went upstairs to put her new dresses away as Ash went and sat in the kitchen, waiting for dinner. After dinner, everyone went to their rooms and both Misty and May asked Dawn what she and Ash did for the day while Ash sat on his bed.
'So tomorrow's the big day. Now I have to make my choice, and I know who it is I really want to be with. I'll talk to her tomorrow and tell her my feelings,' Ash thought to himself.
Pikachu then ran into Ash's room and jumped on his bed.
"Pikapi, pika chu?" the yellow mouse asked, which roughly translated to "Ash, you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, Pikachu," Ash said as he pet Pikachu's head.
Pikachu smiled as he was being pet and then went to lay down somewhere while Ash laid on his bed after closing his bedroom door.
'I just hope she feels the same way about me, though. I'll be a bit awkward if she rejects me,' Ash thought to himself. 'Guess I'll just have to find out tomorrow.'
Ash then drifted off to sleep as he thought about tomorrow.
A/N: So there you have it, Ash's day with Dawn. It seems Ash has already chosen who he wants to be with, but no name is given. Nor WILL a name be given. You'll all have to wait until the next chapter to find out since it's THE final chapter. Anyway, time for the hint I promised back in chapter 3. The hint is: Ash will be forced to fight a rival as he's about to make his confession to the girl of his choice. I'll leave you readers to guess who the rival is, and thus who Ash picked. I won't spoil anything further. Again, I don't want any whining or complaining about who I had Ash pick. I picked it about a month ago and I'm staying with it since I've already finished the chapter. I hope you all enjoyed reading my fanfic so far and I hope you enjoy the ending, despite who Ash picked.
Please R&R