Sorry this chapter took so long. I had MASSIVE writers block, and I couldn't write anything for three days straight. Hopefully I won't have that problem next chapter, but I don't know.

Even though I had writer's block, I still did stuff related to the story. Something you may have noticed is that there is a new cover image for the story. I created a picture of what Jake looks like wearing his most recent outfit in Photoshop. I know it's not the best, but I tried. You should tell me how I did.

Anyways, here is the (hopefully) long awaited chapter 30. Enjoy.

Summary: Ash battled Gary and lost. He then called May, and made plans to meet up with her in Driftveil.

Ash hung up the phone and leaned against the wall. He felt like had just taken a load off his chest, and felt much better. Man, it felt really good to see May again, these next two days are gonna take forever now that I'm waiting for something.

He shook his head clear of thoughts, and headed outside the Pokémon Center. He made the short walk back to the hotel, and found Dawn, Brock, and Pikachu waiting for him in the lobby, so he walked towards them. Since they were both on their Pokenavs, only Pikachu, who was on Dawn's shoulder, saw him. He leapt off of her shoulder and ran straight for his trainer.

"Pika pika!" He exclaimed happily. He jumped into Ash's outstretched arms and rubbed his cheek against him.

"Hey Pikachu, ya miss me?" Ash asked.

"Pika!"

"Yeah you're right, I haven't seen you all day." Ash started walking towards Dawn, who had only just realized that Pikachu wasn't on her shoulder anymore. She looked up at him and gave him a look.

"Hey Ash! How was your talk with May?"

"It went well. I promised her that I'd meet up with her in Driftveil, so I'm looking forward to that!"

"Yeah, me too..." Dawn trailed off.

*Begin Flashback* (A/N Thoughts in parentheses)

As she watched Ash run down the hallway, Dawn sighed. (Why is he so excited to see May?)
Brock took notice of this and put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, last I heard, May was seen with a guy who's supposedly her boyfriend."

"Although that's good news, that's not it." Dawn went over to her bed and sat down. Brock followed her and sat next to her.

"I'm gonna keep my promise. Don't worry about that. What I do want to know is why you don't just outright tell him."

Dawn sighed. "Brock, you of all people should know why. Girls can't just tell a guy that they like him, the guy has to figure it out for himself."

"Good luck with that, just remember to drop hints."

"I have."

"Heavier hints." Brock got up and grabbed Ash's backpack, which luckily had all his stuff in it. He then walked over to a table with the room keys in it. "When you're ready, come down to the lobby. We can wait for Ash there." Brock then headed out the door, leaving Dawn sitting on the bed.

*End Flashback*

"DAWN!" Ash yelled into her ear. Dawn immediately snapped back to reality, and clenched her ear.

"I think you just burst my eardrum," she complained. "Why'd you do that?"

"Because we need to go to catch the ferry, you've been zoned out for almost an hour," Ash remarked.

"Oh."

"Guys let's go! I don't want to have to have to wait in line forever!" Brock cut in. He started walking towards the door, causing Ash and Dawn to do a running walk to catch up to him.

The trio was standing in line, waiting to board the ferry. After having stood in line for well over an hour, they only had one group in front of them. As the receptionist was talking to a blue haired man who was with who looked to be his wife, who had red hair, and kid, who wore a hat on his head, Ash sighed.

"Why is this taking so long?" He complained. He shifted his weight from one foot to another for the hundredth time, trying to get comfortable.

"Stop complaining," Dawn said. She too, was bored, which was evident in her voice, something that Ash took notice of.

"You don't sound too amused yourself."

Dawn stuck her tongue out at him. "That's because I'm stuck here with you," she said in a playful manner.

Ash missed the hint. "But—" he was suddenly cut off by hearing a loud noise in the background. He turned around, and a few people back there was a five year old throwing a temper tantrum. The parents were desperately trying to calm him down, but to no avail. The parents started getting dirty looks, and they tried even harder to silence the kid.

"NEXT!" The lady at the check-in shouted. Her voice barely carried over the screaming child, but luckily the group heard her. Ash and co walked up to her. "Are you going to Driftveil because of the tournament as a competitor?" Ash nodded. "Name?"

"Ash Ketchum."

"Guest?"

"Dawn Berlitz."

The lady typed a few things into her computer, looked at him, then handed Ash two keys to their room. "Room 104." Ash took them and led Dawn on board. They walked up the gangplank and onto the deck. They waited a few minutes for Brock to catch up, then continued on their way.

Even though the group got in line fairly early, the ferry was already crowded. People were going left and right, all towards various destinations. The group managed to work their way towards a map, so they could find where their rooms were.

"Looks like we're both on the port side of the ship," Brock said.

"Which way's port?" Ash asked.

Dawn sighed. "It's the left side, dummy."

Before any arguing could commence, Brock cut in. "Enough bickering you two. Let's just get to our rooms." Brock then walked ahead, leaving Ash and Dawn behind.

"We better follow him, otherwise we'll get lost." Dawn then started to follow Brock.

"Coming," Ash muttered, as he followed his two companions.

They made their way down to a hall that had doors to rooms on both sides. They continued until they reached Ash and Dawn's room.

"104. Have fun you two," Brock said with a smirk. Dawn blushed, while Ash remained oblivious. "I'm a few doors down in 109. Knock if you need me." He then walked off to find his own room.

Ash unlocked the door, and headed inside with Dawn right behind him. The room was a decent size, with two queen sized beds next to each other a few feet apart. They were flanked by bedside tables with drawers in them. Opposite of the beds was a dresser with a flatscreen TV on top. The bathroom was near the door to the outside, and by the far wall was a chair next to a lamp.

Ash went over to the bed closest to the door. "This one's mine!" He said as he plopped down on it.

"Then I get this one." Dawn went over to the other bed and put her bag down on the bedside table next to it. "So what do you wanna do now?" she asked.

"I think I saw a pool. I could go for a swim," Ash said. He took his bag off his back and opened it to reveal a pair of black swim trunks. He went into the bathroom so he could change, leaving Pikachu and Dawn in the room.

"That was weird," Dawn said.

"Pika," Pikachu agreed.

Dawn got her own bathing suit out, which was a pink bikini. While she did that, she spotted the flowers that Ash had gotten her a few days earlier. If only he knew... she thought. She picked them up and placed them on the dresser next to the TV. She then went back to her bed and sat down to wait for Ash.

Five minutes later, he reemerged wearing nothing but his swim trunks. Dawn blushed slightly at the sight of him shirtless, before heading into the bathroom herself. Ash went over to his bed and sat next to Pikachu. "You up for a swim, Pikachu?" he asked.

"Pika!" He happily jumped up onto Ash's shoulder to wait.

The wait was short lived, as ten minutes later, Dawn appeared in her swimsuit. Ash, not realizing what he was doing, stared. Dawn walked up to him.

"You can stop staring now," she said.

"Wha–?" Ash shook his head, and came back to his senses. "What did you say?"

"Nothing. Come on, let's go." She grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the room. Even when he started walking on his own right next to Dawn, she still held on to his hand.

They made their way down the hall and onto the open deck. The ship hadn't left yet, so people were still coming aboard. The couple had to make their way past people, and if they weren't holding hands, they would have easily gotten separated. They made their way to a set of stairs that led to the upper deck, which was where the pool was at.

It was fairly empty, save for a few people who were smart enough to board the ship early.

Dawn let go of Ash's hand once they got near the edge. "You first," she said.
Ash thought of a plan quickly, once he realized that they were at the deep end. "Okay." He backed up, and made it look like he was gonna jump in, but before he went over the edge, he pushed Dawn in. She shrieked as she fell in. He started laughing and waited for her to surface.

Dawn reemerged a few seconds later with a look of rage on her face. The looked up at the laughing Ash and yelled, "ASH KETCHUM YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT!" She swam over to the side and grabbed his ankle since he was standing too close to the edge and dragged him in. When he surfaced, he was still laughing. Dawn simply splashed him, causing him to stop.

"Sorry, but that was perfect! Absolutely perfect! I wish I could have seen your face!"
Dawn splashed him again. "Whatever. Come on, let's swim!"

A few hours later, Ash and Dawn met back up with Brock at a buffet to eat dinner. While the two teens were out and about, Brock had been trying his hand at wooing various females aboard the ship, with every attempt a failure.

"So how'd the flirting go?" Dawn asked with a smirk.

"Uhh." Brock thought for a second. "There's no point in hiding it. Rejected as usual," he said with a dejected tone.

"Dawn said you should try a more subtle approach, why don't you do that?" Ash asked.

Brock thought for a second. "Maybe, but that's a pretty ironic statement given your situation," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see."

Dawn came back with a tray of food. She had left unnoticed while Ash and Brock were talking, and she sat down. "Go get food before Ash eats it all," she said to Brock.

Brock left to go get food, while Ash glared at her. "That's not funny," he said.

"I speak the truth!" She took a bite of the burger on her plate and started chewing. Pikachu, who had remained silent throughout the whole conversation, jumped down on the table and picked up the ketchup battle. He opened it with a bit of difficulty, then started lapping up the red liquid.

Ash shook his head as he walked off to get some food for himself. Dawn was sitting there eating her food, when Brock came back with a happy look on his face. Dawn noticed this. "What are you so happy about?" she asked.

"The Brocko's got a date tonight!" he replied. His voice was filled with glee, like a kid who got their favorite toy for Christmas.

"So, tell me exactly what you did!" Dawn squealed.

"Well I took a more subtle approach, just like you and Ash suggested. And it worked!" Brock exclaimed.

"What worked?" Dawn and Brock turned around to see Ash standing there with a huge pile of food on his tray, as usual.

"I got a date tonight!"

"Bout time," Ash said. He sat down and started to eat a burger that was on his tray. Brock gave him a look.

"That's ironic, given your situation," Brock said. He glanced over to Dawn, who was sitting there with an innocent look on her face.

"What do you mean?" Ash asked.

"You'll find out soon enough. Remember what I told you earlier? Keep that in mind."

"Wha..." Ash trailed off and thought for a second. "Oh. That I see Dawn as more than a friend?" Ash then looked over at Dawn, who was avoiding his gaze and had a blush on her face. "Dawn, your face is red again." Dawn didn't respond. "What's wrong?"

Dawn quickly thought of a plan. "Nothing, it's just what Brock said," she answered.

"I'm not following you."

Brock face palmed. How can someone be that dense? he asked himself.

Ash and Dawn were back in their room. They had already changed for bed, but they weren't quite ready to go to sleep. To pass the time, Ash turned on the TV. It was currently playing replays of matches from the double battle rounds, and it was currently on the Kalos section. The battle hasn't started yet, and Ash watched with interest.

"If you are just tuning in, we are showing replays of the double battle rounds of the Kalos Region. We are about to start the match of Atler Lee of Couriway Town versus Lloyd Wickams of Anistar City. We'll just cut to the start of the battle, since the opening statements are fairly boring," the commentator said. "See you after the match!"

On one side of the battlefield was Atler. She had black hair, with red and green hi lights in it. She wore a simple blue hoodie and ripped skinny jeans. She also wore a pair of black high tops. She looked to be in her early teens, signifying that she was still a beginning trainer. On the other side of the field was Lloyd. He was older than Atler by a few years, and had a rugged appearance. His face was unshaven, showing stubble that was at least a week old. He had long black hair and brown eyes. He wore a white tank top, which showed of well-toned muscles. He also wore black cargo pants and had on gray sneakers. He held two Pokeballs in his hand.

Once the trainers received the signal from the ref, they threw out their Pokémon.

"Go, Sonic Boom and Vitani!" Atler shouted. She threw two Pokeballs, and a Noivern and Pyroar appeared. The Noivern's left ear was white, and one of the eyes looked to be a different color. Next to her, the Pyroar had a long, flowing mane like a Pidgeot, signifying that it was a female.

"Mienshao, Serperior, let's go!" Lloyd shouted. He threw the two Pokeballs he was holding, and the Regal Pokémon and the Martial Arts Pokémon appeared.

Once Atler saw that Lloyd was ready, she made the first move. "Sonic Boom, use Boom Burst! Vitani, add to it with Hyper Voice!" She shouted.

Almost immediately, a loud sound erupted from the Noivern's speaker like ears. It completely drowned out Lloyd's command, leaving his Pokémon to take the full force of the attack. Although a bit unnecessary, the Hyper Voice added to the noise. Both Mienshao and Serperior took heavy damage from the assault.

Shaking the ringing in his ears, Lloyd made his move. "Mienshao, Quick Attack into Drain Punch on Pyroar! Serperior, Dagon Tail on Novern!"

Immediately, Mienshao ran towards Pyroar in a streak of light. Once she reached her target, she punched the normal type with a glowing fist, and started draining her energy.
Serperior slithered towards the hovering dragon type, and soon her tail began to glow. She was about to strike, when Sonic Boom used her speed to her advantage to fly up out of reach of the attack.

"Sonic Boom, Flamethrower now!"

The Noivern complied, and she shot a jet of flames at her opponent. They hit Serperior dead on, and he was burned almost instantly.

"Add in a Dragon Pulse!"

Noivern then created a green orb of energy and shot it at the tired grass type. He barely managed to slither out of the way of the attack.

Mienshao had just finished her attack, and she looked significantly stronger than before. Vitani wasn't faring too well, as she was panting heavily.

"Mienshao, finish that Pyroar off with a High Jump Kick!" Lloyd shouted.

Atler smiled. "Big mistake. Vitani, I know you can dodge that!"

As Mienshao prepared her deadly attack, the prideful lioness roared with a renewed determination. Mienshao had just jumped into the air, and was aimed straight at Vitani. The Pyroar swiftly moved to the left, out of the line of fire. Mienshao, having no way to change her trajectory, prepared herself for a crash.

"Once she crashes, hit her with a Flamethrower!"

The Pyroar nodded, and turned to where she expected the fighting type to crash. Mienshao finally crashed, and she cried out in pain. That was furthered when the Pyroar released a jet of flames from her mouth and scorched the downed fighting type. The fighting type went down, and she didn't get back up.

"Mienshao is unable to battle!" The ref declared.

Lloyd quickly recalled his Pokémon. "That's was a stupid move! I'm sorry Mienshao," he said. "Serperior, use Retaliate on that Pyroar!"

The grass type complied, and slithered towards Vitali in a streak of light. He slammed his body into her, knocking her back a few feet.

"Now go into Dragon Pulse!" Lloyd shouted.

Pressing his advantage, Serperior shot a green orb of energy at the downed fire type. It hit, resulting in a small explosion that sent the lioness skidding back towards her trainer. She roared in anger, then collapsed to the ground in defeat.

"Pyroar is unable to battle!" The ref declared.

"Vitali return!" Atler quickly recalled the downed Pokémon into her Pokeball, before turning her attention back to the battle. "Sonic Boom, use Draco Meteor!" She shouted.

The Noivern complied, and a red energy started forming in her stomach. It moved up her body, and she released dozens of mini meteorites that shot up into the air. Serperior looked up, and saw the meteorites coming straight towards him. He started slithering away, but wasn't able to dodge them all when they hit, he went flying back in front of his trainer, and landed with a loud thud. He struggled to get up.

"Finish with Flamethrower!" Atler shouted.

Sonic Boom flew over to the downed grass type and spewed flames over his body. When she let up, Serperior was unconscious.

"Serperior is unable to battle! Atler is the—"

Suddenly, the TV shut off.

"I was watching that!" Ash complained. He looked over, and saw Dawn standing next to him holding the remote.

"Too bad. I'm going to sleep, and I don't need that noise. Good night." She placed the remote on the bedside table and climbed under the covers of her bed.

Ash rolled over to his side and closed his eyes. "Good night," he grumbled.

So I'm a little rusty with the battles, so I'm sorry if it seemed lacking. I decided to do it when I realized that the TV was untouched in the other arc. It also allowed me to introduce a long awaited OC, who was submitted from the very beginning, Atler.

On the topic of OCs, I received a lot. I got around 30, and I'm not sure how I can fit them all into the story. OCs that were submitted in the beginning take priority, as they came from my initial supporters. If I said that your OC will appear, then he/she will appear. I promise. As for everyone else, I'll try my best to at least mention them all by name, but I'll try to get them into battles.

Also, I have finished my preliminary team! If you have my FC, and if I am online, shoot me a battle request and I will accept it within five minutes unless I am busy doing something else.

Lloyd Wickams belongs to RomeoWolf13

Atler Lee belongs to Wolflover595

Please let me know what you thought of this chapter in a review, this one was the hardest to write as of yet.