Um... Hi guys. ^^;; Sorry for the reaaaally long wait. D: It's a little something called laziness. I've been too caught up in reading fics than writing my own, to compensate for the long wait, I give you chapter 4! And as a bonus, it's longer than the first 3! Huzzah! Now, on with chapter 4!

NOTE: I've decided to give the chapters names. xD Also, I've cleaned up the first 3 chapters a bit since I didn't really like how it was spaced and organized... yeah. I'll stop my rant now. XD

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon and all it's glory!

EDITED: This chapter NEEDED loads of editing, since I felt this chapter wasn't as good as the last ones. So, here it is! The edited version! :D Plus, I felt that the second half of it was way better than the first half. ^^; I also changed the title a bit to "The Frontier For Love" since I like it like that better. xD Anyway, enjoy this better version!


.:Chapter 4:.

Dawn's Frontier Debut!

Ash and Dawn walked in the Battle Castle to see if they could get the chance to battle the Castle Brain. They approached the front desk to find a woman with a burgundy cap and matching burgundy attire. She had soft blue eyes and shiny copper-brown hair. To her left was a gentleman who appeared to have been the same age as her. His attire was similar to the woman's, only green and less feminine. He also had a green cap that covered his smooth, golden-brown hair, his green eyes spotting the pair entering the building.

"Hello, how may we help you two today?" the woman asked politely. Ash glanced at Dawn, then back to the woman.

"Hi, we'd like to challenge the brain of this facility," Ash replied. The woman just turned to the man next to her, shared a few words with him, and turned back to Ash and Dawn.

"Would you like to form a Tag Team together, or take the challenge separately?" she asked them. Ash looked at Dawn, asking her which she'd prefer. Dawn chose to battle separately since this was their first facility. The woman just nodded, checked her computer, and had an apologetic look on her face.

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait a bit till later because there are a few challengers before you," she said with sorrow in her voice. "But if you'd like, I could schedule you for later. Would you like that?"

Ash was disappointed, but just decided to just agree; not before asking Dawn, of course.

"Dawn, what do you think?" he asked, turning his head to face her.

"Well," she started, "I don't mind. We could use some catching up anyway." she added with a heartwarming smile towards him. Ash blushed a little, but turned away before she could notice.

"O-okay. I guess we'll just wait here in the lobby until later," he stuttered. The attendant nodded, and giggled before registering their names on the computer.

"Oh! By the way," she bent down below the counter and brought out two devices. One blue and the other pink. "Since you two are just beginning, here are your Battle Recorders! They hold your Seals that you earn here and record battles in each of the facilities!" she chirped.

Ash and Dawn reached for them and examined them before putting them away and heading into the lobby where trainers waited for their battle. Pikachu was sitting on Ash's lap while Buneary was petting him with her ear, causing him to blush. Piplup was snuggling on Dawn's lap while she was talking to Ash.

"So, Ash," she began. Ash turned his attention onto her, all the while trying not to get lost in her mesmerizing eyes. "what Pokémon do you have with you?" she questioned with an innocent face on.

Ash gulped a little at her face and stood up, his hands reaching for his Pokéball belt. "Well, Dawn, I'll just show ya!" He then threw three Pokéballs in the air which burst open, the light materializing into different shapes and forms.

The first one to come out was Buizel. Buizel was a weasel Pokémon with orange skin, a tail that split into two at the tip, and a flotation sack around his neck. He had black markings under his eyes and a matching colored nose. He had his arms crossed, creating a 'tough guy' exterior while calling out his name.

The second Pokémon to materialize out the Pokéballs was Monferno. Monferno was a monkey-specie Pokémon, slightly taller than Buizel was and nearly the same skin color. He had blue skin above his eyes and red in between them, white fur around his neck, and yellow rings on and around his upper arms. He also had a long tail with a lively fire burning at the tip.

The third and final Pokémon to come out was Ash's first Sinnoh Pokémon; Staraptor. This large bird Pokémon had furry feathers on it's head that was colored red at the end and a black-tipped beak. It's color was mainly of a dark brown with white stripes across it's chest.

"Oh, wow, Ash! It's great to see them again!" Dawn exclaimed with glee as she hugged his Pokémon, glad to see them again. Ash couldn't help but smile at the site of his Pokémon so happy to see Dawn again. After a while of Dawn and the Pokémon re-introducing themselves, Ash asked Dawn if she brought any other Pokémon besides Piplup and Buneary. Dawn nodded in response, took out her single Pokéball left. She threw it in the air to reveal...

"Ambipom!" the purple monkey cried upon entrance. Ambipom was, as previously described, a purple monkey, only with two tails that had large palms attached to them. She had two pieces of fur sticking out at the top of her head and two large ears. She was currently jumping with joy at the sight of her previous trainer and practically jumped on him.

"Woah! Calm down Ambipom! I missed you, too," he chuckled, trying to settle down the ecstatic Pokémon. Dawn was giggling at Ambipom's actions while Ash was laughing along with her. Then, a question formed in Ash's head. Dawn looked at Ash's, only to see he was confused about something. She tilted her head to the side, wondering what was up with the boy she loved.

"Hey, where are Mamoswine and Pachirisu?" he asked Dawn after the Pokémon left them to catch up with each other.

She raised an eyebrow at this; "Mamoswine didn't want to travel anymore. He felt that his job was done and 'retired' from traveling," Ash chuckled at her Pokémon's behavior and Dawn continued; "Pachirisu grew attached to my mom's Glameow and didn't want to leave. I think it sees Glameow as a mother figure." Dawn finished with an amused and loving smile. Ash nodded in understanding.

"So what about you? I don't see Grotle or Gliscor here," she asked, pointing out her observations. "What's the story behind that?"

"Huh? Oh, well, Grotle decided to stay at Oak's to train with my other grass-type Pokémon, while Gliscor wouldn't let go of my mom," he gave a sheepish laugh at the last part, which sounded ridiculous, and Dawn was imagined Gliscor attached to Delia's leg in her mind before laughing at how even Gliscor can be real innocent and cute.

A half an hour has passed since they arrived and slowly, the lobby started to get emptier. Ash and Dawn had spent this time discussing on what their friends have been up to. Dawn was informed that May started her contests in early Sinnoh (along with her rivals; Drew and Harley), Gary was researching Hoenn with the help of Max (who was excited to have met THE famous grandson of THE Professor Oak) all the while challenging gyms with his Pokémon, Tracey was back to being an official Pokémon watcher while still helping Prof. Oak at the Pallet lab, and Paul's whereabouts where unknown. Ash found out that Kenny was in Sinnoh, taking a break of contests and traveling all together, Zoey was in Johto aiming for the Grand Festival, and Barry was yet to be heard of as well.

By that time, their bodies have gotten much closer with out them noticing. They were currently watching their Pokemon play with amusement before turning their heads to each other. They immediately noticed how close their faces were and blushed a deep crimson, but neither of them showed any signs of moving away. They were too focused in each other's eyes, looking at the endless emotions that were swimming within them. Slowly, they leaned into each other without thinking, but before they got any further, they were interrupted by a woman's voice.

"Hey, you two!" the front desk attendant shouted, causing the two to realize what they were about to do. They blushed even deeper than before and quickly scooted away from each other before going to the front to see what the woman wanted with them. They recalled all their Pokémon (except for Pikachu and Piplup; the former perched on Ash's shoulder and the ladder in Dawn's arms) and walked ahead, avoiding the other's gaze, too embarrassed of their recent 'predicament'.

"Yes, ma'am?" Ash asked with false politeness, hiding his slight annoyance towards the woman for interrupting his and Dawn's 'almost' kiss.

"The frontier brain may see one of you now for your battle," she said while smiling. Ash and Dawn's attention perked at this, temporarily forgetting their recent awkwardness. But then they noticed she only said 'one of you'.

"One of us?" Dawn asked, wondering what the woman meant.

"You see, in regards of our brain, Lady Caitlin, she would like only one last battle for today before allowing the Pokémon to rest," she explained to the duo. Ash and Dawn looked at each other for a moment before Ash spoke up first.

"Would you like to go first, Dawn?" Ash offered, being courteous towards Dawn and being a gentleman. Dawn looked at him, startled, before asking if he was sure with it. He nodded, assuring her that he was fine with her going first and was willing to wait until the next day for his challenge.

"Okay, then," Dawn agreed with a confident smile. Ash grinned at her growing confidence. "Let's get this started."


Dawn was led to the battle field where her battle was to take place with Ash following behind her, marveling at the richly decorated room. The walls were painted a silver color that shone against the sun's rays seeping in through the window which had beautiful velvet drapes hanging on them. There was a large stand with a wide doorway for people to walk through with more beautiful drapes and an elegant chair perched above it with expensive looking cushioning on it. The stairs were of a golden color - matching nicely with the silver walls - and had pine wood hand rails attached to them with banners hanging from below them on the walls. The floor was similar and glittered with radiance, surrounding the battleground where Dawn was to have her battle. She walked over to the challenger's side of the field, waiting for the Castle Brain while Ash walked over with Pikachu to the stands to have a nice view of Dawn and the match. The referee then walked to the center side of the field.

A little while later, a young, frail-looking woman walked up to the chair above the doorway and sat down, observing Dawn and Piplup, who was on it's master's head right now. She had a pale, pink dress with a white covershirt on top. She had long, wavy, pale brunette hair with two large ribbons on both sides of her head. 'That must be Lady Caitlin,' Dawn thought, examining the lady through the corners of her eyes. 'Then who am I going to battle...?'

Dawn's thoughts were soon answered as a man, a few years older than the Lady, came in through the large doorway. He had slick jet-black hair that was smoothed back with a long, yellow streak running through it. He wore glasses, a dark suit that consisted of sharp looking shoes and lavender pants, he also had snow-colored gloves on both hands with one hand holding a watch and the other one straight down his side. He approached the field at a steady and quick pace, making his way to the opposite side of Dawn; his challenger.

"Due to the fact that our own Lady Caitlin cannot battle for personal reasons, the challenger will battle the Lady's butler; Castle Valet Darach," the referee announced, his hand gesturing towards Darach, who was standing straight, looking firmly at Dawn. Piplup jumped down from Dawn's head to the ground, waiting to see who had the honor of sending out their Pokémon first.

"Ah, what a fine young lady we have here today," Darach said. "I shall send out my Pokémon first, if you don't mind."

Dawn was a bit uncomfortable with the way he was so formal. "Uh, sure, I guess," she said with nervousness. Darach nodded and proceeded with getting his first Pokéball and threw it in the air. The Pokéball opened and out revealed a Pokémon that Ash currently had; Staraptor.

"Staraptor!" it cried out upon appearance.

'Staraptor, huh? Well, I know just who to use...' Dawn then threw her own Pokéball in the field, "Go! Buneary!" she shouted before Buneary popped out of her ball.

"Bun Buneary!" Buneary called out to Pikachu, waving her arms trying to get Pikachu's attention. Pikachu sweat-dropped and waved back with his own cry, encouraging her. Buneary winked and turned back to Darach's Staraptor.

"I'll let you have the first move, Dawn," Darach said, gesturing for Dawn to start first. Dawn nodded and started the battle.

"Buneary! Use Ice Beam!" she ordered the bunny Pokémon. Buneary nodded and fired the ice-cold beam at the opponent, who just simply dodged it, without having an order called out from the opponent's side. Dawn's eyes widened a little as she found that his Pokémon were very well-trained. She then ordered another attack, "Buneary, use Bounce to get closer to it!"

Buneary did as ordered and bounced higher to Starapter, who was flying above the field at the moment.

"Staraptor, use Double Team," Darach ordered calmly. Suddenly, a whole row of Staraptors surrounded the poor bunny Pokémon, confusing it slightly.

"Buneary, use Ice Beam while spinning around!" Dawn called out. Buneary then shot Ice Beams around itself, destroying all the Staraptor illusions and shot the real one in a blink of an eye. "Yes!" Dawn exclaimed that her plan had worked. Although Staraptor is still up and awake, the Ice Beam lowered it's health greatly.

"Are you alright, Staraptor?" Darach asked with a slightly worried tone. When he got an assuring nod in return, he ordered an Aerial Ace to Buneary before she got to the ground; making her completely vulnerable. Staraptor rammed into Buneary, causing great pain to her. Buneary wearily stood back up, then strengthen it's stance, showing that she can still battle. Then a cheer came from the stands and Dawn smiled at her Pokémon's will to continue battling and her best friend's belief in her and her Pokémon before thanking Ash and Pikachu and proceeding in ordering the next attack.

Meanwhile, Ash was carefully observing the whole battle and Dawn way of battling. The way she has a passion for battling as well besides contests just made him adore the girl even more than before. 'She's doing awesome even though this isn't a contest battle,' he thought while staring as Dawn ordered her Buneary to do Ice Beam while spinning in mid-air. 'That combination has been our signature move ever since the Oreburgh gym... I wonder how she's able to make up these things? She's real amazing...' Sighing, he observed the match even more, seeing Buneary get hit by an Aerial Ace attack. He and Pikachu flinched as Buneary slowly came back up, in pain, but still able to continue. "Alright, you can do it Dawn and Buneary!" Ash cheered while cupping his hand around his mouth and a fist in the air, to emphasize the cheer.

"Pikapi Pikachu!" Pikachu copied his trainer's movements and gave a cheer of his own.

"Thanks Ash, Pikachu!" Dawn called back, winking at them before turning back to the battle at hand. "Buneary, jump at it again!" She called to her Pokémon who started the jump.

"Again? You should know by know that's not going to work, little girl," Daarach said in an almost-cockily way. "Aerial Ace again, Staraptor!" he ordered. Staraptor started charging towards Buneary and was about to hit it when suddenly...

"Buneary, land on it's back!" Dawn shouted as the tables have turned. Buneary landed at the destination and held on to Staraptor, careful to not fall off. Staraptor was shocked and ended it's attacked. Darach was startled, too, but soon regained his posture.

"Try to shake her off, Staraptor!" he called. Staraptor tried to shake off Buneary, but to no avail.

"Buneary, Dizzy Punch it's back!" Dawn ordered, getting more pumped up in the battle. Buneary complied and started punching Staraptor with her glowing ears. Staraptor was crying out in pain and was slowly descending to the ground. After Buneary was sure that Staraptor was close enough to the ground, she jumped off, landing on the ground near Staraptor. Staraptor was starting to get up, but was stopped as Dawn ordered another move from Buneary, freezing it in it's place by the Ice Beam that knocked it out.

"Staraptor is unable to battle! The round goes to Buneary!" the referee said, raising his arm and flag to Dawn's side. Dawn broke out a large grin and held out her arms for Buneary to jump into, which she did.

"You did good out there, Staraptor. Return for some much needed rest," Darach whispered to the Pokéball that held his fainted bird Pokémon.

"Oh, Buneary! You did wonderful out there!" she praised to the bunny Pokémon as Buneary was cuddling Dawn by rubbing her face at the crook of Dawn's neck, causing the girl to giggle.

Ash cheered out loud from the stands and congratulated Dawn in knocking out the first Pokémon. "Alright, Dawn! That was great! Be careful, though. The next Pokémon might be tougher," he warned her, causing her to wink at him and giving him her usual 'No need to worry' phrase that he's grown fond of.

"I know to not be overconfident, Ash," she replied, going back to the stand where she previously was, not before giving Ash a quick hug, leaving the mentioned boy red as he sat back down. Dawn recalled Buneary to let her rest and called out Piplup for the next battle.

"Okay, m'lady, prepare yourself for my next Pokémon," Darach said to Dawn, enlarging his second Pokéball. Dawn gave him a look that said 'Bring it on' and he threw his Pokéball, bringing out...

"Empoleon!" the large penguin Pokémon cried. Empoleon was a large Pokémon that had wide flippers with yellow claws underneath. A crown-like mask covered most of it's face that was also attached to the beak. It had white spots on it's chest and yellow, webbed feet. It appeared to have an 'emperor' look, which complimented it's snobby attitude, or so Dawn thought.

Piplup heard Empoleon's cry and saw it as a challenge and waddled up to the emperor Pokémon, puffing up it's chest to try to appear larger and stronger. Empoleon just scoffed and knocked Piplup onto it's behind, causing the smaller penguin to shout at it and pout. Dawn had a large sweat-drop and face-palmed at her Pokémon's attitude. She heard Ash and Pikachu snickering in the background and walked over to Piplup, picking it up and walking back to her side of the field, lowered Piplup back on the ground, and told it that it would have to battle Empoleon. Piplup looked happy that it would be kicking the 'fat penguin's' butt in battle, which made Dawn sweat-drop even more. Sighing, Dawn went back to her spot and awaited for the match to begin.


Eeeyup. I'm ending it here cuz if I go any further, it will be too long. D: So, the second part of the battle will be in chapter 5! 8D Yay!

Please review! ^^ I promise I won't hold back for the next chapter. D= I swear I'll make the next one quicker. In fact, I already started on it!

See ya! And remember: REVIEW!! (I'll get more pumped up into writing the next chapter ;D)