Dear lord it is cold! Seriously, at this point Brycen would be running to the nearest furnace ( s/o to all Unova lovers ).

Welcome dear readers to chapter 2, please enjoy!

It had been a week ever since Ash had accepted Dawn's offer to go live with her in Sinnoh. He had already sent in an application to the Sinnoh pokemon league which was headed up by Barry ( yep, same one ) which was happily accepted. The eccentric trainer's own words being '' screw frontier brain, you want an Elite 4 position? Bertha's out if you say yes, never liked her anyway.''

He had already told and said goodbye to his mother, who through her tears had told her son just how proud of him she was, how she would be saddened not to have her only child in her life anymore but knew he had to reach his destiny, whether it was in Sinnoh or some deserted island in the middle of the ocean.

Ash had also taken the name of Battle Fortress and submitted it to Barry who happily accepted it and offered to demolish Paul's house in Veilstone City and put the battle area there instead.

However, a problem still presented itself; his goodbyes. Whilst he had friends in all different regions, ranging from Mallow in Alola to Cilan and Iris in Unova, the majority of them resided throughout Kanto. Originally Dawn had suggested he go see them all individually before she was reminded that Kanto was absolutely massive and couldn't exactly be traversed in a day and a half. Instead, the young man had chosen to have a huge party where all his friends would be in one place for him to say goodbye to them. His chosen venue being the same field at Professor Oak's ranch where his pokemon were kept. The obstacle of the pokemon being in the way having been easily taken care of as they had already been transferred to Professor Rowan's lab in Sandgem town.

-x-

'' What a pretty field'' Dawn said later that day as the pair began to finish setting up.

'' Yep. Want to hear a secret?'' Ash answered as he hung fairy lights.

'' Hit me.''

'' I always had a little fantasy of getting married here, ever since I lost at the Johto League.''

'' Really?'' Dawn said coyly.

'' Yeah, I know, nothing manlier than I guy planning his own wedding in his head.''

'' Actually I think its cute.''

Ash walked over to his crush with a crooked smirk. '' Are you high?''

'' Rude'' Dawn breathed, playfully hitting Ash.

'' I wouldn't say rude, more like insensitive Ash-like behavior'' came a familiar voice from behind the pair.

'' Misty/Gary!'' the pair cried, hugging their friends.

'' Shouldn't you be on your honeymoon?'' Dawn asked her redheaded friend.

'' Cut it short. I couldn't miss seeing Ash's fairwell party'' Misty smiled at her bestie.

'' I wouldn't have it any other way'' Ash beamed.

'' Hey, I exist too'' Gary rolled his eyes.

'' Sorry. How's my oldest rival?'' Ash quipped.

'' He's fine. Slightly annoyed since he can't see a bar near here. I want to challenge your boyfriend Ashy over here to a drinking contest'' Gary winked at Dawn.

'' He's/ she's not my boyfriend/girlfriend'' the pair snapped.

'' Right'' Gary smiled smugly at his wife, who returned his grin.

'' The bar's over there dear boy, or do you need to have your eyes checked'' Professor Oak said, randomly appearing from behind, next to him; Delia.

'' Professor Oak, so good to see you'' Dawn said, hugging her poetic idol.

'' Likewise my dear. How goes the coordinating?''

'' Great thanks. I just taught Quilava fire spin, hopefully it's going to add some heat to my contests, pun not intended. Also, I'm getting a bit sick of being just a coordinator, I might try my hand at something else, like photography, maybe even gym battles.''

'' Wait what?'' Ash said quickly.

'' Hey look, the others are here'' Dawn said quickly changing the subject, pointing to Tracey, his wife Daisy, Brock and his fiancée Holly.

'' Brock-o, how've you been buddy?'' Ash asked, embracing his best friend in a man-hug.

'' Been good. Also been pretty busy. I swear the training these trainers put their pokemon through is ridiculous, reminds me of that tag battle tournament back in Hearthome City'' Brock answered.

'' Ahem, I exist too'' came a cocky redheaded voice from the doctor's side.

'' Sorry Holly, how goes your double life. Modeling and battling must be hell on earth'' Ash teased.

'' Hilarious, quick question, how did you get your first gym badge again?''

'' Oh, that's cold'' Tracey said, impressed.

'' Tracey, Daisy, how are you?'' Dawn asked.

'' Pretty good actually. With my handyman business getting off the ground and Daisy's modeling career taking her all around the word, we're doing pretty well'' the man answered.

'' As you can see, my husband is super modest'' Daisy quipped, clearly her baby sister's wit was hereditary.

'' So Ash, how's Frontier braining going. You haven't been to the ranch for a while'' Tracey smirked, subtly referencing his friend's flakiness.

'' Hehe, you know, challengers'' the man rubbed the back of his head.

That was how most of the night itself went, laughter, stories, catching up and many jokes at Ash's expense.

Right now, the trainer was busy being surrounded by people, left, right and center. Dawn however, had successfully escaped to a nearby fence where she sat, dangling her legs as she gazed up at the Pallet night sky. Growing up in a town she was accustomed to the unpolluted skies, but not like this, nothing could beat this.

'' Staying away from people, that's not the Dawn I know'' Misty quipped as she sat down next to her friend.

'' Hey Misty, what's up? Shouldn't you and Gary be telling everyone about married life?'' Dawn asked.

'' First off, rude, secondly we haven't even been married 3 weeks, relax.''

'' Sorry, I didn't mean it. I just can't believe Ash is coming to live with me in Sinnoh you know?''

'' Is that because you have feelings for him?''

'' What? No! Why- did he say something?'' the bluenette responded rapidly.

'' Easy'' Misty giggled. '' I can just tell is all, I'm a bi5 psychic when it comes to this kind of stuff. Plus, he's totally crushing on you too.''

'' How do you know, did he tell you?''

'' No. But I noticed his body language this evening. He's touchy feely, flirty and he's been checking you out. Ash is many things but he's far from subtle.''

'' So, do I have a shot?''

'' Oh please you have multiple shots. And out of all the girls who've had a thing for him, you've definitely got the best chance.''

'' How do you figure, you went out with him didn't you?''

'' I did. But soon I realized I had feelings for Gary. With Ash, we were like oil and water, we loved each other sure, but we were better off as friends you know? With May they were like teacher and student, Iris was like me but worse and Serena'' Misty shuddered at the name.

'' I know. What is with that girl? Didn't she have a shrine dedicated to him?''

'' Multiple. She was on him like a shelder on a slowbro.''

'' Mm, speak of the devil'' Dawn was suddenly lifted by a pair of arms and into a spinning hug.

'' Hey, I'm about to break the news to everyone. You want in?'' Ash asked.

'' Oh wow, ok'' Dawn blushed as she was practically dragged by her hand to the center of the field. The entire ensemble were busy enjoying catching up, exchanging war stories of being married etc.

'' Hey everyone'' Ash called to no avail.

'' Guys!'' the man tried again, before his partner pokemon ran in front of him and released a massive thunderbolt, finally getting the audience's attention.

'' This is probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but I'm leaving Kanto. So, its been pointed out to me by an anonymous source that Goodshow's completely taking advantage of me. He's deliberately paying me less than what I'm supposed to be earning. So, I'm moving to Sinnoh, Barry's the head of the pokemon league there and he's already accepted my application to be a frontier brain there. The Battle Fortress name remains mine and I'm taking it with me. He's also offered to destroy Paul's house in Veilstone City for the arena's location.''

'' Do it, make him watch too!'' Gary called.

'' I'm not going to, that's amoral.''

'' Where're you going to live?'' Misty asked. '' Have you looked up apartment listings?''

'' Actually Dawn's invited me to live with her'' Ash held his crush's hand causing her to blush again.

'' Subtle!'' Brock yelled earning a glare from Holly.

'' When do you leave?'' Tracey asked.

'' Two weeks, my resignation's been sent to Goodshow's secretary but apparently he hasn't seen it yet. I'm going to confront him tomorrow.''

'' Here's to Ash. You're a hell of a trainer and deserve that place in Sinnoh. We'll all miss you!'' Brock called.

-x-

The following day, Ash found himself at the Indigo Plateau dressed in a very unorthodox outfit for him; smart casual. Instead of a baseball cap and cargo pants, Dawn had forced him into a black dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, blue jeans and Chelsea boots. According to Dawn herself it made him look serious yet approachable.

'' Ash * hiccup * Ketchum, come on in'' Goodshow said, as the pair followed the old man into his office, his uneven walk and body odor reeking of alcohol.

The pair sat down as Goodshow opened a liquor cabinet behind them. '' Not often you come over here Ash. Can I interest you in some Verbank whiskey? They brew it once a year, I had to slash our pokemon care facility budget but it was worth it'' the old man said as he fell into his desk chair.

'' Sir, its 8 in the morning'' Ash answered.

'' Whatever, get on with it boy, I'm a busy man.''

'' Well sir, you know I've loved working as a Frontier Brain for the league, but…I'm resigning.''

Goodshow spat out his drink. '' Resigning?! You can't resign, you're the only employee I have who'll work for so little- I mean, has such a high work ethic.''

'' Sir, you're taking advantage of my age and lack of tactics. Tucker and I do the same job yet I live in my arena and he has a penthouse on Cinnabar Island. I've sent in my application for the same position with Sinnoh's league and their head Barry Shon's already accepted me, gave me a huge pay raise and offered to boot out a member of his elite 4 since he respects me so much as a trainer and as a friend too.''

'' Friend? Boy you're a trainer. Your job is to turn weak pokemon into fighting machines for profit!''

'' No!" Ash slammed his fist on the desk as he leered forward. Dawn stayed back, clearly impressed by Ash's backbone. Misty was right, she had it bad for him.

'' No? Why not?''

'' Because I know my worth, I won the Alola League and KO-ed a darkrai when I was just 10 years old!''

'' You were nothing before me. I took you in when no-one else would. You were just some dumb kid with a dream before me. Its only because of my genius that you're where you're today-

'' Hey!'' Dawn interrupted. '' First off homeless Santa, Ash earnt his place in the Battle Frontier by beating Brandon and working his ass off for years. You had nothing to do with it. Secondly if I hear one more dig at Ash then I'll let my Mammoswine turn you into the world's ugliest ice sculpture'' Dawn threatened.

Ash however, was seriously impressed. Not only was Dawn the woman of his dreams, she was also his biggest fan.

'' You know what? Shove it'' Ash slapped down his resignation letter. '' I quit. Oh and also, Dawn was wrong'' Dawn and Goodshow looked at the former employee. '' You look like Santa if he lived in his car.''

As Ash and Dawn left the plateau, there wasn't a doubt int heir minds, they were falling for each other.

And scene thanks for reading everybody, as usual stay safe and stay awesome!