Chapter 2

Over the course of the week that Dawn was staying in Kanto, Ash had never enjoyed being in Pallet Town more. His normal daily routine he had grown so used to over the last few months didn't feel nearly as dull and boring as he once thought. His training was a much more fun too because Dawn had helped out by acting as a training partner, and his Pokémon had never looked better. As the days went by, the week went by in the blink of an eye, and before they knew it, it was the last day before they left for Unova the following morning.

Ash and Dawn decided to spend their last day in Kanto visiting Brock in Pewter City. Dawn was particularly excited about visiting Pewter City as she never got the chance to visit the towns and cities of Kanto since Bunneary's modelling career prevented her from travelling to Kanto before now.

After spending most of the morning and afternoon with Brock while he was on a break from studying to become a Pokémon Doctor, Ash and Dawn decided to head back to Pallet Town to prepare for the following morning when they set off for Unova, stopping at a nearby shop to purchase some Poké Balls, potions and other supplies that would be handy for their journey before continuing their way back to Pallet Town.

"Come along you two, you've got an early start tomorrow. The ferry that will take you both to Unova will set off tomorrow morning at 9:00am, so you need to get your rest if you want to make it on time." Delia shouted to them as she saw them emerge from over the hill.

As Ash and Dawn arrived and stood in front of the house, Professor Oak approached them.

"Ash my boy. Dawn. I want to wish you both the best of luck on your journey. When you arrive in Unova, be sure to visit Professor Juniper's Laboratory in Nuvema Town.

"Right!" Ash and Dawn said simultaneously as they answered the professor.

That night, Ash was lying in bed silently, wide awake, thinking about how he was finally going on another journey. Pikachu was fast asleep next to him, whose tail kept twitching as he slept and said parts of his own name. The silence gave him time to think, and his mind immediately went back to the Sinnoh League battle against Tobias's Darkrai. That loss made him feel happy knowing he made it so far into the league, but also sad knowing if it hadn't of been for Tobias, then he would have won the whole Sinnoh League and would be lying here a Pokémon Master by now. As the memory took him back to that day, Ash had dropped to sleep in a matter of seconds.

Ash was woken by the loud ringing of his alarm clock. He would normally sleep in to around an hour before he needed to leave, but since it was a special occasion, he wanted to make sure he got everything ready before setting off for the ferry. Ash made sure not to disturb Pikachu, who slept as though the alarm hadn't even gone off, as he looked at the cardboard box his mother had given him before exiting his room and onto the hallway.

"Good morning Ash!" Dawn said to him as she left the guest room. She was wearing her new outfit. Her outfit consisted of a white t-shirt, a black skirt, black knee-high boots and a light blue waistcoat that tied her entire outfit together. She was wearing a new pink and white cap with a small pink Poké Ball pattern on the front with her long blue hair down, and had her Sinnoh Backpack in her hand.

"Good morning Dawn!" he said back as he saw her new outfit, "Hey, your new outfit looks amazing. It really suits you."

"Aw, thank you Ash" she said as she smiled and blushed slightly from the compliment she had been given and headed downstairs.

"Good morning Dawn" Ash faintly heard from downstairs as Professor Oak and Delia talked to Dawn.

Having decided against going downstairs right now, and turned around to enter his room once more.

Dawn had entered the kitchen to help Delia with getting breakfast ready, while Professor Oak was in the living room drinking his coffee. Moments later, Ash came down and entered the kitchen wearing his new outfit. Ash was now wearing a red and white cap with a black Poké Ball pattern on the front, a short-sleeved blue and black two tone hoodie with a white under shirt and black baggy jeans that were tucked into dark red high top sneakers. He also had his Sinnoh backpack with him. His appearance caught the attention of Ash's mother and Dawn, as well as Professor Oak who had just entered the kitchen.

"Oh Ash, you look absolutely fantastic!" Dawn commented, which caused Ash to laugh nervously and scratch the back of his head.

"She's right dear. What a handsome young man you're growing up to be." Delia said, agreeing with Dawn's compliment.

Ash thanked them both for their kind words as everyone sat down at the table to eat their breakfast.

"So are you both ready to start your journey?" Professor Oak asked them both.

"Of course!" Ash said proudly with his mouth full of toast.

"Well…not really. There is one thing I need to do first, and I was hoping you could help, professor." Dawn said.

"Ask away Dawn. What can I help you with?" Professor Oak said to her.

As Dawn explained that she wanted to leave her Pokémon except from Piplup with Professor Oak at his lab so they could spend time with the other Pokémon, Professor Oak was happy to allow her Pokémon to stay at his lab.

"Oh, but we'll need to set off for the ferry right away as it leaves in an hour. I can drop your Pokémon off at my lab on our way back." Professor Oak said as he offered to give them a ride to Vermillion City to catch the ferry.

After Ash and Dawn picked up their backpacks and hats, they joined Professor Oak and Delia in the car as they drive off for Vermillion City, which only took around 30 minutes, Ash and Dawn left the car and were handed tickets to board the ferry. After saying good bye to Professor Oak and Delia, Dawn handed her Poké Balls over to Professor Oak as they both headed to the ferry.

The ferry journey, while it lasted a couple of hours, to Ash and Dawn, it went by so quickly. They took full advantage of what there was to do on the ferry, such as the large swimming pool, which both Pikachu and Piplup loved. As the ferry docked in Unova, Ash and Dawn headed to the exit, both were so excited to take their first steps in the new region.

"I can't believe we're finally here Dawn!" Ash shouted as he rushed off the ferry and onto the ground and he raced up the port.

"Slow down Ash!" she shouted, chasing after him, "Wait for me!" she shouted again, calling his name.

When Dawn finally caught up to Ash, she saw him talking to a woman wearing a lab coat.

"And you must be Dawn, I assume?" the woman asked Dawn.

"Uh…um, yes…?" Dawn said nervously, "how do you know my name?"

"My name is Professor Juniper, I'm a researcher here in Unova. Professor Oak instructed me to come and collect you once you arrived in the Unova Region. Please, allow me to take you to my laboratory." Professor Juniper told them as she escorted them to her car.

During the drive to the Laboratory in Nuvema Town, Ash and Dawn were amazed at the new Pokémon they were seeing. They hadn't seen any of the Pokémon before, which got them more excited about getting to the laboratory as soon as they could. As they arrived at the lab and Professor Juniper parked the car, Ash saw a young boy enter the lab, to which he told Professor Juniper.

"Oh, it must be time already. The new trainer we've been expecting today has arrived to choose his starter Pokémon." The professor told them as she entered the laboratory herself, causing Ash and Dawn to rush in after her.

Once inside the building, they saw the boy from before standing in the middle of the reception area. They were surprised at the fact that he was taking photographs.

"Hey, how come you're taking photographs of this place?" Ash asked the boy.

"None of your business kid." He replied coldly to Ash's question before looking at Professor Juniper. His expression changed to a warm smile.

"Hello there, you must be Trip. You've come to choose your starter Pokémon, am I correct?" she asked the boy.

"That's right, professor!" the boy said, almost professionally, as though to show is dedication.

Professor Juniper made her way over to the small table that one of her assistants had brought out for her, which had three enlarged Poké Balls, a Pokédex and a small box containing 5 smaller Poké Balls. She asked Ash and Dawn if they could help her by each picking one of the larger Poké Balls and releasing the Pokémon that were inside. Once all three Pokémon were released, Trip had began choosing between the Grass-type Snivy, the Water-type Oshawott or the Fire-type Tepig.

"Take your time, Trip. You don't want to rush these things since you'll be…" Professor Juniper said before she was cut off by Trip.

"I've decided." Trip said as he took a photograph of all three starter Pokémon together, "I'm choosing Snivy."

As Professor Juniper gave Trip the items on the table that would assist him on his journey, Trip looked at Ash and smirked sarcastically, which got Ash annoyed as he attempted to confront Trip, only to be stopped by Dawn putting her hand on his shoulder. Once Trip had been given the items, Professor Juniper wished him luck on his journey as he bowed to her before making his way to Ash and Dawn.

"And who exactly are you two?" Trip said with a blank expression on his face.

"I'm Dawn, I'm from Twinleaf Town in Sinnoh. This is Ash, he's from Pallet Town in Kanto." Dawn said in response to his question.

Trip just stood there, the blank expression he showed before soon became another sarcastic smirk.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Ash asked Trip.

"You." He simply said. "I thought someone like you would come from a mediocre place like Kanto."

This comment got Ash annoyed with Trip, just as Pikachu came running over and jumping on his shoulder to try and calm him down. Trip was amazed by Pikachu and looked him up in the Pokédex, taking some photographs of him too.

"Alright then, you can prove that I'm wrong by beating me in a battle." Trip said out of the blue. "Your Pikachu against my Snivy." He added, holding the Poké Ball in his hand.

Ash just remained still, not knowing whether to accept his challenge or not.

"I'll be waiting on the battle field around back." Trip said as he left the lab.

So Ash and Dawn meet Trip. He seems a little confident in his abilities even though he's only been a trainer for a short while. What will Ash do? Will he battle him knowing he's a beginner trainer, or will be allow Trip to think poorly of trainers from Kanto if he refuses? Chapter 3 is coming your way soon.

Thor93 - I don't think you're going to be disappointed there. However, this doesn't mean that Pikachu will be invincible, he will still lose a fair amount of battles because it wouldn't be fair to have Ash destroy the gym leaders with just Pikachu, and I want to make the story will give development to all his new Pokémon, not just making Pikachu look better.