Well everyone, happy anniversary for this story. I was told that you guys wanted me to update today since it was the anniversary of the day this story was published, so I burned the midnight oil and made it happen. I also have another story in the works because I need some form of relaxation to counter all this stress I'm under, so be on the lookout for that if you're a fan of Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go, a good cartoon that got cut a raw deal since it never got a chance to be completed. So anyway, enjoy this next chapter, where I set up some interesting dynamics.
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Chapter 65

Misty's POV

Did what I think happened just happen? I did my best to convince Dawn and Brock that Ash had visited me in my dreams...but even as real as it seemed and as hard as I tried to convince them...I honestly wasn't sure if I was trying to convince them or myself. I'm not totally biased, I can admit that what I was trying to say was extremely farfetched. I mean...Ash Ketchum, the almost-always dense and sometimes just plain unintelligent Ash Ketchum...used an aura based mental technique that probably requires razor-sharp focus? The only time I've ever seen him that focused is during a Pokémon Battle, otherwise he's easily distracted.

I'm hoping that it was real, and that he'll be back soon. I'm not mad at him anymore, now I just miss him...although...I can't help but feel like something weird's about to happen...not a bad weird necessarily, more like something kind of...unusual. I can't put my finger on it, but something's gonna happen. At any rate, we're almost to Twinleaf Town, and despite her apparent apprehension over her mom being in charge of the festival there, she seems to be real excited about going home. I can't blame her for that, home is home, and it's always nice to go back. I'm curious to see what Twinleaf Town will be like, and it looks like soon I'll find out...and then soon after that...Ash will be back, and then Daisy and Tracey will show up, it's gonna be a real party!

Normal POV

"You know Dawn, for someone who was dreading the idea of her mom heading up such a huge event, you sure are excited about this little homecoming." Misty pointed out, as the coordinator periodically jogged a little in front of them to spin in a little circle.

"Oh I'm still dreading it, believe me." Dawn replied, "But I haven't been home in such a long time! It'll be great to see Mom again after so long!" As if on cue, the teens walked to the top of the hill their pathway had them on, and Dawn's eyes lit up as she pointed towards the horizon, "There it is! I see it! That's Twinleaf Town!"

"So that's what all the fuss is about huh?" Misty said, "Cute little place, kinda reminds me of Pallet Town in a way."

"Which means you're almost home Dawn." Brock chuckled.

Dawn didn't turn around to reply, instead she spread out her arms and took off sprinting down the hill towards her hometown. After a moment, Dawn turned her head to look back at Piplup, "Race ya there Piplup!" That got Piplup to pour on the speed as he tried to keep up with his trainer, and together they left Misty and Brock in their dust.

"Dawn, wait for us!" Misty shouted.

"Don't worry about it," Brock said dismissively, "We're almost there anyway."

"Yeah, I guess so...it's not like she can get lost in her own hometown." Misty looked up into the sky with a thoughtful expression, "I'm just wondering where Ash is...is he on his way yet?" she asked herself.

Brock answered the rhetorical question, "If you're right about him visiting you in your dream with his aura, then he should be here sometime tomorrow." Brock smiled sympathetically at the redhead's crestfallen face. "I know you miss him, but you know what they say...absence makes the heart grow fonder."

Misty closed her eyes and smiled, "I didn't think I could get any fonder." she said softly before turning her attention back to the breeder, "Thanks Brock, I know you put up with a lot these past few days."

Brock waved his hand around dismissively, "Nah, after almost five whole years of travelling, I've gotten used to dealing with little stuff like this...although when we first started out things were rough...oh the juvenile things you and Ash would fight about, I'm so glad those days are just about over." he said with reminiscence in his voice.

Misty scowled at him, "They were not juvenile!"

Brock gave her a pointed look, "You regularly got into arguments over his map skills when you were the one reading the map."

"Point being?"

Brock exhaled with exasperation, "You know what? Never mind."

"That's more like it." By now the two had reached Twinleaf Town themselves, and they spotted Dawn talking to an elderly couple and another man behind them, holding Piplup up to them as if she were introducing him to them, "Looks like Dawn's already found some people she knows."

"Well then let's go say hi."

As Brock and Misty walked up behind the coordinator, Dawn took note of their presence and took a moment to introduce them. "Oh yeah! Izzy, Cara, I'd like you to meet Misty and Brock, they're two of the friends I'm on my journey with!"

"Hello there, it's nice to meet you." Cara said cordially.

"But Dawn," Izzy started, "Where's that nice boy that Johanna said you had a crush on? Now...what was his name? Dash? Sash?"

Dawn suddenly felt the air behind her grow extremely cold, and she knew why. Looking slightly behind her, just enough so she could see Misty in her peripheral vision, she saw Misty about ready to murder her if she so much as blinked the wrong way. "At least I can say I died in my own bed I guess..." she thought morbidly.

Luckily Dawn was saved by Cara's intervention, "Oh Izzy, don't you ever pay attention? Johanna said that months ago, now Dawn's interested in a couple of boys who are from right here in Twinleaf Town. Isn't that right dear?"

Dawn was somewhat relieved that she'd get to see another day, as Misty had apparently calmed down...but now she was simply embarrassed. "Uh...to answer your question Izzy, his name is Ash...and I absolutely one-hundred percent do not have a crush on him," a little insurance certainly couldn't hurt, given Misty's volatile temper. "And he'll be here soon, he just had to take care of some personal matters." Now she turned her attention to the elderly woman, "And...yes, I guess it is true...but what I wanna know is how you know about that!"

"Oh Dawn, you shouldn't act so surprised," Cara replied, "In a small town like this, word of our own people gets around pretty fast around here. You, Kenny and Barry have become an inspiration to a lot of young boys and girls who are getting ready to start their own journeys!"

"Well that's great," Dawn replied, not taking too much notice of the obvious compliment, "But that doesn't explain how you know the details of my personal life!" Cara opened her mouth to respond, but Dawn cut her off. "You know what? Never mind. I know exactly how you know..." her voice suddenly became sickeningly sweet, "Izzy, would you be so kind as to tell me where my mother is right now?"

Izzy simply smiled and nodded, "Of course, she's at home preparing for your arrival, she had a feeling you'd be here soon."

"Thank you, and see you all later." With that, Dawn turned around and walked off towards her house, with Misty and Brock trailing confusedly behind her. "Looks like I'm gonna have to have a little talk with my mother."

"Uh Dawn, maybe we should try to keep this visit pleasant? After all, you haven't seen your mom in person in how long? You've gotta be missing her." Brock persuaded.

After a moment of silent grousing, Dawn let go of her anger, "Yeah, I guess you're right." she relented, "I do miss her...I guess I'll let her off the hook this time." Moments later, Dawn's eyes lit up as she stopped in front of a reasonably large two-story house. "This is it!" She clasped her hands in happiness and giggled as she stared longingly at the structure, "Home sweet home!"

"Dawn, wait up!" Misty called out to the coordinator who had run in without them, "Guess we're just along for the ride."

"Mom, I'm ho - hey what are you doing here?!"

Hearing that alarmed Misty and Brock, and they quickly grabbed a Pokéball each and ran into the house to see what was going on. "Dawn, are you ok?!" Brock exclaimed.

"SURPRISE!"

Misty and Brock leaped back in shock, but it quickly wore off when they realized who it was that had surprised them. "Daisy! Tracey!" Misty ran up to embrace her big sister and her boyfriend, who had no trouble reciprocating the gesture. When Misty released the hug, she looked back and forth between the couple, "What are you guys doing here?"

"That's what I asked!" Dawn interjected.

Ignoring Dawn's comment, Daisy directly addressed her youngest sister, "Well we showed up here in Twinleaf Town a couple of hours ago, and we ran into Dawn's mom. When we told her we were looking for you guys, she insisted we wait for you here!"

"By the way Dawn," Tracey said, "Nice place you got here."

"Oh, thank you Tracey." Dawn replied bashfully.

The laughter would've continued, but Tracey had noticed Brock being uncharacteristically quiet. "Hey Brock, you alright bro?"

"Mmm mmm..." Brock strained with a slow shake of his head. By the look on his face, it appeared that Brock was constipated, but Misty knew better.

"Ok Brock, let's get you outside for some fresh air." Misty grabbed Brock by the ear and pulled him outside, and closed the door so he couldn't get in. "He'll be ok in a minute." she assured the group.

"What happened to him?" Daisy asked with concern.

"Don't go all airhead on me again big sis," Misty teased, "It's Brock, remember? Why do you think he's freaking out?"

"Honestly, I don't have..." then it hit her, "Oh wait...Brock and his girl issues...and with Tracey here..."

"Bingo."

"So he's having to hold back those impulses of his huh?" Tracey said knowingly.

"He just needs a bit to recover, that's all." Misty replied dismissively, "You feel better Brock?" she called out.

Brock walked into the door with a cordial smile, "I'm good. Sorry Trace, male instinct ya know? I know she's all yours."

"It's all good Brock, it's good to see you again too." Tracey reached out to shake the breeders hand, and Brock responded with a firm shake.

"Excuse me!" The four Kanto dwellers turned to look at Dawn, who apparently didn't appreciate being left out of the conversation. "This is my house you know!"

"Sorry Dawn," Misty said with a sweat-drop, "Didn't mean to make you feel left out...hey, where's your mom?"

"That's right!" Dawn turned and called into the house, "Hey Mom, I'm home!"

Upon hearing the shout from upstairs, a petite woman came down the stairs with her Glameow and Umbreon. "Dawn!" she rushed down the remaining steps and scooped her daughter into a tight hug, "You came earlier than I expected! It's so good to see you again dear."

Dawn snuggled into her mom's shoulder and returned the embrace with fervor, "It's good to see you too Mom."

Seeing the two together, Misty was able to make a few observations. "Dawn and her mom are almost carbon copies of each other, it's downright scary how alike they look." the redhead thought, "Although Dawn's almost as tall as her mom at just thirteen...I guess she gets her height from her dad or something."

After a few more moments, Johanna released her daughter and turned her attention to the others, "It's so good to meet you all in person," Johanna went to shake Misty's hand, and the redhead got a real good look at just how short Johanna was, as she was eye-to-eye with the woman, "Have you been enjoying your time here in Sinnoh?"

"Yeah, it's been an incredible experience so far!" Misty replied.

"And Brock, I hope this trip has helped you a lot in becoming a Pokémon Breeder." Johanna said as she shook his hand next.

"Absolutely Ms. Johanna! I've learned a lot while travelling with these guys, and this trip to Sinnoh is no exception!"

Johanna nodded and moved past him with a smile, "And as for you Ash..." Johanna blinked in confusion when she noticed that Ash was nowhere to be found, "Where's Ash?"

Misty turned melancholy at that, "He's not here." she said with a sad smile, "He'll be here soon though, he had to take care of some things on Iron Island."

"Oh, I see." Johanna replied, "It's too bad he isn't here now, I had just prepared a wonderful meal for you all and I was sure he would love it." Johanna walked into the kitchen, leaving Misty to roll her eyes.

"Knowing Ash...it wouldn't take much to make him love food." the water-trainer scoffed.

"You know me too well Mist." The whole group with the exception of the now frozen Misty turned to the door, and saw Ash standing there with Pikachu on one shoulder and Riolu hanging over the other. "I'm back everyone."

Finally Misty slowly turned around, and when her eyes locked onto Ash, she quietly squeaked and sprinted towards him, her beautiful green eyes sparkling with joy. Once she got close enough, she leaped into his arms, wrapping her own arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, hugging him for all she was worth. "You're back, you're finally back! I missed you so much!" she mumbled into his now empty shoulder since both Pikachu and Riolu had evacuated in order to avoid getting run over.

Ash stumbled back a few steps when Misty jumped on him, but once he regained his balance he returned the hug with just as much passion as his girlfriend. "C'mon Mist," he chuckled softly, "I was only gone a few days, it's not like it's been years or anything."

"Few days too many." Misty put her feet on the ground and looked into his eyes, "I went through Ash withdrawal!"

"Aww please, I'm not all that." Ash scoffed, "You're tough, you could've handled-"

"Ash?"

"Yeah Mist?"

"Shut up and kiss me." with that, Misty grabbed the back of his head and pressed his lips against hers, instigating a kiss that she was sure would make Ash wonder why he had ever bothered to leave her behind. Once she could tell Ash was struggling for breath, she let go of the hair that was bunched up in her hand and let him pull away. "That should teach you not to leave me behind." she said smugly.

Ash gasped for breath before replying, "I was honestly expecting you to beat the crud outta me instead." he admitted.

"Oh that's coming later, believe me." Misty replied casually, causing Ash to groan. "But for now we have to finish our little reunion!"

Ash chuckled and shook his head in amusement, then proceeded to shake hands and exchange hugs with everyone else in the room. "It's really good to see you all again."

"Same here buddy," Tracey then knelt down in front of Riolu, who had been watching quietly ever since their arrival, "And this is the little Riolu that I've heard so much about huh?"

"Yep," Ash gave a discreet wink to the Emanation Pokémon, "Say hi Riolu."

Riolu smiled and was about to reveal his newest ability to all of his friends when Johanna poked her head back in the room from the kitchen, "Oh Ash! So you are here!"

Ash smiled softly and looked down at Riolu, "Don't worry buddy," he said through his aura, "You'll get your chance soon...maybe this is for the best, I kinda want Misty to find out before everyone else anyway."

Riolu smiled back, "Ok Daddy."

Ash looked up and acknowledged Johanna's greeting with a greeting of his own, "It's good to see you again Ms. Johanna."

Johanna giggled, but then her attention was captured by a rather irate water-type who was quite honestly tired of being ignored. The older woman smiled and knelt down in front of the little penguin, "Ahh, so you must be Dawn's partner Piplup, it's nice to finally meet you!"

Piplup finally relinquished a smile once he was acknowledged, then he turned his attention to the two Pokémon flanking either side of his master's mother. He first attempted to greet Glameow, but the cat Pokémon snubbed its nose at the penguin and his smile immediately faltered. He then attempted to make nice with Umbreon, but it too snubbed its nose at Piplup, leaving the penguin in a state of shock.

At that moment, a young woman with light-brown hair and carolina-blue eyes came down the stairs with her Bellossom, "Miss Johanna," the girl said, "All the guest rooms are ready!"

Johanna stood back up and looked over her shoulder at the girl, "Great! Thanks Noelle, I appreciate your help."

Upon seeing her friend, Dawn's eyes lit up, "Wow! I didn't know you were here too Noelle!"

Noelle giggled a little, "I came over here to take Miss Johanna's Pokémon Coordinator class, we've been here a whole week now." she explained, "You look great! You must really be enjoying your journey!"

"You bet I am!" Dawn reached into her backpack and pulled out her ribbon case, "Check this out!" she opened the case and revealed her four ribbons, "I'm working on my fifth and final ribbon!"

"Well, I'd say someone's working hard." Noelle said with a smile...of course that smile quickly disappeared when Brock suddenly grabbed Dawn by the shoulder and pulled her away so he could take her place in front of Noelle.

"My name's Brock! Budding Breeder extraordinaire!" he exclaimed with hearts in his eyes.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't he just freaking out because I was here, and now all of a sudden he's forgotten I even exist?" Daisy asked with her arms crossed.

"You sound insulted big sis." Misty snickered.

"Maybe I am! Geez, just because I'm with Tracey doesn't mean something like that isn't a swift kick in the ego!"

Both Misty and Tracey sweat-dropped at that, "Don't worry Dais, I'll never forget you." the artist said consolingly.

Meanwhile Noelle was doing some sweat-dropping of her own, as Brock continued to make a fool of himself with his love-stricken babbling. "Of course the world's greatest Pokémon Breeder would be considered quite a catch! So, you're a budding coordinator eh?"

Misty shook her head in annoyance, "Boy, Brock's really laying it on thick this time."

"Yeah, and Noelle's Bellossom doesn't look too impressed by it either." Ash noted.

At this point, Brock had gotten down one knee with a red rose held out to the clearly uncomfortable girl, "And dearest Noelle, since the cupid of love has mysteriously brought us together, I now I ask for a lesson in love that only a coordinator can give!" That was the last straw, as Croagunk appeared out of nowhere and jabbed the breeder's back, and Noelle's Bellossom had grown fed up with the display and launched a weak 'Stun Spore' to stop it. Brock groaned in pain as the effects of both attacks immediately came down on him, "Is it me...or are two attacks stronger than one?" with that, Brock fell flat on his face and the flower he was holding somehow lost all its petals, and Croagunk took it upon himself to drag his incapacitated master back outside and away from the horrified Noelle.

"Well...that was certainly...something." she chuckled nervously.

"Sorry about that Noelle," Dawn grinned sheepishly, "Brock gets kinda crazy when he meets a beautiful woman."

"I guess I should be flattered then." Noelle sweat-dropped.

"You could look it that way." Misty shrugged dismissively, "But I wouldn't encourage it, give him too much hope and he'll go nuttier than he usually does." Misty turned her head slightly and her eye caught a shelf covered in trophies and plaques, "Whoa, check out all these trophies." she said as she leaned in for a closer look.

"Awesome aren't they?" Dawn replied proudly, "Remember my mom used to be a top coordinator...of course, she doesn't enter contests anymore, but she does give a class to coordinators who want to learn her techniques! And she'll even have contest battles with them as well!"

"Really?!" Daisy suddenly blurted out, "Miss Johanna, I would be honored if you'd teach me some of your techniques!"

Misty went slack-jawed, "Daisy!"

Daisy shrugged defensively, "What? I told you I wanted to learn some coordinator tricks so I could start letting people watch the gym battles!"

"But we were gonna do some training!"

"And we will! Don't worry!" Daisy smirked, "Hey, look at it this way, at least I'm actually trying."

Tracey couldn't help but smile, "She's got ya there Misty."

The redhead puffed out her cheeks in frustration and turned away, "No she doesn't." she grumbled to herself.

Daisy grinned victoriously and turned her attention back to Johanna, "So can we battle? Please?!"

"Hey! If anyone's gonna battle my mom first, it's me!" Dawn exclaimed, "So please mom, can we have a battle?"

Johanna smiled and put her finger to her cheek as if she was thinking about it, "Hmm...let's see..."

Dawn instantly recognized her mother's answer as a yes, "Wow Piplup, we finally get a chance to show Mom just how hard we've been working!" Piplup chirped determinedly and stood tall, he had some extra motivation now that he wanted to prove himself to Glameow and Umbreon.

"Alright, it's a deal." Johanna giggled at Dawn's excited squeal, "But first, I think we should eat that food I mentioned earlier. I made some of your favorite dishes and I'm sure you're all hungry after the trip here."

"AND HOW!" All eyes fell on Ash after his outburst, and the Pokémon Trainer blushed in embarrassment when he felt everyone's gaze on him. "Sorry," Ash scratched the back of his neck, "See, I've been kinda running on empty and it was a long flight from Iron Island."

Johanna simply laughed in response as Misty playfully slapped her boyfriend's arm. "Noelle," the former top coordinator said, "Would you mind taking Ash, Misty, and Brock to their room upstairs now?"

"Not a problem Miss Johanna." Noelle replied with a wink.

"Thanks a lot Noelle." Ash said.

"THANK YOU SO MUCH!" Brock caused Ash to leap back before he got run over, as the breeder soon found himself in front of Noelle once more as he hugged himself in ecstasy. "Isn't she great?! ISN'T SHE WONDERFUL?!"

"Enough!" Needless to say, Misty was growing more than a little weary of Brock's lack of self-control, so the girl pulled her mallet out of nowhere, and promptly bashed him on the noggin which caused him to quickly become quiet as he slowly crumpled to the ground. "You deserved that you Don Juan wannabe!"

"Does this happen often?" Johanna asked in shock.

"Not really, maybe two or three times a day, depending on where we are." Dawn sweat-dropped.

Misty put her mallet away and stepped over the breeder's body and started heading up the stairs. She looked over her shoulder and glared at her friends when they made no moves to follow her. "Well, you coming or what?" she said with a warning tone in her voice.

Ash gulped, "Uh, yeah Mist." he smiled nervously. "Gimme a hand Trace."

"Sure thing." Between the two men they were able to carry Brock into their room, and after he recovered they went downstairs to enjoy the meal Johanna had made for them.

"So what do you all think? Be honest with me!" Johanna said as she pierced an asparagus with her fork.

Dawn replied with her mouth half full of food, "So good!"

"Yeah, it's delicious Miss Johanna, a lot better than anything I could eat at Prof. Oak's laboratory." Tracey added as he greedily chomped on a freshly-baked roll.

"Is he that bad a cook?" Dawn asked.

Daisy swallowed what was in her mouth and almost gagged at the thought of Prof. Oak's cooking. "Worse. Trust me."

"You're not exactly one to talk big sis," Misty smirked as she twirled her fork around some pasta salad, "Last time I tried some of your cooking I almost had to go to the hospital."

The blonde narrowed her eyes at her little sister, "It was one time! How was I supposed to know that the bread I toasted for you went bad?"

"Because it was green! The only reason I didn't notice was because you burned it so badly that I couldn't tell the difference!"

"You know Mist, I remember one time when you tried to make dinner for us..." Ash's tone turned reminiscent, "It was the first time I'd ever seen purple soup before."

"That was a long time ago." the redhead snarled.

"But your poffins weren't." Ash quipped.

"And yours were worse than mine!"

Seeing that things were about to get ugly around the dinner table, Dawn quickly changed the subject, "You know Mom, Brock's actually a pretty good cook too! He's the one who makes all our meals while we're out on the road!"

"Is that so?" Johanna asked, "Well if your Pokémon food is any indication, I'd say you're even better than Dawn says you are."

Brock blushed a little at the compliment, "Thank you, but I think it's just a simple case of practice makes perfect since I do it all the time."

"I dunno about that." Johanna replied as she looked over her shoulder to where her two Pokémon were eating, "Considering how picky Glameow and Umbreon usually are, the fact that they're enjoying your Pokémon food so much seems to suggest that you're something special in the kitchen."

"Well I am looking to become the world's best Pokémon Breeder, so I suppose the ability to make good food comes in handy...thanks for the kind words."

Johanna smiled, "No need to thank me, I'm sure one day you'll accomplish that goal, you certainly have the talent for it, and I can tell you have the passion and drive to make your dream a reality."

"I agree wholeheartedly," Noelle added, "In fact, Brock...it would be wonderful if you'd give me your Pokémon food recipe!"

"Oh boy." Misty face-palmed.

"REALLY?!" Brock leaped out of his chair and knelt down in front of the beautiful girl, "Absolutely Noelle but wait there's more! Act now and I'll also reveal to you my secret recipe of love, full of sugar, spice and everything nice!"

Daisy found herself making a gagging noise in disgust at the display, much to everyone else's amusement. "What is with him?"

Noelle would've been amused by Daisy's reaction as well, if she hadn't been dealing with Brock's overly-passionate declaration of love, "It's a recipe that comes straight from my heart! We'll make it together as we first cook over high heat, and then let it simmer..." at that moment, Brock's happiness was broken by another dual attack from Croagunk's 'Poison Jab' and Noelle's Bellossom's 'Stun Spore'. "Flame off...again." Brock fell over onto his back, and Croagunk dragged his master into the other room where he could recompose himself.

Noelle blinked a few times before turning her attention to everyone else at the table, "So...does that mean I won't get the recipe?"

The group laughed, but Dawn managed to compose herself long enough to assure her friend that she would make sure to get the recipe from Brock herself, "I think it'd be best if you avoid Brock for a little while, you're too pretty for him to handle."

That got the group to laughing again, while Noelle just blushed bashfully. "Well Brock's obviously very talented...he's just not my type of guy."

"You don't have to explain yourself, Brock turns off a lot of girls that way." Misty replied.

"Well, he certainly has passion going for him." Johanna commented as she got up from the table, "Dawn dear, could you help me with the dishes?"

"Sure thing!" Dawn got up and went around the table collecting dirty dishes, and together with her mother, she went to work on drying the plates her mother washed.

"You want any help?" Ash asked.

"Not at all!" Johanna replied without turning from the dishes, "Dawn and I have this perfectly under control. Why don't you all make yourself at home? After all, if you're going to be staying here, I want you all to be as comfortable as you would be in your own homes!"

"You have no idea what you're saying." Misty said teasingly, she could already tell Ash had his eyes narrowed at her, "Telling Ash to make himself at home can be an incredibly dangerous thing...especially if you like a clean house."

"You make it sound like I'm a living 'Whirlwind' attack." Ash scoffed with his arms crossed in annoyance.

"That would be putting it mildly."

"Thanks a lot Misty." Ash got up to walk away, but the redhead quickly grabbed his hand and spun him around to face her, "Now what?"

Misty pouted cutely at him, and his resolve quickly began to dwindle. "I still love you."

Ash sighed and threw his head back, "Geez Mist, why do you do that?"

Everyone laughed at the display, and even Ash eventually found himself amused by what had happened. Then Tracey spoke up again, "Oh yeah! Hey Ash, do you still have Haunter with you?"

"Oh yeah, guess I better call Prof. Oak and get my guys back."

"You're one step ahead of me Ash, Prof. Oak wanted me to tell you to give him a call so he could give you your team back, he's ready to take Haunter and Rotom back now." When Ash suddenly frowned, Tracey was caught off guard. "What's the matter?"

"Rotom's gone." Ash sighed, "He went with a group of creeps called Team Galactic because one of the scientists that works for them is an old friend of his...he said he'd be back...so hopefully he was telling the truth."

"Oh...I'm sorry pal, I didn't know."

Ash relinquished a small smile, "It's ok Trace, you couldn't have known." Ash took a deep breath and exhaled, "Anyway, lemme call Prof. Oak and send Haunter and Rotom's Pokéball back." Ash went over to the videophone and dialed the lab, while Misty came up from behind him and wrapped her arms around him, "Thanks Mist."

"It'll be ok, I promise."

Ash turned around and returned the embrace, and moved in to kiss the redhead in gratitude for her comfort. They had just gotten started when a voice came from the videophone. "Oh my! Maybe I shouldn't have answered the phone!"

The two lovesick teenagers quickly broke apart and looked at the screen, and they were greeted by the sight of a rather uncomfortable Pokémon Professor. "Uh...sorry about that Professor..."

"No no, it's uh...quite alright." Prof. Oak cleared his throat, "Well, since you're at Dawn's house now, I take it you got Tracey's message."

"Yeah that's right." Ash pulled two Pokéballs off his belt and put them on the send/receive platform, and seconds later they arrived at Prof. Oak's lab. "So where are Monferno and Gliscor?"

Prof. Oak held up two Pokéballs, "They're right here, sending them now."

"Thanks Professor...just do me a favor...don't ask me what happened with Rotom, ok?"

Prof. Oak was taken aback by Ash's strange request, "Oh...very well then." Finally the Pokéballs arrived at the house, "Well, there you are Ash, Monferno and Gliscor certainly enjoyed their time here at the ranch."

"I'm glad Professor. Is there anything else?"

"As a matter of fact there is!" Prof. Oak replied, "Could you call Tracey and Daisy in here for a moment please?"

Ash nodded, "Hey Trace, Daisy, Prof. Oak wants to talk you a sec!"

Moments later, Tracey and Daisy walked out of the kitchen to greet the scientist. "Hey Professor, what's up?" Tracey asked.

"I just wanted to thank you for relaying the message Tracey, and enjoy your time off in Sinnoh!"

"Oh, thanks Professor!"

Prof. Oak nodded and turned his attention to the tall blonde, "And as for you Daisy, I remember you speaking to Tracey about how you wanted to use coordinator techniques in your gym battles, and I wanted to remind you that since you're staying with a talented former top coordinator, you can certainly learn a lot from her."

"One step ahead of you Professor, I've already asked her to battle with me so she can teach me a few new techniques!" Daisy exclaimed.

"Excellent!" Prof. Oak's face adopted a thoughtful look, "Training here, training there means training well anywhere!"

"Uh..." Daisy scratched her head, "What's that mean exactly?"

The group chuckled a bit at Daisy's confusion, and the Professor was no exception, "My point is that the best way to train and learn about Pokémon is wherever you are make sure you have fun doing it."

"Oh." Daisy blushed with embarrassment and giggled, "Sorry Professor, but you know your sayings don't always come across the first time."

"That's quite alright, I realize my poetry doesn't always make much sense, but I do so enjoy it." Prof. Oak said with a chuckle.

"That's amazing!" Having heard Prof. Oak over the videophone, Dawn came rushing out to greet the poetry reciting man, "The Poetry Man even gives great advice all wrapped up in a poem!" she squealed.

"Now Dawn, it's impolite to address Prof. Oak as the Poetry Man," Johanna chastised gently.

"It's no problem at all Johanna, really! In fact I'm thrilled that Dawn takes such a liking to my poetry!" Prof. Oak replied.

"By the way, thank you for doing what we asked." Johanna said.

Prof. Oak waved his hand dismissively, "Forget it, I'm looking forward to it if the truth be told!"

"Looking forward?" Dawn glanced at her mother, "Forward to what?"

Johanna grinned, "Prof. Oak is going to attend the Twinleaf Festival as our special guest!" Johanna couldn't help but laugh at Dawn's suddenly ecstatic expression.

"Wow! Are you serious?!" the coordinator girl squealed.

"Yep, that's why we came early, we were planning on coming up with the Professor when we found out, but he insisted we come up first so we could enjoy our vacation." Tracey explained.

"Awesome Professor! It'll be great to see you in person again after so long!" Ash exclaimed.

"Indeed my boy!" Prof. Oak then looked to his right, and his face fell immediately, "Oh not again..." the Professor was abruptly - though unintentionally - pushed out of the way by a very familiar person to the group.

"Hi honey! It's good to see you again Ash, glad to see you're doing well!"

"Mom! How are ya?"

"I'm doing well, I was just bringing the Professor some fresh herbs, perfect timing I'd say."

"Yeah Mom, you always did manage to show up right when it counted."

Johanna then stepped up to the screen, "How nice to finally meet you Mrs. Ketchum, I'm Dawn's mother Johanna."

"Well it's nice to meet you too, and please call me Delia!" Delia said with a bow, "Thank you for inviting Ash into your home," Delia suddenly gained a mischievous grin, "Now if he starts to act up or misbehave feel free to scold him as much as needed!"

Ash's eyes grew wide, "Aww Mom! You gotta be kidding me!"

"Of course not!" Delia replied, "One more thing Ash dear, I certainly hope you've been treating Misty with the respect she deserves."

Ash's face went redder than it ever had before in his whole life, in fact he was so mortified that he had absolutely no response to his mother's insinuation. "Why are you doing this to me?"

Misty was substantially red-faced as well, but luckily she was able to kick-start her mind so she could give some sort of answer to Delia, "Don't you worry Mrs. Ketchum, Ash has always been a perfect gentleman when it comes to our relationship..." Misty grinned sneakily and looked at Ash in her peripheral vision, "Now his eating habits on the other hand..."

"MISTY!"

The group laughed heartily at Ash's misfortune before Delia spoke up again, "I'm certainly glad you're behaving appropriately darling." Delia looked directly at Johanna once more, "Now please Johanna, if he starts acting up in any way don't hesitate to take action, after all a good scolding never hurt anyone!"

"Mom! Come on already!"

"Oh hush Ash, I'm just teasing you." Delia giggled, "I'm well aware that you're becoming a fine young man, I'm so proud of you."

Now Ash was red for a different reason, "Thanks Mom..." he said bashfully, "So are you gonna come up for the Festival too?"

"We'll see, maybe I'll come up if Prof. Oak wants some company..." Delia looked around the room in confusion, "Where is Prof. Oak?"

"Ya kinda knocked him over Mom."

Delia's eyes grew wide and she looked down to the floor, and sure enough there was Prof. Oak, drumming his fingers on the ground as he waited for Delia to finish, "Oh! I'm so sorry Professor!"

Prof. Oak sighed, "It's quite alright...I've gotten used to being on the floor lately."

"I'm sorry everyone, but I think I should hang up now, goodbye!" Delia cut off the connection, leaving the ground in a bit of a stunned silence.

"I think I'm gonna get Prof. Oak his own personal videophone when his birthday rolls around, the one in his lab tends to be a high-traffic zone." Tracey sweat-dropped.

"Hey," Dawn said, "Not to be off-topic or anything, but has anyone seen Brock lately?"

"I think I saw him outside near the garden, let's go see." Johanna led the teens and young adults outside to her garden, and sure enough there was Brock, down on one knee with a straw hat and overalls as he used a spray bottle to water several rows of beautiful pink flowers. Happiny was there next to him, waving a small shovel around. "Oh Brock, you're such a big help, I had no idea you had a green thumb as well, you didn't have to do this!"

Brock got up to face the woman, "It's no trouble at all Miss Johanna, odd jobs just happen to be what I do best. You just leave everything to me, and I'll make sure your garden is in perfect shape for you in no time at all!" With that, Brock went back to spraying the flowers, truth be told, the job had simply started out as a means to distract himself from hitting on Noelle again, and he had a feeling if he didn't get back to work soon, he wouldn't be able to control himself, "Just focus on the flowers...flowers, not Noelle...flowers."

"Miss Johanna, since Brock's taking care of the garden, why don't you and Dawn go ahead and have your battle?" Noelle suggested.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Johanna turned to her daughter, "How does that sound to you Dawn?"

Dawn nodded in excitement, "That sounds great! Thanks Mom!"

But just then, Izzy, Cara and another man came walking down the road calling for Johanna, "I'll be right back." Johanna went to meet them, and they began discussing what sort of food stalls should be used for the Festival, needless to say it was quite clear Johanna was the voice of reason in the little committee. Finally with the issue resolved, the three older adults began to walk away to begin their work, "See, this is our first year working as Festival organizers and there are so many things we don't know and we're more or less learning as we go along."

"Looks like organizing a whole Festival is kinda tough." Daisy said.

"It can be, but I'm certainly enjoying the experience." Johanna replied, "Now...what was it we were all talking about?"

Dawn groaned, "Mom! We were talking about having our contest battle!"

"Right! The contest battle! Why don't we..."

"Excuse us..." Johanna was cut off as the other man that had come with Izzy and Cara appeared once more, "I'm really sorry to bother you again but now they can't seem to decide exactly where to build the two stalls! They just keep going back and forth and back and forth!"

Johanna sighed, "I'm sorry Dawn, but I need to get this taken care of. I'll be back in a flash so for now why don't you all just relax?"

"Fine." Dawn moaned.

"Don't worry about us," Noelle added, "We'll be just fine."

With that, Johanna went to join the rest of the Festival committee to take care of the arrangements. "Well Piplup...I guess there's nothing else to do except wait until Mom gets back." Dawn sighed.

"Pi pi plup." (This stinks.)

"Oh well, apparently that's the way it goes here in Sinnoh. Battles somehow find ways to get postponed all the time." Ash said in mild disappointment. "Hey, I got an idea, why don't we go for a walk and check out what Twinleaf Town has to offer?"

"Pika!" (Great idea!)

"Ha ha, I had a feeling you'd agree buddy!" Ash turned to his favorite redhead, "How 'bout you Mist? Feel like tagging along?"

"You have to ask?" she replied with a smirk.

Ash smirked back, "Anyone else? Dawn, Tracey?"

"No thanks Ash, you and Misty go and enjoy some alone time, I'm sure you'll enjoy the Twinleaf Town scenery!" Dawn then whispered to the penguin on her head, "And we can go over our battle strategy against Mom!"

"Pi plup pi plup!" (Sounds like a plan!)

"You're gonna do contest training?!" apparently Dawn hadn't spoken quietly enough as Daisy had heard her, "Could I maybe sit in on your little planning meeting? Maybe I could catch a few tips from the daughter of a top coordinator!"

Dawn sweat-dropped, "Uh...sure Daisy, I don't see why not."

"I'm starting to worry about you big sis, I'm glad you're interested in learning and all, but you do remember that we're a gym, not a contest hall right?" Misty asked suspiciously.

"Yes I remember," Daisy sighed in exasperation, "We'll do gym training later ok?" Daisy suddenly smirked, "Why do you care what I'm doing anyway? You're going off to go make out with your boyfriend."

Misty blushed, "I am not, we're going for a walk."

"Uh huh, and I'm the Pokémon Master."

Misty scowled and grabbed Ash's wrist and began dragging him off, "Guess we'll catch ya later!" Ash exclaimed.

"Good luck man!" Tracey called out. Then the artist turned to his girlfriend, "Why do you torment her like that?" he said in disapproval.

"Because it's fun." Daisy shrugged dismissively, "Now come on Dawn! Teach me the glamorous ways of the Pokémon Coordinator!"

"I'll uh...do my best." Dawn sweat-dropped once more.

Meanwhile back with Ash and Misty, the two found themselves walking through a forest. Normally the redhead would be panicking over the idea of bug-Pokémon possibly coming out of nowhere, but right now she was simply content to be able to hug Ash's arm and lean against his shoulder. "I missed this."

Ash chuckled, "So did I..." then a thought crossed his mind, "Misty...when you...jumped into my arms earlier, were you just being dramatic for Daisy's sake? Or did you...really miss me that much?"

Misty tilted her head to look at his face with a small frown, "Ash, you really don't know how much you mean to me, do you?"

"Well...I thought I did, I mean, we've told each other 'I love you' a whole bunch of times, and I know I've always meant it...but I never thought that if I left for just three days it'd have that much of an impact on you."

Misty stopped their walk and stood up straight while Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder and pulled a Pokéball off his belt to release Riolu, who had been itching to get out and explore as well. "Ash, you remember what it was like when you came back to Cerulean right?"

"How could I forget? I wouldn't have you without that trip."

"Well take what I did today, and multiply it a hundred-fold. That's how I felt when I saw you again after so long."

Ash scratched his head, "But you didn't react like that in Cerulean."

Misty shook her head, "Ash, you're the sweetest guy in the world, but you're still thick as a brick...I felt that way on the inside, but we weren't dating then, if I did something to show how I was feeling, I probably would've tackled you to the ground and kissed you for ten minutes straight, and then what would've happened?"

"Well...I'd probably need about fifteen minutes to get my brain working again," Ash smiled when he got a giggle out of her, "And it probably would've made the whole confession thing a ton easier, I know I'm 'thick as a brick', but even I could've figured out what a full blown make out session meant."

"Well...if there weren't other people in the room, I might've done just that when you came today. I still have to show some restraint after all."

Ash's smile faded a little, "I'm sorry Misty, I never wanted to hurt you...but hey, mission accomplished. Me and Riolu have our connection back, stronger than ever!"

Misty smiled, "I'm glad."

"Oh yeah!" Ash suddenly exclaimed, "Misty, I needed to show you something awesome about Riolu, but I wanted you to be the first one to find out! Hey Riolu!" Riolu would've responded, but the little Emanation Pokémon was getting a close-up view of a Ledyba pollinating a large pink flower. "Looks like Riolu's still easy to impress."

"He's still a baby Ash, let him enjoy it." Although Misty wanted to simply approach Riolu and Pikachu, the sight of the Ledyba on the flower was making her hesitate. When Riolu began to sneeze though, she hurried to go to him, "Are you ok Riolu?"

Riolu scratched his nose and looked up at his human mother-figure, "The flower made me sneeze Mommy."

"I'll bet it did, must've been because you got too close to it." Misty giggled and picked Riolu up into her arms, but then her eyes grew as wide as dinner-plates and she accidently dropped Riolu to the ground in shock, "Y-Y-Y-You - did you just - but how could - I don't even - you talked! You just talked!" Misty pinched herself sharply, "Ow!" looking around, she saw that nothing had changed, "I'm not still dreaming...this is real?"

"Surprise." Ash chuckled.

"Ash! He wasn't able to talk before you left! What exactly happened on Iron Island?"

"It's a long story Mist."

Misty crossed her arms, "I'm listening."

"Well..." so Ash regaled to her the story of their training with Riley on Iron Island, how they struggled at first to use their aura and then after Riley managed to break through Ash's uncertainty, the training became a hundred times more effective. Riolu would chime in every once in a while, much to Misty's still apparent shock, and the story finally ended with their departure from the island. "So that's the story Mist, I know it sounds crazy but it's completely true."

"Well..." Misty cleared her throat and took Riolu into her arms once more, "Let's get one thing clear, you ever enter my mind without permission and I swear to whatever God Arceus calls 'master', you will not live to tell about it."

Ash could see the redhead meant every word of that threat, even without the use of aura vision, "I'm not even that good at it yet Mist, and even if I was I'd never do that to you!"

Misty's lips started to upturn into a smile, "I know...it's just a little overwhelming," she admitted, "I mean, my boyfriend comes back from a three day trip, and all of a sudden he's an Aura Guardian in-training? His little Riolu is all of a sudden a telepath? It's amazing!"

Riolu then began to squirm in Misty's grip, "Stop calling me little!"

"Why? What's the matter?" Misty asked.

"I'm not little! I'm gonna be big! I'm gonna be the biggest, strongest Lucario ever!"

"He's not kidding Mist." Ash affirmed.

"Ash, all your Pokémon think that about themselves, and that's fine, but I don't get why it's such a big deal." Misty replied.

"Well I dunno about strongest," that earned a glare from Riolu, "But he is gonna be the biggest Lucario ever."

"Ash, what are you talking about?"

"See...apparently Riolu's aura is so strong that it's somehow causing his body to grow faster than a normal Riolu would...so he's gonna be a lot bigger than a normal Riolu when it finally comes time for him to evolve into Lucario."

"Yeah Mommy!" Riolu chirped, "Remember my paws?" Riolu powered up his aura and sure enough his paws began to glow with power, "That's my aura, remember? It's making me bigger and stronger!"

"Actually...you do seem heavier than you used to be." Misty turned her attention back to Ash, "So what does this mean? That Riolu's gonna evolve into a fifty-foot tall Lucario?!"

Riolu enjoyed that idea, "Could I?!"

Ash chuckled, "You're not gonna be that big Riolu." the Emanation Pokémon pouted in disappointment at that, "He's not gonna tower over us or anything, but he is gonna tower over other Lucario, by at least a whole foot if Riley's estimate is right."

"A whole foot? Then..." Misty did some mental math, and the result shocked her, "When he evolves, he's gonna be at least five feet tall! That's only a few inches shorter than we are!"

"That's aura for you, it can do a whole bunch of crazy stuff." Ash shrugged.

Misty turned her head to look down at Riolu, who was smiling with pride, "Wow Riolu, you're gonna be a big help when Ash gets to the Sinnoh League!"

"Sure am! I can't wait to evolve!" In the middle of their hug however, Riolu sensed something, "We're not alone."

"We're not?" Misty asked.

"No...someone's here." Ash had his eyes closed as he activated his aura vision, "Oh...it's just a kid, and his aura's blue, he must be out Pokémon watching or something."

Misty stared in awe at her boyfriend, "Whoa...this is gonna take some getting used to."

Ash smiled and went over to the bush where the young boy was hiding, "Hey there, who are you?"

The boy jumped back in shock, "How'd you know I was in here?"

"It's a long story...so what are you doing here?" Ash asked.

"Oh...I just put some honey on that tree over there," he pointed at a tree that had something rustling in its branches, "I'm hoping to see some cool Pokémon! By the way, my name's Nathaniel!"

"Nice to meet ya Nathaniel."

Just then Pikachu and Riolu joined their master, with Misty not far behind. "What's up Ash?"

Nathaniel never bothered to notice Misty, as his eyes lit up when he saw Pikachu. "Wow! A Pikachu right?! Do you mind if I hold it?"

"Whaddya say buddy?" Ash asked.

Pikachu nodded and leaped into the young boy's arms, and Nathaniel held him tight, "Wow...its fur's so soft." he said as he nuzzled Pikachu's fur, "I really wanna be a Pokémon Trainer, but I can't because I'm not old enough yet."

"I hear ya." Ash replied.

"When I get older, I'm definitely gonna be a trainer, but for now I'm trying to find and study as many Pokémon as I can! And I do it every single day!"

"Every day?" Misty face-palmed, "Oh boy...I think we've just met your long lost little brother."

"Aww come on Mist, it's great that he enjoys Pokémon as much as I did when I was his age!"

"Yeah, I guess...but your obsession was borderline unhealthy." Misty quipped, "Nathaniel, do you do any other activities?"

"Well sure," the boy replied, "I love hanging out with my friends, and I enjoy reading...oh! And I love to help my mom out in the kitchen when she makes dinner!"

"Well that's better, at least there's something to balance out the Pokémon parts of life." Misty said, "Unlike you Mr. Ketchum, who ate, slept, and breathed Pokémon for the majority of your life."

"Boy you're just taking every chance you can get your hands on to take a shot at me today aren't ya?" Ash huffed.

Misty shrugged, "Consider it an alternate form of payback since you left me behind on your Iron Island trip."

"Better than the mallet I guess." Ash sighed.

Just then, Nathaniel looked up into the tree and his eyes lit up again, "Wow! Look at that!"

"What is it? Lemme see." Ash glanced up into the tree, and there was a Heracross standing on the tree branch, sucking on the honey that Nathaniel had smeared all over the tree trunk. "Whoa, a Heracross!"

"Yeah! How cool is that?!" Nathaniel exclaimed, "You know, when I'm finally old enough to be a Pokémon Trainer, I'm gonna catch a whole bunch of bug-type Pokémon!"

"Oh yeah?" Ash chuckled a little nervously and glanced at Misty, and sure enough the redhead was recoiling in horror, "C'mon Mist, nothing to worry about." he said soothingly.

"What's wrong with her?" Nathaniel asked.

"Mommy doesn't like bug-Pokémon!" Riolu exclaimed with a growl, "Don't worry Mommy, I'll get rid of that Heracross!"

"Riolu wait!" Ash's cry fell on deaf ears as Riolu rushed the tree and jumped up.

"Take this you mean old bug-type!" Riolu launched 'Force Palm' with his aura at full strength, and the blast managed to shatter the tree branch which prompted the wild Heracross to fly away in fear. "And don't come back! No one scares my Mommy!"

"Hey! Why'd your Riolu scare that Heracross away?!" Nathaniel's anger quickly drained away when he realized what had happened, "Did...did your Riolu just...talk?"

"Uh yeah...it's an aura thing...my Riolu's kinda special." Ash said evasively.

"I'll say!" Nathaniel replied, "Wow, I'm so glad I met you Ash! You're an awesome Pokémon Trainer!"

"Nah, not really. I just got lucky enough to get some awesome friends to join me on my journey." Ash looked the young boy in the eye, "Lemme tell you the secret to being a good Pokémon Trainer...don't go it alone. Take friends you trust with you on your journey, and together you'll be able to make friends with the Pokémon you capture and have each other's backs. If it weren't for people like Misty," he gestured to the redhead, "I wouldn't be as good as I am today."

"Gee, thanks for the awesome advice Ash!" Nathaniel then looked at his watch and gasped, "Oh no! Mom should be starting to prepare dinner soon! I gotta go, thanks again!" Nathaniel released Pikachu and ran out of the forest at a full sprint, leaving the couple alone once more.

"There goes another potential future Pokémon Master." Ash chuckled.

"No...I'd say he's looking to replace Aaron as the..." Misty shuddered, "Bug-type specialist of the Sinnoh Elite Four."

"C'mon Misty, we all have our own hopes and dreams, so what if he wants to be a bug-type kid?"

"They're bug-types, that should tell you all you need to know!"

Ash sighed and got back up, and he wrapped his arms around the water-trainer's waist from behind, "You ready to head back? It should be almost time for the contest battle."

Misty's heart sped up a little at the intimate contact and she turned around to face him and wrap her arms around his neck, "Not really, but I guess we should." Misty leaned in for a tender kiss, and after a few moments she pulled back again. "Just wanted to get that in before we joined the others again."

"Why do you only kiss when you're alone?"

The couple looked down at Riolu with blushes on their faces, the Emanation Pokémon had his head tilted to the side in obvious curiosity, "Uh well...because...kissing is something special between a girl and a boy who love each other very much...it's not as special when everyone can see." Misty managed to explain.

"Ohhh! Ok, I'll close my eyes then!" Riolu covered his eyes and turned around, "Ok Mommy, you can kiss Daddy now!"

The couple looked at each other and laughed softly, "He's such a sweetheart." the redhead whispered.

"He must get it from you." they leaned in for another kiss, this one a little more heated as Misty was trying to make up for lost time. Once Ash ran out of air he pulled back to look into her sparkling sea-green eyes. "C'mon Mist, let's come out of hiding." Together they walked out of the forest hand-in-hand, with Pikachu and Riolu trailing not far behind them.

Meanwhile back at the house, Dawn was busy going over some last-minute adjustments to her strategy against Johanna with Piplup and Pachirisu. Daisy was also there, looking over the younger girl's shoulder as she worked. "So let's go over our strategy one more time!" Dawn moved some paper-cutouts around a white board to represent both her Pokémon, "Now this is the formation for Plan A," she moved the pieces around again, "And this is the formation for Plan B right over here."

"Yawn!" Daisy exclaimed, "When do we get to the glamorous part of the contest battle planning?"

Dawn sweat-dropped, "That's the part we do outside because coming up with brand new ideas for appeal requires a lot of trial and error on our part. We see what combining certain moves do and if they manage to do a good enough job of showing off the Pokémon to the best of their ability."

"I know that." Daisy sighed, "Remember I was in the Wallace Cup too even though I didn't make it past the first battle round."

Dawn giggled as she realized something, "Now I know why you wanted to watch me plan my strategy, you were hoping to do some practicing of your own while I stood there and told you what would work and what wouldn't."

"Well I did say I wanted to learn."

"Then learn! Look here," Dawn motioned for Daisy to get a closer look, "Being a coordinator means more than just appeal, when going up against a super-strong opponent like my mom, you have to make sure everything you plan on using will be able to counter what your opponent might be planning. That's why I picked Piplup and Pachirisu, with their variety of different attacks and battle-styles, I should be able to counter almost anything Mom throws at me!"

"I didn't know being a coordinator was so much work." Daisy moaned.

Dawn sweat-dropped, "Well...it's worth the hard work if you ask me, seeing the results after putting all the work in is super satisfying to say the least!"

"Yeah...I guess, but I don't wanna work alone...babe, you'll help me right?" Daisy turned around to look at her boyfriend, but somewhere down the line Tracey had fallen asleep. "So much for love and support." the blonde deadpanned. At that point, something else caught Daisy's eye, "What's that?" she got up and went over to the TV, and she picked up a picture frame that had several articles featuring Dawn in some way.

Dawn got up to see what was so fascinating, and she too was amazed, "Wow...these are newspaper articles about all of my contests! Mom must've cut them all out and framed them...that's awesome!"

"So you're an up-and-coming star eh? Ok, my interest has been rekindled! Teach me your ways oh wise coordinator." Daisy said with a joking bow.

Dawn was about to respond when the front door opened, "I'm home!" Johanna exclaimed, "So sorry to have kept you waiting! Now how about that contest battle?"

"Finally!" Dawn squealed, "Piplup, Pachirisu, let's show Mom what all of our hard work's accomplished!"

After waking Tracey and getting Brock from the garden, they found Noelle hanging out by the battlefield doing some practicing of her own. "Miss Johanna's here! Does this mean it's finally time?!"

"You got it Noelle! It's time for the daughter-mother showdown!" Dawn exclaimed in excitement.

"Alright! This is gonna be awesome!" Suddenly Ash's voice came from the other end of the field.

"You guys made it just in time!" Dawn said, "Ready for the greatest contest battle the world's ever seen?!"

"You know it Dawn! Show your mom what you're made of!" Ash exclaimed.

"This should be pretty cool," Tracey spoke up, "I've never seen a Pokémon contest in person before, the only time I've ever watched one is when Daisy was watching one on TV."

"How cool can it be?" Daisy shrugged sarcastically, "After all, you fell asleep during the planning process."

"You know that I was tired after that meal, cut me come slack!" Tracey whined.

"I'm just kidding with you baby." Daisy kissed the artist's cheek before turning her attention back to the battlefield, "Ok, let's get it on!"

Johanna nodded and called out the rules, "Alright, this'll be a two-on-two match! Double battle! Dawn, you have the honor, time to show me what you've got!"

"We've got plenty!" Dawn called out her opening move, "Piplup, 'Whirlpool'!" Piplup formed an enormous whirlpool over his head, putting more effort into it than usual as he was determined to prove himself, "Whoa, that's a big 'Whirlpool'."

"Is it just me, or is Piplup pushing himself a lot harder than he normally does?" Ash asked.

"It seems like it, that's the biggest 'Whirlpool' I've seen Piplup make." Misty replied.

Shaking off her stunned moment, Dawn called out the next move, "Now Pachirisu, 'Discharge'!" With cheeks sparking with blue electricity, Pachirisu leaped up and over the 'Whirlpool' and launched the attack, which made the 'Whirlpool' crackle with energy as Piplup held it.

"Wow, that 'Whirlpool' is simply sparkling!" Noelle exclaimed, "What a spectacular move!"

"Although that 'Whirlpool's' beauty pales in comparison to your beauty." Brock was getting a little too close to Noelle.

"Uh Brock man?" Tracey hissed, "I think you need to back off, like now."

Tracey's warning snapped Brock out of it long enough for him to notice that both Croagunk and Noelle's Bellossom were ready to launch their attacks at him if he didn't stop. Looking back and forth between the two furious Pokémon, Brock decided to focus his attention on the battle, "Guys! Make sure to give it the best you can!"

Now that the 'Whirlpool' was supercharged with the energy from 'Discharge', Piplup launched the gigantic water-attack at Umbreon and Glameow. But being the top coordinator she truly was, Johanna was ready for it, "Umbreon and Glameow, dodge and give me a double 'Quick Attack'!" The two Pokémon easily jumped out of the way with 'Quick Attack' augmenting their speed, but they not only dodged the attack, they actually toyed with the move by rushing up and around it before finally leaping high into the sky.

"It may look like they're just dodging, but in fact there's a whole lot more going on up there." Noelle explained.

"Even the beauty of their criss-crossing movements has been carefully calculated." Brock added.

"Wow, looks like I better take notes or something." Daisy said.

Tracey smiled at his girlfriend, "One step ahead of you Dais, I've already gotten some quick sketches you can use to revisit what's happening, I'll flesh them out some more for you afterwards."

Daisy beamed at the artist, "Have I told you lately that I love you?" Daisy kissed the artist's cheek before turning back to the field.

"Double 'Shadow Ball'!" Finally the two Pokémon landed and launched two 'Shadow Balls' that broke right through the electrified water and knocked Piplup and Pachirisu to the ground.

"Whoa, that 'Shadow Ball' was strong!" Ash exclaimed in awe, "Man I'm impressed."

"With Pokémon that were raised by Miss Johanna," Noelle said with excitement, "I wouldn't expect anything less!"

Piplup and Pachirisu weren't ready to throw in the towel just yet, they got up and growled with determination at their opponents, "Looks like the two of you are still determined to keep going! Alright, let's show them Plan A!" the two Pokémon smirked and awaited the order, "Now Piplup, 'Bubblebeam'!" Piplup fired the attack, and on instinct both Umbreon and Glameow synchronized their dodging back flips to avoid the attack, but when they landed they were shocked to find a giant wall of bubbles in their way.

"Well, what's this then?" Johanna said with some surprise.

"I've seen something like that!" Daisy exclaimed, "Misty did that against me in the Wallace Cup using Staryu!"

Then Pachirisu burst through the top of the bubble wall, stunning the normal and dark-type below. "Unleash 'Super Fang'!" Pachirisu's bucktooth lengthened and glowed white, and like a spinning saw blade he mowed over the two Pokémon. "Plan A totally worked!" Dawn cheered, "That's awesome!"

"That's very good Dawn," Johanna replied, "But now it's my turn...alright Umbreon and Glameow, use double 'Attract' and let's see if we can't charm the daylights out of Pachirisu and Piplup as well!" The two Pokémon leaped into the air and winked, sending a flurry of yellow hearts flying towards the two other Pokémon below.

"Oh no you don't!" Johanna was stunned by Dawn's declaration, "I know how to stop that! Piplup, get behind Pachirisu, and Pachirisu you get your tail up and launch 'Discharge'!" Pachirisu smirked and did just that, in doing so he created a forcefield that bounced off all the hearts and negated the move completely. "Way to go Pachirisu!"

"Awesome! Pachirisu managed to pull off the Counter Shield again!" Ash exclaimed.

"Pika pika chu!" (That's the way!)

"I'm impressed Dawn, now it looks like I'll have to throw a few new tricks at you!" Johanna exclaimed, "Umbreon, attack with 'Shadow Ball' and Glameow use 'Swift'!" Glameow attacked first and fired a whole wave of golden stars.

"Pachirisu, jump up and use 'Discharge' to deflect those stars!" Pachirisu managed to detonate the 'Swift' attack before it could hit him and his partner with another Counter Shield, but then a cry of pain was heard from Piplup as Umbreon had slipped by unnoticed to launch a 'Shadow Ball' uncontested. "Oh no! I forgot about Umbreon!"

"Now we'll unleash a double 'Swift' attack!" Umbreon and Glameow nodded at each other and unleashed a dual 'Swift' that simply overwhelmed Dawn's two battlers, and they fell to the ground fainted as Johanna won the match. "That was a lot tougher than I thought it'd be actually...I'm proud of you Dawn."

After the initial shock of the loss passed, Dawn relinquished a small smile and knelt down to scoop both her exhausted Pokémon into her arms, "Piplup and Pachirisu, you both battled really well..." Dawn got up to face her mother, "Mom, you were awesome as usual, you just reminded everyone why you're a top coordinator."

"Don't be like that Dawn, you really impressed me, the way you deflected the 'Attract' move with that 'Discharge' was amazing, I honestly forgot all about that move when you used it against that Gabite a while back."

"Well, the Counter Shield was inspired by me, but it was actually Ash who finally got it to work, I just kinda took a page out of his book."

"Why are you giving him credit?"

That voice was extremely familiar to Dawn. "No way..." Dawn turned around, and sure enough there was her best friend standing there with a wide grin on his face.

"It was you who made that strategy work for contests, and it almost gave you a win against a top coordinator! You were awesome!"

"Kenny!" Dawn dropped her Pokémon to the ground and she ran to embrace the brown-haired boy who was standing there with his Prinplup, "What are you doing here?"

After taking a moment to recover from Dawn's hug, he answered her. "Like I was gonna miss the Twinleaf Festival? Please. But I didn't know you were gonna be here!"

"Of course! After all, my mom's in charge of the Festival Committee this year!"

"Really? Cool!" Kenny then noticed all of the other people watching, "Oh hey guys!"

"Hey Kenny, good to see ya again." Ash shook the make coordinator's hand.

"You too, hey, who's that guy?" Kenny gestured towards Tracey, who was the only one in the group he didn't recognize.

"Oh, that's our friend Tracey." Misty replied, "He and my oldest sister Daisy came up from Kanto to have a little vacation, plus Prof. Oak's gonna be here in a couple of days so they came ahead of him."

"Sweet!" Kenny shook the artist's hand, "Name's Kenny, pleasure to meet you!"

"The pleasure's all mine." Tracey replied.

"Well alright!" Dawn exclaimed excitedly, "Looks like the gang's all here! This is gonna be the best Twinleaf Festival ever!"

"Yeah! I can't wait!"

"You said it Riolu!" Dawn suddenly realized what she said, and then she realized what was said before she said it...and so did everyone else for that matter.

"WHAAAAAAA?!"

"Well Ash...looks like we got some explaining to do."

"Yeah Mist..." Ash sighed, "Well...let's get it over with before everyone mobs Riolu."

And so with a plethora of friends and family all in the same place, there's no telling what's going to happen next. Stay tuned until next time when we find out what exciting adventures take place during the Twinleaf Town Festival.
_

A/N: There you have it folks, I'm setting up a very interesting next few chapters. Did you like it? Am I losing my touch? Lemme know in a review. Also, watch out for the next story I'm publishing about Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!