Dawn had just talked to Johana on the videophone after collecting her starter Pokemon from Prof. Rowan. Her mom liked her choice as Piplup can be a great Pokemon for contests. Meanwhile, Ash was registering himself for the Sinnoh League. After a while they left the Pokemon Center and started heading towards Jubilife City.

"Hey Ash Pokemon are meant to be kept in Pokeballs right? Then why are Pikachu and Eevee out of their Pokeball?" Dawn asked innocently.

"Actually, they don't like to stay in their Pokeball." Ash said giggling a bit. "Pika!" and "Vee" both cheered.

"Oh, I see." the bluenette said.

Ash had sent over Pidgeot to Prof. Oak while he was at the Pokemon Center in Sandgem town. He thought it would it be better if Pidgeot too visited his old friends at the ranch along with the new ones.

As they were walking through the trail, they spotted a flock of certain bird Pokemon. "Look Pikachu a flock of Starly, I am gonna catch one." Ash said as he had a habit of catching every regional bird.

"Pikachu use Thunderbolt!" Ash ordered as Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and powered the electric attack towards the flock and it managed to hit one causing the rest to fly away.

"Pokeball go!" Ash said as he threw a Pokeball on Starly and it was captured instantly. "Alright I just caught a Starly!" Ash said in his signature pose along with Pikachu cheering in the background.

"Nice catch Ash, by the way how many Pokemon do you have?" Dawn asked getting curious.

"Hmm, let's see I have caught somewhat around 50 Pokemon, but 30 of them are Tauros." Ash said.

"Wow! But why did you catch so many Tauros?" she questioned.

"Well actually during my first journey through Kanto I happened to visit a certain place known as the Safari Zone and due to some reasons, I caught a whole herd of Tauros!" Ash exclaimed.

"Oh, I see but what exactly is a Safari Zone?" the bluenette questioned.

"Safari Zone is a place where you can catch wild Pokemon but without using your own Pokemon, you can make use of baits and they provide you with 30 special Poke balls known as Safari balls." the raven-haired trainer explained.

"Hmm, it sure sounds an interesting place, I think there must be one in Sinnoh too." she said getting a nod from Ash.

They continued walking after a little chat break. "Hey, Ash look something is moving there in the bushes." Dawn said while pointing towards the bushes.

"Maybe some kind of Pokemon." Ash guessed.

Suddenly a brown colored Pokemon which looked similar to a rabbit hopped out of the bushes. "Bun?" it gave the trainers a confused look.

"It's a Buneary! and it's so cute, I am definitely going to catch it." Dawn exclaimed getting excited.

"You can catch it but I think it's a little busy at the moment." Ash said while pointing towards Buneary who was busy cuddling with Pikachu. "Quite popular ain't ya buddy?" Ash said with a mischievous grin earning a sigh from Pikachu.

"Buneary sure seems to like Pikachu, it gives me another reason to catch it." Dawn said.

"Dawn call out Piplup fast or I don't think it will leave Pikachu soon." Ash said while turning his attention towards Dawn.

Dawn hesitantly called out her Pokemon. "Piplup spotlight." the ball popped out revealing a blue penguin Pokemon.

Buneary noticed Dawn and immediately realized she wanted to catch it and it couldn't be happier as it knew if Dawn caught her then it could be with Pikachu. "Bun, Bun" it said getting ready for the battle.

"Dawn use an attack quickly before it uses any." Ash suggested

"Piplup use bubble." Dawn ordered. "Buneary dodged it quickly and attacked with a dizzy punch which landed straight on Piplup.

"Oh no! Piplup are you okay?" Dawn asked getting worried. "Piplup, Pip" it answered confidently.

Dawn focus on the battle, wait for the right moment and then use your attack." Ash suggested.

"Okay Ash." Buneary began to charge an Ice Beam. "Piplup dodge it quickly and use Peck." Buneary launched an Ice Beam, but Piplup was able to dodge this time and used Peck on it.

"Okay, Piplup let's check out Bide!" Dawn exclaimed as she gave a look to Piplup's attacks on her Pokedex.

Piplup started glowing blue and remained still in its place. "Piplup why aren't you attacking?" the bluenette questioned.

"Actually, Dawn Bide is an attack which endures the opponent's attack for two turns and then releases a powerful attack dealing double the damage caused." Ash explained.

"Oh! I see, Piplup don't give up." Dawn cheered. Buneary then charged and hit Piplup with two dizzy punch attacks but Piplup was able to defend itself and then attacked with a powerful Bide which was enough to take Buneary down.

"Way to go Piplup! we won our first battle." Dawn said getting excited.

"Dawn celebrate later and throw the Pokeball fast before it gets up again." Ash advised.

"Okay, Pokeball go!" Dawn exclaimed while throwing her Pokeball on Buneary and it was captured in two turns. "We did it Piplup, we just caught our first Pokemon!" Dawn exclaimed. "Piplup" it cried in pride.

"Thank you so much for helping me!" Dawn said while giving him a crushing hug which made him blush.

"Oh I, I... no problem I said that I will teach or help you with the basics." Ash said as she let go him of her hug.

Dawn was about to recall Piplup inside its Pokeball but somehow it was able to dodge the red light and he was nodding his head in disapproval indicating that it wanted to stay outside its Pokeball.

"Dawn I think Piplup doesn't want to stay inside it's Pokeball." Ash said.

"If you don't like then I won't force, you can stay outside your Pokeball." Dawn said. "Piplup Pip" it cried happily and jumped and sat on Dawn's beanie receiving a giggle from everyone.

As they continued walking through the trail, they saw a bright sparkle of light coming out from somewhere. "Woah, what's that Ash?" Dawn questioned.

"I guess that's 'Sunny day' an attack which increases the power of fire type attacks and decreases the power of water type attacks. Let's go and check." Ash explained as they started walking towards the direction from where it came. Dawn nodded in agreement and followed Ash.

"Oh, I am sorry If I disturbed you, I was having a training session with my Pokemon." said a man wearing a cloak and a golden harp in his hand.

"Hey, no problem my name is Ash Ketchum." he said.

And "I am Dawn Berlitz." she said

"Nice to meet you, I am Nando." he said.

"So, Nando being a Pokemon trainer, are you participating in League or Grand festival or something else?" Ash questioned.

"Actually, I am confused to choose between League and Grand festival as I want to compete in both. I want to battle Gym leaders as well as show the skill of my Pokemon in contests."

"Then you can try both." Ash said earning a confused look from Nando "There isn't any problem in competing in both. I being a seasoned gym trainer have myself competed in a contest." Ash said.

"Really, you have participated in a contest?" Dawn asked amused.

"Yeah, I participated in the Terracotta town contest in Kanto and was able to reach the finals but the match ended up being a draw with my friend May." Ash explained.

"Hmm, I see you are right as most of the towns that have a gym also host contests. Thanks for your suggestions I would look forward to it." Nando said.

"No problem." Ash said.

"Hey, Nando would you mind having a Pokemon battle with me, as in a practice battle?" the bluenette asked.

"Sure, why not it may also help us." Nando said with a smile.

"This is a one-on-one Pokemon battle between Dawn and Nando. Begin!" Ash announced.

"Buneary Spotlight!" Dawn exclaimed as she called Buneary out of its Pokeball. "Let's win this Buneary." "Bun Bun" it cried confidently.

"Let's go Budew." Nando said.

"Alright Buneary use Dizzy Punch." Dawn ordered as Buneary fired a Dizzy Punch straight on Budew and Nando stood confidently.

"Budew use Synthesis." Nando ordered. Budew began to glow in green and its health started recovering.

"What's this?" Dawn asked getting confused.

"Dawn this is 'Synthesis' an attack which restores the health of a Pokemon." Ash explained.

"Oh, Buneary use Ice Beam!" Dawn exclaimed. The super effective Ice Beam hit straight on Budew.

"Yeah, Buneary I think we won!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Dawn don't celebrate too early give a look on Budew." Ash said as he saw Budew was glowing white.

"Is it!" Dawn exclaimed in shock.

"Yes, Budew is evolving." Nando said. "Roseliaa" it cried.

"Roselia use Solarbeam." Nando ordered. It launched a Solarbeam straight knocking out Buneary."

"Buneary is unable to battle, Roselia wins. Nando is the winner!" Ash announced.

"Oh, no we lost but how was Roselia able to launch Solarbeam so fast, it takes some time to charge doesn't it?" Dawn questioned.

"Yeah it does take time but due to the effect of Sunny Day the Solarbeam was charged quickly and it was a lot stronger than the usual one too." Ash explained.

"That was a great battle Dawn and thanks for giving my Budew the necessary push to evolve." Nando said.

"No problem Nando." the bluenette said with a sigh as she had lost her battle.

"I think it's time for farewell my friends, it's getting late, see you guys later." Nando said as he started to walk away playing his harp.

"Sure, seems an interesting as well as a mysterious person." Ash said as Nando walked away from their sight. Dawn nodded in agreement and they started walking again.

After a brief walk of about 3 hours chatting along the way they decided to stop for today and continue tomorrow. They found a nice place which had two logs where they could sit and Ash had set up a fireplace in between the two logs.

"Wow! Ash this tastes delicious, you are a great cook." Dawn exclaimed while eating the food he had prepared. Ash had learned to cook well from none other than his best friend Brock throughout his journeys in Kanto, Johto and Hoenn.

"Er, thanks actually you should give the credit to my friend Brock, he is the one who taught me all this stuff." Ash said. They continued having dinner and Ash started telling her about his adventures. Dawn being a newbie wished that she too would experience these adventures and enjoy her journey.

"Hey Dawn starting your journey today means you turned 14 recently, right?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, my 14th birthday was last week." Dawn said.

"Oh! I see, I would like to give you a birthday gift." Ash said as he walked towards his bag and removed the incubator which had a brown Pokemon egg."

Gary had entrusted him with the job of handing over the Pokemon egg to a responsible trainer as well as one who would take care of it. He had met just met Dawn today but in these 6-8 hours travelling with her he had realized that she was the best person to entrust the egg with also she wanted an Eevee sice long and it would be great in her contests,

"Here Dawn take this Pokemon Egg, a birthday present from me." Ash said while handing over the Pokemon egg to Dawn.

"Are you serious?" Dawn said while taking the Pokemon egg from Ash. She was Awestruck. First this person had saved her from those wild Pokemon second, he had helped her catch her first Pokemon and now he was giving her a Pokemon Egg.

"Yeah, take good care of it. A good friend of mine gave me this egg before coming to Sinnoh, it might hatch in a few weeks." Ash said.

"Thank you so much!" Dawn said while giving him a small kiss on his cheek, causing Ash to blush madly.

"Woah! What was that for?" he exclaimed.

"Nothing but a friendly kiss" she said trying to control her blush from her sudden actions. For now, it was a friendly kiss but she knew for sure he sure was indeed going to be a special person.

"Let's go to sleep now. We have to get up early tomorrow and head towards Jubilife as fast as possible." Ash said as he had set up two sleeping bags. Pikachu and Piplup fell asleep near their sleeping bags while Eevee still being affectionate slept on top of Ash.

"Good night Ash."

"Good night Dawn." he said and both fell asleep.

It had been a long day for both the trainers. Ash had caught his first Pokemon in Sinnoh and Dawn too caught her first Pokemon. She also had her first Pokemon battle with Nando and Ash had given her the best birthday present.