Pokemon: Future

Dawn posed in front of the full body mirror, eyeing the clothes she had picked: a simple T-shirt, short and sandals. Not exactly the most fashionable, but the clothes from the Gracidea store —her initial choice— weren’t exactly cheap and she felt that simple is best for Alola’s tropical weather.

“What do you think Piplup?” she wonders to her starter, who stood in the changing room with her, trying out the accessories she had discarded beforehand. He puts the heart shaped shades on top of his head and chirps positively.

“Alright!” She makes her choice. “Let’s go with this.” She says as she picks up the clothes from the floor and reaches for the glasses Piplup is wearing only for him to dodge her. “What? You want those?” he covers his eyes with the shades and takes on a stylish pose. She rolls her eyes. “Fine, but you better not break it.” she warns. She could use the extra accessory herself once Piplup gets fed up with it.

After they leave the booth and make their way to the front desk, Dawn pays for the clothes and exits the store, taking in the warm Alola breeze in full. This time the wind feels comforting instead of suffocating as when she first arrived in Melemele.

She made the right choice to change outfits, she wouldn’t be able to stand her neck sweating non-stop with her scarf and long hair on top of it. Speaking of which… She pats her hair to make sure it didn’t come undone from her previous endeavors. Sure that everything is in its rightful position, she realizes that keeping her beanie is going to make her scalp so damn hot in this heat and finally shoves it into her bag along with her other clothes.

While she does so, she sees the pink case of her Rotom phone poking out in the middle of the sea that are her clothes. She picks up the phone and taps the contact with a familiar name and no picture —she should change that soon— as she mindlessly follows Piplup downstreet. Since she is here, might as well bother the boy that inspired her to visit the place.

She watches Piplup moving towards the beach while the phone vibrates with each ring in her hand. When she thinks that her friend is not going to answer —which he does a lot, to her chagrin—, his face finally appears on the screen, accompanied by his faithful yellow companion.

“Guess where I am?” She asks jumping on the sand.

“ ‘Hi Ash, how are you’;  ‘I’m fine Dawn, thanks for asking’.” She laughs as he rolls his eyes before laughing along with her. “I don’t know every place on Earth you know… not yet.” He gets closer to his phone squinting at the scenery behind her while she now chuckles over the fact she can see deep inside his nostrils with the unflattering angle. “And even if I did, how am I supposed to— wait is that Hau’oli? Are you in Alola?!” Her laugh grows even louder now with how surprised he seems.

“Bingo! I’m impressed you managed to get it.” She admits. He must really love it here.

“Why?” he wonders, looking between her and whatever he is doing on his side of the screen. And she stops following Piplup, letting the sea touch her feet as she thinks.

“I needed a break I guess.” She shrugs. He doesn’t need to know the details.

“Doing contests had become boring? For you?” He asks with a snicker, looking back at the screen to look straight at her. She avoids his gaze.

“I just needed to do something different y’know?” She lies. She hasn’t even been participating in contests all that much. The main reason she choose Alola is because there are no contests here to remind her that she is avoiding responsibilities.

“I know that feel.” His expression softens on the screen and she smiles at him. She knew he would get it. He disappears for a while as the screen is taken by smears of colors for a few seconds before he shows up again. “How about Kalos? I bet you would love going there. It has those things called Showcases! I bet you would be great at them!”

“Ah.. maybe someday..” Her smile is strained but thankfully he doesn’t see it because the screen becomes a collection of blurred scenes again. Once the shaking stops, Dawn is met with Pikachu’s face over the camera. She waves at him and he reciprocates.

“What are you doing? I can call some other time if you’re busy.” maybe she should have started the conversation with a ‘how are you’ after all.

“No, no, it’s fine.” She only hears his voice. “Is just easier to run if I don’t have the phone in my hands.”

“Why are you running?” She wonders as she kneels close to Piplup so he too can say hi to Pikachu. “Is Team Rocket after you? I know you are used to them but I don’t think you should be talking to me at such moment..” she knows how he is. He wouldn’t hang up on a friend even if his life depended on it.

“Not really,” he laughs. “I actually haven’t seen them today..” he admits and Pikachu looks up to the sky, searching for the familiar balloon. Ash pops on the screen again, pushing against Pikachu’s face. “Hey, where are you right now?”

“Hmn?” what kind of question is that? “Ah, you want to see the scenery?” she figures he must be homesick. “We’re by the beach.” she turns the phone to record the sea horizon ahead of her.

“Ah! I see it!”

“I don’t think the camera does it justice thought.”

“No, I see you!” She hears the voice much clearer than the audio that comes from the phone. And from a different angle? She looks around and sees the boy she was talking to waving towards her.

“Ash!” Piplup runs to his encounter while she takes a while processing things. “I didn’t know you were here!”

“Well, you could have asked.” He jokingly reprimands, starting to raise his hand up in a motion she knows all too well. With a jump ahead, she closes the distance between them, meeting his touch with hers.

“Well then, how are you?” She blows a raspberry at him. Asking the opening question at the end of their encounter.

Pikachu jumps from Ash’s shoulder to hug Piplup before the two pokemon start playing with the water that comes and goes from the sea. The trainers follow them as they continue catching up.

“What are you doing now?” Ash wonders, imitating their pokemon, skipping over waves as if he was jumping rope.

“I don’t know.” Dawn shrugs, letting the waves hit her feet unlike the other three. “I didn’t actually plan anything.” She admits. She came to the place on whim just to get away from her worries. “Do you have any suggestion?” She asks, aware that he must be dying to tell her about the place.

“Yes!” he starts walking backwards to look at her while speaking. “There’s this really cool island with so many pokemon! You’re going to love it!” he extends his arms to exaggerate the amazingness of the place before looking around the beach. “But we need a boat or..” he stop, scanning the beach until he finds what he was looking for. “that!” he grabs her wrist and starts running towards the area in the beach most packed with people.

They arrive at the Mantine Surfing Spot. Tourists and locals of all ages can be seen riding the waves on top of the Ride Pokemon, with the most audacious ones doing all sorts of tricks along it.

“It looks fun.” Dawn thinks out loud, hypnotized by the fun activity. Piplup squeaks in agreement by her feet and she briefly wonders how she could use some of those maneuvers in contests before she shakes her head. No. She is here to relax and have fun!

“I know right? Is the coolest and fastest way to reach Treasure Island!” he fondly remembers the small race he had with Misty when she and Brock visited Alola. “Cmon, let’s go!” he says as they reach the pier where they can rent the Ride Mantines.

“Sorry, there’s no more Mantines available.” The guy in surfing attire explains after the kids ask about it. “We’re packed up for the day as all those people here are waiting for their shot at Mantine Surfing.” he motions to the crowd surrounding the area. That’s why there’s so many people gathered close by.

“Ah. That’s fine..” Ash’s sounds disappointed but it doesn’t last long. “I guess we will have to just rent a boat then.” He turns to Dawn optimistically but unsure if there’s any place like that around.

“I wouldn’t recommend it…” The kids look at the man in front of them with confusion. He points to the sea where the people are riding Mantines. “The water routes are closed off for the surfers. Going into the sea and swimming in the middle of them with a boat would be very dangerous.”

“So we can’t even go there with boats or anything?”

“I’m sorry..” Ash slumps down with the confirmation while the man feels sorry for being the bringer of bad news.

“It’s fine.” Dawn pats the boy’s back a few times. “I’m sure we can do something else.”

“But that was a cool secret place no one knew about…” that he wanted to share with his friends. To be their secret place…

“Can’t it be another secret place?” Ash looks up at the man with teary eyes when he wonders. “I heard that there’s a secret beach around here in Melemele.”

“A secret beach?” Ash straightens his posture, once again filled with energy.

“Yes. I heard that if you go to Melemele Meadow, you will find a passage in the walls that lead to a secret beach area with the most beautiful view of the ocean!” A place in Melemele that not even Ash knew about? Of course they’re going!

---

“So pretty!” Dawn exclaims once they arrive at the field covered in flowers that glitter in gold against the sunrays. Pikachu and Piplup run between her legs to jump into the flowers and the mouse vanishes amongst the yellow petals.

“Yeah, this place is much prettier when it’s actually blooming season.” Ash points out and Dawn looks at him with a tilt of her head, silently inquiring more. “Ah, I came here with a friend before. We were looking for the yellow nectar from those flowers.” He explains as he starts walking into the flowers as well. They sure stand taller now that is their blooming season, reaching all the way to his waist. Even Piplup, despite his contrasting color can’t be seen in the field anymore.

“What for?” she follows him, caressing her fingers through the soft petals that pop out between the flowering shrubs.

“She wanted to make a special stew that needed this nectar.” He stops, looking at the flowers before picking one apart from the stem and handing it over to Dawn. “Here,” he points at the bottom of the flower, where the petals connect. “Try sucking on it.” he explains before grabbing another flower for himself.

Dawn looks at him suspiciously for a bit before he puts the flower on his mouth and she copies his movements. The sweet nectar fills her tastebuds before her tongue goes numb.

“It tingles!” She complains putting her tongue out while he laughs at her reaction. She feels he did it on purpose. Even so, the combination between the sweet and electric sourness is enticing, with both flavors balancing one another and preventing either of becoming overbearing. “Reminds of those Tamato ice creams we had once.” She takes another sip of the nectar.

“It does!” Maybe he should tell Mallow to try making ice creams with this nectar. It could be a new option for the Aina’s Kitchen’s menu!

His thoughts are interrupted when he stumbles upon something on the ground. That’s what he gets for walking backwards.

“That’s where you are.” Dawn comments upon seeing the culprits for almost causing Ash’s fall. Their pokemon laying on the grass, also sucking at some flowers and basking in the sweet scent that veils the area. “That looks nice..” she says as Piplup and Pikachu let out a satisfied sigh. “Alright, make space for me too.” she says to the pokemon, before throwing herself on the ground as well.

“Eh? Aren’t we supposed to be looking for the secret beach?” Ash wonders as she blows at her flower, trying and failing to use it as a blowhorn.

“Cmon, stop being a killjoy and get here with us.” She pats at the empty space near her and he smiles at her before picking two more flowers and laying next to her. “Cmon, isn’t it a pretty view?” She asks when he gives her the plant he just picked.

The bright clear blue sky is framed by the golden flowers. The pokemon flying above follow the same route of the wind as the floating petals that shine against the sunlight.

“Ok fine. It is.” He admits as she smirks at him. The sweet aroma of the flowers helping with the relaxing atmosphere. He feels like he could fall asleep any moment now.

“Ohh, what are those?” Dawn’s voice snaps him from dozing off. He looks at where she is pointing. The small bugs fly above them before one ends up landing at her extending finger.

“It’s a Cutiefly.” He watches as she pulls her hand closer to her face, staring at the pokemon that looks back at her curiously.

“Haha, you are very cutie indeed.” She says to the pokemon that does a buzzing sound in reply. It seems it liked the compliment.

“Ah.” Ash gasps. “I never realized that they’re named because of that.” He comments as if that was a shocking discovery while Dawn laughs at how slow he can be about certain things.

“Really?” There's a tint of disbelief in her voice so he sucks the bottom of his flower in embarrassment. “You never noticed how cute those adorable little things are?” she wonders holding the bug closer to him who does a cutesy pose at him to help with Dawn’s argument.

“I’m not blind.” He laughs and pets the Cutiefly’s head with his finger. “I guess I just never thought much about..” he starts as Dawn pulls the pokemon closer to her and the Cutiefly looks at the flower in her hand with interest. “how cute..” She offers the flower to the bug, who leans its face into the flower that is much bigger than it, getting its head covered in pollen. Dawn laughs as it tries shaking the powder of itself before it takes flight again, soaring upwards and away from the humans, leaving her looking wistfully at it. “It really was…” Ash finally finishes his sentence when Dawn looks back at him.

Complementary Artwork

“Hmn?” She smiles, wondering what he was talking about as her attention was fully on the bee fly.

“I said Cutieflies are cute!” He says loudly which causes their pokemon to grunt and wake from their nap.

“Don’t you say.” Dawn chuckles while he focuses on the sky above them feeling his face burn. The Cutiefly that had come to them passes by Butterfrees and Cottonees before reaching a swarm of its peers.

Butterfree’s wings glitter with every flap of their wings, leaving a shining trail in the breeze. Cottonee’s cotton reflect the sunlight in a way that creates bursts of light as they skip in the air. The Cutieflies follow the petals in an elegant flight that resembles a dance.

Ash takes a glimpse of Dawn in the corner of his eye. She looks up at the same sky as him with a delicate smile and a familiar lump forms on his throat. Is the same feeling when him and Misty danced during the Maiden’s festival; the same feeling he would feel at times when Goh and him hugged. A nagging feeling that seems the strongest when he is with Dawn.

He looks back to the sky to avoid thinking too much about it. Is nothing. If it happened that many times it means is something he shouldn’t worry about. Right? His thoughts are thankfully interrupted by a yellow pokemon breaking the vast blue almost like lightning.

“I don’t know that one either!” Dawn sits up straight to look at the flying pokemon landing not too far from them. The bird starts sipping off the flowers like most of the pokemon around.

“That’s an Oricorio.” Ash replies as the bird does a little dance before moving to another flower. “They can change forms depending on the type of nectar they drink.” Pikachu climbs on Ash’s shoulder to see what they’re talking about while Piplup moves his way to Dawn’s lap, rubbing his eyes out of sleep.

“So that one is the form it takes from drinking the yellow nectar right?” Ash nods once she wonders. “It’s cute.” Dawn watches with her chin on her hands. “It looks like a cheerleader.” Piplup looks up at his trainer while Oricorio does a twirl and shakes its feathery pom-poms in the air.

“Piplup-lup?” Dawn looks at him when he calls her. He moves his flippers in the air while she looks at him in confusion. He sighs and then points at Oricorio. “Pipi lup pipilu.”

“Ah!” Dawn finally connects the dots. She takes off her backpack and starts rummaging through it before she pulls out the small pink pom-poms from it. “There you go.” She hands the fluffy balls to the penguin, who jumps from her lap and starts to make his way towards Oricorio.

“What do you still have those for?” Ash scoffs while she turns to Pikachu with a set as well, who looks at it unimpressed before realizing that as long she doesn’t pull the cheerleader outfits, playing around with the pom-poms would be fun.

“What? You never know when you might need it!” She hands the pom-poms to Pikachu, who runs to the two birds who have now started doing a dance together, swinging their arms around.

“Eh, so you’ve been cheering other trainers too? That hurts me, Dawn.” He places a hand over his chest dramatically, what earns him a hard shove from her.

“Of course not!” Petals fall over them as Ash hits the shrubs around them, covering their heads with the shining yellow from the flowers. “I haven’t done it ever since the World Championship.” During his battle with Leon and she didn’t even have the courage to dress up for it.

“Then why do you still have it?” he asks again.

“I… kinda miss it.” Like she misses traveling with him and Brock and their support. She looks inside her bag. How it is still filled with so many things from her first journey, including the very first ribbon she got four years ago.

Ash is this region’s Champion. The World Champion. Brock is a Pokemon Doctor. And she hasn’t made any progress ever since they left her.

“Why don’t you do it now?” She snaps out of her thoughts to look at the boy near her. He turns from the dancing pokemon to her when she mouths her confusion. “Why don’t you do some cheerleader training with Oricorio?” He looks back at the bird in question, that now is taking some instructions from Piplup. “It looks fun!”

“I prefer when you’re battling..” She avoids his blinding smile. She is feeling sorry for herself again and it was his fault this time.

“Cmon, don’t be a killjoy.” He repeats the phrase she used before right back at her, grabbing at her wrists and getting up in one swift motion, pulling her with him.

“Eh??” She doesn’t have time to argue with him dragging her towards the dancing pokemon.

They reach the Oricorio, who jumps at the realization that there were humans around —she couldn’t see them in the middle of the tall flowers— but doesn’t run away when they approach. Instead she tilts her head at them while Pikachu and Piplup welcome their trainers into the fun.

“Pikapi!”

“Piplup-lup!”

“Can we join in?” Ash asks as he digs his hands into Dawn’s bag and pulls a set of pom-poms for himself. Oricorio’s dark eyes glitter with excitement.

“Dori cori!” She raises her hands in the air, shaking her pom-pom feathers, creating some small sparks as she does so. Pikachu and Piplup high five with their pom-poms, which makes a weird muffled sound instead of the usual loud clap.

“Can’t say no to that now, can I?” Dawn’s half-hearted complain is accompanied of a smile. She is here to have fun, so why not do something she has been missing for a long time? “Alright, lead the way Oricorio!” She asks the bird raising a pom-pom high in the air.

“Odore!” The bird chirps, copying Dawn’s movement. It’s always a joy to find kindred souls. She then skips in place, waving her wings in circular motions and chirping towards her partners to copy her.

Oricorio kicks and jumps into the air, always shaking her pom-poms in sync with her body’s movement, creating specks of lightning that float along the golden petals that swing through the air.

Ash has a hard time coordinating all the leg and arm movements, earning some snickers and pointers from Dawn as he tries to match up with his starter, who does way better than him. With his enhanced speed, Pikachu matches perfectly with Oricorio’s dance, not only copying her but dancing along her, creating some darker sparks of his own as he gets caught in the moment.

Dawn finds herself lost at how everything seems to combine into a perfect picture as Pikachu’s and Oricorio’s electricity connect, slithering into a dance of it’s own.

“Piplup,” She whispers to her starter, looking to try and surprise the bird who is too focused on winning the dance competition that started between her and Pikachu. “how about some bubbles?” She asks motioning to the petals and sparks that swing above them. He nods in understanding before sending a weak stream of clear bubbles around them.

The sound of Piplup’s attack gets the attention of the two electric types, who gaze at the rising bubbles as they spin in the air, always moving but not popping, as the magnetic push and pull created by the floating sparks makes the delicate spheres always change their route. As if the bubbles themselves had a mind of their own.

The opalescent bubbles flutter along the golden petals. The flying pokemon that roam by enter the dance as the breeze carries the delicate trinkets towards them. Is a sight like nothing Oricorio has ever seen before.

“Riiiiii!” The bird squeals acutely, jumping and kicking the air, creating even more static with her pom-poms.

“Pi lup-lup-lup!” Piplup creates more bubbles to match her sparkles, feeling as excited as Oricorio for being able to create something so unique so casually. Just like his trainer, he misses this about contests. He misses doing things in a fun way and not being scared of failure.

“Ori ori ori ori!” Oricorio shakes her pom-poms nonstop, flying and punching a wave of lightning into the air with each new bubble that comes from Piplup’s mouth. “Odooooooo” She puts her wings together, rubbing the fluffy ends together. “RIII!” She extends her wings outwards, with her pom-poms shining brightly before they explode in electricity.

She basks in the feeling of a good presentation as she glides back on the ground. Stopping with a single foot on the grass and the other leg extended behind her in a ballerina pose. She waits for the praise for a nice show.

“Ugh…”

“T-tingling…”

“Pi….. plup…”

Oricorio looks around to see that her grand finale ended up hitting her dancing partners, quite literally shocking them.

“Ori cori cori.” she bows to the three beings shaking and twitching as they try to get back on their feet. At least Pikachu was left unscathed.

“I-it’s fine. No need to-” Dawn tries reassuring the bird as she feels a part of her hair jumping and buzzing with the leftover static. She grimaces. “That’s when I worry the most isn’t it?” she grunts while the bird looks at her worriedly.

“C-c’mon. Pikachu’s thunderbolt is w-way worse than this.” Despite his reassuring smile, Ash spasms with every word before he shakes his head, snapping out of the paralysis. “But that was really cool! It would make for a great contest combination.” He smiles at Dawn before he fully takes in just how wild her hair looks. “Save for the sparkling hair.”

“At least there’s no one to see it.” She puffs her cheeks picking at her bag again to look for a brush this time.

“Am I no one?” Ash jokes and she rolls her eyes.

“No one whose opinion on my hair matters.” She waves the brush in front of his face. “I can’t even tell if your hair is shaggier now or if it was worse before.” He blows a raspberry at her while Oricorio looks at them somewhat at loss.

“What?” While helping Piplup get back up on his feet, Ash notices the bird’s inquiring look.

“Ori docori?” He doesn’t exactly get what the bird is questioning, but Piplup does. He waddles a little before standing up straight.

“Pip piplup pi!” The penguin waves his flippers around before ending with his favorite finishing pose: a puffed-out chest and his flippers on his waist. Oricorio makes a whistling sound that can only be described as fascinated.

“Oh, you’re wondering what contests are?” Ash questions Oricorio while Pikachu finally goes back to his rightful place by his trainer’s shoulder, confirming Ash's suspicion with a nod.

“Ori ori.” She nods her head rapidly. She never heard of anything like that and Piplup’s explanation got her even more curious about it.

“Contests are…” he thinks about how he can explain it to a pokemon while his vision drifts towards Dawn, who seems to finally manage to put —mostly— of her uneven strands down. “Hey, why don’t you tell us about your latest contests?”

“Uh?” Dawn stops mid-brush, taken back by the poignant question.

“Tell us about your contests! This way Oricorio can learn what they are and I get to know what you’ve been up to.” He sits with his elbows on his knees and chin on his hands, looking at her full of expectancy. Just like the electric bird they just met. Even Pikachu sits atop of Ash’s head waiting for her tales.

“Uuuh….” She trails off, looking away from their eager gazes and instead meeting with the knowing eyes of her starter. “Aren’t we supposed to be looking for a secret cave?” She taps the shades on top of Piplup’s head to make it fall on his eyes. Not wanting him to glare at her over her masterful change of subjects.

“Oh.” For a second she thought she could feel disappointment in Ash’s voice. “Yeah! That’s right!” But that worry is gone when his voice raises a few octaves in excitement. “Wonder where that could be?”

“Coco ri!” Oricorio sings, flapping her wings to rise in the air. “Ori cori.” She calls for them one last time before flying towards the walls of rocks that enfold the meadow.

“Could it be?” Ash gets up after the bird, who keeps whistling at them. “Do you know where the cave is?” he wonders and the bird stops mid-air to raise one of her hands in an affirmative pose.

“Wait, for real?” Dawn questions, surprised that her fake-out actually ended up helping them somehow.

The bird stops when she gets closer to the rock walls, landing on an area with taller plants and causing Cutieflies to scatter away from inside the flowers. The humans follow her, but notice that there doesn’t seem to be any sort of entrance in the area.

“Uh. Where is the cave?” Ash wonders, thinking that maybe Oricorio got things wrong.

“Coco ri!” She chirps and pulls at the flowers, exposing a small entrance between the rocks that was hidden by the foliage.

“Ohhh!” The kids take in the revelation, before Pikachu and Piplup enter the passage, with the mouse smelling at the walls for any hint of danger. Ash starts to follow after them, getting on all fours to be able to enter the small entrance.

“We would never have found this by ourselves.” Dawn comments once she kneels down to go after Ash. “Thank you so much for showing it to us Oricorio!” She looks back at the bird, taking the chance to thank it while parting ways. However, the bird quivers on her feet as if she was mustering the courage for something. “Uh..” Dawn looks at Oricorio, wondering what she could possibly want before she tries. “Wanna come with us?”

“Oh?” Oricorio looks at her surprised, snapping her of her nervous fidgeting.

“Aren’t you curious over what’s inside? C’mon, it’s going to be fun!” Dawn’s urging is met with an enthusiastic nod from the bird that crouches into the small passage ahead of the girl.

When Dawn finally reaches the other side of the short tunnel, she encounters a cave with glittering walls and crystalline lakes. Not only her but the ones that entered before are taken back by the simple beauty of the place.

She walks to the edge of the water bodies, seeing her reflection in it. It’s so clear she can see the subtle flicker in the edges of her hair that remained despite her efforts of getting rid of the static. She sees Oricorio’s reflection appear as the dancing pokemon also basks in the pretty scenery.

“It looks like that combination we did, doesn’t it?” Oricorio looks between Dawn, her shining hair and the water and its sparkling surface and thinks back of the bubbles and bolts that danced in the sky. She puts her wings up to her face. Yes, it does! And she would like to be able to do more!

“It looks like your hair too.” Oricorio freezes when Ash adds but the ‘Bleh’ he receives as a response from Dawn calms her worries over if the girl was angry about it or not.

“Yours is sparkling too yknow?”

“Hmn?” Ash doesn’t have time to process what Dawn said when she reaches for the brim of his hat, pushing it up to reveal sparks cluttered under it. When did she get this close?

“I bet you didn’t even feel it.” She smiles and he feels that knot on his throat making it harder to breath. “With how often Pikachu shocks you.” And she is so close and he can see how her cheeks get tinged in a soft pink when she smiles this sincerely.

“Y-yeah! That k-kind of thing doesn’t affect me at all!” He grabs the brim out of her hands and stiffly turns 90 degrees away from her. “Look! I bet that’s the exit!” He points at a dim light that shines down the cave, hoping she doesn’t catch on his masterful change of subjects.

“Oh, that’s right!” She changes her attention to where his finger is aiming. “Let’s go!” She skips ahead and Ash sighs. Good thing she has the same sort of tunnel vision as him.

Ash follows after Dawn and as they approach the exit in the lower area of the cave, he recognizes the familiar salty smell of the sea.

The beach is not exactly what he expected, just a very small seashore filled with Slowpokes sleeping on the rocks that extend from the cave where they came from and Wingulls coming in and out from the little bit of land that stands further into the ocean.

“Eh… that’s it?” He wonders and receives a slap on his shoulder.

“Don’t be like that.” She stands where the sand meets the sea. “Aren’t you mister ‘Alola is the best’? How can you not love every place here?”

“I like it. I’m just saying there’s cooler places.” Piplup jumps into the water without a second thought and Ash looks into the island not too far from them, calculating if they can make it there just by swimming. “Like Treasure Island! There’s Exeggutors there!” He says as if that’s something special while Dawn wonders what could be so unique about Exeggutors of all things. “I’ll surely get you there next time.”

“C’mon, every place has its charm.” She whirls in the spot, making the water billow ever so slightly on her feet. “Why don’t we try going to that island over there?” she points as another Wingull takes flight off it and Ash laughs inwardly over the fact they both thought the same thing.

“I was thinking the same! Looks like a fun place to explore.” He looks at the not so distant island as Oricorio takes flight to go there by air. “Wanna race there?” He asks with a hint of a challenge in his voice.

“You’re on.” Piplup laughs in the sea at his trainer’s instant reply before a wave of sea water inundates his nostrils.

“The last one smells like Muk!” Ash screams after popping his head out of the water. Piplup coughs as he realizes the boy dove right in fully clothed. Always so over the top.

“No fair! I have to actually take off clothes! Wait!” Dawn complains as she starts taking off her shirt. Could she just go fully clothed as well? Yes, but she just bought those clothes! And she doesn’t want to smell like sea water for the rest of the day.

“I can’t hear you from how close I am to the goal!” Ash laughs at her as he backstrokes his way further into the ocean.

He stops when he sees Oricorio flying in circles above him, laughing and playing with the Wingulls that surround her. He smiles, glad that she is also having fun while Piplup swims past by him. His peace is ruined when he feels something turn him over, dunking him underwater.

His coughs are accompanied by a loud laughter as he spits out the water he swallowed trying to resurface.

“I almost died!” He complains to a grinning Dawn with an entertained Pikachu on her head.

“Serves you right! You even let Pikachu behind!”

“Pika!” The mouse agrees, faking resentment.

“But I did wait!” He splashes her as if that would help with his argument.

“Mid-way!” She splashes right back at him, with Pikachu jumping into the water to help with her counter attack.

“Hey, two against one is not fair!” He complains while he becomes overwhelmed by the relentless attacks from his two friends. The waves created by Pikachu’s tail are stronger than he could ever predict and Dawn is just having fun not letting him have any opening to attack back and when he feels splashes coming from a third direction he realizes this is a battle he can’t win. “You too Piplup?!”

He dives, figuring out his only escape is under. He waits for the attacks above him to stop, watching as the light seeping through sway with the currents. Shoals of Wishiwashi, Magikarp and Finneon are broken by their water fight, causing the pokemon to scatter not unlike the Cutieflies they saw before. With the fishes passing by Dawn’s legs, an idea pops on his head.

Dawn gasps before she is pulled underwater. When she opens her eyes, she is face to face with the culprit, who puts a finger in front of his mouth, asking for a peace offering. Ash then points to the area below them, guiding her to see the pokemon swiftly moving around them and the pretty underwater scenery that they were missing on.

With the kids stopping their rough playing, the seashells on the ocean floor open up to reveal Shellder’s faces looking at them. Some blink their beady eyes in curiosity while others blow raspberries at them with their large tongues, angry that the kids disturbed their peace.

The Finneon and Wishiwashi go back to their school formations as they are able to regroup and swim as one while the Magikarp swim around the humans curiously and awkwardly.

Pikachu and Piplup dive after their trainers, with Piplup going deeper than his non-aquatic peers to see things up close. He swims towards the seaweeds that sway lightly with the water currents to find Corsolas by the bottom and Horseas hanging by the leaves with their tails. He waves at them but is met with a squirt of ink straight into his face. It seems that even despite being a water type, the pokemon here don’t like him either.

Ash swallows water when he laughs at Piplup’s failed attempt at socializing and desperately swims upwards to be able to breath again. Dawn and Pikachu follow suit.

“See! I told you there was cool stuff to see here.” Dawn says first thing out of the water.

“They don’t seem to have liked Piplup much though.” Ash comments when the penguin’s head pops out of the water with black dripping from his head. He picks up the glasses he still wore and looks disappointed at their state. They protected his eyes from being covered in the dark liquid but at what cost?

“At least you didn’t break them.” Dawn picks the shades from his flippers, glad that despite his lack of care, they were still in one piece.

“PI  Pilup!” He chirps defensively. Is not his fault the Horsea aimed directly on the shades. Dawn tries to clean the object with her hands, but all her fingers do is smear the dark substance around.

“What to do..” she looks back to the cave where they came from, wondering if swimming all the way back for her backpack is a good idea. She looks back ahead to see the hem of Ash’s shirt floating in the water’s surface. “That will do.” She pulls at the fabric, forcing Ash to move a bit as well, and uses his shirt to clean the ink off the shades. “There you go!” she hands the glasses back to Piplup, who holds them into the air for a few seconds appreciating the clean look.

“You’re welcome.” Ash says sarcastically as he holds where his shirt now sports a black stain.

“Is your fault for being so competitive to not even take off your clothes.” She provokes, drifting slightly forward.

“Hey! I wasn’t being competitive!” Half true. “I just didn’t have swim wear underneath, ok?”

“Wait, you don’t have swim wear? You are in Melemele… An island! With beaches everywhere! How you don’t have swim wear?” She asks incredulous. He can’t be that short sighted.. can he?

“No! I mean... I do! They’re just… being cleaned.” He feels a bit of embarrassment that he didn’t think of bringing extras with him. Especially when Kukui did worry about it when he started doing laundry. “I didn’t expect I would need them today ok!” He points an accusatory finger towards Dawn. “This just happened because of you.”

“You’re the one that proposed a race.” She turns her head away from his pointing finger, feeling sand touching her feet. “Which we didn’t even finish by the way.”

“Ah! It’s true.” His attention turns to the fact they now stand on the island that was meant to be their finishing line. “Well, I would have won anyway.” He confidently claims while wringing his shirt.

Dawn thinks about challenging that thought but her attention is soon caught by Oricorio landing ahead of them, sitting to watch the sea that extends to the infinite and the dipping sun that now marks the beginning of the end of the day.

“That’s a nice view.” Oricorio whistles in agreement when Dawn and the others join her in watching the sunset. Pikachu and Piplup make their ways into their trainer’s lap and Dawn wonders about the bird between them. “Don’t you have to go back to your home?”

“Cooo.. codori..” The bird plays with the feathers at the tip of her wings, as if fidgeting.

“I think she wants to be with you.” The bird squeaks as she is caught red handed and Ash laughs at how Dawn looks at him surprised, having completely missed how attached the dancing pokemon got to her. And people say he is dense.

“What?” Dawn looks at him with huge eyes and then back at Oricorio, who seems shy over Ash’s words.

“She has been following us the entire day. Are you really surprised?” He explains and Dawn wants to say that doesn’t mean anything but.. with how happy Oricorio reacts when Piplup talks to her, seemingly about becoming partners, she got to admit he might have a point.

“Is that true? You… want to come with me?” Dawn wonders to Oricorio, who turns from Piplup to her, waving her wings up and down while nodding. She looks so gleeful.

And that’s when Dawn realizes how her insecurity and disdain towards contests have made her miss things right in front of her eyes.

“I…” Dawn stammers while Piplup and Oricorio both look at her. “We will be happy to be with you.” She says, which causes Piplup and Oricorio to turn to one another before high fiving in celebration.

“Hey hey! Look!” Ash’s voice is so frantic that for a second Dawn wonders if something bad happened, but when she sees the sun setting in the horizon and the green tint taking over it, she understands why he was so desperate to get her to look.

“What? it’s green…” Oricorio and Piplup gasp in awe with the view as well. “How?”

“I don’t know honestly.” Ash admits. “But I know it’s rare. I’ve never seen it outside of Alola.” He turns to her with a grin, proud of his ‘home’.

When the sun vanishes beyond the horizon and the green disappears as well as the other colors of the sky Dawn looks at him, matching his smile. They laugh quietly, enjoying the atmosphere before they notice lights appearing underneath the sea in front of them.

“Eh, is this another thing that only happens in Alola?” Dawn wonders, leaning forward to take in the view of the shifting lights.

“Uh… Not that I know about..” Ash is just as surprised as her, looking at the lights that seem to sport the same green of the sunset. This didn’t happen the last time he saw a green flash.

Their questions are answered when they see fins poking out of the water, shining even brighter out in the clear night air. The light absorbed from the sunset gleams from the luminescent spots on Finneon’s body, shimmering in a similar emerald glow.

“It’s the Finneons!” Ash points out when the Wing Fish pokemon swim across the surface of the ocean, splashing their tail fins around and lighting the waves as they move.

“It’s so pretty!” Dawn comments and their pokemon coo in agreement. Even Pikachu, who had seen the green flash before is taken back by all the things he still haven’t seen from this vast wide world. “Is like the stars have fallen into the sea.”

“Uh?” Ash looks at Dawn confused before looking up into the clear starry sky above them and then down at the swimming fishes that do resemble shooting stars in their movement. He smiles at the thought while she leans on her knees, enamored by the view.

Dawn has a charming way of describing things. Or maybe the world just tries looking prettier for her.

That makes no sense, does it? But the more he thinks about it, the likelier it sounds. Even the smallest things seem to catch his attention when she is around. From the way the moonlight shines on the sea in front of them to the way the ends of her hair curl outwards like an Alolan Meowth’s whiskers. Like the world is always reflecting her own light back at her.

He likes seeing the world from her eyes. From her deep blue eyes that look no different than the sea or the sky in front of them.

“Ash?” That’s when he realizes he has been staring directly on those eyes while his mind went off. “Something wrong?” She wonders, ever so oblivious.

“No! Nothing!” Why was he staring? Why being with her always makes he think and feel so many weird things that make his face burn? “I was just thinking…” He starts, looking at the sea and sky that now take a new charm because of the girl next to him. “that I want you to visit Alola again.”

She blinks at him twice, not really understanding where that came from but matching his smile.

“Me too.”