What's up guys, PokefanShipping here with the beginning of my Pearlshipping story. This is my second story ever, and as always I'm totally open to any sort of criticism (preferably constructive) or advice you may have (praise is also appreciated as well, haha). Anyways, enjoy the story...and remember: Dawn may be out of the show forever, but Pearlshipping never dies!

Prologue

"Dawn!" Ash had shouted, standing on the edge of the deck as the boat for Kanto slowly made its way out of the dock. Dawn had looked up, trying to keep a smile on her face as she saw Ash for the last time in Sinnoh.

"No need to worry!" he had called out, smiling. Dawn had then run alongside the boat until the pier ended, where she had stood and waved a final good-bye to her best friend.

And then she had cried for days.

"Dawn?"

Dawn suddenly realized that she had been staring at her plate without touching a morsel of food. She looked up, awakening from her little daydream.

Her mother, Johanna, was looking at her with a worried look on her face. "Are you okay? You seem...out of it right now," she said with that typical motherly tone of voice. Piplup looked up from his Pokemon food, concerned for his trainer.

The young coordinator quickly nodded her head, although she herself knew that she wasn't okay. She never really had been herself ever since Ash had left for Kanto a few months ago. "Yeah, I'm fine, mom. No need to worry..." she started moving food around on her plate with her fork, halfheartedly taking a small bite occasionally.

"Now Dawn, you know that's when I worry the most. You didn't even eat breakfast this morning and you're hardly eating right now. Now tell me...what's the matter?" Johanna asked.

Dawn sighed. Mothers could be so annoyingly caring. Not to say that being caring was a bad thing. Ash had been the most caring person Dawn had ever known. But when her mom was prying into her life like this, it did get a little tiresome.

"Mom, could you please stop trying to get so involved with my life!" Dawn snapped, clearly irritated.

Johanna frowned. "Dawn, I'm hardly prying at all...I simply asked you a question concerning your wellbeing. Now is that really the end of the world? Because that's what you're making it out to be."

Dawn's face suddenly changed from anger and irritation to a sullen, melancholy expression. She hugged her knees as she sat in her chair and looked down. "I'm sorry, mom. It's just...I haven't really been myself lately. Sure, I have coordinating to focus on...and Buneary's Pokemon modeling is going just great...but it all just feels so empty...without-" she stopped there, as she had been hoping not to reveal her secret to her mom.

Johanna raised an eyebrow. "Care to finish that sentence, Dawn?" she asked, a small smile tugging at her lips. She suspected she knew what was troubling her daughter.

Dawn blushed and raised her hands, shaking them back and forth. "Um, what are you talking about, mom? That's all there is too it. Just having some trouble, um...being myself!" she looked away, knowing she didn't sound very convincing.

"Now Dawn, that makes no sense and you know it. Tell me...could this be...about Kenny?" she asked, hoping to sound as casual as possible. She knew that Kenny had a thing for her daughter; she just never quite knew whether it was mutual or not.

Dawn rolled her eyes and said, "No, mom...where did you get that idea? Besides, Kenny and I had an argument and I don't plan on speaking to him again."

Johanna was a little surprised, seeing as how Dawn and Kenny had been such good friends. "Oh? Will you bite my head off if I ask what happened?" she asked playfully.

Dawn smiled a little. "Well...basically after Ash left for Kanto, I decided to meet up with Kenny. We competed in a contest in Hearthome City. Neither of us won, though...Zoey did. Anyways, after a couple days he started acting as if he was my boyfriend. It was a little weird, but I didn't terribly mind at first. It was when he started being so controlling over me that I got fed up and admitted to him that I didn't like him like that. I'm not gonna go into detail about it...it's really not worth it." Dawn sighed, seeming nonchalant about the subject of Kenny. After all, it wasn't Kenny she really cared about.

Her mom simply nodded understandingly, not even attempting to comprehend kids and their strange emotional phenomena. But asking about Kenny was just a distraction; she thought it was about time she confirmed her true suspicion. "I see. So Kenny's out of the question. By the way, I talked to someone you know not too long ago," she said.

Dawn's eyes perked up a bit. "Really? Who?"

Johanna smiled. "That girl from Johto...what was her name again? Lyra. Yes, Lyra called here about a week ago asking for you, but you were off in Hearthome. She had a few interesting things to say," she said, chuckling to herself.

"Like what?" Dawn asked, only half-interested. She had hoped her mom was going to say that Ash had called.

"Oh, at first it was just the usual introductions and formalities. Then, she actually asked about what your...what did she say? Your relationship status. She had asked about whether you had a boyfriend or not," Johanna said.

Surprised, Dawn lifted her head up. "Wh-What? Why would she ask something like that?" she asked, blushing.

"She said that back when she was traveling with you, she had been trying to matchmake you with a certain someone," Johanna replied, smiling at her daughter.

Dawn's cheeks were now a deep shade of pink as she remembered the days Lyra spent with her and the rest of the group. She recalled them being trapped in the basement of some building. It was there when Lyra had asked Dawn if Ash was her boyfriend. Dawn had quickly denied it, but she couldn't help but imagine what it would be like if he was. She smiled at the thought.

"You know, Cynthia is still waiting on her offer to you about staying at her villa in Undella Town. Now that you aren't traveling with Kenny anymore...perhaps you would like to go now?" Johanna asked, knowing perfectly well what Dawn's answer would be.

Dawn's eyes lit up with excitement. "I totally forgot about that! When can I leave? Maybe I'll see Ash there!" she got up and sprinted up the stairs. She threw the door open to her room and started packing her things for the Unova region. Ash, I don't know how you feel about me exactly...but I'm coming for you! She thought to herself as she packed.

Johanna immediately called Cynthia, telling her that Dawn will be on her way to Undella Town. When Dawn came downstairs, Johanna smiled at her.

"Cynthia said that Ash and his friends will be staying at her villa shortly after you arrive, Dawn. Isn't that exciting?" Johanna said.

"Really? Wow, that's great! I can't wait to see him again!" Dawn was giddy with excitement.

They got into the car and Johanna drove Dawn to the port in Sandgem Town. Dawn was about to run onto the boat when her mom stopped her. Dawn turned around.

Johanna looked at her daughter for a moment, then said, "Dawn...I know why you're so excited to see Ash again...but just remember, he's still Ash. Don't get too disappointed if-"

Dawn cut her off, a big and optimistic smile on her face. "Mom! No need to worry! I have a feeling that this was meant to be..." she said, giving her mom a hug. Then she turned and ran for the boat.

Johanna watched as her daughter boarded the boat to Unova, her expression full of worry. That Ash is a nice boy, but from what I understand he's extremely dense when it comes to girls, she thought. She shook her head, hoping that Dawn would be okay. No need to worry...when will she grow out of saying that? She chuckled as she got back into the car.

– 3 days later –

Ash, Iris, Cilan, and Cynthia were all riding the seaplane to Undella Town, where they will all stay in Cynthia's huge villa there.

"You know, Ash, there's someone you know waiting for you at my villa," Cynthia said to the young trainer. Ash looked at her with curiosity.

"Really? Who?" he asked.

The Champion of Sinnoh just smiled and replied, "You'll just have to wait and see! She wanted it to be a surprise."

Ash smiled. "Cool! Can't wait!" he said, his usual big smile on his face. He looked out at a beautiful sunset through the seaplane window. I wonder...could it be...?

– –

Dawn ran outside and stood on the balcony of Cynthia's villa. She saw a big plane flying over Undella Bay, and it looked like it was close to landing.

"Look, Piplup! I wonder if that's the plane they're on!" Dawn said, her voice full of excitement.

"Piplup!" The Penguin Pokemon replied happily. The aspiring top-coordinator and her little blue starter Pokemon both stared out into the sunset, waiting for their friends.