After some debate, and a story idea getting stuck in my head right when I have literally nothing else to do, I have decided to make my debut in the Pokemon fanfiction community in general and the pearlshipping section in particular. A little context, I have been a Pokemon fan for more than 2 decades and I am going to date myself a little (though in general terms) and admit to watching the first airing of the first season of Pokemon on TV in America back in the late 90s. Since then I have had an up and down relationship with Pokemon as it has come back to me sporadically over the years. However, due to circumstances in my life and what consoles I had, I never advanced past Gen III of Pokemon. This was in both the games and the anime. This changed recently, first with Pokemon Go finally introducing me to Sinnoh and Unova Pokemon. Then, more recently, with the latest rise of Pokemon for me. This time I rode the wave and because I have no life I binged the anime from the middle of season 7 until almost the end of season 15, over the course of about 6 weeks. In that time I also played and completed Pokemon Platinum as a way to help introduce myself to Sinnoh for the DP series. What came from that was that I really fell for the DP series in a way I haven't since the original series. I particularly liked how Dawn played in with the series and with Ash and Brock. There was a nostalgic feel to it and a continuation for me as there was still enough from decades ago that I could enjoy it. That changed with the Best Wishes series. It wasn't bad but it was too different for me to truly enjoy and the lack of continuity other than Ash really hurt it in my book. I watched it until the end of Dawn's return and quit. Since then I have dived into the fandom and embraced the pearlship, though I still like the original pokeship. I will mention that I know nothing of the XY series or anything past that or the ships there and have no desire to watch them. To those who do support those ships, I am always open to discussing it but I will not address ships I do not know and will focus on the pearlship, at least in this story. Sorry for the ramble, feel free to ignore it and dive into the story.

As for this story, it is set after Dawn leaves for the Wallace Cup in Johto. Everything up to that point is cannon, everything after is not. This was meant to be a oneshot but turned into a 6 part short story that is fully drafted and will be uploaded once a day for the next 6 days with a sequel in the works. This story will be a little fast paced and is not my best writing (I don't think I am a good writer so bear with me) but will serve as the first of what may be a few pearlshipping stories, including a long one I have in the works. So let me know what you think in reviews and PMs, I read and try to respond to as many as possible, and I am more than happy to discuss the show with anyone and my particular views on it.

Last note I will make is about ages. As this will deal with feelings and romance, I have aged the characters up and I feel that they would be older anyway. For the sake of this story, Ash and Dawn are 16. This is based off the fact that each adventure Ash is on is roughly a year so starting at 10 and accounting for Indigo, Orange, Johto, Hoenn, Battle Frontier, Sinnoh, and Unova, Ash would be around 16 by the time he ends his Unova adventure.

That is all, thanks for bearing with me in this one off long note. Please sit back and enjoy my debut in this fandom; Follow Your Heart. Part I: So Long but not Farewell.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

Part I: So Long but not Farewell

Dawn kept waving at Ash and her new friends as the plane pulled away and took off heading for the Johto region and the Wallace Cup. As they faded from sight Dawn sat back in her seat with a sigh, Piplup on her lap, and felt the plane taking off and taking her away from Unova, away from him.

It was as if all the floodgates that had been shut around Dawn's heart had decided to open at that moment, the moment she once again parted ways with Ash. It was in that moment, as she was leaving him, that she realized just what she had been holding back, just what it had all meant. It had taken seeing him again for it to truly sink in and for leaving him again for it all to final hit her harder than a Hyper Beam.

Dawn was in love with Ash Ketchum. She knew in her heart, as the plane took her further away from him by the second, that it was true and the deep pain of being away from him sunk in. She had been denying it for the longest time but now she couldn't do it any longer.

Dawn had known that she'd had a crush on the raven-haired trainer back when they were traveling Sinnoh together. However, she had just thought it had been the standard teenage crush, admittedly her first but a crush nonetheless. It had grown slowly at first, not even Dawn knew how she felt, but soon it began to become clear that she did have feelings for Ash that were not just platonic.

She had realized that she liked him back when she started dressing as a cheerleader for him but she had rationalized it at the time. Then when Lyra had suggested it during the period when the two teens from Johto had joined them, Dawn began to at least admit to herself that she did like Ash. Still it wasn't fully there. It didn't truly sunk in until Kenny had shown an interest in her and she had turned him down for Ash. That had been the point where Dawn knew that she had a full blown crush on Ash.

Then, when she decided to travel with him to Kanto after the Lily of the Valley Conference, she knew that what she felt for him was real. However, she had taken the modeling offer for Buneary and back then that it was the right choice. She had an opportunity she couldn't say no to and Ash had his own path, they would meet again. By then Dawn was certain the crush would have faded and she would never have to deal with it again.

Seeing Ash again was what had done it. When Cynthia had told her that she had run into Ash in Virbank City, Dawn had known that fate had destined for her and Ash to see each other one more time. She had come to Unova for her own reasons, not realizing that Ash was here as well, but as soon as she found out he was here and coming to where she was, her heart decided to perform a gymnastics routine that would have made a professional proud.

She had been so eager to see him again that she had wanted to rush out of the villa and throw herself into his arms on the pier where the sea plane landed but in the end she restrained herself. Instead, she decided to have some fun with him when he arrived. From that moment on, they were inseparable in Unova, except when several angry Onixes had decided to separate them.

It had felt like old times again, minus Brock, and the feelings that she had thought gone flooded back in a tidal wave. She realized then that it had not just been a silly first crush but something deeper that she had felt for her best friend but she didn't know what. It had also made her decision to leave and compete in the Wallace Cup even harder. However, she had to do it and Ash had, in his usual way, understood and wished her luck in it.

Now, though, as they levelled out and began the long flight to Johto, she finally came to terms with what those feelings were. They were love. She was in love with him and there was nothing that would change that. Dawn wanted nothing more than to be with him, by his side, and sharing his adventures with him wherever they took him while he shared hers as well.

Dawn sighed and closed her eyes, a silent tear at the thought of leaving her love just as she realized she loved him rolling down her cheek. She had to go, she knew it. Her path was not his, not at the moment at least, but as Ash had said, this wouldn't be the last time.

"Pip?" came the questioning voice from her starter Pokémon.

Dawn smiled, opened her eyes, and looked down at the Penguin Pokémon. He was staring up at her with a look of concern in his eyes. Piplup always seemed to know when she was down and wanted to help her out. He was as much a protector of her as Ash was, in his own special way of course, and she knew that he would be here to help through leaving Ash.

"It's nothing." She said to him but Piplup just glared her and pecked the tear on her cheek causing Dawn to laugh lightly. "I see I still can't get anything by you now can I?"

"Piplup." Piplup said proudly with a nod of his head. "Piplup."

"It's Ash, I miss him already." Dawn sighed causing Piplup to look sad as well, he was as close to Pikachu as brothers could be so he would understand, to an extent. "I only just saw him and now I am leaving him again."

"Piplup." He said again agreeing with her and sounding as sad as she felt.

"It's a little different for me than it is for you and his Pokémon." Dawn said and Piplup looked a little confused so Dawn had to explain it in a way that her starter would understand. "It's more like how you felt for Meloetta, only deeper."

"Pip." Piplup said realizing what she meant, a look of surprise on his face.

"Yeah, I always liked Ash like that, almost since the moment we met." Dawn admitted, feeling like a weight was being lifted as she confessed how she felt to someone who would understand and not judge her. "Only just as it took me ages to realize I liked him, now I realized just how much I truly love him. So I am sad because I am leaving him and I don't know when I will next see him."

"Piplup." Piplup said forcefully, a slight glare at her, when he had processed what she said to him. "Piplup, pip."

"Huh?" Dawn asked a little confused. "What are you trying to say Piplup?"

"Pip, pip, Piplup." Piplup began gesturing at her and then back to Unova with his flippers. "Piplup, pip, Piplup."

"You want me to go back?" Dawn asked and Piplup nodded. "I can't and you know that. I have to go and compete in the Wallace Cup and that is in Johto. Ash has the Unova League to compete in, he has qualified for it and he has to see it through. I know Ash, he will see it through until the end, that is how he is. For the moment, our paths are once again diverging."

"Piplup." Piplup said to her then paused and brightened. "Piplup, pip, Piplup."

"Yeah, you see why I can't be with him right now." Dawn said sadly. "I know it is what Ash would want, he would want me to chase my dreams and compete so I will do that."

"Piplup." Piplup responded and Dawn had a feeling she knew what he wanted and smiled at him. Piplup certainly had a way of helping her see things better.

"You're right Piplup." Dawn said with a nod, wiping the tear from her cheek. "This isn't the end, it can't be. I will go and compete in the Wallace Cup. We will win it again and then we will take it to the contests in Johto. There are still a few months left, we can get the ribbons we need and enter the Grand Festival there. This time, we will win it."

"Piplup?" Piplup asked confused, his trainer was making little sense and clearly hadn't understood him but Dawn was on a roll and she didn't realize that Piplup was confused.

"It is what Ash would want, he would want me to follow my passion and do my best." Dawn said thinking of the boy she loved. "And I will do that. I will become a better coordinator than ever before. I will win this time and I will make my love proud of me for how I have grown."

"Piplup?" Piplup asked still confused a little. "Pip?"

"After that, we will track him down in whichever far flung region he has gone to." Dawn continued, her heart swelling at her plan. "We will find him and join him on whatever adventure he is on. I don't care if I have to travel to the ends of the earth, I will find Ash Ketchum and this time, I will not leave his side."

"Piplup!" Piplup exclaimed happily, it wasn't what he had meant but it was better and Dawn was happy again. "Piplup!"

"I have the motivation." Dawn said looking at Piplup. "It will drive us to win in Johto. Well, we have a long flight, time to start preparing our combinations for the Wallace Cup and the contests that will come after it."

Piplup nodded as Dawn fished a pen and paper out her bag and they began preparing. She had a new lease on her life, she had a plan, and she would move the heavens themselves to get back to him when it was over. The thought of Ash and her love for him fueled her as she began to work, counting down the days until she saw him again.

Ash smiled sadly as he stood at the end of the pier, Pikachu and Oshawott by his sides, as they watched the sea plane disappear off into the distance. As Ash watched one of his closest friends leave, this time her going and him staying put, he felt a tear in his eye and a weight come over his chest as Dawn and he once again went diverged as they took separate paths.

It was a feeling that Ash was not used too. He had split from his friends before but it had never truly felt like this. It had been similar back in Sinnoh when he and Dawn had first gone their separate ways but not as deep as this. He had felt sadness but also joy at Dawn's path in Sinnoh and his own path, wherever that was.

Back then he hadn't felt like crying. He certainly hadn't felt like his Snorlax was sitting on his chest and not moving, though that might just be heartburn from dinner. If he was being honest, Ash felt as if a part of him had left on that plane and he didn't know if he would ever get it back.

When he left Misty it had been tough, she had been his first friend on his journey to become a Pokémon Master, but he had known that she was needed at home and he couldn't drag her to Hoenn with him. It had hurt a bit to be away from Misty but he had known that he would always see when he came home and she would be in his corner as he continued his own journey so he had been able to continue quickly.

Then, when May had left to compete in Johto by herself he had felt that it was the right move for her to finish her own training. Ash had taught May all he knew but she needed to be on her own to truly find her own style. Even after seeing her in Sinnoh, Ash had known that May had made the right choice and grown by herself and he was pleased to see her return to Johto after the Wallace Cup, knowing that she would do well.

Even when he and Dawn first separated he had been happy for her. She was following one of her passions with modeling her clothes on Buneary. He hadn't known when he would see Dawn again but he had known that he would and that had been enough for him. However, now that he had seen Dawn again he was feeling different. She was leaving again, and this time he felt a little lost without her.

The last week or so had felt like old times, like nothing had changed. It had made him realize just how much he had missed her while he had been traveling in Unova. Cilan had filled Brock's role well, though not perfectly as Brock was irreplaceable, and while Ash missed his oldest traveling companion, he knew that Brock was doing great. Also Ash would see the aspiring Pokémon Doctor again when he was back in Kanto so he knew that he and Brock would chill again one day.

However, no one had been able to fill Dawn's place by his side. Seeing her again, hanging out like old times and battling together had reminded him of it in a way he didn't understand. Why was Dawn so special to him? Why did he feel complete with her around him? Why did his chest hurt so damned much when he thought of seeing Dawn again? Questions Ash couldn't even begin to fathom answers to.

Still, despite all this, Ash understood it. Dawn, like all of his past friends, had her own path to travel and her path was not the same as his. Ash would support her, be there if she needed him, and wish her luck in her journey but right now they were not on the same path. She had the Wallace Cup, something he intended to watch when it was on because of Dawn, and her contests. Meanwhile, he had the Unova League to conquer. She was expecting him to win and Ash was not going to let Dawn or any of his old friends down.

As if on cue, a commotion and loud complaining from behind him snapped Ash out of his thoughts and he turned to see a familiar boy and his Riolu complaining that he had missed the plane to where the Unova league was being held. Ash smiled; it was clear that Cameron was a little unorganized but a decent person who cared for Pokémon and the art of battling. Ash had a feeling that the other boy would need his help and experience going forward and went to join Iris and Cilan to figure out what was going on.

As he explained to Cameron that the boy didn't need to go to Johto for the Unova League and that he needed an 8th badge to get into the conference, Ash knew that he had made the right choice to help Cameron. They had 3 months to get him his last badge and to train for the Unova League and Ash was going to dedicate his time and energy to it. Then it would be time to compete in the league, this time Ash was going to win it.

After that, Ash had no idea where his path led but that was a hurdle to overcome when the time was right. For the moment his focus was on the Unova league and getting ready for it. Despite this, Ash couldn't help but think of a certain blue haired coordinator and when he would see her again as they helped Cameron up and began on the next leg of their journey.

The first part is done (this is shorter than my usual stuff but all except Part V will be around this length) and I hope y'all enjoyed my attempt at breaking into this fandom. Please let me know what you think in reviews and PMs and let me know if you have any suggestions for me as I am always open to them. The next part will be up sometime tomorrow. Until tomorrow.

Stringdog