Third Person's POV

Ash and Dawn lost track of time when they were at Professor Rowan's lab. They left late that day and showed up early the next morning. Rowan appreciated the help they were giving him, and in turn he tried to teach them things that will help them out on their journey.

He didn't really teach them about Sinnoh, or what adventures they might experience because those things you need to find out yourself. Professor Rowan taught them the skills and information they need while on their adventure. Like basic medical skills and a little bit on Pokémon locations.

The two in exchange did the daily feeding routines and other yard work that needed to be done while the professor was busy getting ready for the big day. And of course that little Shinx had to help them out with everything which Ash and Dawn didn't mind at all.

But because of all the excitement, the two forgot to ask Professor Rowan their question. Some questions don't need to be asked however...

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The sunlight rises above Verity Town and into the many homes. It gets through the blinds and manages to find Delia Ketchum's eyes. It's the day her baby boy gets to venture off into the real world.

Is she scared?

Worried maybe but she knows that Ash is smarter than he looks. Also he'll have Pokémon by his side to protect him so is there really that much to worry about. It's not like an evil organization is going to run after him.

She gets up, moving slowly through her usual morning routine. Then she hears a small bang. "That sounded like pots and pans," She mumbles to her self confused.

Delia walks down the stairs cautiously and finds her son making breakfast... Correction, trying to make breakfast.

"Honey you're supposed to mix up the pancakes before putting them in the frying pan," Delia shakes her head. "I don't know how you're going to eat on your journey."

"Hopefully Dawn can cook," Ash mutters.

"That Dawn girl you've been talking about nonstop the last two days," Delia smirks. "I didn't know you were travelling with her."

"I thought I told you," Ash lies but his mother sees right through it.

"You don't have to hide your girlfriends from me," Delia starts to laugh.

"Mooooom," Ash groans and buries his head in his hands in embarrassment.

"I'm surprised you're up this early," Delia continues while taking over the kitchen from him. "Oh wait." She puts on a devilish smile. "You have to go pick up your girlfriend before heading over to the lab, don't you?"

"Girlfriend?" Camilla mysteriously shows up with a bag in her hands. "Ash you already picked up a Sinnoh girl, man you're a player."

While Ash hides further into his hands, Delia questions how the girl got into the house and why. "Ash must've unlocked the door this morning," Camilla shrugs. "I never had kids of my own so I didn't want to miss a second of Ash's big day."

"Well I just woke up so you're not going to miss anything," Delia chuckles.

"Good," Camilla smiles. "Tell me more about this girl Ash." She sits across the kitchen island from the boy.

"Her name is Dawn and she is NOT my girlfriend," Ash explains. "We've been hanging out at the lab and we're going to travel together."

"Well that's nice," Camilla smiles. "Just don't forget to invite me to your wedding." Camilla completely ignores the NOT.

"Here," Delia hands them both a plate of pancakes and then sits with them. She sighs at her friend who is acting like a sixteen year old, kind of amusing though. "Let's stop the jokes for a bit Camilla." Delia laughs.

"Thank Arceus," Ash mumbles and sits up to eat.

"I did come bearing gifts though," Camilla smiles and Ash perks up. She reaches down and pulls up a gift bag. "Your mom told me you got a backpack and most of the basic camping supplies. So I got the privilege of shopping for the more fun stuff."

Ash looks at her with a perplexed look before reaching in and pulling out the first item. He smiles and gives her a "are you kidding me" look. "A town map," Delia nods approvingly. "Definitely a smart thing to have with you."

"He had trouble finding route 201 so I figured it would be a nice addition to his bag," Camilla smiles. "Keep going."

"Woah these are cool," Ash pulls out a bag of pokeballs. "I didn't know you could buy them like this."

He shows the netted bag to his mother and the amount of colours intrigue her. "You just gotta know the right people," Camilla smiles. "I know you want to catch a lot of Pokémon and those all have different functions that can help you with the tougher ones."

"Thank you Camilla," Ash smiles.

"You're very welcome Ash," Camilla smiles. "Now don't keep Dawn waiting."

Ash glances at the time and realizes that he really should be going. "I do actually have to go," Ash states.

"Okay honey," Delia gets up to hug the boy. "Don't be afraid to bring Dawn back to show us your starter Pokémon."

"Umm she'll probably want to get going as early as possible," Ash says. "We don't want to miss her first contest."

"That's okay but call often okay," Delia smiles softly and leads him to the door. "Don't be afraid to visit if you're near here anytime soon."

"Bye mom," Ash stops her rambling with a smile.

"Don't forget to change your underwear okay?" Delia teases him as he starts to leave the property.

"I won't," Ash smiles and his adventure has officially begun.

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"Nothing is stopping you from leaving," Johanna watches her daughter curiously. Dawn hasn't taken her eyes away from the window for an unhealthy amount of time.

"I'm waiting for him," Dawn subconsciously answers.

"Him?" The blue haired mother asks amused.

"Ash," Dawn continues. "We're travelling together."

"Oh I remember you talking about him," Johanna keeps her tone the same to make sure Dawn doesn't notice. "Is he cute?"

"Yea and he's really nice," Dawn says in a dreamy voice. That must've set off some alarms in her head because Dawn immediately covers her mouth. Her face is a bright red and her mother can't stop laughing.

"That was too easy," Johanna laughs. "I can't wait to meet the guy my daughter finds cute and 'really nice'."

Dawn groans, still not facing her mother. Then she sees the boy and forgets everything that just occurred. She remembered to tell Ash which house and he must've remembered it because he's heading right for them.

"I'd get rid of the blush before answering the door," Johanna teases right before Ash knocks, causing the poor girl to flare up as she opens the door.

"Hello Ash," Johanna smiles at the boy who is looking at her daughter in worry. "Dawns okay she just needs a minute."

"Uh okay Mrs. Berlitz," Ash replies while watching Dawn walk out of the room to regain her composure.

"Call me Johanna, Ash," She smiles. "Are you guys going to head right to Jubilife?"

"I think so," Ash says and Dawn reenters the entranceway. "It's a short route so hopefully we get there before dark."

"Not looking forward to camping so let's avoid it as much as possible," Dawn jokes. "We don't want to keep the Professor waiting so we should go Ash."

"Bye Mrs- Johanna," Ash smiles and starts to leave.

"You two have fun," Johanna brings in her daughter for a hug. "Not too much though." She whispers, making Dawn try her hardest to resist blushing.

"No need to worry," Dawn smiles with a little bit of annoyance towards her mother.

And they are off.

Together on their journey they will discover many new things about the world, themselves, and each other. Sounds cliche but it's true and we get to watch the whole thing from start to finish...

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"You've grown quite attached to those two haven't you?" One of Professor Rowan's assistants chuckles while watching the man work on his computer. "Are you sure they want this?"

"Within the last two days, I've been able to learn a great amount about them," The Professor states. "But that wasn't all, they inspired me in ways I didn't think sixteen year olds could. That's why I'm almost positive this is what they want and it isn't hard to see that it'll come to this point anyways."

"That's pretty special then," The assistant says.

"Also I heard them talking about asking me for something like this," Rowan states and the assistant nearly falls over.

Before their conversation can continue, the two aforementioned kids come into the lab with excitement visible on their faces. "You guys ready?" Professor Rowan asks the obvious and leads Ash and Dawn to the back part of the lab.

"You bet," Ash smiles. "I've had sixteen years to prepare for this."

"Very well," Professor Rowan nods and opens the three pokeballs that were in his pocket.

The three Sinnoh starter Pokémon take their respective spots on a wide table in the middle of the room. "Starter Pokémon are rare but not impossible to find during your journey. I'd give you guys all three but there's more trainers starting today and I don't want to have nothing to give them."

There's a small penguin Pokémon, a green and brown turtle Pokémon, and a flaming monkey Pokémon waiting to see if they'll get picked by either of the two trainers.

"The first one is Piplup," He points to the water type penguin Pokémon. It's blue from head to toe with an orange beak and a white/grey face. It has small wings and looks to be full of energy. "He has been quite a handful this morning but his water type moves can dazzle an audience."

"Can I have Piplup please?" Dawn asks without waiting for the other two to get introduced.

"There's still two more Dawn," Professor Rowan sweat drops.

"I know but he's so cute and I think he will be really good at contests," Dawn explains.

"What do you say Piplup?" Rowan asks amused.

The small penguin jumps into her arms enthusiastically and gives the professor his approval. "Then it's settled," The professor nods and hands her Piplup's pokeball.

Professor Rowan goes to introduce the next Pokémon but a scratching noise interrupts them. He raises an eyebrow and opens the back door of the room. The Shinx that's been hanging with the two stumbles into the room.

He shakes his head before running up into the table. He tilts his head cutely and smiles brightly at the new trainers. "Looks like Shinx didn't want to miss out," The Professor laughs. "Or maybe it wants to join you two."

Ash squats down to meet the electric type at eye level. "Want to be my starter Pokémon?" Ash asks it and Shinx tackles the raven haired trainer.

(Before possibly quitting this story in rage, I didn't make Pikachu his starter because 1-uniqueness, 2-it wouldn't fit with my plans, 3-I want to give Ash's Pikachu a backstory which I think is cool)

The small Pokémon jumps around on Ash until eventually calming down. "You two couldn't handle doing things the normal way," Professor Rowan laughs and tosses a pokeball Ash's way.

Ash taps Shinx gently and the red and white metal capsule wobbles a few times before giving off a "ding" sound. Ash lets him right back out and Shinx climbs onto Ash's hat.

"I have more surprises for you guys so wait here a second," Professor Rowan states and leaves to grab a tray. He comes back and sets it down beside the two other slightly disappointed starter Pokémon. "Here's six pokeballs each to get you started but more importantly your Pokédexs."

"Turn them on and let me know what you think," Professor Rowan smirks.

Dawn opens up her pink and blue handheld device and immediately notices it. "It says 'Ash Ketchum and Dawn Berlitz'." Dawn states.

"Yea mine says that too," Ash holds up his blue and red Pokedex.

"I heard you guys talking and I combined your guy's profiles into one," Professor Rowan explains. "I can undo at anytime if you want but this way all Pokémon you guys catch are under both of your guy's names."

"We'd be able to complete the pokedex together this way," Dawn smiles at Ash.

"Not many people are close enough to share their Pokémon like this but I think you two are getting closer and closer everyday," Professor Rowan states. "It's a pretty big deal since your money is also in one account."

"Think we can handle this?" Ash winks at Dawn.

"Maybe," Dawn jokes. "Just don't mess with me Ketchum."

"I've learned that already," Ash chuckles.

"Okay so just scan your guy's pokeballs and you'll be all set," Professor Rowan smiles at the two.

Ash and Dawn do as told and Shinx and Piplup become official members of their family. "Two down, how many more to go?" Ash jokes.

"A lot," Dawn rolls her eyes while giggling.

"I'll see you guys out then," Professor Rowan leads them out to the front.

"I think we should officially mark the beginning of our journey," Ash states and gives Dawn a challenging look. "With a battle."

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The intro stuff is finally done and it's time to get to the fun stuff.

Thanks for reading and hopefully I see you next chapter.