Third Person's POV

The sun sparkles brilliantly off the lake leading to Verity Town. Residents are used to waiting for the sunlight to enter their houses before waking up, that way they can all continue to work together. The houses are designed to let this light flow in wherever the house is placed.

The unique architecture works well with the town since it's built up on a slight hill. Light blue, white, and other lightly coloured siding fills the town with colour. Lush evergreens fill the space around the town and hide many species of wild Pokémon.

Some of these Pokémon wander into town to enjoy the beach or get some yummy treats from the shops. It's just another example of how harmonized Verity Town really is.

Maybe eventually Ash will get used to getting an early start like all of them...

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"Ash!" Delia's yells upstairs.

Their house is perfect for the woman, it's basically a blank canvas for her. There's lots of shelf room, open walls, etc, for her to decorate to her heart's desire. All it needs is a bell she can ring to wake up the boy.

"Coming!" She hears a reply before finishing off the pancakes.

Delia gets out two plates and fills them with pancakes, bacon, and a plentiful amount of syrup. Ash's stack is a little higher than her's for obvious reasons.

The raven haired trainer comes downstairs groggily and slumps into the dining room chair. "Tired from all the lifting yesterday?" Delia chuckles and sets down the plate in front of them. "The syrup should wake you up."

Ash slowly perks up over the course of their breakfast. The two talk about how beautiful the new region is and more importantly about the journey Ash gets to experience through it. "I still have a few days to burn before I leave though," He states. "Did Camilla tell you anything about what there is to do around here?"

"She probably did during one of our calls," Delia says. "Granted she was going to tell me everything about Sinnoh to convince me to come here if we didn't move."

"But I do remember something about the region's main Pokémon Professor," Delia states. "I'm pretty sure his lab is a town or two away."

"I guess I could go there to get some basic information about Sinnoh," Ash shrugs. "Maybe he can teach me a few things like Professor Oak."

"I'm sure he can," Delia states. "At the very least he can show you where to go when you start your journey."

"Alright!" Ash cheers with a burst of excitement. "It's time to show Sinnoh what I'm capable of."

"Please don't show the Professor everything," Delia sighs. "You don't need to blow up a lab... again."

"That wasn't even my fault," Ash argues. "And we learned a very crucial piece of information from that... incident."

"And it was?" Delia smirks.

"Don't sneak up on Electrodes," Ash rubs the back of his head while chuckling. He puts his dishes in the sink and runs back upstairs to get changed.

While Delia starts her daily chores, Ash puts on his jacket, hat, and even some brand new fingerless gloves. He says goodbye to his mom and remembers to grab his green backpack on the way out. "Remember what Professor Oak told you!" Delia calls out to him.

"Don't go in the tall grass because Pokémon see that as an invitation to attack," Ash quotes and continues his way down the street.

Delia shakes her head at his adventurous spirit while watching him disappear over a slope. His hat falls below the pale grey bricked road and if everything goes well, she won't see him until dinner. "I'm sorry professor," Delia laughs and turns away from the window.

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"Okayyy," Ash reaches the edge of Verity Town. "Probably should've planned this out."

"Running out of town already?" Camilla giggles and walks away from a fruit stand she was looking at. "Delia said you are impatient but this is a step above."

"You're not wrong," Ash chuckles. "But I'm only trying to find the professor, not running away yet."

"Oh that's good," Camilla laughs. "You know how to get there right?"

"Uhh," Ash sweat drops. "I tend to run off without thinking, that's why I stopped here."

"Didn't think of getting a town map for your journey?" Camilla sighs humorously.

"I knew Kanto well enough that I didn't need one," Ash tries to explain himself. "So I never thought of getting one."

"Well you'll learn that Sinnoh isn't straight-routed like Kanto," Camilla smirks. "Our routes are actually interesting."

"I get it," Ash chuckles. "Can you tell me how to get to the Professor's lab?"

"I think I can," Camilla states and points down the road. "It's a straight path down route 201."

"Straight huh?" Ash smirks.

"Very funny Ash," The woman sighs. "You'll pass by a small village like this one but keep going until you get to Sandgem Town."

"Is it still a nice straight route like Kanto's?" Ash jokes.

"You'll have to find out that for yourself," Camilla sticks her tongue out childishly. "Have fun."

The brunette walks away and Ash now knows why her and his mom are friends. Ash then leaves the town boundaries while scouting for any sign of new Pokémon for him to catch in the coming days...

He makes his way down the bare clay path and the first town Camilla explained comes into view quickly. It looks very similar to Pallet Town with rolling hills and lots of farmland.

Ash stops at an intersection in the path and looks right at the entrance to the small village. "Twinleaf Town," Ash reads. "One more town to go."

Ash continues down the route and it becomes more overgrown and less like an actual path. The soon to be Pokémon trainer starts to wind down the path, avoiding clusters of forest that invade the path. "This is what Camilla meant," Ash smiles while looking out for any sign of wild Pokémon on the prowl.

Then he takes a turn around a thick tree line and sees a blue haired girl casually walking through the route in a straight line. Her head isn't moving so one can only guess that she's in her own world right now.

Ash hurried his pace so that he can get a better look at the girl. From what he can tell from behind, she's wearing a sleeveless black tank top that goes well with a short pink skirt. She is wearing pink boots with black knee high stockings, a stylish pink scarf, and a white beanie as well.

Ash gets to a flatter part of the route that is definitely a good spot to remember. It's filled with places for Pokémon to hide and the path is barely visible through it. Ash watches the girl stroll right through so maybe she has a Pokémon already.

But then Ash notices a brown blur running through the grass towards the blunette. Ash not wanting to be rude and assume she needs someone to protect her, waits for her to notice and pull out a Pokémon.

The Pokémon gets closer and closer with  large teeth out that Ash can see from a distance. "Hey!" Ash decides to take action. He runs forward as the girl looks back to see him.

She starts to get freaked out by a random guy running at her but also notices the Pokémon scurrying towards her in the grass. She stands there unable to move while waiting for the worst to happen.

Ash lunges forward and catches the unsuspecting Pokémon in his hands. "It's okay little buddy," Ash smiles and pets it to calm it down while holding it securely with one hand. The girl watches the Pokémon's eyes soften before he lets it go to run away.

"Are you okay?" Ash smiles while leading her out of the grass.

"Thanks to you," She says while blushing a bit. "I'm Dawn."

"Ash," The raven haired boy introduces himself. "I live in Verity Town."

"Really?" Dawn questions while following Ash's lead down the path. "I live in Twinleaf Town but I know, or thought I knew everyone who lives in Verity."

"Oh I just moved here from Kanto," Ash explains. "I'm on my way to the Professor's lab so he can help me get ready for my journey."

"That makes sense," Dawn giggles. "And you mean Professor Rowan I'm assuming."

"Sure," Ash nods while laughing. "I don't know much about Sinnoh so I'm just gonna assume you're right.

"At least you knew how to not get attacked by wild Pokémon," Dawn jokes. "Plus that was really cool how you easily calmed it down."

"Didn't anyone tell you to stay out of long grass because Pokémon hunt in it?" Ash questions and Dawn shakes her head. "Looks like Professor Oak's lessons are coming in handy already."

"You mean the poem master from the radio?" Dawn questions.

"He writes poems but I wouldn't call him a master," Ash sweat drops.

"What are you talking about?!" Dawn exclaims. "His poems are amazing! Like 'Wild Pokémon are like vegetables, they are found in grass like vegetables are found in soup'."

"Uhhh," Ash tries not to question her sanity.

"Oh," Dawn realizes the actual meaning of the poem. "Maybe I should pay more attention to his poems."

"Maybe," Ash laughs. "So I guess the schools here are as bad as Kanto's."

"You bet," Dawn rolls her eyes at the years of "torture". "They know most of us are going out into the real world but they teach us nothing about how to survive it."

"True," Ash agrees. "Are you leaving on your journey this week too then?"

"Yep," Dawn smiles. "That's why I'm headed to Professor Rowan's too." The blunette winks.

"Cool," Ash smiles cheekily. "We can tell Professor Rowan about our meetup." He jokes and bolts forward into the larger town.

"Get back here Ash!" Dawn yells and chases him through the busy streets.

You can feel the salty breeze through the town that acts as an entrance to the southern coastline. There are a few people out and about but it's that time of day where people are working or in their houses preparing lunch.

Dawn continues to chase after Ash but stops after realizing they've been going in circles. "Ash!" Dawn yells and he stops to look back. "Where are you going?"

"See," Ash chuckles. "I've just been running around because I have no clue where the lab is."

Dawn shakes her head and giggles, "My mom showed me a picture."

Ash runs back so that he can follow Dawn to the northern part of the town. She then stops and throws a punch into Ash's chest playfully. The boy pretends to look hurt by Dawn who simply turns away from him and throws her arms in the air. "Don't act like you didn't deserve that," She says.

"Fine," Ash says and follows her through the town. "I have a feeling it's that building there."

The two stare at the large house that has a certain lab-like feel with large windows on the front and white walls in between large wooden beams. A pasture can be seen running along the laboratory and presumably behind for a great distance.

"Aren't you a genius," Dawn jokes and they enter the lab.

"Smartest in the world," Ash declares and Dawn shakes her head.

"Sure," Dawn rolls her eyes.

The two walk in cautiously, looking for any sign of life behind the steel machines and various work stations. "This looks a little more futuristic than Professor Oak's lab," Ash states as they move further into the lab.

"Well we study in different fields of research," A deep voice says and an older man appears in front of them. "We require a few more machines to help us develop our theories."

"Uhh," Ash stares at the taller and serious looking man. "Sorry for snooping around sir-Professor..."

"Don't worry about it," The Professor chuckles much to their surprise, and relief. "I'm Professor Rowan and welcome to my laboratory."

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Seems like a good place to end it.

Anyway sorry for the slow start to the book... maybe starting in the holiday season wasn't my brightest of moves.

I hope you all are having an amazing (insert celebration here) and happy holidays.

And for those celebrating Christmas like myself, 40min (in EST) until Christmas.

See you guys later!