A New Dream

Don't Mind the PDA: Dawn's POV

"The ferry was supposed to be here five minutes ago, Piplup," I said anxiously as I bounced on my feet. 

Piplup looked up from where he was laying on the dock looking at the ocean below us and he peeped at me soothingly as if to tell me not to worry.

"Hey. 'No need to worry' is MY motto," I said with a teasing smile and he peeped out a little laugh before turning back to gaze at the ocean's surface. 

Letting out a long sigh I turned back and then ran to the edge of the pier, shielding my eyes and making sure that the speck I was seeing was actually the ferry.

"There it is!" I cried out happily and Piplup jumped up excitedly. 

After another ten minutes or so the ferry that brought people from Melemele to Akala Island was nearly to the pier and I thought I could see a familiar figure waving like crazy. Grinning widely I jumped up and down and waved my arms over my head exaggeratedly, feeling my eyes begin to fill with moisture.

A month had gone by since Paul left me on Poni Island and I had buried myself into my practice and routines. Catching Oricorio had given me more inspiration than I had expected and I ended up completely changing my plans for all three of the performance rounds. I knew my pokemon were tired, but none of them complained about the long hours of practice. Now there were only two days before the tournament and I had come to Akala to spend a day with my two best friends in the world.

"DAAWWWNNN!!" 

I laughed while swiping the happy tears from my eyes as Serena rushed down the stairs from the ferry and raced over to me, glomping me in a huge hug which I returned.

"It has been WAY too long since we've seen each other!" Serena exclaimed once she had finally let me go and I nodded firmly in agreement.

"Do I get my hug now?"

"Pikachu!"

Glancing over Serena's head I grinned widely as Ash maneuvered through the small crowd of people exiting the ferry with a ball cap covering his spiky, disheveled hair and Pikachu sitting on his shoulder. After squeezing Serena's hand she let me go. Ash pulled me into a brief hug and I could feel Pikachu patting my head from his perch.

"Piplup!" 

Ash and I pulled away and Pikachu hopped off to give Piplup a hug as well in greeting.

"It is SO good to see you both!" I squealed happily and they both smiled at me.

"We couldn't pass up the chance to come back to Alola and watch you compete in to the Showdown Tournament!" Serena gushed with a grin.

Ash clapped a hand on my shoulder before smoothly looping his other arm around Serena's waist and pulling her closer to him

"For sure! And I've already set up some rematches with Hau and Gladion. It's going to be awesome!" Ash said and Serena elbowed him lightly in the side, causing him to wince slightly. "But of course, we're going to watch the tournament first!" he added quickly and Serena smiled at me as I giggled.

"Well, let's not waste time. Show me the shops!" Serena said excitedly and I knew that my own eyes were twinkling as much as hers were.

I was surprised when Ash didn't complain about being forced to follow us around as we hit all of the shops and boutiques that we could find in Akala. Spending the day with the two was fantastic, but even though it had been a month I still caught myself turning to ask Paul what he thought about a hat or a dress I really liked. I was quick to shake my head and refocus on Serena and Ash, though.

"Well, I think I'll head over to the restaurant and make sure our reservations are all in order," Ash said as he stood up from his seat outside the changing rooms and stretched.