Going forward and beyond {Path of the Aura Ranger: Book I}

VIII Dawn's P.O.V

On our way to Lilypad Town and my next Pokémon Contest, we discovered a nearby village where a cultural Johto Festival was about to occur. We met Lyra, who was one of the festival's spokespersons and a trainer. We all became quick friends after helping her find her lost Marill. She escorted us around the festival afterward and even presented us to a budding young Pokémon Breeder named Khoury, whose father runs the festival. They both then proceeded to teach us about Johto and its culture, with Ash cutting in from time to time to share his own experiences through the region.

It was a lovely festival, and I even participated in a special event, which gifted a Pokemon Egg from one of the regional starters. As Ash already had all three, he decided to leave it to the rest of us. This time around, I chose Piplup as my partner for the event, and we did quite a good job. We ended up in the finals, where I had to face Lyra and her Chikorita. We ended up winning! What surprised us is how fast the egg hatched, I mean how many times does someone get an egg and have it hatch the same day they got it? It did not happen to Ash, and I watched him hatch two eggs during our journey!

But I did not dwell much into it and enjoyed the fact that now I had a Cyndaquil, which brought my regional starter count to two! Though, I am still quite far from Ash's count. He sure loves to collect regional starters. The only thing I would complain about is the fact that Piplup and Cyndaquil seem to be at each other's throats since day one. No matter what I do or say, they still find ways to fight with each other. What's worse is that during one of their fights, it distracted us so much, that Lyra's Marill was able to sneak away and get lost. Yes, Lyra and Khoury had decided to join us on our way to Lilypad Town. Which lead us into a rescue mission all the way to a nearby Valley Windworks, a huge power plant. At the end of the day, Cyndaquil and Piplup got to save her and started to get along a little bit better. Though, they still love to tease each other.

When you think that nothing worse can happen and you will have the rest of the journey in peace, a naughty Gible appears, and of course one of us wants to catch it. What did surprise me is that Ash did not jump at the chance of getting a pokemon that will evolve into a Pseudo-Legendary. If anything, Ash was the one that helped Khoury and his Totodile go head to head against Gible, helping them wear down the tough Pokémon to the point where it can be caught...and Khoury makes the catch! With Gible secured as Khoury's new friend, we all continued our journey to Lilypad Town again.

I felt conflicted about the Lilypad Contest, while I had won my contest against Ursula and I already had four ribbons, I had also lost against Jessie in my last contest, not even making it to the final round. On the bright side, Ash had gotten inspired by my fight against Palmer, thinking about what would have happened if my Vileplume was big enough to swallow the Energy Ball. Which lead him to try and implement that with his Grotle, and it was a huge success! Not only for Ash but also for me and Mamoswine, during our journey to Lilypad Town we perfected a contest move that will take the battle rounds by surprise.

"Is something wrong?" Ash asked me, as we unpacked in our Pokemon Center's room.

"I am feeling nervous," I admitted. "I still don't know how to feel about Mamoswine."

"And yet, you are using him for the battle round again," Ash commented.

"I trust him, our bond is stronger now... but he is still quite a stubborn pokemon," I sighed. "When angered he does not listen to anyone and attacks on his own."

"Dawn, pokemon take more after their trainers than we like to admit. All of your pokemon are stubborn as Distortion World," Ash chuckled.

"Are you calling me stubborn?!" I shouted at him, but he ignored me and continued talking.

"But if you pay attention, you'll realize that he has gotten better with others making jokes at his expense or trying to annoy him."

"Well, having Ambipom as a teammate helps," I answered with a tired chuckle. "Even I had to develop a resistance." I love my Ambipom, but she can get into people's last nerves.