Pokemon Fanifcs

Birthday Surprise (Twinleafshipping)

****PART 3 (RATING: CUTE/FLUFF)****

"A scavenger hunt!" Joanna's eyes brightened with wonder, "I think Barry would love that for his birthday!"

Popping up from the kitchen table, Dawn gleamed with pride at her genius. "I think so too! But I need people to help distribute the clues, that's where you come in. I was hoping you could give him the first one."

Dawn's mom smiled as she cleared the table, "Sure I can do that!"

"Great," Dawn smiled, walking her dirty plate to the dishwasher "All I need now is to find..." Before Dawn could even finish her sentence, a firm rapping was heard at the door. Almost immediately, Dawn's heart shrunk into itself. "Oh no! What if that's Barry! What should I do?"

Rinsing the breakfast pan, Dawn's mom shrugged and shook her head "Honey, I would get the door, but you're not a kid anymore, and it's not right for you to ignore your problems. It's important for you to learn how to handle awkward situations, even if you're the only one who knows it."

Dawn groaned in response; she hated when her mother was right. Walking to the door was quite the feat for Dawn. As her steps grew, so did the thoughts swirling around in her mind. They aimlessly jumped around from one concept to the next. One step: her blood surged through her veins, leaving a hot sting to the surface of her skin. Ok, I'm definitely a nervous wreck right now, but I have to answer this door. Two steps: her eyes made contact with the door. It's just a rectangular piece of wood used as an entrance, it will not mock me! Three, four, five: coming closer, she saw the sun had helped form the silhouette of a young man against the window shade. Dawn wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead, and pushed forward. That has to be him, I mean who else could it possibly be? Six, seven.... The door now was the only thing separating her from the visitor. Her hand fumbled for the door knob, trying to find any ounce of courage it could to turn it. Burning her last vestiges of will power, Dawn's eyes closed as she finally opened the door.

"Hey Dawn, I was just in the area and-Oh God, are you ok? You look like you've seen a Haunter" the boy's greeting quickly turned into concern.

Dawn's ears rang as she registered the familiar voice. Yes, she's heard it before, but it did not belong to Barry. Dawn opened her eyes only to see a very disturbed Ash Ketchum and his partner Pikachu, about ready to call the ambulance. Standing strong, Dawn mustered just enough energy to enclose the two in a warm embrace. "Ash," Dawn breathed "I can't believe you're here. I thought you were..." Dawn released her grip and backed away sheepishly.

"You thought I was...?" Ash started back, very confused at the situation.

"It's nothing important, I just thought you were gonna be somebody else," Dawn's voice lowered a little disappointment.

"Really?" Ash titled his head curiously "You sounded disappointed just now, yet it seems this person had you sweating buckets just getting to the door... I don't even know how that's possible unless..." Ash trailed off, only to switch his bewilderment for a playful smirk. "Unless, somebody has a little crush," he sang relentlessly.

"Huh? Th-that's just silly," Dawn exhaled "What makes you think that?" she tried to laugh the comment off.

Ash shook his head in smug laughter "Dawn, c'mon. You're a mess right now. What else could it be?"

If there was one thing that Dawn disliked, it was interrogations. So, to have two in one day was to say the least, not her cup of tea, especially when she was still undecided in her stance on the matter. Standing up straight, now with regained composure, she held her hands in surrender. "Ok... but I wouldn't call it a crush... it actually feels more like a smother that only leaves me in confusion." Dawn flushed . "I still don't really know how I feel." Dawn blushed whilst gazing down at her sneakers.

Ash nodded in sympathy, and offered a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's alright. You don't have to know how you feel, so don't sweat it too much. I know you'll figure it out." he smiled.

Dawn glanced up to meet Ash's encouraging gaze, her lips curling up in mollified amusement. "Thanks, Ash. You really know how to talk a girl up and down." she poked.

Ash faintly giggled before nudging further ".... Soooo, who is it? Anyone I know?"Ash inquired.

Dawn shook her head "Classic Ash, you just can't keep your nose out of things can you? Ok, fine. You can't say a word though, I'm not even supposed to know. I'm only telling you because I know you've kept juicier secrets of mine in the past." Dawn pointed out.

Making sure nobody was around to hear her, she crouched closer to Ash "So, I may have found out that Barry likes me... as more than a friend..." Dawn paused to let her words soak in "Can you believe it? Barry!?! Like, who would've thought, am I right?"

Ash stared into Dawn's eyes with slight amusement "Ummmmm... yeah. You see, I kind of already knew that," Ash confessed "Barry told me a couple of years ago, actually." Ash nervously laughed.

"Wh-what?" Dawn stuttered out "Does everyone know this except for me? Could I have really been that blind to any advances he could have made?"

Ash scratched the back of his neck "I don't know about any of that. All I know is that he's liked you for a while, and he's always wanted to tell you, but was too scared."

Dawn nodded "Yeah, I figured that much out on my own,"

"Say," Ash interjected "How did you even find out?"

"Ugh," Dawn sighed "It's complicated. The important part is that I know, and what we are next... but I'm still not quite sure what I want. All I know is that I'm gonna do something very special for his birthday coming up..." Dawn paused before continuing "Actually, if you aren't doing anything, I could really use your help that only an awesome friend like you can accomplish," Dawn sang.

Ash rolled his eyes "Dawn, stop with the flattery, you know we'll help," Ash nodded to Pikachu who mimicked his trainer's actions. "What do you need us to do?"

"Well, I'm gonna send Barry on a scavenger hunt all throughout Sinnoh, and I need people to hand him clues. Can you do that?" Dawn asked.

Ash and Pikachu huddled into each other and whispered for a moment before facing Dawn again "Ok, we'll do it, but on two conditions" Ash said.

Dawn chuckled and nodded her head "Sure, what are they?"

"First, we want to pick the location," Ash explained.

"Seems reasonable," Dawn shrugged. "And second?"

"Right," Ash high fived Pikachu and they both flexed their arm muscles "Second, he's gonna have to battle us for his next clue!"

Dawn grinned "You have yourself a deal!"

****END OF PART 3****