The moon emerged from the clouds.
A stone path stretched from the backyard of the house, leading to a wide grassy area behind the row of houses.
The grass wasn't sparse or dense.
Stepping lightly, you could faintly hear a crisp sound, and a limber feeling came from your feet.
A few dark clouds obscured part of the moon, but faint Moonlight still shone down from the sky through the clouds, appearing even brighter and clearer in the unobstructed environment of the grassy field.
Ash came to the center of the grassy field, took a deep breath of the cold night air, and then fell straight onto the grass.
Feeling the sensation of the grass behind him, Ash felt his mood relax a lot in an instant, and he began to yawn, even though he hadn't been feeling sleepy before.
"Ugh~~ So comfortable~~"
He stretched, turned to his side, and closed his eyes, but he didn't try to fall asleep.
I mean, this was someone else's home.
They had invited him to stay, and it would be embarrassing if he were found sleeping outside all night the next day.
But now that he thought about it, how long had it been since he'd experienced this feeling?
Before traveling back to the present, because he was challenging the position of Pokémon Master, he trained day and night in fixed locations, with no time to relax and immerse himself in nature like this.
Feeling all this beauty, Ash could only exclaim, "It's so good to be back~!"
"Back? Back where?"
Ash: "?!"
Just as Ash made this exclamation, Dawn walked out from behind him at some point.
Whether it was because her footstewere too light or because she was wearing slippers, she didn't make any noise on the grass.
"Ahem, it's nothing, just a random exclamation."
Although he was puzzled as to why Dawn was here right now, Ash responded quickly with this answer.
Dawn, seeing this, just blinked curiously.
But thinking that Ash had traveled through so many regions, it's probably normal for him to suddenly exclaim something like that, right?
It's just that this behavior always gives Dawn a feeling of being old-fashioned.
"Can't you sleep either?"
Seeing Dawn walk to his side and sit down, Ash couldn't continue lying down,
so he had to get up and sit next to her.
The Moonlight shone on their faces, as if giving the children about to embark on a new journey the most sincere blessings and baptism, making people unable to help but be intoxicated.
"Yeah, a little... excited or uneasy, maybe?"
Dawn hugged her legs, her whole body swaying gently back and forth like this.
This feeling of unease looked a little cute and was rare for Dawn, of course, her personality is actually quite confident, and she wouldn't hesitate because of a little setback.
In Ash's memory, the number of times Dawn became depressed because of being hit hard could be counted on one hand, so Ash felt novelty when he saw Dawn in this state.
"It would be strange not to feel this way.
The night before my first journey, I was so excited that I overslept.
I spent the whole night thinking about which starter Pokémon to choose as my partner, and as a result, I overslept the next day."
Ash's first journey had some embarrassing moments.
It's normal to be too excited to sleep, but arriving at the Pokémon Lab so late is not normal.
Also, Blue waited so long at the entrance just to mock him.
Thinking about it makes him angry.
"Overslept... If my mom wasn't at home to wake me up, I'm afraid I would have overslept too..."
Although it seems she's the only new trainer at this time, arriving late would leave a bad impression, especially since she'll likely have to deal with Professor Rowan quite a bit in the future... Moreover, it's rumored that Professor Rowan is a terrifying person, and Dawn doesn't want to offend him on the first day.
"Although I was really flustered when I overslept, and I didn't even have time to wash up and went out in my pajamas, I was still a step late even after rushing.
The three starter Pokémon in the Kanto region were all taken."
"Huh?" Dawn covered her mouth in surprise and asked, "So you didn't get a starter Pokémon?"
"Well, to be precise, I didn't get the three starter Pokémon from the Kanto region that are supposed to be given to new trainers.
At that time, I felt very sorry and regretful, but when Professor Oak gave me Pikachu as my starter Pokémon, I felt like I had struck gold.
Although Pikachu back then was like
I said at noon, it hated humans and would shock me whenever I touched it, but I liked it at first sight.
Looking back now, I should be grateful that I overslept that day."
Dawn listened quietly, as if she were Ash at that time, her mood changing from the low of oversleeping and not receiving a Pokémon to the joy of obtaining Pikachu.
Seeing that Dawn seemed to be slowly calming down, her arms gradually loosening from around her legs, Ash continued, "Traveling always has a lot of uncertain factors, getting lost, meeting bad people... these are unavoidable, but overall, it's always 'where there's a will, there's a way', although my companions and I have encountered a lot of dangers and troubles along the way, we still managed to solve them in the end, and in the end, there's only the joy of the harvest..."
As expected...
A smile unconsciously appeared on the corner of Dawn's mouth, as she confirmed her inner thoughts.
His love for Pokémon and for traveling is from the bottom of his heart.
Although traveling will definitely be a happy thing, if I follow him, can I encounter more interesting things?
If Dawn's feelings about traveling alone were half joy and half worry before, then after meeting Ash, hearing about his experiences in travel, and hearing his encouragement and comfort, Dawn's thoughts about traveling have completely turned to the good side.
Anyway, things will eventually sort themselves out, and it doesn't matter if I encounter trouble, just treat it all as enriching my life experience, is that right?
Dawn looked at Ash's profile, finally made up her mind, turned around to face Ash directly, and then, under his puzzled gaze, Dawn said, "Although it may be a bit abrupt to say this, can I ask you to grant me a request?"
"A request?" After noticing Dawn's actions, Ash also looked at her and asked curiously.
"Yes.
" Dawn nodded lightly, gazing at her reflection in Ash's pupils, she took a deep breath and said, "Please let me travel with you!"
A few dark clouds in the sky drifted away in the breeze, and the Moonlight that had been partially obscured now appeared even more dazzling in the vast night sky.