"You want to... travel with me?"
To Dawn's surprise, she originally thought that Ash would be surprised or find it difficult to understand after she expressed this decision to him, but Ash didn't seem too surprised now.
If she had to say he was surprised at all... it was as if he just didn't understand why she would say this at this point in time.
"Um... do you understand what I'm saying...?"
Dawn reached out and waved her hand in front of Ash, wanting to make sure he was in a Smelling Salts state.
"Of course I understand.
You just want to travel together, right? Of course, that's just like that.
Anyway, our destinations should be about the same, right? We're both starting from our initial towns and heading towards destinations further away.
Since the destinations and the roads we need to take are about the same, traveling together should be reasonable, right?"
"This... uh..."
Dawn originally wanted to retort, but after thinking about it carefully, she felt like there wasn't really a problem.
Since they already knew each other and were heading in the same direction, traveling together was perfectly reasonable.
Although that was the case, Dawn couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
"Right? There's just like that, is there?" Ash seemed to find Dawn's flustered appearance amusing, so he continued, "Actually, finding companions for a trip is very simple.
Back then, I traveled with my companions for all sorts of strange reasons."
"...So, what were some of those reasons?" Dawn asked blankly, now on the verge of losing her ability to think.
"Hmm... two whose Bicycles were destroyed by Pikachu, and then they said they wanted to travel together... wanting to see a wider world, so they traveled together... wanting to see Professor Oak with their own eyes, so they traveled together... and one who went on a trip with his sister..."
What on earth is all that?
Hearing Ash's explanation, Dawn couldn't help but feel this confusion in her heart.
If Ash didn't look so serious,
Dawn would have thought he was just making up some random reasons to deceive her.
"Compared to them, I think you're quite normal, Dawn."
Because you were originally supposed to be one of them.
Ash averted his eyes guiltily, avoiding eye contact with Dawn.
"Normal...?" Dawn thought with a troubled expression, but of course, she had never traveled before, and she didn't know much about this kind of thing, so she could only tentatively believe that what Ash said was true.
"Then, nice to meet you?"
Dawn extended her hand to Ash hesitantly.
Originally, she had stayed up late to think of so many lines to persuade Ash, in order to cope with various situations, but she didn't expect Ash to agree directly.
It's not just that, did he agree, but he also said that it was a common thing to travel together right after meeting, which broke Dawn's long-held understanding.
"Yeah, nice to meet you too."
Unlike Dawn's restraint, Ash was generous and held Dawn's hand, marking the official opening of their bond and story from that moment.
"Cough...cough cough...Since that's the case, I'll go back to Rest first, otherwise I'll be in trouble if I'm too sleepy tomorrow.
What about you?"
With the thing she had been worried about settled, Dawn could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
She thought it was just an ordinary day, and her life would change from tomorrow, but Dawn never imagined that she would have such great luck before the journey even started.
"I'll go back too, otherwise it'll be awkward if I fall asleep here."
Ash said, Yawning.
He was already a little sleepy from lying on the grass, and now he could hardly restrain the urge to get a good night's Rest.
After reaching an agreement, the two walked back the same way together.
Arriving at the door, facing the closed gate, Ash looked at Dawn and said, "Then opening the door will be... um? Wait? What's with that expression?"
After noticing the
awkwardness on Dawn's face, Ash was a little stunned and hurriedly asked, "Your expression, could it be..."
"Ehehe~ Sorry, I forgot to bring the keys out and closed the door."
Dawn tapped her head with her fist, trying to play it off cutely.
Ash: "..."
He didn't expect that before the journey even started, they would encounter such a huge problem.
They couldn't just knock on the door in the middle of the night, could they? He could understand subconsciously forgetting that he needed a key after closing the door since it was his first time encountering this, but what was Dawn's situation?
"Didn't Erika say something similar to you at noon? Isn't the speed at which you forget things a bit too fast!?"
"I can't help it! I wasn't even thinking about the door and the key at the time.
After coming out, I subconsciously carefully closed the door.
What can I do?!"
"That's why you should use your Mind's Eye more! If you're so careless when traveling..."
The two, who were polite to each other just a moment ago, began to bicker over a small matter in the very next second.
Even though it was Dawn's first time meeting Ash, for some reason, Dawn didn't feel any awkwardness in bickering with Ash.
Instead, she felt like that's just how it should be.
Will this kind of thing happen often on future tri?
Dawn just bickered with Ash, while a strange expectation arose in her heart.
When it comes to Ash, since this was a redo, his feelings were naturally even stronger.
He had felt that his personality was similar to Dawn's when they were traveling together, and looking back now, he still felt the same way.
They both seemed to be thick-headed fools, insensitive to anything other than their own dreams, but that's precisely why they were able to become the most compatible partners.
The future journey will definitely be more interesting.
Ash also had such expectations in his heart.