Early the next morning.
At the dining table, Ash and Dawn each had dark circles under their eyes, constantly yawning and looking very sleepy.
"I can understand why Dawn didn't sleep well, of course, it's her first day traveling, it's inevitable that she'd be excited, but Ash, what's wrong with you? Is something on your mind?"
"No, nothing.
" Ash shrugged and said, "I just slept too much on the plane, which made it hard for me to sleep last night, it's nothing, I'm used to it."
"Is that so..." Erika said, more or less accepting Ash's explanation.
"But it's best not to get used to this kind of thing, young people shouldn't overdraw their bodies too much, or it'll be too late to regret it in the future."
"Yes... thank you for your concern."
Ash could only manage to squeeze a smile on his face in response.
Ash himself couldn't quite remember what time he got back yesterday.
He only remembered that he and Dawn argued at the door for at least half an hour, and in the end, they couldn't decide on a winner.
So they simply chatted at the door, continuing the topic from noon.
It was Pikachu who woke up in the middle of the night and found him missing.
Seeing him locked out through the window, Pikachu helped him and Dawn open the door with a speechless expression.
I mean, it's Pikachu; it's useful at critical moments.
Although he and Dawn eventually made it back to bed, it was already dawn.
Ash guessed he only slept about four hours last night, a strange amount.
Any less, and he and Dawn wouldn't have been able to get up today.
"oki!"
"pi?!"
Ash and the others were eating at the table, while Aipom, eating its Pokémon food on the floor, couldn't resist its mischievous desires.
It secretly took a lot of Pikachu's food, and even when discovered, it showed no remorse, quickly gobbling it all up, leaving Pikachu sad and helpless.
"Can you not play pranks so early in the morning..."
Seeing this, Ash
could only refill Pikachu's depleted Pokémon food and, by the way, squirt a large dollop of Ketchup on it, which finally turned Pikachu's mood completely from gloomy to sunny.
"By the way, I haven't had a chance to ask before.
" Seeing the interaction between Ash and Pikachu, Erika inquired, "You did say before that Pikachu didn't want to stay in the Poké Ball, but what about Aipom? Is it the same for it?"
"Oki~?"
Hearing that the topic seemed to have shifted to itself, Aipom giggled, then saluted Erika, as if telling her that her guess was correct.
"Correct my foot!" Seeing this, Ash gave it a chop on the head, explaining, "This guy followed me on its own.
It should be at Professor Oak's Pokémon Lab right now.
Because it followed me secretly, I don't have its Poké Ball yet.
Once we get to the next town, I can contact Professor Oak and have its Poké Ball sent over."
"I see."
Erika suddenly understood.
Compared to Aipom, the companions she had captured during her years of traveling were all very well-behaved, never causing her any worry.
Thinking about it that way, she felt a bit lucky.
After finishing the conversation here, Erika started to ask Dawn, who was quickly gobbling down her breakfast, looking like she wanted to finish quickly: "Dawn, have you decided which Pokémon you want to choose? Didn't you have a sleepless night over it?"
"Huh? Me? Uh..."
Dawn, with chopsticks in her mouth, looked very conflicted.
"I haven't decided yet.
I feel like all three Pokémon are very cute.
The specific situation will depend on what happens then, right? Seeing them in person is the best!"
That's certainly true if you put it that way.
Erika nodded in agreement.
When she started her journey, she had decided early on which starter Pokémon she wanted, but after seeing them in person, she still hesitated for a long time before finalizing her choice.
For new trainers, only when they see the companion they will fight alongside for life will they begin to feel cautious.
"Is everything prepared? Although you can buy anything you're missing during the trip,
it's best to bring some necessities from the beginning, like potions.
Otherwise, it would be terrible if something went wrong during the trip."
"Heh heh! No problem, just like that! Everything is ready!" Dawn quickly cleaned up the last bit of food on her plate, then puffed out her chest and said, "I moved all the things I needed to take outside after I woke up today!"
"Moved to?"
"Outside?"
Ash and Erika exchanged glances, both reading doubt and a hint of worry in each other's eyes.
Then, under Dawn's confident gaze, they went to the door and opened it, only to see—
"This is..."
"Who in the world would bring luggage taller than themselves on a trip?"
"Why not!? These are all necessities, right? Like this dress, and this skirt... even this hat, these are all very important!"
Dawn, who had prepared for so long and was confident in her luggage, naturally voiced her dissatisfaction at such ruthless criticism.
"Important how! Really! Do you think you can travel with all this stuff? It's because you said 'just like that, just like that' that I felt relieved to leave the packing to you! But didn't you mess it all up? In any case, quickly throw out all the useless stuff inside!"
"No way!!"
Watching Dawn and Erika pulling back and forth, Ash could only smile awkwardly on the side.
How should I put it? It really has Dawn's style, being so rough around the edges in many ways, but so convinced of her own methods.
Dawn's personality easily influences the people around her.
"Oh, this child..." After finally rushing Dawn inside to repack her luggage, Erika finally had time to press her forehead helplessly, and then apologized to Ash, "I'm sorry, my child may not be very bright, I'll have to trouble you to take care of her along the way."
"Ah... um..."
Ash didn't know how to answer that, so he just responded with a forced nod.
I mean, in his memory, it seemed like Dawn took care of him more often along the way.