It had been a long day when Dawn finally settled down for the night in the Pokemon Center of Castellia City. She had arrived in the massive city earlier on in the day and had been baffled by the huge amount of skyscrapers and the hundreds of people who seemed to be mingling in the city’s street at all times. It had left her exhausted, so she was quite happy to find a free room in the local Pokemon Center, where she could get a good night’s sleep in preparation of the Contest she would be entering in a few days.

When Dawn had first heard of the distant Unova, she had heard enough when she found out that Pokemon Contests were not organized in the region. However, a few months ago, an official Pokemon Contest Committee had been set up and more and more cities had begun to host their own contests in preparation of the first ever Unova Grand Festival, which would be held over next Christmas. Dawn had been exhilarated to hear this news and she had wasted no time in traveling to Unova to compete. Having a chance to win the first ever Unova Grand Festival was a chance she would not miss. The honor and media coverage of such a victory were too good to pass up, and Dawn could certainly use a good win to wash away the sour taste of Hoenn’s defeat…

Sometime after her Sinnoh adventures with Ash, Dawn had travelled across the Hoenn region, together with her former rival Kenny. Over the course of their journey, Dawn was ashamed to admit, she had started to develop feelings for the boy. When she lost a contest to him in Rustboro City, she found out that Kenny, in fact, returned those feelings. It had been the start of a loving relationship. Even now, she thought back to that night, years ago, in Rustboro City’s Pokemon Center, when she lost her virginity to Kenny, and she couldn’t help but smile through her tears.

As loving as their relationship had begun, it did not end well. For reasons she considered too painful to think about, Dawn had ended their relationship after suffering an embarrassing defeat at Kenny’s hands in the Hoenn Grand Festival’s finals. She hadn’t seen or spoken to Kenny since, and she was just fine with it.

Lying down on her bed, Dawn decided to zap through some channels on the small TV that occupied the opposite end of the room. She soon discovered that there wasn’t anything worth watching on though, so she settled for a cooking channel, featuring a green-haired chef cooking some, no doubt, delicious food.

“Heh, I bet that whatever he’s cooking wouldn’t last a minute against Brock’s dishes…” she mumbled, thinking back to the tall, tanned boy whom she had once travelled with. It had sure been long since she had seen him, not to mention Ash. Her friend from Pallet Town had gone into a lonely retreat some 5 years ago, after participating in the Unova league. Dawn had often texted him in the beginning, trying to coax him back to civilization, but he wouldn’t budge and in time she had given up. Sometimes she wished they were still travelling together…

Just then, Dawn could hear her Pokegear beep, indicating a new e-mail had arrived. She turned around and reached for the device on her nightstand. Activating it, she started to read.

Hey guys!

 I don’t know if you’ve heard yet, but there’s going to be a big Pokemon tournament on Vulcan Island in a few weeks!

If you ask me, this is the perfect opportunity to get a certain knuckle-headed Pokemon trainer we all know out of his self-imposed retreat. I’ve got a feeling he’ll have been invited for the tournament. Even if he hasn’t been invited, we should all still go there. For old time’s sake!

If we all meet up at the edge of the forest on the south side of the island, we can make the trek through the forest together. It’ll be all sorts of fun!

Let’s meet up on July 31st. That should leave us about 4 days to get through the forest and into the stadium.

Hoping to see you there,

May Maple,

Editor/Photographer – Pokemon Fashion Magazine

Seaside Avenue 42

Slateport City

Hoenn

 Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail. This e-mail may contain confidential data, directed at the recipient of this e-mail only. If you are not the rightful recipient, please inform the source of this e-mail before deleting it.

 Pokemon Fashion Magazine cannot be held accountable for any opinion stated by any employee in this e-mail.

 With a jolt, Dawn sat upright on the bed. She hadn’t seen or spoken to May ever since the Wallace Cup back in Sinnoh and suddenly here she was, inviting her to a another journey? Dawn wasn’t too sure if she could accept the invitation. She still had 3 ribbons to win before the end of the year! “Then again” a small voice spoke in the back of her mind, “this tournament will only last a couple of weeks, right? And didn’t you say yourself you wished to travel with these guys again?”

This was true, she thought, she had mentally uttered the wish to travel with Ash and the gang again. Besides, even after the tournament she would have nearly 5 months to win her remaining ribbons! Making up her mind, she started to type her response to May, confirming her participation.

Hi May!

How are you doing? It’s been years since I heard from you! How are you doing in the Coordinating business?

We definitely have to catch up over a cup of coffee and this tournament you’re talking about seems like as good an occasion as any! Count me in! I’ll start planning my trip to Vulcan Island tomorrow.

I can’t wait to meet you all there on July 31st!

Lots of lo-

But just when she was about to finish her message, Dawn was interrupted by her Pokegear again. This time it indicated a message had arrived from another one of Dawn’s old rivals, the fiery-haired tomboy named Zoey. Putting her own message on hold, Dawn quickly opened her old rival’s mail.

Hey Dawn!

I bet you’ve received May e-mail about the tournament already. Have you decided whether or not you’re going yet?

I know I have and, as usual, I’m one step ahead of you. I’ve already checked for any travel plans from Unova to Vulcan Island! Turns out we’ll hit kind of a snag, the only way to Vulcan Island from Unova is by plane, and Vulcan’s airfield is on the opposite side of the island compared to the harbor!

Bummer, eh? This means we won’t be able to meet up with everyone from the other regions, sadly. But, we should still be able to meet up at the tournament!

I’ll cut to the case now. My journey hasn’t exactly been all bells, whistles and butterflies lately and I don’t think I can make the journey alone right now. Would you like to come to Vulcan Island with me? It would be great to see you again; we’ve got so much to talk about!

Hope to see you soon Dawn,

Zoey

Well, calling that a bummer was the understatement of the year! This meant she wouldn’t be able to travel the last leg through the forest with Ash and the others! Then again, travelling with Zoey would be fun as well, and from the sound of things, if she wasn’t going to accompany her red-haired friend, Zoey wouldn’t go at all. Dawn wondered what had made Zoey’s journey so downcast to make her consider not travelling anymore if she had to do it alone. That was quite something for a tough person like the redheaded coordinator.

Dawn made up her mind. She would meet up with Zoey on the airfield and together they would make their way to the tournament. Dawn quickly reworked her e-mail to May before she sent it off, together with a reply for Zoey. With a content smile, she shut her Pokegear off and placed it on her nightstand again. She turned her attention back to the television again, where the green-haired chef was now working feverishly on what seemed to be Piplup-shaped ice-cream.

“Hmmm, looks delicious… I’ll have to try that out sometime!” she murmured as she switched the television off and started to get into her pajamas. She would need her rest. Tomorrow would bring a new start to a new journey, one she would have to undertake alone with Zoey but which she hoped to finish with all of her old friends together.