Yep, I lied! There's an epilouge that I never told anyone about. xDDDDD

Enjoy the REAL last chapter!
-RD :)

"Are we there yet?"

"Ash, you've been asking that same question for the last hour. We're not there yet!" Brock snapped, a bit fed up with the boy's impatience.

"Sorry, Brock! I just really can't wait!"

"Neither can I," Dawn added, placing an elbow on the ship's railing and staring out at the sea.

"I can't wait to see all the battling! I'm sure there will be some great Water Pokémon in the competition!"

"And I can't wait to win!" The group all laughed at the bold statement.

"Who knows, Ash? Paul's competing, and he told me that he's been training an awful lot."

"Figures you would say that," he scoffed. "Dawn, you just think that because he's Paul."

"Who likes you!" Holly tagged on, placing a playful hand on Dawn's shoulder.

The blue-haired girl turned red. "N-no! That's not it! He's just a really good Trainer! And Ash has never beaten him before!"

"HEY!"

They all got another good laugh before Misty placed a hand on Ash's cheek and turned him to face her. "Don't worry. You'll always be a winner to me," she said, earning an "aww" from all their friends.

"Ash and Misty, sitting in a tree~" sang Dawn. The two in the song blushed and moved away from each other. "It's okay! You already confessed your feelings to each other."

"DAWN!" they yelled at the same time as their faces got even redder.

"Hey!" said Holly, interrupting Ash and Misty's utter embarrassment. "I think I can see it from here! Look, everybody!" Ash ran back to the railing and leaned over as far as he could without falling off the ship.

"There it is! Lily of the Valley Island!"

The minute the ship had docked was the same minute Ash noticed that Dawn had gone missing.

"Hey, do you know where Dawn is?" he whispered to Misty. "Wait… do you think…?" She only smirked up at him.

"Wanna bet?"

She raced along the pathways of the unfamiliar place, having only taken directions from one of the men she had seen when getting off the ship. She listened to the pitter-patter sound her shoes made on the pavement along with Piplup's squeaks and noises of anger at having to run to keep up with her. But Dawn didn't mind. She could only think of one thing.

Paul.

Thinking of him only inspired her to run faster - much to Piplup's dismay - into the swarm of people around the island's main attraction: the stadium where the Sinnoh League would be held. She stood on her toes in the midst of such a crowd in order to find who she was looking for, hoping to spot his purple hair.

"Do you see him, Piplup?" Dawn asked her penguin Pokémon who was aiding her search as much as he could.

"Pip pip!"

"Um… there! I think! Let's go!" She took off into the crowd again, trying not to run over people in her pursuit. "Paul! Paul!"

"What do you keep yelling for? I'm right here." Dawn turned around and grinned.

"Hey!" she said, walking over and slipping her small hand into his.

And to her surprise, he didn't pull away.

"Do you think we should go find her?"

"Why should we?"

"Well, Brock and Holly don't seem very concerned," Ash said, looking over at the couple who had two straws in a milkshake and seemed rather happy.

"She'll be fine. She can handle herself! You're acting like you're her big brother or something. It's weird."

"Well, I'm sorry for being a good friend."

"I forgive you." Misty flashed him a smile and he couldn't help but smile back. "…It's funny, you know," she said quietly as she dragged her foot around in the grass. "It's like we all realized our true feelings in Sunnyshore City…"

"Yeah…" Ash replied with a soft smile on his face. "There was just something about it that seemed to bring it out from all of us. I wonder what it was."

After a couple minutes of thinking, Misty blurted out, "It must be the sunshine!"

"What?"

"The sunshine!" she repeated. "It's warm and nice… and romantic?" Misty continued, tilting her head to the side and trying to make sense of what she had just said.

Ash only chuckled at the silly comment his may-as-well-be girlfriend had made and placed his arm around her. But as he stared out into the vast sea spread before them with the sun shining brightly on it all, he began to think that she might be right.

"Hmm… It must be the sunshine…"

It must be the sunshine.

END

Awww, that's really it! Well, that was fun. Thank you all for reading my first ever completed multi-chapter story! The first one that's not a one-shot collection, anyway.

Special thanks to:
My lovely beta-reader
All my readers
All my reviewers
All the people who added me or this story to thier favorites or alerts list

AND YOU!

Well, I guess you're a reader, but you're special. :)

RD's out!
PEACE!