A/N: Thanks for clicking on this story! Hope you enjoy it!

This is my entry for The Light's Refrain's competition Light's Illusion wore off! –The Zorua/Zoroark Contest! on the Pokémon Fanfiction Challenges forum. The challenge was to write a story in which a Zorua or a Zoroark uses its Illusion ability to affect the plot.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

Accidentally

"I swear Iris, it was an accident!"

"So you say you accidentally walked towards the river, accidentally saw me naked and then accidentally stole my clothes?!"

"Yes! I'm so glad you understand it!"

"Cilan… that was sarcasm!"

"Oh… but really Iris, it was an accident, you know I would never do something like that, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do it, I mean-"

"Cilan."

"It wasn't my fault, it all has a really logical explanation, it wasn't my fault and I'm so sorry Iris, really, I don't get-"

"Cilan!"

"And you know me, I mean, you know I would never be able to do something like that, just look at me now, I'm blabbering, and I'm so so sorry, it wasn't my intention and-"

"CILAN!"

"…Yes?"

"Explain. Now."

"Uh, okay, yes, explain, of course… Ahum, well it started when…"

"Aaahh," Cilan sighed contently, plopping down on the cool ground, his back resting against a tree. With the back of his hand, he wiped away the sweat on his forehead. It wasn't a particular hot day, but walking in the scorching sun all day sure made it feel like one. Not to mention that Ash had insisted they kept walking until they had reached the forest.

It had been a complete coincidence, that he had run into Ash a week ago. The young Connoisseur had been on his way to Professor Juniper in Driftveil City, only to meet Ash as soon as he had left Striaton City. Completing their group, Iris had joined them in Nacrene City, where she had been visiting family. It was wonderful to have the group together again, and Cilan loved every minute of it. It felt like they had just continued where they had left off five years ago, and he was enjoying it more than ever.

Now they had just reached the forest and both Iris and Ash were leaning against a tree, huffing and puffing.

"When did it get so hot?" the girl asked, a bit out of breath.

"The moment Ash decided he wanted to race us to this forest," the green-haired man answered dryly, to which Ash reacted with an indignant "Hey!" and Iris with a short laugh.

A fresh breeze suddenly arose, causing the two males to sigh in relief and lean further against their trees, but Iris to get up and start sniffing.

"I…" she started, her nose in the air, "…smell water…."

After sniffing a few more times, she pointed towards some bushes. "It's that way."

Silently Cilan watched her as she made her way to the bushes, and it was only when she was about to disappear in them that he spoke up. "What are you going to do?"

The purple-haired girl turned around to face him. "Going to look for that water, then take a swim if the water is clean."

After a glance towards her Axew, she added, "Better if you stay here Axew."

The Pokémon obeyed without a comment, making Cilan think that the two had already talked about it, though he couldn't find a reason why. He opened his mouth, about to ask her, when he suddenly realized that it might be 'girl business' and after another moment of hesitation he closed his mouth again.

"I'll be back in an hour or so, you guys don't mind, right?"

Before either of them could reply, Iris had already disappeared in the bushes.

"And Ash, what are you going to do?" Cilan asked the younger boy, who didn't reply, as he was too busy playing with his Pokégear.

"Hmm," Ash mumbled after a minute or two, causing the Connoisseur to look at him. Ash was sitting there, grinning at his Pokégear, then gave Pikachu a mischievous look after a glance towards Cilan and the bushes Iris just had disappeared in.

Curiously, Cilan raised an eyebrow, but Ash remained silent. It was only after a few more minutes and more typing on his Pokégear that he finally spoke up.

"Well Cilan, I'm going to meet up with an old friend, I'll be back in an hour or two, I think."

"Can't I-" he started, but Ash interrupted him with a quick answer, saying that Cilan didn't know that old friend.

A bit suspicious, Cilan studied Ash. He was acting a bit nervous, a bit jumpy, as if he was hiding something.

Stop being so suspicious, he's probably just meeting up with a girl or something, that's why he's so jumpy, Cilan reprimanded himself. He shouldn't always think the worst of Ash.

"Okay, have fun Ash, don't forget about the time!" he said, mustering a smile.

After a quick bye, Ash and Pikachu darted off, off to meet that unknown old friend.

"Well, looks like it's just you and me, Axew," Cilan said to the green Pokémon. Axew didn't react though, it had already fallen asleep under the same tree Iris just had been leaning against.

"Or just me…" the young man mumbled dejectedly, slumping against the tree. With the intention of taking a little nap before lunch, he closed his eyes.

A little tap on his shoulder.

"Hngg," he mumbled, stretching his limps a bit before falling back in his slumber.

Another tap.

"Hm, whattuh?" Cilan muttered, now opening his eyes and sitting up. "What is it?"

In front of him, Iris sat on her knees, her tanned hand already reaching out to give him another tap on his shoulder. When she noticed he was awake her eyes started shining and she jumped up.

He blinked a few more times, his vision slowly getting clearer and his mind less hazy.

"Iris, what's going on?" he asked, looking up to her from his position on the ground.

In response, the girl put a finger on her lips, gesturing him to be silent, and then beckoned him to get up. When he didn't immediately react, she grabbed his hand and pulled him up, an excited smile on her face.

"Whoa Iris, what-" he started, but she interrupted him with a hiss. She let go of his hand and almost jumped to the other side of the clearing, in the direction of where supposedly the water was. With her hand she gestured him to follow her, and with an eyebrow raised Cilan took a slow step in her direction.

Apparently he didn't go fast enough for the tanned girl, because she ran back to him and grabbed his hand, pulling him with her as she quickly made her way to the bushes. Cilan opened his mouth to ask her something, but she put her finger to her lips again, obviously wanting him to be silent.

What's going on? Does Iris want to show me something? Cilan wondered as they wandered through the bushes in silence, almost as if they were sneaking up on someone. Or something perhaps.

The bushes were high, reaching to his waist and the low branches and leafs hindered him in walking. Iris didn't seem to have a problem with it, though some of the bushes almost reached to her elbow.

After a few minutes, his ears could distinguish the sound of running water between the other sounds of the forest. Iris had started to walk more stealthily, and unconsciously he had followed her example.

Maybe she's going to show me a Pokémon… Cilan thought as they slowed down. The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

Suddenly, Iris stopped and turned around, facing him. Slowly, she put a finger on her lips, reminding him wordlessly to stay silent, then turned her back on him again and continued walking. She was walking faster than before, and Cilan had to do his best to keep up with her without making too much noise.

The purple-haired girl was now walking about ten steps ahead of him, and he was getting a little out of breath. Cilan opened his mouth to call for her, but stopped when he noticed… something. Something on Iris's... rump. Not that he had been staring at it, not at all, he just… noticed.

Is that a… tail? Cilan wondered flabbergasted. He blinked unbelieving, and when he opened his eyes again, saw that not only the tail had disappeared, but Iris too! He increased his pace even more, hoping to find her hiding behind a tree or something.

After a moment, he got out of the bushes and arrived by the river. And found Iris.

Just not how he had expected.

It was a broad river, with slowly flowing water, deep and clear. In the river stood Iris, the water reaching her waist. Her wet hair had gotten a shade darker and was clinging to her body.

Her naked body.

Cilan's eyes almost popped out of their sockets, his mouth ran dry and he was completely frozen on the spot, his eyes glued to her. The moment after that, he realized what he was doing and immediately he turned beet red, but before he could reprimand himself for doing such a completely inappropriate thing, his attention was caught by a figure he saw in the corners of his eyes.

A tall, male figure came running towards the bathing Iris, who hadn't noticed him yet. The green-haired man was about to yell a warning when he recognized the man.

It was himself.

Wait, what? Shell-shocked and incredibly confused, Cilan stared at the man who looked exactly like him. The other Cilan had now reached Iris, and she screamed as the other Cilan grabbed her clothes, which had been laying on the ground.

The other Cilan now took a sharp turn, sprinting in the direction the real Cilan was standing. Before the real Cilan could even think about what would happen next, the other Cilan had reached him and pushed Iris's clothes in his hands as he ran past him.

In a reflex, Cilan turned around to see where the other Cilan was going, and immediately noticed the same tail he had seen on Iris just a minute ago. Before he could really think about it, the other Cilan disappeared – no wait, it changed!

Instead of a human male, there was now a black fox like Pokémon jumping away in the bushes. But it had happened so fast, that Cilan wasn't sure if it had really happened or that he had just imagined it.

He was pulled out of his daze by more screams from Iris, and realized with a shock he was still holding her clothes and she was still naked. Pushing the matter with the tail and the Pokémon to the back of his mind, he ran towards the girl, keeping his eyes on the ground.

"So… it was a Pokémon?"

"A Zorua, I assume."

"A Zorua…"

"Uhm, Iris, I would still like to apologize for my inappropriate... peeking, I should've-"

"It's okay Cilan, I know you didn't mean to. Besides, my hair was covering most of my body anyway."

"Yes, fortunately it did. Wait, not that I didn't want to see- uh, I mean, of course I didn't want to see it, but no, no, wait-"

"Cilan."

"Yes Iris?"

"Shut up."

"Yes Iris."

"Good. Now, a wild Zorua would never do something like this on its own…"

"…"

"…"

"Luke!"

"Yes, Luke… would Ash-?"

"Maybe… he did say he was meeting an old friend. And he did look like he was planning something… They could've done this!"

"I should be able to follow Ash's tracks… C'mon Cilan, let's give those two a piece of our mind!"

"You sure- wait, Iris, wait for me!"

Needless to say that, when Iris and Cilan found Ash and Luke together, laughing and with a Zorua, they drew the logical conclusion and gave both boys a piece of their mind. In other words, a black eye and no desert for the rest of the journey.

A/N: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. Please review!
Thanks again!