A/N: So, this is my favorite Pokemon ship, but it's not very popular. :'( I also put a little, possibly unnoticeable reference.

I don't own Pokemon, but I do own the right to ship Ash and Iris!

"You're such a kid, Ash!"

"Would you just shut up?! I just made a mistake!"

"Yeah, a childish mistake!"

"Well, only a kid like you, Iris, would ever say someone is a kid just because they messed up!"

Cilan groaned, placing his head in his hands. "This is a recipe for disaster!" he complained.

"Pan pansage!" his Pokémon partner said, mimicking his trainer.

Pikachu, Oshowatt, and Axew began to yell over the bickering of the two eleven-year-old travellers, trying to stop them from fighting.

The three had decided to stop for some lunch during their travels. After munching down on Cilan's spectacular cooking, he and Ash had decided to pump themselves up with a battle. The Gym Leader had chosen his trusty partner Pansage, while the soon-to-be Pokémon master decided to spice up the battle with a Water-type: Oshowatt.

As they fought, the battle had quite an interesting flavor; Cilan had to give it to Ash for making every battle unique and surprising. Of course, even the greatest can mess up. Ash had an easy opportunity to knock out Pansage, but he had seen it too late. That mistake cost him the battle, and Cilan was able to use Bullet Seed to defeat Oshowatt.

Now Iris was verbally beating the poor boy for a simple error that could have happened to any trainer, new or experienced.

"I'm not talking to someone who calls me a kid all the time!"

"Only a kid would say something as dumb as that!"

"..."

"Fine! Have it your way! I'm not talking to you either!"

The two kids (Cilan saw them as kids since they were eleven.) stomped off in opposite directions, leaving their Pokémon without any idea what to do.

Cilan knelt down to Pansage. "How're we gonna fix their friendship?" he asked his beloved partner.

"Pan?" he answered, unsure of his suggestion.

Cilan laughed. "Great idea, but I'm pretty sure that only works for Pokémon," he told Pansage.

Pansage thought a bit more, then spoke up again. "Pansage pan?"

Cilan rolled his eyes. "How would a romantic dinner fix-" He gasped. "Pansage!" he exclaimed. "You just gave me an idea!" He whispered his plan into his Pokémon's ear, then stood up quickly, Pansage hopping back a bit with a small grin.

Cilan was no love connoisseur (Girls were always confusing!), but he knew that the two had feelings for each other; they both told him so, separately of course, and ended the conversation with, "Don't tell him/her, okay?" He knew that he had to get them to confess their love to make things right. If they just apologized, those could be empty words.

Pansage dashed up to Pikachu and Axew. "Pan pan pansage pan," he told them seriously.

Pikachu nodded and smiled. "Pika pika!" he replied.

Axew clapped his claws together. "Yew yew!" he answered as well.

Fifteen minutes later, Ash and Iris still weren't speaking to each other. They were sitting cross-legged on the grass a wide distance from each other with their arms crossed, eyes closed and heads raised high. The Pokémon just played tag nearby, becoming bored of their grudge.

Cilan walked up to them, his shoes crunching the few leaves on the ground. Ash didn't stir at the sound of his return, but Iris did; keeping her arms crossed, she opened her eyes and glared at Cilan.

"And where have you been?!" she huffed, obviously irritated.

Cilan just smiled. "Relax," he told her. "I just went to get us a room at the Pokémon Center in the town next over. We should probably head there now seeing as it's getting dark."

Iris continued to scowl, but she reluctantly stood up. Ash did as well, returned Oshowatt back to his Pokéball, and called Pikachu, who jumped up to his shoulder. Cilan returned Pansage as well.

He could feel the tension between the two as they walked in the silence. Ash held his head low while Iris walked far behind them. Cilan was sure that if it was possible, steam would be fuming out of their ears.

They went through the busy streets of the town and soon came to the doors of the Pokécenter. "You might want to catch up, Iris!" Cilan called out to her. She groaned, then jogged to keep up with them.

As they entered through the sliding doors, a deep, creepy voice said, "Nice Pikachu, kid."

The three turned to the right and saw a man hanging in the shadows of the corner. He stepped out into the light, revealing himself. He had skin slightly darker than Ash's, and stood a little taller than Cilan. He had purple eyes behind some glasses and a bit of white hair sticking out from under the giant fedora he had on his head. He wore a black, thick hoodie, dark jeans, and black boots with a single yellow stripe at the toe.

He smiled at the trio, sending shivers up Ash's spine. "Name's Jack," he told them, holding out his hand.

Ash took a step back, staring at it. "Uh..."

Iris shoved him out of the way and shook Jack's hand. "Hi, I'm Iris!" she exclaimed. "The rude one's Ash, and don't mind him," Iris glared angrily at him. "He's just a kid who doesn't know manners." Ash growled at her in response, but kept to his vow of not talking to the Dragon-Type Trainer.

She motioned to their green-haired companion. "And this is Cilan."

Jack stared at the connoisseur with an unreadable expression. Before the gang could say anything else, Jack walked away.

"That was weird," Ash commented a moment later.

In their room, Ash was about to enter the bathroom when Iris rushed over and closed the door on him. "Iris!" Ash yelled, his face turning red with anger. "I needed to use it first!"

Iris took a moment to poke her head out the door, stick her tongue at him, then slam it in his face. Ash was basically boiling at the actions of the purple-haired girl.

The eleven-year-old trainer took some deep breaths to calm down. He went over to Cilan, who was unpacking his bag. "Hey, Cilan?" he asked.

"Hm?"

"Didn't that guy, Jack, seem suspicious to you?"

Cilan laughed. "It's probably your imagination, Ash," he replied.

"But still..." Ash trailed off, unsure really what to say. He didn't look right, he thought.

Cilan walked over to their room door and said, "I'm going to get our dinner, okay?"

Ash smiled and nodded. Cilan smiled and left.

The boy collapsed onto one of the white beds, closed his eyes, and sighed, his cap falling off his raven hair. Pikachu hopped up onto the bed next to him. "Pika?" he asked. Ash pet his furry head.

Iris came out of the shower in her pajamas and her purple hair untied and soaking wet. "Where's Cilan?" she demanded, obviously still mad.

Without moving, Ash snapped back, "Why do you care?!"

Iris huffed. "Only a kid would say something as dumb as that!" she replied harshly.

Ash sat up quickly, almost knocking Pikachu off of the blanket and ready to protest, when Cilan came, holding a tray of food. "Dinner's here!" he announced, smiling proudly.

The tray held two plates of sandwiches, two cups of juice, and a couple of roses sitting in a small vase.

"There's only enough for two of us," Ash noticed.

Cilan laughed. "Silly me!" he said. "Oh, well. You two enjoy your meal, and I'll go get my food." He placed the tray on one of the beds and left.

Ash rushed to the food and ravenously began to devour his sandwich. Iris just picked up hers and glared at it.

"Oh, I see what you're doing, Cilan!" she muttered angrily. "Nuh-uh. No way I'm falling for that!"

"Hahing hor ut?" Ash managed to say with his mouth full.

"Are you really that dense?! And keep your mouth closed when you chew! It's disgusting, you baby!"

Ash swallowed quickly, almost choking in the process. "Now I'm a baby?" he asked in annoyance.

Iris crudely mimicked crying as she put her fists to her eyes. "Oh, boo hoo hoo! Does da baby not wike being cawed a baby?" she mocked.

Ash slammed his fist on the soft comforters. "Take that back!" he ordered.

"Make me!"

"Why, you little-"

Someone screamed.

Iris gasped. "What was that?" she asked, clearly forgetting she was supposed to be angry.

"I dunno, but it sounded like Cilan. C'mon!" They rushed out quickly, their Pokémon following them in confusion.

As they stepped into the hallway, they had to push against the wall to keep their balance and avoid slipping around.

"Ice?" Ash questioned. Pikachu bumped into his foot as he stared at the new addition to the Pokémon center.

Iris turned around and began to shiver, not from the cold, but from fear. Axew jumped into her now-dry hair, whimpering in fright. Iris pointed the direction she was staring. "I-I... I..." she stuttered, trembling.

Ash glared at her. "What is it now?!"

Iris suddenly yelled, like a dormant volcano unexpectedly erupting. "ICE TYPE!" Ash looked where she pointed and saw the back of a giant Beartic. He took out his Pokédex and aimed it.

"Beartic," it told him, "the Ice Bear Pokémon. Beartic freezes its breath to create fangs and claws of ice to fight with. Cold northern areas are its habitat."

"That doesn't sound good," Ash mumbled.

Without warning, Iris took off, screaming her head the other direction. "Bear?" The Beartic turned around, spying Ash and Pikachu. "BEARTIC!" it roared.

"Wait for me!" Ash yelled as he ran after Iris, Pikachu at his heels.

The Beartic got down on all fours and began charging towards them. "Faster!" Ash told Iris.

"I'm running as fast as I can, genius!" she snapped. She tripped soon after, Ash tumbling on top of her.

Someone cast a shadow over them. The two kids looked up to see Jack with a smirk on his face, looking eerie. Ash's brows furrowed. "I knew I had a bad feeling about you," he said darkly.

Iris looked past him and gasped. "Cilan!" she cried out.

The green-haired connoisseur lay unconscious on the icy floor next to a fainted Pansage. It scared the two how still he had become, besides his slow and steady breathing.

Iris turned all her anger to Jack. "What did you do to him, you monster?!" she spat.

Jack chuckled. "I just stopped him from stopping me take all the Pokémon in this place," he answered.

Ash stood up, determined to avenge his friend. "Pikachu-" he began, until the Beartic from before used its icy claws to grab the mouse Pokémon, along with Iris' Axew.

"Hey!" she yelled as she attempted to snatch her Pokémon. "Give him back!"

"Get the rest of them!" Jack ordered his Beartic. It nodded and yanked Ash's Pokémon belt.

"Don't!" Ash yelled, but it didn't help.

Jack stepped closer, his breath appearing in little puffs of fog. "Where are your other ones?" he asked Iris menacingly.

Iris stared up at him in fear. "I-I don't have anym-more," she told him, hoping he wouldn't continue to go after them.

"LIAR!" Jack yelled, causing the poor girl to flinch. "You have two more! I saw them on you earlier!" Iris kept her mouth shut, still. shocked at his sudden outburst.

Jack crossed his arms. "Fine," he said. "Since you won't give them up, guess I'll just have to take them myself." He picked up Ash and Iris by their collars and shoved them into a janitor's closet nearby. "Make sure they don't escape, Beartic," he ordered as he shut the door.

Beartic performed Ice Beam, causing ice to quickly crawl up the walls in the tight room.

Ash banged his fists against the locked door. "Let us out!" he yelled. "S-somebody! Anybody!"

"Give it up, Ash," Iris said, crossing her arms and leaning against. "You've been at it for the past ten minutes!"

The boy didn't listen and continued to pound harder on the door. "W-we've gotta keep t-trying!" he insisted.

Iris couldn't take it any more. "Don't you get it, Ash?!" she cried. "We're stuck in here!"

Ash stopped hitting the door, leaning his arms against it and breathing heavily.

Iris looked down dejectedly. "We're... we're..." she said softly. She slid down into a crouch and began to sob.

Ash looked at her. "Are you... crying?" he asked hesitantly.

Iris rubbed her nose with her arm, wishing she had stayed in her regular clothes. "Y-yeah," she replied sharply. "Go ahead, call me a kid, or even a baby for crying." She placed her head in her hands.

She felt something warm wrap around her. She looked up and saw Ash kneeling next to her and hugging her. "It's okay," he told her. "I'm scared, too."

Iris hugged him back, his hair tickling her face. "Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"Since we're gonna die in this closet, there's something I need to tell you." She took a deep breath and continued, "I've always really liked you and had this massive crush on you." She braced herself for his laughter and calling her ridiculous.

"Actually, I really like you too," he replied to her surprise.

"You do?"

Ash nodded. "And at least I'll die knowing you love me too."

Iris smiled as she felt a warm feeling inside her. They leaned closer and-

The door was opened by Cilan. "That's great to hear since you two were at each other's throats earlier," he told them as he laughed.

"Cilan?!" they both cried in unison.

There he was, looking fine and well, as if he was never knocked out.

Ash began to stutter. "B-but- we saw-"

"-him pretending to be unconscious," Jack finished for him, Beartic walking behind him.

"You?!" both kids once again cried together.

"Relax," Cilan said. "Jack is an actor I asked to pretend to be a bad guy and get you two trapped somewhere to confess your feelings."

"What?!" Iris exclaimed in disbelief. "I thought the dinner thing was your plan!"

Cilan laughed again. "No, that was just to make you think that was my plan, since I figured one of you would realize what I was doing if that was the real plan."

"Nurse Joy gave the sandwiches and made sure no one else was in the halls for Beartic to freeze," Jack said.

Beartic beamed. "Bear bear!" it said proudly.

Jack chuckled their gawking faces. He walked over to the shelves and plucked a camera the two never noticed and stopped it from recording. He handed it to Cilan and said, "If these two ever fight again, play this video for them. Just fast forward to the part where they get trapped in the closet."

Both Ash and Iris began to turn red. Cilan smiled and replied, "Sure thing!"

"CILAN!"