Hi folks! It's me, BlackMetagross, back with a new Negaishipping story! This story will probably be a little darker than my last story, but nothing too tragic or horrible.

This Chapter was written in like 4 hours, so it might suck. Oh well.

Pinwheel Forest. Our trio of Ash, Iris and Cilan are on their way to Castelia City, so that Ash can challenge, and hopefully beat, the Gym there and continue his quest to become a Pokémon Master.

"Iris, are you sure you know where you're going in here? We've been walking in this forest for days now, and Pinwheel isn't THAT big of a forest! Look, look Cilan, over there! I swear that's the same oak tree we've passed twice already today!" Ash was beginning to get fed up. The black-haired trainer hadn't washed in two days, hadn't slept in a warm bed for three and, because ingredients were scarce here, hadn't been able to gorge himself sick with food either. "I think I might die here if I don't get something to eat soon...energy fading...I see a bright li-"

"Stop exaggerating Ash. You're acting like a little kid...again." Iris winked at him as she said the last part in her sweetest possible voice. She knew that would keep him quiet. He got so worked up whenever she teased him, his cheeks would go bright red every time, it was cute.

Cilan saw Ash's cheeks turning more crimson by the second, and cut in before the shouting started. "Easy guys. Arguing now won't get us any farther. Iris, not to be rude, but Ash may have a point. We have been walking for quite some time, maybe it wouldn't hurt to just uh... just take a look, a peek even at the um, at the map?" The connoisseur chose his words carefully. He didn't want Iris thinking he had no faith in her directional skills; he liked his face the way it was.

It was Iris' turn to get worked up now. The pressure of Ash and Cilan constantly enquiring about whether or not she actually knew where she was going was getting to her.

The waterworks began. Iris sank to the ground on tears. "You-You guys don't t-trust me at all!" Ash and Cilan stood there, both totally unsure of how to react. Cilan stepped forward, but was beaten to the punch by Ash, who sat down beside Iris.

Without saying a word, he put his arms around the purple haired teen and pulled her into his shoulder, placing a reassuring hand on her back. "Iris, please don't cry. I don't like seeing you cry. Of course we trust you, if we didn't we would never have let you take the lead in the first place, would we Cilan?"

The older teen was dumbstruck. He had just witnessed something he never thought he would see Ash do; hug and comfort a crying girl. He was brought back to Earth by Ash, who was clearing his throat rather loudly and jerking his head towards Iris, now quietly sniffling into Ash's shoulder.

"Of course not, we have full trust in your Iris! Ash and I just wanted to know exactly where in the forest we were, because it's fine if you know where you are going but it might also be nice for us to know as well. That's fair, right?"

Cilan's kind words were enough to get the aspiring Dragon Master to calm down.

*sniff* "Thanks guys, you're the best. I guess it's okay if we take a look at the map after all. Thanks to you too Ash!" Iris gave him a peck on the cheek and quickly got up, blush appearing on both their cheeks in full force.

Later that night.

It was late. The three friends had decided to make camp and get some rest after their episode earlier that day, instead of trying to make any progress with everyone tired and flustered.

Ash was lying in his sleeping bag by the fire, deep in thought. Iris had kissed him. It wasn't the first time Iris had shown unusually strong affection towards him this week.

It was three days ago when they had first entered Pinwheel Forest. It started to get dark quickly and the trio quickly agreed it was best to get ready for bed before it got any darker. It was colder than usual that night too, so instead of in a tree like normal, Iris slept beside Ash, Cilan and the campfire for warmth.

That was fine, understandable even, but Ash was still nervous about sleeping so close to a girl even if it was a close friend like the young Dragon fanatic.

Yawning concurrently, the three Trainers closed their eyes and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning Ash woke up first, something of a rarity among their group. He could hear Cilan and Iris still breathing lightly.

'Hmm, I better not wake them up. I'll go into the bushes a little bit and get dressed there.' Trying to sit up, the raven haired teen felt something weighing his right arm down. When he looked down, he felt his heart rate increasing dramatically.

Weighing his arm down, was Iris. The purple haired girl was snuggled up to him, with her arms wrapped around his.

Ash had frozen. He didn't know how to react to the range of things he was feeling. He was embarrassed and confused, but by far the strongest feeling was the sudden warmth that had built up inside him.

"Iris, Iris wake up. You're uh, you're on my arm. I kind of need to get up."

It was useless. Iris merely mumbled and readjusted her grip.

'Oh well. Looks like I'm not going anywhere right now' Ash thought. He lay back down and tried to get some more shuteye. At least if he was asleep when Iris woke up he wouldn't have to worry about getting embarrassed in front of her.

Ash found himself lying on his back, smiling as he remembered the events of the other morning. It was odd, for a while now he had got the same warm, fuzzy feeling inside every time Iris laughed or made eye contact with him.

Was it...love? 'Love.' It was a concept Ash had never pondered. He never had time for it really, training was far more important in his opinion. It was hard to ignore recently however, and when he battled Iris for practice, it was like he just couldn't go all out against her, he couldn't beat her.

'I never felt this way with Misty, or May, or even Dawn! Not only that, I just feel... closer to Iris. Maybe it is love. Maybe she is special. What am I talking about? She IS special. I think, I think I might be in love with her. What if she's in love with me too? Should I ask her to be my girlfriend?' Ash shook his head. He was getting carried away now. He didn't know any of this was true, for all he knew it could all be in his head.

"I'll ask Cilan tomorrow, somewhere private. He's a relationship Connoisseur, he'll know what to do." Ash turned over and closed his eyes, a big grin on his face and he anticipated the dreams that awaited him.

Well that was Chapter 1. Hopefully it wasn't too bad, chances are I'll end up rewriting some of it before posting Chapter 2 so bear with me.

Nothing major happened in this chapter I know, but the next Chapter is when some good stuff will start happening and the story will get going properly.

Again, reading the story is great, but what really helps me is REVIEWING. REVIEWS inspire me to keep writing the Chapters and change stuff that you readers think can be improved. It doesn't take long, so please, take the time to review.

Thanks,

-BM