Honestly, I don't know what I want to do with this fic or where I want it to go, but I do know that I want it to be Pokeshipping, because really now, who can't tell that Ash and Misty were meant to be together? Granted, I'd prefer old school cocky Ash, complete with the hat turning and the silly-but totally awesome-poses, but maybe Misty likes this Ash? No, I wouldn't either... Maybe, at the very least, she can snap him back into his old self...

Anyway, there's a couple of other Pokemon fanfics that I've got in the works, one that takes place in Unova and focuses on Pokeshipping-kind of like this one in that sense-and another that takes place in Pallet and still kind of focuses on Pokeshipping, but also includes ContestShipping, PenguinShipping, and mentions of DaisyTracey-I can't for the life of me remember what that one's called...-and I know exactly where I'm going with that one, I just have to find the time to type up the first chapter or two...

Anywho, since they never really mention the characters' ages in the series-and I refuse to believe that Ash is still ten-I've come up with how old the characters are going to be in my fics. Quite honestly, the ages are probably going to be consistant in all of my Pokemon FanFics, but I'll let you guys know what the ages are all the time anyway... And, on top of that, I've decided that I'm going to actually come up with names for the chapters in this fic, to challenge myself in a way, 'cause I've never really been good with chapter titles...

Character Ages:

Ash-16

Iris-13

Cilan-18

Song of the Day: "The Only Exception" ~Paramore~

Quote of the Day: "If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain; If I can ease one life the aching, Or cool one pain, I shall not live in vain."

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. I used to want to, but not so much anymore; new school Pokemon kind of sucks.


"Mmm, Castelia City, home of my next badge!" Ash Ketchum-a boy older than his years who had, like most kids at the time, set out on a journey with his very first Pokemon at age ten, traveled around numerous regions, collected badge upon badge, battled Trainer upon Trainer, entered league upon league, made friend upon friend and rival upon rival, caught Pokemon upon Pokemon, helped person upon person, and, let's not forget, saved the world a few times, too. It had been a few years since he first left his home-town of Pallet back in the Kanto region with Pikachu on his quest to become a Pokemon Master, but somehow that spark that always had him running from town to town looking for the next battle or his next badge had stayed lit. Sure, at one point it grew weak, but he was here in the Unova region now, and that spark was lit and growing like a wild fire. He had a feeling Unova was going to be a big region for him, a big adventure. And he was so ready for it; that enthusiasm masking his grievance over losing his long-time companion Brock to Doctor School. Though it was a bit of a bitter-sweet moment, he was actually kind of happy that Dawn wasn't around anymore...-exclaimed and threw his fist in the air. Pikachu jumped up onto his hat excitedly, it was ready for this, too. Actually, it couldn't wait; Ash hadn't been this excited about gym battles since... Well, the Battle Frontier didn't technically count as Gym battles, but that was really the last time Ash had gotten this excited about something, other than Dawn leaving, of course, but Pikachu didn't count that; it too had been happy to be rid of the whiny, spoiled brat that slept in a tent and wore such a short skirt at such a young age...

Iris-a bit of a smug child who Ash met shortly after arriving in Unova and deciding to travel around collecting Gym Badges. She herself was traveling around her home region of Unova for reasons actually unknown to Ash, but he had the vague feeling it had something to do with her Axew wanting to evolve fully into a Haxorus-and Cilan-a former Gym Leader of Striaton City who decided to travel with Ash and Iris after his defeat at the hands of Ash for the Trio Badge. Also a Pokemon Sommeliar, and not a half-bad cook-smiled at his enthusiasm. Typical Ash, ready to run right to the next battle no matter what time of day it was...

"You're such a kid!" Iris smirked, down-casting Ash's mood slightly; why did she always call him that? He was older than she was, and more experienced and better with Pokemon. If anyone was a kid, it was Iris, but he didn't really care enough about her to point that out; arguing with her just didn't seem worth it. If it had been Misty, you bet he would've been yelling his lungs off trying to make his point. Granted, Misty was older than him, making the whole thing a moot point, but still, he would've stuck to his guns, because arguing with Misty had been fun... Hell, even May would've gotten a rise out of him, but she had been like a close younger sister, so arguing with her was just part of the deal of traveling with her. Dawn... eh, she was more like an annoying stalker, so he saw no point in arguing with her all too much; it wasn't very entertaining. And then there was Iris... She was just... There. Ash Ketchum needed human companionship just as much as he needed Pokemon companionship, so he let her hang around, same thing with Cilan, though he didn't get on Ash's nerves, not that Iris did, not like Misty always had...

What was the point he had been trying to make to himself? Oh, yeah: He was not a kid! Damnit, he'd saved the world on more than one occasion and she was calling him a kid! Okay, so she hadn't been there when it happened, big whoop, it still happened. If it wasn't for him, they all would've been dead long ago, but she wouldn't believe him; she'd just smirk in that damn condescending way of hers and call him a kid again.

"It's almost dark now, so we should go to the Pokemon Center and find a place to spend the night. The gym's probably closed by now, anyway. And if it's not, it will be soon." She stated oh-so helpfully. Bite me, Ash thought to himself, noting that no real Gym Leader would ever close their Gym to challengers just because it was getting a little dark out. Misty wouldn't. In fact, Misty didn't.

"Fine, but first thing in the morning I'm finding the Gym and I'm getting the Beetle Badge!" Never mind the fact that that name was completely lame, he still wanted it, he still needed it. With a name like "Beetle Badge," Ash could only assume there would be bug types, which he could easily take on with his Tepig, but then the battle would end fast, and what fun would that be? Okay, so he should keep Tepig handy just in case, but not start out with it. To start the match off, how about Pikachu?

"The Gyms aren't even open "first thing in the morning," you'll have to wait until around ten..." Right, he forgot that Unova Gym Leaders were total pansies...

"Iris, you shouldn't call him a kid all the time, you'll give him a complex..." Cilan chided. He was a lame Brock replacement, Ash would admit, but he wasn't trying to replace Brock, or Misty, and, even if he wanted to, he couldn't; no one could replace his best friends.

"But he is one!" Iris whined, looking around at all the tall buildings. Castelia City was the biggest city in the Unova region-hell, it was the biggest city in the whole world-so it would be very easy to get lost in, not that Ash had a hard time getting lost in the small ones as it was. They could spend hours wandering around, looking for the Pokemon Center, and then they'd have to go find somewhere to spend the night, which could take them all night... Ash would probably have to set out first thing in the morning to just find the Gym, then battling the Gym Leader, and getting back to the Pokemon Center would take him the whole day probably...

"You're younger than me and I don't call you a kid all the time, now do I?" Cilan pointed out, at least Ash had someone on his side...

"No, but-"

"But nothing, Iris. How would your father feel if he knew you were constantly putting down one of his future challengers?"

"My father-"

"Wait! You know her father?" Ash snickered, finally, something to shut her up! Something to use against her! Cilan knew her father! How great-how perfect-was that? Wait, how did he know her father? And what was that bit about a future challenger?

"Of course. I know all the Gym Leaders of the Unova region. You should know that-Haven't you traveled with Gym Leaders before?" Ash had briefly mentioned his old traveling companions to these two in passing one afternoon when they were all having lunch. "Briefly" meaning that he'd mentioned their names, their status, and where they were from.

"Yeah, Brock and Misty were Gym Leaders over in Kanto, May and Max are Gym Leader Kids from over in Hoenn, and Dawn... is neither. She's a Coordinator's kid and a wanna-be coordinator-What does that have to do with anything?" Cue sweat-drop. If either of them had been traveling with Ash for very long, they would have expected such a reply, but they honestly thought he was just playing dumb and stopped in the middle of the busy road, causing numerous irritated business men and women to swerve and change paths so they wouldn't bump into the group of, shall we say, companions.

Iris and Cilan both gave Ash long looks, half-expecting him to crack into a smile and tell them he was just kidding and that he knew what Cilan meant, but when he didn't, and just looked at them confusingly like: "What the hell is wrong with you two?" Iris smirked that condescending smirk of hers as Cilan began to explain:

"Iris' dad is a Gym Leader here in Unova, Ash; that would be how I know him." They began walking again down Castelia Street; though Ash now had question upon question, Cilan didn't give him a chance to ask any of them yet, as he kept talking. "He runs the Gym over in Opelucid City. Dragon types, if I recall correctly. In fact, I think Iris' Axew is the kid of her father's Haxorus..." Cilan stared off thoughtfully, wondering to himself if he was getting that right. Never mind the fact that neither Misty nor Brock would ever give away something like that about a fellow Gym Leader to a challenger way ahead of time, Ash had just gotten some serious juice on Iris: Her father. If he were the vengeful type, this would be very bad information for him to have...

"Cilan! Why would you tell him that?" Iris hissed, he would have found out sooner or later anyway, but Iris so would have preferred later... Way, way later, like when Ash actually got to that Gym, and since it was the eighth gym, that wouldn't be for a while, giving Iris the false hope that he would never find out...

"Oh, look at that: We're at the Pokemon Center," Cilan rushed inside to escape Iris' wrath, though Cilan was getting off lucky as far as Ash was concerned, if that was Misty, she would have killed him... But it wasn't Misty, it was just Iris, some Gym Leader's kid, no better than May or Max in that sense, though in the sense of battling and training Pokemon and being a good person, she was way worse than them. And her bark wasn't even worse than her bite-the two sucked equally, so it was a bad comparison all around, granted, but it was a comparison Ash found himself making nonetheless as the two entered the Pokemon Center and got behind Cilan in line to see Nurse Joy.

The small argument was quickly forgotten, not that it was worth remembering anyway, and the three stood in line quietly, wondering how exactly they had managed to find the Pokemon Center when they weren't even looking, just wondering around aimlessly. When Ash had used a map in years past, he had gotten lost on so many occasions, and when he was looking for certain things, he could never actually find them... Why had they even used maps at all? None of them had been any good at reading them-Even Brock had gotten them lost on several occasions-so why did they even pretend? Because a couple of kids wandering around without a map would just look stupid, that's why. Plus, his mom would yell at him if she found out he'd done something so irresponsible...

Soon enough they all left the matter alone, deciding that they'd found the place and that was all that mattered, and just stood there in silence, listening to conversations going on around them, one in particular catching all their ears:

"Oh, please, please, please! You just have to battle me! I'm sure you have some mega rare Pokemon that I've only ever seen on TV and it would be so cool to see them in person, to battle them! Please, you're a Gym Leader; you have to battle me! It's, like, a law, isn't it?"

"Um, no, I don't think it's a law. And anyway, I'm not a Gym Leader anymore; my sisters took over. Again."

"Fine, you don't have to give me a badge when I win-"

"''Win?'' What makes you think you'll win?"

"Please, I've done my research on all the Gym Leaders everywhere, and you, you specialize in Water Types, which means I'll be able to wipe the floor with you with my Blitzle, an Electric type."

"There's more to winning battles than just types, you cocky punk."

"Pft! As if! What could be more important in a battle than types? If you have the advantage-like I would in our battle-you win. If you have a disadvantage-like you would-then you lose. Easy as poffin."

"You idiot! So, by your logic, what would happen if we both used the same Pokemon? Same types, right? Who would win then? Me, who trusts my Pokemon and believes in their abilities and strengths and their power as a whole and not just as what type they are, or you, a smug little bastard who relies on type to decide the battle?"

"..."

"That's what I thought. You want a battle so badly? Fine, I'll give you a battle, let's go!"

"Now? But it's getting dark out... I was hoping for a battle around noon tomorrow..."

"You're trying to schedule our battle? Nope, you want this battle it's gonna happen right now! Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark! You have Pokemon, you idiot, if anything happens you can use them. Arceus, I bet you sleep in a tent with a night-light when you camp out, don't you? Or do you not sleep in the woods? You make a Beedrill Line for the first house you see at the first sign of darkness, don't you? Pansy... Go outside and get ready, I'll be there to wipe that smirk off your face in a minute..."

A boy walked by the three looking slightly frightened, what had he gotten himself into? All he wanted was a battle with a pretty Gym Leader from a far-off land, was that too much to ask for? Who would've thought she had a temper like that? Her bio hadn't said anything about it. If it had, he would've stayed the hell away from her, but now he had to battle her; he didn't know what she'd do to him if he tried to back out...

"Cocky, dumb-ass, punk... Can't wait to wipe that smirk off his face for good..." Ash's eyes automatically swirled over to see the ex-Gym Leader the poor sap had gotten himself into a battle with and froze when he saw her. Red hair in a side-of-the-head ponytail, brown boots, yellow shirt and shorts over a maroon swimsuit, a green backpack, long, slender legs, and long muscular arms wrapped around an egg of some sort inside a container... Could it be...? Either it was, or he was imagining things. He prayed it was the former...


Hmm, who, oh who, could this girl be? If that temper didn't give it away and the red hair didn't, I don't know what will. Plus, the main shipping, of course, ought to give it away. Hey, just out of curiousity, what's the name of the AshIris shipping? I would never in a million years support that, but I'd just like to know...

Anyone else get the impression that Misty, were she present, would totally bitch-slap Iris? I just get the feeling that she would. They'd be talking and Iris would call her or Ash a kid or whatever and she'd just reach over and bitch-slap her so hard her Axew would be feeling it when it's a Haxorus. Oh, the fun they would have... *Sigh* They seriously need to bring back Misty. Anyone else disappointed that Pikachu didn't fry Iris' bike? Seriously, that pissed me off.

So after Ash is finally done with Unova, what do you think they're going to do with Iris and Cilan?

So much to say, so little time...

Peace out and Happy Easter.

~Hisa-Ai~