A/N: Thanks so much for the positive feedback guys! Five reviews, follows and favorites for the first chapter, I was truly blown away! Now, without further ado, here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.
Tomboy
Chapter 2
The sun was setting, and the outline of Veilstone City was finally visible. Iris had been running all day, and was positively exhausted.
That was only logical, after all, she hadn't had any sleep the night before, not to forget that running all the way to Veilstone wasn't a piece of cake.
As soon as she entered the City, she stopped running and stumbled the last steps to the Pokémon Center, where she demanded a room – who needs manners when they're about to faint from exhaustion?
Grabbing the key, she made her way to the her room and fell down on the soft bed, immediately falling asleep.
Glancing at the clock on the wall, she noticed it was eleven o'clock. Being still half asleep Iris didn't immediately realize what it meant. A few moments later, however, she did.
She bolted upright – causing Axew to fall out of her hair – uttered a few foul words and then made a move to grab her clothes, only to realize that she was still wearing them.
"Great, now I'm late," Iris muttered, "C'mon Axew, I have business to take care of."
"Xew, Axew," the Pokémon said, before jumping on her shoulder.
When she had been running, she had thought about her disguise. Clothes would be easy – only a wide sweater and no one would see the difference. Wide sweaters weren't exactly 'fashionable' for boys this season, but had been some years ago, which meant that lots of secondhand shops still sold them. And every city had at least one good secondhand shop.
That's when she realized she had a big problem – a big, messy, purple problem. No way that would fit under a cap. Misty's hair would, May's hair too, Dawn's probably too, but hers? Impossible. Of course she could just have her hair this long – there were enough guys with long hair – but having it long would only emphasize her feminine looks.
As much as she sometimes wanted to deny it, puberty sure had changed her. Her face had lost its round form making her big, brown eyes stand out even more and her body had gotten curvier. It would never look like Dawn's or May's, but it still could attract gazes of boys – not that Iris noticed, of course.
So she had come to the conclusion that she needed to cut her hair.
Walking out of the Pokémon Center, she sighed, and ran a hand through her long, thick strands. She didn't like to cut off her hair, but didn't dislike it either. She didn't care about her looks that much – no boy would like her anyway, she was way too… er- aggressive. But her long, puffy hair had always been a part of her – it would be weird to have it all short.
However, she didn't want to cut it all off. No, then she would have a lot of explaining to do at the wedding. She had opted for a compromise – not long, not short, just a little past her shoulders. And of course not puffy – if that was possible.
After walking aimlessly through the City for almost a half hour, Iris finally found a little hairdresser's. It seemed cozy and professional.
A bell ringed softly when Iris walked in the shop. Immediately a young woman came running from the back of the shop, yelling, "I'm coming, I'm coming!"
Stopping in front of Iris, the woman pushed her pink bangs from her face, before asking slightly out of breath, "How may I help you?"
"I would like to have my hair this short," she answered, indicating the length with her finger. She had been practicing this sentence all the way to here, not wanting to give her unconsciousness a chance to interfere. And since this girl seemed nice and professional enough, Iris took the risk.
"And less puffy," Iris added quickly, almost forgetting about that.
"Awesome!" the woman said, "Now if you go sit in that chair, I'll get the hairdresser."
And with a smile she was off.
Wait, did she mean she wasn't the hairdresser? Who was it then?
Panicking slightly, Iris sat down in one of the red chairs and tried to relax. Every attempt went to waste when she noticed who the hairdresser was – an old man, his hair more white than grey, with thick glasses and his eyes all scrunched up, as if he was desperately trying to see something clear.
In other words, he was as blind as a Zubat.
"Er- thanks, but I've changed my mind. I like my hair as it is," Iris said while standing up, but was pushed back by the man. And there went her only way out.
"Don't worry, girl, I'm very professional," he smiled, grabbing a pair of scissors from a table and cutting the air wildly a few times, to demonstrate his professionality.
Somehow Iris didn't feel very convinced.
After looking in the mirror for a few minutes, seeing how the man was rampaging her hair, she was getting bored. So she closed her eyes and started to count. She didn't want to admit it, but she didn't want to see how her beautiful hair was cut off.
When she reached the 2093 the hairdresser started to wash her hair. At 2401 he started to dry her hair. At 2653 he was brushing it.
"You can open your eyes now," the man snickered after 2703 seconds of her eyes being closed.
Embarrassed at being caught she opened her eyes – and was completely in shock.
She didn't know what she had expected, but certainly not this. Her hair tips just reached her shoulders, and although it was still puffy, it wasn't anywhere close to what it had been. It looked pretty good, Iris decided.
Just one more test. She pulled her hair back in a high ponytail – yes, that looked good. A few shorter bangs fell on her forehead, making it look more natural.
"It looks good," Iris said.
Smiling, the man replied, "I know," before holding out his hand and continuing in a business tone, "that's going to be 7300 Pokédollars."
"Er- what?" Iris asked, not quite believing what the man just said.
"7300 Pokédollars, please," the man repeated.
Her jaw dropped – that was a lot of money for just a hairdo. Grumbling, she reached for her money, counted it and then handed it to the man with a frown.
Well, that sure ate away her budget for the clothes.
She walked out of the shop, not sparing the hairdresser a look. He truly was a Zubat – blind and a bloodsucker.
Touching her hair, she found that she couldn't stay mad long. It did look good, after all. Quite nice even. Maybe even pretty.
Axew, on the other hand, wasn't happy at all.
"Ax, Ax, Axew," it whined, trying to nestle in her hair, only to fall out of it on the other side.
"Oh Axew," Iris laughed, picking the Dragon Pokémon up, "that's not gonna fit anymore. Suppose you have to stay on my shoulder from now on."
The Pokémon glared at her, before making itself comfortable on her shoulder.
Remembering she had seen a secondhand shop earlier when she was looking for a hairdresser, she started walking in the direction she came from.
Sara's Secondhand Shop the sign on the shop read. Gulping, Iris pushed the doors open and entered the dimly lit shop.
It was neatly organized – on the left men clothes, on the right women's and upstairs children's.
For a moment, she stood still in the entrance of the shop wondering where she should go. Men's or children's? Before she could make a decision, a middle-aged woman with short, red curly hair approached her.
"May I help you, dear?"
"Er-" Iris started, but was cut off by the woman.
"I have a very beautiful dress, just in, barely worn, it would look great on you, I'm sure," the woman chattered, pulling Iris with her to the women section before Iris could protest.
Out of a pile of clothes the woman picked a short yellow dress.
"Now look at this, dearie, it goes wonderfully with your skin and hair," the woman said enthusiastically, holding the dress up.
"Er-" Iris only said, before the woman interrupted her again.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I get overenthusiastic again," the woman apologized, "So, how can I help you?"
"I actually…" Iris started, before actually thinking about her response. How would she explain to that woman that she wanted boys clothes? Whatever, action first, explanation later.
"I'm looking for boys clothes," Iris said determined.
"Aha," the woman said after a pause, before continuing, "Why?"
Right, so first explanation, then action.
"I- er, I… um," Iris started, before an idea popped up in her mind, "I'm going to a party where we have to come cross-dressed, so boys as girls and girls as boys."
Genius, Iris, genius, she complimented herself.
"Oh, what a nice idea! Well, don't worry, I'm sure we can find something for you. A wide shirt, and…" the woman continued chattering while pulling Iris up to the children's section. She threw a last look of regret at the yellow dress – she still needed something to wear to the wedding.
A few minutes filled with mindless blabbering of the woman and the occasional nods of Iris later, she found herself in a dressing room. In front of her were a dark red, wide sweater, jeans, a cap and a pair of sneakers.
Within a few minutes Iris was changed and placed her high ponytail under the red and black cap. A few bangs escaped, but it didn't look that bad.
"Well, sweetie, are you finished?" the woman asked.
"Yes," Iris answered, stepping out of the dressing room.
"Hmm…" the woman said, eyeing her professionally. She tapped her lips, before walking away.
Finally, a bit of silence, Iris thought. That woman sure could talk – Mew, even Dawn wasn't that cheery all the time.
Holding up a white cloth the woman returned.
"This is a breast binder," she explained, and then said with a wink, "It's elastic and hides those two apples of you."
Blushing, Iris grabbed the breast binder out the woman's hands, and turned back into the dressing room, with her nose in the air.
She glanced in the mirror – the woman was right, the bulges of her breasts were still visible. Grumbling, she threw off her sweater, tightened the breast binder around her chest and then put her sweater back on.
Looking in the mirror again, she noted that she was now practically flat chested – not that she hadn't been before, Iris thought.
When she stepped out of the dressing room, she was immediately attacked by the woman again.
"Oh, oh, oh, dear, this looks absolutely wonderful. You're just a boy! I mean…" the woman continued on and on, but Iris didn't listen anymore.
Yes, this would do, she decided. She looked like a boy in pre-puberty – already growing, but still childlike looks.
"I take it," she said, interrupting the woman.
"Fantastic!" the woman squealed, "I mean, it looks absolutely great on you, no one would the difference and…" blah blah blah, Iris added silently, zoning out again.
When they walked down again, her eye caught the yellow dress again. On impulse, she walked over to it, grabbed it and declared, "I take this one too."
The woman was now absolutely on cloud nine – she was positively beaming.
"Can I keep these clothes on?" Iris quickly asked, before the woman started talking again.
"Of course, sweetie, good luck with it. I'm sure all your friends will be jealous, I mean, look at it. You look…" the woman continued her monologue while Iris pulled out her wallet.
Paying, Iris ended the conversation, and quickly fled- er… walked out of the shop.
"Whoa, that woman sure could talk," Iris said, shaking her head.
"Ax, Axew," the Pokémon on her shoulder agreed.
"C'mon, let's go," she mumbled, "time to test this outfit."
And without a single look back, Iris and Axew left Veilstone City.
A/N: Thanks a lot for reading! I know not a lot happened in here, but next chapter is gonna be really good ;) Cilan is going to be added soon, don't worry. Just need some time to build this story up a bit. Wouldn't want to rush…
Oh, and does anyone else have problems with the covers? I'm able to upload the images, but can't use them as cover…
Please tell me what you think about it! I love to read your opinions! Nothing makes me happier than seeing all those reviews xD
Thanks again, and please, please REVIEW!