A/N: So, this chapter is back to normal length, and it's quite a fun one, if I do say so myself XD Thank you very much for all your support, and please enjoy this one!

To Hi: Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't, and maybe you're right, and maybe not XD Thanks a lot!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the picture used as cover.

Tomboy

Chapter 12

So far, this journey had had several results Iris had not expected. She had turned out to be a pretty good crossdresser and actress, she had caught an Ice Type and was on her way to mastering her fears, Axew had evolved, and then there was of course Cilan…

But besides all those unexpected things happening, Iris had also acquired a new skill: texting.

She had promised to keep in contact with her friends during her journey, to keep them updated and to stay their worries, but with her disguise and Cilan constantly around, video calling them had not been an option. Neither was simple audio-only calling, because Iris was afraid Cilan might pick up something or recognize her friends' voices, and that would spell heaps of trouble.

So she had claimed that the audio function of her phone was broken, and so she had resorted to merely texting them. Iris and technology usually didn't go well together, which turned out to be an advantage as her friends had readily accepted her excuse, but it also caused Iris many frustrations as she attempted to type a word and another word would turn up instead.

In the end (when Iris had been ready to throw the cursed device against a tree), Cilan had helped her turn off autocorrect and from then on it went better. Now, Iris even dared to say that she was just as quick and experienced in texting as Dawn was.

Dawn… She was going to prove to be a problem soon, Iris knew. She had made a promise to visit the Coordinator when she was in Sinnoh, and Iris wasn't one to break a promise lightly.

Fortunately, Iris had thought ahead, for a change, and had come up with a plan. It was a pretty good plan, if she said so herself. It wasn't very difficult and there wasn't much luck involved, so logically, it should have worked splendidly.

Iris had thought of everything. Her plan would keep Cilan and Dawn apart (for Dawn had met Cilan and the girl had a knack for remembering faces, so undoubtedly there would be many questions asked if the two of them came face to face), it would prevent Dawn from seeing Iris in her boy's disguise (because that would raise even more questions) and it was believable enough so Cilan would not grow suspicious.

Actually, Iris thought, it had been a pretty perfect plan. Just a real shame Dawn had to go and ruin it.

When Cilan and Iris had arrived in Sandgem Town after a short, relaxed journey, she and Dawn had texted back and forth to make a plan to meet up. Besides a little white lie Iris had to tell so Dawn wouldn't want to use the videophones in the Pokémon Center, Iris's plan unfolded perfectly. As Iris had told Dawn, she couldn't stay in Twinleaf Town as it had no Pokémon Center (and she had quickly waved away Dawn's offer to stay at her house) so she would come visit Dawn's hometown tomorrow. As for Cilan, she had simply asked if he would be okay with staying in Sandgem a day longer, because she needed to run a few errands and visit some family. She had counted on Cilan's eye for subtlety to notice she didn't want him with her, and he didn't disappoint when he readily agreed to stay in the town while she did her stuff.

After making sure that her plan was secure, Iris felt herself relaxing and was actually pretty proud of herself. So it was an unpleasant wake-up call when, in the late afternoon, during her and Cilan's short shopping trip in Sandgem Town, they heard a very familiar voice call out to them.

"Cilan? Cilan!"

Oh no.

Iris hid herself behind the shelves, but Cilan had already heard and had gone to meet Dawn, who stood enthusiastically waving in the entrance of the shop.

"Dawn! What a wonderful surprise! It truly has been a long time."

"Much too long!" Dawn agreed cheerily. That had been the flaw in her plan, Iris realized sourly as she squatted behind the shelves in a pretense of interest for the wares. Dawn was too unpredictable.

"What are you doing here?" Dawn continued happily. "Are you here all alone?"

Arceus, no… Iris looked around in a panicked attempt to find a way out of the situation, but the entrance was blocked by Dawn and Cilan, and-

"Oh no, my friend Ike is…" Cilan trailed off and Iris ducked further behind the racks, but to no avail. "Ah, there he is!"

Damn it!

Iris attempted to pretend she hadn't heard him, but Cilan soon made that impossible. "Ike! Come over here, please!"

Iris couldn't think of a way to escape, save from simply running past them and pray no one would ask questions afterwards- So slowly she rose, a shaky smile on her face and forcing herself to look as natural as possible.

Of course, her attempts were in vain. Dawn's jaw dropped and her eyes bulged out of her head – a comical sight if Iris hadn't been in such a terrible situation – and Cilan frowned in confusion.

"Dawn, this is Ike," he said, uncertainly. "I met him on the road and we've been travelling together." Cilan glanced at Iris and she nervously smiled at him. "Ike, this is Dawn, an old friend."

Hesitantly, Iris extended her hand, but Dawn was still watching her with open mouth. The bluenette glanced at Iris's hand, back at Iris, at Cilan, and back at Iris, and silently Iris was begging Dawn to not say something stupid.

Finally, she took Iris's hand. "You are…" she started, and Iris's eyes widened in panic. Then a bright grin appeared on Dawn's face and she tugged Iris forward. "You are so handsome!"

"What?"

Iris and Cilan had spoken simultaneously, Iris in a high squeak as she was now uncomfortably close to Dawn, and Cilan in pure surprise.

Dawn squealed. "Alright Cilan, I'm borrowing your friend. See you later!" With another bright smile at a completely befuddled Cilan, Dawn pulled an equally confused Iris with her.

Dawn's bright behavior disappeared as soon as they were out of sight of the shop, and at the first suitable alley Dawn turned and pulled Iris with her.

"Iris!" Dawn hissed, finally letting go of her hand. "What the heck are you doing?!" There was anger and disbelief but mostly confusion in her expression. Before Iris could answer, Dawn was already ranting and drawing (mostly right) conclusions. "That's Cilan! And you're- you're-" She gestured to Iris's disguise. "Does he know?! What are you thinking? Iris!"

"Calm down, calm down," Iris said in a low voice. Dawn could be so overly dramatic, she was making it sound a lot worse than it was. "Everything is fine. No, of course he doesn't know, and I think you can see quite clearly what I'm doing." She tried to keep her tone light, but it was lost on Dawn.

"But- but... why? Why are you doing this?"

Iris's light mood disappeared, faced with the question and seeing that there was no easy way out. That didn't stop her from trying, though.

"It's not really any of your business, so-" She tried to move past Dawn, but the Coordinator moved swiftly in front of her.

"Leave now, and I'll tell Misty and May." Dawn looked completely serious in her threat, and Iris sighed. She had known that Dawn wouldn't let her go without an explanation, and she had also known that she would be too loyal to tell Cilan, but if May found out, well… Not only would that girl pester her until she had the true explanation, but there was also a chance that May would accidentally blurt out her secret to someone.

"Fine." Iris pouted, and then started to explain. To Dawn's credit, the girl only looked a little smug when Iris revealed that she had felt safer as a boy. Iris stumbled when she got to the part about meeting Cilan and her decision to keep her identity a secret, but Dawn already seemed to understand. And she also seemed to understand that this whole situation was a problem, even though Iris tried to downplay it.

"Iris…" Dawn groaned when Iris had finished explaining.

"I know, I know!" Iris quickly said, before Dawn could start lecturing her about things she already knew. "This is stupid, and he'll hate me when it comes out that I've been lying to him for all these weeks. But I can't tell him now- whether I tell him now or later won't matter, our friendship is ruined anyway! And, and, and- I don't know what to do!" Her voice had been rising in hysterics, and Iris hastily cut herself off.

Dawn stared at her in concern, before she put a reassuring hand on her lower arm. "It'll be fine, Iris. Cilan is a very nice person, he'll forgive you." But even Iris could hear the hesitance in her voice and thus was unconvinced. But she didn't say anything, just clenched her jaw and stared away from Dawn.

"Why didn't you tell him in the first place?" Dawn probed gently. Iris shot her a glare, knowing that the girl suspected it already. Dawn didn't appear affected by it at all, continuing to look at her sympathetically.

"You like him, don't you? Romantically?" she prompted.

Iris kept silent, and that was an obvious enough answer.

"Well, that complicates things," Dawn said, trying for a more light-hearted tone. But it didn't lift Iris's mood, and she simply nodded in response. There was nothing to say. There was no solution, no way out, no nothing- It would end in hurt no matter what.

"I'll keep your secret," Dawn continued. "But I think you should tell him. Better sooner than later-"

"I know!" Iris cut her off.

Dawn seemed unaffected by her tone, simply smiled at her, and Iris didn't know if it was pity or sympathy in her eyes. Perhaps both. "If you need my help with anything…"

Iris pushed her anger and frustration aside – there was nothing Dawn or she could do about this situation, after all – and tried to smile. "Thank you, Dawn."

"Not a problem!" she chirped. "Now, I still want to see you tomorrow, 'kay?" Iris already hadn't been looking forward to it, because Dawn could be very exhausting, but now she was even less enthusiastic, knowing that many more questions would come. Still, it was the least she could do, and so she nodded.

"Great!" Dawn clapped her hands and beamed. "I'm looking forward to it!" She seemed so genuine, and Iris felt bad for her lack of enthusiasm and so she quickly grinned back.

"Anyway, that's for tomorrow, now I'd best return you to your friend before he starts worrying I've eaten you or something." She chuckled and Iris followed her out of the alley.

That reminded her. "Why did you say…" Iris paused, trying to find a way to make the question less awkward, then decided that that was impossible. "Why did you say I was handsome, anyway?"

"Oh." Dawn let out a sheepish laugh. "Well, I had to come up with something! I mean, I had to get an explanation from you, and my jaw was already on the floor, so this was the first excuse that popped…" the girl fell silent and quickly put on a polite smile when they saw Cilan was already coming up to meet them.

"Ah, I was already wondering where you had gone," he said. There was obviously a question in hidden in there, but neither of the girls acknowledged it.

"Well, Cilan, here's your friend back again." Dawn laughed. "Thanks, but I won't be borrowing him again." A cheeky smile appeared on her face when she left Iris's side, and the disguised girl suddenly got a bad feeling. Dawn walked past Cilan and gave him a wink. "He's all yours now."

Iris gaped at her.

"It was nice seeing you!" Dawn said cheerfully, ignoring their shocked looks, and with a happy wave, she was off.

For several awkward, stunned moments, Cilan and Iris stood in a shared uncomfortable silence as they pondered Dawn's parting words – Iris thoughts centered around strangling the girl, but Cilan's expression revealed none of his thoughts and thus they would forever remain a mystery – before Cilan finally cleared his throat.

"Well, that was odd. Let's finish our shopping, hm?"

Iris agreed wholeheartedly.

A/N: Dawn enters the picture, and it's getting more and more clear that Iris can't go on like this… Or can she? You'll see that next week in Chapter 13! XD By the way, it was asked how long this story is going to be, and right now it seems about eighteen chapters. Anyway, thank you for reading, and please tell me what you thought about it!

Thank you!

Recommendations:

Pokémon: 50 Frantic Ways by ibuberu. FFN. Thanks to inklaced for recommending this to me! This one is for the manga fans among us, as it's a (unfinished) collection of one-shots about Ruby and Sapphire and their very amusing relationship. A very cool touch is the fact that the story is written from other characters' point of views, which is really fun and original.

Pokémon: 30 Days with You by skyclaw441. FFN. Thanks to PokeshipperByHeart for recommending this to me! This story is an unfinished translation of the finished Spanish PokéShipping fanfiction 30 Días Contigo by SirenaMisty, so for the people who speaks Spanish, I would recommend reading the original story! Anyway, the concept of the story is that Ash and Misty got married during a drunk night, but it is done in an interesting and a refreshing way and it seems pretty promising so far.

Harry Potter: I Knew by makoshark. FFN. A pretty funny and sweet story about Rose and Scorpius's relationship from other characters' point of view, and how they notice things yet can't put it together (most of the time). Nice story, give it a read!

Recommendations are very welcome!