Author's Note: I'd like to thank catflowerqueen for letting me borrow her characters, Team Rainbow, for this chapter... And I should also apologize for putting them in this chapter. 90 percent of the reason this one exists is so I could set up a punchline about Ludicolo's dance sequence, and the other 10 percent is just to properly canonize the fact that Felix and Paula are related. But not to worry; I have a "proper" follow-up to this that will get posted as a stand-alone either later today or some time tomorrow. Anyway, enough chatting; Iris being Iris is always fun, so here's the chapter.

Family Time

Claire smiled as the rest of her team followed her into Spinda's Café. Felix had taken them out to a family gathering about two weeks ago, and they were meeting up with one of his cousins again here. There had been…some chaos at the reunion, but it had overall been a good time, so Claire was looking forward to this little hangout.

"It's too bad we only get to hang out with one of your cute cousins this time," Iris commented as they snagged a table. "I had so much fun getting to know them at the reunion!"

Felix groaned. "Iris, I think it's best if you avoid Ricky from now on… Besides, we can't take up too much space in the café, either."

Rin had nodded emphatically at Felix's first comment, while Bruce shuddered at the second one.

"Yeah, I'd really prefer small numbers if possible," he muttered. "I wanted to meet Sydney here for drinks the day after we got back, but I was still too much of a frizz ball to go anywhere in public…"

Claire winced. "Yeah, sorry about that… We should've been paying more attention to you. Anyway, I'll get everyone's drinks."

They all nodded, and Claire dug through her bag as she went over to the bar. Once she arrived, she handed the appropriate gummis to Spinda. Given the amount of drinks he had to make, Claire hoped it would give everyone else time to show up.

Spinda set the shakes down on a tray once he was done. Claire grinned and nodded at him as she accepted the tray, and she carefully took it back to their table. She glanced around as she set the drinks down. There was no sign of Paula, but—

"Well, lookee there! If it's not my favorite baby sister. How you doing, kid?"

A Cacturne had just entered the café, and his eyes fell on Iris. Her eye twitched at the comment, and she ignored the drink Claire just handed her as she hissed at him. He strode over to the table, patting Iris on the head as he went on.

"It's been so long, we almost thought you were dead or something! Didn't you get the memo? Mom and Dad wanted everyone to come out for a visit soon, and we can't have it without the baby of the family present!"

"SHUT UP, ELLIOT! STOP CALLING ME THAT!"

Iris stepped away from the table, stretching her arms as she moved towards her brother. Elliot grinned as he stepped backwards, though he was looking around awkwardly like he expected someone to come help him. Claire—along with Felix, Bruce, and most of the other café's patrons—just blinked in confusion as the scene played out, however. Meanwhile, Rin sighed and shook her head, though no one was paying attention to the Cubone right now.

"And why shouldn't I?" Elliot laughed nervously. "You are the baby of the family! Just because you joined an exploration team like Barrett doesn't make you a grown-up!"

"OH, YEAH?! WELL, YOU'RE NOT MUCH BETTER!" Iris shouted. "COULD A BABY DO THIS?!"

Iris proceeded to grab Elliot by the feet and lift him over her head—which was honestly kind of impressive, given she was a third of his size. Elliot flailed around and babbled out useless apologies as she flung him away from her. Then, he crashed into the back wall with enough force to create a small hole. As Elliot tried to sit up, Ludicolo and his team of Bellossom peeked through the splintered boards, looking baffled. It was their job to burst through the wall, after all!

Iris didn't seem to notice, however. Nor did she notice the stares the other patrons were giving her. Instead, she merely wore a smug look on her face as she walked back over to Team Shadow's table. After taking a sip of her Grass Gummi shake, Iris grinned and sighed.

"Well, that was satisfying! I'm glad we came here today."

"Uh…did someone get a big win at the lottery?"

Claire blinked again as she heard another voice. Paula—Felix's Pikachu cousin—had just arrived at the café, and she was gawking at the hole in the wall. Her Treecko partner curiously peered around her, trying to get a better look at the scene. Then, she stared at Paula and shook her head.

"Oh, right. The hole would be bigger if Ludicolo and everyone came out, right?" Paula frowned. "So, then, what…"

"Oh, I assure you it's far more stupid than that," Rin groaned. "And you don't want to know. Anyway…"

"Uh…" Paula shrugged before coming over to their table with her friend in tow. "Okay. Anyway, sorry we're late! How's everyone been? I'm still sorry about that, Bruce—oh, Laura, here's our Gummis. Do you mind getting our drinks?

Laura nodded and took the offered Gummis (though Claire noted with some confusion that one of them was White instead of Grass). Still, the distraction was a welcome one, even if Iris seemed to be feeling better now. The chat soon turned to more amiable topics, though Claire eventually spotted Elliot dashing out of the café with a look of sheer terror in their direction.

…Well, she supposed that whenever they went to meet up with Iris's family, they'd have to be careful about keeping her on her best behavior.