Last Time, Ash and the gang stop for some training, but Iris decides to eat, but she doesn't really seem like it, Cilan asks why and they have big whole discussion about Iris' past, and her nervousness to go back to her home town of Opelucid, Missile also gets back to the rocket base and gets a new mission, recapture Meloetta, meanwhile the Rocket Trio get to infiltrate the Plasma base to steal their patented mind control technology, yeah that's not gonna turn out well.

Ash and the gang were traveling again, and had reached Opelucid, already, man that was quick.

"Are you nervous Iris?" Cilan asked.

"Nervous, ha! Absolutely, oh boy" Iris said, practically sweating bullets.

"Well, there's no turning back now" Ash said. "Come on, let's go"

"Alright then" Iris said, nervous, she hadn't been back in a few years, and promised that she would return when Axew was a Haxorus, he was not, so she was rather hesitant to come back so soon.

The trio made it through the large village, going through the groups of quaint huts, passing by many Druddigon, Hydreigon, Haxorus, and all of their pre evolutions, making to the center.

"This is it" Iris said. "This is the very place I lived in years ago, and right over there is Drayden's hut"

"Are you sure you're good about this?" Ash asked. "We can come with you"

"No, I need to face him on my own" Iris said, she walked up to the hut, and started to knock on the door.

"Why hello there!" Boomed a voice from behind them.

"Drayden?!" Iris said, turning quickly to see the spartan mayor.

"It has been a while Iris, I see you've brought some new friends over too" Drayden said, looking quite glad. "How have you been doing?"

"Uh, good" Iris said, suddenly regretting going here in the first place.

"And who might you two be?" Drayden asked Ash and Cilan. "Not much news comes in or out of here, just a few trainers looking to battle the gym"

"Well I'm Ash, and I'm here for the gym battle"

"I'm Cilan, and I'm here because, well I don't really have a reason, I just follow Ash"

"That's great to hear" Drayden said. "I'd love for you to meet the gym leader soon, but we've got some catching up to do"

"We?" Ash asked. "But it's just you here"

"Oh ho ho, I wouldn't say that" Said an old tired voice. "Surely you remember me too don't you Iris?"

"Elder, it's you" Iris said.

"Yep, it's me, I'm still kicking after all this time, come on to my place I'll get you all some tea, you must be hungry after traveling so long" The Elder said.

"Oh heck yeah, I could use a meal alright" Ash said.

"Yeah, we could" Iris said.

'Iris? Are you okay?' Axew asked.

"I'm fine Axew, for now at least, could you hide out in my hair for a little longer?"

'Okay, sure'

Iris and the gang headed into the Elder's home, Drayden followed too.

"So tell me, how's the little Axew?" The Elder asked Iris.

"Oh he's great" Iris said, Axew was hidden in her hair.

"That's great to hear" Drayden said. "I'm sure Haxorus would like to see him"

"Yeah about that, let's see him already" Said the Elder.

Man should I? I mean come on, he hasn't even evolved once, they're expecting a Haxorus here!

"Uh Iris, I know this isn't really the right time" Cilan suddenly said. "But can I ask you a question, outside, alone?"

"What? Oh uh sure, if it's fine with the others" Iris said.

"Of course it's fine" Drayden said.

"Go for it" The Elder said too.

"Huh? Uhhuh, yeah" Ash said, mouth stuffed.

Iris and Cilan headed outside for a bit, taking Axew too. "Okay, I know that this is an uncomfortable situation right now, but you gotta tell them the truth eventually"

"Yeah I know, but I don't know how to" Iris said.

"Well what does Axew think?" Cilan asked.

"What do you think Axew?" Iris asked.

'Uh I don't know I don't want Iris to feel embarrassed' Axew said.

"You know what I'm doing it, right now, better sooner than later" Iris said, invigorated.

"Alright you go Iris" Cilan cheered.

The three went back inside.

"Well I hope all that's sorted" Said the Elder.

"Alright I'm ready to show my pokemon" Iris said.

"That's great news" Drayden said. "We should head outside for this, don't want to mess up the Elder's home"

"Alright, just let me finish this real quick" Ash said, gorging on the last of the food.

Everybody went outside, and Iris quickly felt nervous again.

"Haxorus has got to see this" Drayden said, releasing the shiny pokemon.

'Ooh that's scary, but also amazing' Axew said, peaking from Iris' hair.

"Whoa, your Haxorus it's a shiny!" Cilan said, admiring the pure black dragon type.

"Yep got her a long time ago, strongest dragon in these parts" Drayden explained. "Now of course Iris I'm sure you've caught some pretty strong pokemon too"

"We'd love to see them" Said the Elder. "Show us what you got, don't worry we'll like your team I'm sure"

Iris took in a deep breath. "Alright, come on out guys!" Iris released all her pokemon.

"Ah I see that Excadrill's been doing well" Drayden said.

'Better than before Iris left anyway' Excadrill said back.

"I see you've caught a Deino too, those are pretty hard to raise" Elder said. "With all the head butting and biting and stuff, but this one seems well trained.

'My brothers did all that stuff long ago, it was kinda annoying' Said Deino.

'Hey where's my little son?' Haxorus asked.

'He's in Iris' hair' Emolga responded.

'Hmm? Does that mean, he's not evolved yet?' Haxorus asked.

'Well, kinda, I probably shouldn't have said anything, oops' Emolga said, scratching the back of her head.

Haxorus moved up to Iris, and examined her hair.

"Haxorus what are you doing?" Iris asked.

'Uh hi' Axew said, popping up from Iris' hair.

Haxorus moved back, she didn't seem awfully upset, and Drayden and the Elder didn't seem all too disappointed either, at this point Iris stopped trying to hide it.

"Alright fine, I admit it, Axew hasn't even evolved once, not a single time! He's still an Axew!" Iris said, pulling the little dragon out of her hair, and onto the ground.

"Oh, well that's quite alright" Drayden said. "Axew take a long time to evolve, Haxorus here didn't evolve until she was three years old! I mean you've been having Axew for five now, but still"

"Pah! It's not quite alright, by now Axew should be a Fraxure!" The Elder perked up. "Has he learned any dragon type moves yet?"

"Well he's learned a couple" Iris said.

"Alright then, let's have a battle!" Called the Elder. "Haxorus vs Axew right now! If you've trained him well, he'll at least make a dent in her"

"Wait right now!? A battle!?" Iris said, shocked and confused.

"Hold on Elder, I'm not sure Haxorus would exactly be fine with this" Drayden said. "And just between you and me, this is kind of unfair"

"Okay then, Haxorus would you like to fight your own son?" Elder asked.

'Well I wouldn't like to, but I could' Haxorus said. 'As long as it's fine with him'

'I want to train with you! I'm ecstatic! Are you really my mom?' Axew asked.

'Yeah, I remember when you were just an egg, oh how much you've grown' Haxorus responded.

"Wow Axew and Haxorus have already hit it off" Ash said.

"I think Axew aspires to be like his mother" Cilan said.

'Come on, let's have a battle!' Axew said, excited.

'I mean, if you insist' Haxorus responded, although reluctantly.

"See even the little grub wants a battle" Said the Elder. "So let him have one"

Suddenly one of Ash's pokeballs opened up and Braviary came out.

'If you're going to battle, I want to watch it!' Braviary said.

"I guess Braviary would like to watch this battle too" Cilan said.

"Well what are waiting for then, Iris vs Drayden, Axew vs Haxorus" Elder said. "Right here, right now!"

"Alright, let's do this" Drayden said. "Haxorus go!"

'Okay, but I'm letting Axew have the first move'

"Are you sure Axew?" Iris asked.

'Absolutely!'

"Okay then, Axew I choose you!" Axew stepped up, Haxorus towered over him, Axew looked up in awe.

"Battle begin!"

"Axew, use Dragon Pulse!"

Drayden said nothing.

Axew shoots out a Dragon Pulse which hits Haxorus, but she was unfazed.

"Axew use Slash!"

Drayden stood still.

Axew went up to his mother, but was picked up with one claw, Axew tried swinging for the fences, to no avail, she went him go soon after.

"Axew use Rock Tomb!"

Drayden stared unblinkingly.

Axew formed a massive boulder, and it fell on Haxorus, breaking apart, while the dragon stood, undeterred.

"Uh Axew use Iron Tail?"

Drayden breathed normally.

Axew slammed his tail on his mother, but ended up hurting himself, Haxorus rubbed his tail, making him feel better.

"This is not going well" Elder said, Haxorus if you don't challenge your son, he'll never get half as strong as you are! So do something! You too Drayden!"

"Fine, Haxorus use Dragon Claw, but very weakly" Drayden said.

Haxorus didn't need to hear the weakly part, as she was already reluctant, she formed a dragon claw, and very casually swung at Axew, who dodged with ease.

"Okay this isn't going to work" Elder said. "Haxorus is too unwilling, and Axew is too weak, call it a draw!"

"That was anticlimactic to say the least" Cilan said.

*sigh* "I'm sorry Axew, it's my fault that you couldn't do it" Iris apologized.

'What? Don't say that, you've raised me well' Axew said. 'I'm happy, and I've still done some stuff'

'Yeah! He's beaten that Missile's Druddigon before!' Braviary pitched in.

'Really? A Druddigon? That's quite a feat' Haxorus said.

'Mom, I'd love to train with you, can we?' Axew said.

'I could help' Braviary said.

'Well, if you really want to' Haxorus said.

'Yay!' Axew said.

"Looks like they're gonna train" Cilan said.

"Well I guess we can train too" Ash said. "Gotta get ready for the Opelucid gym, can't wait to meet the leader"

"Alright then, let's train" Drayden said.

"You kids go do that" Elder said. "The gym leader's a hardy one, and he'll cream you without any preparation"

The gang sent out their pokemon to train, and everything was going swell.

"Come on Deino you can do it" Iris said.

'I'm trying!' Deino said, firing a Dragon Rage at a boulder, but ultimately missing.

"Hey Iris" Cilan called.

"Oh hey Cilan" Iris said.

"How's training going?" Cilan asked.

"It's going great, me and Deino are working on our accuracy" Iris said.

'She doesn't usually train with me, I mean I'm fine with that of course, but you know it's nice' Deino said.

"Where's Axew then?" Cilan asked.

"Over there with Haxorus" Iris said.

'Try to hit me with Dragon Pulse' Haxorus said.

'Alright' Axew charged up a Dragon Pulse and shot it at Haxorus, but she sliced it in half with Dragon Claw.

'Don't make it so obvious though, I told you to hit me with Dragon Pulse, so I expected you would'

'Oh, so you want it to be sudden, well how can I do that?'

'Well, you could try stunning your opponent, if you do that, they'll need time to recover before being able to counter an attack'

'Oh, okay'

'Let's practice'

Haxorus and Axew sparred, Haxorus swung around with Dragon Claw.

Axew dodged, and struck back with Slash, he followed it up with a quick Dragon Pulse.

Haxorus dodged it however.

'That was close, but you gotta real make sure they're down first'

'Oh, what if you can't get them down before they get you?'

'Well, you just got to figure out when to attack or not, get to know your opponent, their speed, their tactics, how they move'

'Whoa, that's nice, let's do it again'

'Alright'

Axew and Haxorus got back to sparring.

"Wow they've only known each other for a couple of hours, and they've already bonded greatly" Cilan said.

"Yeah, I haven't seen Axew this happy and learning this quickly in forever, and that's what's scaring me" Iris said.

"What do you mean?" Cilan asked.

"Well, what if he sees that being with his mother is better for him, you know? What if he wants to leave and be with his mom instead?" Iris said.

"Uh well, hmm, man that's a very possible possibility" Cilan said. "But I do think if he wants to stay, then he should stay"

"You think so? But I don't want Axew to leave me" Iris said.

"Yeah, but it's the right thing to do, you know, it's gonna be what's best for him" Cilan said.

"I suppose so" Iris said, she and Cilan watched Axew and Haxorus train.

'Uh guys?' Deino said, ignored. 'Welp I'm going to train with Excadrill'

"Drayden" The Elder said.

"Yes Elder?" Drayden replied.

"Iris, do you believe she is ready?" Elder asked.

"No, unfortunately Axew is still an Axew, and half of her team isn't even dragon type" Drayden replied.

"But you're body it is growing weaker by the day, I'm afraid you can only run the gym for a couple more years, and then"

"I'll have the pass the reins to Iris, but that wouldn't fair to her, she still hasn't realized the full potential of her pokemon, that is quite alright, for now anyway"

"One thing's for certain, if that Axew doesn't evolve soon, you'll have to either close down the gym, or postpone your retirement"

"Once Axew has evolved into a mighty Haxorus, and Deino has evolved into at least a Zwelious, then I'd say she'd be ready"

"I would say so too, but for now, the fate of the Opelucid gym, and thus the city is hanging in the balance"

After some time and more training, it was getting late.

"Man, I'm tired" Ash said.

"Drayden, do you know where we can rest?" Cilan asked.

"Well, Iris would know" Drayden said. "All of you could sleep in your old hut"

"Huh? With me? In there?" Iris said.

"Yep, if you're fine with that at least" Drayden said.

"Well okay then, I haven't slept in there in ages" Iris said.

'Iris can I sleep with my mom?' Axew said, tugging on Iris' shirt.

"Oh I think Axew wants to sleep with Haxorus" Iris said.

"Well that's quite alright, Haxorus usually takes naps right outside my hut, that would mean that either Axew or Haxorus would have to move from their usual sleeping spot" Drayden said.

'I'll move for Axew, Iris' hut is in a quite nice place anyway' Haxorus said.

'Alright!' Axew said, climbing onto Haxorus' head.

"Well good night everyone" Elder said.

"Night, have fun" Drayden said.

The gang went to Iris' hut, she opened the door, to find it looking quite messy, but charming in a way. There were books scattered on the floor, next to a bookshelf on the back of the room, next to the door, a table with a potted plant was still filled with water, a bed lay off to the right side, which had a window, the covers were strewn across it.

"Man I haven't been here in ages, and it still looks exactly the same" Iris said, looking around, taking in the sights.

"Looks like someone's been watering the plants here" Cilan said, looking at the table.

"So uh, where do we sleep?" Ash asked. "It's your house, so we'll let you decide"

"I didn't agree on that" Cilan said.

"Well, I guess you guys could get the sleeping bags, and sleep on the floor, Axew and Haxorus can sleep outside next to the window, and I'll sleep on my bed" Iris said.

"Alright then" Ash said. "Let's do this"

The three set up the room, cleaning up the books, and putting down two sleeping bags, Axew and Haxorus got outside, and everyone went to sleep.

Well almost everyone at least, Iris was laying in bed, staring at the ceiling unblinkingly, she turned to see the mother son duo outside.

They were sleeping calmly, Axew on top of Haxorus' head, both lit up by the moonlight. They look so happy together, and they trained well too, they've forged a great bond, even after all these years of separation, who am I to take that away, Axew you deserve to be with your mother, I never had a mother, and you didn't either, until now that is, it might hurt me, but it's for the best. Iris could feel tears forming in her eyes, but she blinked them away, and faced the truth. That's it, when we leave Opelucid, I'm leaving you here, you and your mother need to be together, there's no denying it, it has to be done, no matter how much it hurts me.