Thank you for all of your reviews, good or bad they help and motivate. I hope you'll enjoy this (updated) second chapter!

Chapter 2: Introductions

Ash edged closer to the body, not quite knowing what to do. He felt his spine shivering. Buried almost motionless lied a dark skinned girl that seemed around Ash's age. A tiny green dragon Pokemon was leaning over her crying. Although, she seemed pretty badly injured, Ash's eyes lit up. He never looked at a girl the same way, time slowed down dramatically. He was going through some proper strange emotions here. It was like no other. He had to cut this sudden train of thought off though as he had to help her out. The small dragon looked up at Ash, giving him the puppy eyes face. He immediately got onto his knees to try and work out any injuries. The small dragon was in deep panic and Ash couldn't make out a word he was saying, not even Pikachu could comprehend.

"Slow down! We heard a huge explosion so we rushed over here to see what had happened. What happened to you?" Pikachu said to the young dragon.
"We-we were sitting up in a tree as normal, and then a-all of a sudden a giant shadow appeared then boom we're all dead!" the green dragon responded, shivering with fear.
"Okay there's no need to worry, I'm Pikachu. Ash and I are going to do our best to help you out here!" Pikachu said while laying a paw on the dragon's shoulder.
"Wow, thank you very much, I'm Axew!"

The girl wasn't dead, much to Ash's relief, but certainly in bad shape. What could Ash do though? He was bang in the middle of a route he's never been on before, having never seen any of the towns or cities, he was lost. "There doesn't seem to be any Pokemon Centres around anywhere, they're probably miles off. It's like we're stuck in the middle of nowhere." he thought, feeling useless at the same time. There was no way he'd let anyone hurt stay down to suffer, so he picked her up and carried her out of the scene where the incident occurred. He didn't quite know what he was doing, but it felt strange. He felt, strangely different...

Axew slowly followed, never leaving his trainer. Pikachu explained everything. A strong complexion of determination was written all over Ash's face; he wasn't going to let a pretty girl down. He was unusually silent along the way, Pikachu caught him glancing down on her as he ran, distracting him from looking where he was going. "Ash is acting incredibly strange..." Pikachu thought to himself, slightly worried about how serious he was during this situation. Ash was on a mission.

A stampede of thoughts rushed to Ash's mind. When she wakes up, what will she say to him? What would she do? He became anxious as a flood of emotions rushed around his 10 year old mind. He had no idea how to talk to her.. Ash had never taken an attraction to girls before; having travelled around with so many people, Ash never really took the time for relationships, he was never willing to let anything get in the way of his quest to become a Pokemon master. However, for the first time ever, Ash felt himself strangely attracted to this girl that he carried in his arms.

He ran for what felt like miles and was beginning to tire out. He was starting to panic slightly, having no clue at all where he was, he had reasons to be worried. There wasn't any sign of a town or city near by, so Ash would have to camp for the night. This also meant he had a patient to look after.

The day was coming to a close and the sun was starting to set, he was now exhausted. Pikachu had given up running, while Axew got worn out after a few yards. At this point, both Pokemon were sitting comfortably on Ash's shoulder. Ash stopped in his tracks, finally admitting to defeat on finding any towns or cities. It was time to find a spot to camp by. Luckily, this being at the start of a new journey, Ash was more prepared than ever. He had extra sleeping bags, clean clothes, and lots of various different supplies, should he ever get in a situation like this one.

He gently put the girl down onto the grass, making sure her long, flowing hair didn't get caught anywhere. She couldn't stay asleep forever, he had to do something. What if she woke up later in the night when he was asleep? He wouldn't have a clue what had happened then... He had to try and wake her up right now. He slowly got down onto his knees, and slowly stoked her hair off of her face.
"Pssssst, wake up..." He whispered softly, being gentle, however his mind took control as him as he found himself stroking her face and hair. He didn't want to stop, he was trapped in such a calm and tender moment, with someone he never met but was strangely attracted to at first sight already...

She let out a tender sigh, and then slowly opened her eyes to reveal the most beautiful brown orbs that Ash had ever seen before. He soon found himself gazing right into them until he panicked and looked away. He never usually had trouble at looking someone in the eye, but suddenly his confidence had vanished. The girl seemed troubled, she had been completely oblivious to Ash carrying her around the whole time, she looked very confused at where she was and who she was with, but was soon comforted by a very relieved looking Axew.

"Are you okay?" he said softly as he held out a hand and smiled. The mysterious girl looked up in confusion, and stared into Ash's eyes for a while, before quickly sitting up. Her quick actions put a strain on her back, so Ash quickly reacted and slowly lowered her back down, reaching for a pillow from his bag to rest her head on. "What happened?" the girl asked, speaking in such a calm and tender voice.
"There was some sort of explosion, Pikachu and I can running over quickly to see what had happened, then we discovered you and Axew." Ash replied.
"How did I end up here?" she asked.
"I tried to carry you to the nearest Pokemon Centre, but you see I've only just arrived here in Unova and so I don't know where any of the towns or cities are. I eventually had to give up, so I thought we could camp here the night!" he said, but soon looked down in embarrassment and started to play with his fingers.
"That is, if you want to..." he added.
Her stunned, shell shocked expression suddenly changed to a grateful smile.
"Wow, thank you so much! I don't really have anywhere else to go, so I'll camp here with you! It'll be fun!" She smiled, but her expression soon seemed worried again. What was more confusing is that she tried to hide it from Ash.
"I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Ash, and this is my buddy, Pikachu! This is my first day in Unova, we've just come over from Kanto!" Ash said
"Wow, you must have had a long journey then! I'm Iris, and this is my partner Axew. Nice to meet you!" she replied, although her expression didn't seem sincere enough to be genuine.
"Is something wrong?" he asked, trying to find out what was wrong.
"Um, well it's a bit complicated... Can I tell you in the morning? If it would be alright with you, can we go to where the explosion happened tomorrow? I'm really tired... Today's been horrible, although at least I met you, you seem very nice!" She responded. Ash blushed harder than he ever had before, there was no hiding cheeks as red as his at that point. He struggled to get his words out now, his heart was pounding against his chest.
"I understand, we'll talk properly in the morning. I have a spare sleeping bag for you!" Ash announced in a really excited tone.
Iris laughed.
"You're really that excited about camping- what a kid!" she said in a sarcastic tone before turning to Axew.
Ash simply laughed it off, as he quickly rummaged through his bag.

Soon the pair of them were lying down watching the thousands of stars that gathered in the night sky. Ash was loving every minute of it, he just couldn't get Iris off of his mind.

Eventually before he drifted off to sleep, he heard a whisper:

"Thanks, Ash"

It was from Iris. Ash soon went to sleep, only this time with a huge smile on his face.