You have no idea how excited I am right now. This is the first time that I've ever written a fight scene for a story. I was a bit nervous at first, but I finally finished it. Again, for all the people out there that continue to read this story and leave your comments (I'm looking at you, AmeNeko a.k.a Rain Cat), you have no idea how happy I am. I hope you enjoy this new chapter, viewers, and don't forget to leave your comments.

Chapter 4

Only a few minutes had passed until Iris had found herself only a few yards away from her home, gasping for air after running so quickly from the Old Matriarch's house. As she recovered from her short exhaustion, she began to think back to her earlier childhood, reminiscing about how she would often play with the Pokémon of the forest and village. As these memories flooded her mind, all Iris could do was stand and marvel at her modest home and the small tree that stood by it. "I'm home. After so long, I'm finally home," Iris said to herself as she walked past the small tree and up to the front door. Standing at the front door, Iris raised her clenched hand and began to knock. A moment had passed and there was no answer, so she began to knock again, hoping that someone was still home. After another moment, the lock clicked and the door slowly opened to reveal a figure no taller than Cilan. Her scrawny figure was covered by what could only be described as a simple, amber colored apache dress. Both Iris and the woman behind the door shared the same chocolate skin and long, purple hair, but surprisingly, her hair was shorter when compared to Iris's wilder hairstyle and unrestrained at the bottom. Her face had the same brown eyes as well and only showed a few wrinkles. Although she wasn't as old as the Matriarch, her face and body had still shown signs of aging and experience. As she examined the young girl before her, a gleam of joy came into her eyes and she began to speak.

"Is that you, Iris?" the woman at the door asked as she opened the door wider.

"Yes Mom. It's me, Iri-," but before Iris could even finish her sentence, she had suddenly found herself in her mother's tight embrace.

"I've missed you so much, Iris. You have no idea," her mother said as she continued to hold Iris tightly in her arms.

"I missed you too, Mom," Iris gasped, struggling to even get her words out, "But I won't be able to hug you back if you keep strangling me like this." Upon hearing this, her mother began to loosen her grip and the two of them began to embrace each other for what felt like an eternity. After the duo released each other, Iris's mother began to beckon her and the two of them entered the modest cabin. As they entered the cabin, the first thing that caught Iris's attention was the set of Ducklett Wings that stood framed at the top of the shelves along with several other photos and souvenirs that took their places below the set of clear, gray wings. In front of those shelves stood a plain, white couch that took its place near the stairs to the second floor of the house. Right in front of the couch, Iris could see a small, brown chair that faced it as well as a small table of the same color that stood in-between the chair and couch. Across the entire room, with the exception of the opening to the right of the shelves that led to the kitchen, all of the walls were made up of furnished, wooden planks that shone with a brighter shade of brown than the chair and table. After absorbing her surroundings for a minute, Iris made her way to the couch as her mother walked towards the kitchen. Iris was confused by what she was doing, but before she could even form her lips to ask a question, her mom had already spoke.

"I'm going to make some lunch and tea. Just rest for now while I'm in the kitchen," Iris's mom said before disappearing through the opening.

"Okay, Mom," Iris responded. As she waited, her mind started to wander and she began to think about all of her travels up to now with all of her friends from how they first met to the tournaments that they competed in. At first, Iris had wondered where her friends were and about whether or not they had gotten lost on their way to her house, but as her mind slipped farther away, she reassured herself that her friends were perfectly safe and simply taking their time and began to doze off.

...

Roused by the smell of delicious food, Iris had begun to wake from her nap and gave a loud yawn. "Hmm, I must've fallen asleep," Iris thought to herself as she began to rub her eyes in an effort to stay awake. As she turned her head upward to look at the clock above her on the wall, grief and shock suddenly decorated her face as she realized that nearly an hour had passed since she had taken her nap. She had wanted to ask her mom why she let her stay asleep for so long, but her mind was more preoccupied by thoughts of Ash and her other friends being kidnapped or injured. "Mom! I need to head out right now, but I'll be back in a minute!" Iris shouted as she quickly ran towards the door. Iris had begun to jerk open the door, but before she could even open it completely, it suddenly stopped and a short cry of pain was heard, followed quickly by a thud. Iris had begun to open the door slowly, wondering what she could have possibly hit, but relief and comfort returned to her somewhat when she recognized the familiar raven-haired figure sitting on the floor, covered in bandages. "Ash! Are you okay?" Iris cried as she came to Ash's side, ignoring the Pikachu sprawled across the floor next them as well as the Deino that stood nearby on the other side, feeling somewhat guilty about what just happened.

"I'm alright, Iris," Ash said as he picked himself up from the ground, still wincing in pain from his presumed injuries.

"You don't look alright to me," Iris said as she extended a hand towards Ash to help him get back onto his feet. "Let's try to get you inside the house so you can rest," she said as she helped Ash walk inside the house and towards the couch with Pikachu and Deino following them closely. As Ash and Iris slowly made their way to the couch, Iris's mom had begun to enter the room with a tray holding food and hot tea from the kitchen.

"Okay, lunch is ready now. To be honest, I finished cooking the food about a half hour ago, but you looked so peaceful while you were asleep," Iris's mother said as she walked into the room with a cheery expression on her face; however, upon entering the room, Iris's mom stopped suddenly in her tracks when she noticed her daughter lowering Ash onto the couch. At first, she was shocked and was almost ready to drop everything in her hands so that she could rush towards Ash and get him away from her daughter, but once she noticed the bandages that covered him, her mind was put at ease and she began to speak again as she continued to her seat. "And who is this young man?" Iris's mother asked with a serious look on her face as she set the tray on the table and took her place at her own chair. Almost instantaneously, a distraught look came upon Iris's face after hearing her mother's question as if she already knew what was going to happen next. Feeling somewhat scared, Iris began to speak with a shaky voice.

"W- Well, Umm…This is my friend, Ash Ketchum. You see, we've been traveling for a while wi-."

"Traveling? Together? A while!" Iris's mother interrupted with a scowl on her face that easily scared both Ash and Iris. Even Pikachu and Deino, despite standing to the side of the couch and out of the way, were scared by her sudden reaction to what she heard her daughter say.

"It's not what it sounds like, Mom. We've been traveling with another person as well for about just as long," Iris quickly responded, desperate to keep her mother from overreacting even more than she already had. To Iris's surprise, her mother had begun to calm down after hearing this news and her cheery expression began to slightly return to her face. As the tension in the air finally cleared, both Iris and her mother took their cups into their hands and began to drink their warm tea. As they drank their tea and as Pikachu and Deino walked to Ash's side, Iris's mom had decided to take the time to speak once again.

"Well, at least you have someone else traveling with you as well that's taking care of you and making sure that you two do nothing…inappropriate," Iris's mom said with a straight face. Although Ash remained somewhat confused by what Iris's mom had suddenly said, his attention quickly turned towards Iris, who was suddenly choking as her face became flushed with red.

"Iris! Are you okay!" Ash shouted as Pikachu climbed onto the couch, equally worried about Iris after her sudden reaction while Deino only turned and raised its head to find the source of the chaos.

"Mom! How could you say something so embarrassing right in front of him like that!" Iris gasped, still struggling to breathe after her sudden episode.

"Sorry Iris, but I'm just doing my job as a mother," Iris's mother said as she continued to drink her tea. "I just want to make sure that my daughter doesn't make the wrong decisions, especially when she's just starting her journey, when anything could happen."

As soon as these words reached her ears, Iris's face began to glow a brighter shade of red. Obviously flustered by what her mother had said, Iris rose from her seat and rushed towards the back door located within the kitchen. "Iris! Wait!" Ash called as he rose from his seat, still cringing in pain from his injuries, and followed after Iris.

"At least he doesn't seem like the type to take advantage of others," Iris's mother thought to herself as she began to notice both Pikachu and Deino, who came towards the kitchen entrance to see where the two trainers ran off to.

...

After Ash made his way through the back door, he noticed Iris standing in the middle of a short, grassy field being comforted by the same small, red-eyed Pokémon that made its home within her hair. Slowly, but surely, Ash began to walk towards Iris as quietly as he can in an effort to keep himself from the disturbing the moment that she was sharing with her Axew; however, before he could even get close to them, they had already turned their heads and noticed him.

"Why are you out here, Ash? Shouldn't you still be resting on the couch?" Iris asked as she turned the rest of her body towards Ash, who was quickly making his way towards Iris now that he was already spotted.

"I know I'm injured, but I couldn't just sit around and do nothing when my friend is upset," Ash responded with concern showing in both his face and voice as he took a seat next to Iris. "Are you feeling alright now?"'

"I'm alright; it's just…My mom can be so embarrassing sometimes and she always says the rudest things," Iris said, still feeling upset about what happened. "You wouldn't understand what it's like to have such an embarrassing mom around all the time."

"Believe me; I understand better than you know," Ash said to Iris, who began to look at him with a confused look on her face. "My mom does pretty embarrassing things, too. Just between you and me, whenever I start to go out on a new journey, even if there was someone around, she would always ask if I had clean underwear with me." Iris face began to light up as she gave a small laugh along with her Axew after hearing this piece of news while Ash could only give a sheepish grin. After Iris and Axew stopped laughing, Ash continued from where he left off. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that even though she can be embarrassing, I know she only does these things because she cares about me and wants to make sure that I'm safe." For a moment, Iris could only sit and think about the surprisingly good advice that Ash had given her just now. For a moment, she looked down towards the grass and took a quick glance at her Axew, but after a few moments of thinking, Iris finally responded with a cheery look on her face once again.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Iris said as they both began to stand up.

"I'm glad that you're feeling better," Ash said, feeling relieved that he didn't just make things worse, but suddenly, a new thought came to his mind. "Iris? Since we're already out here anyway, why don't we have a quick practice battle like we always do?" Iris was somewhat surprised by his suggestion, but quickly recovered once she remembered how much Ash liked to battle and how often they trained against each other during their journey.

"Sure," Iris said as she began to walk away from Ash with her Axew to create enough space for their battle. "The same Ash as always," Iris thought to herself with a smirk as she walked farther away from the raven-haired boy.

...

After walking a safe distance away from Ash, Iris began to pull a small, red and white sphere from her back pocket that quickly expanded to a larger size once she pressed the white button in the center of it. "Alright, Emolga! It's time for some training," Iris said as she threw the Poké Ball into the air. As the Poké Ball opened itself in the air, a bluish-white ray of light appeared from the spherical object and a small figure began to slowly form on the ground. As the concealing light disappeared, it revealed a figure that bore a look similar to Ash's Pikachu, but with a smaller frame. Outside of the yellow pouches on her cheeks that stored electricity and the yellow patagium that stretched between her stubby arms and feet, the front of her body remained covered in white fur. She had large, round ears that were decorated with yellow and white rings, but the outside of her ears were covered with black fur that could be seen around the edge of her face and all over the back of its body, making it seem as if she was wearing a hooded cape. Even her long tail, which ended with a shape resembling a lightning bolt, was covered in black fur. After finally appearing from her Poké Ball, she began to make a cute pose towards Ash as if she was about to have her picture taken.

"So Iris is using Emolga," Ash said to himself with a serious, but excited look on his face as he reached for one of his Poké Balls as well. "If that's the case, then Oshawott, I choose you!" Ash shouted as he threw his expanded Poké Ball into the air and released his Pokémon the same way as Iris did. As the same light faded from his Pokémon, it revealed a figure that was similar in size to Iris's Emolga. One of his most noticeable features was the large, brown nose that stood level with the eyes on his white, round, freckled face. He had a small, khaki-colored seashell that he wore on the center of his turquoise body, which managed to keep curves similar to those of a typical vase. Although it had a dark blue tail that looked similar to a fin as well as legs that were as dark blue and stubby as the horns on his head, he had no trouble moving quickly from one place to another, which was somewhat proven when he went towards Ash after he realized that he was fighting against Emolga.

"Ash, why are you making me fight against Emolga?" Oshawott complained as he flailed his stubby, white arms towards Ash.

"Don't worry, Oshawott. You have your scalchop, so you should be alright," Ash said in an attempt to cheer up Oshawott, who only gave a look of annoyance towards his trainer before speaking once again.

"I know that, but that's not what I was talking about. You should know by now that I have a crush on Emolga, so why are you making me go against her?" Oshawott tried his hardest to convince his trainer to take him out of the battle, but he soon acknowledged that all of his arguing was futile once he remembered that humans can't understand the language of Pokémon under regular circumstances.

"There's no need to worry, Oshawott, and even if you get in trouble, you still have a few tricks up your sleeve," Ash said to Oshawott. Oshawott was astounded by how dense his trainer was, but begrudgingly stepped away from Ash and readied itself for battle. "You make the first move, Iris," Ash told Iris with a determined look on his face.

"Okay," Iris responded with a determined look of her own, but suddenly turned her head towards Emolga. "Alright Emolga, this is a practice match, so you can't switch out with Volt Switch," Iris said to her Emolga, who was somewhat annoyed by this extra rule, but still gave a cry of agreement. "Alright Emolga, use Discharge!" All of a sudden, energy began to surge through Emolga's body and a stream of wild electricity began to head towards Oshawott.

"Oshawott, block Discharge with your scalchop," Ash ordered. Responding quickly to Ash's demand, Oshawott reached for the shell on its chest and raised it towards the attack heading towards him. The stream of lightning collided with the shell, but after a few seconds of resistance, the energy quickly dispersed and Oshawott remained unscathed along with his scalchop. Both Iris and Emolga were surprised that their fierce attack was blocked, but as they stood dumbfounded by what just happened, Ash did not hesitate and continued to call out his attacks. "Good job, Oshawott. Now, use Water Gun."

"Emolga, jump into the air to dodge and counter with Hidden Power," Iris called, quickly recovering from her shock as a stream of water came from Oshawott's mouth and towards her Emolga. Emolga broke from its trance thanks to her Trainer's call and made a great leap into the air, narrowly escaping the small deluge of water that came towards her. As Emolga began to glide in the air, three green orbs began to form between Emolga's palms and were successively fired towards Oshawott.

"Oshawott, spin and use Aqua Jet," Ash quickly responded, almost as if he was already prepared. Water quickly formed around Oshawott that soon surrounded his whole body. Very soon, consumed by the water summoned, he began to charge into the air towards Emolga's Hidden Power attack, leaving behind a stream of water that formed behind him. As Oshawott collided with Emolga's attack, the three green, glowing orbs were quickly repelled, but began to spin around the torrent of water and follow after Oshawott.

"Emolga! You gotta dodge it!" Iris quickly shouted with panic in her eyes and a drop of sweat coming down the side of her face. Emolga barely managed to dodge the incoming Aqua Jet, but was soon struck by one of the glowing, green orbs that followed soon afterward. As Oshawott dispersed his own attack while in the air and Emolga began to spin towards the ground, Iris saw an opportunity to attack and called out her next order.

"Emolga, use your spinning to your advantage and use Volt Switch." Emolga quickly recovered from the damage she took and began to spin faster as yellow ball of energy began to form in her hands. With the added speed of her rotation, Emolga fired the yellow orb at blinding speeds towards Oshawott, who was still stuck in the air. Upon noticing what Iris was planning, Ash's heart began to race.

"Oshawott! Defend yourself with Razor Shell!" Ash shouted towards his Oshawott. Being slightly panicked by his trainer's sudden order and the rapidly approaching orb of energy, Oshawott reached for his scalchop and a bluish aura began to emanate from it and form a blade-like figure that soon collided with Emolga's Volt Switch. Both moves were intense in terms of power, but eventually, after clashing with each other, the yellow orb exploded, leaving behind a cloud of smoke. "Oshawott!" Ash cried with worry in his voice after the sudden explosion, but his fears were somewhat confirmed when he saw his Oshawott falling from the sky with his scalchop in hand. After both Emolga and Oshawott fell to the ground, their Trainers began to worry about the health of their Pokémon.

"Can you still continue?" Both Trainers asked their Pokémon as they slowly rose from the ground and back onto their feet, reassuring their respective trainers that they can continue. Both trainers were relieved, but then a thought went through Iris's mind.

"Hmm, that scalchop is going to be a real problem if this battle goes on any longer, and Emolga looks pretty tired, so let's try a new tactic." As this thought went through her mind, Ash had begun to speak.

"Okay, Oshawott. It's starting to get down to the wire here, so let's end it with our new move," Ash declared as Oshawott came to his feet as well, ready to receive his trainer's next order. "Alright, Oshawott. Finish this with Ice Beam." Slightly hesitating after hearing his trainer's order, a small orb began to form around Oshawott's mouth and suddenly, an icy-cold beam of energy was shot towards Emolga.

"Emolga! You have to dodge it!" Iris shouted, feeling slightly unnerved by the attack heading towards her Pokémon. Emolga had tried to get out of the way before she was struck, but was too heavily injured and exhausted to move quickly enough out of the way in time. Both Iris and Emolga began to think that was the battle was over, but by some saving grace, the Ice Beam began to veer off-course and whizzed by Emolga, barely missing her.

"Oh man, the aim is still off," Ash said, suddenly distraught by what just happened. Oshawott began to worry as well about the results of his attack, but determination returned to both Iris and Emolga as they planned their next attack.

"Alright Emolga, it's time for a counterattack, so immobilize him with Attract," Iris ordered with confidence in her voice once again. As Emolga winked, pink hearts began to form around Emolga and fly slowly towards Oshawott, who was suddenly feeling panicked by the attack suddenly heading towards him.

"Oshawott, put your head back on and dodge it," Ash called, worried by what was about to happen. Oshawott tried it's hardest to move, but quickly fell to his knees from exhaustion. Soon, the hearts began to spin quickly around Oshawott, whose eyes were filled with nothing but fear right now, and converged all at once onto Oshawott. "Oshawott!" Ash cried, expecting something to happen soon, but after a long moment of waiting, he began to notice that something was wrong. "Nothing. Happened?" Ash said, completely confused by what happened, or rather, what didn't happen. Even Iris was confused by what just happened.

"…Emolga, try using Attract again," Iris ordered again. At first, Emolga was confused by what happened as well, but responded to her trainer and launched the same attack again. Once again, the pink hearts converged all at once upon Oshawott, who was suddenly feeling utterly embarrassed right now, but once again, nothing happened. All of a sudden, both Iris and Emolga were completely dumbfounded by the discovery they just made.

"Umm, I don't know how to say this, but for some reason, I think Emolga's Attract stopped working on Oshawott," Ash said, feeling a bit confused by what just happened.

Dun! Dun! ! So how many of you were expecting that little twist? Really? Everyone?

...

Either way, I hope you all enjoyed the new chapter and leave your comments and praises behind.