Well, I finally finished the fifth chapter, but before I begin, I've been hearing a few comments from people, and I thought I should explain a few things for sake of convenience and warning.
One, for those of you that don't really watch the actual anime that often or watch too many Pokemon movies, there is a language barrier that exists between humans and Pokemon. The Pokemon can understand the humans, but not the other way around; however, there are a few rare exceptions to this rule that I won't list.
There is something else that I want to warn you all about. There have been a few comments from people, both in the form of PMs and reviews, of people asking me when the next chapter is coming out. Before you can even begin to think about flooding my box with comments, I'm letting you all know that I won't tolerate that sort of questioning or talk. I'm working on the story at my own pace and for my own enjoyment. If people start rushing me, the story will degrade in quality and may ultimately be cancelled. Anyone remember a flash animation called Super Mario Bros. Z? It was quite a good show created by AlvinEarthworm of DeviantArt. At first, he was making the story for fun and entertainment, but then it got too popular for its own good. So many people were entertained by the flash animation that a lot of them would constantly pester the creator about when the next episode will come out and rush him to finish the next chapter as quickly as possible. Eventually, after so many people demanded more and more from him and kept on trying to force their ideas and opinions, the creation of new episodes for the series became more of an unpaid chore to him than fun, and to my annoyance as well as everyone else's, AlvinEarthworm ultimately cancelled all work on the series. Let this be a warning to you all, both the offenders and the innocent: Do not try to make demands for me to work faster or use ideas and try to force them on me. It will only make things worse for everyone, especially those of you who offend.
Anyway, enough of my depression-inducing warnings. Now let's enjoy a brand new chapter.
Chapter 5
As both Ash and Iris continued to stare in confusion after witnessing Attract's failure to work against Oshawott, Emolga found herself becoming more and more flustered as time passed. Before long, Emolga began to speak.
"How could this possibly happen? No matter what, Attract is always supposed to work when it makes direct contact so long as the victim is the opposite gender. There's no way that I performed the move incorrectly, and it even worked on Oshawott before, so why isn't it doing anything now?" As Emolga continued her rant, Oshawott began to distance himself from Emolga, fearing that he would only be in more danger if he stayed where he was now. After quickly making his way behind Ash in an attempt to protect himself, both trainers, after listening to Emolga's uninterpretable chirping began to acknowledge that it would be both dangerous and pointless to continue their battle with each other.
"Ash! Both Emolga and Oshawott are looking pretty tired, so why don't we stop for now." Iris suggested as she took a glance at Emolga, who began to calm down slightly.
"That sounds like a good idea," Ash responded as he gave a glance towards his Pokémon as well. "It looks like Oshawott still has a little ways to go before mastering Ice Beam," Ash said with a slight frown on his face.
"At least Oshawott is doing much better compared to how he started," Iris said as she walked towards Ash with her Emolga.
"True. At first, the attack was blowing up in Oshawott's face and freezing him instead, but thanks to some hard training and help from Georgia, he can actually hit his target now…sometimes," Ash said as he lowered himself to pat his Oshawott's head. "I really need to thank her later, but right now, there's something else I'm curious about. Why didn't Attract work on Oshawott earlier?" Ash asked, feeling somewhat puzzled.
"Well, I have an idea, but I think it would be better if we talked about it inside," Iris said, sounding somewhat nervous in the process. "I think Oshawott and Emolga will want to hear this as well, so let's leave them out for now."
"Okay," Ash said as he rose from his squatting position and walked towards the green-roofed house along with Iris, an embarrassed Oshawott, and a mildly annoyed Emolga.
...
As the group opened the door leading back into the house they had entered before, they began to hear what sounded like giggling come from inside. At first, both the trainers and their Pokémon were puzzled by what they were hearing, but as they came into the living room, they saw something that left them surprised and somewhat disturbed. When they entered the room, the first thing that caught their attention was Iris's mother, who was lying on her back in the middle of the floor while the wooden table and chair stood near the staircase and out of the way. While she lay on the floor, she could be seen holding Deino above her face while Pikachu stood by her side, feeling somewhat entertained as well by what Iris's mom was doing.
"Who's a brave and strong little dragon? You are, Deino." Iris's mother said as she continued to make silly faces along with Pikachu in front of Deino, who could help but smile and laugh. For a few moments, Ash and Iris, along with Emolga and Oshawott, were shocked to see Iris's mother acting so carefree and playful, but soon, Iris began to speak.
"Right, I forgot that my mom likes to do this sort of thing with small Pokémon." Iris said as the group continued to watch her mother play with Deino and Pikachu.
"Oh! Hello Iris," Iris's mother said after noticing her daughter. Soon after she spoke, a look of embarrassment and shock suddenly came across Deino's face as she turned her head to see Iris and friends as well. Knowing how Deino was feeling right now, Iris's mother decided to lay Deino beside her and rose to her feet. "I'm sorry, but you know how I get whenever I see small Pokémon, especially Deino."
"I'm well aware of that, and so is Excadrill, but do you really have to do that when we have company?" Iris asked, feeling somewhat embarrassed as well.
"I can't help it that I love playing with Pokémon so often, and it's very rare that I even get to see Deino, much less play with them." Iris's mother argued, feeling somewhat sad that she wasn't still playing with Deino and Pikachu right now.
"You really like Deino that much?" Ash asked as Axew, curious about what was happening at the moment, climbed out of Iris's hair and landed near Oshawott and Emolga, who stood near their trainers as well.
"Of course I do!" Iris's mother shouted. "Deino is my favorite Pokémon. Every once in a while, a Deino would wander into the village, and I would be so excited to see it, but recently, I haven't been able to see any at all. I wonder what happened to them." As this thought continued to haunt her mind, both Ash and Iris began to hear a knock coming from the front door.
"I'll go get it," Iris said as she walked past her mother and towards the front door. As Iris went to answer the door, Ash, along with Axew, Emolga, and Oshawott, began to walk towards Iris's mother, who became more cheerful after noticing the three Pokémon at Ash's side. As Iris came closer to the door, with each passing step, she could hear the knocking get louder and faster. "Hold on! I'm coming!" Iris shouted, becoming more annoyed by the loud knocking. After slowly opening the door in front of her, a certain red-haired girl followed closely by a green-haired man came into Iris's view. It was Georgia and Cilan.
"Finally! It took you long enough to answer the door." Georgia complained as she barged into Iris's home.
"It's great to see you too, Georgia," Iris said, feeling exasperated as she watched Georgia walk towards the couch.
"Why, hello Iris." Cilan said in a successful attempt to regain Iris's attention.
"Oh! Hello Cilan. Come on in." Iris said as her attention shifted back to him. As Cilan came into the living room, he immediately noticed both Ash and Iris's mother sitting in the middle of the floor and playing with the Pokémon near them. While Ash could be seen trying to make funny faces along with his Pikachu towards Deino, who remained unfazed as she watched his endeavor, Cilan's attention was already geared towards Iris's mother, whom he saw holding Axew in the air as both Oshawott and Emolga stood nearby on her right side, waiting for their chance to play with her. As Georgia plopped into her seat on the couch, Iris's mother's attention soon shifted to Georgia and then to Cilan, and she began to speak.
"Is this the friend that you were talking about and traveling with, Iris?" Iris's mother said as she continued to focus on Cilan with a smile on her face.
"Yes. This is my friend, Cilan." Iris responded as she gestured toward Cilan.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am." Cilan said upon hearing his name as he gave a quick bow.
"Well, it's nice to know that such a nice gentleman is watching over my daughter," Iris's mother said before shifting her attention towards Georgia again. "But who is this girl over here on the couch? She has great taste in hats, but she's incredibly rude." Georgia could only give a slight blush of embarrassment as Ash turned his body around to answer the question for her.
"That's Georgia, another one of our friends. She just started traveling with us recently."
"I was going to answer the question myself," Georgia responded, shooting an annoyed look at Ash before noticing the bandages that covered his arms. "Ash, why are you covered in bandages?" Georgia asked Ash, who soon attracted the attention of everyone in the room.
"Yeah, how did you get injured like that, Ash?" Iris chimed in. "Was Deino involved?" Upon hearing these questions, Ash took a long pause to turn his head and look back at Deino, who began to feel guilty again with every passing second that he spent staring at her. Ash soon broke his gaze and began to look down at the floor in disappointment.
"I don't want to talk about it." Ash mumbled as Pikachu and Oshawott simply looked away from everybody.
"It must've been pretty bad." Iris, Cilan, and Georgia thought as they continued to stare at Ash while Emolga gave a few glances towards Oshawott. Both Iris's mother and Axew became somewhat alarmed by the current atmosphere as they looked around the room to see everyone so sad. Before long, Iris's mother spoke once again.
"H- Hey! You're all too young to get depressed this easily. Let's try to think about something else." She said in an attempt to cheer everyone up. Soon after Iris's mother uttered these words, a thought began to re-enter Ash's mind, and within a matter of seconds, his expression went from that of anxiety to one of curiosity.
"Hey, Iris? Didn't you say that there was something you wanted to talk about?" Ash asked. "I think it was something relating to Oshawott and Emolga."
"Right, I was going to tell you about it, but since everyone is here, I might as well tell everyone." Iris responded as she began to walk up the staircase.
"Tell everyone about what?" Georgia asked as Iris walked up the stairs, feeling the need to get involved in the conversation as well.
"Don't worry. You'll know in a minute." Iris said, making Georgia even more curious about what happened while she was gone.
...
Mere minutes passed before the whole group, Pokémon included, sat together on top of an old, weathered, and circular rug in the center of the room. Much like the large, black and white yin-yang symbol that decorated the entire carpet, Iris, along with her friends, sat together in a circle, legs crossed, with a Pokémon in each of their laps. As Deino sat in Georgia's lap, she began to look from her left to her right, seeing Ash with Oshawott, Iris with Emolga, Cilan with Pikachu, and Iris's mother with Axew, respectively. As Deino continued to look around in amazement, Iris began to speak.
"Sorry it took so long for me to get everything ready, but just so that there aren't any interruptions, let me explain something. Before I was even born, whenever someone in my family had a story to tell, we would always tell them and listen as we sat on this carpet, regardless of whether these stories were myth or reality. We would also use it as we shared new ideas and thoughts with one another. The carpet itself is over 5 centuries old, but throughout all of that time, my family would always use it as a way to communicate and bond with others."
"Aww, I'm so glad that after all this time away from home, you still remembered." Iris's mother said with a warm smile after hearing her daughter's explanation.
"Thank you, Mom," Iris said with a slight blush before continuing. "But let's start before we get sidetracked. While both Cilan and Georgia were looking around the Dragon Village and while my mom was playing with Deino and Pikachu inside, Ash and I were having another one of our usual practice matches against each other outside. While Ash used Oshawott, I was using Emolga."
"Typical." Georgia interjected before soon receiving a quick jab to her right arm from Iris's mother.
"Don't interrupt." Iris's mother warned as Georgia took a moment to rub her arm to relieve the sting to it. Iris only gave a slight smirk before continuing.
"During the heated battle, when both of our Pokémon were exhausted, Emolga used Attract, but even though it connected and Oshawott was the opposite gender, for some reason, Attract didn't work at all." Cilan, Georgia, and Iris's mother, along with Pikachu and Axew, were surprised to hear this news while Oshawott and Emolga could only look down as they blushed in embarrassment. As everyone else remained either shocked or embarrassed by what Iris had said, Deino could only give a large grin as she tried her best to keep from laughing.
"Well, this is an unusual recipe," Cilan said to show his surprise. "Normally, Attract is supposed to make a Pokémon of the opposite gender become infatuated with the user, but why wouldn't it work on Oshawott?"
"I have an idea, but it might be a little weird. I think the only reason why Emolga's Attract didn't work on Oshawott is because he was already infatuated with her." Iris said.
"What do you mean by that?" Ash asked, slightly confused by what Iris had said. Iris could only give a sigh before enlightening him with her next few words.
"You kid, what I'm trying to say is that Oshawott might have a crush on Emolga." Oshawott's face soon turned a deep red after hearing Iris's bold accusation.
"Oshawott, do you really…" Ash thought as both he and Emolga looked at Oshawott, who only looked away to hide his face, crimson with embarrassment. For a moment, the room remained completely silent, but soon, it began to echo with the sound of Deino's laughter. With the exception of Cilan, everyone was both surprised and annoyed by Deino's sudden outburst. After the laughter died away, Cilan began to speak.
"I'm sorry, but I have to agree with Deino on this one," Cilan said, feeling a bit skeptical about Iris's statement. "The idea of Attract failing because of something like that does sound pretty ridiculous. Have you even tried to have Emolga use Attract on another Pokémon?"
"Hmm, now that I think about it, she didn't," Iris said before turning her attention back to the Emolga in her lap. "Emolga, try using Attract on Axew." After a moment of nervous hesitation, Emolga winked and hearts began to fly towards Axew, but for some reason, the hearts seemed much darker than they normally were. The floating hearts finally made contact with the Axew in the lap of his trainer's mother, but rather than becoming infatuated with Emolga, his eyes began to glow a brighter red and he suddenly became more violent and aggressive.
"Axew! Calm down!" Iris's mother said as she struggled to keep Axew in her arms. Everyone in the room became alarmed by Axew's behavior and braced themselves, but almost instantly after their reaction, Axew finally calmed down. For a moment, after confirming that Axew went back to normal, the group slowly relaxed themselves. As Axew rested in the lap of Iris's mother, Iris began to speak once again.
"Well this is just great. First, Attract refuses to work on Oshawott, but now it won't work properly on any Pokémon." Iris said as Emolga began to look down in sadness and disappointment.
"Well, if what you said before is true, then Attract might have stopped working because of the shock of seeing a Pokémon of the opposite gender that was completely immune to it for the first time," Cilan stated. "I've never seen this happen before, but I have an idea of what could be done to help with this problem. Right now, Oshawott seems to be the source of this problem, so it might help if Emolga tries to socialize with Oshawott more. It won't work too well if either side backs down, so it would be best if both Oshawott and Emolga stay out of their Poké Balls for the next few days or so."
"Do we really have to do this?" Both Emolga and Oshawott complained upon hearing Cilan's idea. No one but the Pokémon understood exactly what they both said due to the language barrier that existed between people and Pokémon, but this time around, the trainers at least had an idea of what the Pokémon were saying.
"Now don't start complaining. This the only idea I have and it won't work unless you both cooperate." Cilan said. Both Emolga and Oshawott sat silently at first, but eventually nodded their heads reluctantly to show their approval.
"Well, I'm glad to see that you all finally agreed on something." Georgia said as she watched both Emolga and Oshawott give a slight glance at each other before looking away with slight blushes on their faces.
"I'm glad, too," Iris said, "But with one of Emolga's best moves out of commission right now, she's not going to be able to battle as well as she normally does. I was going to use her in the tournament, but since she can't battle right now, I think I'll use Excadrill instead." Upon hearing this, a look of sadness began to form on Axew's face as he began to look down at the floor.
"What? You're using Excadrill again?" Georgia asked with a look of disappointment on her face.
"Yes, I'm using E-." Iris said before quickly being cut off by her rival.
"I heard what you said!"
"Hey, there's no need to get so angry all of a sudden," Ash said, hoping to prevent an argument. "What's wrong with Iris using Excadrill?"
"Oh, there's nothing wrong with her using Excadrill except for the fact that she always uses it," Georgia said as a serious look formed on Iris's face as well. Cilan and Iris's mother only watched in silence. "Have you noticed how much stronger Excadrill is when compared to Axew?"
"That's a different story," Iris quickly responded. "Axew and I have our own pace of growth and I don't want Axew to over-exert himself when he's still so young. Don't you remember what the Old Matriarch said?" After hearing this question, Georgia had suddenly become silent, and for a moment, she averted her gaze away from Iris.
"I know what the Old Matriarch said," Georgia said as she continued to stare at the ground towards Iris. After a short pause, she looked back at Iris, but to Iris's surprise, Georgia had a look of genuine concern on her face. "You're always saying how you dream of becoming a Dragon Master, but so far, all he knows is two weak moves and a third move that he can't even properly control yet. How can I possibly call you my rival when you only have one decently strong Pokémon and the rest are so weak?" At this point, Iris only wanted to yell at Georgia, but stopped herself when she thought about how right she was about everything she said. Iris became even more convinced when she thought about Axew's dream to evolve into a mighty Haxorus. Everyone else, especially Axew, could only stare at Georgia after hearing her say something so profound. After a long period of silence, Iris began to speak.
"…I guess you have a point, and if that's how you feel, I'll enter Axew into the tournament." Both Ash and Cilan were surprised beyond comprehension by Iris's submission.
"Iris! Are you sure about this?" Ash responded. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to."
"No, Georgia's right," Iris said. "Lately, I haven't been training with Axew that often and he's really fallen behind. Even your Scraggy, despite being so much younger, has been making much more progress than Axew. I have to do this for Axew's sake as well as my own." Both Ash and Cilan remained silent after hearing Iris's confession as the room fell into a state of melancholy. Even Georgia couldn't help but be surprised and somewhat saddened by what her rival had said. Once again, Iris's mother sensed the depression in the room and spoke once again to clear it.
"Well, it's about time for me to make dinner, so why don't you all go outside and do something."
"Allow me to help with the cooking, ma'am. I'll go get things ready." Cilan said as he stood up and left the room, leaving Pikachu in the same spot that he was sitting.
"And I guess we'll go out and do more training." Ash said as both he and Iris rose from their seats and made their way to the back door, followed closely by Oshawott, Emolga, Axew, and Deino. After everyone else but Iris's mother left, Georgia began to rise from her seat as well.
"Well, I better go outside and train as well." Georgia said as she walked towards the door before being stopped by Iris's mother, who was still sitting in her same seat with her legs crossed.
"Georgia?"
"Yes?" Georgia responded.
"You might act rude at first, but you actually care a lot for Iris's well-being. I'm so glad that my daughter has such a close friend watching over her as well."
"Wh- Wh- What are you talking about? We're just rivals and nothing more." Georgia stammered after hearing what Iris's mother had just said. Georgia tried to turn around and walk out of the room, but before she could even take a single step, once again, she was stopped in her tracks by Iris's mother.
"And Georgia…"
"Y-Yes?" Georgia said, her back still turned to Iris's mother.
"Can you please help me get back up? My legs seem to have fallen asleep." Georgia could only sigh before walking back to help the middle-aged woman get back up on her feet.
This concludes Chapter 5. Unfortunately, I'm going to be busy with some schoolwork, so the next chapter will show up later than usual. Now don't make that face. I already gave my warnings. If you ignored them, then I am ashamed.