Hey! Sorry for not updating as much as I used to. Maybe I'm was just running on excitement adrenaline earlier, but now'm I'm just burnt out, so each update may take longer and longer, so sorry bout that. ANYWAYS, this one's kinda longer, and I apologize for any mistakes I made, and if it isn't as good as it could have been. Anyways... Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN POKEMON. WISH I DID, BUT I DON'T.
"Poli!" the Poliwag said, and Serena's face contorted into a mask of anger.
"I remember you! Not that I care." She yelled, sending out Fennekin. "Fennekin, attack with Ember!" she yelled, but Poliwag simply used water gun, and the whole ember went out.
"Uh… how is that possible?" Serena sputtered, then pointed toward Iris. "Tackle!" but before Fennekin could use the move, Poliwag shot a hydro pump, KO'ing Fennekin in one shot.
"What's going on?" Ash said suddenly, appearing out of nowhere, and as he watched in horror as Serena swung the hammer one more time at Iris, but Poliwag came to the rescue once again, using protect at the last second, sending the hammer flying out of Serena's hand because of the recoil.
"That is enough!" Ash roared, grabbing Serena's hand and pinning it behind her. "DO NOT ATTACK ANY OF MY FRIENDS!" Ash yelled, and Iris shrunk back even more, horrified. She had never seen Ash get this mad. She had never seen Ash get mad ever, especially not like this. "YOU COULD EASILY GO TO JAIL, JUST FOR SWINGING THAT HAMMER. IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?!" He bellowed, his face twisting and contorting with anger, and Serena now looked truly terrified, tears beginning to stream down her face.
"All I wanted was to win… No…. Please don't turn me in!..." Serena wailed, her nose beginning to run, but her pleas fell on deaf ears as Ash dragged her to the kitchen, kicking and crying, and reached for the home phone on the counter. Iris could only gape, watching this new and transformed Ash lift Serena up with ease, holding both her arms in one hand as he attempted to dial 911, but saw that it was out of battery. "Ugh, stupid phone. Iris, call the police!" He said, tightening his grip on Serena, who had finally stopped thrashing, and stood limply, sniffling. Her whole attitude looked defeated, and shame seemed to radiate from her, but deep inside, Iris… well… she wasn't mad at her.
"Iris, what are you waiting for? Call 911!" He said angrily, as Serena whimpered again.
"Please… no… my parent's will kill me… they'll-"
"Quiet!" Ash yelled again, and Serena instantly shut her mouth, finally to scared to speak.
"Ash, stop." She said firmly, surprised she could even find the voice to speak.
"What?" he said, amazement in his voice. "She just tried to bash your head with a hammer!" he argued, but Iris shook her head.
"She's also my friend, and I know she wouldn't do something like this and enjoy it." Iris said calmly, and Ash held a look of disbelief.
"It's true! I'm so sorry!" Serena burst out, sniffling, and Ash shook his head.
"I don't know if I can trust her." he finally said, and Iris simply walked up to Serena, and pulled out the small golden locket she had buried under her shirt. She flicked it open, and showed Ash the picture.
"Okay, I'm going to tell you. Serena likes you." Iris said bluntly, and Serena shot her a horrified look, but she kept going. "She has since you helped her in the forest. But then we had a bet just a few weeks ago, and whoever could win you over and get you to ask them out, would win." Iris finished, and closed the locket, bracing herself for Ash's fury, but it never came.
"Wait, then is there a picture of us?" Ash asked, and Iris snapped her eyes wide open.
"What?" she said with disbelief as she opened the locket and stared at the picture inside. It was Iris, jumping onto his back, both of them smiling.
"I remember that," Ash said quietly, "it was at White forest, before I flew over to Unova."
"Yeah, but who took it?"
"A friend of mine did." Serena said, all but forgotten in the grip of Ash, who let her go. "It's true, I was in love with you, but once I heard about you two traveling together, I had to take a peek. So I flew over, and watched you two travel, and I'll admit, you two are perfect for each other. Then when I started traveling with Ash, I felt that it should've been me winning over Ash, but now that I've seen how protective he is off you," Serena said, dusting off her skirt. "I forfeit the bet. You can have him. Good luck." she said with finality, and began to clean up Iris room as both Iris and Ash stared in shock. We're...perfect for each other? They both thought, and Serena beckoned them over.
"I know I tore up the place, but I'd like a little help!" Serena explained, and they all rushed to clean the wasted room.
Iris snapped her eyes open, her eyelids feeling like weights, and she stifled a yawn as Misty struggled to stop crying.
"This sitcom... It's so sad!" She sobbed, furiously wiping her tears, and looked at Iris, startled. "Isn't this sad to you?" She asked in amazement, but Iris just shrugged.
"Sorry, my mind is kind of drifting off... Just thinking about something..." She murmured, looking blankly at the tv screen, as the sitcom episode began to come to a close.
"Oh yeah... How'd the bet go?" Misty asked curiously, and Iris fiddled with Poliwag's pokeball on her neck.
"Serena gave up. She gave up the bet..."
"Wait what?"
"Yeah, it's amazing right?"
"Wow... But, you still need to get Ash to ask you out though right?" Misty said, and the sudden realization hit her.
"Oh yeah... Oh wait! Misty! You traveled with Ash right?" Iris said excitedly, and Misty smiled.
"That's right... Sorry Iris. So... I'm supposed to give you tips?" Misty joked, and Iris nodded, giving Misty her best puppy eyes.
"Everyone else's advice was just to be girly, and so far, it hasn't worked..." Iris groaned, and Misty shook her head
"Really? Wow... That has to be the worst advice anyone can give you. Here's what will really get him: just be yourself." Misty said casually, and Iris stared, dumbfounded.
"That's... That doesn't sound like advice... If you had told me this earlier, a lot wouldn't have happened!" She said angrily, but Misty just laughed.
"Just take my advice Iris, trust me on this one. "
Ash sat high in the tree where he found Serena watching them, and sighed, running his fingers through his hair. What was Iris thinking, just letting Serena go free, when she almost hurt her! He clenched the tree branch he was sitting on, the rough bark digging into his skin, but he could barely feel it over the rage that was stirring in him. I thought I could trust you... Ash thought to himself, the memory of Serena swinging the hammer at Iris, playing over and over and over. He could still feel the panic, the feeling of helplessness as he watched the hammer fall, his heart hammering as Poliwag came to the rescue. He finally let go with one hand to reach into his pocket, and pulled out Serena's phone, which she dropped during her struggle. He turned it on, and began scrolling through its contents, hoping what she had said was true, despite his growing anger toward her. Did Iris really love him?
"Cottonee! Use razor leaf!" A voice said, wrestling Ash's attention from the phone as he opened up her pictures. "Come on Cottonee, you can do this!" The voice yelled, and Ash scrambled to a lower branch, finally seeing a small boy with his Cottonee, both training intensely. The Cottonee began to use razor leaf, shooting them with incredible speed, as the boy egged it on. "Yes! That's our highest speed yet!" He whooped, checking his speed meter, and Cottonee smiled with approval.
"Hey, Brad!" another voice said in the distance, and Ash strained his neck to see who it was, when his heart skipped a beat. It was Iris. "Oh boy! That was a really fast razor leaf!" she exclaimed as Cottonee grinned.
"Cottonee!" Cottonee crowed, and Brad nodded triumphantly.
"Yup! We're going to challenge the Opelucid Gym!" He said, and Iris shook her head, grinning her head.
"Well, guess what?" she said proudly, "You're looking at the new Opelucid Gym!" she grinned even wider as Brad's jaw dropped, and Ash himself almost fell out of his already low branch. He heard a few leaves rustle next to him, and he froze, hoping Iris wouldn't see him.
"Wow… really Iris?" he said, awestruck, and Iris put her hands on her hips, pointing to Brad.
"Yup. And as the Opelucid gym leader, I can't go easy on you!" she declared, and suddenly, Axew burst out of the tree, only a few feet from Ash, who paled, gripping the tree branch with a death grip as Axew landed neatly in front of Iris.
"Alright! Let's do this!" Brad yelled, Cottonee squealing with approval. "Cottonee, use razor leaf!" he yelled, and Cottonee shot out the leafs with an astounding speed, but Axew sidestepped them, a confident look in his face.
"Axew and I have trained a lot, and he's not the same dragon you may have known a few months ago!" Iris said, pointing to Cottonee. Ash leaned in intently, his ears straining to pick up every sound. "Axew, dragon rage!" Iris shouted, and Axew shot toward Cottonee, hitting it square in the chest, and knocking it backwards.
"Cottonee!" Brad screamed, running toward his pokemon. "are you alright?"
"Cottonee…." it said, struggling to get up.
"Alright! Use razor leaf again!" he said, and Cottonee shot another array of leaves, but Axew easily dodged that too.
"Axew, use Scratch!" Iris commanded, and Axew made a direct hit toward Cottonee.
"Cottonee!" Brad yelled again, as Cottonee struggled to get up. Ash watched with interest, his battle instincts unable to be reigned in, and he leapt from his spot towards Brad.
"Hey!" he yelled, grabbing his attention. He snapped his head toward him, his eyes brimming with curiosity. "Lemme help you!"
"ASH!" Iris said angrily, balling her fist. "That's not fair!"
"Well, neither is suddenly challenging him!" Ash countered, and Iris took a deep breath, trying not to explode in anger. This was her battle!
"You know what? Fine." She finally said, and both Brad and Ash whooped in delight. "Under one condition. This turns into a double battle." she finished, grabbing another pokeball, and sending out Gible, and Brad paled.
"I… I don't have another Pokemon…" Brad said, and Ash grinned, reaching into his pocket.
"You're lucky that I do then huh?" Ash grinned, expanding the pokeball. "I was planning on letting you train this, but apparently not." he said, tossing the pokeball into the air, and Ash's own Gible appeared, glaring at Iris's Pokemon.
"Gi." Ash's Gible grunted, nodding at Cottonee, who struggled to respond.
"Ooh… ASH! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU HAD A GIBLE?!" Iris screamed, running across the battlefield, and tackled Ash's Gible in a fierce hug.
"I don't know…. just didn't think it was necessary!..." he argued, and Iris looked up at him. Wow… he couldn't be more perfect… he has his own dragon type too!..." Iris thought, blushing, and Ash grinned. She's really cute when she blushes.. Ash thought as she walked back to her spot. And she loves my pokemon so much!...
"Alright, Gible, Dig! Axew, use Giga impact!" She said, pointing at the struggling Cottonee.
"Cottonee!" Brad yelled, but Ash was already moving.
"Gible, use Dragon pulse on Axew!" he yelled, and Gible shot off Dragon Pulse at Axew, who when flying backwards.
"Gible!" Iris's gible shouted, as it hit Cottonee, and it fainted, unable to battle anymore.
"NO!" Brad yelled, but Ash's face remained neutral.
"Don't worry Brad, I'll win this." he said, when he suddenly paled, as Axew and Gible came from both sides of his own Gible. "Yeah, we're going to win this!" He said confidently, and Iris smirked from across the battlefield.
"Awww, that's cute. You think you can win this battle!" She said arrogantly, and Ash's eyes lightened up, prompting Iris to blush again. You're in the middle of a battle! You can't be thinking about Ash now! She thought angrily, and Ash pointed to his Gible.
"Use Dig, then Draco Meteor!" Ash said, and Gible quickly disappeared from view.
"Gible, quick, find him with dig, before he can-" Iris began to say, her arrogant face shattering to pieces, but it was too late, giant meteors falling with incredible speed, and as the dust cleared, Iris saw to her dismay, that her Pokemon had fainted.
"Looks like we win!" Ash said, jumping in excitement, and Brad cheered, running around with excitement.
"Fine fine, you win." Iris said grumpily, fishing around in her pocket until she pulled out the gym badge. "Brad, I award you with the Opelucid Gym badge. Congratulation." She said, almost monotone, and ran to the pokecenter to revive Cottonee.
"Hey Iris," Ash began to say, putting away Gible.
"What?" she snapped? "I lost my mirror, I almost got hit with a hammer TO THE FACE, and to make things worse, I just lost to a kid, ten minutes after getting the job as a Gym Leader." she finally snapped, her voice raising till she was yelling. "UNLESS YOU'RE GOING TO APOLOGIZE FOR THIS, I DON't WANNA HEAR IT!" She screamed, and ran down the path towards the beach. Ash opened his mouth to say something, but his pocket buzzed, and he pulled out Serena's phone, his guilt only increasing, when he froze, the picture on the screen answering so many questions, and he took off after Iris.
... whaddya think? This is my first story and my first time here, so I would love reviews and tips pleeeease! If you don't like it, or decide you wanna hate, my complaints bin is over there *points at trash bin* no hating please. Just nice helpful advice and tips. Thank you!