Sorry for the lack of an update, but I figured out how to place in page breakers!

Chapter 2: Foot loose

Iris was prepared not to give up too quickly, that was an admirable trait of hers that set her off on such a journey in the first place. Although, it could be argued that in this case, it was foolish, and, not to mention, completely brash. Nonetheless… she acted as if this fact didn't bother her in the slightest, and set off, with him now striding alongside her, smiling inwardly to himself.

There just has to be another route! Iris thought desperately to herself, as the tension suffocated her. However, she realised that she was in no position to attempt anything too risky as to turn around and fumble her way through a route that was unknown to her. Hell, she couldn't even navigate her way back to Nimbasa Town at this point! Still, when the image of her following Jimmy Ray around so dependently in the air of a trained Lilipup floated into her mind, it gave her the chills. Almost instinctively, she gazed up at the trees, with their mossy foliage, searching for her answer, past the runty branches that would barely support the weight of her finger let alone her body, the ones dowsed in a slippery moss that could only mean trouble, to… perfection!

"What… what are you doing?" Jimmy Ray's voice called out to an Iris above him, on a sturdy branch, pulling the vine towards her, without its usual swagger of confidence. Iris smirked at him, relishing in the fact that he wasn't as comfortable being in her court. "What I do best!" She exclaimed, and vaulted from the branch, swinging forward, leaving Jimmy Ray to jog behind her. She hopped giddily from one tree to another, enjoying the fiasco it caused below. He was yelling up at her, some rigmarole that she wasn't even bothering to listen to properly. She skilfully grasped yet another vine and kicked off the branch, her legs swinging in the air, her hand reaching out for the next vine… that did not exist. However, it was far too late for Iris to even cling on to the previous vine, as she had hurled herself through, not considering this fact until it hit her, letting her hit the ground. Except, instead of that, she fell into his arms as he caught her hastily. "Did you not hear me shouting that the forest clears here?" She glanced up, and even through her humiliation, noticed that the sky hung above her head, with no branches blocking it from her view. It bore the ominous colours of the sunset.

Then her gaze moved onto his expression, which came as a surprise. There was no grin of any kind, but instead a frown of seriousness. A sticky sensation of an embarrassing realisation swamped her inside. He wasn't telling her that to get a rise out of her, or to be the sneaky coquette that she took him for. He genuinely cared about her, and how she could be hurt. Whereas she had been so childish, swinging from vine to vine purposely to toy with him, basking in her own childish amusement. Childish… she was acting in the manner that she pulled up everyone else upon, and for no good reason.

She snapped out of her reverie only to discover that she was still in his arms, a display she would rather not have. She sprang from them in an instant, but faced him hesitantly. Their relationship was too awkward for an honest, full confession, but that didn't mean that he didn't deserve one. Thank you… I was a bit silly there, haha… sorry for making you stress out… none of these phrases could pass through the stubborn lump of pride that swelled in her throat, and she knew she wouldn't be able to quite swallow it. One of the many lessons learnt at home at the Village of Dragons was that, actions speak louder than words. Therefore, there was only one thing to do.

She approached one of the trees that bore fruit and instinctively went for the apple tree. Everyone enjoyed apples, she mused, so there's no way this could turn out to be detrimental. She dropped the ripe fruit in his coarse hand. "I thought you could be possibly hungry, or something," she blurted out staring at everything other than his face, "Since it took a while to travel through that forest." When she finally stole a glance of his expression, it was of joy, as he bit into the apple quietly. After he swallowed, he smiled at her. "Thanks, Iris." he told her compassionately, but he added; "Now you're going to have to listen to me ramble on about the great deeds of the Watchogs." At the sight of her mortification, he began to chuckle.

It seemed that the journey from Nimbasa Town to Nimbasa City didn't just consist of a single forest. Iris found herself trudging through fields and up hills, managing to chat to the exotic Jimmy Ray. His life was bizarre, if not to mention interesting. He once attempted to collect 100 signatures for a petition for the Watchog Conference to be held annually at the Amusement Park in Nimbasa, he was allergic to Oran berries, and he appeared to be a pianist, having played it as a job at some sumptuous hotel for several months. As she became wrapped up in his marvellous adventures, Iris couldn't help but notice that the darkened sky that surrounded the two of them. With a cold sense of dread, she knew that they were not far enough to keep on trekking without some exhaustion catching up with them. He must've acknowledged this as well, for her turned to her, hesitantly. "Seems like we won't be hitting the City soon, eh?" If she didn't fear the prospect as much as he was, she would've smirked at his moment's nervousness. "I suppose so." Even though she may have warmed up to him a little, the disturbed shiver in her body arose whenever she imagined having to spend a night alone with him. Which was stupid, she had spent a night alone in Ash's company when they initially met, but that was different. Ash hadn't been leering at her beforehand.

"Hey, I've camped out in these fields before, and I definitely recommend over by that oak tree- it has great coverage, and a perfect place for my Watchogs." he told her, pointing over to the spot. Iris secretly doubted that any Watchog would care to tell the difference between one tree in a field, and another, but didn't pursue the subject. She nodded, deciding she'd just have to put in faith in the boy, and if that failed… well she hoped that Excadrill would have forgiven her by that time to protect her.

She laid out her sleeping bag near one of the roots, slightly away from Jimmy Ray, just for personal space. Yawning, she decided it was time to kill the evening for now, and catch some rest to beat Cilan and Ash's heads in when she would eventually reunite with the pair. However…

"Whoa, hold on a second- you're seriously thinking of going to sleep now?" Something in his tone made her uneasy, as she knew that this clearly was not in his agenda. Iris nervously tried to convert her shock into a polite smile. "Well, I don't feel so-"

But her voice pathetically faltered under Jimmy Ray's motivated yell. "We'll see what my Watchogs have to say about that!" Iris tensed. Oh no. Please let's not hold a bloody Watchog Court. "Come on out, Watchogs!" He dug into his trouser pockets, and threw out several Pokeballs into the air majestically. Several beams of crimson light appeared which morphed into Pokemon. Iris quickly calculated that Jimmy Ray was a single Watchog away from a full team. The Watchogs stood around, scratching themselves and glancing at their owner, puzzled. Jimmy Ray beamed at the sight of what he referred to occasionally as his children. "Right, guys." he addressed them, his hands on his hips. "This is my… uh, friend Iris." Iris noticed his anxious pause at what he would label her as. Friend, huh. Iris decided that shooting him with a glare would suffice for now, until they had settled their dispute. "Um, anyways," he mumbled awkwardly, "She wants to go to bed immediately, but you lot know as well as I do what time it is!" For a brief moment, Iris could hear her companion Cilan boom out the words "Tasting Time!" with some vigour in her mind. She wondered where they were now…

She shook her head quickly. Now was not the time to be overwhelmed by her emotions. This was unfortunate for her, though, as she only managed to catch onto the last few words of Jimmy Ray's sentence:

"So, since Iris didn't speak up in the time frame we allotted her, this means that our vote has passed in the majority! Begin the dancing!"

The… dancing…

When Iris' brain had finally processed the words, it was too late. Jimmy Ray had grabbed her hand and pulled her inappropriately close to him, too close for people whose relationship fell into the category of friendship, anyways. Iris squirmed uncomfortably in his embrace as she thought of how she had no knowledge of ballroom dancing, and this was quickly developing into the waltz. "Um, look… I don't really know the wal-" She was interrupted by the squeeze of his hand as he rose up his arm into the air, hers following. It was effortless; with the thrust of his hand, she found herself spinning furiously. In those few seconds, as the scenery blurred into a palette of greens and blacks, Iris caught herself feeling certain emotions that she would rather not feel, particularly not with him. When he let go of her hand, she awkwardly stumbled to the ground, not exerting much grace.

As Iris brushed the dirt off of her leggings, she heard a sound that she could only associate with the crackling of a fire. Wheeling around in confusion, she was greeted with a small bonfire. She twitched, startled and pointed at the sight, stuttering uselessly. "W-When did that-," she stammered, as Jimmy Ray laughed.

"During our beautiful waltz." he replied, nonchalantly. "I suppose what they say is true, girls do become distracted when in a handsome boy's arms…"

Iris scoffed, doubting anyone ever said any statement near as ridiculous as that before Jimmy Ray. She watched one of his Watchogs add another log to the fire, being careful not to be burnt by its flames. She had to admit; they were impressive Pokemon, though, perhaps not the best battlers. "Wow, did you guys do this all by yourselves?" She knelt down to their eye level, and they nodded gleefully. "Awesome!"

Jimmy Ray frowned at her words. "Hey, I believe I deserve some praise… as the co-ordinator of this…" he muttered, emphasising the word "co-ordinator". Iris smiled at him exasperatedly, and then gave her signature shrug.

"Wow, demanding praise? Now that's a little kid!" she replied, giggling. Jimmy Ray rolled his eyes, but that couldn't distract his Watchogs from noticing the small blush that reddened his cheeks. However, he quickly recovered before Iris could see.

"It would be only fair." He pouted, but continued, "Oh well. You're going to miss out on the prime event scheduled for tonight if we bicker. So, bearing that in mind…" He wheeled around to face his troupe who were muttering to one another. "Are you ready to show Iris our unrivalled talent?" he demanded eagerly, and the Watchogs let out their usual battle cry in response.

They began to circle themselves around the bonfire, each striking a ridiculous pose as soon as they found their mark. After they all had assembled, Jimmy Ray joined them, standing in front of the fire. He also had to pose, which caused Iris to giggle and then with the crisp clap of his hands, initiated the dance.

They began to sway in an anti-clockwise direction, varying their heights as they twisted around the bonfire. Their arms thrusted at the sky every so often in a rhythmic order. The eccentricity of the dance came to a crescendo as Jimmy Ray started to imitate the Watchogs' cries.

Iris stood on the sidelines, not knowing whether to laugh or be taken aback. When Jimmy Ray passed her, he winked, and then grabbed her wrist to pull her into the insanity circle. At first, she was opposed, but pressured by his pleas, she relented, and watched him carefully as she copied the dance.

Iris found that when she ignored the fact that she was performing a bizarre dance with a boy dressed up in a Watchog suit and his troupe of Pokemon, she was in bliss.

Iris' hand idly slumped on her cheek, in an attempt to rub her eyes. Judging by the chattering of Pidove, it was morning. She let out a small groan, and gradually sat up, after stretching. The other night was a bit of a whirlwind... but her sleeping bag was incredibly soft, so it didn't matter. Axew popped out of her hair, yawning. "How are you, Axew?" she whispered gently, and then added, "We'll reach Nimbasa City today, at least." She pondered for a minute, and then cocked her head to see him. "Why didn't you come out the other day? Let me guess... pretty freaked out by him, yeah? Haha, he's not so bad, actually... but I can understand why you would be!"

"Well, glad to see you're awake." As soon as she heard his voice, Iris jerked her head up. However, as soon as her eyes focused on him, she wished she hadn't.

"P-put some clothes on!" she stammered, blushing. He stood before her in only his boxers, and she realised how relieved she was that Cilan and Ash had the decency to wear pajamas.

"I can't." he told her bluntly, and then pointed at the ground beside her. Iris' gaze followed his index finger curiously, until she realised her sleeping bag... had been his suit. "Ew, you were sweating in that!" she exclaimed, horrified. Making sure her eyes did not wander to his body, she muttered, "Do you not wear anything under that suit...?"

"Well, I obviously wear my boxers. I'm not some kind of flasher!"

"Could have fooled me..."

Iris picked up his suit roughly and threw it at him. "I'll find breakfast, and leave you to get changed." One of the few positives of not being with Cilan is that no one would complain that a simple fruit was too plain to constitute as breakfast. Unfortunately, the field they were in was quite empty as well as vast, so she had to hop over a hedge to a nearby apple tree. It wasn't quite as graceful as simply hopping over, though.

When she returned, she noticed Jimmy Ray had his hood down, running his fingers through his thick brunette hair. She didn't want to admit it, but he looked handsome without his hood. She handed him an apple. "Here's breakfast. Dig in."

"Wow... you know, if this is breakfast, then we could save ourselves and have something at this delicious diner in Nimbasa. You'll love it." Iris was disgruntled at the insult about breakfast (she felt fruits served as a fantastic breakfast meal), but after all that had happened, she did crave something greasy and unhealthy, which was unlike her.

"But, when we reach Nimbasa City, I'll be regrouping with my friends." she responded despite being tempted, and he shook his head. "Oh, no, no. I have plans for us before we depart. Think of it as... oh, of course, the perfect word... a date." He grinned goofily.

Iris' face fell.

Er, yes I know that Watchog just say the name in the Anime, so its their usual battle cry of how they say their name, basically.

Initially the ending of this chapter was going to be some silly cliche reference, but it couldn't work, and I am relieved. If I had to guess, this should have two more chapters- this is actually supposed to be the last chapter but I decided to cut it short.

Reviews are appreciated.

-DarkLikeitornot.