A/N: And a new chapter again! Thank you all very much!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the picture used as cover, though I did edit it.

Days

The day of the move

Iris

Thursday, November 21st

The weather wasn't what Iris liked to see, but it wasn't like she could change it. She couldn't hold back her sigh when she looked out of the window. Snow was falling from the grey clouds, though it melted as soon as it touched the ground. Still, Iris knew it was bitterly cold if she went flying through this weather and with another sigh she abandoned her idea to fly to Striaton City. She couldn't do that to Dragonite and not to herself either.

She turned away from the window and back to the remaining moving boxes. She could have been done yesterday, but she just kept finding reasons to procrastinate. It was ridiculous, she knew, because she had never liked Opelucid City, but still she found it difficult to leave.

Well, she couldn't go to Striaton City today, so she should just start. Or perhaps she should check on the Pokémon first…

Yes, she would do that first. With purpose in her steps she walked to the Gym part of the building. It was not at all like she would have designed it, but it was very Drayden; all dark stone and scary statues. After feeding her Pokémon this morning Iris had left them to themselves, while she had had the intention to work on the moving, but a thousand little things had sudden priority. Knowing her Pokémon, they would be either lazing around or wreaking havoc-

A loud crash resounded from the battlefield and Iris quickened her pace. On the battlefield she found Swablu – the newest addition to her team – caught in a very exciting race against Emolga.

It was mostly Emolga who was causing the ruckus, since Swablu disliked making anything dirty, and it gracefully flew past the obstacles, while Emolga crashed into several in her enthusiasm.

"Alright, alright, that's enough!" Iris yelled, and both Pokémon listened to her without hesitation. Swablu looked elegantly as ever as it turned towards Iris, unaware as to why it should stop, why Emolga looked rather guilty.

"Clean up the mess you made," Iris said, giving Emolga a look. Swablu immediately started, and Emolga followed its example reluctantly.

Iris smiled and looked around the battlefield, where several of her other Pokémon were hanging around, though only Haxorus and Dragonite were actually getting some training in. She had spent so many hours training here, under Drayden's watchful eye, and so many battles had been won and lost…

But the moving truck would be there this afternoon, and she knew that she should say goodbye to all the memories she had made here. Iris breathed out slowly and allowed herself a few moments of closed eyes and silence, but it was rudely interrupted by a knock on the main doors of the Gym.

"The Gym is closed!" she yelled loudly, frustration at having been interrupted in her moment of peace fueling her voice. The door peeped open anyway – and at the point Iris realized that no one ever knocked on the Gym's doors – and a very familiar tall and lanky figure stood silhouetted against the light from outside.

"I know," Cilan said, sounding slightly amused as he closed the big doors behind him. "That's why I came to visit you."

Iris stared at him and wondered if this was going to become a habit, him arriving at the times she needed help the most, even if she had hardly realized it herself.

"Iris?" he asked, looking worried as he came closer and she still hadn't responded. The next moment she had thrown herself in his embrace and she was infinitely glad when he didn't ask any questions but just hugged her back.

"Are you having trouble with moving?" Cilan asked when she finally pulled away, and she nodded, feeling rather stupid.

"Yes. I..." Iris took a breath. Alright. She was used to dealing with things like these on her own, but now Cilan was here, and for some reason he had already known that she was having trouble- Wait... "How did you know that, anyway?"

"I didn't know," Cilan said, using the tone he always used when he was going to explain something, and Iris felt both the urge to smile and to roll her eyes at his manners. "I merely suspected. I know you don't like this weather and I know that changes are sometimes difficult. Of course, you never really did like this place anyway, so it was a guess if you were truly having trouble." He smiled in his self-satisfied way and this time Iris did roll her eyes. "So I decided to come, and I'm glad I did."

While there were a million stubborn replies to that, Iris momentarily let go of her inclination to do things on her own and instead smiled gratefully at Cilan. "Thank you."

Cilan beamed and suddenly it occurred to Iris that perhaps this had been more of a guess for him than she would have thought.

"Do you want me to help, or would you rather... uh…?" He hesitated, looking at her for an answer, and Iris smiled.

"I think I'll just continue packing, and maybe you can help a bit. It's mostly the Pokémon and everyday stuff that still needs to be done. The moving van will be here around three o'clock," Iris said.

Cilan's eyes widened and he gasped when he looked at the clock. It was almost two.

"Iris!" He sounded scandalized, and Iris couldn't help but laugh.

"It'll be alright," she said, feeling lighter than she had felt this whole day.

Cilan looked as if she was crazy, before nodding to himself. "Alright, I'll help, of course. Yes, yes," he said, still looking rather pale. "Where are the boxes and the stuff that need to be packed?"

Still amused, Iris started to lead the way, before halting halfway through her step as a thought occurred to her. So far it had been Cilan who had taken the first steps… She took a breath and with a seemingly confident smile, she took his hand and lead him out of the Gym building. From the corners of her eyes she saw him smiling and she felt herself grin as well.

The living room was a mess, despite that most of the actual furniture was already taken apart and put in boxes. The bathroom was rather clean and already empty except for some remaining toiletries, but her bedroom, despite also missing most of the furniture (which were already in pieces, and either bound together or in boxes) was possibly even worse than the living room.

Cilan looked like he was about to hyperventilate, and Iris playfully punched his upper arm. "It's not that bad, drama queen."

"It is a horror scene!" he exclaimed, though Iris detected some good humor in his voice. He grew more serious again and Iris was slightly amused when she saw true panic bubbling just beneath the surface when he looked at the clock. "We have to hurry up! How are we going to do this in one hour?"

"Seventy minutes," Iris corrected him, "And, if one person is already loading stuff into the van, the other can still pack up the remaining stuff."

Cilan took a deep breath. "Alright. We need a plan…" He looked around in silence before nodding. "There are a lot of clothes laying around here, Iris, is all of that laundry...?"

"Er, yeah, most of it," she answered, wondering where he was going with this. "I don't have the washing machine here anymore." And even if she did, well, they both knew that she wasn't very clean in the first place.

"Then pick out the clean ones while I put the dirty ones together, and we can do the laundry at your new house," he ordered, already picking up an empty box.

He immediately got started, very carefully picking up her clothes that littered the floor. After a moment of staring and wondering if she should be amused or offended, Iris hurried to help him, deciding that all of the clothes could just go in the box. It wasn't like she really knew which clothes had been the clean ones if they were on the ground.

"Great second date, don't you think?" Iris said with a laugh, throwing the clothes in box.

Cilan looked up and actually halfway halted through his movement of picking up a sock. Iris watched with confusion as he hesitated for a moment, before getting up and walking over to her.

"About that... Iris, I've been meaning to ask... Would you like to go on a date with me?" He gestured with a hand around them. "A date which doesn't involve cardboard boxes?"

Iris stared at him, feeling her heart rise in her throat and big smile pull at her lips. "I... yes, of course!" Without a second thought, she crossed the distance between them and kissed him.

That distracted them for another few precious minutes, and afterwards Cilan was an amusing combination of panicked and elated. Fortunately, with Cilan's order and organization (or that was what he probably believed) they managed to put everything in boxes with five minutes to spare.

They stood side by side, leaning against the windowsill, and Iris glanced over her shoulder to look out of the window for the moving van. No van, but the snow had stopped and even the sun made a watery appearance. Iris smiled to herself.

"A new beginning," she said, and Cilan smiled brightly at her, intertwining their fingers.

"That it may lead to an even better era!"

A/N: Thank you very much for reading! Iris and Cilan's relationship seems to progress nicely, eh? :) Please review!

Thank you!

Recommendations:

Pokémon: May and Drew's Wonderful Chocolate Adventures by Alyss Ashworth. FFN. Just what the title says :P And if you want a bit more information: it's a funny collection of connected one-shots about May and Drew and their progressing relationship, and chocolate. Thank you, PokeshipperByHeart, for this recommendation!

Pokémon: Bite a Poisoned Apple by ibuberu. FFN. If you want to read something creepy but well-written about Cynthia being evil, this is the story for you. Driven to madness by Bertha's dead, she turns to Lucian… Thanks to inklaced for recommending this :)

Ninja Turtles: Normalcy is Overrated by Kmb515. FFN. A multi-chaptered story about the adventures of the crew and with a focus on April and Donnie's relationship. Very exciting, but sadly still unfinished.

Recommendations are welcome!