Iris

Ash sighed as stretched his arms over his head. He currently travelled through the Unova region, with his new friends Cilan and Iris. He had just received his third gym badge from Burgh, the Castelia gym leader.

"So where are we headed next, Cilan? I'm on a roll!" Ash said, pumping his fist in the air.

"It seems the next closest gym...would be the Nimbasa Gym, in Nimbasa City. It's just a little north of here." Cilan said, looking at his electronic map.

"Well, let's head to Nimbasa City then!" Ash said excitedly. Iris sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

"Figures. You're such a child." she said.

"What was that?" Ash asked angrily.

"Now, now, let's not fight now. Let's head out and find a place to stay first, the sun's going to set in a few hours." Cilan pointed out, starting down the street. Ash and Iris glanced at each other, then huffed and looked away from each other. Cilan looked back and saw the two walking a distance away from each other, he sighed. "All right...since they won't do it, I will." Cilan said, pulling out his mini-map again. He tapped the screen a few times, then a red dot appeared with a small paragraph description. "Hmm...beautiful scenery...wildlife...hm, that's perfect." Cilan smiled after reading a certain sentence, then closed the device and stuffed it in his pocket. He looked back and saw the two haven't changed.

"I can't believe you, calling me a child like that. Can you believe it, Pikachu?" Ash asked the mouse on his shoulder.

"Pikapi, pika pikachu." Pikachu said, shrugging its shoulders.

"See, even Pikachu agrees with me. Ash, face the facts." Iris said in a taunting voice.

"At least I don't have a purple bush following me around." Ash grinned.

"I told you before! It is hair! H-A-I-R!" Iris shouted, Ash seemed to know that pushed her buttons the most.

"Hair, bush, whatever." Ash said nonchalently.

"And that's what makes you a child. Besides, Axew doesn't mind it. Do you, Axew?" Iris asked sweetly, reaching her hand back. A small green dragon with two tusks coming from its cheeks emerged, smiling.

"Ax axew, axew ax ew!" Axew said happily, smiling as it rubbed its head against her hand.

"See, Ash? Axew has common sense." Iris said calmly.

"Well, at least I don't-"

"All right, you two. That's enough." they looked ahead to see Cilan a few feet away, arms crossed. "Your fighting is really starting to get annoying, so please hold it in until we get to our resting spot." Cilan said, turning and walking again. Ash and Iris mumbled something under their breath angrily, glancing at each other and glaring. Ash continued walking towards Cilan, soon followed by Iris. After a few hours of, somehow no fighting, the three arrived in a small forest clearing.

"Is this it, Cilan?" Ash asked, looking around.

"Yep, this is where we're resting. Now, unpack and remember, no fighting. I'll cook dinner, while you two can go and explore." Cilan said, dropping his pack on the ground.

"Well, I'm going to enjoy the nature. Unlike some people." Iris said, glancing at Ash before she darted into the trees with Axew happily riding back.

"You want any help, Cilan?" Ash asked, looking back at the man.

"Oh, Ash, it's nice of you to ask. I do have one request, though. I'm sure you will be more helpful than Iris." Cilan spoke.

"Of course I will!" Ash said defensively.

"Okay, okay. You see, Ash, I picked this area for a reason. This forest is a special spot on the map, and that is because there is special natural growth around here." Cilan told him.

"Special growth? Like...special flowers and plants? You want a special fruit?" Ash asked.

"Right on the nose, Ash. I would like you to go a little east until you find the edge of the forest, there you should find a small hilltop with a flower field. In that field is a special flower, and on it grows a very small type of food that makes any kind of meal nearly irresistable." Cilan said.

"Irresistable? But Cilan, your food is amazing, you know." Ash said.

"I'm thankful to hear it, Ash, but I've heard many good comments on it and I want to try it myself. Could you go and get...a cupfull, maybe?" Cilan asked, holding a small glass jar. Ash eyed it and nodded.

"Sure, Cilan. No problem, I'll be back soon. Small fruit, right?" Ash asked. Cilan nodded. "How will I know what flower it is if it's so small?" Ash asked.

"You'll be able to tell, it's a vibrant shade of purple." Cilan told him. Ash nodded, then hurried into the trees. "And that fixes that. Those two will surely run into each other, and with that flower, it should stop their fighting for a while." Cilan said, adjusting his wrist collars.

"Uh...Pikachu...where are we?" Ash asked, looking all around in confusion.

"Pikapi, pikachu." Pikachu said, pointing.

"That way's east? Okay!" Ash said, walking in Pikachu's pointed direction. "You know, Pikachu...Cilan said that flower was a vibrant purple. Aren't there a lot of purple flowers?" Ash asked, but only saw Pikachu shrug his shoulders. "As well as that...I wish I knew what 'vibrant' meant. Oh well, at least he said purple. I understand that." Ash sighed, pushing a branch out of his way.

"And that, Ash Ketchum, is why you're such a child." a voice called.

"What are you doing here?" Ash asked, looking for the voice.

"I happen to have the rights to explore too, you know." the voice said again. Ash looked into a tree through some branches and noticed a figure.

"Well, as long as you stay up there away from me, I'm fine." Ash said, continuing in his direction.

"Hey, don't walk away from me!" the voice said angrily, then some rustling was made in the trees. In a few seconds, Ash saw a feminine figure drop in front of him. "It's rude to ignore me." she said, hands on her hips.

"Whatever, I have things to do." Ash said calmly, stepping past her.

"Like what?" she asked, walking beside him.

"Cilan asked me for an errand, and I would appreciate it if you would leave me to do it in peace." Ash said, walking faster.

"Oh, and I suppose that errand is very important? What is it, collecting fruit? Because if so, he knows I'm much more suitable for the task." she said, crossing her arms.

"Maybe so, but who was the one who ran off like a selfish child into the trees?" Ash asked, holding in his laughter.

"That's it, Ash Ketchum! I bet I can find that fruit before you!" Iris said angrily, pointing dramatically at him.

"If so, then go ahead. Have fun finding it without knowing what it is." Ash said, stopping and leaning against a tree. Iris's smiled disappeared and her cheeks turned a light pink.

"Oh...yeah...would you be a nice child and tell me?" she asked nicely.

"Let me think...no." Ash replied calmly, standing straight and walking again.

"How arrogant." Iris mumbled, then hurried after him. "Ash, can I at least know where you're going?" she asked.

"East, simple as that." Ash replied, not looking at her.

"O...k...?" she said, unsure what he really meant.

"You would't understand. You don't know where east is, do you?" Ash asked.

"Yes I do! of course I do! I have the best sense of direction!" she said.

"Yeah, you really showed that in Pinwheel Forest and Castelia City." Ash said sarcastically, chuckling a bit.

"I had something on my mind!" she replied.

"Both times?" Ash asked, grinning.

"That's it! You're impossible!" she said angrily, throwing her arms inn the air and turning around. Ash chuckled with Pikachu, then noticed a small ray of light. He pushed a branch aside and stepped out of the trees, seeing the orange sun getting lower in the sky.

"This must be it. Now that flower..." Ash said to himself, looking around. He remembered Cilan's words, then looked ahead and saw the hill. Ash climbed the hill, looking around as he did. After a few seconds of climbing, he came to the top and gazed in amazement. A small field of flowers, but beautiful nonetheless. He took small steps forward, looking at every inch of the field. "This spot must have every colour of flower there is." Ash said in amazement, looking around. Then Ash saw it, the purple flower. He bent down and picked the flower from the ground, standing up and admiring it. He looked at the small flower, three large purple petals with smaller ones between them. In the middle of each large petal was a spot of white, trailing down into the center. "Wow...this flower is amazing..." Ash whispered, lifting it up a little. Then he noticed small white dots underneath the petals, then picked one. He looked at it for a few seconds, then carefully placed it in his mouth. "Mmm! Oh man, Pikachu, you gotta try this!" Ash said, picking another and handing it to Pikachu. He sniffed it carefully, then took a small bite. After a second of chewing, his eyes widened and he threw the rest in his mouth. "Good, huh? Pikachu, if I didn't know better, I would think this is the fruit from a snover's neck. I wonder what this flower is..."

"You child." a voice came from behind him.

"Why did you follow me?" Ash asked, not moving.

"Can't I explore?" the voice asked. Ash turned around and saw his friend, Iris, crouching and smelling the flowers.

"you can, but is there a reason you explored where I was going?" he asked tentatively.

"Nothing particular, just exploring. I definitely would have regretted coming up here, smelling these beautiful flowers." Iris said, standing up.

"Yeah..." Ash said, looking at the flower in his hand. Iris noticed this, then walked towards him.

"Wow! You found an iris flower?" she asked, taking it from him and gazing as she held it up.

"Iris flower?" Ash asked.

"Of course, what did you think it was? What a child, Axew, he can't even recognize an iris flower." she said tauntingly.

"Axew ax!" Axew said, poking his head out and sniffing the plant happily.

"I'm not a child, and how do you know about this flower?" Ash asked, crossing his arms.

"You are a child if you didn't think of this. My name is Iris, remember? I was born in a town that was famous for iris flowers, duh." she said as if it were the most obvious thing ever.

"Okay, okay, I get it." Ash said, grabbing the flower from her.

"hey!" she said defensively, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at him.

"Excuse me, but I still have my errand to complete, thank you very much." Ash said calmly, picking a few more dots from the petals. He crouched down and dug a small hole, then put the flower in and filled in around it. He found a few more iris flowers and picked their small fruit, placing them in Cilan's jar. After a few minutes of picking and annoying comments from Iris, Ash finally had plenty of fruit in the jar.

"That was it? Cilan just wanted that?" Iris asked impatiently.

"Yes. Now if you don't mind, could I go back in peace?" Ash asked, walking past her.

"Oh, very funny, mr. funny child." she said, turning and walking beside him. Ash sighed.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing, nothing. It's just you're following me a lot today." Ash said calmly.

"Is it annoying you? You know, that's not a nice thing to say to your friend. Not to mention I'm a girl, which makes it worse." Iris said, crossing her arms.

"That doesn't matter, I've gone all over the world travelling with girls. I'm used to what they do." Ash replied calmly.

"Hey! I take offense to that! And I assume one of them is your girlfriend now?" Iris asked.

"Why would you assume that?" Ash asked innocently, but was grinning on the inside.

"I...uh...well...any girl willing to travel with you must be a child, too, so you're probably a match." Iris said, looking away.

"Is that the reason you're travelling with me now?" Ash asked, grinning as he walked slightly faster. Iris stopped, realizing he had put her in a corner. She looked at the ground, then looked up again after thinking of a comeback. But she saw Ash had continued walking and was far ahead of her.

"...guys..." she mumbled angrily, then ran in hopes to catch up with the boy and yell at him. After a few minutes, she came back to their camp and saw Cilan cooking over a pot, and Ash sitting against a tree, reading a magazine with Pikachu.

"Well, look who's back." Ash said, glancing away from his magazine.

"Very funny of you to leave me in the dust, Ash." she said angrily, stepping towards him.

"Please don't fight, at least not near the food area." Cilan said.

"Oh, we won't fight. Will we, Ash?" Iris asked in a fake sweet voice.

"Not if you don't start it." he replied calmly, flipping a page in the magazine.

"That's it!" Iris shouted, grabbing the magazine and throwing it away.

"Hey!" Ash said, looking up at her. Suddenly, he felt her hands on his cheeks and saw her face get closer, until he felt her lips come in contact with his. Cilan and Pikachu's eyes went wide as they witnessed the kiss between the two. After a few seconds, Iris pulled back. Ash stared for a moment, then a small grin broke on his lips. After a few seconds of silence, Iris' eyes went wide.

"Oh my- What have I done!" Iris shouted, putting her hands firmly over her mouth and running away. The three men were silent for a few moments, until Cilan spoke.

"...*Ahem*...well...that was...interesting." Cilan said, unsure of what to make of the situation. Ash, however, remained completely silent as he moved his fingers to his lips. "...They were just supposed to argue about the flower until one made a remark that put the other in their place...I never expected this..." Cilan said to himself, stirring a wooden spoon in the pot. Ash shook his head and looked over at him.

"What was that, Cilan?" he asked.

"N-nothing! nothing at a-all." he replied nervously, surprised at the boy's hearing. Ash smiled, then felt a nudge on his leg. He looked over and saw Pikachu with the magazine in his paws, tossing it on Ash's legs.

"Thanks, buddy." Ash said, taking the magazine in his hands. Pikachu jumped on his shoulder and put his hand on Ash's collarbone.

"Pikapi pikachu, pi chupi pika?" Pikachu asked.

"...No, Pikachu. I don't know why that happened." Ash said, revealing a faint grin as he looked back at the magazine. Truth was, Ash's mind had a good reason how and why that happened. One thing was for sure in his mind. With Iris travelling with him, and more arguments to come, he could certainly make good use of this. Not only for annoying her, maybe a little enjoyment too.

END

I know the iris flower doesn't have those fruit, but I was trying to make it interesting. Say what you want, I'm keeping it (lazy reasons :P)