Route 8

After leaving Lavender Town the previous day's afternoon, Ash, Misty and Iris went on the road to Celadon City, and hopefully Ash's fourth Gym Badge. The next night, the trio were lucky to find a Pokémon Center to spend the night in – none of them, Iris the least, minded sleeping outdoors, but sleeping on a cozy bed under a roof was much appreciated–.

Then morning came, and the trio was ready to continue their journey, but not before they and their Pokémon partners had a nice and warm breakfast.

The moment the food arrived at their table, they started to voraciously eat their breakfast. While the trio's hunger was usually big, that morning it was bigger than usual. Ash said that good fights always left him craving for some food, and Misty wondered how could that be true if it was their Pokémon, not them, who did the actual fighting.

At one point, Iris stopped wolfing down her food, as she stared at something behind Ash and Misty, or better said, somebody, who entered the Pokémon center. Misty took no time to realize, and called it to her attention.

"Iris, staring like that is not polite," the redhead said, trying not to sound like a chiding mother. "What are you looking at?"

"It is? Sorry. It is just that I have never seen a human like that," Iris pointed out.

Ash and Misty turned around, and saw a couple of young adults, maybe in their late twenties or early thirties. The woman had a visible pregnant belly.

"You mean that woman," Ash said, low enough for the couple in question not to hear them.

Iris nodded. "I have never seen any human with such a strange body shape."

"That's because that woman is pregnant," Misty intervened. "She's going to have a child."

"Oh, so human females swell up like that when it is time for them to lay eggs?" Iris asked.

Such a question left Ash and Misty briefly but visibly stunned. Given what they knew about her upbringing, it was obvious that Iris knew nothing about how human reproduction worked. It was unlikely that one of her Dragonite parents gave her "the talk" at any point.

"Uh, Iris..." Ash began, feeling a bit awkward. "Humans don't lay eggs."

The purplette raised an eyebrow. "They don't?"

"Humans reproduce through live births," Dexter chimed in. "Once the baby has been gestated for an average period of nine months, it comes out of the mother through one of her lower orifices, the one designated as vagina."

Iris once again had the same thoughtful look she had that last time, when Misty explained to her why public nudity wasn't acceptable in human society. Ash and Misty, on the other hand, never felt more awkward in their lives. The look other people were giving them after hearing Dexter's loud and detailed explanation on such subject didn't help either.

"Ash, does that thing have a mute button?" Misty groaned, as she pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I looked, it doesn't have one," Ash replied.

"Did you check the configuration options?" Misty insisted. "Every device that makes any sound has a mute option."

"Oh, sure, try to silence the only one in this group that has something intelligent to say on a regular basis," the Pokedex protested. "Besides, I doubt you'd be able to educate the wild child on such a delicate subject better than I would. Am I wrong?"

Once again, the reply came in the form of an awkward silence.

"Thought so," Dexter snidely said. "The human reproduction process is a long and complex one, involving a multitude of factors, some of which tend to change from one individual to another, such as..."

Thirty very awkward minutes later...

"...and once the baby is born, the umbilical chord must be cut. It is imperative for the newborn to be tended and fed immediately by either the mother or a trained caretaker. And thus concludes the explanation. Any questions?"

Ash and Misty prayed that Iris' answer would be "no". And thankfully, it appeared to be the case, as the Dragon Heart Bloodliner carefully digested the information her brain had absorbed.

"Boy, I'm so relieved to hear that the bleeding part..." Iris began.

"The...menstruation?" Misty asked.

"Yeah, that. I'm so glad is something all human women go through," Iris stated in relief. "I remember two years ago when I started bleeding for the first time. My mother went crazy, trying to make it stop. None of the medicinal herbs she knew worked and-"

"I don't think we need to know anymore," Misty interrupted.

"Of course, it has to be weird living among us after being raised by Pokémon. I once heard of a kid who was raised by Kangaskhan, but I didn't know that much about how it was. Maybe you can tell us how it is?" Ash asked.

Iris expression became somber, as she averted his gaze. Ash immediately realized what he just did.

"Oh sorry! I didn't want to sound so insensitive! I just forgot about how Hunter J got your family and..." Ash hurried to apologize.

Iris forced herself to smile at Ash. "No, it's okay, it's not your fault. Pretending that my family was never kidnapped is not going to help. I want to keep them present in my heart, to remind myself why I'm doing this when things get difficult. And yes, I will tell you anything about my family. What do you want to know?"

"Was there somebody who didn't accept you in your family?" surprising the purplette, it wasn't Ash but Misty who made that question. Ash immediately realized why she asked that, and Iris also noticed that there was something more to that than mere curiosity. Oh well, she'd ask her later.

"Sadly, yes, plenty. Mom, Dad and Grandpa were always very kind to me, but many others not so much..."

…

Sometime ago I was climbing one of the trees of the forest I used to call my home. I believe it's to the northeast of the place humans call...Openlucid? Yes, I think it's that one. Anyway, this tree in particular had many fresh Nanab berries, ripe for the taking. While not my favorite, I greatly enjoyed them, and made for a good breakfast. While I was small, I had a strong and lithe body, and I managed to get to the top with no effort. After collecting a few, I sat down on a tree branch and enjoyed my meal.

While I was eating the berries, I noticed something. Looking down, I saw a small Dratini looking at me. Or more precisely, looking at the berries resting on my lap.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked him.

The Dratini didn't say anything, and kept staring intently at both me and my food.

"You want this?" I asked again, lifting one of my berries. The Dratini perked up, and even if he didn't say anything, I already had my answer.

Seeing it as a chance to make some friends, I scooped my berries with one arm, and slid down the tree. When my feet touched the ground, the Dratini visibly squirmed back, as if afraid of me. Even then, I smiled, and handed him the berry.

"Come on, I'm not going to hurt you. If you are hungry, I can share my food," I said, with my arm still stretched.

Then, something happened, something that I wasn't expecting. The Dratini headbutted me, knocking me backwards, and dropping all the berries around the ground. More Dratinis appeared, coming out from their hiding places, and started to eat the berries I had gathered. Of course, I wasn't going to let such thing happen.

"Hey!" I angrily protested as I stomped towards them."What was that for!?"

The Dratinis ignored me as they enjoyed their stolen food, like I wasn't there. Granted, I was used to being ignored, but not after somebody thought harming me and stealing my food was an okay thing to do.

"I'm talking to you!" I yelled at the Dratini who attacked me, as I pulled him by his tail.

The moment I touched him, two other Dratinis turned around and whipped me with their tails. The message was clear: if it was a fight that I wanted, they'd make sure I'd regret it.

"Don't dare to touch us, human," one of the Dratinis hissed at me.

"You don't belong with us. Don't think you're one of us just because we live in the same forest," another Dratini added with venomous voice.

"Yes I am! Mom and Dad say so!" I protested.

"Those aren't your mother and father. The real ones are the humans who abandoned you here because even they thought you were a monster. Monster!" the first Dratini retorted.

"Monster! Monster! Monster!" the rest of the Dratinis began to chant.

My eyes started to swell with tears. I wanted to tell them that they were wrong, that I wasn't a monster, but I couldn't. All I want to do was run away, and cry...

…

"Wow, what a bunch of jerks," Ash stated. In disgust. Pikachu frowned and energetically nodded as well.

Misty nodded in agreement as well, sharing the same pain of being rejected by your own family, adopted or not.

"Eh, it's okay. Like I told you, it was mostly at first. The next years were not so bad, and everybody else started to treat me better little by little," Iris added. Despite those bitter memories, she still felt bad trash talking her family, especially behind their back.

"Axew!" Axew cried as he jumped on Iris' lap, having just finished his food.

"Yes, yes, I know, you always treated me right. That's why you're my favorite brother, aren't you?" Iris cooed, as she affectionately scratched the little dragon under his neck, much to his pleasure. "But then again, there were many times I wished I could become a Pokémon."

Ash was suddenly reminded of Lily, that witch he met when he was journeying through Johto. It was an encounter he would never forget, given that the witch ended up temporarily turning him into a Pikachu by accident. While it was quite the experience, he was glad he was shortly turned back into a human.

"You know, there was this girl-" Ash began.

"If you're interested in becoming a Pokémon, then maybe you should learn about Professor Julius Garonte," Dexter chimed in. Its screen showed a picture of a middle aged bald man with a gray beard, wearing a white lab coat, black gloves, and thick googles that obscured his eyes. He appeared to be laughing maniacally. Besides him, there was a cute pink and white Pokémon smiling happily.

"Who is this man?" Misty asked.

"Professor Julius Garonte was a Pokémon scientist and researcher, specialized in studying the DNA. He's currently Hoenn's sixth most wanted man, his list of major crimes include trying to splice Pokémon DNA of different species in order to create an artificial hybrid, splicing human and Pokémon DNA in order to create a Human/Pokémon hybrid-"

"A Bloodliner?" Ash ventured to guess.

"Think more of the Island of Doctor Moreau," Dexter replied.

Ash and Misty shivered in disgust, while Iris wondered what a Moreau was. But it didn't sound something nice.

"-several accounts of human and Pokémon organ theft, trying to build several doomsday devices, some of them functional, and several charges of riding a bike indoors," the Pokedex finished its explanation.

"I don't think Iris should be interested in meeting such a man," Misty stated. "I don't even think somebody from Team Rocket would want anything to do with this guy."

"You might have a point, given that it's known Professor Garonte used to work for the Hoenn-based terrorist group Team Aqua for a time, before he was kicked out for unauthorized experiments on Team Aqua grunts. His current status is unknown," Dexter replied.

"What Pokémon is this?" Ash asked, noticing the oddly cute and smiling Pokémon besides its mad master.

"Sylveon, the Interwining Pokémon, and one of Eevee's possible evolutions. A Fairy-type Pokémon. It can send a soothing aura from its ribbonlike feelers to calm fights," Dexter replied. "Garonte's Sylveon was nicknamed 'Princess Sparky Eyes'."

"Fairy-type?" a frightened Iris asked, as she tightly hugged Axew.

"This isn't the kind of Pokémon you'd imagine to be owned by a mad scientist,. Especially with such a nickname," Ash pointed out.

"Princess Sparky Eyes is confirmed to have mauled seventeen people to death," Dexter added.

"I knew Fairy-types are dangerous monsters!" Iris defensively claimed. She then turned to Ash and Misty. "Promise me you will never catch a Fairy-type Pokémon!"

"Dear goodness, and here I thought that Misty's fear of Bug-types was bad..." Ash inwardly moaned. "Iris, just because Red's Clefairy was a bit...unhinged, that doesn't mean all Fairy-types, or even just all Clefairies are like that. Just like us, every Pokémon is unique. And some of them deviate from the usual behavior of their respective species."

Iris looked pensive, as if Ash's words reminded her of something, or of somebody. And after thinking a little, Ash also guessed who was Iris thinking about.

"I'm sure that besides you and Axew, there was somebody in your family who...stood out from the rest, right?" Ash asked.

Iris looked at Ash a bit startled, as if he somehow read her mind. It wasn't the first time it happened. Ash seemed to know way more about her than he let on. And strangely enough...Iris also felt as if she knew Ash as well, and knew things about him she logically shouldn't know. But now wasn't the place to discuss that.

"Yes," Iris replied, smiling a bit. "My older brother. All Dragonites are usually graceful and peaceful and wise and all that...my brother could not be more different from them."

"What do you mean?" Misty asked.

"Let's say that my brother loved fights more than anything else..."

…

...and his attitude caused a lot of friction with the rest of the family. He often sought fights with strong Pokémon, which often caused other inhabitants of the forest to be mad at us, both the families of the Pokémon my brother fought against, as well as others who often got caught within the crossfire.

I remember a couple years ago, shortly after we moved to a new forest in Kalos. It was close to nighttime, and our brother was nowhere to be found. Mother sent me and Axew to look for him and make sure he didn't start any pointless fights. For some reason, brother used to listen to me more than he did to mother, father, grandfather or any of the other elders. Though to say that he did everything I say would have been a huge exaggeration.

Anyway, it was getting dark. Daytime Pokémon returned to their lairs, while nocturnal Pokémon came out of theirs. Both Axew and I were afraid that we would be the next meal of a nocturnal predator, when we were startled by a thunder. At first we thought it was a coming storm –the sky was covered in gray clouds that day–.

But soon we realized it wasn't a natural phenomena, but two Pokémon fighting in the sky. Our brother, and a Noivern.

…

"Noivern?" Ash asked, a bit puzzled. Misty's face revealed the same lack of knowledge of such Pokémon.

Of course, there was somebody there more than happy to fill them with knowledge.

"Noivern, the Soundwave Pokémon, and evolved form of Noibat," Dexter chimed in. "A Dragon/Flying type Pokémon native of the Kalos region. They fly around on moonless nights and attack careless prey. Nothing can beat them in a battle in the dark."

Iris couldn't help but chuckle. "I would not say that 'nothing' can beat them, in either the dark or the light..."

…

...but I do admit that Noiverns are quite powerful. My brother is one of the strongest members of our family, and that Noivern was giving him quite the fight. My brother likes to fight close and personal, while his enemy liked to keep distance and attack from afar with...cries so loud, you could even see them.

Still, that does not mean my brother cannot fight from range either. He replied the Noivern's sound and wind attacks with Ice Beams and Dragon Breathes, mostly the former. Once he scored a hit, he would try to get closer and pummel his opponent with Thunder Punch or Outrage.

After a particularly brutal Outrage, the Noivern decided it had have enough, and fled. My brother usually lets defeated enemies flee, so I thought that his lust for combat temporarily sated, he would return with us. However, something happened that neither of us took account of.

You see, after using Outrage, the user is left in a state of deep disorientation and confusion. Which was exacerbated by all the hits he took from that Noivern and...well, he was so dizzy, he could not fly right anymore, and crashed against the ground.

"Brother!" both Axew and I yelled at the same time, as we rushed to the site he crashed into.

The sound of the fight had scared many of the other Pokémon away from there, so thankfully we did not have to worry about my brother accidentally killing anybody during his fall, or that somebody would try to take advantage of his current state. We reached there in no time, and saw that he crashed against a tree. He was unconscious. But let's say that the tree was way worse.

"Brother'" I fearfully asked. He wasn't moving. But upon closer inspection, I noticed he was still breathing. Even if this was not the first time he ended up this badly, I could not help but worry for him. And I knew what I had to do.

"Axew, stay here and protect big brother. I will go find something so he can recover," I stated.

"You can count on me, sis!" Axew replied, helpful as ever.

Thankfully, it didn't take me long to find a bunch of sitrus berries on a bush. I grabbed as much as I could, and quickly returned to my brothers. Thankfully I did not find any Pokémon who wanted to fight me or steal my berries.

"I'm back! Did I take too long?" I asked Axew. "How is he?"

"Not that much. And he hasn't moved," Axew replied as he poked our older brother with his claws.

"Hopefully this will help," I said as I forced my unconscious brother to eat a sitrus berry.

The effect was instant, and while my brother was far from healed, it woke him up, and was able to eat the rest of the berries on his own.

"How do you feel?" I asked. I got no response. Big brother was somebody of few words. "You know, a 'thank you' would have been appreciated'".

"...thanks," he begrudgingly replied.

"So...are you ready to return with the others?" I asked.

"Mom is going to be SO pissed at you!" Axew interjected. He enjoys whenever our older brother gets into trouble. Which is often.

He didn't reply. Of course, I wasn't going to let him give me the silent treatment.

"I asked you a question," I insisted, repeatedly tapping my foot.

"In a moment," he finally answered. "I want to rest. And think."

Probably he wasn't thinking about giving up fighting, given how much he enjoyed it.

"Does it hurt?" I asked him again.

"What hurts?" he asked back.

"The wounds. Even with the berries, they look pretty nasty. They must hurt a lot," I point out.

"Pokémon get wounded when they fight. If a Pokémon doesn't want to get wounded, they shouldn't fight."

I do not know how that answered my question, but I believe it could be translated as "I do not care if I'm hurt". Well, I do care if he is hurt. The jerk.

"Why are you like this?" I asked him.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Why do you go out of your way to pick so many fights? Why are you so different from the rest?" I angrily asked.

He looked at me, and smirked. Something rare to do.

"You're also different," he pointed out. He then looked at Axew. "So is little brother."

"Maybe, but we have more in common with the others than you! You don't see us picking up fights and getting nearly killed most of the time!" I angrily lashed at him. Axew vigorously nodded in agreement.

"Why do you care?" he retorted.

"Because you are my brother, you dumbass!" I replied. "If it was not for Axew and I, I do not want to think what happened to you!"

"You don't have to worry. I'm strong. I always recover," he simply replied.

I stomped my foot on the ground before crossing my arms. "What's wrong with you? Does being so close to death all the time makes you feel alive or something?"

"Yes," was his response.

I was taken aback. It was not a sarcastic answer or something like that. His answer was genuine. Still, I refused to believe him.

"You cannot be serious," I retorted.

"I am," he laconically replied.

"Then explain it to me, because I do not understand. I mean, I do like a good fight from time to time, and so does Axew, but neither of us fight with the same...intensity as you do. You always end up badly bruised and injured," I told him in a mildly pleading tone.

"I like to fight. Is it that rare?" he replied.

"It is not. But the way you fight, it looks as if you're fighting for your life, when most of the time it is you who starts them," I pointed out.

"When I fight, I can be myself. Others can do whatever they want. I'm not the others. When I fight, I have to give it all. And when I give it all..." he grew silent, leaving that line unfinished. "When I give it all, I feel good. The pain doesn't matter. The injuries don't matter. All that matter, is the fire that burns in my heart, filling my being with a pleasant warmth. And no amount of pain can quench that fire.

"I'm strong, sister, very strong. And thus I need opponents that can match that strength. Fighting somebody much weaker than me not only wouldn't produce any inner fire, it would make me a mere mindless beast. That's why, whenever I see somebody worthy, I can't waste the chance and challenge them to a fight. It's rather easy to provoke them into fighting me."

That was the longest time my brother ever talked, and let's say that I learned a lot from him that day. Not that I approved of his...bloodthirsty ways, but he could not change the way he felt. Many Pokémon fight, sometimes on their behalf, others on the behalf of humans. It was not that rare, even if it was among our family.

"You know, you still create a lot of trouble for the rest of us with your fights," I pointed out. "This does not affect just you."

This time, he looked genuinely surprised, even if it wasn't much.

"I didn't know that. I thought the others didn't like me because of my ways," he replied.

"That, too. Remember that time we had to deal with that angry Hydreigon because you beat her mate up," I reminded him. "And that's not everything. You worried us sick with all that fighting. Just like you did now."

Big brother looked pensive. That was good, or at least, that's what I want to think.

"I don't want to worry you or the others. But I don't want to give up being myself," he admitted.

This time, it was my turn to think. Solving his dilemma wasn't going to be easy. Fortunately for all of us, I happen to be quite smart.

"Why don't you help me and Axew get stronger?" I suggested. "You could fight against us."

Axew looked at me with eyes wide open in shock. "Are you insane!?"

Naturally, big brother looked incredulous as well. "If I fight against you, you will die. When I fight, I always give my all."

"Well, you could try to hold back just this time. By fighting you, I'm sure Axew and I would get stronger. And there will be a time we will be strong enough to fight you on equal terms, like those strong opponents you seek," I explained him.

"That could take years," he objected. "What do I do in the meantime?"

"You can continue fighting like you've been doing. On the condition you tell me first," I told him.

He looked unconvinced. "You will tell the others."

"I promise I will not," I insisted. "In fact, I will be there to take care of you after the fight, just like I did now. What do you say?"

Once again, big brother pondered my words. Once again, I hoped for the best.

"I accept your proposal," big brother replied.

"Great!" I cheered, as I pumped my fist into the air. "However, we will have to tell mother and the others what have you been doing now. There's no way to justify those wounds."

"HA HA!" Axew laughed, as he pointed at big brother with one of his claws.

Big brother went from happy to miserable that moment.

…

"And thanks to him, Axew and I are as strong as we are now," Iris stated. Axew happily nodded. "And we need to get even stronger if we want to save him and the others from that horrible woman."

"That's why I told you to come with us. You can become stronger much faster if you have a friend to train with," Ash stated once again, at which Iris nodded.

"Emol!"

Suddenly, Iris yelped as Emolga jumped into her lap, pushing Axew into the ground, immediately followed by an angry looking Squirtle.

"Emo Emol!" Emolga whined as she hugged Iris.

"Emolga! What's wrong?" a concerned Iris asked. She then looked at the pissed off Squirtle.

"Uh, Squirtle, did Emolga do something to you?" Ash asked.

"Squirtle! Squir Squirtle!""Yeah, she stole my food! She used Attract on me and made me give her all my food!" the Turtle Pokémon angrily protested, as he shook his arms in anger.

"Emol!"

"Pika pi,""Emolga said that's a lie," Pikachu pointed out.

"Squirtle!" "I'm not lying! Besides, Snivy told me when I realized that my food was gone!"

"Emolga!" Emolga angrily cried as she looked at Snivy, who replied with what could pass as a shrug.

"Sniv," "If you want more food, you could just ask Iris for more," Snivy dryly stated.

"Emolga, we talked about this. Stealing from other Pokémon is wrong, okay?" Iris sternly but calmly told her. Emolga's eyes started to water upon seeing that Iris didn't believe her. "And drop the fake tears. Just because it worked the first twenty six times doesn't mean it is going to work anymore. I'm not that gullible."

"Axew!" the little dragon angrily cried as he jumped back into his legitimate place on Iris' lap –according to him, at least– pushing Emolga away.

"That Emolga is sure something," Misty mentioned. "Seems to be as much as a drag as my Psyduck."

"I heard that," Psyduck said, a bit indignantly.

"I know. I don't care," Misty replied, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, you have no idea. I know that deep down Emolga is really nice, but she has this nasty habit of..." Iris stopped, as she tried to think a way to sugarcoat it.

"Take advantage of everybody around her, at the slightest opportunity?" Ash guessed. Even without the memory restoration, Iris' Emolga was pretty much the same as in the previous timeline.

"Yeah, you could say that," Iris conceded with an awkward chuckle. "But trust me, I know that Emolga has potential to be much better. Otherwise, she would not be with me."

"How did you meet her?" Ash asked, eager to know how Iris met the electric flying squirrel this time around.

"Well, let me think...it was a summer day a few years ago..."

…

...it was one of those warm days that make you want to do nothing but rest under the fresh shadow of a large tree. Fortunately, our forest had plenty of big trees that provided enough shadow for all to enjoy.

Anyway, I'm rambling. I was just relaxing under the shadow of a tree, when I saw Axew gathering a bunch of berries. We just ate not long ago, so I was curious as of why he needed that much food. I got up and asked him.

"Axew!" I called him.

Startled, Axew turned at me, looking at me all nervous as if he was doing something wrong, or something I would disprove, at least.

"Oh...h-hi sister!" he stammered.

"Where are you going with all that food?" I asked, a bit suspicious.

"Uh...nowhere! I'm just going to save it for later, hehe," Axew said, clearly lying.

"Axew..." I groaned, and stared at him with disappointed eyes. It is a trick I learned from mother. Always makes his guilt eat him from the inside.

"Well, why do you want to know what I'm doing with all this food!? It's not that there's a shortage!" He defensively said.

"And why are you so reluctant to tell me? If you are not going to do anything wrong you should not have a problem telling me about it!" I sternly replied.

Axew seemed to feel bad about snapping at me. He averted his gaze, before looking at me again, feeling awkward.

"Promise me you won't laugh?" Axew asked.

I crouched down, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You know I will never do such a thing. Come on, what's going on?"

"Well...I just met somebody this morning...an Emolga girl..." Axew began, stammering a little.

"And you like her!?" I pretty much squealed in joy.

"SHHHHH!" Axew shushed me, shaking his arms. "Don't tell anybody! I don't want the others to know!"

"Why not? I think it is cute," I said, smiling. Then, I realized something. "Oh, so that's what the berries are for, right? Do you plan to use them to woo her?"

"Yes! She says she like guys that know how to 'provide', and I'm going to show her I can!" Axew proudly declared.

"Alright, that's the spirit! Now go, and show her how much of a great mate you will make!" I cheered him.

And thus, my little brother went to conquer his first love. Or, at least, what I thought it would be his first love. Let's say that events did not turn as either me or Axew hoped. In fact, I saw him back not half an hour later. He looked rather glum and depressed. Fearing for the worst, I walked towards him.

"Axew? Everything's okay?" I asked him.

Axew looked at me with teary eyes, and he started crying. The poor thing spent the next minutes crying, with me trying to comfort him the best I could. After that, he managed to tell me what had happened. Axew saw Emolga accepting another love offer from another Pokémon, a Patrat.

Needless to say, I had never been angrier my whole life. Nobody hurts my little brother! NOBODY! So naturally, I asked Axew to take me to her, so I could give that hussy a piece of mind. And sure enough, we found her, surrounded by a trio of Pokémon, a Purrloin, a Lillipup and a Pansage, all of them giving her berries and other food as love gifts. Their entranced eyes made me realize they were under the effect of Attract. Though it seems she did not use that move on Axew.

Not that it mattered to me in the slightest at that moment.

"Hey, you!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

Startled, Emolga turned at me, and upon seeing Axew trailing along, she realized what was going on.

"How you dare use my little brother like that!" I shouted as I stomped towards her.

"Emol!"

Emolga jumped, and used Attract on me. You should have seen her face when the flurry of hearts crashed harmlessly against me.

"In case you did not notice, I am a girl just like you, so that trick won't work on me," I growled as I continued my advance.

This time, Emolga opted for a more aggressive strategy, and used Thundershock against me. Of course, I was ready for such thing to happen. Taking a deep breath, I used Dragon Rage, and the blue flames of my move blocked Emolga's electric attack. Her surprise grew even bigger.

"Guess you did not expect that either, do you? Now get over here!" I demanded.

"Emoooooool!" she cried in horror.

Of course, Emolga did the complete opposite of that, and high tailed out of there. However, if she thought she could escape me, she had another thing coming.

"Oh no, you are not getting away! Axew, let's go!" I shouted.

Axew jumped into my hair, and I started to swing from one vine to another. Emolga flied fast, but she was not going to evade me, not in a million years. Reaching into my hair, I pulled out a pokeball, and tossed it forward.

"Excadrill, go!"

Thankfully, Excadrill appeared before Emolga, stopping her right on her tracks. Even if Excadrill is a male, I knew that if she used Attract, she would give me enough time to reach her. She knew that as well, and decided to change course.

"Excadrill, do not let her escape!" I told him.

"Exca!" he nodded, and joined the pursue.

However, luck was not on Emolga's side. She was so focused on losing us, that she did not notice where she was flying, and ended up bumping against a nasty looking Scolipede, who did not take kindly Emolga crashing into him. But when she tried to turn back and flee, Excadrill, Axew and I were in the way, leaving her with no way to escape.

The Scolipede angrily screeched, and prepared to attack Emolga, who quickly succumbed to panic.

"E-Emol! Emolga!" She cried, unable to decide which one of us was the lesser evil.

"Emolga, if you come with me, I will protect you from that Scolipede and promise not to hurt you," I offered her.

"Emol!" she shouted.

"Emolga says that she's okay with that," Axew translated.

"However, if you run away once I saved you, well...you would wish I left you at the mercy of that Scolipede," I added.

"E-Emol! Emolga!" she cried even louder, as she rushed towards us.

"Emolga promises she won't try to run away," Axew translated again. He seemed to trust her. I wasn't so eager to do so, but a deal is a deal.

Scolipede finally attacked, with Poison Tail. It was our turn.

"Excadrill, block it!" I commanded.

"Drill!" Excadrill shouted as he jumped to block the attack, which did not cause him any harm. Still, the Scolipede prepared to strike again.

"Now, Metal Claw!"

Excadrill' claws glowed white as he delivered a slash to the giant bug. The Scolipede recoiled, but I knew I could not leave it any room to breathe.

"Axew, Dragon Rage!" I said.

Axew took a step forward, after taking a glance at the cowering Emolga, he breathed a blaze of blue flames at the giant insect. One more hit should do it.

Rushing forward, I used Dragon Claw and slashed the Scolipede a couple times. The bug Pokémon decided he had enough, and decided to run away. I turned back at Emolga, expecting her to follow the bug's example, but true to her word, she remained there.

"Emol...?" she fearfully asked.

"She says what are you going to do with her," Axew helpfully translated.

"I'm not going to do anything to you," I reassured. "It is YOU who needs to do quite a few things. Starting with an apology to Axew."

Emolga let out a small sigh of relief. She turned at Axew, and said something I hoped it was an apology. Axew smiled in return.

"It's okay, I forgive you," he happily replied. Axew has always been too nice for his own good.

"Good. However, I have to ask. Why did you do it? Why did you take advantage of my little brother like that?" I asked her.

Emolga once again stammered an explaination that Axew translated for me.

"Emolga said that she's weaker than most Pokémon on this forest, and has trouble finding food. But she found out that she could get all the food she wanted by seducing other Pokémon to gather it for her," Axew explained.

"I see," I replied, pondering her words, trying to wonder if the explanation was true. "If that is the case, next time you feel hungry, come with us. We will not mind sharing our food with you."

"Emol?" she asked, stunned.

I didn't need Axew to translate this time. "Yes, you can come with us. Not only we will give you food, but if you want, we can help you get stronger so you can get food on your own. What do you say?"

Emolga pondered for a bit, but then she nodded.

From the next day onwards, Emolga would hang out with Axew, Excadrill and I. At first it was obvious that she did it only for the free food, but soon she started to see us as more than just berry dispensers, and we grew closer each day.

Eventually, Emolga allowed me to capture her with one of my pokeballs, and we've been together since then.

...

"Of course, that does not mean that Emolga changed completely," Iris said with a chuckle. "Many of her old vices are still there, as much as effort I make into trying to get rid of them.

"Well, you know what they say, but old habits die hard," Ash said with a shrug.

"Oh. And who says that?" Iris asked, not grasping the nature of rethoric statements.

"Well, uh...everybody? It's something that has been since since forever," Ash awkwardly explained. "Anyway, that story reminded of me of my – of a friend's Charizard," Ash hoped the girls didn't catch his almost slip. "He was unable to make said Charizard obey him, and he even cost him a league match. But with much effort and patience, he managed to make his Charizard to respect him."

"Here is hoping I can do that with Emolga," Iris sighed, but smiled as well.

"What about the other one, Excadrill? Did he ever give you any troubles?" Misty asked, as he looked at the Mole Pokémon, slowly eating from his bowl of food.

"Excadrill is far more serious and not as bratty as Emolga. That is not to say we started out as the best of friends," Iris replied.

"For some reason, I can imagine that," Ash said, as he recalled how Excadrill refused to obey Iris when he first met her, due to a past incident. He wondered if something similar happened this time around. "Can you tell us more?"

Iris smiled. "Sure!"

…

I met Excadrill for the first time quite some years ago. I think it was...when Axew was one year old? Yes, that sounds about right. And Exacdrill wasn't an Excadrill yet, but a Drilbur. He did not evolve until much later. Oh well, I think I'm getting sidetracked.

Anyway, it was a warm and sunny day –the weather on that forest was almost always good, that is why we stayed there for so long–, and as usual, I was busy gathering berries for both Axew and myself. Axew was usually helping me, but he decided that he was old enough to gather food on his own and did not want me to constantly watch over him, so I decided to give him some space. And since he could not climb trees as good as he does now, he decided to pick berries from small bushes rather than trees.

So far, he always does a pretty good job, but not that day. Not only did he show up empty handed, but he was badly bruised, as if somebody gave him a beating.

"Sister..." he moaned in pain as he dragged himself towards me.

Horrified, I dropped the food in my hand and rushed to check him. "Axew! What happened? Who made you this!?"

"I...I was gathering berries from the bushes in my usual spot, when this Drilbur appeared and kicked me out!" Axew told me, almost on the verge of crying. "He said that it was his spot now and that all the food there belonged to him now."

"WHAT!? Take me to him! I will show him what happens when somebody messes with my little brother!" I angrily demanded.

"But sister...he's very strong. I don't want him to hurt you too..." Axew sheepishly said.

I smiled at him, as I petted his head. "Aw, you do not have to worry about me. I'm very strong. Now come on, bring me to your spot I can teach that jerk a lesson."

…

"I'm starting to see a pattern here," Misty interrupted. "Do you usually befriend all the Pokémon that hurt Axew?"

"Now that you mention that, I never thought about it," a pensive Iris said. "But I don't think that's a norm with us."

"You ended up befriending us, despite thinking that we hurt Axew," Misty pointed out.

"But you did not, so I do not think that counts. Anyway..."

…

...Axew complied, and took me to the place in question. And just as expected, Drilbur was there, digging a hole. Probably building himself a new lair there. Well, his new home would have to wait. As in, permanently.

"Hey you! Come out THIS INSTANT!" I yelled at him.

Drilbur came outside, and looked at me with a puzzled expression, as if surprised of seeing a human being there. That would be the first and the least unpleasant of the surprises I was preparing for him in my mind.

"Dril?" he asked, confused.

"You beat up my little brother and stole his food! Give him back the food you took and leave, and I might not punch your ugly face!"

Drilbur's response came in the form of a Mud Slap to my face. I snarled as I wiped the mud from my face.

"So you want to fight, uh? Alright then, do not say I did not warn you!" I taunted him, as I started to run forwards.

"Drilbur!"

Drilbur jumped as his claws started to glow with silver light. Metal Claw, I realized. I extended my arm as I used Dragon Claw, creating three green energy blades that parried his swing.

"Dril!?" the mole asked in shock.

"You were not expecting I could do that, do you?" I asked. I took advantage of his shock and kicked him in the abdomen, hurling him backwards.

"Dril! Drilbur!"

Drilbur was not going to give up so soon, and dug underground. Fortunately, I was already familiar with the attack, and knew how to properly counter it. I patiently remained where I was, and waited for Drilbur to make his move. Then, I noticed the ground beneath my feet slightly shaking, and realized where the attack would come from. I jumped back just in time as Drilbur burst from underground, barely missing me, and completely wide open. His mistake cost him another Dragon Claw to the face.

"Not so fun when your opponent fights back, right?" I taunted him.

"DRILBUR!"

Blinded by anger, Drilbur used Drill Run against me. I merely took a deep breath, and countered it with Dragon Rage. The blue flames of my attack pretty much burned all of Drilbur's remaining energy, stopping his attack's momentum, and falling to the ground, defeated.

Proud of my victory, I walked towards Drilbur. This wasn't going to end until he apologized to Axew and assured me he would never return.

"How does it feel when somebody stronger than you beats you up!?" I angrily asked the defeated Drilbur.

Upon seeing me walking closer, Drilbur started crying and blubbering something even Axew had trouble understanding.

"Dril! Drilbur Dril! Drilbuuuuuuur...!" the mole cried.

"He says that he didn't want to do this, but that somebody else kicked him out of his home and took all his food," Axew translated.

"I see. Still, that doesn't make what you did right, you know!" I angrily told the mole.

"Dril, Drilbur!"

"Drilbur says he's sorry, but that he needed the food," Axew translated.

I thought for a few moments what to do. Drilbur sounded sincere, but it could be a ruse to get away scot free. In the end, I had an idea.

"Okay, here's what we are going to do. Take me to your former home, and we will try to make whoever kicked you out to let you back, okay?"

"Dril?" he asked in surprise. "Drilbur!"

Before Drilbur could take us to his former home, we spend some time resting and eating some food in order to recover from our previous fight. With renewed energies, Drilbur took us to a small clear between some bushes and small trees. And in the middle, was a rather large and fat Simisear eating berries.

The Simisear noticed our presence, and glared and growled at us, or more specifically, at Drilbur, who hid behind my legs. If he thought he was intimidating me, he would had to work harder on it.

"Hey you! Drilbur said that this was his home and you kicked him out! Is that true?" I asked in an accusatory tone.

"Sear?" the monkey lazily replied.

"He says 'so what if that's true'?" Axew translated.

This guy had quite the attitude. Still, I decided to give words another chance. "And why did you do that?"

"Sear, simi simi, simisear! Sear!"

I looked at Axew, and asked him before he had the chance to translate: "Please tell me he did not move here because was kicked out from his home by another Pokémon."

Axew shook his head. "He moved here because his previous home ran out of food. And that that's what he always do. Whenever a place runs out of food, he finds a new one and make it his, before eating all the food again."

"What? Unbelievable! No wonder why you are so fat!"

"Simisear!?" the monkey screeched.

"He didn't take it kindly you calling him fat," Axew pointed out.

"If words hurt him that much, just wait until he feel my fists," I threateningly replied, taking a step forward.

Simisear guessed my intentions, and charged forward. He raised his fist and burst into flames. I also clenched my fist in return, using Dragon Claw to counter his Fire Punch. Like Emolga and, well, plenty of Pokémon I fought against, he was rather surprised to see what I could do. And there was not a single time in which I did not take advantage of their surprise.

I continued with multiple swings of Dragon Claw, making him stumble back with each swipe. Thinking it was an easy victory, I lowered my guard for a second and relaxed, and it proved to be a mistake. Simisear managed to jump backwards, avoiding my last swipe. Then, his body was wreathed in flames, and he shot at me like a meteor.

"SIMISEAR!" he cried.

I tried to counter his Flame Charge with Dragon Rage, but I was not fast enough. The attack connected, and I was sent tumbling backwards.

"Sister!" Axew cried, and rushed to check me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it is just a scratch," I replied. But truth be told, that hurt way more than I would have wanted to admit.

"Let me help you!" Axew bravely said, as he stood between me and the still angry Simisear.

"No!" I said, pushing him back. I was young and small, but he was even younger and smaller, and could not allow him to get hurt. "I can take care of this guy!"

"Sim!" Simisear roared again, as he used Flame Charge once more.

Of course, this time I was prepared. Even with his increased speed, I managed to jump sideways, dodging the attack. And when his cloak of flames vanished, I grabbed him by his tail and tried to smash him against a tree.

Tried being the key word here, as this Simisear was way bigger and heavier than usual, and I was much smaller and thus weaker than I am now. And thus, it was Simisear who once again sent me to the ground by violently spinning around his feet.

"Sim! Simisear, sim!" the ember monkey angrily cried as he stomped towards me.

I was badly beaten, but I was not going to give up. I managed to get back on my feet, and face him once again.

"That's the best you have, you ugly ape?"

Taunting him was a monumentally stupid idea given how badly the fight was going, but like I said, I was young and stupid. And as expected, Simisear grew even angrier and charged at me, screaming profanities that Axew did not dare to translate. I braced myself for the incoming hit, when suddenly, a blot of mud hit Simisear right in the face.

"Uh?" I turned around, and realized that it was Dribur, who was merely an spectator until that point, who had used Mud Slap. Though it seems he did not even realize of what he did, given his surprised face.

Wiping the mud off of his face, the angry Simisear forgot about me, and fixed a murderous glare on Drilbur.

"Simisear!" I guess he said something along the lines of "YOU'RE SO DEAD!", though I could be wrong.

Anyway, as Simisear charged the stupefied Drilbur, I reminded him that I was his opponent by delivering a flying kick to his face, now that he was distracted. This managed to snap Drilbur of his trance, whose face was no longer confused and reflected sheer determination, and rushed forward. His claws started to glow, and used Slash on the still pained Simisear. I was not going to let such opportunity to go to waste, and I followed up with Dragon Claw.

We repeated the Slash-Dragon Claw combo multiple times, not letting Simisear any time to breathe, until the monkey finally got enough, and ran away from there, not before letting out one final threat. Or I think it was a threat, given the tone he was using.

"You won!" Axew cheered, as he rushed to hug me.

"I told you not to worry about me, didn't I?" I told Axew, patting his head, then I winced. "But I think I'm not going to be able to move much for the next couple days. Ow, my ribs..."

"Drilbur!" Drilbur said as he walked towards us. "Dril, Drilbur, Drilbur, Dril!"

"Drilbur thanks you for kicking out that Simisear from his home," Axew translated.

"Aw, you are welcome. But it was not just me. If it wasn't for your help, I do not think I could have beaten him."

"Dril, Drilbur, Dril," he continued.

"Drilbur thinks that you're very strong, and wants to ask you if you'd help him get stronger as well," Axew translated again.

"Sure. Together, we can become stronger. But you better not do any more bad things like stealing food from others, you hear me?"

"Dril!" Drilbur nodded.

I smiled. "Alright then. I'm sure we will have a lot of fun together."

…

"And from that day onwards, Drilbur and I became friends, and trained together to become stronger," Iris said. "One day a couple years later, Drilbur evolved into Excadrill."

"See? That's why I told you you should come with us. It's easier to get stronger if you have a friend who can help you," Ash pointed out. "And the more friends you have, the easier it becomes!"

"So...should we ask more people to join our group, then?" Iris asked.

"If they want to, sure. I'm not for turning anybody down," Ash said, before he looked at Misty.

"My thought's the same," the redhead replied. "Though you don't mean actually anybody, right? Can we make some exceptions?"

"That's a given. I'm not keen to the idea of Paul traveling with us, if that's what you're thinking. Not that he'll want to, anyway," Ash replied. Misty shuddered at the thought.

"Thought back then, I did not want to become stronger as bad as I do now," Iris said. "Sure, you do not last long in the wild if you're a weakling but...I was happy with the way I was. My strength was enough most of the time," she looked at Axew, cuddled in her lap. "It is this little guy who always wanted to get more powerful!"

"Axew!" the little dragon protested.

"Sorry. Still wants to get more powerful," Iris recitifed.

"Any reason in particular?" Misty asked.

"Yes. One that I should have learned some time ago, but that in hindsight, it should have been obvious. Like the other stories, this one begins with me finding Axew quite roughed up...

…

...but unlike the other times, the reason was different.

"Axew!" I said in shock as I rushed to check him. "What happened to you? Who made you this?"

"A bunch of Swoobats," Axew weakly replied.

"Swoobats? How did a Swoobat...? Hey, wait a moment, you didn't go to the grotto to the north, don't you?" I asked him, as started to figure out what happened.

Axew looked at me with guilty eyes. "...Yes?" he meekly replied.

"And why did you do such a thing? Mother and father told us to never go to that cave, for a good reason!" I chided him.

"I know, but..."

I raised an eyebrow. "But what?"

"Well...I thought that if I could beat those Swoobats I could become a bit stronger. Then I could beat bigger enemies. And one day...I would evolve," he explained.

"Oh, Axew. You did this because you wanted to evolve? There's no need to-"

"There is!" Axew angrily interrupted me. "Since I have memory, I never changed, yet you keep getting bigger and bigger every year. And you always have to protect me from danger. And I don't want to have to rely on you forever, besides...I'd also like to be able to protect you as well."

My anger melted away, replaced by pride for my little brother's bravery. Still, it was better to teach him that that's not the way to go.

"Axew, do not be too hasty to evolve. When the time comes, you will become a strong Fraxure, and then an even stronger Haxorus. And you will be even bigger than I will ever be," I affectionately told him.

Axew's eyes opened wide in excitement. "You think so?"

"Of course! I saw many Haxorus, and they are really big and tall. If you want to fight against somebody, you can always ask me," I told him.

"Really?" Axew asked.

"Of course. Anything for my little brother. But you will have to promise me you'll never do something stupid, like attacking that flock of Swoobats, okay?"

"Sure sis, I promise you," Axew nodded enthusiastically. "So...you'll help me? Right now?"

"Right now? Well, it's not that I have anything better to do now, so why not?" I said with a shrug.

"Alright then!"

...

"And both Axew and I prepared to fight each other. Though I would not go all out on him, for obvious reasons," Iris said.

"I have the need to point out that the average height of a Haxorus is one hundred and eighty centimeters, and you already surpassed that height. Your Axew will never outgrow you," Dexter chimed in.

Axew looked down, deflated, while Iris shot a murderous glare at the pokedex. "You're a jerk, you know that, you piece of scrap?"

"Hey, I was only stating an objetive fact. It's not my fault that you filled your Axew with false hopes," the Pokedex replied.

Iris decided to ignore the talking machine, and continue her conversation with Ash and Misty. "Though both him and I have a long way to go before we can be a challenge to that horrible woman and free our family."

"Like you told Axew, take it easy. It's better to take your time to be prepared than get yourselves killed," Ash noted.

"That's why Ash is challenging more gyms, despite not having to," Misty pointed out.

"Yes. And Celadon City's Gym is the next one in my list," Ash told them. "Well, I think we should get going, don't you think so?"

Both girls nodded, and they and Ash returned their Pokémon to their pokeballs before leaving the Pokémon Center and continue their road to Celadon City. The only exceptions were Pikachu and Axew, the former perched on Ash's shoulder, and the latter placed inside Iris' huge mane, with only his head sticking out.

Lagging a bit behind them, Iris looked at Ash and Misty, which were engaged in some small talk. She would have never imagined that she would end up traveling alongside other humans. And not just regular humans, but the same kind as her. But even with those similitudes, Ash and Misty were way too different from her.

But then again, so where Excadrill and Emolga, whom she never guessed she wouldbefriend either, but did so due a chain of seemingly random events. And despite they weren't dragons, she learned to love and trust them as much as she did with her family. Just because they were different didn't make them less to her.

While she feel bad for even daring to think about it, maybe there was a silver lining to being separated from her family: being on her own, it made her realize how amazingly big the world is. During the few days she had spend with Ash and Misty, she learn so much not just about humans, but about Pokémon as well.

Despite her own experiences, she could never imagine all the feats human and Pokémon could achieve working together, until Ash showed her. The new experiences and knowledge she was gaining would help her in her goal of releasing her family. But once said goal was achieved, she would not turn her back to this new world. No, there were way too many things to see and learn.

And like the old saying goes, there's no time like the present. Not that Iris was aware of that saying.

"Hey, Ash, Misty," Iris called them, as she picked up her pace a little.

Both teens turned at her. "Yes?" Misty asked.

"Given that I told you a little about me and my Pokémon...would you mind if you tell me about yours? How did you meet them, how well do you get along with them, and all that?"

The two of them smiled. "Of course! What do you want to know?"

Ash and Misty spend that day answering Iris' questions while they walked towards their next destination.