Chapter Text
- ASH -
At least, Ash thinks to himself, she didn’t have a bike.
Out of all his traveling companions, Iris most resembles Ash himself in his earlier journeys the most. She’s a little more experienced and already knows how to fend for herself, but her energy edges on hyper and she often speaks without thinking. Her always nagging him for acting like a kid makes him think that maybe she’s forgotten what it’s like to be a kid too. Ash wonders if he was just as caustic to others on his first journey through Kanto. Though to be fair to himself, if anyone had to have Gary Oak as their childhood friend and rival, they would have also been a little bratty. And if they got a certain stubborn Pikachu as their first starter, well, who wouldn’t be a little frustrated?
But Iris is definitely smarter than he was back in the day. Her hands are firm but gentle when she reapplies the herbal medicine and bandages to the burns on arms and legs he got after the Sandile incident at the hot springs. “I can’t believe you! How reckless do you have to be to jump headfirst towards boiling hot hot springs?!”
She puts all her excess energy into viciously scolding him into bed to rest up afterwards. Pikachu clearly approves, as he’s currently melting onto Ash’s chest like a paperweight to keep him from moving. Axew is also crawling all over his legs, probably still itching with leftover energy from their earlier adventure. Baby Pokemon are always so energetic, even after life and death situations.
“Are you listening to me?”
Ash, who’s very used to hearing these kinds of lectures by now, laughs it off. “It’s not so bad. We got a nice relaxing sand bath for our troubles, right?” He scratches behind Pikachu’s ears.
Iris puts her hands on her hips and looks down at him with a very put upon expression. “How childish! How old are you anyways?” She squints down at him.
“Thirteen.”
Iris’ jaw drops. “No way! You’re the same age as me?!”
Ash tilts his head, innocuously. “Well… technically I was ten when I first started my journey, so I guess that makes me the more experienced trainer, kid.” He smirks.
The shriek she lets out is incredibly satisfying. Iris gets riled up so easily, it’s hard to resist teasing her. But, since they just got to know each other, Ash decides to show some mercy.
“But really, thanks for the help today, Iris,” he says, settling into a tone that’s a little more genuine. “We couldn’t have saved those Pokemon without you.”
Iris crosses her arms and looks out the window, avoiding eye contact. “Whatever. I didn’t do it for you.” Ash watches her scoop Axew up and leap out the window to the tree outside. “I’ll be sleeping out here. If you need anything, just yell!”
“Alright, goodnight Iris, Axew!” he calls out from his bed.
“Goodnight!”
“Axew!” Goodnight!
“Goodnight to you too, buddy,” he tells Pikachu, shifting his partner next to him to tuck him in.
Goodnight Ash.
Their next adventure ends somewhat the same. Ash diligently gives his new friend Tepig a thorough massage to offset some of the stomachache he got from eating too fast. Iris gave him some oil she got from a local pharmacy to help, and is now hovering over his shoulder, worrying quietly. Ash still has all of Brock’s lessons hammered into his head from taking care of Charmander and Chimchar, so he’s confident in Tepig’s quick recovery. Rekindling a flame in a Fire-type requires a special kind of attention and inattention, a joint effort between him and Pikachu to encourage and instruct from a human and Pokemon level. But right now Pikachu is explaining the situation to Axew and Oshawott, who are still alarmed at the whole abandonment thing.
It’ll be okay, Ash and I have dealt with stuff like this before, Pikachu assures them.
Axew whimpers, Can that happen to any Pokemon? What if Iris—
Pikachu lightly smacks Axew with his tail. Don’t talk like that, have some faith in your trainer! Iris would never abandon you! Only really, really bad trainers do that, and Iris isn’t like that at all.
Oshawott is quietly listening, clutching his tail like a blanket. Ash needs to keep an eye on him. He’s used to taking care of free-spirited Water-types, but Oshawott is his youngest and the most inexperienced of them all. Actually, now that Ash thinks about it, all of his Water-types in the past were rogues and rascals who weren’t afraid of messing with humans to get what they wanted. Oshawott might be his cutest, most obedient one yet.
“Hey, Oshawott, are you interested in battling?” Ash asks. “I know you came along because I called you cute, but do you really wanna battle with us?”
I don’t care as long as I can stay as cute as possible. Oshawott wiggles next to Tepig, demanding a massage from Ash. Ash chuckles and obliges. It seems like Oshawott’s even more of a showboat than Aipom was.
Ash hears Tepig ask Pikachu, Ash can make me strong, right? My old trainer… he said I was too weak. I wanna prove him wrong!
I wanna get strong too! I wanna show off too! Oshawott’s jealousy seems to spark a desire to be included. Ash is just glad his Pokemon seem to be getting along.
When they exit the Pokemon Center, ready to set off for the next town or city, they’re greeted by a large crowd.
“Huh? What’s happening?” Iris stands on her tiptoes to try and see what’s happening over the onlooker’s heads.
The strangely dressed man at the center of the crowd starts speaking. “My name is Ghetsis.” His voice is gravely, like he took a long nap and just woke up. It’s also loud, reverberating across the plaza, thanks to the loudspeakers some equally strangely dressed people are holding next to him. “I am here representing Team Plasma. Today, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to talk to you about Pokemon liberation.”
“Liberation?” Iris mumbles, along with most of the crowd. “What the heck is he talking about?”
“I'm sure most of you believe that we humans and Pokemon are partners that have come to live together because we want and need each other. However… Is that really the truth?” the man asks, voice full of intrigue.
“Have you ever considered that perhaps we humans… only assume that this is the truth? Pokemon are subject to the selfish commands of trainers. They get pushed around when they are our ‘partners’ at work. Can anyone say with confidence that there is no truth in what I’m saying?” His voice rises and grows stern and harsh. The crowd quiets like kids getting scolded by a teacher.
Ash frowns, putting a hand on Tepig’s pokeball.
The man closes his eyes and his face calms. “Now, ladies and gentlemen, Pokemon are different from humans. They are living beings that contain unknown potential. They are living beings from whom we humans have much to learn. Tell me, what is our responsibility toward these wonderful beings called Pokemon?”
The crowd murmurs, and Iris and Ash exchange looks of confusion. From behind the crowd, a young man with unruly green hair watches the boy with the Pikachu perched on his shoulder and the girl with the Axew in her hair with great interest.
“That’s right! We must liberate the Pokemon! Then, and only then, will humans and Pokemon truly be equals.”
He raises a hand up as if swearing on his heart. “Everyone, I end my words here today by imploring you to consider the relationship between people and Pokemon… and the correct way to proceed. We sincerely appreciate your attention.” The man bows before following the other weirdly dressed people out of the plaza. The crowd disperses but everyone is still talking about the strange speech.
“What a weird guy. What was with those clothes? And liberating Pokemon? What does that even mean?” Iris asks Axew, who shrugs in response.
“Who knows…” Ash wonders if Team Plasma is anything like Team Rocket, or Team Magma and Team Aqua, or Team Galactic, causing trouble across the region.
Nah, probably not. What were the odds of that?
Humans and Pokemon are already equal. It’s always better to be friends. What a weirdo. Pikachu nuzzles into Ash’s neck.
“Your Pokemon…” The two of them turn to see a green-haired teenager looming over them. He’s wearing a hat like Ash, but his is gray, and he has long, fluffy green hair. It smells really nice. Ash wonders how he takes care of it. Maybe he has a routine, like Dawn did? He also has gray eyes with blue and green in them, which Ash can see really well because the boy is leaning into Ash’s face with an intense look on his face. “Just now, it was saying…”
“Woah, woah, woah, slow down. Who are you?” Iris asks, pulling Ash closer to her and away from the boy.
The boy stands back and introduces himself, “My name is N. Can you not hear your Pokemon’s hearts?” N asks.
Iris and Ash exchange a glance. “Of course I can hear Axew’s heart! My name is Iris and I’m gonna be the greatest Dragon Master in the world!” Iris puffs out her chest as Axew pops out of her hair to add, And I’m gonna be her partner!
“I’m Ash, and I wanna be a Pokemon Master someday! This is my partner, Pikachu!” Ash introduces himself and Pikachu sits up to say, Hello N!
“Fascinating, truly. But what does being a master of dragons or a master of Pokemon mean?” N asks, stepping closer again. Iris seems skeptical of him and keeps a grip on Ash’s arm while she answers the question.
“I wanna meet all sorts of dragon Pokemon, all over the world!” Iris says. “Dragon Pokemon are the best!”
“And a Pokemon Master is someone who knows all sorts of things about Pokemon, who can be friends with all Pokemon and can battle with them and beat even the toughest trainers!” Ash explains.
“Isn’t that just a Champion?” Iris asks.
“A Pokemon Master is so much more!” Ash insists. Pikachu snorts. Liar, you just wanna fight strong trainers and meet new Pokemon. Ash playfully retaliates on his partner’s snitching by distracting him with chin scratches.
“Amazing, so you battle with your friends? Then may I request that you show me?” N asks, clasping Ash’s hands together with his.
Ash lights up immediately, “A Pokemon battle?! Sure! Let’s go!”
They use the field outside the Pokemon Center since it’s the closest one available. Ash sends out Pikachu. N sends out a Zorua, a cool Pokemon that Ash quickly looks up in his Pokedex. He stashes it away when he sees N’s look of disgust at the device. Maybe using a Pokedex before a fight is bad manners around here? N’s face flickers back into that intense look. “Ash, Pikachu, let me hear your heart’s voices!”
Iris raises an eyebrow from the referee area as she starts the battle.
It’s a quick match. Pikachu’s still recovering from Zekrom’s Thunder, but N and Zoura don’t seem very trained in battling yet. Still, the fight is exciting. Zorua cleverly uses Pursuit to catch up to Pikachu’s rapidfire Quick Attacks, but one more big Thunderbolt ends the fight.
Afterwards, Ash offers N a handshake as Iris offers Zorua an Oran Berry. “I don’t know what you mean by hearing hearts, but I hope we helped you out somehow!” he tells the other boy.
N seems a little tired as he hesitantly takes his hand but doesn’t shake it. Ash shakes it for him.
“I never expected to hear a Pokemon say such things…” N mutters. He looks like he’s thinking hard. Ash tilts his head, confused by what N could have heard that has him so confused. All Ash could hear was the excitement of the fight. When Zorua and Iris join them, Zorua transforms into Pikachu and climbs onto N’s shoulder.
N gives Zorua a pat and looks up to meet Ash’s eyes. “I saw you during the speech earlier today. As you have heard the ideals of Team Plasma, I have my own ideal as well. As long as Pokemon are confined in pokeballs… Pokemon will never have a chance to become perfect beings. I have to change the world for Pokemon, because they’re my friends.” N clenches a hand to his chest, before turning to walk away.
They watch him go. “What a weird guy. He didn’t even thank me for the Oran Berry,” Iris pouts.
“I’m sure Zorua was grateful. Now, come on! I wanna see what the Striaton City gym is like!”
“Sure, sure.” They head off towards Striaton City, with Iris leading the way. “I’m actually not sure what the gym is like inside, but I’ve met one of the gym leaders before.”
“Really? What’re they like?”
“Uh, polite? Nice? Blue?”
Ash laughs. “What kind of explanation is that?”
“You dare doubt me, Future Dragon Master Iris? Why I oughta!” The two of them bicker the entire way to the city, but Iris’ company has Ash feeling a little less alone in such a big new region.