The Next Part (Pokemon)

I Need that Kid from Pallet Town

Recap: With the help of former members Jessie and James, Iris and Ash have infiltrated Team Rocket HQ with the mission of getting their Pokemon back and attempting to stop Team Rocket's mysterious plan. 

Ash and Iris continued running down the long corridor, after just nearly escaping Serena. Who knows how long they ran for. They just needed to reach somewhere safe. Conveniently, Ash had spotted a restroom up ahead, where the two agreed to rest up. 

Ash, who was severely exhausted from running for 10 straight minutes, collapsed on the floor attempting to catch his breath. Although they were both fairly athletic, Iris had more stamina than the boy, and rather laid against the wall. The two could hear the footsteps of Rocket grunts colliding with the metal floor. This was their hiding place for now, and they would have to wait until it was clear to move again. 

"Serena sure is a crazy bitch," Iris muttered under her breath, but it was just enough so that Ash could hear. If they were going to be trapped there, might as well spark up some conversation. 

Ash gave a low grunt in reply. He didn't look up from where he was laying, let alone looking at Iris. He felt defeated. And Iris had no idea how to deal with it. 

"Once the hallway clears up, it'll probably be easier to find our Pokemon. Once we have our Pokemon, defeating Team Rocket should be a piece of cake!" Iris pumped her fist into the air in order to initiate some sort of reaction out of Ash. Alas, another failed attempt. She wouldn't give up though. She tried a different approach. 

"Hey, doesn't this bring back some memories? It was just a few months ago we entered the woods and somehow got stuck together by some honey and String Shot..." Iris continued to reminisce. "It was really hard adapting to that, wasn't it? And on top of that, at Roxie's concert, you had to go to the bathroom! I was pretty embarrassed at the time. And then we ended up at the mall jail... It was pretty fun-"

"Stop trying to make this any better!" Ash suddenly yelled, catching Iris off guard. If fact, it even slightly angered her. She was giving a genuine attempt in trying to make an awkward situation between the two less awkward, but Ash was just not cooperating. 

"Look Ash, at least I'm not sulking on the floor 24/7! It's not helping ANYONE." Iris fired back. Ash turned his head and sat up, looking Iris dead in her brown, chocolate eyes. 

"You're right. I'M not helping anyone! I'm just a screw-up, and I always have been. Making the right choices, winning battles, doing anything remotely decent! I don't know if I'll ever grow up!" Ash was working hard to fight against the tears in his eyes, but being so riled up, he just let them flow. 

"A hero? Yea right. A Pokemon trainer? Yea right. Someone's boyfriend? Yea right. I'm just Ash from Pallet Town. I've only gotten so far due to luck." Ash took off his cap and used it to shove his face in. He didn't want to be seen. He didn't want to be talked to. 

Iris only sighed. They were getting nowhere like this. Literally, 2 days ago they were as happy as they could be. Now because of Serena and Team Rocket, will things ever go back to those happy times? Forget the happy times. Ash was in turmoil, could he go back to his old self? 

"Funny thing is, I don't need a hero right now." Iris started. It was going to be corny, sheepish, and definitely make her blush, but that didn't matter right now. She began to walk closer to Ash. "I don't need a Pokemon trainer. Hell, I don't need a boyfriend."

She crouched down to Ash's level and lifted his head out of his hat. His face was red from all the crying, but Iris found it cute in some way. This whole time, Ash had always had a joyous smile on his face. Seeing him crying and vulnerable was sad, but just for a moment, it was a rare sight to see. Ash tried to avert his eyes from Iris's gaze, but ultimately he couldn't look away. Iris continued. 

"What I need right now is Ash Ketchum. He's from Pallet Town, have you seen him?" Iris stated. "I miss him a lot. I should've been more supportive and talked to him about more things. He's a really incredible guy you know."

Ash blushed a little, but it was hard to tell due to his crying from earlier. "Iris, what are you talking about, I'm right here." He sheepishly answered. 

"If you're here, then please, show it," Iris said in a calm voice. "Everyone misses Ash Ketchum."

"Even if I screw up?"

"Even if you screw up."

"Will you be there?"

Iris was taken aback by his choice of words there. But quickly regained posture. What he said, made her indescribably happy. 

"I'll always be there ya kid." Iris playfully flicked the front of his forehead, which made Ash chuckle a little bit. "Now get up, we have some Pokemon, and maybe the world to save."

Ash got back up, feeling noticeably recomposed. Iris felt a huge wave of relief come over her. Ash was back and now it was time to get back to business. Of course, they still had some loose strings to tie up, like...

"So about the whole um, dating thing..." Ash began to mention, but Iris put a finger up to his lips. 

"Now's not really the time for that," She nudged her head over to the door. Ash came over and put his ear next to it. 

"I'm quite certain the yelling came from somewhere over here." A lowly Rocket grunt said. 

"You better be right about this, or else I'm personally gonna make sure your paycheck is cut in half." Another replied. By the sound of their footsteps, it seemed there were about 12 of them. Way too many for the two to handle on their own. 

"Oh come on, what are we even gonna do?" Iris panicked a little. She knew they were supposed to stay quiet earlier, but tensions ran high. 

Ash, who already moved away from the door, pointed at the vent in the celiing. "You already know what we have to do."

Iris let out a long groan. "I really don't want to go back into the vents again..." 

"Feel free to get caught then!" Ash playfully said as they climbed up, into the vent. 

"Hey! Wait a minute, don't leave me here!" Iris responded as she quickly followed the boy into the system of vents above. 

Why did I update after 2 years who knows? Honestly re-reading the older chapters and remembering the plot points was really hard and very cringe  I know I wrote that stuff back in like 2016 so of course, I've grown as a writer and storyteller, but I couldn't even format it correctly. 

Also, I had no idea where past me was going with that "Ash is depressed" storyline, so I decided to wrap it up in one chapter cause it was kinda annoying to write "Ash is sad" over and over again. 

When's the next update? I have no idea.

Cooldude logging off!