Pallet Chapter: Iris

**"Pallet Chapter: Iris"** is the thirty-eighth (fortieth in Archive of Our Own and Royal Road) chapter of *Pokémon Reset Bloodlines.* As Ash's group continue to enjoy some time off in Pallet Town, Iris begins having some concerns about what will happen in her future, namely what she will do after they rescue her family, and if she'll have to be forced to choose between them and her new friends.

## Plot

As Charles Goodshow continues to make the preparations for the upcoming Indigo League Conference, he feels excited about the rise of stronger and more talented rookie trainers in the past year, which seems to continue this year as well, and he has high hopes that this spells the rising of new great ones. However, someone knocks on his door, and he finds himself in front of his Head of Finances, Electra Artisian, who has some concerns to talk about. Namely, she wants Goodshow to consider restricting the League Entrance somewhat, in the wake of increase of Bloodliners, out of fear that they could use their abilities to cheat their way through victory during the competition. Goodshow, however, does not want to refuse entrance to trainers on the grounds of simple possibilities, saying that cheaters will be dealt with the usual way. Artisian argues that she thinks eight badges to qualify for the league is too easy, and many people end up giving up in the long run, and increasing the difficulty might lead to smaller yet more intense leagues, thus cutting off a lot of their expenses, at the cost of just making a few people abandon their dreams. Goodshow replies that dreams encourage people to do their best, and it's not fair to deny those who had a chance to achieve just to prevent those who'd end up in tragedy. Artisian replies that, while that's a noble stand, Goodshow won't be around forever to keep it, and many others like her have visions for the Pokémon League that he might not like. As Artisan leaves his office, Goodshow actually feels a tinge of threat in the last part, but then he's reminded that every generation eventually makes way for a new one, and while change is never easy, no one can stop it, and having lived through both the latest war and the current era of peace, he knows change is going for the better this time.

In Pallet Town, Iris is having a dream of finding herself in a cave seemingly created by Secret Power, albeit lacking the furniture they bought for it, after being called out by Misty. She then realizes a few things are off: first, that Misty is completely naked, and Iris knows she hasn't embraced nudity like she has, and also that she looks older and is pregnant. Somehow, all this is happening on the back of her thoughts, as she continues to see and follow it, yet she's aware of it not being real. Misty then says that Ash and Dawn should be back from the competition soon, leaving Iris wonder who Dawn is supposed to be. She then goes out and sees that the sun is rising and they're atop some cliff that she finds familiar, and when she wonders where Anabel is, Misty responds to her thoughts that she can't be here right now, since she's busy with Serena and Belladonna dealing with Team Rocket at Twist Mountain, which she's familiar with. Suddenly a figure approaches flying, which Iris recognizes as Charizard, and as he lands, two people jump off his back, one is Ash, the other is a blue-haired girl whom Iris assumes is Dawn, both of them equally naked and the girl pregnant as well. However, she takes notice of Ash, who not only looks older as well, but also has a large scar across the right side of his face and his right eye missing. Suddenly a memory assaults her: she recalls they killed Hunter J and rescued her Dragon family, but when Ash proposed to her, Iris' father was furious and the two battled, resulting in Ash losing an eye and left with his current scar. As Ash proposes to her to "get pregnant again" and mentions that she recovered from the wounds she got when they killed his father, her subconscious screams in horror and snaps her awake.

She wakes up on a tree branch she chose to sleep on outside the Ketchum house. She's relieved that it was all a dream, but then recalls the thoughts that caused it, which were very much real on her part. While the dream wasn't entirely bad, with her living happily with Ash and the others, the idea of him suffering a scar like that, and the story behind it, outright terrifies her. She then tries to calm herself down, pondering that, while she knows what she wants to do until she rescues her family, and has an idea of what to do afterwards, she's worried that both her old and new family will come into conflict with one another when the time comes.

Later at Oak's place, Ash is practicing Breakneck Blitz with Pikachu against Professor Oak's Dragonite, who uses a Horn Drill to counter it. As both attacks collide, Dragonite is pushed back and while he's left exhausted and heavily wounded, he's still standing. Oak is surprised at the Z-Move's power and that it did so much damage even with Dragonite's Multiscale ability. Pikachu himself is also left panting and winding after the Z-Move, while Ash's Chansey approaches to heal him and Dragonite. Oak is impressed not only at the move's power, but also how Ash managed to create those Z-Crystals himself. Oak explains that his Alolan cousin Samson, who studies regional variants of Pokémon and runs a Pokémon trainer school, where a young Professor Kukui teaches, and he's the true expert in Pokémon moves. He then gives Ash a flash drive with more detailed info about Z-Moves that Ash could probably find useful. Ash thanks him, and then inquires to Oak as to how the topic of him having possession of a Z-Ring and crystals came up, to what the scientist replies that he and his cousin talk about many things, some of which are more dangerous than Ash's ability to create Z-Crystals. He adds that, if he ever finds himself in prison or in the run from the law due to his involvement with a certain man, Ash might want to skip town in case they seek him out as well. Ash looks at Oak with a bit of concern, but the scientist nonchalantly replies that he's always lived a perilous life, so the trainer refrains from asking any more questions.

A bit later, Ash meets up with the girls for a morning jog, and during a rest he asks Iris if she's ever gone to Alola. Iris replies that she's never stayed for long, but has been there before. Anabel says that she's heard it's a nice place for vacation, albeit costly to live in, with nice people and something different to Pokémon Gyms, which piques Ash's interest. Misty for her part is more interested in whether she can find rare Water Pokémon over there, since Lilo didn't have any of her own. They all agree they should go there someday and see for themselves, though Ash finds himself blushing at the thought that it sounds almost like them having a honey moon, and Anabel and Misty laugh at it. However, he notices that Iris is neither blushing nor laughing, and asks her if there's something wrong, assuming that perhaps she thought they were going to forget what they planned to do, but she brushes it off. Suddenly, a thunder booms in the sky, cluing them that a storm is coming. Anabel complains about it not being in the forecast before teleporting them away, while the Pokédex complains about some "distantly detected barometric data of urgent urgency" and "incomplete data".

Later, Ash goes off to train with Boldore, having successfully learned Return, and testing it against Serperior who uses Leaf Blade to counter it. While the attack is impressive, Boldore says that it isn't enough yet, and while Ash assures her that it's much better, Boldore doesn't feel satisfied decides to walk away. Serperior stops Ash telling him that he can't help for now. Ash recalls that Boldore has been feeling this way since Cinnabar Island and thought that learning Return would help. Serperior shows him her fifth learned move, Aqua Tail, and replies that there's a more effective way to get her to become stronger, and Ash asks if she means learning Rock Polish. Serperior however replies that the only solution for Boldore now to get more power is evolution. Ash replies that he's not the type who forces his Pokémon to evolve and Serperior appreciates that, but adds there are sometimes he'd have to acknowledge when it's necessary. Ash recalls that several of his Pokémon, like Charizard, Bayleef, Gliscor and Pignite had pretty heavy reasons to want to evolve, and if that's the case for Boldore, she should be the one to make the choice. The Pokédex chimes in adding that Boldore isn't a Pokémon that evolves normally, but requires a stimulus that's triggered by certain processes, such as trading due to the specific energy generated by trading machines. The mention of a trade seems to bring back bad memories for Ash, which Serperior takes notice of, and the Pokédex suggests something called "round trade".

Elsewhere, Iris is taking a walk when she suddenly overhears a couple of old men talking nearby about Ash. The elders are playing chess against each other and talking about how surprised they are that Ash made it as far as he's done, especially since he seems to have gone ahead of Gary, whom they consider smarter and with better background behind himself. As the two old men continue talking, Iris begins to feel irritated at their ignorance, until she finally decides to speak up when they chalk up Ash's achievements to dumb luck. One of the old men stands up and speaks to her face, saying that he's certain Ash only got lucky because he received from Oak an abnormally powerful Pikachu. Iris groans, and then says to the man that he shouldn't assume he knows everything, as Ash has worked really hard to achieve what he has now, and continues to do so with her help to grow stronger, stating that it's what they've done and continue to do what got them here, and not how they started. Suddenly, she ends up pulled back by Misty, while the old man gets the same from his friend while continuing to ramble that Ash got lucky and that's why he's so successful now. Once they're out of earshot, Iris asks Misty if she thought she was going to attack the man. Misty denies it, adding that they shouldn't care about what others say about Ash because they know how hard he's worked to come this far, and that old man is probably frustrated with his own failure and his complaints are his way to vent about it. Changing the topic, Misty asks Iris if there's something going on in her mind, noticing that she's been behaving this way since Cinnabar. Iris inquires about Ash and Misty having long term goals, while she herself is worried about what she'll do after she takes Hunter J down and rescues her Dragon family. She has traveled around the world and has seen it through the eyes of a dragon with her family, but now she wants to see it again, through the eyes of a human with Misty and the others. Misty says that it's not like she she's planning on leaving her Dragon family to never see them again, unaware of Iris' concerns about choosing one side and betraying the other, however, Misty's words sink in somewhat and make her consider that it doesn't have to be like that. Misty continues by stating that they all have to grow up and leave their families one day, and while Misty chose to sever her ties with her sisters, Iris doesn't have to do the same with her Dragon family, and she just has to do what she feels is best for her. While Misty's words don't fully erase her concerns, they do alleviate them somewhat, and make her consider perhaps she should find herself a goal in human society after she's rescued her family.

At the Ketchum house, Ash is learning how to make muffins when he asks Delia about what her father (his grandfather) was like. Delia asks him why the interest, and when Ash tries to find a way to tell her without worrying her too much, he finally explains that he heard that his grandfather didn't want him to be born. Delia tells him that her father was overall a good man, but had some issues expressing himself, and while he was pretty angry when he found about Delia's unexpected pregnancy, she's certain that he would have loved Ash as much as her mother did before she died, and almost as much as Delia herself loves him now, and she understands that while he might have been a bit blunt about it, she knows he wanted what he thought was best for his daughter. Ash then explains that during his journey he came across several people who look like him, and Delia quickly deduces what he means. While she despises Ash's father, she bears no ill will against other women who were involved with him, one way or another. Right then, Misty and Anabel come into the kitchen, and shortly after the conversation shifts into trying to look up possible league opponents. The Pokédex begins listing several of the competitors from last year's Indigo Conference, including ranking, Pokémon and other information. One specifically, named Ringo S. Beedle, catches Delia's eye, and she asks Ash if he was one of those people he meant. Ash denies it, having never seen him before. The Pokédex continues the list, until he's finally ignored when everyone moves in to clean the dishes.

Ash later goes to train with the rest of his Pokémon, and sees that the remaining Spewpa have evolved to Vivillon. The first one to evolve is having a sparring match with Togepi, who defeats him and takes him down. Pikachu glares at Charizard who only gloats about his magnificent training skills. While Ash tends to the downed Vivillon, Charizard says he'd like to see Togepi battling in the league, and Pikachu begins to panic about it, and Charizard mentions Phanpy to counter his claims. Ash steps in that whether Togepi participates or not is his decision, and they have more time to train before the league this time around. Charizard decides to take Togepi to teach him how to set things on fire, while Ash is left alone with Pikachu, asking him why he's so worried about Togepi. At first, Pikachu tries to dodge the question citing how things are more dangerous in the new world, until Ash insists that he tells him the real reasons. Pikachu reminds Ash that he mentioned how he could have fathered Misty's Azurill, but was only a possibility, but now he's going to become an actual father after he mated with Raichu, and is worried whether he can be a good one since he never took that step before. Ash assures him that he'll be a good one, and after some seconds of awkward silence, Pikachu asks him to be the godfather of his Pichu offspring, which Ash gladly accepts.

During the weekend, Ash asks Iris to increase the intensity of their training. Ash is doing this in hopes of helping Iris distract herself from whatever is bothering her or get her to talk about it. However, for the time being she's not with them, and Ash watches Primeape successfully learns to use Throat Chop. Misty asks about the progress, and Ash reports that with Primeape, five Pokémon have learned new moves, counting Ash's lead Tauros with Double Edge, Muk with Brick Break, Anabel's Kadabra with Recover, and Misty's Staryu with Power Gem. Misty adds that with Psyduck learning Psychic, that makes it six. However, right then another sudden thunderstorm brews up in the sky unexpectedly, and before Anabel and Kadabra can teleport everyone away, they get struck by a Thunder Wave. The one responsible turns out to be an angry Zapdos, who seems ready to attack them once more, and they have no choice but prepare to battle it.

Elsewhere, Iris finally gets some time alone with her own Pokémon, and is in the middle of a sparring match with Axew, who manages to defeat her when she gets distracted by her thoughts. Axew quickly takes notice that Iris seems worried and prods her into telling him what's the matter. He asks if she's worried about their family again, and she confesses that yes, it has to do with them. Axew assures her that they'll eventually grow strong to defeat Hunter J and rescue them, making Iris remark that he seems unusually motivated to train lately. Axew explains that they've made many fond memories and had cool adventures in the past few months, but he wants to grow strong and evolve so he's able to protect her too. Iris thinks back more about her family, and then asks Axew what plans he has for the future, and he would do should he be forced to choose between her, and their family. Axew without hesitation responds that he'd always choose her no matter what, while also adding that he doesn't think their family would ever kick her out, giving her some ease about her worries. Right then, however, a strangely-dressed young man walks by them, getting their attention.

The young man asks Iris where he can find Ash Ketchum. Iris doesn't answer immediately, so he seemingly decides to walk by, until Iris asks why he's looking for Ash. He introduces himself as Mandi, a trainer who's competed in four Pokémon Leagues and soon his fifth, but last year he suffered a defeat in the very first round to a rookie trainer and knows there's a huge wave of talented rookies this year as well, which includes Ash of course. When Iris accuses him of trying to spy on Ash, he replies that it's more akin to seeing him in action first-hand to be better prepared, and that he likes to check on the possible competition. He then suggests giving Ash some advice as a way to make up for spying on him, much to Iris' confusion, and explains that romance and Pokémon leagues shouldn't mix with each other and perhaps he should leave the former aside while focusing on the latter like Mandi does. When Iris tells him she helps Ash in growing stronger, Mandi decides to challenge her to a battle to gauge Ash's skills, and sends out an Exeggutor. Axew steps up to the challenge and the battle goes underway. Exeggutor fires a Seed Bomb which Axew dodges by going underground with Dig. Exeggutor then pulls him out of the hole with Psychic, but Axew remains calm, which Mandi takes notice of. Thanks to training with Anabel, Axew has learned to avoid panicking when trapped by a psychic move and then use a non-restricted attack, which he does with a Dragon Rage, cluing Mandi that he's a Dragon-type. Then he goes for a Dragon Claw, slashing Exeggutor repeatedly. Mandi tries to counter with Sleep Powder, but Iris and Axew are faster and blast Exeggutor with another Dragon Rage, bringing him down for good. After Mandi recalls his fallen Pokémon, Iris proceeds to tell him that he should just leave, because if he tries to face Ash, either here or in the Pokémon League, he's going to lose, and he should go spy on someone else. Mandi seems ready to send more Pokémon, but right then Axew evolves, causing Mandi to deflate all of a sudden. The older trainer then explains that last year he lost to a Magby who defeated his Exeggutor and evolved right after, and then proceeded to defeat the rest of his team, knocking him out of the league. When he asks if Ash has Pokémon who could evolve after defeating his Exeggutor, she replies that yes, he does, and that seems enough incentive to finally get him to leave. Fraxure then comments that he's haunted by a nightmare and that was what defeated him, and then asks Iris if she wants to check if he learned new moves with the evolution.

A day later, she meets up with Ash and the girls back at home, noticing they smell like ozone and Ash has a new Z-Crystal in the ring. Anabel tries to tell them they should probably not talk in front of Delia about their recent encounter with Zapdos, the Pokédex blurts it out right when the woman herself opens the door, and she grabs the four of them into a hug out of worry.

Meanwhile, in the Viridian Pokémon Center, Cross berates himself for being so reckless to try and catch a Zapdos, which only got him a broken arm and his two main Pokémon, Incineroar and Lycanroc, injured for their trouble after the legendary bird knocked them off the hill. Nevertheless, he laments the loss of the chance of catching Zapdos yet still plans on becoming the strongest trainer ever and one day defeat (and catch) Ho-Oh itself, and his first step to do so will be winning the upcoming Pokémon League.

## Continuity

* Professor Oak mentions his involvement with Professor Hastings, albeit not mentioning the latter's name. The full details of the project are revealed in the *Oak & Hastings Gaiden* side story.
* Pikachu executes a Z-Move, Breakneck Blitz, for the first time.
* Serperior has successfully broken the four-move limit, learning Aqua Tail.
* It's revealed that Ash's remaining Spewpa have all evolved into Vivillon.
* Pikachu's first offspring is mentioned, albeit he won't hatch until "**After the Storm, Before the League**".
* Iris' Axew evolves to Fraxure.
* Ash creates his third Z-Crystal, an Electrium-Z.