Hello everybody. I am honored that you all decided to take time out of your schedules to read my first ever fanfic. Just so you know, this is going to be a multi-chaptered fic, so you can expect more chapters to be uploaded over time. Anywho, I hope you all enjoy the story and that I can figure out how to use this story publisher soon. Now let's begin.

Chapter 1

Iris stood alone, nothing but the void of darkness around her, as she wondered about where her friends and Pokémon had been. Consumed with worry and fear, she began to wander around the darkness, calling out as loud as she could. "Ash! Cilan! Pikachu! Axew! Where are you!" she shouted as she made her way forward. She suddenly stopped as she saw two shadows, differing vastly in size and shape, in the distance. With a gleam in her eye as she recognized their shapes, Iris ran towards the two silhouettes. "Ash! Pikachu!" she shouted as she approached the two figures in the distance.

As Iris drew closer, the two shadows became clearer to her, but a puzzled expression began to decorate her face when she came close enough to confirm what she saw. Iris was somewhat relieved when she recognized a form she could never forget: scruffy, raven-colored haired somewhat hidden by a red and white cap decorated with the symbol of a blue Pokéball, a white jacket covered with blue around the collar and waist that complimented his hat, black jeans that stretched down to the red and white sneakers he wore, a child-like face that would make almost any person believe he was a small child if it weren't for his height, and above all, dark, brown eyes that had shined with boundless confidence and bravery no matter what happened. Iris was glad to see Ash okay, but her attention shifted when she realized that the small figure next to him was not the small Electric Mouse Pokémon that had been by his side for so long in the past. Instead, she saw a blue-skinned dragon with black fur that covered its long neck and its eyes, which made some people believe that it was blind despite how inaccurate that idea was. It was about twice the size of Ash's Pikachu, but even without its long neck, the small dragon's body was just about the same size as the electric rodent himself. Before Iris could even begin to wonder what that Pokémon, the darkness surrounding all of them was banished by shimmering yellow flames that separated her from her friends. Both she and Ash were shocked by the sudden appearance of these flames and Iris, suddenly in panic, began to look for the source of those flames only to see the shadow of a ferocious figure in the sky above her.

Iris suddenly woke up in a small forest clearing with a small yelp and sweat trailing down her chocolate-colored skin. Recovering from her shock, she began to survey the area around her only to find a few extra trees aside from the one she was sleeping in and Cilan, Ash, and Georgia, who were, surprisingly enough, still asleep in their sleeping bags on the grass below despite the noise she had made waking up. "It was all a dream," Iris thought to herself as she was suddenly relieved by what she had seen around herself after waking from her nightmare. When she finally calmed down, a green, tusked Pokémon appeared from her purple, knee-length hair rubbing sleep from his red eyes as he wondered why his Trainer made so much noise when it was so late at night. Iris, noticing her tired partner, began to comfort the small dragon by patting his head and telling him in a silent voice "Don't worry, Axew. I'm all right now" to dispel any worry he had. The small Axew was still worried for its Trainer, but decided to return slowly to the confines of his trainer's hair, for it was too exhausted to ask any more questions. Iris followed soon after, wondering about the meaning of her dream.

...

Morning had broken and our group, once again, was on their way to Opelucid City. Normally, the group consisted of Ash Ketchum, a young boy from a distant town who aimed to become a Pokémon Master, Iris, a girl about as young as Ash who was in-tune with nature and wished to become a Dragon Master, and Cilan, a green-haired young man who previously served as a waiter/gym leader with his brothers, but decided to travel with Ash and Iris so that he may perfect his skills as a Pokémon Connoisseur; however, this time around, they had a familiar, blue-eyed guest traveling with them. Going by the self-proclaimed title of "Dragon Buster", she wore a sleeved, celadon green dress stretching down to her upper thigh topped off by a Caribbean blue sweater vest held together by two bright, yellow buttons, mid-thigh length socks, lower-thigh length boots whose colors matched that of her dress and sweater vest respectively, and lime green gloves that covered her hands entirely. With short, red hair that reflected her passion for battling dragons and a golden-brown hat whose size reflected her large ego, many of her friends and rivals knew her by the name of Georgia.

As the group made their way down the dirt road to Opelucid City, Ash's mind began to flow with daydreams of winning his eighth Gym Badge and gaining entry into the Unova League as he thought back to all of his previous Gym Battles in Unova.

"We've come so far after all of our hard work and effort. Let's do our best to win our last gym badge, Pikachu." Ash said to the yellow mouse on his shoulder, who responded with a strong, cheerful "Pika!"

"Yeah, right after I beat Drayden first," Georgia interjected after hearing what Ash had said.

Somewhat annoyed by Georgia's comment, Ash responded to her by saying "Nuh-uh, I'm gonna be the one who beats Drayden first," with a bit of a childish tone.

Soon after the response, the two began to have a small argument over who would battle Drayden, a Dragon Master as well as the gym leader of Opelucid City, first as Iris began to mutter to herself "They both are so childish," with an exasperated look on her face. Seeking a way to distract herself from their argument, Iris began to ask Cilan a question. "Cilan? Why is Georgia traveling with us again?" she asked, desperate to ignore the argument in front of her.

Feeling almost equally irritated by the argument, Cilan began to straighten his tie and answer Iris' question. "Well, after that episode at the Ferroseed Research Institute that Georgia helped us resolve, she asked us where we were going and I told her that we were going to Opelucid City so that Ash may earn his last Gym Badge. In a twist of fate, she just happened to be on her way there to earn her eighth gym badge as well, and decided it would be a good idea for us to travel together as a group to Opelucid City."

"I understand that much," Iris said after hearing Cilan's explanation, "but what I was more curious about is why she would want to travel with us in the first place, especially considering our rivalry."

After thinking deeply for a moment about what Iris had said, Cilan finally responded with a sheepish grin on his face. "I honestly don't know. Maybe she wanted to know more about her rival since we'll be visiting the Dragon Village on our way there, but what I do know is that we're starting to run dangerously low on food. I'm kind of glad that the village is just past this hill."

Finally taking a break from their argument, Ash and Georgia, along with Iris, who was just as shocked by this news, began to shout at Cilan saying "We're this close to the Dragon Village and you didn't even tell us!" in unison. Almost forgetting about what they were talking about, the threesome hurried to the top of the hill while leaving behind Cilan, who was still recovering from the shock to his eardrums.

As the three children finally made their way up the hill, the Dragon Village began to come into their view. Throughout the entire village, there were various small, wood cottages scattered around the area along with lush, green grass that, even from a far distance, you could see numerous and various Pokémon playing in, and pastel gray bricks that marked the paths throughout the city. Possibly one of the most noticeable monuments of the village was the large statue within the center of it that depicted two legendary dragons. Just the figures of the dragons themselves gave some the impression that they were, in fact, gods that the people of the village worshipped. For a moment, Ash, Georgia, Pikachu, and even Iris could not help but stare in awe at the marvel before their eyes. Even Iris' Axew could not help but pop his head out of the mass of purple hair he called home long enough to catch a glimpse of the village he was born in. Eventually, as Cilan caught up with the trio, Iris was able to focus herself enough to introduce the group to the area that stood before them.

"Everyone, welcome to my hometown: The Dragon Village!" she said with nothing but pure excitement in her voice as Ash, Georgia, and Cilan looked upon the city with admiration.

Eventually breaking out of the trance he was in, Ash began to speak with excitement in his voice as well. "Yes! We're finally here! Now let's go win our eighth gym badge!" he said with a loud voice as he began to run towards the village.

"Ash, you kid! The eighth gym isn't even here!" Iris began to yell as she began to chase after Ash to keep him from going any farther.

Surprised by what Iris had said, Ash began to lose his balance and fall. Thanks to her quick reactions, Iris had caught him before he fell, but she only got dragged down with Ash and they both began to roll down the hill together.

"Ash! Iris!" Cilan and Georgia said together with worry in their voices as they began to run after the twosome.

As Ash and Iris reached the bottom of the hill and stopped rolling, they began to rise slowly to their feet, ignoring their own dizziness. As they began to come to their senses, Ash began to speak.

"Are you okay, Iris?" Ash said while struggling to keep his balance.

"I'm okay. How about you and Pikachu?" she responded while seeing to the dizzy Axew that was at her feet instead of in her hair as usual.

"I'm okay too, but Pikachu…" Ash trailed off as he turned around to see his Pikachu sprawled face down on the grass next to a small boulder. It was at this point, as Ash turned back to see Iris, that a scowl began to form on her face.

"How could you suddenly run off like that without warning when the gym wasn't even here!" Iris shouted at Ash, who cringed slightly at the volume of her voice.

"I guess when Georgia and I began to argue about who would battle Drayden first, I just got so excited that I couldn't help myself." Ash said as he began to pick up his hat from the ground while scratching his hair in an almost sheepish manner.

Iris had wanted, so badly, to call him a kid right now after being so reckless and forgetful, but for some reason or another, a nagging voice in the back of her mind kept her from performing this almost natural reaction. Ash became puzzled by this moment of silence, but after the time had passed, her lips began to form a sentence as she began to speak, but with a much softer tone than usual and a sigh of what felt like defeat. "So long as you're all right, I guess what you did is forgivable." Upon hearing these words, even Ash, a boy who couldn't tell a male and female Pokémon apart if his life depended on it, couldn't help but feel surprised by what she had said. Eventually, he recovered enough from his shock to respond.

"Weird. Normally, by now, you would tease me about how much of a kid I am. Did something happen?" Ash said as his Pikachu recovered from his dizziness enough to hear a moan from behind the boulder.

"What? It's not like I have to call you a kid every time you do something reckless, and with how often that happens, it gets tiresome," Iris said to defend herself.

"Honestly, does it really happen that often?" Ash retorted with an annoyed look on his face as Pikachu began to call his trainer from the large rock, whose voice was drowned out by the twosome's argument.

"If I made a list right now of all the reckless things you did, it would stretch across the whole Unova region," Iris said with her voice and anger rising along with the argument. Pikachu called out to its Trainer once again, but once again, his voice went unheard, except this time, it was drowned out by Georgia, who finally caught up with Ash and Iris with Cilan following closely.

"Can't you stop your lover's quarrel for five minutes? Your arguing is so loud that the whole forest can hear you," Georgia said with the typical grin on her face and an annoyed look on Pikachu's.

"We are not lovers!" Ash and Iris shouted together at Georgia as their faces began to turn a bright red. Somewhat amused by what had been happening, Georgia continued as Cilan began to notice the electricity building in the red pouches on the electric mouse's cheeks.

"You might as well be. You both certainly argue as if you're a married couple," Georgia said, struggling to keep herself from laughing at their reactions.

"Uh, guys?" Cilan began to say while picking up Axew in order to warn them all about the angry Pikachu behind them gathering electricity, but it was too little, too late.

"We! Are not! A couple!" Ash and Iris began to yell at the top of their voices. It was around this time that a powerful Thunderbolt had begun to come from the angered Pikachu's body, shocking everyone except Cilan and Axew, who were both already a safe distance away from the attack. When the attack had finally subsided, Ash, Iris, and Georgia remained standing still and slightly charred by the Electric attack they were subjugated to. Recovering first from the attack, Ash began to turn towards Pikachu with nothing but confusion as the only expression on his face.

"What was that for, Pikachu?" Ash started, but soon stopped when he noticed his Pikachu motioning towards the boulder he was next to. "What? Behind the rock?" Ash questioned Pikachu, who had then motioned as if he had won a game of charades. Ash had gone to check behind the rock while Cilan and Axew went to snap Georgia and Iris out of their temporary, yet literal, shock. As the two regained consciousness, Georgia began to speak once again.

"Ash! What's with your Pikachu suddenly shocking people like that!" Georgia shouted with anger in her eyes, but all Ash could do to react to her comment was motion for her to stay quiet.

"Shhhh. Hey everyone, come over here for a minute," Ash whisper-shouted with a serious look on his face in an attempt to keep as quiet as possible. The rest of the group had been puzzled by his sudden change in behavior, but unquestionably followed him to where he was crouching at. When they finally got to where Ash was in order to see what he was being so serious about, they became surprised by what they had saw, but out of all the members, Iris had probably been the most surprised out of the group, not because of the scene she witnessed, but because the figure she had seen was exactly like the one she had seen in her dream last night. The whole group stood shocked as they all saw the injured, long-necked dragon from her dream.

And that's the end of the first chapter of this tale. I'll try to upload the next chapter as soon as I can and I hope you enjoyed the story so far.