I didn't want this turning out like my others, as I've tried to keep it real to the dub. But if you do read anything weird then that's me just being me- I apologise in advance, (so Leave it Yeah.) Here we go then, the final stages of the story... Enjoy!

Chapter 12: The Night Of All Nights

Finally, the night was truly under way. Ash and Iris looked at each other, a hint of awkwardness filled the air.

"So what do we actually do..?" Iris asked, looking embarrassed.

"Beats me..." Ash responded. Both of them were all dressed up for the occasion, but had no clue on what they'd actually do. "Y'see, this is my first time at something like this..." Iris continued.

"Yeah I hear ya, why don't we go and see what else is going on?" Ash replied with a confident smile on his face. Iris felt reassured by this as suddenly Ash took Iris' hand. The two dashed off into the crowd, where Iris found herself blushing at the sight of Ash holding her hand, what would it look like to everyone else?

"I knew it!" Stefan said while laughing.

"Looks like you were right after all then..." Virgil replied.

"Wasn't it obvious?" Trip added while smirking.

"Wow they're so cute!" Bianca added, her eyes sparkling. She was overwhelmed by the atmosphere of the party, she couldn't quite contain herself. The group had spotted Ash and Iris running past them while holding hands, which fuelled speculation that they were in a relationship with each other. It looked obvious enough; they were there together, they were holding hands, it was all simple enough really. Bianca quickly felt her heart racing and her legs starting to jiggle up and down. She couldn't contain herself.

"Hey! Ash! Iris! Over here!" she called both of them over. Ash quickly stopped in his tracks, relieved to see his friends, although the look on their faces was somewhat intriguing. Then he realised just what the two of them looked like to the others. Trying to hide his embarrassment, he quickly turned to Iris. "Hey look, there they are! Let's go over there and say hi." Iris could read Ash like a book though. He was covering up his own embarrassment, he wasn't getting off lightly with this. "Do you think that they think that we're together?" Iris questioned while Ash rushed her over. Ash struggled to process those mouthful of words while running over to the group. "Probably" he gave a half-hearted answer.

When he reached the group his expression was noticeable, he was very pleased to see all of them. Iris was acting strangely shy, almost as if she was looking over Ash's shoulder the whole time. By now they had released their hands from each other, but Cameron felt prompted to say something while he could. "So are you two having a good time together?" he asked. With a flick of the nose and a wink, Ash and Iris knew exactly what he was on about. Both of them quickly blushed and looked at each other before quickly turning away after making eye contact. Stefan eased the awkwardness with the sound of his laughter. "What are you two hiding from us?" he smirked, trying to get them to confess, when in reality both Ash and Iris hadn't even confessed to each other yet. "We're not together, honest!" Iris panicked. Trip quickly slapped a hand over Ash's shoulder and whispered into his ear: "Don't worry you've got the whole night to break the ice." Ash put on a fake smile, where the thought bared down on him even harder. "Will I have to confess to her? I might not get another chance to..." he thought to himself. Then one thing suddenly struck him, it was the way out, short-term relief, the key to lock a temporary door. "Where's Cilan?" he suddenly cried out of the blue. The group had only just realised the absence of their green haired friend.

"Wow, those two ran off too quickly for me. There sure are a lot of people here." the connoisseur thought to himself. He was enjoying the relaxing vibe of the party, although couldn't hide the fact from himself that he would really appreciate company right now. "It's strange." he said to himself. "When you're alone you can't help but notice happy couples everywhere, I mean just look at Ash and Iris! Funny how when you're with people though you always tend to notice people on their own..." Then he saw her. Out of the hundreds of people in the party right now, she was the last person he wanted to see. There she was, storming towards him. "What a dreary effort from a supposed A-Class connoisseur!" it was Burgundy, as critical as ever of Cilan. "If you're talking about what I'm wearing, then you're not wearing anything different either!" he responded cheerfully. "Where are your other friends?" she asked sharply. "I don't know, they ran off too quickly." he responded. Burgundy sneered. "So you're alone..." Cilan gulped, this was quickly turning into a nightmare. "Yes, I suppose I am..." he still managed to maintain his discipline, despite being in a very uncomfortable situation. "Well why don't you show this C-Class connoisseur some A-Class connoisseur dancing!" she quickly grabbed both of his hands and dragged him over to the main dance floor area. Cilan literally wanted to kill himself at this point, it was shameful and embarrassing. Everyone could see him now. He was on display to everyone, including Ash, Iris, and the rest of the gang...

After a few minutes of wondering where Cilan had gone, the group's doubts and worries were brought to an end by a surprising sight. "Look there he is!" Iris cried. "Who's he dancing with?" Virgil questioned. "Woah is that Burgundy?" Ash cried out, he was right. The entire group laughed at the tragic sight of seeing Cilan reluctantly dance with Burgundy. They may have been watching from the distance, but his face told a thousand words. You could just about make out "help me" from his lips. The whole group were laughing at his expense. "Shall we go and help him out?" Cameron asked while confused. Ash burst out laughing, "he'll be fine!" The group left Cilan to enjoy his evening, which put an end to the small-talk that covered up the group's questions about Ash and Iris. Stefan was beginning to feel inspired though, and suddenly shouted "Man, that dance floor sure does look lively, let's go, gang!" he shouted before charging over there. The group soon followed, where Ash and Iris quickly glanced at each other. Ash's confidence was growing by the minute, he could feel himself looking into her eyes, he was no longer scared. "Why not?" he laughed, Iris smiled back before the two ran over to the dance floor.

The atmosphere was electric there, everyone was forgetting their embarrassment and shyness and dancing with no care in the world. Even Team Rocket were there; instead of hatching another plan to steal one of their Pokemon, they seemed back to their comical ways for once. Iris was shocked to see the trio all over the karaoke machine. What was more surprising is that they were actually pretty good singers! "Wow, I haven't seen Team Rocket like this before!" Iris beamed at Ash. He laughed briefly. "Just like the old days..."

Stefan was nowhere to be seen, although the last time the two looked around Bianca, Virgil, Cameron and Trip were all just talking to each other. How quickly things can change. Ash turned around again to see Bianca and Virgil dancing in each other's arms, while Cameron and Trip were having a right laugh on the floor, spinning each other around and pretending to break dance while laughing their heads off! The pair then quickly noticed that their Pokemon had found their way onto the stage. Pikachu and Snivy were dancing together, while Oshawott was a natural with Emolga. All the others were prancing around, burning off all of their energy. Ash and Iris couldn't help but smile, everyone was having fun. Ash was keen on not to be left out, so he immediately reached for Iris' hands, and smiled. "Do you know how to dance?" he asked. She put her head down and blushed. "I'll take that as a "no", don't be such a kid, you can talk to me you know!" Ash added while smirking. Iris had no time to react as the pair of them were now dancing away in each other's arms. She was shocked, maybe he picked it up from that Gothitelle from their 'date' at Nimbasa City, because Ash knew exactly what he was doing. She felt so comfortable in his arms, it just felt... right. She stopped being so shy, looked up and gazed into Ash's eyes. The two of them gazed at each other while dancing, forgetting everything around them, only concentrating on each other. The music changed to a slower song, as she rested her head in Ash's chest. She wanted to hold on forever, but there was something that caught her mind that worried her, where do the two of them (and Cilan) go on from here? Ash has practically completed his quest in Unova, while soon Iris will have to make a call on whether she wants to be the gym leader at Opelucid City. What Cilan wants to do is still unknown, she hadn't asked him, she couldn't really ask him now either in this situation. Where she was right now though, she couldn't imagine leaving Ash. She slowly opened her mouth and began to softly speak. "Ash... I was just wondering-" she was quickly cut off. One minute she was dancing with Ash, the next she was crashing towards the floor. "Look where you're going, get out my way!" screamed a voice. Iris opened her eyes slowly, she was suddenly lying on the floor. "Are you alright..?" Ash said slowly, offering a hand to help her get back up. "Why can't you just piss off for once?" the voice screamed again. It was Georgia, the so-called "Dragon Buster". Iris looked up, her eyes lit with rage. She was through with it. She was tired of Georgia getting in her way. She quickly snubbed Ash's hand and sprung back up onto her feet. To everyone's shock, Iris swung a fist right around Georgia's face. Iris herself couldn't quite believe her own actions, she could only assume it happened out of sheer frustration. Ash was equally as shocked, while Georgia was looking frighteningly angry. Ash was quick to hold Iris back, he didn't want a fight to start, luckily the scene went unnoticed amongst the huge crowd. Realising what she had done, she quickly ran off with tears falling from her eyes.

She was a fast runner, but Ash was keen not to lose her. She sprinted towards the stadium, before leaping onto the roof of the arena. Ash was surprised at how she managed to get onto the roof that quickly, but his determination made up for it as he soon joined her up there. The two of them were incredibly high up, but neither of them were scared. She sat there with her legs dangling off the rooftop, she was completely oblivious to Ash following her. He slowly walked towards her, the wind was gentle, but it was very cold up there. He slowly sat down beside her. The view was amazing. It was incredibly dark on the rooftop, but it overlooked the party, where lights of all different colours shone directly below them. She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Hey..." he said softly.

"Hey..." she replied.

Silence fell for a few minutes, before Iris decided to break the silence.

"I'm really sorry at what happened back there, my temper got the better of me..." she said slowly, she looked really guilty and upset.

"Don't worry about me... Are you alright?" Ash reassuringly replied.

"I feel terrible... Everyone's down below us having fun, while I'm up here crying. I'm sorry... I'm just wasting your time aren't I..?" she replied, her tears kept falling.

"Iris... Don't you remember..? I asked you to come with me... I just wanted to be with you for the evening... It's painful for me to see you crying like this..." Ash then tensed himself briefly and looked up at the moon which shone brightly; before turning to Iris and gazing into her beautiful brown eyes. He took a huge intake in breath and finally let out three words that he had been waiting to tell Iris for a while...

"The truth is Iris... I love you..." he said softly.

A bell suddenly rung out around the area, the clock had struck midnight. Iris' eyes widened, she couldn't believe what he had just said. Suddenly her world lit up. She couldn't bare it any longer, she was so seduced by his beautiful amber eyes gazing into hers that she almost felt inclined to give up her secrets. The wind began to blow slightly stronger, blowing Iris' tears away from her face.

"... I love you too" she whispered, with the wind carrying her voice. Ash couldn't believe that he had confessed, and that she had feelings for him too. Likewise with Iris, she was surprised at how Ash suddenly expressed himself like that. Ash's sadness from the Unova league had completely vanished from him. Iris' sadness at hitting Georgia had completely vanished from her. The two were complete. Then, as the wind died down, they slowly leaned into kiss each other, while alone on the rooftop of the Unova league stadium, overlooking the after-party. Iris felt her heart race as Ash's lips met hers, while Ash could feel adrenaline surging around his body. They separated and look into each other's eyes. 24 hours ago, the thought of kissing each other was a crazy idea, how quickly things can change.

"What was it you were going to say earlier?" Ash asked, curious over what she was wondering about.

"Oh yeah..." she looked down and frowned.

"Now that the Unova league has finished, what are you going to do now?" she asked.

Ash sighed and thought to himself for a moment.

"I haven't really thought about it... I might return to Kanto, and see how everyone is doing there... The truth is, I do miss them from time to time. Who knows, maybe Professor Oak will have found another region for me to travel to by then... But I really don't know... What are you going to do..?"

Iris went blank.

"I have a really big choice to make... Drayden has been considering putting me as the Opelucid gym leader... If I'm going to become a Dragon Master, then that would definitely help me achieve my dream. But on the other hand... I don't want to leave you Ash... Why do I have to make these decisions?!" she started to cry again. Ash gently placed an arm around her.

"Do you really think you're ready? You've got all of the time in the world... You don't need to commit to something like that right now do you..? I don't want to leave you either... I don't want to leave any of you... I've had to say goodbye to friends in the past... It hurts. Iris, you're different... I don't want to have to say goodbye to you..." just then, tears began to fall on Ash's face as well. Iris rested her head on his shoulder.

"I suppose I have a small team still... and Axew is still quite young..."

"What d'ya say then..." Ash whispered, nervous at what her decision would be.

"The gym can wait, I still have a lot more to see... Ash, let's go to Kanto..." she looked up at him, they both smiled, before leaning in to kiss again.

"Why don't we go back down there, it's getting late, but the night's not over yet..." he suggested, noticing at how the crowd was starting to subside. Everyone was starting to go home, only a few people remained at the party.

Once they had got back down to where the party was, they noticed that the gang from earlier were still there, Team Rocket had fallen asleep by a set of trees, while Stefan was sleeping on the dance floor with his shirt off- he obviously had a good night. Bianca had her head buried in Virgil's chest, they looked pretty comfortable with each other. While Trip and Cameron were tired from releasing all of their energy. Their Pokemon appeared to have made their way back to their rooms, while Cilan had disappeared again.

"Hey Cameron, do you know where Cilan is?" Ash asked

Cameron shrugged his shoulders. "Beats me" he replied.

"Oh well, wherever he is, I'm sure he's having fun with Burgundy!" Iris added. The group laughed for a moment, before Trip came in.

"I knew you two were together." he pointed out at the two both holding hands. Ash and Iris looked at each other and laughed briefly.

"Well you're right about it now..!" Ash replied while smiling.

"So where are you two off to now the Unova league has finished?" Trip asked.

"We're off to Kanto- my home region!" Ash proudly announced.

Everyone's face lit up in excitement, it even caught the attention of Virgil and Bianca.

"That's where we're off to as well!" Cameron cheered.

"That's great! But wait, Trip- I thought you didn't like Kanto?" Iris asked.

Trip chuckled for a bit. "I guess I'll have to see if that stereotype is true or not!"

"Is Stefan coming too?" Ash questioned.

"Yeah he should be, that's if he ever wakes up!" Cameron replied. The group laughed again. Inside, Ash was jumping for joy. It looks like he won't be saying goodbye any time soon after all!

"I can't wait! I'll tell you this though guys, I'm going to call it a night before I end up like ol' Stefan over there, I'll see you all in the morning!" Cameron said. The others all agreed to call it a night, where eventually they all left, except for Stefan, who was sleeping soundly on the floor. It left Ash and Iris there on the dance floor together, alone. The music had stopped playing, while the lights were fading. The spotlight stayed on them.

"Ash... Thank you for tonight..." she said while pulling Ash close towards her. He didn't have any time to reply, as she pulled him in to kiss her. They stood there, kissing passionately for a few minutes, enjoying their time alone together, knowing that they both had a future to look forward to. When they pulled away from each other, Ash whispered "I love you" into Iris' ear, before she took his hand where they walked back to the hotel to finish what had been an amazing night; The night of all nights...

The morning came, and everyone was tired from last night. Ash and Iris woke up together on the sofa, still in each other's arms just like that night before the quarter final. Cilan walked in rubbing his eyes.

"Good morning everyone, you don't know how happy I am to see all of you..." he said weakly, he obviously had quite a night by the sounds of it.

"Wow, Cilan what happened?" Iris said in shock to see him.

"I don't quite know what had gotten into Burgundy, but she wouldn't leave me alone for the whole night. The rest I don't really want to talk about..." he replied. Ash and Iris weren't keen to go into detail about Cilan's affair, so they spared him his dignity.

Ash cleared his throat.

"Cilan. Iris and I have decided we're both going to head off to Kanto. Do you want to come with us?"

Cilan's face lit up.

"Definitely! The gym will be fine, it's probably closed down by now anyway. Plus, I'll do anything to get away from that Burgundy..." Just as he said that, his phone rang. Speak of the devil, it was her. Cilan started to shake as he picked the phone up, he felt inclined to answer for reasons unknown.

"Uh-hello?"

"Cilan! You're off to somewhere aren't you! Don't play games with me as I'll eventually find out! Where are you going to?!" Burgundy hassled Cilan, causing him to panic.

"Ah! Um we're all heading to Johto! See ya there!" just as he said that he slammed the phone down, hanging up. He let out a huge sigh of relief.

Ash and Iris burst out laughing.

"Wow, she's going to be in for a shock!" Ash said while laughing.

"I'm so glad I did that..." Cilan replied, laughing back.

The trio soon packed their things up and got ready to depart. The Unova league would hold good and bad memories for Ash. He may have lost, but he'll always remember being on the rooftop, alone with Iris.

They stepped outside, and headed towards the ship to Kanto. There waiting for them, were Bianca, Cameron, Stefan, Trip and Virgil. Ash and Iris smiled at each other, while Cilan blocked Burgundy's number from his phone.

There they departed, to the future.

So we now lead on towards the Kanto saga... Well that is the end of the story! I hope you've enjoyed it. I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed the story, your feedback has been fantastic. Plus I would like to thank everyone who has actually read the story! I've got plenty more NegaiShipping FanFics still to come, so I'll see ya later!