Challenge Iris: Part 1

Oh, there you are! You've gotta hear about the super-amazing event happening right now, Scottie!

Indeed! As you know, Pasio is host to Champions from all over the world.

To celebrate this monumental gathering, there's going to be an event called the Festival of Champions right here on the island!

I've already signed up to participate as the Champion of Unova!

I can't wait to put on a show for all of the fans!

You'll come and watch, won't you? I hope to see you there!

The Festival of Champions took over Pasio as fans celebrated the gathering of Champions from all over the world.

At the event arena, many people were enjoying the chance to meet and greet the Champions.

Look at this crowd!

I suppose we should have expected this, given all the star power gathered in one place!

Now, where is our Unova Champion?

Heeey! Over here!

That outfit!

Tee-hee! Check out these frills! Aren't they amazing?

Hydreigon and I are gonna make this event so much fun for everyone here!

Indeed! Hydreigon is looking very tough! And that outfit looks great on you, Iris.

Remember, today you'll have to be on your best behavior, as you're representing all of Unova.

Look! The Champions have arrived!

All right! The fans are here!

Oh my gosh! It's Leon!

Miss Cynthia! Can I shake your hand?

Heeey... I'm a Champion, too, y'know!

D-don't worry too much about that!

Iris!

You're the best, b'cause you're still a kid but you're Champion, too!

Hydreigon's one of the most brutal Pokémon ever, right? It's so cool that you partnered up with one!

You think so? Thanks!

Let's keep the talk coming! Feel free to ask me any questions!

Oh, that girl... Is that her?

Yeah, I can introduce you. Let's go!

Hey, Hilbert! And this is...?

Whoa!

It's Diantha!

Nice to make your acquaintance, everyone from Unova!

And you must be Scottie?

What a bright greeting!

Nice to meet you, too!

We were just talking, and you came up in our conversation, Iris!

Diantha was saying that as a fellow Champion, she wanted to meet you in person!

Really? Wait, she's a Champion, too?!

You didn't know? Diantha is the Champion of the Kalos region.

And she's more than that. She's also a world-famous actress!

I've learned a lot from her acting!

*chuckle* What an honor to hear those words from Brycen-Man himself!

My! I had no idea you were familiar with my work!

Let's have a chat together sometime!

Now, I suppose this is your partner, Hydreigon?

Ah! Hey!

It's OK. It just shows how excited she is!

I can see you've taken good care of her.

Th-thank you!

Hm? Iris, are you nervous or something?

It's just...Diantha is so pretty, calm, and mature...

*chuckle* Well, thank you!

May I have your attention, please. Exhibition matches between the Champions will commence shortly.

Exhibition matches...

Oh, that's right! I signed up for that! I should get going!

Iris is still Iris, even when she's the Champion, huh?

So that child is the young rising Champion of Unova...

Diantha is amazing...

I wanna be that elegant and cool when I grow up, too.

Man, I'm kinda bummed out about this exhibition match now.

Huh?

I mean, Lance is awesome. But Iris...

I could give her a break for not emanating poise and grandeur like the other Champions do, but the gap in experience is too huge.

That difference between them is going to be painfully obvious on the battlefield.

High-stakes matches like this tend to happen a lot on Pasio, huh.

Heh. Bet it's gonna be pretty embarrassing to be a Trainer from Unova for a while after Iris's match.

Is he saying...I'd be an embarrassment to Unova?

Well, hopefully it'll be a good match in any case.

... ... ...

I've gotta win this.

I'm the Champion of Unova... I've gotta make my people proud.

Wow. Listen to that crowd!

Let's give them a good match.

Lance, I...

I won't lose to you!

Hm?

Come on, Hydreigon! We're gonna...

Huh?

What's wrong? We haven't even started yet...

Hydreigon? Wha, ?!

What's going on over there?!

Settle down, Hydreigon!

It appears the trial run was a success... I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow.

Cut it out, Hydreigon! What's gotten into you today?

What is going on?!

I, I don't know! I don't know!

Go, Gardevoir!

Diantha!

Sorry, Iris, but we need to stop Hydreigon right now before anything else happens.

Lance, can you give me a hand?

It looks like I don't have a choice!

Hydreigon... Why...

Please be sure this doesn't happen again at tomorrow's matches.

Fortunately, we were able to keep the damage to a minimum.

Still, I wonder why Hydreigon acted out like that...

Iris, you understand dragons the best of us all. Maybe you can tell us why?

Um...

Please, tell us why Hydreigon went on that rampage!

Well...uh...

So you're not sure.

Lance...

I noticed you weren't your usual self right before our match.

It was almost as if you were so worked up, you couldn't tell what was happening with your partner.

Iris, you must remember that you're no ordinary Pokémon Trainer.

You are a role model to others, and you represent Unova as Champion.

I hope you can understand that and conduct yourself accordingly.

... ... ...

Iris...

Sorry, everyone. Just like Lance said, I have no idea what's going on with Hydreigon.

I...I'm gonna think back on today and try to talk to her to figure out what's wrong...and I'll do my best tomorrow! Bye!

Is she gonna be OK?

Hmmm...

... ... ...

Sorry, Haxorus. Thanks for coming all the way here with me.

Hydreigon just won't come out of her Poké Ball.

I bet she hates me now...

Because I'm not good enough...

Oh, if it isn't Iris!

Diantha...

Isn't it a little lonely to be at a place like this, just the two of you?

... ... ...

You don't have to bottle up your feelings, you know.

Huh?

I don't know the hearts of dragons like you do...

But I might know a little about the hearts of Champions.

Or perhaps...the hearts of other girls?

... ... ...

I wanted to make sure people knew me...and accepted me...

I just wanted to make everyone happy.

I wanted them to know that I'm the proud Champion of Unova...

But...but...

*sob sob*

I see... So you overheard some mean comments about you before your match. People sure can say the rudest things.

Do you feel a little better now after talking it out?

I guess...

You know, when Grandpa Drayden gave me my Champion outfit...

I remember thinking I'd become a great Champion, just like Alder was!

But I don't think I can do it anymore...

I don't have the experience...and I'm just a kid...

You know, the same thing happens to me with my acting.

Huh?

When I compare myself to other actors, I end up fixating on how different we are, and it's just not a nice feeling.

It affects how I feel about acting sometimes...and I imagine that's how you're feeling about yourself right now.

... ... ...

But...maybe you can try to look for what you have in common instead!

There's something within you that other Champions also have!

A special quality that every Champion shares.

A special quality?

That's about all the advice I can give you tonight. The rest, you'll have to figure out for yourself!

I know you'll get it. You are a Champion, too, after all!

An important quality for a Champion to have...

So it's come to this...

Who knew this would happen while I was taking my time traveling around Pasio!

Oh, it's you!

Hmmm...

Excited crowds returned to the arena as day two of Pasio's Festival of Champions kicked off.

But one Trainer didn't seem quite as eager as the others...

Tch! What's so great about those other Champions anyway?

Hydreigon, come play with us!

Ugh... Whatever.

You must find a way to shake this off, Iris. You have a match to win later today.

I know...

Sorry, little ones. Iris isn't feeling very well right now.

Oh, I know! Why don't we play pretend? I'll be Brycen-Man, and you can all be my minions!

You're worried about her, aren't you.

Ah, it's you three.

Lance, yesterday may have been a big mess, but Iris is still an amazing Champion. You'll see!

Don't lose hope in her just yet, OK?

Oh? What makes you think I'm losing hope?

You're...not?

I'd say he thinks quite highly of Iris, actually.

So much so that he even went to check on her last night to see if she was OK.

You saw that?!

Don't worry about it.

You should probably ask Diantha that question...

Sorry I stole your thunder.

It's fine. The job was probably better left in your hands anyway.

In any case, it seems I'm not alone in my concern for Iris. You obviously wanted to help her, too.

It's true...

I want to be there to witness it, the moment when Iris discovers who she truly is for the first time.

Gah!

What's the matter, buddy?!

Calm down right this instant!

Wh-what's going on now?!

On second thought, let's worry about that later. Come on, Cryogonal! We have to stop this!

This looks like what happened yesterday...

A resounding success!

Team Break?! Don't tell me you're the ones behind this...

Why, of course we are! All thanks to this ingenious machine of mine!

It emits a specialized signal that incites the thrill of battle in its targets!

Pokémon with wild, aggressive natures are simply unable to resist it!

That's horrible!

Oho! It would be unwise to pick a fight with me right now, little girl.

Hydreigon...

This is bad. We need to stop them immediately!

Dragonite, Hyper Be...

Nooo! Don't hurt my Pokémon!

Hold them down then! We can't let them put anyone else in danger!

This could take a while.

Iris! Send out your Haxorus to stop Hydreigon!

R-right. Good idea.

Haxorus, I need you to...

Iris, look at your partner! Look into her eyes!

That sounded like...

Hmm...

Hydreigon, you...

What are you doing, Hydreigon?!

Hurry, Iris! Use Haxorus and calm Hydreigon down!

Hydreigon...I can feel your pain!

You're fighting so hard against yourself.

I bet you were fighting super hard yesterday, too...but you were frustrated because you couldn't control yourself...

Now isn't the time to call out Haxorus. This is between you and me, Hydreigon.

Listen, you can fight this! Don't let that stupid machine control you!

Give it up! There's nothing you can say that'll get through to your little dragon!

That's why I HAVE to say this!

I know her heart! So I'm gonna use my words to get through to her!

Hydreigon, I believe in you!

We're the same! We both hate to lose, and we fought a lot in the past. But I know how strong you are!

I know you can do this!

Because I'm Iris, Champion of Unova, and you're my partner!

The NERVE of this brat!

Shut her up!

Oh, my!

Look at that!

I knew you could do it!

Hydreigon!

What?! That Pokémon isn't responding to my machine anymore?!

Hydreigon would never let herself be controlled by your silly little toy!

Uh-oh! Looks like she's raring to go now, thanks to that machine!

Let's use that rage to protect everyone!

Feel free to cut loose, Hydreigon!

Ack! My machine!

Time to beat a hasty retreat...

Stop right there.

Wait...the other Pokémon aren't affected by the machine, either?

Yeah! Thanks to Iris bustin' it up!

You underestimate the power of sync pairs.

We're stronger than you think!

Our bonds with our partners are too strong to be broken by some machine!

Now let's hear an apology for what you did!

I-I'm sorry!

Sounds like we're back on schedule with the exhibition matches.

Lance...

Even though Team Break caused Hydreigon to lose control, it doesn't change the fact that I still wasn't paying her enough attention.

I'm so sorry for what happened.

And also...

No matter what happens from now on, I'm gonna make sure my heart is bound to my Pokémon!

I promise to always do that, as Champion!

You have a lot of resolve for someone so young. If a certain someone had met you when he was younger, you would've run circles around him!

I see now why he said we should just be patient and watch over you.

Huh?

Oh, nothing. Let's continue to aim for higher goals!

Together, as Champions!

OK!

How marvelous it is to see someone grow right before your eyes...

I think I understand now why Champions are the ones who guide younger Trainers!

Feels good, doesn't it?

I always worked hard to improve myself as a Champion and actress, but I never really gave much thought to helping others improve...

Now, I think that's something I should have done more.

It feels like a whole new world has opened up to me!

It's never too late. You can start with whoever needs you most.

I guess that's true!

So Iris's next opponent is Diantha.

In terms of the matchup, Iris is at a disadvantage.

But you never know what might happen in a Pokémon battle...

Especially for someone in the midst of tremendous growth.

Diantha! I think I figured out what that special quality is. The one you said all Champions share!

I used to say it a lot, too...

"Be considerate toward your Pokémon, and give them your whole heart!"

That kind of kindness is something I know I have!

How wonderful! Your light is shining even brighter than before!

You've truly proven yourself, Iris. I feel like I can put my all into this battle!

You can do it, Iris!

Thanks for saving everyone!

Show 'em how strong you are, Champion of Unova!

Everyone...

Onward and forward, new Champion!

Thanks so much for all your help, Diantha!

But I'm just getting started! And I'm gonna aim to be even better than the best!

I'm Iris, the Pokémon League Champion of Unova!

And I'm going to defeat you!