This is a story based off of the Pokemon episode "Wherefore Art Thou Nidoran?"

It's written for the lovely IggyCat who said on her Tumblr that she would love to see a usuk story based off of the episode. I hope you all enjoy it.

I do not own Hetalia or Pokemon!

I had been in the market place with my mother when I'd come across some news that sent me running as fast as my little five-year-old legs could carry me. I didn't like running and I usually tried my best to avoid the activity and I knew that I was going to be in a lot of trouble with my mother later for running off, but I just had to share this news as soon as possible with my neighbor and best friend, Arthur Kirkland.

Once I'd reached Arthur's house I knocked on the door loudly and repeatedly until a boy slightly shorter than me answered the door.

"Bloody hell Alfred! Are you trying to break down my door?!" Arthur inquired with an annoyed look on his face, but his annoyance turned into concern when he noticed how out of breath I was. "Are you alright? You're not getting ill are you?"

I smiled at that. Arthur always acted tough but I knew he was a big softy because he would have moments like these where he would show concern for the littlest of things.

"Aww, is little Artie getting worried about his best friend." I teased once I'd caught my breath.
I couldn't help but grin wider when Arthur started to blush and stammer. He always had interesting reactions whenever I tease him.

"Who are you calling little? I'm older than you by 4 months!" Arthur stated. His annoyed expression had returned.

"3 months and 18 days." I corrected with a smug smile.

"Well, if you're not sick and you have nothing better to do than be smarmy with me then I'm just going to go back inside and leave you here on my doorstep." Arthur replied while starting to close the door.

"Nooooo!" I cried (perhaps a bit too dramatically) and stuck my foot in the doorway. "I ditched my mom and ran all the way over here from the market to tell you something! I'm sorry for being smurfy, so please don't shut the door on me!"

Arthur opened the door again with a small grin on his face. I wasn't sure if he was grinning because of my distress when Arthur tried to close the door or because he heard that I'd had run across town just to tell him some news.

"You could have just said so in the first place." He said leaning against the doorframe. "Now what's so important that you felt the need to abandon your mother at the market place in order to tell me?"

"Well, you know how I got all bummed out because the Towns Annual Pokemon Completion takes place before my birthday?" I asked.

"Yes…" Arthur answered with a bit of pity in his voice. They had both wanted to compete together, but only kids 6 to 10 got to compete and I wouldn't be able to compete with Arthur because the completion took place in between our birthdays.

"Look at what they had in town!" I excitedly pulled a flyer out of my pocket that I'd found in town and handed it to Arthur. "It says that someone's Electrode got loose and blew up one of the offices… don't worry no one got hurt." I quickly added when I saw a worried look on Arthur's face. "But it's gonna take them a while to fix all of the damage and retrieve important files so they moved the competition date to the weekend after my birthday!"

Arthur's eyes brightened at the news. "So that means you'll get to compete with me!"

"Hell yeah it does!" I replied ecstatically. I started bouncing on the balls of my feet with excitement. "Are you gonna use your Skitty?"

"Mr. Pinky is my mother's Pokemon…" Arthur answered and gave me an irritated look when I snickered at the Skitty's name. "… Anyways I haven't caught my own Pokemon yet. They're rather hard to catch without a Pokeball."

"Oh yeah, I forgot we have to catch our own." I deflated. I completely forgot that the whole point of the competition was to encourage the towns children into catching and training their own Pokemon at an early age. "I guess that means using my dad's Growlithe is out of the question."

"Yes, it would seem so." Arthur responded while rolling his eyes.

"Well, I'm sure it's not that hard trying to catch a Pokemon." I said confidently. "I bet I'll even be able to catch mine before you catch yours."

"Really?" Arthur raised an eyebrow with a challenging look on his face. Arthur and I were always trying to 'one up' each other. I guess we both just really liked being competitive with each other. "I'm positive that I'll be the one…"

"Alfred Foster Jones!"

We both whipped our heads around to find my mom standing on porch next door. She was holding a handful of groceries and giving me a stern look.

I cursed lightly under my breath. I hated it when she called me by my full name. Why did parents have to emphasize how much trouble their kids were in by calling out their full name?

"You better skedaddle Alfred Foster Jones before you get into anymore trouble." Arthur chuckled.

I reluctantly said good bye to Arthur and followed my mother into the house with my head down. I suffered through my mother's scolding for running off when she needed my help and made it up to her by putting all the groceries away.

Once she was appeased, I grabbed some supplies I'd thought might help me catch a Pokemon and ran off to the park.

After a few days of trail and error, I was finally able to catch a Pidgey by setting up a simple trap involving a box and some breadcrumbs.

I felt proud of myself for all of my hard work if done and I was ecstatic to find a Pokemon that I knew no other kid in town had. I felt that this made my Pidgey special and unique.

Of course I wanted to show off my new Pokemon to Arthur right away. So once again, I found himself knocking on my friends door. This time, with my new Pidgey perched on my shoulder.
Arthur answered the door right away. He had a smile on his face but his expression turned into one of confusion when he saw me with his new Pokemon, and I was positive that my expression matched Arthur's when I saw…

"Um hey Artie… Did you know that you've got a Pidgey on your head?" I inquired.

"Of course I know I've got a Pidgey on my head." Arthur answered. I continued to stare at the Pokemon; I still didn't understand what was going on here. Arthur seemed to notice my confusion and said, "He's my Pokemon. I caught him yesterday."

"You caught a Pidgey?" I asked in disbelief. "But that's not fair. I caught a Pidgey!" I whined gesturing to the bird resting on my shoulder. I knew that was a really stupid and immature thing to say, but seeing Arthur with the same Pokemon as I had made me feel less proud of myself.

I mean, seriously! What are the chances that my best friend catches the exact same Pokemon as me for the competition?! It made me feel like my Pokemon was less special less unique than I originally felt it was.

"Not fair?" Arthur repeated furrowing his eyebrows. "Don't be ridiculous Alfred. I'm sure I worked just as hard as you did to catch my Pidgey."

I still wanted to pout, but I knew Arthur was right. I couldn't stay upset for something as little as having the same Pokemon as my friend.

"You're right. Sorry Arthur." I sighed which caused him to smile. "Congratulations on catching your first Pokemon."

"You too." He replied. "If you'd like, perhaps we could train our Pokemon together?"

"Uhh… no thanks." I said awkwardly refusing his offer. "I wanted to try training Pidgey on my own."

"Oh." Arthur looked a little crestfallen and that made me feel bad. "Well, good luck training your Pokemon. I guess I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, totally." I answered already backing away towards my house. "I'll talk to you later."

I waved good bye to Arthur and mentally prepared how my training would start. Arthur may have the same Pokemon as me but I was going to make sure mine was better and win the competition.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Second Competition

Ok so last year I didn't win the competition, but I got third place and that is actually pretty good for my age. I would have been a lot happier with my placing third if Arthur hadn't tied with me. I've never even heard of people tying for third place before! So much for the stupid points system.

But whatever, that was last year. This year I was gonna definitely going to win that competition and beat Arthur. And if I was going to do that then I was going to have to find another Pokemon.

This year I started my search for another Pokemon a little earlier than most people did. By giving myself a little head start I was able to find an Oddish and I had a lot of time to train it.

Sadly, the downside to me focusing all of my attention on training Oddish meant that I wasn't spending any time with Arthur.

We were usually inseparable but in the month before the competition we'd hardly said a word to each other. A few days before the competition, I started to feel really guilty about not talking to my best friend. So I decided it was time to make my way over to Arthur's. I was about to leave my house and opened my front door but to my surprise (and pleasure) Arthur was standing there with his fist raised as if he was about to knock.

"Arthur!" I exclaimed happily. "Hey! I was just about to make my way over to your house."

"Oh well, I'm happy to hear that." Arthur said with a small smile. He crossed his arms in a sort of self hug and he looked a little nervous. "I'm so sorry I haven't talked to you these last few weeks. I've just been so busy preparing for the competition this Saturday and…"

Arthur looked guilty as he continued apologizing to me and I couldn't help but hold my sides and laugh. This caused Arthur to stop and stare at me with confusion.

"Oh man, Artie! I was feeling bad about not seeing you 'cause I've also been so busy training my Pokemon." I said with relief. "I thought you would be upset with me for not hanging out with you."

"Well, I can't be upset with you when I've been doing the same thing." Arthur laughed lightly in relief.

"So, you've been doing some extra training with your Pidgey?" I asked.

"Actually, I was able to catch another Pokemon." He said with a hint of pride.

"Oh, really?" I wasn't expecting Arthur to look for another Pokemon but I didn't let it bother me much. "That's cool. I had caught another Pokemon too. I don't mean to brag but I'm sure I got a winner on my hands."

"I'm sure you would think differently if you saw my Pokemon." Arthur challenged.

"I doubt it!"

"Then there is only one way to solve this." Arthur said putting his hands on his hips. "Go get your Pokemon and I'll meet you in the garden. Then we'll see who has the most impressive looking Pokemon."

"Alright." I agreed excitedly. "I'll meet you there in a few minutes."

Arthur rushed off towards his house and I went upstairs to grab my Oddish before heading to the garden.

The garden was an area connected to both of our houses and it was full of flowers. The bushes were so large that Arthur and I often came here to play hide and seek. It was also shaded and very cool during the summer times. It was a nice place to hang out with Arthur.

I had gotten to the garden first so I waited for Arthur on the bench next to the rose bushes. It was the shadiest spot in the garden and my Oddish took a liking to it right away. It was so cute how he rolled around on the cool grass. If that doesn't win the judges over then I don't know what will.

I then noticed Arthur walking into the garden so I called him over to where I was sitting. Arthur hurriedly ran over looking cheerful until he saw my Pokemon.

"You have got to be kidding me."

I'm not sure if that was me or Arthur who said that, or maybe it was both of us, but either way it was obvious that we were both very annoyed when we realized that we had both caught an Oddish.

Arthur's Oddish jumped out of his arms to join mine by jumping around on the grass. The two little Pokemon were completely unaware if the tension growing between me and Arthur.

"How does this happen twice?!" I said throwing my hands up in the air out of aggravation.

"This can't be coincidence." Arthur mused to himself.

"Are you saying that I copied you?" I said in annoyance.

"Oh hush up. You know that's not what I meant." Arthur snapped. "I'm just trying to figure out how we keep getting the same Pokemon."

"Yeah, well you go ahead and do that." I grabbed my rolling Oddish and made my way out of the garden. "I think I'm going to do some more training."

I was much too irritated to to feel bad about walking away from Arthur in such a huff. It wasn't his fault that this happened, but I just wanted to stand out in the competition. Hopefully if I trained hard enough with my Oddish we could still win.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
Third Competition

Arthur and I apologized to each other before last years competition had started, but that doesn't mean our attitudes improved much.

Our irritation grew when we both tied again; this time for second place. Now every time someone mentions the competition around us we would somehow end up bickering with each other. We would always apologize soon after but I still hated the fact that it took something so small to start a fight between us.

After each fight I felt a little more determined to win. It made me think that if I could beat Arthur then the fighting would stop cause we wouldn't feel the need to be better than the other if I won, right? …Well it makes sense in my head.

Once again, I put a lot of effort into finding a new Pokemon for this years competition. I had discovered that a Buneary had been sneaking into the garden at nighttime to munch on some flower petals. I spent many nights out in the garden chasing after it (it always hopped in circles around me like I was playing a game with it) I was finally able to catch it.

It was a cute and perky little Pokemon but it took me forever to train. It liked to bounce around way to much, even for a Buneary! Eventually all of my hard work payed off, and Buneary was listening to all of my commands.

Sadly, the active little Buneary took up so much of my time that I didn't see Arthur at all before the competition! It had been weeks seen I'd seen him and it was already the day of the event.

As I waited in line to sign in my Buneary, I tried looking for Arthur. I was hoping to see him before the event started but I couldn't see him anywhere. I gave up my search and figured he was running late when a Nurse joy helped me sign in.

"Aww! Look at this cute little Buneary!" She cooed. My Buneary was loving the attention and started showing off by hopping around on the table. Nurse Joy giggled at his antics and I felt very proud of my Pokemon until she said, "Aww! He's just as adorable as the other one I saw today."

"What?!" I asked in disbelief. This could not be happening. Not a third time. "Someone else has a Buneary?"

"Yes, that's right." She answered. She was petting my Buneary and was completely unaware of my frustration. She glanced at her files and said, "As a matter of fact, you get to share a waiting room the boy who has the Buneary. You're in waiting room 4 with Arthur Kirkland."

I immediately headed for room 4 forgetting to pick up my Buneary. I weaved through the crowded area, not even bothering to apologize to the people I ran into.

I halted in the doorway of room 4 and found Arthur doing some warmups with his Buneary. Arthur turned towards me when noticed me and smiled.

"Hello Alfred. Are you ready for the competition?"

"Have you been spying on me?!" I demand completely ignoring his question.

His smile dropped and he stared at me like I had gone insane. "What on earth are you talking about?"

I didn't have to answer his question because right then my Buneary hopped into the room completely out of breath from having to chase after me. Arthur's look of confusion melted into one of anger at the accusation.

"You think I've been spying on you to get the same Pokemon?!" Arthur fumed. His hands balled into fists at his side.

"You said yourself that this can't be coincidence!" I exclaimed so loudly it caused both of our Bunearies to roll up their ears and hide under one of the chairs.

"I said that over a year ago!" Arthur snapped back. "I thought it was odd but it doesn't mean I've been purposely trying to catch the same Pokemon as you!"

"How do I know that?" I was too angry to think rationally at this point. "Maybe you were jealous of my Pokemon and how cleverly I trained them."

"I've seen the way you practice so believe me when I say I would never be jealous of you and your idiotic training skills!" Arthur scoffed.

That last insult stung a bit. I hated when people used any form of the word idiot when referring to me or my talents. My wounded pride caused me to round on Arthur. "Hard to believe you could see anything through those bushy eyebrows on your face."

I immediately regretted commenting on Arthur's eyebrows when a hurt look came across his face. I knew how self conscious Arthur was about his eyebrows even though I told him multiple times that I thought they looked good in him.

I felt horrified with what I'd just said to Arthur. The room was quiet for a few moments. "Arthur…" I said softly starting to apologize.

"You know what Alfred Jones?!" Arthur bellowed with such intensity it caused me to take a step back. "I couldn't care less about what an idiot like you thinks of me!"

And the idiot insult caused me to become enraged again. I clenched my teeth and yelled, "Oh yeah well I couldn't care less about what you think of me too!"

"If you don't care then maybe we shouldn't be friends anymore!" Arthur yelled harshly.

I hid the shock and hurt I felt at Arthur's words and yelled back, "Well if you don't want to be friends with me anymore then that's fine with me!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

We both turned on our heels and sat on opposite sides of the room. I refused to look at Arthur and he refused to look at me. I was fighting back tears that threatened to spill over. My Buneary finally came out of its hiding place to rest its head on my lap in a comforting way. I picked him up and held onto him tightly until the event began.

Arthur and I ended up tying once again. This time for first place. We stood together on the highest of the three tiered podium but neither of us looked happy to be there. We stubbornly looked in opposite directions to emphasize our anger with the other.

We continued to be angry with each other and stopped hanging out entirely. I completely avoided the garden fearing I would run into Arthur. I tried to convince myself that it wasn't my fault but I knew it was.

I feel so bad making them fight with each other QAQ I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter though. I aso recently found out that Foster is one of the names that Hima had in mind for Alfred's middle name. The other options were Franklin and F**k. I find it hilarious that he actually considered naming America Alfred F**k Jones XD.

Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up in a week or two! See you next time!