Aqua: I was playing my Pokémon Conquest game, and when I did Hideyoshi's story, Hanbei and Kanbei came into the game. When I saw Hanbei I thought he was so adorable! Also the fact that I think Pikachu as his perfect link really suits him. I decided that a naive and cute partner will fit him quite well. So, this story is dedicated to my new favorite duo!
Pikachu and Mountains
Hanbei sighed as he watched his Pikachu munch on a yellow gummi. A cold mountain wind blew by, and he looked out of the cave they were currently in and saw the castle of Ignis. He sighed once more and patted the happy Pikachu's head.
"I can't believe you got us stranded in the mountains of all places Pikachu…"
"Pika?" Pikachu tilted his head cutely to the side. Hanbei sighed again. He thought back to how they ended up in the mountains…
"Hi Kanbei!" Hanbei greeted Kanbei as he passed by.
"Hanbei, Lord Hideyoshi has a mission for you." Kanbei replied with no emotion. Hanbei sighed.
"Always being such a downer in the afternoons huh Kanbei? Anyway, what is the mission?" He asked curiously.
"There is a thief around the town. Lord Hideyoshi wants you to keep an eye out for them and capture him or her." Kanbei began heading towards Hideyoshi's throne room.
"Eh? I wouldn't have expected anything more from my Lord… He always gives me the annoying missions." Hanbei grumbled. "I wanted to go Greenleaf and take a nap there… Oh well." He whistled, and soon, his Pikachu came bounding by. "Let's go Pikachu."
"Pika!" Pikachu followed his partner out the door. Kanbei said nothing as he went to Hideyoshi's throne room.
As Hanbei walked out the palace of Ignis, he soon began hearing the bustling of many people in the town. He yawned, he was really looking forward to that nap in Greenleaf…
All of a sudden, he heard someone move at an unnatural speed. He stopped walking, sensing danger. Pikachu also stopped walking. He listened carefully. It seemed like all the noises of the town were disappearing around him and only a sound remained. A flash, someone moving with so much speed and agility that it would impossible for a normal person to hear anything. He grinned silently. It looks like he found his thief.
A flash again. He counted the steps. Right, left, right, left… Hmm… He recognized the movements. If anything, it was the basic ninja technique. Meaning… Pikachu's ears pricked up. He reached out his left hand and soon, something crashed into it. He looked down to see he was right; the thief was a normal ninja.
His grin grew wider. He finished his mission faster than he thought. Now he can finally go to Greenleaf and have that well deserved nap. He waved his hand in front of the fainted ninja. Wow, he didn't think he did anything to make the ninja unconscious. 'He must be a novice,' he thought. 'Or he just was too careless and crashed into me so hard that he fainted. Anyway, that is really lame.' He slung the ninja over his shoulder and out Pikachu there to guard him.
The entire time Pikachu was poking the unconscious ninja and Hanbei was thinking about Greenleaf. The soft wind blowing the grassy field, so quiet, so peaceful… He was cut off from his daydream by Pikachu who shouted, "PIKA!"
Pikachu got off his shoulder and ran to the female standing in front of Ignis palace. She was startled, but recovered quickly and started petting Pikachu.
"Pikachu~ how are you doing?"
"Pika~" Pikachu purred comfortably. Hanbei then realized, only one person other than him can make Pikachu roll over and purr like a kitten.
"Lady Nene?"
"Ah, Hanbei!" The woman known as Nene spun towards him. She smiled. "How are you?"
"Fine my lady. But what are you doing here?" He questioned.
"Oh, I'm here to pick up one of my ninjas. He's supposed to meet me here though…" She trailed off until she spotted the fainted figure on Hanbei's shoulder. "Ah! That's him!"
"The thief is one of your ninjas?" Hanbei asked in disbelief as he handed the ninja to Nene. She nodded.
"He's a new ninja. My test for him was to steal something from Ignis without being captured, and don't worry, I was going to return it." Nene added quickly. "But looks like he failed… Well, he was going up against you, I wouldn't be surprised." Nene giggled, making Hanbei grin. She scratched Pikachu behind his ears one more time.
"Anyway, bye bye Hanbei! Oh and send Hideyoshi my regards would you?" She asked before disappearing. Hanbei looked at the happy Pikachu.
"Come on Pikachu, we have to tell lord Hideyoshi about the mission." Pikachu nodded and was about to jump on Hanbei's shoulder but spotted something yellow. Thinking it was his favorite snack, a yellow gummi, he chased after it. Needless to say, Hanbei was surprised.
"Pikachu!" He chased Pikachu. They continued the chase until the mountains, then they entered a cave, and when Pikachu found out it was just a Pokémon, he huffed in anger, which caused Hanbei to bring out a gummi. Pikachu happily munched on it and Hanbei wondered how they were going to get out.
Now they were stuck in the mountains. Oh, but not any ordinary mountains, the Ignis Mountains. The Ignis Mountains were very confusing, always twisting and turning, and the fact that it was getting dark was not helping. Hanbei drummed his fingers on the cave floor. The sky was a beautiful orange color, and he was starting to get sleepy looking at it. He yawned.
"Ahh, that's not good. If I fall asleep, we'll probably be stuck here forever." He shook his head to get rid of the drowsiness. However, Pikachu had finished eating and was starting to hum a lullaby that Hanbei would hum whenever Pikachu couldn't sleep. Hanbei found that his eyelids were getting heavy, and he resisted the strong urge to lie on the floor and drift off to dreamland.
"Pikachu-yawn-… Stop hum-yawn-ing…" He frowned. Pikachu then noticed his master's discomfort, and became quiet. The silence was still not helping Hanbei though, if anything it only made him sleepier. He stared at the sky. The orange sky was starting to become black.
'Uh oh, it's getting later… I better think of something fast.' He started to stare at the ground, and began to draw a rough sketch of the mountain with a stick he found laying across the cave.
"Okay, we entered through here, and then here and then here…" Being a strategist, it was always important to remember the small details so it was no problem for him to remember how they got up the mountain and into their current situation. The problem was that when it was dark, wild Pokémon tend to appear more often, and block the paths to get down the mountain. There were swarms at night too of course, and he remembered that one was supposed to be at Ignis Mountains too. No doubt that it would also block one path, one that Hanbei haven't discovered yet.
"What to do…?" He sat there, pondering as he began to feel drowsier. Pikachu, who was just drawing a picture of himself in the dirt before, noticed that his master was thinking and decided to help. Going over to Hanbei, he looked at the drawing of the mountain.
"Pika?"
"Hm? What is it-yawn- Pikachu?"
Pikachu poked at a spot on the sketch. "Pika pika, pika Pikachu, pika!"
"…What?" Hanbei stared confusingly at Pikachu. Pikachu tried again.
"Pika pika, Pikachu!" He put his finger down on the sketch. "Pika!"
"…"
Pikachu began to feel frustrated. "Pika!"
"…"
Pikachu dug his finger into the sketch this time. "Pika pika pi!"
"…"
"PIKA!" He dug it more roughly, digging up some dirt. "PIKACHU! PIKA PIKA PIKACHU!"
Pikachu started panting after his angry rant, but there was no reaction from Hanbei. It was then he heard something.
"…Zzzz…"
Pikachu stared at Hanbei in disbelief. Because when Pikachu was ranting, Hanbei had fallen asleep. His violet eyes were closed shut, and he breathed softly at the cave wall. Pikachu had briefly wondered why Hanbei had fallen asleep when he was talking, and then realization hit Pikachu.
Hanbei was a genius, but even he can't understand Pokémon speech like Pikachu can. Due to the lack of understanding and tiredness on Hanbei's side, the young genius had fallen asleep, leaving Pikachu ranting angrily alone. Alone, with nobody understanding what the yellow Pokémon was saying. Pikachu then started to sulk and bang his head on the wall.
"Pika." Bang. "Pika." Bang. "Pika." BANG!
Luckily, the noise just happened to wake up Hanbei. He groaned silently and rubbed his eyes. He looked around, expecting that Pikachu was sleeping near him, but to his wonder he saw Pikachu banging his head on the wall.
"Pika." Bang. "Pika." Bang. "Pika…" BANG!
"Pikachu?"
"Pika~" After repeatedly banging his head, Pikachu now found himself spinning around the cave dizzily. He began to do a weird dance, which made Hanbei laugh.
"Pika pika pikaaaa~ Pika pika Pikaaaaa~"
"Hahahahaha! Pikachu!" He got up and caught the spinning Pikachu, laughing. Pikachu was one of the people, or Pokémon, that could make him laugh loudly. Hanbei rarely laughs, even with his relaxed nature. He grins and smiles, but only a certain group of people could make him laugh. Pikachu was one of them. He ruffled the top of Pikachu's head, which caused Pikachu to smile before falling over.
"You're helpless…" Hanbei chuckled and ruffled his head affectionately. "If you want to help you can, just try not to start lecturing me okay?"
"Pi~~" Pikachu dizzily gave Hanbei a thumbs up. "Pika~~"
As the night continued to grow darker, the duo were drawing and discussing plans. It seemed to go on forever however, and they were getting nowhere. In the first few minutes, they were calm but as time passed, Pikachu grew more irritated. Hanbei still kept his cool though, because he'd been in situations like the one right now before. But still, after a few hours, Hanbei started to grow irritated, then annoyed, until finally tired and grumpy. Pikachu was already attacking the cave wall across from Hanbei in frustration.
"Tch, I've thought of everything! How are we going to get out of this mess?" He ran a hand through his slightly spiky brown hair, his other hand holding his white floppy hat. He sighed tiredly, which caused Pikachu to sigh as well.
'I'm too tired… I need to sleep… But I have to continue…" A yawn escaped his lips. Hanbei was seriously considering giving into the temptation of closing his eyes and resting… Zzzz…
"Pika!" Hanbei heard Pikachu's voice and his eyelids snapped open. Without realizing, he had started to fall asleep while thinking about sleeping, which caused Pikachu to shout at him angrily.
"Pika!"
"I know I know! But can you think of something?!" Hanbei said sarcastically. Pikachu growled.
"Pika!" Pikachu marched over to him and in a moment of fury, used Thunderbolt on him. The shock caused Hanbei to become paralyzed and fell to the ground in a heap of smoke. Pikachu just stood there, fuming angrily. After a few minutes later, Pikachu then realized what he did.
"Pika!" He poked Hanbei worriedly. "Pika!" It was no use, Hanbei was knocked out cold. But Pikachu mistook it, and thought his master was dead. Pikachu panicked. He killed his master! He killed Hanbei! He started hyperventilating, and he knew couldn't do anything now. Now suddenly with Hanbei dead (Or knocked out), Pikachu felt that the cave walls were closing in around him, taunting him. He could almost hear the walls speaking to him.
"Pika pika pika~ (You killed him~)"
"Piiiiikaaaa (How dare you~)"
"Pika pika pi~ (You killed him~)"
"PIKA PIKA! (You MONSTER!)"
"PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIII!" Terrified, Pikachu ran to Hanbei and shook him.
"Pika Pika!" Tears streamed down his face. "Pika!"
Fortunately, Hanbei felt the cold teardrops spill on him, and he regained consciousness immediately, thinking that it was Kanbei trying to wake him up with a bucket filled with ice cold water (It happened before, and Hanbei has never been more afraid of anything than a bucket filled with ice cold water waking him up from a pleasant dream.). He snapped awake and accidently knocked Pikachu away who was on top of him.
"I'm awake Kanbei! No need to splash anymore!"
"PI!" Pikachu tackled his master. "Pi!"
"Wha- Pikachu?" Hanbei asked, confused before he looked outside the cave. All the memories came flashing back to him, and instantly the mood in the cave grew gloomier. Pikachu didn't take notice though; he was too busy hugging his master.
"Pika pika pika pika pi…"
Hanbei just sat there, eyes blank. Pikachu finally stopped hugging Hanbei and looked into his dark brown and slightly purple eyes. They were completely blank, which signified the thought that Hanbei was thinking deeply. Pikachu then sat on the floor quietly, giving Hanbei some space.
A few hours passed, and there was still no reaction from Hanbei. Pikachu was starting to grow worried. Hanbei never blanked out for such a long time, and he wondered whether Hanbei was sleeping with his eyes open (It happened before, during one of the long and boring meetings in the Ignis Castle) or thinking so deeply that it had to last a few hours.
At last, a single word escaped from Hanbei's mouth.
"Pikachu."
"Pi?"
"I want you to use the biggest and strongest Thunderbolt you ever used in your whole life. Send it to the sky."
"Pika?" He tilted his head to the side, confused. Hanbei faced him with those blank eyes.
"It could be used as a signal to ask Kanbei and the others to rescue us. Normally, I don't like calling for help but this time we have to. I'm tired and hungry, and I bet you are too." He glanced out the cave and saw that the sun was starting to rise. "Knowing Kanbei, he probably would be up early helping my lord with stuff, so he would be sure to see it. I'm certain, Kanbei just good with detecting stuff that's out of the ordinary." He chuckled a bit. "So can you? I didn't want to ask you because I'm afraid it'll tire you out but…"
Pikachu stopped him. "Pika." Looking into Hanbei's eyes, he said determinedly. "Pika."
After a tense staring competition between the duo, Hanbei's eyes had returned with life in them. He smiled genuinely, causing Pikachu to smile too.
"Then I'm counting on you."
"Pi." Pikachu stood at the edge of the cave. He then took a deep breath and started to focus all of his electricity into his tail. The clear sky grew dark, and thunder clouds rumbled in the distance. Sparks started flying out of Pikachu and Hanbei stepped away. Pikachu grunted, it was hard for him to focus all of his power on one point. But he needed to build up even more power, then he could release it all into the sky, sending a signal to Ignis Castle, and hopefully Kanbei would see it. He grunted again, it was getting painful. Hanbei looked at Pikachu worriedly, afraid that he might pass out during the process. That would cause all the electricity to go berserk in him and make him catch a high fever. Not only that, but electric types that suffer with too much electricity in their bodies also feel very uncomfortable, and it changes their personality too.
A few minutes passed, and Pikachu was feeling faint, but he held on. Finally, as Pikachu shouted, a strong burst of electricity was released from Pikachu's tail, and the mighty lightning bolt soared into the sky. The loud, booming noise of thunder radiated through half of Ransei.
Pikachu collapsed from exhaustion, and Hanbei caught him. Placing the tired Pokémon in his lap, he stroked the little yellow mouse's soft fur, causing him to purr in his sleep. Hanbei smiled softly, before feeling his eyelids drop. The last thing he heard was many voices nearing him, including Kanbei's voice. Hanbei smiled knowingly before falling into unconsciousness. Knowing that his partner succeeded was enough, and now, his beloved partner could get the rest he deserved.
A few weeks later, Hanbei with Pikachu on his shoulder stared out the window of his room. Hanbei spotted the tall Ignis Mountain looming above the forest, and he smiled secretly. Pikachu was munching on a Ponigiri when Hanbei reached out a hand and stroked Pikachu's fur.
"Pika?" Pikachu tilted his head confusedly. Hanbei simply grinned before saying,
"Thanks for everything Pikachu." And he tore his gaze away from the window and started to head outside the room. "Come on, let's get going to Greenleaf. We missed that well deserved nap a few weeks ago remember?" He called back.
With that, Pikachu also grinned happily, and the two of set off with a mission in mind: Sleeping in Greenleaf no matter what. And this time, he was going to fulfill it, definitely.
Aqua: This is the end! I hope you enjoyed it and be sure to look forward to more Pokémon Conquest one-shots!