I usually don't write these things, but I didn't see any harm in giving this story a try. Anyway, this is supposed to be an April Fools' holiday fic, or at least what would be an April Fools' fic written by me for the first time. As the title and plot summary suggests, it was probably the main and only inspiration I had to make this. You'll see what I mean if you patiently get to the ending.
My last note is that this was requested by author, CrazyYanmega, in which a favored Pokémon pairing of his, LagomorphShipping (Pikachu x Buneary/Mimirol) is mainly featured. I'm usually neutral to Pokémon pairings such as this one, but this one is definitely interesting, and cute at some aspects. After all, I did try putting Ash's Pikachu and Anabel's Espeon together in Tale of Stardom, yet I still don't know an appropriate name for the pairing despite the clever suggestions certain authors made. But I digress.
So now, please enjoy…
March 31…
A peaceful nightfall approaches the Sinnoh region as Ash and his traveling group of friends had decided to camp out. Their journey to Lake Valor for the Sinnoh Grand Festival, Dawn's main goal as a budding Pokémon Coordinator, had come to a momentary rest as she had constantly trained and perfected some of her original, creative combinations with her ever eager team. The gang had currently set up their tent in a wide grass field near a forest and river brook. As part of common society courtesy, Dawn was allowed the tent for herself while Ash and Brock relegated themselves to sleeping bags outside, not that they minded or cared; boys will be boys after all.
Inside the tent before going to bed, Dawn was reading a rather popular Coordinator magazine of Sinnoh, attempting to find different inspirations on her next new combinations and what possible accessories she could add to her special dress her mother gave her for the Grand Festival. Piplup had already dozed off by the corner of Dawn's sleeping bag, curled up within a simple warm blanket. The only other Pokémon with her outside of the Poké Ball was Buneary in her favorite vest, sitting on Dawn's lap and looking over different images of famous Coordinators and their prized signature Pokémon that helped them win many Contests and even the Grand Festival.
"Wow, this is just too exciting, isn't it, Buneary?" Dawn asked, flipping through the magazine pages in awe. "So many new ideas racing in my head now; how can I even go to sleep when there's so much preparation to be done?"
"Bun Buneary," Buneary mumbled, keenly eyeing a photograph of a Pikachu belonging to a suave Coordinator at the bottom right corner of the page. "Bun…" A mild blush radiated her cheeks upon thinking about the Pikachu she still had her eye on ever since seeing him catch an airborne potato with acrobatic finesse. The Rabbit Pokémon tugged at the page, hoping to read more about the accolades of the Pikachu and its Coordinator. The next page revealed something new and different to her; it was a commercialized advertisement for a popular fictional game series, which featured two similar looking men, a fair princess, and a monstrous draconic turtle abducting her. "Buneary?"
"Hey, I know this!" Dawn exclaimed, pulling the magazine closer for her and Buneary to read. "This was a classic video game before I was even born. I played it often in kindergarten with Kenny and Leona."
"Bun-Buneary?" Buneary queried.
"It's about these two twin brothers that travel across lands of many obstacles and monsters in order to rescue the kingdom's princess from the evil monster king," Dawn explained, enunciating her tone to match the fantasy setting she aimed for. Buneary looked at her, taken in by every alluring word. "There are many levels for these brothers to face, ranging from wide grass hills to castles filled with seas of molten lava before confronting the evil king himself. The older brother would face off against the king and defeat him by destroying the bridge he stood upon, thus sending him into his own lava trap. The princess, grateful for the rescue, falls for the older brother and they live happily ever after. A classic story with classic game play; I loved it!" Dawn began to yawn loudly, stretching her arms up to loosen up and relax her muscles before bed. "Well, time to follow Piplup's example. Goodnight, Buneary." The blue-haired Coordinator went out as quickly as an oil lamp. She was fast asleep within her sleeping bag, leaving Buneary to formulate potential thoughts that might aid her in her goals, or at least one.
Hmm, a pair of brothers rescuing a princess from an evil king? That's SO romantic! Buneary thought, immediately imagining herself as the princess in Dawn's story with the heroic brothers represented as Ash's Pikachu and a shadowed silhouette playing as Pikachu's unimportant and oft forgotten brother rescuing her from an evil king of monsters. The Rabbit Pokémon's eyes sparkled and her ears sprung out in full extension. That's it! That's how I'll get Pikachu to finally love me back!
April 1…
A fresh sunny morning indicated a bright new day full of adventures and discoveries. The warmth of the sun could be felt rising from the horizon. Wanting to be ready for the rematch against Volkner in the Sunyshore City Gym, Ash dedicated himself to waking up early and rallying his team as Brock prepared breakfast with assistance from Sudowoodo, Happiny, and Croagunk. He lined his team up near the forest, pacing slowly from side to side as an act of a military general energizing his army to battle. Pikachu stood at front and center of the team, with Buizel and Infernape lined up next to him. Torterra was stationed behind them with Staraptor perched upon the front rim of its large shell. Gible, on the other hand, sat on top of a rock placed next to Buizel, deciding whether to listen to Ash or to chew upon the rock he was sitting on.
"Alright, before we return to the Sunyshore Gym, we must be prepared for whatever Volkner would throw at us, mainly powerful Electric-types," Ash proclaimed, maintaining an even tone while somehow exuding the same excitement he harbored for battling. His Pokémon nodded along. "Anyway, I think we all can fair well against Volkner, but we also must be smart about this. Buizel and Staraptor, there is a pretty good chance that I might not use you in the Sunyshore Gym."
"Bui," Buizel scoffed, looking away indifferently with arms folded tersely across his chest.
"Star-a Star-a," Staraptor chirped, lowering his head down rather gloomily. Torterra looked up sympathetically to the Predator Pokémon roosting on its back.
"He does have a point, you know," Torterra mumbled to its comrade.
"However, that still doesn't mean that I'm not going to allow you guys to train with us," Ash added, grinning brightly. "We need all the help and support we can get if we want to compete in the Sinnoh League and defeat Paul once and for all." In this case, everyone, including Buizel and Staraptor, cheered on. "Tell you what, if you guys train hard before lunch, I'll give you the rest of the day off to do whatever you guys want, whether it's to play or continue training. It's fine by me after seeing you guys work so hard each day." Several more agreeable cheers echoed in the vicinity. Brock smiled to himself, watching the excitement of his young friend's eager attitude to become strong as he started a fire underneath his black cooking cauldron.
"It's nice to see this day starting off so well, despite well…," Brock mused, well-aware of the hidden concept of the first day of April. His Pokémon glanced up to him. "I don't know if Ash knows, but I think it would be better to keep this on a need-to-know basis."
"Su-dowoodo!" Sudowoodo agreed.
"Happiny!" Happiny giggled.
"Croa… Croa… Croa…," Croagunk looked away, quietly chuckling to himself. His particular foreseeing direction, however, was towards Dawn's tent as the Coordinator had slowly awakened from her nightly slumber and dressed up for the day. She exited the tent with Piplup and Buneary by her feet, ready to enact several Contest combinations.
"Okay, gang! Let's get this show on the road with some brief exercises before hitting the combinations!" Dawn declared brightly, tossing out four Poké Balls high in the air and calling out her remaining Pokémon in great, simultaneous flashes. Pachirisu, Mamoswine, Cyndaquil, and Dawn's recently acquired Togekiss materialized into a group of blissful harmony. They all cried out in eager fervor upon release.
"Chi-Pachi-Pa!" Pachirisu chattered, beaming.
"Ma-moh!" Mamoswine bellowed into the air.
"Cyndaquil!" Cyndaquil squeaked, cheerily igniting bright orange flames out of its small back.
"To-kiss!" Togekiss chirped, hovering next to Mamoswine.
"Alright, everybody, listen up," Dawn called out enthusiastically. "A brand new day means a brand new chance in trying out new combinations for the Grand Festival. Here's what I think we can do for the Double Appeal round." She beckoned her Pokémon closer to her into a huddle, taking in real pride into divulging fresh ideas for the Appeal round. "Okay, so we're first going to work on a few combinations like Electric-Ice; that's where Buneary and Pachirisu come in." The two mentioned Pokémon cried out in cheer. "Another possible appeal we could do is one with Togekiss using Aura Sphere and Mamoswine from the ground using Ice Shard and maybe AncientPower. Oh, wait! Maybe Sky Attack and Take Down! What do you guys think?" The next aforementioned pair of Pokémon nodded eagerly. "And now for the Double Battle round after lunch, I want to try a Water and Fire combination with Piplup and Cyndaquil."
"Cynda-Cynda!" Cyndaquil exclaimed, feverishly jumping out from the group before Dawn, much to Piplup's annoyance and secret jealously of the young Fire Mouse Pokémon.
"Piplup-Piplup-Piplup-Piplup!" Piplup shouted, angrily flailing his flippers in the air in front of Cyndaquil. It did not take long for the two small Pokémon to quarrel over who would end up leading Dawn to victory again. It also did not take long for the confrontation between them to descend from heated glares into a brawling dust cloud of punches, kicks, and pecks.
"Will you two please calm down?" Dawn pleaded, assisted by her other Pokémon to break up the comical conflict except for one that had a lot more than Contests on her mind.
"Bun Bun Buneary," Buneary hummed to herself, dancing upon the tips of her toes. I can't wait to start my game plan this afternoon!
Later…
The morning training session with Ash and Dawn had come to a finish after another delicious lunch prepared by Brock. The entire group feasted well and their afternoons were finally free up, at least Ash's Pokémon were. Being the first to finish his plate, Ash stood up and stretched before approaching his resting Pokémon.
"Okay, gang, it's like I promised after seeing you guys work hard earlier," Ash stated. "You know, I'd really like to continue training and all, but you know what they say about all work and no play. Besides, I have something I need to do by myself."
"Now that's new," Dawn remarked from her seat, giggling amusedly. "What can you be up to?" Ash merely grinned back innocently at his young companion.
"Now that's my business, Dawn," Ash chuckled; Dawn narrowed her eyes in suspicious at his strange behavior, but kept also kept a lighthearted mask to hide it. "See you all tonight!"
"Now hold on! Just where do you think you're going?!" Dawn demanded, but was held back by Brock's arm in front of her.
"Now, Dawn, Ash is old enough to take care of himself; heck, he can even travel by himself if he wanted to," Brock explained sagely. "But as his friends, we must respect his decisions as a veteran Pokémon Trainer and let him do what he has to do." Dawn glanced at the Breeder skeptically.
"You're in on it as well, aren't you?" Dawn asked cynically, her tone deadpan.
"Dawn, don't be like that," Brock replied, standing up from his seat and began to stack up the group's emptied plates and bowls for him to clean up. "Anyway, shouldn't you be practicing your combinations for the Grand Festival?"
"Oh, yeah, you're right," Dawn muttered, reality lightly slapping her in the face. She quickly faced her Pokémon as they finished their meals down to the plastic bottoms of their bowls. "Hey, everyone! It'll be time to get back at it after ten minutes or so. Buneary and Pachirisu, since you two had pretty much perfected your combination, you guys can have the rest of the day off. You can play with Ash's other Pokémon or even find Ash for me." Dawn held a rather sinister giggle behind her pretentious smile from her suggestions. I know what today really is about, Ash Ketchum. You can't fool me! I'll fool you first! She faced her other Pokémon in wait for further announcement. "Everyone else, let's go for it!"
Piplup stood up first, wanting to the one to lead the others. What the Penguin Pokémon did not foresee was that Cyndaquil had managed to sneak past him. Much to the dismay of Piplup, and soon after the others, another quarrel erupted between Piplup and Cyndaquil. While Dawn attempted to break those two up again, Buneary took the opportunity to sneak away while Pachirisu followed along ecstatically with no clue over what her plan was.
"So, Pachirisu, want to help me set up a game with Pikachu and the others?" Buneary proposed, grinning widely. Pachirisu was confused by the way she was grinning, but nonetheless nodded excitedly to her.
"What? What? What?!" Pachirisu inquired, hopping alongside Buneary like an enthusiastic little kid. "I like games! I want to play too!"
"Oh, don't worry. Everyone will have a chance at it, especially Pikachu."
"Ooh…," Pachirisu commented in awe. A strange thought soon occurred to the EleSquirrel Pokémon upon Buneary's specific inclusion of Pikachu. Hmm, I wonder if it's because Pikachu doesn't notice her as much as he should… Nah! Pachirisu brushed it off and continued walking alongside Buneary toward Pikachu's group.
"Hi, Buneary and Pachirisu," Pikachu greeted, waving to them happily.
"Hi… Pikachu," Buneary replied, blushing slightly as she tugged on the light fleece around her waist. He said my name first!
"What's up, everyone!" Pachirisu chattered, waving to the other Pokémon that Buneary had apparently missed.
"Hey," Staraptor, Infernape, Torterra, and Buizel greeted the two with nods of their own.
"I like cereal," Gible muttered quickly, staring blankly into the space between him and Pachirisu.
"So, Ash has some secret plans that don't involve you all?" Buneary asked rather innocently, digging her foot into the grass in a shy, yet playful pose.
"I guess so since he decided to let us out early on our training," Pikachu surmised with a shrug. "He didn't even tell me what he had in store, so it must be that important for him alone."
"I'm still curious on what Ash's up to," Infernape voiced in, sitting on the ground in a simple meditative position as to ascertain possibilities of Ash's whereabouts.
"I can fly around and find him; he shouldn't have gotten too far about this time," Staraptor suggested, raising a wing up helpfully.
"Who cares," Buizel shrugged indifferently. "Whether he's here or not, we're still free to train and become stronger. I wouldn't mind that actually."
"Buizel, you really need to chill out," Torterra advised, looking upon the Sea Weasel Pokémon with full, calming intent. "It is unnecessary to always be at full power, just to waste it away with no guidance. We train only when Ash is here."
"Hmph, says the wimpy monster turtle with the bird on its back," Buizel remarked, glaring back at Torterra heatedly. The Continent Pokémon was unaffected by Buizel's gaze, but merely sighed tiredly over his oft stubbornness.
I suppose such an attitude is an effect from being a Pokémon of basic stage, Torterra thought.
"I can stick two fingers down my throat; want to see?" Gible proclaimed, attempting to do such a strange, redundant act.
"Aw, but if you guys go and train, then who's going to play this awesome game I learned from Dawn with me?" Buneary asked sweetly. All heads turned to the Rabbit Pokémon's direction, Pikachu's being the first as Buneary noted.
"What kind of game is it, Buneary?" Pikachu queried. Buneary giggled from the Mouse Pokémon's curiosity, but managed to keep her cool for her explanation.
"Well, it's a sort of role-playing, action game that I want all of us to enact the best that we can," Buneary explained. "I want all of us to play our parts by heart." She gave Pikachu an obviously flirtatious wink that made him confused, much to the others' amusement. And I do mean 'by heart.' It was no doubt that he was capable of being just as oblivious as his best friend and Trainer over such related matters. While he did know about the romances of others, he sometimes remained dense to his own.
"Uh, okay…?"
"I'm in," Infernape announced, pounding a fist to the chest.
"I'd like to see this too," Staraptor chimed in, flying off of Torterra.
"As do I," Torterra concurred.
"Anything to relieve the boredom," Buizel smirked. "I'm going to win your little game regardless." As they all agreed to Buneary's game, they discovered Gible attempting to devour a large rock held over his head.
"Gib, Gib… Huh?" Gible grunted, stopping as he sensed the concerned stares of his fellow Pokémon.
"Right, so I've decided how this will work, based on all of your abilities and the preferences of yours truly," Buneary continued, placing her paws over her heart vest. She had carefully considered the right possibilities on how to enact her plan to win over Pikachu in this game of hers and what Pokémon will be involved to push them closer together. "Pikachu and Pachirisu, since I have some special roles for you, I'm going to have to ask you two to wait faraway so that you won't overhear what these guys have to do."
"Let's-a go!" Pachirisu exclaimed, quickly grabbing Pikachu's hand and pulled him away before the Mouse Pokémon had a chance to respond. Pachirisu's rapid pace caused Pikachu to fall face first on the ground and be dragged against the grass as the EleSquirrel Pokémon quickly reached a suitable spot a fair distance away from Buneary and the others. "Having fun yet, Pikachu?"
"Buneary's game hasn't even started yet, Pachirisu," Pikachu mumbled, standing back up on his feet and brushing off his yellow fur of accumulated dirt from his ride with his Electric-type friend.
"I know, and I'm already enjoying this!" Pachirisu exclaimed, hopping repeatedly with no signs of fatigue even as of now. Pikachu watched on sheepishly. "Especially that you're going to get it!" That sudden phrase threw Pikachu off guard.
"What you mean by that?"
"I thought it was already obvious on how she singled you out and put me to watch over you," Pachirisu replied, cheerfully continuing to dance and spin in place. "Don't you even know what today is? It's a very special day!"
"Thursday? The first of April?" Pikachu proposed, only for his latter suggestion to automatically single itself out in his mind. It also gave him reason to believe why Ash dismissed them early from training for the rematch of the Beacon Badge today. "No way. Buneary isn't like that, at least I don't think she would do something like that. Besides, she'll be telling us her plans, so there's no way she could fool me."
"Ri-ight…," Pachirisu sang, humorously balancing itself on its large, puffy tail. "I'm going to enjoy whatever she's cooking up."
"Don't enjoy it too much just yet," Buneary hummed, hopping over to the two Electric-type Pokémon. Pikachu looked past her, noticing that his comrades have left. "Oh, don't worry about them too much, Pikachu. They're just getting into position."
"Position for what exactly?" Pikachu asked cautiously, wary over Buneary's true motives for planning the game.
"Position for the game where you'll be the main hero and star!" Buneary exclaimed, spreading her arms out and suddenly giving the Mouse Pokémon a tight hug around his neck, much to his dismay and growing need to breathe.
"I'm the… hero?" Pikachu repeated, half convinced that Buneary had no trickery up her sleeves while the other half expected him to receive that role.
"Yup. And your partner, the unimportant younger brother who will help you in your journey from within your awesome shadow, will be played by Pachirisu."
"That doesn't sound fun anymore," Pachirisu pouted. Buneary shot the EleSquirrel Pokémon a quick glare to ensure total cooperation, to which Pachirisu clamped its mouth shut and stopped complaining over the apparent lack of love for the younger brother role.
"So anyway, you and your 'brother' will be traveling over fields full of obstacles and enemies you must pounce upon before they stop you from fulfilling your greatest goal," Buneary continued, twirling around upon the tips of her toes in preparation for her big announcement. "And that would be to rescue the kind, fair princess from the evil king of the monsters you face!"
"Evil king?" Pikachu repeated, tilting his head to the side in bewilderment.
"Oh, and before I forget, here!" Buneary went over to Pikachu, tying a long red headband just his size with a removable "P" around his neck. She hopped over to Pachirisu and tied a similar cloth headband of the color green, but with a removable "p" attached to the front. "I took them from Dawn's accessories bag. It's just to give you guys that heroic savior looks. She won't mind us using these for our great adventure, speaking of which it's just about time to start…"
"TER-RAA!" a thunderous roar rumbled from within the forest, scaring much of the Starly out of their nests up in the trees. The roar had also startled Pikachu and Pachirisu, tripping them over their feet. Buneary, on the other hand, was impressed over the improvisation her hired actor as the monster king played. Shockwaves of an earthshaking stampede grew; something big was heading their way.
"This is the part where the evil king kidnaps me, the gracious princess who you must rescue at all of your remaining lives, and you must give chase through the traps he places in the lands you must travel upon," Buneary narrated, spotting a tree and a trio of rock peaks emerging over the horizon. Pikachu and Pachirisu were still stunned from the great entrance of the king they would have to face. Coming up to the small group was none other than Torterra, who seemed less thrilled than what its acting had shown.
Why me? Torterra thought glumly, its eyes half open and active. I'm not cut out to be a king, much less and evil king. I don't like it, nor am I any good at it at all. Upon stomping up to Buneary, Torterra noted that encouraging look on her face to at least give Pikachu a worthy challenge. "Uh… Bwa ha ha ha… ha?" Buneary smacked her forehead at the lackluster performance.
"That evil laugh should be eviler and with passion for your job as a villain with awesome plans for world domination, too," Buneary criticized, jumping up on top of Torterra's head as part of her mock abduction.
"I'm telling you for the last time; I'm no villain!" Torterra grumbled back, to which Buneary promptly ignored. "And since when did I become interested in world domination? I already have a miniature continent on my back…" Pikachu and Pachirisu soon recovered from their shock, having witnessed Buneary riding on Torterra's back.
"Torterra, what are you doing here?" Pikachu asked.
"Huh? Oh, I'm, uh, taking away your princess for good, yeah that's it," Torterra mumbled halfheartedly, looking away out of sheer embarrassment for basically butchering its evil dialogue. "And you'll never see her again so, uh, don't try anything, yeah. Bwa ha ha… Ack!" The Continent Pokémon wound up coughing rather nastily from overuse of its gruff voice.
"Just get back to your evil lair now, 'King Torterra,'" Buneary sighed, shaking her head as she massaged her forehead with her paws. Torterra turned around and walked back into the forest, leaving Pikachu and Pachirisu stunned from both the abduction of their princess and Torterra's lack of commitment to being a supposedly awesome antagonist. Torterra and Buneary were soon out of sight upon reentering into the thick forest ahead.
"Shouldn't we have gone after them before they got away?" Pachirisu proposed.
"What? And ruin the plot? This whole thing's just gotten interesting, especially since we get to face Torterra at the end," Pikachu commented, holding up a fist in a firm resolve reminiscent to Ash's determination. "Let's go, Pachirisu!" And so, Pikachu and Pachirisu charged off after the 'evil' Torterra that captured the fair 'Princess Buneary,' not knowing what traps and enemies were in store for them.
Meanwhile within the forest…
A small group of Seedot and Shroomish was huddled around Torterra with Buneary standing on top of its head, apparently hiring 'an army of expendable minions' for her acting king in order to give her beloved hero a good challenge. The Seedot and Shroomish exchanged confused glances until one cynical Shroomish approached her.
"So let me get this straight: in exchange for our services in your role-playing game as reckless soldiers charging in against Pikachu, you'll help us reach for the good berries and fruit kept high up in the Staravia territory," the Shroomish surmised.
"Yep!" Buneary concurred happily. "In fact, I have a strong Staraptor friend who would most likely have absolutely no trouble in getting you guys the good fruit. So just get out there and stall Pikachu. Give him something to look forward to at the end of this forest." The Rabbit Pokémon did a short, cute pose, much to Torterra's annoyance.
"Buneary, I highly doubt that this whole charade of yours is going to work," Torterra warned sternly.
"Nobody asked you, evil king, so can you please hurry up and get a move on before Pikachu catches up?" Buneary demanded impatiently, jumping up on the Continent Pokémon's rock peaks. "This has to work after everything we've went through."
"Pikachu will be so whipped," Torterra sighed, trudging off to the other end of the forest. It felt a nearly nonexistent sensation from its rock peaks, followed by repeated light bounces courtesy of Buneary after attempting to kick them out of offense from Torterra's comment and merely wound up stubbing her toe. "I rest my case…"
Meanwhile with the Pikachu Brothers…
"How in the world did Buneary convince all of these guys to play her game?!" Pikachu yelled, knocking a Seedot off its feet and throwing it into the oncoming squad of Seedot and Shroomish. There seemed to be a nearly endless army of these forest-dwelling Pokémon suddenly charging out with strong intent to attack.
"When Buneary wants something done, she won't stop until it is done," Pachirisu explained, jumping from one Shroomish into another, stomping them flat much to their chagrin. "You better be careful on what she has in store for you, Pikachu."
"Are you still on that possibility that this is one big prank?" Pikachu inquired, fighting off more of this troublesome army of minions. It took a while for Pikachu and Pachirisu to get through the crowd of Grass-type Pokémon; most of them retreated back into the forest, believing that the good fruit in the higher tree branches were not worth being stomped and thrown around. "Well, this was quite the exciting experience. That was pretty creative of Buneary to have them join in as well." The Mouse Pokémon was content with the effort Buneary went through to hiring 'minions;' the game had gotten a lot more interesting for him now. "Let's-a go!"
"Okie dokie!" Pachirisu exclaimed. Both Electric-type Pokémon began their dash to the forest, unknowingly falling into a large pitfall camouflaged at the entrance, much to their surprise. Their combined weight and recklessness must have been enough to trigger the sudden collapse of the ground. "Ah… Don't tell me she's got Team Rocket involve too."
"I don't think she would go that far, considering how much she hates them for continuously trying to steal you," Pachirisu answered, rubbing its sore head while surprised that it did not let loose a berserk Discharge. The EleSquirrel Pokémon opened its eyes before Pikachu did, noticing a manually carved underground tunnel in front of them. "Has there always been a tunnel here?"
"This is most likely Infernape's and Gible's doing," Pikachu replied, examining the tunnel walls. The dirt walls still had fresh finger and claw imprints from the constant digging both Infernape and Gible made, which really added appeal to the underground decor. "Hmm, they did a pretty good job with this underground route."
"Let's check it out," Pachirisu suggested, immediately dashing ahead into the murky corridors of their next level to traverse. Pikachu shrugged to himself, having already been used to dealing with the EleSquirrel Pokémon's natural hyperactivity. They both sped along the long tunnel dug underneath the forest for some time, feeling fortunate enough that they would not run into any sort of danger underground, or so they thought.
"Hey, did you feel that?" Pikachu asked, stopping abruptly. Pachirisu looked back, confused on what he meant. Another slight rumble was felt beneath the ground. The Mouse Pokémon's ears twitched up in heightened awareness. "There it goes again."
"Are you trying to set me up for a prank? Pranks don't work on me," Pachirisu stated proudly, grinning. Before long, the entire underground tunnel started to tremble, mainly around Pachirisu's area. "Okay, so maybe this isn't one of your—YOW!" The EleSquirrel Pokémon cried out in a yelp, immediately resorting to an unrestrained unleashing of Discharge. "Chiiiii-PA!" Bolts of blue lightening ricocheted of the dirt walls. Pikachu had to bend his body in a rather peculiar fashion as to avoid the entire attack entirely.
"Pachirisu, what are you doing?!" Pikachu shouted, panicking over the possible danger his Electric-type friend was posing.
"Something bit me! It really hurts!" Pachirisu cried, its Discharge eventually coming to termination. Pachirisu turned around to show its puffy tail to Pikachu, to which the both of them discovered under the dim lighting from the exit a fair distance away the cause of Pachirisu's discomfort.
"I like the fair," Gible mumbled, his mouth full with Pachirisu's tail. Apparently, the Land Shark Pokémon had sprung out from a hole behind Pachirisu and ambushed it with a massive chomp of its tail.
"Gible, you're no piranha, much less a land piranha," Pikachu sighed, massaging the space between his eyes to relieve stress. "Will you please let go of Pachirisu so that we can get out of here?" Gible remained inert for a few seconds before his eyes drifted toward the firm Pikachu. Pachirisu tried shaking its tail, although painfully, to get a response from Gible, only to lose its balance due to all the pain his sharp teeth that was pressing upon its tail.
"Okay," Gible replied incoherently will some of Pachirisu's tail fur in his mouth. The Land Shark Pokémon released his clamp on Pachirisu and dug away, never to be seen again until game over.
"My tail…," Pachirisu moaned, tending to its maimed tail. Pikachu comforted it the best he could with a mere pat on the pat.
"I'm not even sure if Gible's addition was really Buneary's intention, but I'm sure Gible didn't really mean it," Pikachu deduced softly. "Anyway, we should probably get going and save her. I really want to thank her for her efforts for setting this whole thing up when Ash left."
"You go ahead," Pachirisu replied, still holding onto its tail. "This is much pranking as I can get for now."
"You're still thinking about that?"
"I don't know anymore," Pachirisu shrugged, the damage of its fluffy tail apparently giving it a new, depressing attitude. "Just go and take on more of her abuse."
"… Uh, huh," Pikachu grunted, perplexed. He took Pachirisu on his back just to carry him out underground, the least he could have done. Upon exiting out of the hole, the two of them found Sudowoodo with a green flag with a poorly marker-drawn face of Torterra tied to the top of its branch, saluting them. They were apparently on the other side of the forest where the river brook was.
"You guys made it!" Sudowoodo cheered, the flag on its head fluttering in the wind.
"Sudowoodo, what's your role here?" Pikachu asked, placing the depressed Pachirisu on the ground.
"I'm the flagpole that will show you where the evil king is keeping the princess captive," Sudowoodo responded cheerily. "All you have to do is jump as high as you can on me in order to lower the flag of the king." Pikachu nodded and had done so, leaping at the exact pinnacle of Sudowoodo and removed the flag off its branch.
"There, now what?"
"Torterra's all the way down there," Sudowoodo directed, indicating the rest of the river's length behind it. "Over there, you should see an extension of the forest; you'll be in the king's lair for the final battle. Good luck with taking him down!"
"Thanks!" Pikachu replied, about to run off before remembering one more thing. "Oh, and can you take care of Pachirisu until its tail heals?"
"Sure can," Sudowoodo saluted.
Pikachu smiled back and went down the river path as the Imitation Pokémon had directed him. The path was seemingly clear except for some Seedot that still wanted the good fruit Buneary promised blocking his path. They alone were not worth much trouble to take care of, but Pikachu soon discovered a stream of water firing right out of the river. Pikachu wondered if Buneary had somehow convinced a group of Water Pokémon to also hinder him and give him a challenge, but somehow abandoned the thought when a stream of fire had erupted from the river.
"What the heck?!" Pikachu yelped, narrowly evading a fireball that flew overhead from the river. "Why is there even fire coming out of a river? A RIVER!" Little did the Mouse Pokémon knew, the river was pretty shallow and there were also footholds carved at the sides of the river canal for two useful Pokémon to be stationed at.
"I agree with Pikachu: why AM I here in a riverside belching up fireballs?" Infernape questioned its partner that fired another Water Gun at Pikachu.
"Buneary said that from her story of this stupid game that the evil king lived in a castle filled with lava and was capable of breathing fire himself," Buizel answered. "And it's not like any of us, especially Torterra, to own such a castle. So you're as close as she could get to recreate the background for the final stage."
"I think she's finally losing it," Infernape muttered, scratching the side of its head before resigning back to attacking Pikachu from the river footholds. "Doesn't she even know that I'm running a health risk just by staying at this edge of the river?"
"Eh…," Buizel grunted unresponsively, leaping into the water to give Infernape more room to move about on the riverside footholds. Regardless of how they ended up in their current predicaments, they continued their obstacle onslaught against their resilient Electric-type comrade that was nearing the end of the road to Torterra.
"I see the forest extension," Pikachu muttered to himself, kicking aside the last Seedot as a small cluster of trees, and strangely a bridge made of ice connected the two sides of the river, were all up ahead. Guarding the bridge was none other than the stable Torterra, who began to unleash a barrage of Energy Balls as ordered the moment Pikachu was discovered within sight. "Here we go!" Pikachu sped through the Energy Balls with Quick Attack, dashing forth through every available opening before ultimately confronting Torterra.
"Ahem… Bwa ha ha ha ha! Hey, it finally worked!" Torterra cheered, proud to have been able to master the evil laugh.
"Awesome job, Torterra," Pikachu commended before resuming a serious stance as part of the role-play. "Now where's the princess?"
"Huh? Oh, uh… She's, um, hidden away in my dark dungeon… of pain!" Torterra declared weakly, still not living up to the antagonistic role it was given. "And you'll never see her again. Bwa ha ha ha—Ack! Ugh! Argh!" The Continent Pokémon wound up coughing harshly at the second attempt. "Ugh, let's just get on with the battle. That, I can do."
"Let's do this!" Pikachu exclaimed, static sparkling from his red cheeks. The first menacing stare-down and exchange of witty banter had come to an end. The final battle had begun. Hmm, now how should I defeat Torterra and save Buneary? My standard attacks would be ineffective against his defenses, and there's no doubt that my Thunderbolt would have any effect on him. Hmm, this is pretty good training in addition to this game. Pretty clever, Buneary.
"Energy Ball!" Torterra bellowed, conjuring up another radiant green ball in front of its jaws and lobbing it towards Pikachu. "Tooooor-terra!"
Here goes something, Pikachu thought, a probable idea forming in his head for an ideal counterattack. "Iron Tail!" The Mouse Pokémon ran towards the oncoming Energy Ball, charging power in his tail until it felt like sheer steel. "Chuuuuu-Pika!" Pikachu leapt up and intercepted the attack with his sharp tail, reflecting the Energy Ball right back into Torterra's face. A small explosion of black haze erupted from impact.
"Ugh! Not bad," Torterra remarked, shrugging off the power of its own attack knocked back at it.
"I'm not done yet!" Pikachu shouted, his Iron Tail still active. He somersaulted down from the air, turning his body into a round buzz saw with his tail as the serrated edge. The Mouse Pokémon had struck his tail against Torterra's cranium; the impact wound up to be quite earth-shattering as a result of Pikachu's acquired momentum from his fall. He leapt back in front of Torterra, who was slowly recovering from the strikes it received.
"Excellent maneuver against one who has the primary advantage over you," Torterra congratulated, smirking suddenly. "But don't get overconfident because of it. Rock Climb!" Torterra's claws began to flash brightly and extend to the point that they were hooked. "TOR…" The Continent Pokémon reared itself on its hind legs, putting all of its weight into its oncoming fall. Torterra's amazing power caused much of the earth to rise up, especially underneath Pikachu as he was carried all the way to the top of Torterra's makeshift cliff. "TERRAAAAA!" Torterra stampeded up the cliff towards Pikachu; the Mouse Pokémon was taken aback by the sudden use of Rock Climb.
"Uh, oh! AAH!" Pikachu cried, having been forcefully rammed off by Torterra's huge bulk. He fell a fair distance down, landing down on the ground with a painful plop. "Pika… Pi…" The Mouse Pokémon felt his entire body seared with such a numbing sensation as a result. He found it hard to stand back up. There was no doubt another hit from Torterra like that would be the end of his game.
"It's been fun, Pikachu, but I must end this," Torterra announced as the risen earth it created had sunken back down into the ground.
"You… cheater," Pikachu groaned.
"What?! How dare you! I'm no cheater!" Torterra roared back.
"You're the evil villain, of course you would have had to cheat by using Rock Climb to leave me with very little chance to save Princess Buneary," Pikachu mumbled back wryly. "And I thought you wanted good to triumph over evil."
"Yeah, but… I just… Argh! That's it! I'm just going to end this now so that I won't have to play as the villain again," Torterra grumbled, powering up its claws for another Rock Climb. "Sayonara!" The Continent Pokémon summoned another small upward landslide to carry the battered Pikachu to the top. The mountain Torterra created had this time surpassed the forest trees in height instead of matching it. "TOR-TERRAAAAA!" With another dangerous bellow, Torterra began to charge and scale up the cliff up the mountain, only for an electric shock to somehow paralyze it mid-climb. "What the?!"
"H-Huh…?" Pikachu grunted, discovering Torterra to be immobilized by discharging electricity binding its joints. "Did Pachirisu finally return?"
"Actually, your Static ability somehow paralyzed Torterra," Croagunk stated dully, having originated out of nowhere. "Pachirisu decided to take a nap somewhere else." He stared at the two of them at the side of the improvised mountain, poison sacs inflating and deflating in their usual pace. Pikachu originally wondered how Croagunk was capable of doing what he did, but thought better and took advantage of the immobilized Torterra.
"My turn! This is for justice! Iron Tail!" Pikachu shouted at the top of his lungs as he leapt back into action. The sunlight overhead gave off the lustrous sheen of his white-glowing tail. "Chuuuuu-PIKA!" Pikachu struck with all his might upon Torterra's head with his Iron Tail, the force actually forcing the Continent Pokémon to fall from its own cliff.
"No… NO… NOOOOO!" Torterra hollered, sliding off its mountain and tumbling down to the ice bridge that Buneary had most likely made for Pikachu to across upon defeating Torterra. The Continent Pokémon flailed its limbs to regain control over its traction, eventually coming to a stop on top of the ice bridge. "Why do I have the feeling that it'll only get worse for the bad guy…?" Torterra soon felt the ice bridge collapsing underneath its weight, sending it right into the shallow river water with its tree as the only thing sticking out. "Why me…?"
"Princess, at long last I conquered the evil king!" Pikachu announced excitedly, jumping off Torterra's tree as a springboard to the other side of the river, only to discover there was no one else around. "Buneary?"
"Sorry, but your princess is in another castle…," Croagunk answered with a chuckle, also on the other side of the river. A deadening silence fell upon the area. Pikachu merely stared at Croagunk blankly.
…
"…"
"Croa… Croa… Croa…"
"So, does that mean I have to this again until Buneary finally shows up?" Pikachu finally spoke. Torterra, who had managed to climb out of the river, overheard Pikachu proposing a new game and strangely started to panic.
"No! No more evil king! I refuse! Waaaaah!" Torterra cried, quickly stomping away into the forest. Pikachu stared blankly from the contrasting reaction Torterra made; apparently, the Continent Pokémon not only did a poor job as a villain, but absolutely hated it. Just before Pikachu decided to leave as a result of the anticlimactic ending he received, Staraptor flew down with Happiny dressed in an adorable, simple white dress with pearls.
"I'll be your princess!" Happiny exclaimed cheerfully. Pikachu gave a small smile, though this was what he had not really expected, he just did not have the heart to complain.
"Staraptor, have you seen Buneary?" Pikachu asked the Predator Pokémon. "I want to at least thank her for the entertaining game and extra training I got out of it, even if she did play this trick." Staraptor shrugged and shook his head.
"Sorry, I was just getting fruit for the Seedot and Shroomish like she promised them," Staraptor replied. "I'll be sure to let her know. She could have at least been sincere about her feelings instead of just ditching you like that. Oh, well. Lesson learned, I suppose."
Staraptor lowered his neck for both Pikachu and Happiny to climb on as they were about to take off back to the campsite. Little did they knew, they had forgotten about a certain Rabbit Pokémon as she was left crying at the bottom of the shallow river. She sat at the footholds, her fleece soaked from the river. She was not wearing her usual vest, having decided to wear something else for Pikachu's moment before her own tragedy happened.
"Little brat…," Buneary muttered in a sob. She remembered almost too well on how she found the beautiful modest dress Dawn made for her in the Hearthome Collection Contest, only to have Happiny also wanting the dress for her own self. They both wound up fighting for it, but unfortunately, Buneary was dealing with a baby Pokémon with super strength. That was enough to send the Rabbit Pokémon flying into the river and her entire plan ruined. "Well, at least Pikachu is happy…" She started to wipe away her tears and prepared to hope for a better plan to get her together with him.
"I am," a warm voice said, startling Buneary just enough that she was tottering over the edge of the foothold carved at the side of the river canal. A swift yellow hand saved her and pulled her out of the river. "Thank you for the game."
"Pi-Pikachu… what are you… why are you still here?" Buneary inquired at a loss of words for her beloved's sudden reappearance.
"Croagunk," Pikachu answered simply. "He strangely insisted for me to stay while he accompanied Happiny back. Quite a guy, isn't he?"
"Yes, he is…," Buneary replied, feeling warmth surging in her heart and her face. "Pikachu!" Much to the Mouse Pokémon's surprise, she leapt onto him and hugged him tightly with very little chance of letting go anytime soon.
"So… you didn't mean to leave me hanging with that 'princess is in another castle' thing?" Pikachu asked, scratching the side of his head in confusion.
"Are you kidding me? Even that annoys me!" Buneary exclaimed, basically squeezing the life out of the Mouse Pokémon.
M-Maybe I was better off accepting the fake prank… Ohh…
Many years later…
"Is that the big April Fools' Day story you promised, Daddy?" a little girl of five years asked, sitting upon her father's lap. "I still don't understand how you were able to get it out of Pikachu."
"I'm afraid that's your mom's job to understand how Pikachu feels," Ash replied, patting his daughter on the head. His daughter did not look satisfied.
"I think that this whole thing's a prank!" she declared. "There's no way you or Mommy could have gotten all that out of Pikachu. And besides, what even happened to that girl, Dawn? What prank did you pull on her?" Ash laughed sheepishly.
"Let's just say we both thought of the same thing and were about to do it to each other, only for it to backfire on the both of us with Brock lecturing us about it," Ash explained, chuckling lightly. "Frankly, it's best if what she and I tried to do that April Fools' was left unsaid. It's really unimportant now that I think of it."
"Well, if you won't tell me what you did, can you at least say what happened after that?" his daughter asked.
"We had a good laugh, went on with our journey, and got married afterwards," Ash stated casually, earning a wide, skeptic look from his daughter. "April Fools'!"
"Daddy!" his daughter cried out, playfully smacking his arm. "I knew you were going to do that. You couldn't have married her because you're married to Mommy now."
"That I am, now go ahead and play some pranks of your own with your friends," Ash suggested, gently placing his daughter off his lap. "Just nothing too careless, okay?"
"Okay, Daddy!" she exclaimed, quickly giving her father a peck on the cheek before running off. Retirement from his journey after succeeding in the Sinnoh League and defeating the Elite Four was truly relaxing for the mature Pokémon Master.
"She's quite the handful, isn't she?" a tender, feminine voice asked from the kitchen. She started to enter the living room, walking towards the sofa Ash sat in from behind. "She really reminds me of you sometimes."
"Was I really like that in my youth?" Ash proposed, laughing it off as he felt his wife's affectionate arms wrap around his neck and her head nuzzling the side of his head. "Sometimes, I think you know me more than I know me, Anabel."
"Then again, that's why I love you so much," Anabel sighed. "And love, like a classic game, something you just can't fake."
So yeah, that line Croagunk said from Super Mario Bros. was what I was kind of aiming for. I know it's not the greatest, but I had nothing else to work on. Besides, I wanted to give this story a try, most likely because it was a requested story. As for the ending, let's just say even the author deserves a little something-something.
So again, this April Fools' Day LagomorphShipping story was requested by CrazyYanmega. Originally, I did not really think about writing something for this particular holiday, but I like I probably said early, it would not hurt trying this out. It's really thanks to him that I wrote this, so yeah…
One more annoucement: I've come to a certain point in my life that fan fiction is just not as appealing as to me as it used to. Maybe's because I've accomplished much here or maybe's because I've just grown out of it, but my life has many possibilities for me to explore. That will require most of my time. I'll most likely continue working on Tale of Stardom, but once that point in time comes, then I might just stop altogether until I can return…
I hope you will find the time to review this one-shot. What are your thoughts, questions, and concerns about it?
Ciao!