Something seemed off, and the pokemon knew it. As far as it knew, humans weren't supposed to sparkle the way this one did. It was as if his skin was diamonds, beautiful in the sun's afternoon rays. Maybe he had been sweating? But Pikachu had seen Harry sweat before (mostly before exams and while talking to Ginny) and it was nothing like this. Something was different about this human, and Pikachu was itching to know what.
Without waiting for Harry's permission, Pikachu ran off in the direction of the man. If nothing else, at least it could find out whether or not his skin glittered in the dark too. And maybe, if it could be so lucky, Houndoom would be out again with loose lips.
It took Harry all of two minutes to find Pikachu after realizing it had scampered off. When he did, he found the creature spying on the pair from earlier, ears and eyes fully alert. Sure that there was a good reason for this, Harry crouched down behind the bush with Pikachu, keeping a keen eye out for signs of danger that could come to his precious pokemon. Or himself. Mostly himself. This is Harry Potter we're talking about.
The man stood there, hands in his pockets, while Houndoom searched the area for something. His nose was pressed to the ground, inhaling grass and dirt in order to please his master, and then he bolted upright. Harry stifled a gasp, realizing the pokemon knew exactly where they were - or at least that they were. The Houndoom spun its head in every direction, certain something somewhere was watching him.
And then he locked eyes with Harry.
Pikachu, moving faster than he had before (level up, speed 2!), quickly dug the invisibility cloak out from Harry's bag. How it fit in there, Pikachu didn't know, but that didn't matter right now. Harry, transfixed by the foreign pokemon, failed to notice Pikachu heaving the cloak over the two of them (good job helping, Harry). The disappearing act threw the Houndoom for a loop and disoriented him.
Pikachu learned confusion!
Houndoom had reared up, ready to charge, but in its confusion it hurt itself instead. Neither Harry nor Pikachu knew how, but they watched as Houndoom's legs gave out from under him in defeat.
"Huh. Must be a low level," Harry muttered, resulting in a sharp bite from Pikachu in efforts to quiet him. It failed.
"Ow! What gives?!"
"Who's there?" the strange man yelled into the void of trees. He seemed frantic, but he also held his ground in preparation.
Harry held his breath for five seconds while he debated whether to unveil himself or not. As he moved to reveal himself, Pikachu ran out from underneath and hid under another bush nearby. No way it was about to risk whatever that man...that thing would do. It loved Harry, but at the same time, Hermione treated it better. Not that Harry treated it poorly, but...there's something to be said about someone who knows how to properly brush a pokemon. The bristles of the thorny bush we not unlike its hairbrush.
Poor Harry, it thought. So dumb yet so proud.
