Operation Matchmaker: Part 4

In the time that he had tried to get something else for Snivy or do something else since the whole Berry incident, Emolga always seemed to have disrupted Oshawott's plans even if there had been occasions where she genuinely wasn't at fault such as that business with the Joltik (Oshawott decided that he really hated Joltiks now, more so than ever).

He tried getting some Honey since its sweetness was something to be celebrated and he knew that Snivy liked sweet things but that ended up a failure; that was the fault of the Joltik. The Pretty Feather, the clue was in the name, wouldn't that have been suitable? That ended up a failure; it turned out that the Ducklett was still attached to its dropped feather. Even the Miracle Seed was a failure and that would not only have been pretty but also useful. He was pretty sure that Emolga was responsible for the failure of that one. Oshawott was rather dispirited to say the least.

Iris couldn't understand why Ash's Oshawott seemed especially cold to Emolga that day or the day after that or why Emolga was taking it all on chin when she would have normally reacted straight away to such a response. But then again, her cuteness could be deceptive and Iris believed that Emolga was innocent of all things. Ash meanwhile was concerned with why Oshawott was acting so strangely. One minute he was happy, the next subdued and now this plus his strange absences. He saw Pikachu try to communicate with Oshawott and left them to it, figuring that Pikachu would have a better understanding of it anyway.

"OK, so what happened exactly?" Pikachu asked his friend cautiously. He gathered a lot had happened in relatively little time.

Oshawott heaved a heavy sigh. He simply pointed at Emolga who was busy devouring a pile of apples that Axew had brought her. Emolga quite liked the little Dragon Pokémon as he thought that this was all a game although he didn't have quite the same entertainment value as Oshawott of course. Snivy, from her comfortable rock, also kept an eye on the little madam, ready to teach her some manners if need be.

"Do I have to go into any detail?" said Oshawott through gritted teeth. No matter how he tried to avoid her, Emolga always seemed to come and find him quite accidentally of course and it was far worse when he couldn't avoid her. The pettiness of it all infuriated Oshawott. He moodily sharpened his scalchop against a rock as any good Oshawott did in preparation for future battles.

"It would be handy," said Pikachu, eyeing that suddenly razor-sharp weapon of Oshawott's. Fortunately for all concerned, Oshawott simply placed the scalchop back on his stomach and opened up to Pikachu about everything. Pikachu frowned; he wondered why Emolga had seemed so cheery yesterday.

"That was nasty," he commented.

"You can say that again," Oshawott muttered. "But I don't suppose it would be a good idea to battle her."

"No, it wouldn't. But I tell you what would be a good idea," said Pikachu. Oshawott gave Pikachu his full attention. "Don't sit here feeling sorry for yourself; it's not going to get you anywhere and Snivy would probably only tell you the same thing if the situation was a little different. To be honest, Emolga gets on my nerves too," said Pikachu, seeing that Oshawott still looked down. "Arceus knows that she can be a pain but you just need to grit your teeth and bear it. And if you need any help, then just ask me; I'll help in any way I can."

Oshawott stood up and looked at Emolga and Snivy. Emolga had had enough now and she glided over to Iris. Snivy breathed a sigh of relief and curled up underneath the warm sunlight, drifting off even as Axew and Scraggy chased each other noisily. Oshawott tapped his scalchop in a show of determination.

"You're right," he said. "This isn't me. I need to pull myself together." Oshawott drew himself up from his last reserves of confidence. "I'm going to try again and find something else to give to Snivy and this time, it isn't going to be spoiled."

"I'm glad to hear it," said Pikachu.

"But…" said Oshawott. "What can I get her? I'm running out of ideas and I can't ask her directly otherwise it would defeat the purpose of a gift. For us male Starter Pokémon," Oshawott explained to Pikachu. "We have to make a good impression if we want to start a… relationship with a female since there are more of us than them and that usually involves giving a gift. It's traditional."

"What about that business with the Purrloin?" asked Pikachu, unable to help himself. "You went in there all guns a-blazing."

"Don't remind me. That was an entirely different situation," Oshawott groaned. "I thought it was a female and so did Team Rocket's Meowth. I suppose it was just a crush really, she, er, he looked cute. But… things are different this time!" Oshawott announced. "And in light of that…" Oshawott thought to himself. Aha! How could he have forgotten about that particular gift? He'd mentioned it before as well. A simple gift would do it. "I'm going to find some nice flowers for Snivy, present them to her and hopefully…" Oshawott shuffled nervously. "She'll go out with me."

"Why do you want to give flowers to Snivy? What do you mean by 'going out'? We're already outside aren't we? So what do you mean, huh?"

Pikachu and Oshawott found that their conversation had been interrupted by Axew who, in his childish innocence, had absolutely no idea what they were really talking about but that of course, meant that he wanted it explaining to him and Axew would just keep asking them until one of them finally cracked.

"Er…" Pikachu began; unsure of how to deflect this since Oshawott was already going red with embarrassment.

"What's the point of giving flowers to someone?" said Axew. "Does Snivy like flowers? Why does Oshawott want to go out with Snivy? Why? Why? Why?"

"Because!" said Pikachu brightly. "It's custom to give flowers to someone when… it's their birthday! Yeah! And Grass-Types especially love flowers because they like plants and stuff anyway!"

Axew stared at him. "Really?" Axew gave this some thought. "But why flowers?"

"Because flowers are beautiful and they smell nice and… you know… things like that!" said Oshawott. "They have to be especially nice for someone's birthday! And… and… Snivy likes flowers!"

Axew remembered something else. "But it's not Snivy's birthday today."

"But it will be soon!" said Oshawott. "I'm just getting prepared just in case I don't have the chance to get anything!"

"Do I have to get Snivy flowers?" said Axew innocently.

"No!" said Oshawott. "I mean," he said when Axew looked confused. "One bunch of flowers will be fine. She wouldn't want too many. Lots and lots of flowers would be, er, too much. I mean, you would probably get sick from eating too many apples wouldn't you?

"I like apples," said Axew.

"OK, so you like apples. Great. But Snivy likes flowers and that is what I will be giving her when I get the chance to do so. Right, I really need to go now so I'll catch you later…"

"But you haven't answered my other question!" Axew wailed, grabbing hold of Oshawott.

"Er… which one was that?" said Pikachu as Oshawott tried to get Axew off him.

"Why does Oshawott want to go out with Snivy?" he insisted.

"Because… because… because…. Because we're good friends!" said Oshawott frantically. "We've got common ground, we're both Starter Pokémon and I just want to talk in private!"

"What does 'private' mean?" asked Axew.

"Oshawott means that he just wants to be alone with Snivy for a while and not be disturbed by anybody else," Pikachu sighed. Then he realised that as soon as he said those words, he knew what the next question would be.

"Why does Oshawott want to be alone with Snivy?"

Kids, thought Pikachu. Why can be sweet one moment and extremely irritating the next?

Then Axew clapped and danced about in glee. "I know why! I know why!" he said happily. "Oshawott wants to kiss Snivy! Oshawott's in love! I'm going to tell Snivy! Oshawott's in love!"

"No I'm not!" he hissed as he finally wrenched the Dragon Pokémon of him. "And it's meant to be a surprise anyway so don't say anything!"

"But you're in love, aren't you?" said Axew.

Axew's perseverance had paid off. Oshawott finally cracked. "Oh for crying out loud," he muttered. "Yes, I am love with Snivy! There, I said it! Does the whole world want to know? I am in love with Snivy! OK, have you got that? I want to give Snivy flowers and go out with her and be more than just friends with her because I AM IN LOVE WITH HER!" Oshawott suddenly realised what he just said out loud and Pikachu face-palmed himself for Oshawott's sake.

Axew was now satisfied that his questions had been answered. He was going to tell his best friend Scraggy. He ran off giggling.

"Oshawott and Snivy sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"It's a grown-up thing!" yelled Oshawott as he chased after the young Pokémon. "Can't you keep a secret?"

Axew stopped and turned around. "You'd have to do something for me in return."

"No," said Oshawott. "Just keep quiet about this."

"I can't keep secrets unless you do something for me," said Axew seriously.

"Alright, fine! Whatever you want! Just don't tell anybody!" said Oshawott, nearly at begging-point.

"I tell you after you've told Snivy that you love her. Now you have to promise that you'll do whatever I ask you after you tell Snivy that you want to go out with her."

"Alright. I promise to do whatever you ask after I've told Snivy that I want to go out with her. Deal?"

"Yay!" said Axew joyfully. "Thanks, Oshawott! Now I'll keep it a secret for you."

As soon as Axew bounded off, Oshawott flopped backwards onto the grass and was approached by a sympathetic Pikachu. He hoped that nobody else heard that conversation although knowing his luck, they probably had.

"What have I done to deserve this?" Oshawott murmured as he stared into the sky. "I'm sure Emolga's being teaching Axew how to blackmail."

"Hm, perhaps," said Pikachu. "Anyway, I wouldn't hang about if I were you. Axew probably isn't the best Pokémon to keep secrets. I wouldn't be surprised if he was telling Scraggy now." This caused Oshawott to leap up and dash away in the direction of town (figuring that he wouldn't be attacked by any giant Dragon Pokémon or anything else this time). "And be more careful for once!" Pikachu yelled after him. "I know why that Haxorus was mad so don't go infuriating anybody else!"

Oshawott didn't hear him. Pikachu shook his head and went to see if Axew could keep his side of the bargain for more than five minutes…

"Flowers, flowers, flowers…" Oshawott muttered under his breath. Nobody seemed to notice a small Oshawott wandering about in their midst and if they did, they spared a quick cursory glance and assumed that he was already with somebody. For his part, Oshawott just wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible; he had already had his tail stood on twice and the next person to do so was just waiting for a Water Gun in the face.

He walked past a busy café and did not notice the figures in black hiding behind newspapers. They glanced at the Oshawott, smiled and pretended to carry on reading the latest Unova gossip. In reality, a laptop was brought out and a tracker system was booted up. Sweet, a new plan had already been formulated.

It took Oshawott some time since he'd never been to this town before but he finally found the place that he was looking for. A strong wave of rose petals and lavender hit him and the florist's Lilipup stared at him from the counter. Oshawott groaned. Did human males go into these sorts of places? He had no idea how this sort of thing was really supposed to go. All he had done was act upon instinct before and now that he was thinking about it, it all seemed rather embarrassing.

Oshawott, in his haste, hadn't thought about it before but he only just considered it now: how was he supposed to pay for these things? When humans bought something from a shop, they paid the seller with money; he'd seen Ash and Professor Juniper do that. But Pokémon never carried money with them; they had no need for it after all. Maybe this was another bad idea…

Oshawott shook his head. He'd just have to make it up to them somehow, he was sure that they would understand.

"Hey," he said to the Lilipup who was now treating him with an especially suspicious glance. "You couldn't happen to do a favour for a fellow Pokémon could you?"

Pikachu paced up and down and wished that he had stopped Oshawott before. He couldn't just go off on his own like that! Oshawott was likely to get lost or end up in trouble or something and Ash would be back any minute. As they were at a Pokémon Centre that sat at the edge of town, a lot of trainers passed by with many coming to heal their Pokémon and to make plans to stay for the night. Ash, Cilan and Iris had got talking to a couple of them and were already arranging battles since it was all preparation for the Unova League and his fellow Pokémon were starting to get restless anyway after their mini-break.

"Come on, where are you?" he muttered to himself. He didn't want to be held responsible for Oshawott's new disappearance.

"Has he gone again?" said a voice behind him.

"I suppose there's no hiding anything from you," said Pikachu to Snivy as she walked up beside him.

"Mm. So do you think he'll be back soon?"

"I hope so," said Pikachu. "At least he isn't moping about now. I guess he's finally matured."

"In a manner of speaking," said Snivy. "But he doesn't need to do all of this; he doesn't need to prove anything. Tell me when he gets back, would you?"

"Huh? What?" said Pikachu as he processed what Snivy said. "Hey, wait a moment!"

"Hey, Pikachu, come on buddy, looks like we've got ourselves a match!"

"~Pika-Pikachu!~"

I hope he doesn't notice, thought Pikachu to himself as he followed Ash to where the match would take place. If Oshawott doesn't get back in five minutes, I swear I'm going to electrocute him…