Chapter 3: Pokémon Working Lunch
"So, tell me Ash.." Dawn said as she took a sip of tea from her cup "I take it you are competing in the Sinnoh League again this year?"
Ash and Dawn, along with Pikachu and Piplup, sat at a table in a small café a few hundred yards from the Contest Arena. The 2 humans were enjoying some lunch while their Pokémon were busy eating some Pokémon food that their respective trainers had provided them.
"Yeah, I want to win the thing this year. I'm not sure how much longer I can go without winning a tournament, if I want to become a Pokémon Master I need to start winning tournaments." Ash frowned.
"But you've always done well at tournaments Ash. You've never flopped at one." Dawn pointed out as she rested her index finger on her lips.
Ash scoffed and shook his head.
"I've always failed though, Dawn. Back home at the end of last year when I competed again in the Indigo League, I still failed, even though I got to my first final. But I'm changing that this time! No more getting together a new team every tournament! THAT has been my failing!"
"But Ash, training new Pokémon is what you love doing!" Dawn protested.
"I agree Dawn; I love training and raising new Pokémon but the game requires that I make a change now. I can catch and train when I'm not competing in tournaments but to get to tournaments and actually stand a chance of winning I've got to adapt how I go about it. Take the last Sinnoh League, I lost to a guy who used legendary Pokémon. He used his best and he won so now I've got together a team of old friends which I will be using."
Ash withdrew his badge case and opened to show Dawn the 4 badges he had got.
"Not a single rematch needed this time and all won with one or two of my Pokémon." Ash said proudly.
"Well, that's great Ash..."
"Hey! How'd you like to come to the Gym tomorrow and see my match with Fantina? It would be like old times again!"
Dawn looked at the expectant and excited look on Ash's face. He was getting hyper about his Gym battle and clearly wanted her to be there. Dawn, however, wasn't sure about going. After all, she had already planned on taking some R&R tomorrow.
"I dunno..."
"Come on Dawn! It would mean a lot to me if you came! Please?" Ash pleaded, clasping his hands together, almost praying for her to say yes.
"Pika Pikachu-pi." *Join us Dawn."
"Piplup, piplup pip!" *Please Dawn, let's go with them!*
"I see I'm outnumbered. Fine, I'll go with you Ash, but you owe me a favour." Dawn gave Ash a stern look and pointed at him to let him know she was deadly serious about being owed.
"Heh, sure Dawn, I owe you." Ash smiled back sweetly.
The unintentional charm of Ash's smile caught Dawn off guard and she found herself staring at Ash, caught in a trance at just how good looking Ash was when he used his charm. Ash had begun to stare into Dawn's eyes; he loved how her sapphire eyes looked, especially in the sun like they were now.
Pikachu noticed the look on Dawn's face and held a claw up to his face and tapped his chin thoughtfully. Pikachu tapped Piplup on the shoulder to get his friend's attention.
"Piplup?" *What's up?*
"Pika-pikachu pi pika pika-chu" *I think we should try and get our trainers together Piplup*
"Piplup? Piplup pip-lup pip piplup piplup-lup?" *Seriously? Well I know Dawn has missed Ash a lot but are you certain they like each other that much?
"Pika! Pikachu pika-pika pi-pika. Pika-chu pika chu." *Of course! See how they are looking at each other. I've heard a rhyme that will start things off.*
Piplup wasn't convinced but he didn't stop Pikachu, after all, he would like it if they all stayed together forever. Pikachu bounded over to Ash and Dawn and stood in-between them. He looked at Ash, who still had that smile on his face, and then at Dawn who hadn't taken her eyes off of Ash still. Pikachu smiled and took a deep breath.
"Pika-pi pi pikachu-pi pika pika pi." *Ash and Dawn sitting in a tree.*
Ash and Dawn both snapped out of their trances and looked at Pikachu.
"Pi-pi-pika-pika-pi-ka-chu." *K-I-S-S-I-N-G.*
"Is that?" Ash queried.
Dawn groaned as she knew what Pikachu was singing. Ash's mouth hung open in disbelief at what Pikachu was doing.
"Pika-pika pi, pi-ka-chu, pika pi-pika pikachu-pi ka-chu." *First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Dawn with a baby carriage.*
There was a lot Ash wanted to say, but his brain currently did not work out of shock. All he was capable of was his left eye twitching. Dawn placed her hands over her face, blushing underneath and also feeling embarrassed that a Pokémon had made fun of her. Pikachu made kissy faces at Ash and Dawn while Piplup burst out laughing at the reactions of both humans.
"Oh! You think that is funny do you Pikachu?" Dawn fumed, glaring at the yellow mouse Pokémon.
Pikachu smiled at Dawn. Dawn growled as she took out a Pokéball and opened it.
"We'll see how funny you think this is." Dawn smiled a cruel and twisted smile at Pikachu.
"Buneary!" Buneary stretched and looked around. It didn't take her long to notice Pikachu.
"BUNEARY! Bun bun!" *PIKACHU! My precious mouse!*
Now it was Ash and Dawn who were laughing. Pikachu looked at Ash as Buneary clung on to him. Piplup stopped laughing and slinked away, jumping off the table and hiding under it to avoid something happening to him.
"Pika! Pika-chu pi!" *I'm sorry! Please help me!*
"Sorry Pikachu, you got yourself into this mess. I'm not going to stand in the way of Buneary." Ash replied with a very smug smile plastered across his face.
Pikachu sighed in defeat as Buneary clung on and kept telling him how much she had missed him.
Then there was the unmistakable sound of another Pokéball opening, this time without Ash or Dawn commanding the resident to appear.
"Samurott will you stop- oh wait. Samurott is back at Professor Oak's laboratory. So who is it?" Ash questioned.
His answer appeared right before his eyes and it was a small, green and very angry answer.
"Snivy? Why have you come out of your Pokéball?" Ash asked the small grass snake.
Snivy ignored her trainer's question and instead glared daggers at Buneary. Snivy used her Vine Whip to pull Buneary off of Pikachu then drop Buneary unceremoniously on to the table.
"Bun! Buneary?!" *Hey! What's up with you?!*
"Snivy! Sni-vy vy!" *Leave him alone! He's my man you bitch!*
Pikachu sighed as the 2 females argued vehemently.
"Buneary? Bun bun buneary!" *Your man? He was mine first you slut!*
Pure anger coursed through Snivy at Buneary's insult, anger so evident that Ash and Dawn had to act.
"Snivy, that's enough!" Ash told Snivy.
"Buneary! Stop this right now!" Dawn shouted.
Both Pokémon turned to face their respective trainers...and attacked them. Snivy slapped Ash across his face with her Vine Whip which knocked Ash out off his chair. Buneary used her Dizzy Punch on Dawn which sent her falling off her chair too. With their trainers out of the way, the girls started fighting which ended up knocking Pikachu off the table too, neither of the girls noticing what they had done to Pikachu. Piplup waddled over to Dawn and patted her on the face.
"Man, that Dizzy Punch hurts a lot." Dawn said as she rubbed her jaw.
"Dawn, your slaps are nothing compared to Snivy's. I am so going to have a bruise tomorrow." Ash complained as he gingerly rubbed his cheek.
Pikachu jumped back on to the table and powered up a Thunderbolt.
"Pi-kaaaaa-CHUUUUUUUUUU!"
Both Snivy and Buneary were hit by the electricity and both collapsed at the force of the attack. Ash and Dawn wasted no time in getting their hands on their respective Pokémon's Pokéballs.
"Snivy, return!"
"Buneary, return!"
Both Pokémon were sent back to their balls, much to the relief of Ash, Dawn, Pikachu and Piplup.
"Sorry about that Dawn, I have no idea what overcame Snivy there. Normally she's far too proud and arrogant to get involved in a brawl."
"I'm sorry too Ash. I wish I knew what made them snap like that."
"Oh! I just remembered, I can find that out! Come with me, we can go to the room I'm staying at in the Pokémon Centre and get some answers there." Ash explained to his friend.
"Okay...how can you find out? You don't speak Pokémon language." Dawn wasn't convinced at all.
"Hey, no need to worry right? You trust me right? You'll be surprised, I guarantee it!" Ash was very excited.
"Sure, I guess. I'll pay for our lunch first though, wait here and then we'll go."
Ash looked out of the window of his room at the mid-afternoon sun. It was a bright day and it had been rather hot, but Ash hadn't been bothered about the weather too much since he was hanging with his best human friend again. Dawn sat on the end of Ash's bed with Piplup sitting on her lap. Pikachu sat on the dressing table looking at his master.
"Come on then Ash, what is this big surprise you have that will tell us what went on with Snivy and Buneary?" Dawn asked.
Pikachu smiled - he knew what Ash was about to do.
"Okay Dawn, you ready for this?" Ash asked as he unclipped a Pokéball from his belt. "Go!"
The Pokéball opened and materialised a...Meowth.
"Ov vey, what now twerp?" The Meowth asked, then he noticed Dawn. "Oh great! Now the twerpette knows my fate! Is there anyone else from your past that you want to show me to?!" Meowth flung his arms out in annoyance.
Dawn's eyes widened and her mouth hang open.
"Come on Meowth, we both know you secretly are glad that I took you in." Ash grinned at Meowth.
"Ash! Is...is that Meowth from Team Rocket?"
"WAS a part of Team Rocket. Oh how times have changed for me." Meowth groaned.
"But...didn't you belong to someone in Team Rocket?" Dawn was curious as to how Ash ended up with Meowth as his Pokémon.
Meowth looked at Pikachu, then at Ash. He didn't want to say anymore but the look on Ash's face told him that if he didn't say, then Ash would.
"No, never. I was as wild as the day I was born. I've had many people try to capture me over the years but the twerp here..." Meowth gestured at Ash. "...was the only one who has."
"Did Jessie and James ever try to capture you?" Dawn was eager to learn about Meowth's past.
"No, they were my friends and they respected me enough to know that I never wanted to be anyone's Pokémon." Meowth glared at Ash.
"Okay Meowth, you can tell Dawn the rest later. Right now I'm going to bring Snivy out and I want you to translate her response to my questions." Ash told the feline Pokémon, ignoring the glare Meowth was giving him.
"Fine." Mewoth sighed.
Ash removed Snivy's Pokéball and opened it. Snivy materialised on the floor a few feet from Ash.
"Snivy?" Snivy checked her surroundings and slumped when she saw Meowth. She knew an interrogation was about to happen.
"Alright Snivy, care to explain yourself at lunch?" Ash asked sternly.
"Snivy snivy vy sni-vy vy-vy sni-vy snivy!"
"Snivy says she heard Pikachu ask for help and she was just maintaining order by separating Buneary from him." Meowth explained to Ash.
"Pika?" Pikachu was shocked at Snivy's attempted lie.
Ash and Meowth both looked at Pikachu.
"Wells, if you knows different, tell me." Meowth said to Pikachu.
"Wait, just before you do that Pikachu." Ash looked directly into Snivy's eyes. "If what you said is true, why did you use Vine Whip on me?"
Snivy couldn't make eye contact with Ash, sure she could lie her way out with Ash's other Pokémon, not that she ever had to, but she didn't feel good about lying to Ash anymore than she was already, but she was too embarrassed to tell Meowth exactly why she attacked Buneary.
"Sni-vy."
"She says she's sorry, boss."
"Is that it Snivy? So you aren't going to tell me why? I want to know, Snivy."
Snivy glanced at Ash and saw the very serious expression on his face. This wasn't something Ash was just going to drop and the longer she kept her mouth shut, well, she started to imagine that she wouldn't find herself in Ash's travelling party anymore. He may even abandon her, though that probably was a step too far for Ash, but the thought of the possibility was there. Snivy walked slowly up to Meowth and whispered into one of his large ears.
"Uh-huh. Okay." Meowth grinned at what Snivy said to him.
"Well?" Ash asked calmly.
"Well twerp, you find yourself the proud owner of one smitten grass snake. Your little Snivy has a major crush on your Pikachu and she attacked the twerpette's Buneary because she feels threatened that her chances with Pikachu are seriously reduced by the rabbit." Meowth grinned evilly at Snivy.
Snivy had intended for Meowth to quietly tell Ash, not blab everything out loud in front of Dawn, Piplup and Pikachu, now that Meowth had, Snivy felt terribly embarrassed, and rather angry. In a flash Meowth was on his back on the floor after being smacked by Snivy's Vine Whip. Snivy was still embarrassed but she felt a little better for what she did to Meowth.
"Snivy, that's enough. Return." Ash recalled Snivy into her ball.
"Oi vey, someone get the number of that truck?" Meowth groaned as he picked himself up.
"Well I have no sympathy for you Meowth. You asked for it by embarrassing Snivy." Dawn sneered at the feline.
"Hey, the twerp asked me to tell him what was going on and I told him! I didn't do nuttin' wrong!" Meowth defended himself.
"Never mind that, return Meowth." Ash called Meowth back into his Pokéball.
"So, looks like Pikachu has two girls after his heart! That's so...I was going to say 'sweet', but it's actually kind of violent between Buneary and Snivy. We are going to have to keep them in check whenever they are out of their Pokéballs together." Dawn suggested to Ash.
"Agreed, the last thing I need if I'm using Snivy in a battle is her not focusing on the battle, same goes for you and Buneary."
"Well I'll go back to my hotel room and talk things over with Buneary, see if I can get her not to go crazy when she next sees Snivy. Shall I meet you back here at about six so we can grab some dinner?"
"Sure, I'll see you later then, Dawn."
Dawn got off of the end of Ash's bed and picked Piplup up and went to leave. She was about to open the door with her free hand when she stopped and looked back at Ash.
"Say, Ash? One thing I've just remembered."
"Yeah?"
"How did you know I would be here in Hearthome City?"
Dawn suspected that her mother was somehow involved in Ash's sudden reappearance but she would need Ash to confirm her suspicions rather than just guess.
"Uh...lucky guess?"
Dawn deadpanned at Ash, not buying his obviously weak lie. Ash cleared his throat. Honestly, he wouldn't have believed his lie either.
"I found out myself."
Dawn raised an eyebrow, still not convinced.
"Alright I asked your mother! She gave me the dates of the contests this year and I planned my Gym battles so I could catch up with you here."
Dawn just smiled at Ash and left, leaving Ash surprised and rather relieved that Dawn didn't have a go at him for one reason or another.
"Hey Mom, how are you?"
"Dawn, dear, I'm fine, how are you doing?"
"I'm just fine, mother."
Johanna giggled, she knew exactly what was coming.
"Is there something you want to ask me, dear?"
"Oh, yes. It's not much just...WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ASH WAS HERE?!" Dawn shouted at the videophone.
"Well I did offer to him to tell you that he was coming back here but he said he'd prefer to surprise you."
"Well if you told me I wouldn't have had to have slapped him for not telling me!"
"But I would have broken my promise that I had made to him Dawn. I couldn't do that." Johanna smiled sweetly at her daughter.
"You..." Dawn pointed an index finger at the videophone.
"Don't you think slapping him was rather harsh though?"
"Maybe...I did hug him afterwards and I did buy him lunch AND I'm not going to make him pay for me for dinner."
"I'm certain that Ash will forgive you having hit him, if he hasn't done so already."
"Yeah, everything will be fine, I hope." Dawn glanced down at the floor.
"Something troubling you dear?"
"Well...I don't know how travelling with Ash again will go. Brock was with us last time and with him everything went great because the three of us covered for each other's weaknesses. But now that it'll be just me and Ash...I don't know..."
"Don't worry dear, the two of you are older, wiser and more mature now. I'm certain you can avoid getting yourselves into trouble much more successfully now."
"I hope so. Thanks, mom, I'll speak to you soon. Love you."
"I love you too, Dawn. Have a nice date with Ash." Johanna smirked as she quickly ended the connection before Dawn could say anything.
Dawn growled and screwed her face up in anger as she starred at the now blank screen. She would have to get her own back on her mother, some day.
To Be Continued...