Chapter 3: Pikachu & The Weedstalk

--

Apples, pears, grapes, oranges, bananas, plums, cherries, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, pumpkins . . .

Pikachu was in paradise. Wherever it turned there was either a tree, vine, bush or patch bearing every kind of fruit it had ever known in its lifetime. Among the sea of flourishing colors, the grass was a golden shade of wheat and the sky above a soft blue streaked with pinks and purples. The smell that hung in the air was beyond divine. Best of all, Pikachu had the entire place to itself.

Without another thought, the mouse pounced, barely feeling the ground beneath its feet. Past dozens of trees and fallen fruit it went, taking in the glorious sight with open awe and excitement, wondering which it should tackle first. It wanted everything! Even if it stuffed itself to combustion that didn't matter because at least it knew it would die happy. If it wasn't already dead that is.

A small pinkish sphere caught its attention. Just between two berry patches, lying with an innocent rosy gleam was Pikachu's ultimate favorite. The most sweetest nectarine flesh of them all.

It gave out a joyous "Cha!" and in two big leaps, soon had the delicious peach in its clutches. Pikachu took a big whiff. A pleasing shiver erupted. It stared at the fruit almost lovingly before slowly bringing to its mouth. Three inches to go 'til the first bite. Two inches. One . . .

An overhead branch snapped and out fell a watermelon, landing right on Pikachu's head.

"Pikaaaa!" The mouse cried out, dropping the fruit.

Like a popped balloon, the peach vanished. The trees soon followed, as if a rabid mole rat was pulling them back into the ground until nothing remained but darkness and the sound of a river behind it. Through stingy tears, Pikachu opened its eyes and was greeted by the strong, morning light. The crown of its head was throbbing, as if someone just came around and punched it into consciousness. Coincidentally enough, it looked up to see the angry, twisted face of its trainer staring down at it with unmasked distaste. Ashley's arms were flattened against her sides, one hand curled into a fist, the other held her backpack.

"You . . ." she said through gritted teeth.

Pikachu jumped out of the way just in time to avoid the large bag as it hit the ground. It was fully awake now, and downright furious at the sudden assault. "Pikachu!" Its cheeks crackled threateningly but Ashley did not seem fazed this time around.

"I'll give you one chance to tell me the truth - just one!" she held up a finger. "And don't you dare play dumb with me. 'Fess up, where did all the food go!"

"Pi, pikachu!"

"You were nearest to the bag! It has to be you! So where is it? Where's the food!"

What food? Pikachu wanted to yell back at her. It certainly knew nothing about any food (unless you count its delicious dream) or the nature of Ashley's accusation. It decided that the girl must have lost it. Either that or the aftermath of yesterday's shock was still affecting her brain. She was as coherent as a drunk, thrashing Nidoqueen.

"Well!" Ashley demanded.

It was like seeing a tiny explosion go off. The girl was shaking with anger. Pikachu expected an explosion at any moment. However, something strange happened instead. The explosion hit a dead fuse and a crack started to show. The angry countenance wavered, breaking. The girl slummed onto the ground, buried her face in her knees and, much to the mouse's surprise, began to sob. And not just little sobs, but big fat, globs of tears accompanied by loud wailing.

"I-It's all go-gone! Everything! And I'm so, so hungry! I-I didn't even eat last nigh-night!"

Pikachu decided that its trainer was a first class crazy. Any pity it felt at her tears quickly evaporated and soon all it felt was a desperate need to shut her up. Because believe it or not, the girl was loud. Her wails could wake a Snorlax. Pikachu knew it had to do something before it went deaf.

In the midst of her plight, Ashley failed to notice the yellow Pokemon crawling up to her and, in a big act of awkwardness, started to pat the girl on the back in what seemed to be its best comforting manner. It worked, somewhat. The girl finally looked up, red-eyed and teary.

"What?" she muttered.

"Pika . . ." a weary Pikachu whined. All the mouse wanted was a quiet morning.

Surprisingly, Ashley misunderstood and shooed Pikachu off of her. "It's too-hic-late for apologie-hic-es now." A loud grumble from her stomach cut her off and she groaned. Pikachu braced itself, fearing that the waterworks were going to be back on full-force. However, Ashley pursed her lips, letting out only a couple of sobs and hiccups. She looked Pikachu in the eyes and said, "I hope you're happy."

Pikachu returned the stare with a flat look of its own. "Pi." It deadpanned.

Slowly, all the while keeping one eye on its trainer, Pikachu sniffed through the backpack, just to make sure it wasn't getting its tail pulled. Sure enough, no food. No wrapped up sandwiches, no dried meats or any other stuff that had been there the night before. And yet the only scent it could pick up on was its own and Ashley's. That was very, very odd. For Pikachu at least.

"You believe me now?" Angry tears began to well up again. "Well what am I supposed to do? Starve?"

Pikachu shrugged.

"I know what you're gonna do though. You're gonna make up for this. You gonna get back in that forest, and you're gonna find me breakfast."

Pikachu shook its head. A definite 'no way'.

Ashley expected this. Pretty soon tears were pouring out in streams. "Please?" she said in a quiet tone."I'm really, really hungry . . ."

The mouse rolled its eyes and tried diverting its gaze. It wasn't going to let a couple of alligator tears get the best of it. But tears were the least of its worries. Not long the wails started and the more Pikachu tried to ignore it, the louder Ashley got. What was a Pikachu to do to get a nice quiet morning? It didn't spare any more time before racing towards the trees.

Ashley made sure Pikachu was far out enough when the crying came to an abrupt stop. After a couple of swipes of her sleeve, it looked as if Ashley never cried at all.

"Well . . ." A hand slid into her shorts pocket, and out came a candy bar. The girl smiled. "Served it right."

Now don't get her wrong. She wasn't lying about the lost supplies. Only about the 'everything' the part.


After changing and washing up by the river, Ashley had come up with a reasonable way to spend her Pikachu-free pass.

It was in fact something she'd been meaning to try since the start of her journey. From the side of her backpack she took out the present Mrs. Ketchum had given her. To a stranger's eye, it was no doubt worthless. Just a black rod with no significant appeal. It looked a bit like a stunted baton. But if under closer observation, it was actually a handle with a line of buttons running down the side. Each with its own function and property.

Ashley momentarily considered activating the first button. However, after a few moments of rethinking, she opted for the second one.

Inside the handle, something whirled to life. A circular latch on top sunk inwards and out extended the fishing rod all the way to its optimum. Delia wasn't kidding when she said she'd gotten the latest modifications. The wire came next, snaking its way up as if drawn by a pulley. There was no spool or reel, just another button, though bigger than the rest, to pull in the catch. At the end of the string hung a minimized pokeball.

This was Dad's favorite.

Her father had taught her all he knew about the sport, from the right bait to use to the most comfortable waiting position. Years of neglect had washed away most of those teaching though. She had tried keeping up with the hobby after Dad died but could never find any actual footing in it especially since she was so young at that time. Giving up was easy back then. But no matter how terrible she was at it, fishing always retained a special place in her heart. Ashley wondered whether she even remembered how to cast.

She held the rod tighter. Well, it was time to find out. She took a place by the edge, readying herself.

"Relax. You can do this. I know you can."

That voice . . . It played out so clearly in her head. Her eyes closed, shoulders eased up and almost visibly her posture softened.

"Now, make sure the line is against the rod."

With a finger, she pressed the wire down, so that it was taut and she could feel the weight of the pokeball beneath her touch.

"Good girl. Pull it back."

She drew the rod backwards.

"Are you ready?"

A deep breath. Her grip was firm.

"Then, just release."

It swung forward, in one smooth arch over her head. There was a splash as the bait hit the water. Her eyes went wide.

I did it, Daddy! I did it.

"See, it's easy isn't it."

Sure is. Um, now what?

"Now? Now, we wait of course."

Her best childhood memories always involved her father. They may be few, but that made them all the more special. And so, taking a comfortable spot on the grass, she waited.


Meanwhile, back in the forest, Pikachu was crawling and sniffing around for anything edible. It was only here for two reasons: first; even though it can't stand its trainer, it can't stand its trainer's noisiness more. And second; it was pretty hungry as well and in this way, Ashley would never know that Pikachu had kept all the ripe, juicy berries for itself, leaving her with whatever was left. To kill two birds with one stone, as the saying goes.

After deciding that it had had enough to stay satisfied until its next meal, Pikachu gathered Ashley's rather green, rather unappetizing remainder in its arms and set off. Unfortunately, with its hands full, it had no choice but to walk on its back legs which Pikachu soon realized was harder than it looked. This was probably the most human behavior it have ever attempted and it did not like how it feel one bit.

Pikachu waddled forward slowly, concentrating on lifting one feet after the other, keeping an eye on the ground and another at its load. As it walked on, a soft cooing caught it attention from above. It looked up to see a Pidgey, perched high on a branch. A Pidgey with an eyepatch. It was just sitting there, staring at the mouse with such one-eyed intensity that made Pikachu rather uncomfortable.

"Pika?"

Pikachu asked the Pidgey if something was wrong but there was no reply. The bird gave one last lingering look before spreading its small wings and flew away. If Pikachu could, it would probably do the same. The sky seemed to be a much safer place at the moment. Pikachu continued forward, only this time at a faster pace. Something about the forest was starting to get to it and weird, staring Pidgeys were probably the last thing it should be worried about. In its haste, it did not notice a couple of berries falling from its hold.

. . crunch . . .

The mouse jumped. On instinct, it spun around, ready to discharge an attack in a flash. But as it scanned its surroundings, there was nothing bizarre or intimidating in sight. All it saw was the normal settings: trees, bushes and overgrown weeds. Very overgrown. It felt a strange tingle in its spine as it examined a set of grass that grew apart from the rest of the verdure. The large leaves looked more well kept than anything else it had seen in the forest, almost like it was cared for. It was odd, that much was true, but definitely not threatening. Pikachu's gaze then wandered to the fallen berries at its feet, wondering if it should pick them up. However, at the end, Pikachu decided against it. Pokemon always rely on their instincts, and right now Pikachu's was telling it to run.

And run it did. As fast as it could on two legs anyway. More berries fell out.

Crunch . . .

This time, it didn't bother looking back. Quickly shaking the scare out of its body and ignoring the sound, it kept going, forcing itself to hum a happy Pikachu tune as it went.

Snap.

Pikachu froze. No amount of humming would help it now. It didn't want to see what was behind it, but it knew, it knew that it was going to. With deliberate slowness, Pikachu held its breath as it looked over its shoulder. Any berries that were once on the ground were no more, and in their place was something that wasn't there a few seconds ago. The strange clump of leaves, the one that Pikachu had dubbed different from the rest, was now standing just behind it. The fur on its back rose like pin-needles. It looked at the place where it had first saw the leaves and sure enough, the leaves had moved. Whatever was left of the mouse bravado slipped away in that instance.

Forgetting all about Ashley, it threw the berries at the stalking weed and took off on all fours, not willing to wait around to see what would happen if it stayed. You would think that Pikachu gave itself a thundershock by the way it fled.

The leaves were still for a moment. The entire forest was silent. And then, it started to rustle, then sway. Back and forth, back and forth. Like quicksand, Ashley's supposed breakfast sunk into the ground. The same Pidgey watched on, safe on a different branch, as it listened to soft crunching from beneath the earth.


To be continued . . .