Reunion
Ivysaur, Terra and Happy were walking through the forest, still trying to find Arius (and to a lesser extent, Pumpkin) when the two very Pokémon sprinted past them, screaming. The three stunned Pokémon barely had time to register what had just happened when Katerina and her Persian flashed by in hot pursuit. Without thinking twice about it, Ivysaur took off in the direction they were running with Terra and Happy following her lead. They refused to lose sight of Arius and Pumpkin for a second time.
Katerina was catching up to Pumpkin, who was slowing down now she was growing tired. Despite her exhaustion, Pumpkin urged herself to move faster, aware of the danger closing in. She could hear Katerina's breathing and imagined she could feel it on the back of her bristled fur. Katerina's arms were outstretched, her eyes triumphant as if she had already seized the necklace. This was going to be much easier than she had anticipated; she could see Pumpkin slowing down too.
Arius chanced a look behind and was aghast to see Katerina and her Persian narrowing the gap between them. They both had longer, more powerful legs than he and Pumpkin so it was probably inevitable that they couldn't outrun the two foes. Arius didn't look back long enough to see Ivysaur and the others and if he had, he might have decided on a different plan of action. However as it was, Arius believed he had no chance of rescue and was certain Katerina was going to grab Pumpkin any second.
So he stopped running.
This abrupt change of pace startled Pumpkin and she tripped over Arius. They landed in a tangle but were quick to right themselves. Katerina and her Persian were running too fast to slow down immediately and after a brief pause they halted and backed up swiftly.
Pumpkin was looking at Arius as if he was stupid; he couldn't possible expect them to get away now. Arius missed Pumpkin's betrayed expression though as he had readied himself to attack. His large eyes focused on Katerina and the Persian at her side, Arius let loose with the most powerful Water Pulse he had ever mustered and it struck the pursuers so hard they were knocked down.
Katerina was back on her feet quickly and kicked her Persian to get up as well. Glaring hate at Arius, Katerina ordered the Persian to counter with Toxic: the same move that had seriously weakened Pumpkin a few days ago. Arius dodged it sharply – Ivysaur saw him move and wondered when he had gotten so agile – and returned with Confusion. The Persian hissed bitterly, shaking its head wildly as if that would improve the clouding of its mind. Katerina watched her Pokémon flail around with seething fury and groaned to herself when it bashed its head painfully against the trunk of a tree.
Now caught up to everyone, Ivysaur snickered openly at the Persian while Terra and Happy were more discreet about their amusement. Their laughter alerted Pumpkin that they had more company and she was relieved they were there but Arius was too focused on his fight with the Persian to realise his friends had reappeared. His next move was one he hadn't done prior to this: Fury Swipes. Arius attacked the Persian viciously, swinging at her face and leaving behind deep red gashes.
Seeing her Pokémon was getting beaten badly by a lowly Psyduck, Katerina stepped forward with the intention of placing a well-aimed kick at Arius but Ivysaur saw what the female thief's intention was and slapped her warningly with one of her vines. The two glared at each other for a tense moment and Terra, Happy and Pumpkin brought themselves up to their full height, letting Katerina know that if she tried to hurt Ivysaur then she would have to face their wraths as well. Realising that for now she had been defeated, Katerina unwillingly returned her Persian back to its Pokéball and, after swearing she would not give up on the necklace, stalked off to find a vulnerable preteen trainer whom she could steal a few Potions off.
The five Pokémon waited a reasonable amount of time before relaxing, finally convinced Katerina wasn't going to return in a hurry. Happy wanted to greet Arius and Pumpkin immediately but Ivysaur warned him against it: they would be safer if they moved out of the area before becoming completely comfortable with the idea Katerina no longer posed a threat for the moment. Terra agreed that Ivysaur had a point and they quickly walked a few paces east where they stopped by a large hole in the ground, probably dug and abandoned by a wild Dugtrio.
"I'm so glad you're okay!" Happy squealed delightedly, flapping his fluffy wings in Arius's face to express his joy. Terra and Arius laughed at him fondly.
"You were so brave back there, Arius," said Pumpkin huskily. "You're officially my hero." Arius blushed and muttered a modest 'your welcome', his face glowing even brighter when Pumpkin kissed him quickly on the cheek.
"It's thanks to you Joan's necklace is still safe," said Pumpkin, clearly pleased. When Happy was finished bouncing around Arius, Terra threw her arms around Arius and hugged him tightly.
"You don't understand how worried we all were!" she whispered, grateful to have her friend back. Arius stared at the Sandslash in awe.
"Terra! You've evolved!" he exclaimed. Terra pulled away from him, laughing warmly.
"Looking for you made us all work harder than ever and it just kind of happened. Ivysaur probably worked the hardest trying to find you, though," said Terra, idly wondering if Ivysaur was going to hit her for that sly comment. Arius blinked.
"Where...Where is Ivysaur?" They looked around. She seemed to have vanished.
"Oh no, don't tell me she's lost now?" Pumpkin said with what appeared to be genuine dismay. Arius thought that was strange as the two of them hadn't really hit it off and he suspected Ivysaur didn't like Pumpkin one bit. Happy flapped his wings in agitation but didn't have the energy to fly properly anymore. He was scared that Ivysaur truly was lost and Terra patted him consolingly. She didn't think Ivysaur was lost since it had been her who had led them to where they were now. Ivysaur had most likely slipped off while everyone was distracted and Terra doubted Ivysaur would have gone far. Pumpkin was about to declare the need for a search party when Ivysaur's voice called out lazily from nearby.
"I'm over here." Their heads swivelled around and they followed the sound of Ivysaur's voice. The four Pokémon were relieved and confused to see Ivysaur leisurely bathing in a patch of sunlight. Seeing there was no imminent danger, Terra enlisted Pumpkin's help to dig out the Duglet hole so they could have a decent resting place for the night and Happy hopped after them cheerily. Arius and Ivysaur were alone together and he asked her the only question that mattered at that moment.
"What on earth are you doing, Ivy?" Behind her closed eyelids, Ivysaur's eyes rolled and she ignored him. It was obvious what she was doing: she was soaking up the sun. Arius waddled closer to Ivysaur curiously.
"You know, Terra mentioned you were all really worried about me," he said. Ivysaur grunted in response. "You more so than her or Happy." Ivysaur opened one eye and watched Arius moodily.
"Did she now?" Ivysaur said, closing her eye again and shifting position on the ground so she was more comfortable. "How interesting." Arius frowned when he realised he wasn't going to get much – if anything – out of Ivysaur. Not when she was in this weirdly mellow but still grumpy mood. He sighed.
"Why don't you just admit you missed me so we can get back to normal?" Arius said. Ivysaur scoffed.
"How can we be normal when we're lost in the forest without our trainer and an ugly woman is chasing us for a prehistoric necklace that belonged to a teenage girl's dead grandma?" Arius cocked his head.
"Good point."
"I know." Arius's face clouded over. Silence reigned over the two Pokémon for a good while and Ivysaur thought Arius had given up and joined the others. She was wrong however; Arius was still standing by her side, waiting. Waiting for what, he didn't quite know yet. When it became clear that Ivysaur wasn't going to be the one to break the silence and speak first, Arius gave in.
"Not that it makes a difference, but I missed you. I missed all of you, actually. I kept wondering if you would even notice I was gone. I'm not a valued member of them team and I'm okay with that but I did worry you would – you would all – replace me easily. It kind of stung to think I could be replaced by a Magikarp and it would probably be ten times better than me."
Ivysaur opened both her eyes and sat up, facing Arius sternly. One of her vines snaked out from under her pink bulb slowly and hovered in the air for a moment. Arius's eyes followed it as it swayed fluidly in the air, mesmerising him with its elegance. It reclined backwards unhurriedly and then without warning snapped forwards to smack Arius in the middle of his forehead. Clutching the quickly reddening spot and moaning 'ouch', Arius demanded to know what the reason for the blow was.
"You're an idiot, Arius. We rushed around this stupid forest trying to find you, hoping you were safe with that airhead Vulpix. Of course you're a valued member of our team, jeez. Who else could be more of a drama queen? Didn't you realise Katerina ran off after you single-handedly beat up her Persian? You're incredible, Arius, a real contender and if you only opened your abnormally massive eyes you'd see it just as clear as I do."
A lump had formed in Arius's throat. Ivysaur, amid all her backhanded compliments and subtle insults, had never said anything nicer to him in all the time they knew each other. The emotion was choking Arius up; Ivysaur could see it and it made her feel sick. He took a wary step forward and his arms rose just a little. Ivysaur knew what was going to happen. Arius was going to hug her. Her immediate reaction was to back off at once but something made her stay where she was. A hug from Arius, the big yellow softie; that couldn't be so bad, could it? Maybe it would be pleasant. Or maybe she would give in to her instincts and slap him in the face when it was over.
Ivysaur didn't get to find out what a hug from Arius would feel like then. That was because the Dugtrio that had burrowed the hole nearby was back and it had a friend.
