Thanks for the feedback on the last chapter everyone; I'm glad you liked it so much! And considering it was my first effort on anything romantic, I guess it was a job well done. :D

Thanks to bravekid for the chapter title since I couldn't think of one (though remember the majority of the ideas are his/her's anyway. (If you have mentioned it in a previous message, then I apologise for missing/forgetting about it!)

I have come to the conclusion that for me, writing stories is one of the few simple things in life once I have the time and motivation to do so. University, university finances, looking up career paths and finding that most of the ones I'm interested in are either a) far away b) require postgraduate degree, work experience however the hell you get it or c) both and other requirements besides. Why does everything have to be so complicated and stressful? (EDIT: I've done a postgraduate degree now. Oh, the irony.)

OK, rant over with. Let's go!


Chapter 7: Unlikely Conversations

"Drat! Why is it that our Pokémon pinching plots never run smoothly?!" James cried.

"Because you're Team Rocket, that's why," Oshawott answered. "There's always someone to stop you. This time, it's me and Snivy."

Team Rocket collectively sighed. They had just about managed to get every one of the Pokémon into their new and improved Pokémon storage facility, that is to say, a large glass cage rimmed with steel for extra strength and toughness. The twerps had tried putting up a decent fight as they normally did but once they were relieved of their Pokémon in ways which they did not expect (since Team Rocket considered themselves masters of surprises), they were more or less subdued. It was hard putting up a fight when one of the members carried a net-shooting bazooka anyway, as payback for getting punched on the nose on a previous occasion. Jessie, James and Meowth had their prize Pokémon Pikachu contained in his own personal electric-proof orb for safe-keeping whilst the others were safely locked in the aforementioned cage, despite their vigorous attempts for freedom. All of them were going to bring Team Rocket a lot of money, especially Pikachu of course though the other twerpette's Pokémon had less value since they did not have the ability to talk. Still, finders keepers losers weepers.

But no, two Pokémon had to be away from the camp at the time didn't they?

"Guess you told them after all, eh, pipsqueak?" Meowth called out, flashing a mocking grin towards Oshawott.

Well, he had but not in the way that he wished to repeat to Team Rocket, especially considering the trouble they had caused him. "So what if Oshawott did?" Snivy shrugged. "That isn't any of your concern. What should be your concern is how we are going to put a stop to your same old plan and thrash you once again." Snivy had her vines out at the ready and Oshawott unhooked his beloved scalchop, already letting a blue aura surround it.

"Oh, please, can't you count?" Jessie mocked. "There is going to be five of us against the two of you and there's nothing you can do about it. Nyeh!" Snivy rolled her eyes; how utterly childish of the older human, sticking her tongue out like that. Still, she was slightly apprehensive when Meowth jumped onto the edge of the basket on the Meowth Air Balloon brandishing his obviously sharpened claws and Jessie and James sent out a number of their Pokémon, Carnivine, Yamask, Woobat and Wobbuffet respectively. Jessie sighed as Carnivine did his usual 'bite James on the head' stunt and wondered what went through the Pokémon's mind to do that every single time. Wobbuffet just said his usual "~Wobbuffet!~"

"Ha!" Ash yelled out. "You crooks just don't know what Snivy and Oshawott are capable of! You'll be blasting off again before you know it!"

"Oh, do keep the twerp quiet won't you, Meowth? Might as well do the others while you're at it," Jessie said as Wobbuffet and Carnivine leapt out of the Air Balloon and made their way to what would be the battlefield.

"Hey! Why do I have t'do all the work around here?" Meowth grumbled. Nevertheless, he got down anyway and wasted no time in gagging each of the twerps, Ash first so that he couldn't give any commands to his Pokémon.

"What do you think you are doing to us?" Iris demanded. "I won't let you get away with-!"

"Thank goodness for that," said an obviously relieved Meowth once his job was done. "I ain't never found anyone as annoyin' as Jessie an' James except for this twerpette. Even the original twerp ain't that bad."

"Humph, speak for yourself," Jessie huffed over the sound of Iris's muffled complaints. Pikachu couldn't help but agree with both points. "You two are the world's greatest annoyances and it is my misfortune to bear witness to it every day."

"Take that back!" James yelled. "At least I'm not ugly! And I have the affection of my Pokémon!"

Snivy relaxed. What had she been apprehensive for? Oshawott touched her hand for a moment and gave a smile. "We can beat them no problem. We just need to beat them before they realise how badly they're going to lose." From his familiar orb, Pikachu noticed this hand-holding whilst everyone else was preoccupied with the arguing Rocket members and nodded his approval. He noticed these sorts of things; that was why he was considered the leader.

"Ugly! Ugly! Ugly!" James trilled gleefully. "You're so ugly!"

"I'll watch your back as long as you watch mine," Snivy replied to Oshawott, ignoring the inane argument.

"Heh, no problem. OK, then, let's go!"

Oshawott struck Wobbuffet with Razor Shell before Team Rocket even noticed what was happening. The move knocked the wind out of the blue Pokémon but it soon got up again, waiting patiently for the next attack because as was known by the Trainers but not Oshawott, Wobbuffet never attacked first. Oshawott charged in with another powerful Water-Type move, aiming squarely for Wobbuffet's head. This was going to be a piece of cake if Wobbuffet wasn't even going to attack him.

"Use Counter!" Jessie shrieked.

Oshawott's move struck home but he was also violently thrown backwards, slamming heavily into the ground. Snivy gave him a look of concern but Oshawott was already back on his feet and preparing his next move. At least he had the advantage of the weather on his side as it continued to lightly drizzle on the battlefield, thus upping the strength of his Water-Type moves. He easily doused out Yamask's Will O' Wisp and sent it flying with Aqua Tail. Still, he thought, as he now forced Meowth backwards with Water Gun, he needed a move that could help him with his disadvantage against Grass-types. Snivy was obviously strong but she didn't have anything that could really help her against another Grass-Type such as herself. Right now, she and Carnivine were battling for superiority as decided by their vine skills. If only he knew something like Ice Beam or something similar. Or Night Slash. That would be super-effective against three of the Pokémon here. Night Slash, Night Slash… why did that sound familiar?

"This is payback for all the times that you've blasted us off you pesky Pokémon!" Meowth declared as he struck out at Oshawott with his claws. A dark aura emanated from them. Oshawott winced as he felt those sharpened claws rake against his skin and only just about avoided a Critical-Hit. He retaliated with his scalchop as Meowth used Night Slash for a second time, using it as a shield to push back the Normal-Type. So he knew that move? Interesting.

"What do you expect?" he grunted, putting all his energy in stopping Meowth from repeatedly slashing him. "You can't expect us to go quietly and leave all our friends behind. Why the hell would we want to go with you? And yeah, that's something you would never have translated for us before, eh? I told you before that you lot are as bad as Team Plasma and you're only just proving my point. Just don't expect me to go down without a fight; I've got things to live for, people and Pokémon that I care for." He glanced towards Snivy and growled when he saw Carnivine attempting to use Crunch on her. He knocked Meowth aside and raced towards the battling pair. He meant to use Water Gun on Carnivine as a means of distraction but Carnivine quickly dodged the move and crunched into Oshawott instead. Ash winced; Oshawott's cry of pain suddenly sounded a lot more human to him this time.

"Oh, marvellous work, Carnivine!" James trilled. He was always proud of his affectionate Grass-Type Pokémon. "See? While your Wobbuffet is just standing there, my dear Carnivine is getting the job done."

"Humph, well my Wobbuffet is useful when he needs to be," Jessie huffed. "And you're forgetting about Woobat. Use Air Slash!"

Snivy had been preoccupied in trying to extract Oshawott from Carnivine's mouth before it did serious damage to her mate, namely by slamming down onto Carnivine's head with Leaf Blade when the blades of air struck her, flinging her to the sodden ground. Oshawott managed to free himself a moment later by blasting the inside of Carnivine's mouth with Water Gun. Actually, to Oshawott's surprise, it turned out to be more powerful than he was expecting and revealed itself to be Water Pulse instead. Carnivine released Oshawott with a jolt, allowing the Water-Type to run over to Snivy and check if she was alright.

"I'll be fine, Oshawott. This isn't the first time we've battled such numbers. Still, it's hard trying to focus on them all that once." She then gave Oshawott a crafty smile. "You wouldn't too much if I used Attract on them, would you?"

Oshawott shrugged. "I'm not about to just become the jealous type," he said with only the slightest hint of unease. "You're just using it for battle and that's because it will help us out unlike Emolga who just used it the whole damn time…" he muttered. Emolga's ears suddenly twitched. She hoped nothing derogatory was being said. Oshawott used Focus Energy, powering himself up as Snivy waited for the male Pokémon to gather together. He stared down at his scalchop. There were so many moves he could pull off with his beloved shell. He watched an enraged Meowth attempt to use Night Slash again, and wondered if he could do the same.

"Let us all attack at once!" James cried. "They surely won't be able to withstand us then. Go, Carnivine! Go, Yamask! Let's do this for the good of Team Rocket!"

"Just think how pleased the boss will be when we present him with these very valuable Pokémon," Jessie remarked. "Oh, you're wondering how we found out?" She cast a glance towards the trussed-up Trainers. "We have our ways in Team Rocket. We were going to capture the Pokémon last night if it wasn't for that Oshawott though I think we should have continued with that plan anyway…"

James's Pokémon charged forwards with their Trainer's encouragement. Yamask began charging up Shadow Ball and was closely followed by Jessie's swift Woobat and lumbering Wobbuffet. Mewoth came trailing behind them, panting a little for breath. He wasn't as used to battling as his cohorts were. Still, he wasn't far enough behind to be able to avoid Snivy's barrage of Attract.

"Well, wouldn't it have been better if she used that earlier?" Emolga sighed melodramatically, hoping that she was being paid attention to despite the frantic battle before them. "I would have thought of that of course though Iris would already have thought of that too."

"Well, you are such an expert in using Attract that surely it would have been the first thing on your mind," said Unfezant, not ever having to stoop to such levels herself.

"But of course," Emolga replied, completely oblivious to sarcasm. "It would stop them attacking me while I focussed on the others. And it's so satisfying having so many males just look at you with adoration!"

"What a great example you are to the kids," Unfezant sighed. Thankfully, Axew and Scraggy were not paying attention, being quite preoccupied with the battle as they should be. Their noses were pressed to the glass, quite steaming it up with their hot breath full of anticipation.

"Hey, I don't know about you guys," Pignite piped up. "But Oshawott sure looks uncomfortable."

It was true. Oshawott could not help but grimace as he watched numerous pink hearts whirl around their opponents' heads before quickly striking them. Fortunately for Oshawott and Snivy, all of Team Rocket's Pokémon appeared to be male as they all suddenly became enamoured with Snivy in front of them, quite forgetting that they were supposedly to be battling. This situation reminded Oshawott of how he had completely embarrassed himself barely an hour ago in front of everybody without even realising it. And also, considering the flashing hearts in their eyes that they all now possessed, Snivy's Attract was pretty damn strong. If they even dared to make a single move towards Snivy though, then Oshawott was going to deliver some pain their way.

"Why are we even fightin'?" Meowth said blissfully. Oshawott cringed. Since their Trainers would be able to understand his human speech and that Oshawott was fully aware of what was going on, this could only be highly embarrassing. He had his scalchop at the ready and prepared to give it some energy. The aura that emanated from it was black rather than blue. "I'll only ever fight t'protect you cutey-pie from the tyranny of that big, frightenin' world an' from dat terrible Team Plasma. Just say the word an' this Meowth will be at your service. I only ask that you allow me t'love you as a Meowth such as myself can do. I'll bring ya flowers, berries, anythin' ya want baby-doll since it would be my honour an' duty t'do so if we went out together. You remind me of a radiant Legendary Pokémon that brings happiness an' joy to all that behold it as it moves ever so gracefully through the land bringin' with it sunshine an' drivin' away the rain. An' if ya just grace me with one smile, sweet cakes, an' maybe even a little kiss, then this humble Meowth is yours forev-NYEEEEEEH!"

"I wondered when you were going to do that," said Snivy conversationally as Oshawott struck Meowth again for good measure, not with Razor Shell as one might have expected from him, but with Night Slash, as he copied Meowth's technique and thus imbued another move to his scalchop. "I'm surprised that you managed to last that long."

"Yes, well, he, you know," Oshawott spluttered, pink with embarrassment. "That is, he said, he wanted to kiss you! He's a villain! And he doesn't even know you properly; he was just trying it on! Was I ever like this when Emolga had me under Attract?"

"Many times, Oshawott," Snivy grinned. Oshawott groaned seeing that he had no memory of any Attract-induced incidents. "And you do realise everyone's probably listening in, don't you?"

Oshawott turned even redder if that was possible and instead turned his attention to the rest of the love-struck Pokémon with his new move, grimly relishing the fact that the Pokémon were not listening to a single word that James and Jessie were yelling at them and made themselves sitting Duckletts. From behind his gag, Ash was trying to say something like "Well done!" or words to that effect. Snivy slammed into Meowth knocking him back into his senses but also temporarily knocking him out. He was soon followed by Carnivine, Woobat, Yamask and Wobbuffet with the remarkable use of consecutive Night Slash moves, crashing down onto Meowth and each other. Oshawott proudly placed his scalchop back on his stomach.

"Ugh! It's all very well and good being able to capture Pikachu and the weak Pokémon but why is it that the strong Pokémon always manage to slip away from us?" Jessie raged. She returned her Pokémon back to their Poké Balls as did James and they picked up Meowth via use of an extendable grabbing arm.

"Who are you calling weak?!" Emolga demanded. She threw herself against the toughened glass and succeeded only in giving herself a bruise on the head. Pignite and Bianca's Emboar tried punching it and fared a little better. Soon all the Pokémon were furiously making their attempts for freedom again, this time, aided by Oshawott and Snivy for they dashed forwards and made use of their strongest moves against the cage whilst Pikachu yelled at everyone to repeatedly strike the same point.

"Why does love hurt so much?" Meowth groaned as he came round. He gave a little despondent sigh considering how many times he had been unlucky in love before even though he had been forced into an imitation of love so to speak.

"Never mind about your pathetic love life!" Jessie snapped. "The Pokémon are trying to escape!"

In response, James immediately hit the boosters for the Meowth Air Balloon and quickly began to ascend. Expecting this though, Oshawott and Snivy aimed Water Pulse and Leaf Storm at the balloon respectively tearing a hole in the fragile fabric. One would think that Team Rocket would have taken precautions to strengthen the fabric somehow considering the amount of times it was made a target. Or use a helicopter. Or something.

Team Rocket yelled and screamed as they were constantly flung from side to side in their basket while the Meowth Air Balloon went down faster than it went up. It did not help either that the Pokémon beneath them were attempting to break the chain connecting their cage to the balloon. Not that they particularly needed to; the Air Balloon suddenly crashed into a few trees, the impact of which cracked the glass and sufficiently weakened it enough for the Pokémon to shatter it entirely and make their bid for freedom.

"Ha!" Jessie laughed, trying to look as if this had been planned all along, never mind the fact that her hair looked like it had met with a Thunderbolt. "You might be free now but we can simply capture you all again! And besides, we still have Pikachu!"

"Er, perhaps that is not the wisest thing to say, Jessie…" James whispered nervously watching the Pokémon gathering themselves together and simultaneously launch whatever move happened to be the strongest in their arsenal.

"How do they do that every time?" Oshawott wondered as Team Rocket shot away in the distance screaming "WE'RE BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" (along with Wobbuffet saying "~Wobbuffet!~") "I've never seen that happen to anyone else like Team Plasma…"

"I expect they're used to it by now," Snivy replied. "Pikachu said that they've been doing this since he started off on his journey in Kanto." Pikachu was released by the others with the Mouse Pokémon muttering about how sick he was of getting trapped in those things, so that he could barely breathe never mind move. "Anyway, I think that rather well don't you think?"

"Yeah," said Oshawott turning to face Snivy, his face glowed with satisfaction. "I'm glad we can work well together like that."

"Oh, man, that was close!" Ash breathed heavily once he and the other Trainers were finally freed. "I don't know what I would have done if Oshawott and Snivy hadn't come back when they did."

"Ooh, they're just so infuriating!" Iris complained while hugging Axew tightly, too tightly if Axew's squirming was anything to go by. "Why don't they just give up already?"

"I admit that I admire them for their determination," Cilan confessed, "even if it means that they keep trying to capture our Pokémon. If only they put that determination to something else, they could make very decent citizens I'm sure." Perhaps some kind of business; the Team Rocket had certainly proven on a number of occasions that they were nothing if not extraordinary entrepreneurs.

"Weren't Oshawott and Snivy just amazing?!" Bianca beamed even as she checked over her Pokémon to make sure that they were alright. "Thank you both very much! Who knows what might have happened otherwise? That nasty old Team Rocket would have got up to no good again…"

"Yeah, you were both fantastic," Ash said, getting down to their level and drawing them close together. "And Oshawott… I'm sorry about earlier. We all are… aren't we?" Shamefaced, the Pokémon mumbled their apologies though Emolga kept quiet; they had just been lucky that all of their opponents had been male, that's all. Though Pikachu had not joined in with the accusations, he too apologised, feeling it as a stain upon his leadership if he did not. "Can you forgive us?"

Did he really have a choice in the matter? Things would be made spectacularly awkward if he couldn't bring himself to forgive them and still had to journey with them. Perhaps he would forgive them in a way but that didn't mean he was just going to forget about the whole matter. He felt Snivy touch his shoulder and found himself relaxed. Snivy had stood up for him. Snivy loved him (Oshawott felt his face grow hot at that very thought). He was sure he could find it in his heart to forgive them.

"Yeah," said Oshawott finally. "I forgive you. Just… don't think that about me again, OK?" Or I swear I'm going to take a scalchop to the lot of you, he added silently. He still felt stung by their earlier comments but there was little point in bringing it up again.

"No problem, Oshawott," said Ash, not even trying to hide his relief.

"Well... I guess there's no point in hanging around here," Cilan remarked, glancing down at his electronic map. "We don't appear to be all that far from Mistralton City now though I would prefer to get there before dark and besides, we don't want to be rushing in the morning for this tournament."

"Oh my gosh!" Bianca squealed. "We simply cannot miss that!" She was ready for dashing off the instant the trio had sorted themselves out including returning the Pokémon back to their respective balls. This was a lengthier process than usual now that Ash, Iris and Cilan were asking their Pokémon if they were comfortable travelling about in this manner. Happily enough, their Pokémon agreed; after today's events, they would rather curl up in their Poke Balls than be anywhere else and it was not at all bad inside; it was much like a human taking a mode of transportation like a train only the interior of a Poké Ball was far more interesting. It was a shame that humans could not see this.

Pikachu shrugged; they could say what they wanted but he could never get used to the idea of being stuck in a ball that appeared on the outside less than half his size. At least they would not be slowed down this way; a slightly selfish thought to be sure but they had made their choice and Pikachu wasn't going to change their minds for them. Snivy and Oshawott had chosen to remind outside though Pikachu was not surprised by this. They walked a little behind the Trainers now that they were finally heading to Mistralton City and Pikachu noted, with some amusement, the extra kiss that they gave each other.


"It sure is nice to get out of that rain for a while," Cilan sighed happily. "I was beginning to think that it would seep through my bag and spoil my lovely pots and pans."

"A little rain wouldn't do them any harm, Cilan." One would expect this to have been said by Iris and indeed, she had probably already been thinking it but Cilan's surprise, this was uttered by his Pansage. "It's not much different from the water you use to wash them with anyway."

"Well, I suppose not," Cilan said amused. "Though it really is not quite the same I assure you." He watched Pansage throw some more herbs into the pot with pride. Sure the fact that their Pokémon could talk was unique but how many Pokémon could cook? As far as Cilan was concerned, Pansage could put many human chefs to shame and it was he who decided to work upon a new recipe for future occasions even though they had already been fed at the cafeteria.

Urged on by Bianca who feared that terrible things would happen if they did not quicken their pace, such as missing the whole tournament despite it only beginning tomorrow, the gang had reached Mistralton City well before nightfall. They had eagerly signed themselves up at the newly-built Mistralton Stadium and had been greeted by Don George though if it had been the same one they had seen in the city before they could not tell. As expected, he was going to be one of the judges presiding over the events although he had refused to divulge any information upon their exact nature.

Ash was satisfied at any rate; as long as he had good competitors to battle, he didn't care what sort of tournament it was going to be. He had even managed to do a little training with his eager Pokémon. Scraggy was especially vocal in having this continued, wanting to become as strong a battler as possible. It was in most Pokémon's natures to take this attitude; battling had been and still was a large part of typical Pokémon behaviour long before the first humans tentatively ventured into befriending them no matter what the likes of Team Plasma claimed.

"Hmm, Oshawott and Snivy are acting awfully close aren't they?" Emolga muttered later on. The whole party had made their way for the gardens once they assured themselves that they had bagged good accommodation and once the rain had finally eased off. She eyed the pair with suspicion who had chosen to keep to themselves for the time being, a little way apart from the others, almost like a punishment for their friends who assumed that Oshawott still felt not unreasonably hurt towards them.

"I guess so," Pikachu noted without concern. "But then, a lot of strange things have happened today." He considered it a bad idea to tell her outright what he saw earlier seeing that it wasn't his place to do so, never mind the reaction that it would be met with. Emolga could be a pleasant Pokémon when she wanted to be; she was quite protective towards Axew and Scraggy for example, especially if she deemed them to be threatened in any way. But she did have that strange antipathy, perhaps jealously towards Snivy, especially when she regarded Oshawott as a prize having been rudely snatched away from her despite the lack of affection towards the Water-Type before. Anyone who thought that all Pokémon were universally good-natured and that it was only humans who could give them bad qualities were kidding themselves; Pikachu had seen enough brutish, wild Pokémon to know that.

"I suppose then that they're discussing Oshawott's declaration of love aren't they?" Emolga sneered. She openly glared at the couple now though she might as well have glared at the nearby tree for all the attention that was paid to her.

"I think they've done more than discuss it…" Pikachu murmured before he could stop himself. He cringed and hoped that Emolga hadn't heard him but she swiftly turned around highly interested in what her fellow Electric-Type had to say.

"And what makes you say that, Pikachu?" she asked sweetly. Pikachu groaned inwardly; he knew from prior experience that Emolga was as determined in getting information out of them as Axew and Scraggy, more so truth be told. Already he could see this information being blurted none too subtly to their Trainers if they hadn't already noticed themselves.

"Well," he tried to explain. "It's just that they seemed very comfortable with each other when battling earlier and they seem pretty comfortable now. Oshawott certainly made his feelings known and Snivy hasn't turned him away. And then there's-"

"They've kissed haven't they?" Emolga said flatly. "No, don't try and tell me otherwise," she continued when Pikachu began to protest. "You're a good Pokémon Pikachu and a really nice guy and that's probably why you can't lie to save your skin."

Huh, I guess that's a sort of compliment, Pikachu thought, watching Emolga fly off in the direction of their accommodation where most of their team-mates had gathered. That's unusual. He sighed. I hope they're not going to be too angry with me once they find out. She's going to spread that information like wildfire.

Faster than wildfire in fact. Not too long afterwards, Axew and Scraggy ran past Pikachu with a great deal of excitement and towards Oshawott who was lying on his back doing nothing more than stare at the stars. Snivy had only gone for a few moments to get them some food and she would be quite surprised to see the young pair pestering Oshawott for answers.

"Emolga says you and Snivy have been kissing!" Axew yelled enthusiastically, bounding on top of the Water-Type winding him somewhat, even more so when the decidedly heavy Scraggy followed. Pikachu looked about worriedly but thankfully there weren't any humans nearby. "Why were you kissing?"

Oshawott shoved them off with difficulty and regarded the two with a look of annoyance. He assumed that Emolga must have seen them earlier and being kids, these two were curious since they had never heard of their team-mates kissing each other before.

"Well," said Oshawott uncomfortably from his horizontal position. He had not deigned to move from the grass. "Because we love each other." He wished he didn't blush so easily. "That's how we're showing affection. That's what you do in a relationship."

"Emolga says that Pokémon who are in a relationship with each other have Eggs at some point. So how are Eggs made?" Scraggy beamed with this intelligence though Oshawott jumped up so fast one thought he might have been electrocuted.

"Well… um, I, you s-see," he stammered. "Er, look, you don't really want to know, you're too young."

"You just don't want to tell us!" Scraggy demanded. "Come on, Uncle Oshawott, please tell us!"

Uncle? Well, I suppose he is in a way, Pikachu thought with a touch of amusement. Not that this would be enough to butter him up mind. Pikachu was getting interested in spite of himself and didn't make a move to help out in any way; Pokémon like Oshawott were supposed to be able to fight their own battles and he was sure that, as an adolescent, Oshawott wouldn't want to be mollycoddled in this way.

"Well, er, I can't tell you because I've… never done anything like that myself!" he blurted out quickly. The youngsters sighed.

"We could always ask our Trainers I suppose," Scraggy said.

"NO!" Oshawott yelled making them all flinch.

A human who had been walking by with his Herdier gave the Pokémon a quizzical look, wondering if he had been hearing things. "~Oshawott?~" the Water-Type said in the hope that this would deflect any unwanted attention. It seemed to do the trick as the Trainer shrugged his shoulders and went on his way followed by his Herdier. Oshawott let out a sigh of relief that he didn't realise he had been holding and berated himself for his carelessness.

"They are not going to know!" he continued in a quieter voice or what he thought was a quieter voice if he wasn't panicking so much. "None of them are breeders! They probably don't even know about human bree- never mind, I know that they don't know."

"How do you know?" they asked suspiciously.

If Emolga knew what sort of conversation was taking place, she would be laughing herself sick. Pikachu glanced about just to see if she had craftily hidden herself in a tree or such but thankfully, this was the not the case (or so he hoped anyway).

"They… they… Professor Juniper has never mentioned anything about it!" he invented wildly. "She knows a lot of stuff and if she considered it to be of importance, she'd have told them!"

Axew and Scraggy carefully pondered this over with poor Oshawott getting more flustered by the second. They shook their heads and folded their arms.

"Someone else could have told them. So they might know. But we're still gonna ask you because you're hiding it from us!" Scraggy said loudly.

It was easy to fob them off in the old days but not so now. Either Oshawott was now losing his touch or they had grown up behind their backs. It must have been the talking that did it. Oshawott decided to pin the blame on that.

"You need a male and a female Pokémon to make Eggs right?" Axew asked uncertainly. "But what about the genderless ones? That's confusing."

"Er, I don't really-"

"Can male and female Pokémon have Eggs with genderless Pokémon?" Axew wondered. "No-one's ever told us about that."

"What are you guys talking about?" Snivy returned with a bunch of apples and Oshawott looked as if Arceus itself had decided to lend some long-overdue assistance. Axew and Scraggy ran over to the Grass-Type and began to ply her with the same questions. She blinked with surprise and glanced at Oshawott who by now, was fervently wishing for the ground to swallow him whole.

"Well…" she said slowly. "I suppose I could tell you but you would only find it really boring."

"Really boring?" they repeated. If it was boring, then they had no interest in finding out whatsoever.

"Yep. That's why Emolga didn't care to tell you herself because you know she doesn't do boredom well and as for Oshawott getting all embarrassed like that, I think that might be down to him not knowing enough about it himself to tell you." She cast Oshawott a look of apology.

"Yeah, she's right," Oshawott sighed dramatically. "I didn't say that at first because I just find my lack of knowledge embarrassing. So please don't tell anyone about it alright?"

"Like a secret?"

"Yeah, a secret."

"OK!" they said brightly. Secrets were a different matter altogether, they could keep secrets; everyone had secrets of their own to keep so Axew and Scraggy knew how important they were.

Snivy managed to get rid of the pair by throwing them an apple each and suggesting that they go and play as long as they didn't attract the attention of any humans other than their own. As soon as they vanished out of sight, Oshawott flopped onto the grass and groaned approached by a sympathetic Snivy.

"I'm sure as hell not giving them the talk when they're old enough," he murmured.

"You do know how Eggs are made, right?" said Snivy, trying to hide her smile.

"Yes I do!" Oshawott cried indignantly. Then he suddenly released the implications of what he just said and turned away in embarrassment. It didn't help that they were sat next to each other with their tails touching.

I think I better take my leave now. Pikachu chuckled to himself and bounded off before he was noticed by the love-Pidgeys and before their Trainers inevitably started looking for them.


All was good, Pikachu thought to himself whilst wandering through the grounds. Being able to talk hadn't changed much for the time being since they had not let anyone know outside their circle know with the exception of Bianca, who they hoped could be trusted to keep a secret and now, Professors Oak and Juniper.

After registering for the tournament and conversing with Skyla, she was particularly looking forward to seeing strong competitors, (especially if she had battled them before or had considered them losers or winners in her somewhat shameful 'air battles'), Ash had gone to contact Professor Oak who was used to hearing Ash's frequent updates upon his journey.

"Hullo, my boy!" Professor Oak answered genially. "And hullo, Pikachu!"

"Hello, Professor Oak," Pikachu said before he could stop himself.

The effect was amazing to behold. Ash stepped back from the console alarmed as Oak threw himself off his chair backwards and splashed coffee over his lab coat. He fell over once or twice in scrabbling back up and pressed his nose way too close to the screen just to check that he wasn't being fooled by an illusion cast by an Alakazam or other such Psychic Pokémon. Muk looked on in puzzlement having sneaked into the lab to give Oak his usual, affectionate, sludge-filled hug.

"How… how are you talking, Pikachu?" he blurted. Shocked as he was, the professor in him took over and Oak grabbed a notepad and pen for research purposes. He immediately starting scribbling down the story that Pikachu began to tell him and by the end, was substantially splattered with blue ink.

"Remarkable!" he cried. "Truly remarkable my boy! Just think about how this may change the relationship between humans and Pokémon forever! The wonders that this will do for my research!"

"Yeah, Professor," Ash cut in. "The thing is, we need to keep it a secret between ourselves. There are people out there who would like nothing better than to experiment on Pikachu and the others (Pikachu gave a shiver upon these words). Team Plasma's experiments are the reason why this happened in the first place."

"True, true," he sighed. "And have there been any other side-effects at all?"

"Apart from knowing more moves, not really," Ash replied.

"Well, we must be grateful for that. Still, I would greatly appreciate it that I could look this over when you next come home or if I have pressing reasons to come to Unova. I recommend that you inform Professor Juniper about this as well if you plan on sending her your Pokémon at some point and she'll have more opportunities to research this curious phenomenon. Now ta- ahhhh! Muk!" Oak exclaimed when Muk jumped on the professor getting tired of waiting off-screen. "Take care of yourselves!" he gasped. "And don't run into any trouble!"

"Easier said than done," Pikachu said once Ash cut the connection, voicing his Trainer's exact thoughts.

"You said it, buddy!" Ash grinned before contacting Juniper.

She too had been as excited as Professor Oak and had immediately made arrangements to visit them when she didn't have so much work to be getting on with. Pikachu had to wonder though if they were even doing the right thing by informing the professors; they were good people certainly, but he knew Professor Oak to be absent-minded on several occasions and Professor Juniper was one to get over-excited as far as he was concerned. He belatedly looked about to see if he was being followed or spied upon and was relieved to find the lack of a Plasma presence.

He did see Meowth though, hiding in the shadows. Pikachu's fur immediately stood on end.

"You again?!" Pikachu hissed as the Cat Pokémon came wandering over. "How many times do you guys want to capture me? I have no interest whatsoever in joining Team Rocket and whenever you do try your little stunts, you fail miserably. I'm surprised you've decided to have another go after the thrashing Oshawott and Snivy gave you."

"Relax!" Meowth exclaimed, putting up his paws as a supposed sign of innocence. "We've only come here 'cos Jessie an' James want t'take part in this stupid tournament, mebbe so they can get better at battlin' an' thrash you guys at some point. Not that I suppose we will," he added seeing sparks jump from Pikachu's cheeks. "But we have other missions t'do as members of Team Rocket an' we gotta make the Boss proud of us!"

"Humph, I was under the impression that your Boss wanted a lot of rare Pokémon and you've been talking for goodness knows how long. How come you're not with him instead, translating whatever poor Pokémon you've experimented on have got to say?"

"Your Oshawott friend asked that very same thing," Meowth sighed. "I honestly don't know what the Boss is thinkin' about all the time but it seems that my services are put t'better use in the field than at the base. An' I don't know, I think that some of the members there get a bit nervous around me 'cos if they ever think of insultin' me, then they know they'll be insulted right back. Some of them think that ain't right for a Pokémon t'talk."

"What about Jessie and James?" Pikachu asked, uneasily aware that he was talking with Meowth and hadn't been captured on the spot.

"They're used to the whole deal an' we've been through a lot together so if anythin' did change between us, we'd miss it. But yeah, we're just a ragtag bunch of misfits that fate happened to throw together."

Pikachu eyed Meowth with suspicion. He had never been this open before and considering the amount of times Pikachu had been stuck in a cage and kept under Meowth's watchful eye, they had had plenty of time to get to know one another. But now that he thought about it, how did Meowth learn to talk anyway? Pikachu had considered it very odd at the time but only after he and those Poké Balls had been rescued, and one did not simply go up to one's enemies and ask them about their past. But after everything that had gone on, now it seemed an appropriate time to ask that sort of question. Keep your friends close but your enemies closer as they say.

"Ya really wanna know?" Meowth looked bemused. "I suppose I could tell ya, pipsqueak, but this Meowth's tale is a tale of sufferin' and woe, a tale of hope an' dreams an' a broken heart." Pikachu flicked his tail with impatience. "OK, OK! It all started off at a little place called Camp PokéHearst…"

Despite their past and present turbulent relationship, Pikachu was intrigued by what Meowth had to say and listened carefully. Meowth explained that after a run-in with some bad humans, who gave him a ridiculous punishment when he tried to eat what he thought was food but was actually a basket full of baseballs, he travelled to Hollywood and soon became enamoured with a Meowth named Meowzie who lived a luxurious life under the care of an exceedingly rich owner.

Meowzie had rejected his initial advances, saying that she had no interest in him because he was poor and she preferred the company of her human. Meowth then came to the conclusion that to win Meowzie, he must act like a human.

It took weeks, maybe even months of hard work and graft to walk upright like a human or at least, like an average bipedal Pokémon. Meowth had painstakingly learnt how to talk by listening in on elocution lessons given in an old mansion demonstrating upper-class etiquette and so forth. One of the first words he managed to learn in fact, was 'rocket' which was partially what inspired him to join Team Rocket later on.

After learning all that he could in an impressively short amount of time, Meowth soon found Meowzie again and once again, declared his love, this time, with human speech, walking upright, holding a bunch of gorgeous flowers. He expected her to be delighted with his transformation.

What he was called was a freak, an even worse freak than before, and this was a transformation that he could not suddenly undo. He was a freak forever.

"An' where do all freaks an' rejects go t'join? Team Rocket," Meowth finished bitterly. He and Pikachu were still concealed in the shadows so nobody had noticed their conversation. "An' den you guys jus' go an' talk like that without one scrap of the hard work I put in! An' for what? I saw Meowzie on another occasion an' she rejected me again even though I had credentials bein' part of Team Rocket an' all that, sayin' she preferred to stick with that stuck-up Persian. I'm tellin' ya, Pikachu pal… don't bother fallin' in love. It ain't worth it."

"That's not like you," Pikachu responded. "You've probably fallen in love as many times as Oshawott and he's settled down now. I'm sure you'll find somebody someday too." Meowth gave a snicker.

"Ya know me better than ya think, Pikachu, even if don't wanna admit it. But still, I doubt Team Plasma made you guys talk just to give me advice on relationships."

"I don't know," Pikachu sighed. "At least you got used to the idea since you chose to learn how to talk; it was forced upon us. Just answer me this one question, Meowth: are you happy?"

"You're askin' me that?" Meowth looked especially confused. "Well, I guess I am in a way. I've got great friends an' we stick together through the thick an' thin. My talents probably aren't as appreciated as they should be…"

"Exactly," said Pikachu solemnly. "If you had gone to a Pokémon Professor like Oak instead of Team Rocket, how different would your life have been? What would you be doing now? You certainly wouldn't be trying to capture me every other day."

"I don't know," Meowth shrugged. "I just don't understand why more Pokémon ain't learnt what I have. If we can all understand each other via Poké Speak, why can't humans understand us when we can understand them? I guess I'm just a special little Pokémon and as for humans… nyeh, I still can't work dem out an' I've been travelling with them long enough."

"Makes you wonder," Pikachu mumbled. It was also odd, when one thought about it, the fact that humans ruled the world; there was no point in denying it. Perhaps it was down to Pokémon having no worldly ambitions, that there were likely more humans than any other species of Pokémon, and that humans were supported by technology, something Pokémon had never grasped. Of course, many Pokémon had gained new evolutions and were even created thanks to human intervention. Perhaps humans ruled the world due to that. This wasn't something that concerned most Pokémon so why was it that people like Team Plasma still desired to use Pokémon for their own evil ends? Couldn't they see that Pokémon were living, sentient beings like themselves? Likely they knew and just did not care.

"Guess we'll be seein' ya tomorrow," Meowth grinned. "An' I promise, we won't be doin' any capturin'. Meowth's code of honour."

Meowth slipped away before Pikachu could respond. Pikachu slowly walked back to their hotel room with dark thoughts clouding over what was previously a peaceful and simple existence.


How do I do such long chapters? Apart from Garbled Code which is episodic, the majority of my chapters end up over 7000 words. Oh, well, you guys seem to like them anyway. and awkward conversations are fun! :