"O.K," Brock said, staring Meowth straight in the face. "So let me get this straight. You and Buneary joined up with Hunter J, but then pretended to serve her until we came and got you?"
"Well, I wouldn't call it pretending really," Meowth said. "I had no choice but to worm my way out of trouble. I had already exposed myself in front of J. It was the only thing I could do to prevent myself from being auctioned off. But look on some of the bright side. At least I saved Buneary's skin as well."
"I have to agree," Brock said with a nod. "I think you did very well, Meowth."
"You do!?" Meowth asked, shocked.
"I do," Brock said. "If it weren't for you, who knows what could have happened to Buneary. Dawn would have been so devastated, she would completely cease on going to contests."
"Well I'm actually I did something right for once," Meowth said, smiling proudly. "Of course, this doesn't mean we're going to be friends a week from today or tomorrow."
"I don't expect it to last that long," Brock said. "You do your job and I do mine."
"Exactly," Meowth said, turning his head towards the doors that led into the back of the Pokemon Center. "You think he'll make it?"
Brock looked where Meowth was looking and became gravely silent.
"I don't know," he said quietly.
Upon returning to the Pokemon Center, Pikachu was immediately taken to the back for special care. Hours that passed only seemed like minutes. And still not one thing was heard of Pikachu's condition.
"I've always known Pikachu to be strong," Brock said. "But even he has his limits."
Meowth was silent as he continued to stare. Sure he, Jessie, and James were always after him, but when it came to something big, they were always right there to care for Pikachu.
"So, um, I hate to break the subject of Pikachu, but someone mind explaining what's up with that Jigglypuff?" Dawn asked, referring to the Jigglypuff that was watching all the other pokemon walk about in their gloomy moods.
"It's kind of a long story," Brock said. "You see, back in the Kanto region, when another friend of ours by the name of Misty was traveling with Ash and I, we arrived in this city where no one ever slept. Everyone was rude to each other and fights broke out. The three of us left the city the next morning and we came across Jigglypuff. At the time she couldn't sing."
"Sing?" Dawn asked.
"That's the thing," Brock said. "After we gave Jigglypuff some fruit to clear her voice, she had the ability to use Sing. But one side effect of Sing is that it puts whoever listens to Jigglypuff sing to sleep."
"And then what happens?" Dawn asked.
"Well, normally we all wake up with markings on our faces," Brock replied. "Jigglypuff somehow slipped into Ash's backpack and stole his marker."
"And Jigglypuff's had it ever since?" Dawn asked.
"Pretty much," Brock said. "And ever since we found Jigglypuff, she's been following us all over the world just to sing her song. All she wants is someone to listen to her without falling asleep. But that's very hard to do."
"I see," Dawn said, staring at Jigglypuff. Her eyes remained focused upon her for several seconds before they moved onto Paul.
"What?" he asked, feeling her eyes upon him.
"I was going to ask you a question," Dawn said, a little angry at what he said. "But I think I won't."
"If that suits you," Paul said, keeping his gaze focused forward.
"But then again, I suppose you really could care less if I asked you anything, couldn't you?" Dawn said.
Paul remained silent. Dawn's left eye began to twitch a bit.
"You really drive me crazy, you know that?" she asked.
"I don't see what the big deal is," Paul said.
"The big deal?" Dawn yelled. "The big deal? The big deal is that you were involved with the police to capture J and you had no intention of telling us what you were really doing at the lake in the first place!"
"Geez you're loud," Paul growled. "You think that if I had told you it would have made a bit more difference? You wouldn't have let me finish anyway. So not telling you was the best thing I could have done."
"Just how did you end up working with the police anyway?" Brock asked.
"Officer Jenny asked for my help in capturing Hunter J," Paul explained. "After she told me what Hunter J does, I agreed to help. The way she catches pokemon and then auction them off to others disgusts me. I wouldn't have worked for her if I were the last person on the planet."
"So then you aren't interested in capturing Pikachu because of his power?" Dawn asked.
"Is interrogation over?" Paul asked. "I really don't have to explain myself to you."
Dawn went to go make another comment, but Brock placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her as she saw him shake his head. Paul got up and began walking towards the exit.
"Well I'm out of here," he said. "Whether Pikachu makes it out or not depends on how strong he really is."
And with that said, Paul walked out from the Pokemon Center. Dawn and Brock stared after him long after he left.
--
She sat alone in a corner of the Pokemon Center, huddled up, trying to blend in with the shadows and hope to never be seen. But she didn't seem to really notice where she was exactly at the moment. She felt lost, like she was in another world of her own. A world where nothing but darkness existed.
It felt cold as she envisioned herself floating in an endless void of darkness. There was nothing to see but the darkness itself. She felt something that she had never felt before. It felt as though her world had suddenly collapsed around her.
Inside, she was hurting. She felt like her heart was painfully ripped open, like it was being tortured by some unknown force that she couldn't stop. All she wanted was for the pain to stop, but she knew it would never cease, for she knew why she was feeling the pain that caused so much torture within her.
Her love, the only pokemon she had ever loved since she laid eyes upon him, was now fighting for his life. And it was entirely her fault. This she knew. And it chewed her up from the inside.
("If only I hadn't joined J's team, none of this would have happened,") she sadly thought. ("If only I had given it some time he may have eventually come to liking me. I might have not enjoyed the waiting, but it would have been worth it.")
Suddenly, her eyes caught a glimpse of someone walking up to her. Her eyes furrowed into a glare as she said angrily, ("Leave me alone, Turtwig.")
("No,") Turtwig answered her. ("I'm not going to. If I leave now, you're just going to continue to push yourself away from everybody until you become your own worst enemy that nobody will love you or pay any attention to you. I'm here to talk and I'm not leaving until I say my peace.")
("Fine,") she said sighing, turning her head away as Turtwig sat down. ("So I suppose you're going to tell me that I screwed up big time?")
("I don't need to,") Turtwig said. ("You pretty much admitted that on your own.")
Silence followed for several more moments before Turtwig spoke again.
("So what exactly caused you to turn your back on us and attack Pikachu?") Turtwig asked, though he already knew the answer.
("I thought you would know already,") Buneary said.
("I do,") Turtwig said, sighing. ("You know, love has a funny way of blinding us. We don't see because we're afraid. But once love has been stripped away, we see the person for who they truly are. Even if it is ourselves.")
"Turtwig's right you know," Meowth said, walking over. "Sorry to interrupt, but I couldn't help but overhear."
Buneary stayed silent as Meowth sat down, forming a triangle between him, her, and Turtwig.
("And what would you want?") Turtwig asked, eyeing Meowth suspiciously.
"I thought I'd just come over and explain to you what really happen," Meowth replied. "After all, I was there to witness da whole ting."
("And why should I believe you?") Turtwig asked.
"Because Buneary was there as my witness," Meowth replied.
Turtwig glanced over at Buneary who remained in the position she huddled in and turned back to Meowth.
("Well hate to break it to you, but I know the reason why,") Turtwig said.
"Well it sure didn't sound like that to me," Meowth said.
("I'm just a little over cautious right now,") Turtwig said.
"Well look on the bright side," Meowth said. "J's been arrested and Buneary's back. Of course, the not so bright side lies in that room back there."
At those words, Buneary winced, striking her heart like a hammer.
"But you know, I have to agree with Turtwig," Meowth said. "Love blinded you to do something so foolish, and in the process you got me into it. Of course, I should have been smart enough to stay away, but by doing so, you would have been captured. So I thought up of the best way to save both our necks and told J I could be of some use to her."
("But what am I going to do now?") Buneary asked, her voice practically upset. ("I'm the cause of Pikachu's injuries. What if he doesn't make it? It will be all my fault.")
("I hate to say it, but you do have a point there,") Turtwig said. Meowth nodded in agreement.
("Ever since I laid eyes on him, I've been nothing but in love with Pikachu,") Buneary said. ("I've done everything I could to get him to try and like me back, but he's never shown any interest. I didn't want to live the rest of my life waiting for him to return the feelings I had for him and part from him heartbroken.")
Meowth and Turtwig were silent as the ticking of the clock was the only thing heard in the Center. After a long period of silence, Meowth got up as his stomach growled.
"Well, I hope you make the right decisions from here on out, Buneary," Meowth said. "Just make sure the choice you make is the one you wish to live with for the rest of your life."
With a small, grim smile, Meowth slowly dragged his feet away to find something to eat and possibly try to comfort the others.
Turtwig also got up and began making his way towards the others, adding, ("I agree with Meowth. Make sure it's what you want. I'm not going to continue to sit here and mope about it. I'm going to try and help take some of the uneasiness off the others.")
And so Buneary was left alone once again, only this time, to ponder her thoughts and the actions she should take.
--
He sat there, staring down at the floor, his body trembling violently. He couldn't believe this was happening. His friend, his best friend that has been with him since the beginning of his pokemon journey, was now fighting for his life. Shock and grief plagued him but mostly just shock for the time being. The grief would come at a later time when the news on his best friend was given, if it wasn't the best news, that is.
Sitting on each side of him were Jessie and James, both equally concerned and anxious to know Pikachu's condition. Jessie was sitting with her arms folded and also staring down at the floor. Every couple seconds or so, she would glance up towards the door, expecting the light to go off and for Nurse Joy to walk out and say that everything was going to be all right.
James was leaning forward, his chin resting upon his hands as he stared blankly at the wall across from him. Not a word came from the three, especially from Ash since he's been back. It was quite difficult to find something to say when a pokemon was dearly close to its trainer and its life was in danger of being lost forever.
Finally, after hours if silence, James softly asked, "Do you think it's going well in there?"
Jessie glared over at him, a look of irritation in her eyes.
"Don't get angry with me," James said. "Someone had to break this uncomfortable silence. Besides, I can't really stand them."
"I know," Jessie sighed, losing her glare. "But what else are we supposed to say? We're just sitting here staring in random directions. And Ash here is just as guilty."
"What?" Ash asked, looking up at her after a long silence of shock. "Guilty for what?"
"I don't know," Jessie said, placing a hand on her forehead. "I just have to say something to keep from going crazy."
Huffing angrily, Jessie stormed off.
"What's her problem?" Ash asked.
"She's just trying to cope with this stress as are the rest of us," James responded. "Pikachu's condition affects us all differently. Jessie and I hate uncomfortable silences. We need to say something to ease off the tension a bit."
"Yeah," was all Ash said as he turned his attention towards the door. He immediately fell silent and remained that way for a while again, still not believing that this was all happening, that it wasn't a dream and in fact, real.
"You and Pikachu seem to be really close," James said, staring at Ash.
"We are," Ash said, keeping his gaze fixed on the door. "Since the day I began my pokemon journey, Pikachu and I have always been inseparable. Well, except the few times me and my friends got blasted off along with you, especially that time you used Pikachu's amnesia to your advantage and turned him against us."
"Oh yeah," James said, turning his head away. "But it's what we do."
"Of course, there was that other time me and my friends ended up running into that Pikachu clan," Ash continued. "Pikachu could have left me for good to stay with them, but he cared too much for me to stay."
"I wish I had friends like Pikachu," James said. "I'm jealous."
Ash let out a small chuckle and smiled a bit, which, in turn, got James to smile as well.
"Guess I still have some charms left," he said.
Ash's smile faded as he returned his attention to the doors. James also followed his gaze and stared at hem for quite a while before turning back to Ash.
"You know you look pretty tired," he said, noticing how tired Ash was looking from sitting there for so long.
"Now that you mention it, I do feel sleepy," Ash said with a yawn. "I guess normally worrying over something this big causes me to want to go and nod off."
"Then why don't you?" James suggested. "I'll wake you up when Nurse Joy comes out."
"O.K.," Ash said with another yawn. "You know something, even though you're my enemy, you're really a nice guy, James."
Before blacking out, Ash saw James smile widely, almost as if he got his first compliment from him ever.
--
It must have been sometime in the evening when he was gently shaken awake. Opening his eyes, he looked up and found James lightly shaking him until he was up.
"What's going on?" he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"Nurse Joy just finished," Brock said. "She should be coming out any minute now."
Ash was wide awake now. He got up and noticed that everyone was there. Jessie, James, Brock, Dawn, and even the pokemon. Of course, he noticed that Buneary lingered back away from the group some. Ash didn't quite understand why she was where she was, but figured that she must have been worried as well as everyone else has been.
Ash then slowly turned about at the sound of a creaking door. Everyone held their breaths as Nurse Joy came slowly walking out.
For everyone who has been reading my story, thank you so much for leaving reviews. But now I'm at a part where I can't decide what's going to happen next. So please review and leave some ideas on what should happen. Or you can PM me. Thank you!