As the day progressed peacefully without much happening around. Our 4 friends who had made their way calmly from Post Town, through the intersection, and towards the orangy desertic area, were finally almost arriving at their destination, Snivy's and Pika's brand new house.

"Are we almost there guys?" Pika asked in confusion and curiosity, walking in a very funny matter. His head tilted towards the back, his free and grasped paws were raised, and his feet were doing wide side to side steps carefully. The Pikachu was blindfolded by some green vines which you could only guess who they are from. Snivy had the intention to do this ever since he remembered Pika a few hours back but he waited just for the right time to do it, which so happened to be right before they entered the orangy desertic area. Emolga was also part of all of this, holding his paw and serving as a guide for the intentionally blinded Pikachu.

"Yeah, almost there!" Snivy replied, keeping close attention on his vines, careful not to mess up as they all just kept walking. This was all his plan to make the sight of the new house a full first sight surprise for Pika since he had been the most excited about it ever since the idea of a house came out.

Dunsparce was on the sidelines, witnessing all of this with joy and amusement for a very obvious reason. Well, there was the fact that the friendly, goofy, and just overall enjoyable atmosphere that these friends were giving was just enough to make him smile and to amuse him but the real predominant feeling of joy he was having was for a completely different reason. He watched as Emolga giggled, smiled, and goofed around with the other two, it was just charming to see her getting this comfortable around other mons. His shy, lonely, and poor adopted sister was just finally enjoying friendship and also herself, and this was more than enough reason for him to feel genuine joy.

"You'll be seeing your new house in no time Pika!" Dunsparse stated sincerely, keeping his flying pace and watching the whole scene with the funny walking goof of a pikachu, blinded by the green snake pokemon that was his friend, and guided by super-shy emolga that seemed to just be easing up to everything and everymon.

Pika kept walking, completely trusting his guide and friends. Suddenly, he felt the texture of wood meet with his careful feet, and making his ears raise instinctively was the sound of running water from both sides. Yeah, there was no doubt about it, they had just stopped on top of the little bridge in between their terrain and Quagsire's. Pika felt his excitement go far and beyond as his eyes started to slowly get cleared from the vines that were blinding them, this was it! He was about to see their brand new home!

Emolga had already stepped to the side so Pika could fully witness the sight of his new home, she had a very wide smile pasted onto her expression.

The sight completely cleared from the green vines and the house at full view. Pika couldn't help but to detail it instantly. It was a beautiful well-worked wooden little house that had a big arched entrance right in the middle of the whole architecture. Green decorative plants grew from the wooden walls giving it a very natural feeling as two small windows were also on the sides of the front of the house; there were probably two more on the back of the house. A tree was growing on the side of the house and some sort of seats and water pots were placed right outside the main entrance. It was nothing too big and fancy but our little friend surely didn't care about that at all because he was filled with joy, excitement, and overall happy feelings. The mouse was watching the house with the biggest and brightest sparkly eyes that you could ever witness and with a big open mouth smile on his expression. Emolga watched his reaction, and couldn't help but feel happy and amused about the pikachu. She started feeling her cheeks get filled with warmth again...

T-this must be t-that friend f-feeling, right? Emolga though as she was forced to look away so she could regain control. Y-yeah, i-it needs to b-be... She convinced herself and regained composure, coming back to the earlier moment. Pika seemed like he could explode any moment now!

"So... what do you think?" Snivy asked with a smile, curious about what his answer could be. He had also been witnessing the pikachu's joy-filled expression. The question reached Pika's ears and it was just what he needed to... burst? Anyways, you can imagine what's bound to happen now and with Pika's current condition, it may be not the best of things.

"IT'S AMAZING!" Pika exclaimed with pure happiness, jumping onto the air like an overenergetic child completely ignoring the soreness all over his body... "it's probably so warm and and... oh I can't wait to look at it completely or sleep in it tonight!" Pika kept saying, quite loudly to be precise. He looked so amazed and overjoyed at the moment and all of his friends were so happy for him... but... there was one thing that they miss-calculated in all of this surprise... Pika's condition and his usual behavior in these types of situations. Watching him for a little longer as he expressed all of his thrill and joy quite openly and loudly, it's when it suddenly hit Snivy and the rest of them. Their feelings quickly shifted from happy towards actual concern. Snivy needed to act quickly!

"Pika before you do anything remember yo-" The green snake was about to say but then, a certain yellow mouse completely surprised him before he could finish.

"Yeah, I know Snivy, you guys don't need to worry, " Pika replied smiling; completely stopping and calming himself from all of his urges. He was now just looking towards the house with just awe. He surely had taken this quite maturely, without mentioning the first reaction of course. Snivy was surprised, just like everyone else; they all thought that the yellow mouse was just gonna start bouncing around non-stop, injuring himself even more, but instead, he just showed them how mature he could actually be.

Everyone eased up, of course, no one more than Snivy. In fact, The green snake felt quite proud of his friend right now. He grinned in amusement and patted the pikachu's back gently.

"Wow! Well, here I was, thinking you were just an immature super energetic kit!" Snivy said keeping his amused grin, facing towards Pika. Pika unlocked his gaze from the house with complete surprise and offense at first, just to then start pouting towards the amused Snivy.

"I'm no kit!" Pika replied in annoyance, keeping his pout and crossing his arms in the process. Snivy just started laughing quite loudly to the pikachu's reaction, Emolga and Dunsparce joining him with their own giggles towards the annoyed Pika. "Hey! What are y'all laughing at!" Pika asked, looking around at everyone.

"I-it was a joke Pika! Geez, you should have seen your face!" Snivy said in between laughs as the others just giggled harder, almost reaching a full-fleshed laugh. Pika felt a bit embarrassed at first but then it all just went away and he just joined in with all his friends, giggling himself.

"Heh, you sure got me then, " Pika said, smiling, as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly, he was surely really happy to see everyone enjoying themselves so much. Emolga was also getting comfortable with Snivy and him which just gave him even more reason to feel this way. This was surely gonna be a great group of friends. Yeah...

"You both are quite the lads aren't ya? Geez, I feel like I'm gonna be babysitting y'all, not just Emolga!" Dunsparce said jokingly, giggling more and looking directly at her adoptive sister. Pika and Snivy joined him, completely ignoring the fact that he was, in some sort, insulting them too. It only took a few seconds before the flying squirrel fully processed this random comment and reacted... In quite a surprising way.

"H-hey! W-what's t-that supposed to m-mean?!" She said, taking offense and crossing her arms in an authoritarian matter. She showed quite a threatening expression towards Dunsparce... Dunsparce's reaction was to just gulp and coward backward a little. Pika's and Snivy's laughs were completely silenced, they watched with surprised expressions this new behavior on the usually shy Emolga... This showed them just the amount of trust that these two had towards each other because she was willing to stand up to him just like that... It also showed how scary the poor little flying squirrel could really be...

"Kidding, kidding, " Dunsparce said as he took a few more steps backward with sweat running down his forehead. I need to remember how she gets sometimes... didn't think she would in front of everyone though...

"T-That's what I t-thought, " Emolga stated, quite firmly for such a stuttery tone as she grinned victoriously and turned back towards Pika and Snivy. They both had quite the expressions on their faces to Emolga's surprise.

W-wait did I r-really j-just do t-that in front of t-them?! Emolga started feeling so embarrassed that her cheeks warmed up to a point that the redness covered her entire face. She buried herself face on her paws and turned away. Pika was quick to shake off everything and assess the flustered squirrel.

"Hey! No need to feel embarrassed, it's cool to see that you also have quite a strong will in there!" Pika stated and patted the back of his flustered friend in an attempt to calm her down. Emolga slowly directed her sight towards him, still completely red and embarrassed.

Back with Snivy, he shook off his feelings too and smiled calmly towards the flying squirrel pokemon, watching how Pika tried to make her ease up. Deciding to look in another direction, the green snake admired the clear blue sky, keeping his smile but his thoughts changing completely.

We will surely live some adventures with this group... Maybe i will finally... Snivy thought with happiness and peace as he kept gazing towards the sky of the day. He was about to continue with his thoughts, until... Taking his attention, a grumbling noice invaded their ears. He glanced towards the source of the sound just like his other two friends had done.

"Guess, the hunger is starting to attack here, heh... " Dunsparce said, blushing and flopping his tiny wings downwards in embarrassment. It had been Dunsparce's stomach protesting for food. Suddenly... more grumbling noises invaded, once again, their ears as they all simultaneously felt the protests of their stomachs. Looking at each other in surprise and embarrassment, they all exploded into another round of laughs and amusement.

"Well, guess it's time to get to cooking! Snivy could you light up the fire while I go get the ingredients and decide on the food?" Pika commanded kindly, directing his gaze towards the green snake, waiting for his reply. Snivy smiled and nodded his head in agreement as he got to work. Pika smiled at him and changed his view towards his other friends. "You two can just relax and wait while Snivy and I prepare everything, " Pika said, waiting for them to reply. Dusnparce and Emolga looked towards each other for a second and then showed their hesitant faces to Pika, gaining a confused head-tilt from the yellow mouse.

"Could we help out with something? We don't want to make you guys do everything, besides it's only fair since you guys are offering the commodities and food, " Dunsparce asked as Emolga nodded in agreement with him. Pika tilted his head back into place and smiled.

"Very well, then you can set up the place around the fire if you'd like, " Pika said quite calmly, this was some of the rare occasions when you would witness such a calm and organized Pika, but cooking was one of his virtues and it was very rare that he would share his prepared meals with others that he cared about so he wanted this to be perfect. The more comfortable and the more people, the more enjoyable the food will be! Anyways, Dunsparce and Emolga both got to work. Not before quick and joking "Aye Aye Captain!" form Snivy and Dunsparce simultaneously, making Emolga facepalm in exasperation and Pika scratch the back of his head sheepishly. Then, he decided to go inside the house.

My first time inside our new home... Pika glanced at everything that was the interior of his new home, giving him such comfortable and welcoming feelings. A spacy table was placed close to the entrance, on the right side of the house. There were some more of those pots filled with water, probably to drink, placed at the far left of the whole place. Some nicely crafted storage chests filled the far right of the house, three in total, two of them for personal items, and one for extras probably. Pika walked slowly, taking a glance at everything around him, like the little decorative motifs on the walls. He was feeling the whole atmosphere of his brand new house. The yellow mouse slowly settled close to the left hay bed placed on the floor... He sighed, smiled, and plopped down.

"Ahh... this is soooo nice..." Pika said to himself, smiling softly, feeling at peace. He let his body relax and accommodate to the brand new bed he would be using from now on. Slowly repositioning himself onto his back, he looked towards the ceiling, his content smile still quite visible. "Living as a pokemon... Something, I thought, that could only happen in my dreams..." Pika murmured his gaze fixated onto the patterns of the ceiling, shifting a bit and putting his arms behind his head for a moment.

"I finally escaped..." Pika murmured again, his smile suddenly turning into a frown, old memories were now crowding his mind. Memories that he didn't want to recall... from when he was a human... Pika shook his thoughts away.

"Nah, I don't need to worry about that any more..." Pika stated to himself as a tiny smile took over his uneasiness. He knew this was true but he still couldn't just erase the memories from his mind... he was only just suppressing them... The yellow mouse closed his eyes for a brief moment.

Unknow to the laying pikachu, a shadow in the distance could be seen from the window... A shadow that really seemed... Like it was looking at him...

"hmm... interesting... "

Pika's ear suddenly perked up in alert, rushingly sitting him up, and glancing towards the circular window. He sharpened his eyesight, attempting to focus to have a clearer view of the outside. He didn't notice anything strange but he kept watching just to make sure.

"That shiver... that feeling... I thought I h-" Pika was about to say but his attention was suddenly brought elsewhere by a calling voice.

"Pika! It's all settled out here, are you coming soon?!" He heard. These were the screams of Snivy, coming directly from the outside. He glanced towards the entrance.

"Yup, coming!" Pika yelled so Snivy could hear him out from the outside as he also used his paws to increment the sound of his voice.

"Okay! We'll be waiting!" Snivy yelled in response. Pika stood back up, he could still feel the soreness a bit all over his body but it was surely getting better. He looked back towards the window but quickly shook his head and proceeded towards the food chest.

"There's food waiting to get cooked!" Pika said to himself in his usual cheery tone.

Paws now full of berries, Pika thought of a great idea while he walked outside of the house. His friends had already started the fire; they had settled far from the house and close to the river, quite smart Snivy. They had also settled some nice little wooden seats around for all of them. Pika grinned as he approached the rest of the group.

"Before I start, I need you to answer some questions, hehe, " Pika said, all of his friends tilted their heads in confusion.

XXX

Some time had already passed. Pika was almost completely done making whatever he was making on top of the leaf blanket that had purposely been put down for this. Everyone, other than him, was on the enigma here, all of them not having a single clue on what the pikachu was making. The yellow mouse had gone here and there bringing some bowls from inside the house, courtesy of Guldurr and his apprentices, and some sticks that he had found looking around the area, sharpening these last with his iron tail and cleaning them with the water from the pots on the outside of the house.

Using his iron tail as a knife and the bowls as a recipient, he had been mixing different berries, squishing them as he also added some water and heat to the mix-ups. He used the sticks to cook several Oran berries in groups of three over the fire.

At least that was understandable, Oran berries do have a nice balanced flavor when you cook them like that... Snivy thought, keeping the analysis of his friend's actions. He couldn't deny it, It was quite surprising how organized, precise, and serious Pika was being, keeping his smile through the process, making everything seem like a game to him. He must really like cooking... Wait... is this gonna be some sort of human dish?! Snivy thought, curiosity and excitement making their ways to him. Of course, he wasn't gonna announce this out loud for obvious reasons, but it was still thrilling to just think of the possibilities.

Emolga's eyes had been full of awe the whole time, she was so surprised and overwhelmed by how good everything was starting to smell and how good Pika was at cooking. Not only that but every time he would glance at her she would just get that 'friendship feeling' she had been having for the past hours.

W-where d-did he learn to cook l-like this?! Emolga asked in her subconscious, keeping her sight on Pika, who seemed like he was making the final touches of his dish.

Dunsparce had also been quite surprised by the pikachu's expertise on the subject of cooking.

This lad surely has more up his sleeve than what he shows. Dusnparce thought, smiling and waiting calmly for the 'expert' to finish his art. The atmosphere around was quite nice, welcoming, and friendly, an atmosphere that everyone would love to be around, an atmosphere that should be more common around pokemon. Surely, the world could learn a thing or two from this group... Dunsparce thought, throwing a quick glance towards the sky, sighing in exasperation.

Soon all of their thoughts were interrupted and their attention brought elsewhere as the master of the dishes had just exclaimed "Fini!" standing up proudly. Pika took up a plate with some cooked oran berries on sticks and started to go around so everymon could claim theirs, except for Dunsparce which made him tilt his head in confusion.

"Don't eat yet by the way, and don't worry Dunsparce, I didn't forget you, I just thought it would be easier for you if it was on a plate and not a stick, " Pika said, utilizing his cheery tone. The yellow mouse went to fetch some bowls that were still settled on the blanket. Dunsparce blushed in embarrassment as Emolga giggled at the whole situation. Snivy just smiled as he awaited for Pika.

"This one is for Snivy!" Pika said, taking one of the bowls from the blanket and giving it to the curious green snake pokemon sitting nearby. Snivy took the bowl and used one of his vines to take the Oran berry stick. He looked at the contents of the bowl, it seemed to be some sort of gooey substance giving away a strangely delicious smell to the green snake. What could this be? Snivy thought, glancing back towards the yellow mouse.

"This one is for Emolga!" Pika said, taking yet another bowl from the blanket and walking towards the confused emolga. She took the bowl, placed it on her lap, and watched it with an enigmatic stare until she felt something gently pat her head. Looking upwards, she met up with the yellow mouse's expression, he was giving her a comforting smile. "You'll enjoy it, I assure you!" Pika said with a nice smile of confidence and proceeded to the next one. Emolga's 'friendship' feeling was quick to turn on, but this time she had something to redirect her attention and calm her down. Just what was this gooey substance already?

"Last but not least, this one is for Dunsparce! I already mixed the berries with my secret substance so it would be easier for you, " Pika said, walking towards Dunsparce, settling a leaf, and then the bowl right over it. Dunsparce gave the food a look. It certainly didn't look bad to him. In fact, the smell that it was giving away was just driving him crazy to try it!

"Thank you Pika, you're quite the nice mon, " Dunsparce said with a smile, glancing towards where the pikachu was standing. Pika smiled in return, then walked back to sit down on the nice leaf blanket. Everymon was waiting for him to give them the queue since they didn't want to be impolite or anything. Pika looked around and noticed how everyone had their eyes fixated on him and grinned.

"You shall eat now!" Pika exclaimed, raising his arms in a dramatic matter, making everyone let out a giggle before they all started with their food. Emolga, Snivy, and Dunsparce simultaneously took a bite of their respective plates. The yellow mouse watched as all of them savored the food and...

"Hmmmm~" They all expressed, delight visible on their faces. This was Pika's queue to dust his paws and start on his food, taking the stick of Oran berries, dipping it a bit on the berry sauce he had made, and finally taking a bite of his own, savoring the sweet and slightly spicy flavor of his dish. Snivy was quick to comment on his cooking after finishing his second bite.

"Pika! This is delicious! I didn't know you had the spirit of a master chef in you!" Snivy said with complete awe and delight on his tone, praising what his friend had cooked as every time he took a bite it was yet another explosion of delicious flavors to him. Pika scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"I don't think it's master chef level but I'm glad you enjoy it, " Pika said quite calmly, taking another bite of his food. Dunsparce decided to give his comment as well.

"If this is not a master chef level, then I don't know what is! This is amazing! I mean, look at how quick Emolga ate hers, geez!" Dunsparce commented with his awe and praise, pointing one of his tiny wings towards the shy emolga who had just finished licking the leftovers of her dish, leaving quite a mess on her face. Pika glanced towards her, giggling at the dorky behavior of the flying squirrel, it was clear she was getting warmed up to the group.

"Well, I'm really glad you guys enjoy it so much!" Pika said in his usual cheery tone as he also felt quite proud of himself.

"I enjoy it and love it! This amazing bitter and refreshing flavor that the substance gives to the balanced flavor of the Oran berries is just perfect!" Snivy commented, taking another bite of his food. Emolga and Dunsparce took notice of what he said and looked towards him in confusion. Snivy noticed their stare and gulped his food down. "What? Did I say something wrong?" Snivy asked quite confused himself, pointing his other free vine towards himself and tilting his head. Pika knew exactly what was about to happen so he just grinned and kept quiet.

"No no, It's just that mine was also my favorite flavor which isn't bitter, it's actually a more salty and dry taste, " Dunsparce said looking towards his food and then back towards Emolga and Snivy. Now, this was surprising, Snivy thought everyone had gotten the same thing as him.

"M-mine w-was really sweet and s-slightly b-bitter, it also h-had quite an apple k-kind of s-sweet..." Emolga said, looking towards her empty bowl for a second. Snivy and Dunsparce did the same.

Did he... Emolga thought but was quickly interrupted.

"Now everyone knows their favorite flavors!" Pika exclaimed happily, getting up into a victorious position, taking everyone's attention towards him. Snivy finally got it.

"Wait, did you really make every mon a different dish with their own favorite flavor?" Snivy asked quite surprised, grateful, but surprised. Pika grinned again.

"You are quite right my green friend!" Pika said jokingly, sitting down and taking another bite of his food, the grin still in plain sight. "How'd you like the surprise?" Pika asked. They all looked towards each other for a second.

"It was quite nice of you, but you didn't need to, we- " Dunsparce was saying but Pika just interrupted him before he could finish.

"But I did and I wanted to, " Pika replied. "I wanted to give an amazing meal for all of my friends!" Pika exclaimed cheerfully, grinning and taking the last bite of his food. Snivy smiled in contentment, Dunsparce was quite surprised to hear this statement but quickly warmed up and grinned himself.

"This will be a great group, I know it!" Dunsparce stated happily, looking around at everyone. Snivy nodded to the statement and went back to eating as well. Emolga just kept looking towards the pikachu with her cheeks filled with a red warmness. She had made... friends... This was a friendship circle... This was something she had been wanting to experience for such a long time... The squirrel glanced towards the orange sky turning to dark blue with pure feelings of happiness inside her heart.

This is it... I-I really h-have f-freinds now... Emolga thought, feeling a big weight being lifted off her shoulders as if all the loneliness she had felt all these years had just... Puff... disappeared. She could feel her heart beating faster as a warm and genuine smile of joy came to form on her face... It was such an amazing feeling, it was almost just like when he had accepted her. It was so overwhelming. Suddenly... tears... tears formed under her eyes. She couldn't control them, all the feelings that she had felt yesterday and those of today were just merging and making her tear up. She started wiping her tears as they kept coming down non-stop.

"Emolga! What happened?!" Pika exclaimed in alarm, dropping the bowl he was carrying from the river and running towards her with concern. Snivy and Dunsparce heard this cry of concern and got preoccupied themselves. They all kept their distance just in case. Dunsparce seemed quite preoccupied and alarmed and Snivy was quite worried as well. Pika was the first to make a move, taking a slow step forward towards her, trying to reach and put a paw on her shoulder but right before he could do so something really surprising happened. Emolga jumped and started hugging the pikachu quite tightly, burying her face, once again, on his fur just like it had happened yesterday. Pika was surprised at first but he quickly cought on... noticing the smile on her face made him ease up, he knew exactly what was happening. The yellow hugged her back and smiled, looking towards the concerned snivy and dunsparce.

"Don't worry guys, she's fine... " Pika said with complete sincerity as he started stroking the emolga's back in an attempt to calm her down. Snivy and Dunsparce locked gazes for a few seconds with complete surprise and confusion but it all just changed into a happy and amused grin from Dunsparce and a calm and approving smile from Snivy. They both looked back towards the pair and just like that, the day had ended for our 4 friends. The sun giving its last shine for the day.

"Very... interesting..."