Author's note: Hey there, guys!
Today, for you, I have a haiku.
Little yellow mouse / Steadfast, like a great stone wall / Beware the rough seas
Thank you. *bows*
Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Thirteen: Eerie Echoes
After dinner, all of the small pokémon had decided to play around on Golurk. The golem had his arms held out in front of him, and was standing as still as a statue, while they used him as a climbing frame.
Pikachu hopped up onto one shoulder, admiring the view. It was much higher up than when he'd sit on Ash's shoulder. He was just about to look around him, and see what the others were doing, when he heard something above him.
"(I'm on top of the world!)" Emolga called out.
Glancing up, he could see the squirrel standing on top of Golurk's head, an overly proud look on her face. She looked around eagerly. After a few moments, her face fell and she pouted to herself.
... She was looking for Snivy, wasn't she? Most likely to brag about beating her to the top of Golurk's body, but the snake wasn't here. She'd been rotated out for Scraggy three days ago.
Pikachu shook his head slowly in exasperation. She'd probably still attempt to brag to the snake when she got rotated back in, knowing Emolga...
Glancing at the arm that was connected to the shoulder he was on, he saw Pansage swinging from Golurk's open fingers like monkey bars. Glaceon - who was standing on the arm - watched him in amusement. Looking at Golurk's other hand, he saw Scraggy trying the same thing, but with less success. Axew, who was standing on the arm, was cheering him on. On the shoulder was Unfezant, who was quietly relaxing.
... Wait, where was Oshawott?
Pikachu glanced around the area, until his eyes eventually landed on the otter. He and Meloetta seemed to be heading down the steps to the beach.
Huh? Why were they going down there?
He continued to watch as the duo descended the stairs. They disappeared below the horizon, no longer in view.
... He had a strange, burning desire to go and investigate - especially since they'd decided to do this while no one else was paying attention - but no. He'd told himself not to snoop anymore. To just leave them to it and stop being so nosy.
His gaze never left the stairs.
When he caught himself staring, he tried to shake it off and get back to what he'd been doing.
... Which hadn't been much, actually. He'd only been admiring the view from a much higher altitude than normal.
His gaze drifted back over to the stairs.
... Ehhh, maybe one last bit of snooping wouldn't hurt.
No, no, 'investigation', he should call it. Yeah, one last investigation.
He just... really wanted to know what was going on with Oshawott and Meloetta. After this, he'd stop for sure.
Nodding to himself, he climbed down Golurk. Once at the golem's feet, he paused, taking a quick glance upwards.
Just as he'd suspected, no one had even noticed - or cared - that he'd moved.
Nodding again, he headed towards the stairs.
Standing at the top of the stairs, Pikachu watched the conversation below. Thankfully, Oshawott and Meloetta were too busy talking to notice him, but he also couldn't hear a thing they were saying up here. Dang...
He contemplated giving up and heading back over to Golurk. After all, he couldn't learn anything if he couldn't even hear them.
He was just about to move when he noticed Oshawott grab one of Meloetta's hands in both paws. Pikachu halted, staring in intrigue.
Oshawott said something. Something heartfelt, apparently, because Meloetta's other hand flew up to her mouth in shock.
... Wait. Wait. Was Oshawott doing what Pikachu thought he was doing?!
He faced the scene fully again, unable to look away. Oshawott continued to talk - saying who knows what, because Pikachu couldn't hear him - and Meloetta was quietly listening.
... It brought to mind a similar scene from around three weeks ago...
Pikachu shook his head, trying not to think about that.
... It did remind him an awful lot of it, though...
He shook his head again, trying to focus on what was going on below him.
Eventually, Oshawott stopped speaking. He looked like he was waiting for a response from Meloetta.
The legendary paused a long moment. Taking a deep breath, she gave him her response. Pikachu strained his ears to try and hear it, but it was no use. She was too quiet and too far away. Well, Oshawott's reaction should be more than enough indication, whenever he gave it.
He watched as the otter listened in intrigue. Then Meloetta glanced away, looking really awkward, and Oshawott's face fell harder than a sack of bricks.
... Oh no.
She pulled her hand away from his paws, continuing with whatever she was saying, as Oshawott looked more and more devastated by the second.
A rock felt like it had plummeted straight into Pikachu's stomach.
... She'd... she'd done the same thing he'd done to Buneary.
He stared, dumbfounded, as Meloetta said one last thing, before flying back up the stairs. Below her, tears were starting to fall from Oshawott's eyes as he called up to her.
She cringed, but never once turned around.
As she passed by Pikachu at the top of the stairs, she gave him a brief, surprised glance. He returned it, his mind oddly blank. After a moment, she kept on flying in the direction of the others.
Pikachu blinked once. Then twice. Slowly, he turned his head back around to look at Oshawott.
Below, the otter locked eyes with him, acknowledging he was there, but not seeming to care at all. He was too busy sobbing in dismay.
An image entered Pikachu's mind. One where he was the one ascending the stairs, instead. Where the one on the beach wasn't an otter, but a rabbit.
Had... she been this upset back then? She'd looked fine afterwards, so he'd assumed she'd been okay, but... then her moves hadn't worked.
... Had he left her sobbing on the beach? Had... that been why she'd taken so long to show her face again?
He felt something inside him tear itself in half as Oshawott walked up the stairs, towards him.
"(She rejected meeee!)" Oshawott screeched, still sobbing.
Pikachu gently patted him on the back. "(I know...)" he replied.
"(But she was the one, man! The one!)"
He gave him a pitying look. "(... I know...)"
"(She... she said she was gonna leave soon! So I wanted to... to tell her and... and ask her out, but...! But...!)"
"(Yeah...)"
All of this was so painful to listen to, but Pikachu had to try his best. For Oshawott's sake.
Just when Pikachu thought he'd calmed Oshawott down, Ridley said that it was time for him, Golurk and Meloetta to leave.
The floodgates opened a second time.
Man... it really broke Pikachu's heart to see his friend like this. As annoying as the otter had been lately, he couldn't bring himself to be annoyed at all right now.
Oshawott had been rejected a lot of times over the course of their Unova journey, but he'd never reacted like this. Sure, there had been devastation, sadness and maybe the odd few tears, but never this.
Had... he actually been serious when he'd said she was 'the one'?
Pikachu glanced up at the humans. They were casting Oshawott concerned glances while returning the rest of their pokémon to their pokéballs, but didn't seem to be taking his tears seriously at all. In fact, was that a tired smile on Iris' face?
... They thought he was being melodramatic, as always, didn't they?
Well, he supposed he'd have thought the same, if he hadn't heard about it firsthand from the otter, himself. This situation was a bit different than usual...
Down on the beach, where Ridley had said they would set off from - since their new home was across the ocean somewhere - Oshawott was still sobbing.
Pikachu gave him another comforting pat on the back. "(Hey, it's okay...)" he said.
"(Yeah, don't cry...)" Axew said, also giving him a pat on the back.
"Because of all you've done," Ridley said to the other humans, "we can now go back home and live in peace. Thanks."
"(Yes, thank you so much!)" Meloetta added.
Oshawott sobbed harder.
The tear in Pikachu's heart grew even more painful. Especially since Meloetta seemed to be doing her level best to pretend she couldn't see, or even hear, Oshawott. He saw her cringe the slightest bit, but she kept her gaze intently on Ash.
He felt a stab of annoyance towards her. Couldn't she at least look at him?!
He patted Oshawott on the back again. "(It's... okay...)" he said half-heartedly.
The humans all started saying goodbye. Meloetta even flew over and gave Ash a goodbye hug, rubbing salt all over Oshawott's wound.
Again trying to comfort Oshawott, Pikachu frowned up at Meloetta, who was saying how she'd miss Ash, and that she'd cheer him on in the Unova League.
It was then that he pictured someone else in her place. A rather familiar face that made the blood in his veins boil.
He quickly shook his head, trying to dispel the image. No. He didn't want to think about that anymore.
Instead, he forced on an incredibly painful smile as Ridley clambered aboard Golurk. The golem fired up his rocket and lifted himself into the air. Letting go of Ash, Meloetta said one last goodbye and followed after them, now en route to whatever new home The Protectors had moved to.
They'd probably never see her again after this.
"(Bye, Meloettaaaa!)" Oshawott cried, running towards the ocean.
Axew ran after him. "(Byeeee!)" he called out.
Pikachu did the same. "(Y-Yeah!)" he called out. "(... Bye!)"
The humans followed after them, until they all stopped at the shoreline, waving the trio off. As they began to fly across the ocean, waving back, Meloetta started singing the same goodbye song that she'd sung when Dawn had left.
Something stabbed painfully through Pikachu's heart at the similarity, but he fought to keep the smile on his face as he waved. As much as it hurt to do so.
"(Jeez...)" Axew said, back to patting Oshawott on the back, "(you're really upset about her leaving, huh?)"
Oshawott continued to sob. He didn't look able to reply.
Sighing, Pikachu decided to do it for him. "(M... Meloetta rejected him,)" he replied, feeling another stab to his heart.
Axew looked shocked. "(Really?!)"
"(Yeeees!)" Oshawott screeched. He sobbed some more. "(She was the one! The one!)"
"(H-Hey, come on...)" Pikachu replied, also patting him on the back. "(I'm sure you'll find another 'one'...)"
Oshawott shook his head. "(No, I won't! She was the one!)"
As Axew gave the otter a pitying gaze, Pikachu felt yet another stab to the heart.
That night, Oshawott retreated back into his pokéball. Perhaps to cry some more. Pikachu wasn't sure.
Jeez... it kind of reminded him of when Marill had rejected Piplup, back in Sinnoh. When she'd chosen to date Elekid over him. The penguin had cried about it for a while, before getting over it that very night.
... Was Oshawott still crying? He really hoped not. He wanted the otter to get a good night's rest...
From his place on Ash's bed, Pikachu stared up at the ceiling, unable to sleep.
Maybe... maybe Oshawott really... had meant it, after all... The whole 'she's the one' thing...
It was a pity that Meloetta hadn't returned the sentiment...
He frowned up at the ceiling. Not wanting to date Oshawott was one thing, but refusing to even look at him?
Sure, it was probably awkward to look someone in the eye after rejecting them, but...
He recalled Buneary again. The pain on her face. The tears in her eyes.
He clenched his own eyes shut, willing the image away.
... But then he recalled Meloetta again. Leaving behind a heartbroken Oshawott, who'd been filled with hope... and dreams of happiness and romance...
He opened his eyes, going back to staring at the ceiling. Had all that been what Buneary had felt, too? Had he...?
No, no... she'd get over it, right? Heck, she probably had done, already!
... But what if she hadn't?
But it had been three weeks! There was no way she hadn't gotten over it by now! After all, nobody who'd ever been rejected had been sad for long! Heck, when Sceptile had been rejected by Meganium, he'd lost his moves for a couple of days, but had gotten them back quickly enough! All he'd needed was a bit of friendship and support!
... But Buneary hadn't gotten her moves back at all in the time she'd been in Unova.
But, then again, she'd stopped using her moves after a few days, so maybe she'd gotten them back and no one had even realised! Not even her!
... So why had she been avoiding him?
Because... she'd had other friends to make! She'd been going around, talking to all the Unova pokémon, after all, and there were certainly a lot of them! So it made sense that it would take a while!
... But two whole weeks? And, every time he'd tried to talk to her, she'd stayed out of his way.
Well... that was because...
Because...
... Because it was awkward talking to someone who'd just rejected you...
Pikachu didn't know how much time had passed. Hours, probably, but he had no clue how many.
He'd been tossing and turning all night, trying his absolute best to get to sleep, but he couldn't. He just couldn't.
His head was buzzing from the overload of thoughts inside it. Every time he'd try to sleep, a myriad of faces would flash by in his mind, one after the other, causing more thoughts to buzz around his brain.
Urgh... he was never getting to sleep, was he?
Before him was a beautiful, bountiful forest. Everywhere the eye could see, fruit and berries of all shapes, sizes and colours covered the trees and bushes. The grass beneath his feet was soft and velvety. Pokémon roamed around freely, singing melodic harmonies that perked up his spirit as he walked.
It was truly paradise.
He continued on his stroll, enjoying the cool breeze on his face, and the warm sunbeams shining down from above, which speckled his fur in light.
He closed his eyes, breathing in the scent of the mountains. Ahhh... there was no fresher smell.
When he opened his eyes again, before him was a barren wasteland. One that held no life. The trees were bare, the ground was a layer of untrodden dirt, and there were no pokémon in sight.
He looked around him sadly. This land had once been so prosperous. So promising! But now look at it.
It was a wreckage.
He slowly made his way across the dirt. Several dead twigs cracked under his feet. The forest - or what was left of it - echoed with a strange sense of emptiness.
Voices. He could hear voices.
They were faint, but he could hear them. They sounded so distant, but they were there.
"(Hello?)" he called out into the empty air.
A ghostly figure appeared in front of him. One shaped like an otter. It faded away immediately afterwards.
"(H... Hello?)" he called out again.
Another ghostly figure appeared, one of a floating humanoid. It faded away again.
"(Hello?!)" he called out, a bit louder.
He looked around, searching. Searching for any sign of life.
But no one responded.
Yet another ghostly figure appeared, this one a rabbit. It looked him dead in the eyes, a sad expression on its face. Then it faded away again.
More kept appearing, one after the other. A flood of sad, ghostly figures. Except, now, they were no longer fading away.
They slowly filled the wasteland, making the air around him grow colder. Some figures were tall, some were short. Some stood on two legs, others on four. Even the figures from before were returning.
Every single face in the crowd was familiar, but two in particular stood out the most. Especially since they were smiling.
Pikachu blinked himself awake. He blinked again, glancing around the room.
Groaning slightly, he lay back down. Yep, it had just been a dream. A horrible dream, but a dream, nonetheless.
... He would say that he was glad it was over, since it had just been a dream, but... his heart knew better than that.
His heart knew just how much significance that dream had held.
He groaned again, rolling over.