Chapter 23: Taking Some Responsibility
Pikachu sighed. Well, this was just peachy. He was hidden away in a bush right outside that researcher guy's place. The baby was quietly suckling on the mouse's tail, fast asleep.
Lying down next to the baby, Pikachu sighed again. Honestly, he'd wanted to get further away from here... but the kid had been far too tired. Being born would do that to a kid, he supposed, but it didn't make Pikachu's job any easier. If that researcher realized he was missing, he would be out here in a heartbeat. Wouldn't be hard for him to find the mouse, either. Not with a baby who hadn't yet learned the art of stealth by his side, anyway.
He stared at the kid. A third sigh made its way out of his lips. Just... what was he going to do? He wasn't cut out to be a freaking babysitter!
Obviously, he could abandon the kid... in a million years, maybe. Once he'd gone absolutely braindead. There was no way he ever wanted to be like his parents. Not now, not ever.
That said, he didn't know how he was going to look after this kid. Although pokémon babies apparently tended to be smarter than human ones, they weren't freaking geniuses! Unlike normal animals, their natural instincts were minimal at best, too. The baby was going to have to rely on him for everything.
Welp... nothing for it. He would have to wing it and see what happened. After all, that's what his dad had done... and the mouse had turned out vaguely alright. Abandonment notwithstanding.
Yeah... this would end well. He was sure of it.
He started to sigh yet again, but he yawned instead. A sign that it was time to get some well-deserved sleep.
He was about to let his eyes close, until he remembered a fundamental basic of childcare. Oh, right. Got to make sure the baby's nice and warm. Hm... well, a nest would do that just fine. He just needed some twigs and leaves and stuff to surround the baby in.
He slowly took his tail away from the baby's mouth. While he got up, however, the baby leaped forwards, tackling him back to the ground.
Despite that, looking at the kid, he saw that he was somehow still asleep. He was lying on Pikachu's belly with both of his stubby paws wrapped around him as best he could.
Pikachu blinked. Well, so much for making that nest, then.
Relenting, he just returned the favor by hugging the kid. This was one way of keeping the little guy warm, he supposed.
… He really hoped the mother wouldn't walk in on this, or else he probably wouldn't wake up tomorrow morning, would he?
"[Mmm… love Poppa…]" the baby mumbled in his sleep, smiling widely.
Pikachu's heart went really warm at that. Gosh… as far as this kid was concerned, he really was his dad, wasn't he? That was… really charming.
… No way he could ever fail this kid now. Not again. Awkward as it was, he had to be 'Poppa' from now on. If only until this whole mess was sorted out.
Yawning, he let his eyes droop.
Pikachu's eyes slowly fluttered open to some bright sunlight that peeked through the bush. Ugh, dang… morning, already?
He sat up and wearily rubbed his eyes. Man… what a wild dream. Heck, it had almost been lifelike. He'd been looking after someone else's kid, and…
… His eyes snapped open. Oh, frick, that had happened, hadn't it? Shoot, he'd almost forgotten!
Well… back to his duties, he supposed. Stretching, he wondered what to do. What was the morning routine for taking care of kids, anyway? Feeding them, maybe?
He slowly got to his feet. Stretching again, he glanced around. He frowned worriedly when he noticed something. Wait, where was the little guy, anyway?
He looked around, trying to spot him. His searching grew more and more frantic by the second. Oh no, oh no… he hadn't lost him, had he!?
He wandered around in an attempt to find the kid. Ugh… he hated exercising in the morning. Still, if it would keep that kid safe…!
… Man, what was this feeling? This was, like… true worry, wasn't it? Man, he was used to looking out just for himself, so this was a new one.
… He was totally going to have this feeling every day for a while, wasn't he? Oh, joy…
His ears pricked when he heard something. It sounded like… crying!?
Wasting no time, he ran over in its direction. He came across a large berry bush with the kid lying next to it. He was crying quite heavily.
Pikachu moved over to him. "[Oh no, w-what's wrong? What happened?]" he asked.
"[Hurrrrt…!]" the kid whimpered before crying some more.
"[Why? What's…?]" Pikachu started. He stopped when he noticed that the kid's face was smeared with berry juices. His belly looked somewhat more bulged, too.
Realizing what the issue was, Pikachu breathed out a sigh of relief and chuckled lightly. "[Um… did'ja eat too much?]" he asked.
Whimpering, the kid nodded.
Heh… well, thank goodness Pikachu was smart enough not to have the same mindset as his own dad, that was for sure.
He was kind of jealous, honestly. As a baby, he hadn't been allowed to enjoy the magic of berry-eating for so long, that he'd almost choked to death on a baby berry. Tsk…
Getting back to the present, the mouse sighed with his paws on his hips. "[Careful, kid… When you eat too much, you'll get belly aches. Trust me, I found that out the hard way, myself. Many times.]"
"[Belly aches…?]" the kid repeated curiously.
"[Um, yeah. So careful.]"
"[Careful…]" The kid looked to his side. He blinked a few times before picking up a chesto berry lying next to him. He shoved it into his mouth. "[… Tashty, though.]"
Pikachu laughed heartily. For crying out loud. "[Oh dear… I can already tell, you're a food-loving baby, ain't'cha?]"
The baby gave a sigh of content in response. He paused before going back to clutching his belly in pain and crying again. "[… W-Worth…!]"
Pikachu laughed again. "[Yeah. I'll bet it was worth it,]" he replied. Good lord, what was he going to do with this kid?
When his laughter died down, the mouse huffed. Good question, actually. What was he going to do with the kid? They couldn't stay here, or else they'd get found by that researcher guy. Maybe not immediately, but it would probably happen eventually.
They couldn't migrate, because if a trainer saw them and wanted to nab them up… Pikachu wasn't sure if he'd be able to fend them off. He hated to admit it, but he kind of sucked at battling compared to a trained pokémon. Running away from them wasn't an option, either. There was no way this kid would be able to get away, and the mouse would be damned if he would abandon him. He was pretty rare-looking, too, which further worried Pikachu.
He couldn't leave to go and have a try at finding the parents, because that would mean abandoning this kid. Something that probably wouldn't go down well with the kid or his mother.
So that left one option. Staying in one place. Maybe even the place Pikachu had been living in up until this incident. It seemed to be just as good a plan as any.
… Oh lord, but what if the kid wandered off again? He hadn't gotten too far this time… but what if he stumbled upon a trainer? Or worse, one of those predator pokémon? They were very rare, because they were usually ostracized from society if they ever pulled those kinds of stunts… but that didn't stop everyone.
Aghhh, what a mess this was. Was this a cruel test? Was a legendary going to burst out of the heavens and say 'Pikachu, we deem you worthy of becoming our new super, aura death champion of the gods!' or some such garbage? He really hoped not.
The kid gave a loud cry out of nowhere, startling him. Looking back down at him, Pikachu saw him cringing up a storm while sitting up, a half-eaten payapa berry in his paws.
"[Um, oh dear,]" Pikachu said. "[Not a fan?]"
"[No! Bad!]" the kid shouted angrily, throwing it. It hit a tree and bounced off, hitting the kid in his forehead. He yelped and stumbled onto his back again.
"[Ah, k-kid!]" Pikachu cried out in alarm, moving over to him. Oh, jeez, that payapa berry had looked under ripe, too. They're firm when they're like that…!
The kid stayed where he was, looking dazed.
"[Oh no, um…]" Pikachu mumbled, looking for a healing berry. This bush didn't seem to have any, though. Agh…!
He paused when the baby came to. The kid blinked a few times before pouting heavily. "[… Dumb food,]" he mumbled.
Pikachu tried not to chuckle, but he failed. Oh, this kid… "[Er… it's okay?]" He tenderly rubbed the kid's head.
The baby stopped pouting to look content, instead. "[Heehee, okay~]"
Heh… this kid was so adorable, it had to be said.
… Huh, something just occurred to the mouse. He didn't even have a name for this kid.
Well, he wasn't exactly an expert on species… and the kid's speech wasn't developed enough to give him the answer, apparently, so… nicknaming it was!
Hmm, what to call him, though… Something cool and edgy? Something cutesy and sweet? Something normal and… human-sounding? Agh, too much choice…
He glanced around for inspiration. Seeing the berry bush, he suddenly thought of something. Huh… come to think of it, he'd been hiding away under a berry bush when he'd seen the kid's egg for the first time, hadn't he?
Heh, and to think… it'd only been a day ago when that'd happened.
… Hmph. Come to think of it, that father had sounded really hesitant at the time while talking about the egg, hadn't he? Pikachu had assumed he'd just been awkward, or really nervous, or whatever. Thinking on it… he'd been reluctant. He'd never planned on keeping the kid at all, had he?
Pikachu sighed. Poor little guy… if only the mouse had known then what he knew now. He would've burst out of that chesto berry bush in an instant and beaten that deadbeat dad near-dead.
… Wait. A chesto berry bush, eh? Huh… maybe something like Chesto? Chesty? Chester?
… Chester. Heh, he liked it. Very cute, rather human-sounding, and… well, maybe not edgy or cool, exactly, but hey. Maybe it would discourage him from becoming an actual edgelord in the future, or something.
Either way, it would always be a reminder of the day he'd met this kid. From the moment he'd hidden away from the little guy's parents, right up to this point. His memory may have been really bad, but he would make sure this was one thing he'd never forget.
"[Say, um… kid?]" he asked.
The kid looked up at him curiously. "[Poppa?]" he asked.
Pikachu smiled. "[D'you want me to call you Chester?]"
The baby tilted his head. "[Ches… ter?]"
"[Yeah! It's alright if you don't like it, but… I just wanted to know if you did. So how's about it? Is your name Chester?]"
The kid beamed at him. "[Chester! Chester! Best name!]" he chimed.
Pikachu beamed back just as brightly. "[Alright, sweet! Well, glad ya like it… Chester.]"
The kid… or, better yet… Chester cheered back in response.
Happy with that, Pikachu nodded in satisfaction. He paused when he realized that he still didn't know what to do with the kid, however. Stay here? Leave?
… Eh, what the heck. Like he'd said before, he was ready to throw things at the wall to see what stuck. So what better place to do that than at home? Yeah, it was time to get away from that researcher, once and for all.
Besides, the area he lived in was safe enough. Predators wouldn't bother screwing around in some normal place like this. Not with all the humans who lived about the area.
"[Alright, then, Chester… home time!]" he said.
"[Home?]" Chester asked.
"[Yep! We can't stay in this bush forever, y'know.]"
"[Aww… food, though…]" Chester replied with a pout.
Smirking, Pikachu rolled his eyes. "[There'll be more food, don't worry. There's a reason I'm, er… slightly porky,]" he replied, patting his belly for emphasis. He felt his face warm when it wobbled more than he'd expected it to.
Chester giggled. "[Poppa's porky!]" He stumbled over to poke the mouse's belly, which got some more giggles out of the kid.
Pikachu huffed in mock annoyance. "[Don't get too amused. You might get this way one day, if you're not careful.]"
Chester gasped and shook his head. "[No, no, never pork!]"
Pikachu chuckled and rubbed the kid's head. "[Watch yourself, then. Anyway, off we go!]"
Chester nodded. "[Okay!]"
Nodding back, Pikachu began towards where the stairs leading down the hill were. He jolted when he felt his paw being tugged. Looking, he saw the kid eagerly gripping his paw.
Smiling warmly, he held onto it and wandered back to the stairs with Chester in tow. He kept an eye out for trainers the entire time… but, being morning, he guessed he wouldn't have too much trouble. Hopefully.
Back next to his home tree with Chester, Pikachu decided to lounge against it for a bit. Climbing down hundreds of stairs and coming back here had been Hell on his physique…
Peeling back a kebia berry to get at its tasty black flesh, he watched Chester play about with something he'd found. The kid seemed happy enough doing that - swinging it around like a sword to hit the shrubbery surrounding them - so the mouse had left him to it.
Shoving the dry berry into his mouth, Pikachu tossed the annoyingly sour peel away. While he chewed the delicious berry, he noticed Chester wander over to the peel, apparently intrigued.
The kid picked it up and inspected it for a little while before shoving it straight into his mouth. A little chewing and then he spat it out while cringing heavily.
"[Gah! Not tasty! Bad!]" he complained loudly.
Oh dear, oh dear… two apparently gross foods in one day. Unlucky kid. Pikachu didn't blame him, though. He hated sour stuff, too. "[I'm wiv ya thuhr,]" he replied before swallowing. "[Well, how about I show you all the sour food later on, so you don't get anything else 'not tasty'?]"
"[Yesh…]" Chester mumbled, rubbing his tongue in distaste. "[No not tashty…]"
"[Hehe, yeah,]" Pikachu replied with a yawn. He rubbed his eyes. "[Mmm, for now, why don't'cha play with your… thing?]"
Chester produced a tiny ball of water in his paws and shoved it into his mouth. He spat it out afterwards, as if to clear away the peel's taste. He nodded happily. "[Okay~]" He picked up his toy from before and began to mess around with it again.
Pikachu gave him an impressed look. Huh, that ball of water had been his first move, hadn't it? The same one his parents had used… Man, he was already making such progress. The mouse hadn't used his first attack until a few months after he'd evolved. And even then, he'd only done it to try cooking a berry for the first time. Something that had, regrettably, ruined the dry taste, but still.
The mouse's smile widened. This kid was going places. He could just feel it…
Pikachu groggily rubbed his eyes again. Man, this tired, already? Well… they had gone down loads of stairs and walked back to his home for, like… twenty minutes, or something. That'd been the most exercise he'd gotten in months!
He allowed his eyes to droop. Only for a little while, though. After that, he would get right back to looking after Chester.
The greenery of shrubs around him slowly faded away into the darkness of his eyelids. He sighed in comfort at how relaxing it was. If he wasn't careful, he probably would fall asleep.
He listened to the swaying of the leaves and Chester's giggles while he rested. They brought a relaxed smile to his face. Man, this 'fatherhood' business was going far better than he'd have ever guessed it would. It was… nice. That dumb deadbeat was missing out on so much.
Hmm… this kind of reminded him of his own stupid deadbeat dad. He'd always been happier to relax in the nest than to do anything with him. No games… no training… no nothing.
Pikachu frowned. Would… he turn out that way? He vaguely remembered that his dad had spent the first bunch of days talking to him, at least. Nothing much, just awkward comments… but he'd still talked. Pikachu was a little worried he was going to turn out the same way. Right now, all he was doing was giving the kid some awkward responses to whatever he said, so…
… No. He had to avoid being like his dad, no matter the cost. Even if that meant… ugh… exercising.
He nodded lightly to himself. Yup. Right after he'd rested his eyes, maybe he would… play catch with Chester, or something. Whatever made the little guy happy.
He continued wondering what else he could do to be a good dad figure. He kept it up for a while, until he heard Chester making excited sounds.
He opened his eyes to get a look and saw the kid poking at something. It looked like a small, round, purple… thing. Huh. Was it a berry? He didn't recognize that one.
Chester continually poked at it with his toy. Each time he prodded it, it grew in size. It kept growing until it formed a weird face.
Pikachu jolted. J-Jeez, what the-!? Wait... that looked like one of those drifloon things he'd seen on TV. They were balloon ghosts, or something weird like that. But what was one doing all the way over here in Kanto?
The drifloon slowly extended two string-like arms and grasped Chester's paws, startling him.
Pikachu frowned, not liking where this was going. "[Hey, hands off!]" he called out, getting to his feet.
The balloon slowly began rising into the air without a word.
Pikachu breathed out a sigh of relief that it was leaving. He gasped instead when Chester cried out in surprise while floating upwards.
W-What!? ... Wait, oh no, that frigging balloon was still holding onto him!
Pikachu charged some electricity and fired a Thunder Shock at the drifloon. It jerked upwards suddenly, dodging it and bringing Chester high enough to get zapped instead. He screamed out in pain.
Damn it! Pikachu cut off his electricity and got ready to fire off some more. He hesitated, however. He didn't want to hit the kid again!
He ran forwards and jumped up to make a grab for Chester's feet. Barely missing, he crashed to the floor. Groaning in pain, he pushed himself to his feet and looked up. The kid was too high for him to grab.
Panicking, he frantically looked around. Eyeing up his tree, he ran over to it and quickly climbed up. At the top, he charged up some more electricity. When he tried firing another Thunder Shock, his electricity fizzled out, producing nothing.
No, no, no! What!? Why this? Why now?
Panicking even more, he leaped off the tree to try and grab Chester one more time. He barely grabbed the kid's feet and held on tight.
Chester cried out in pain, probably because of the intense weight... but Pikachu refused to let go, even if it hurt the kid. It was either this, or... legends only knew what.
He tried to come up with a plan on how to save Chester. A loud popping noise followed by the feeling of falling interrupted him, though. Seconds later, he crashed to the floor.
Ow... what...? He held up his paws and... saw the kid's feet, completely detached from his body.
He cried out in terror. Oh, God, no! He'd yanked them clean off!
Looking up, his heart stopped dead in his chest when he saw the drifloon carry Chester away high into the air. "[Chester! No!]" he screamed.
"[Poppa, no go! No go...!]" Chester screamed back, being carried further and further away.
Pikachu didn't know what to do. What could he do!?
A gigantic portal above the drifloon suddenly opened up. A humongous eevee's head popped out of it. The fox licked its lips and opened its mouth wide, awaiting the balloon's arrival.
Nearly crying, Pikachu screamed for them to stop. He nearly broke down into tears when the fox clamped its teeth down onto the drifloon and Chester, destroying them both.
He gasped loudly and opened his eyes. W-What!? What... the...?
He frantically looked up. He saw nothing in the daytime sky.
Swallowing, he took many deep breaths to calm his heart. No drifloon? Huh... had he been dreaming all that time?
He exhaled deeply. J-Jeez... what a nightmare. Tsk, well, that's what he got for drifting off when he'd told himself he wouldn't.
He wiped his forehead. He was shocked at how much sweat had gathered on it. Man… seriously, that was the most frightened he'd been in a while. He hoped he wouldn't go through that again. Either in a dream or in real life.
He yawned and looked around for the kid. His eyes shot open wide when he didn't see him anywhere. Oh, damn, where was he!?
He rolled to his feet and frantically searched the area while calling his name. When he came up with nothing for a whole minute, he started to get really scared again. Where was he!?
He suddenly stepped in something squishy. It singed his foot enough to make him yelp and draw it back. Ow, what the heck?
He wiped his foot on the grass and looked at the mess on the ground. It looked all red and mushy, meaning it was probably a berry, thankfully. Huh, was that a tamato berry?
... Oh, shoot! Chester must've eaten one and burned himself!
Just freaking great. Pikachu's first day of makeshift parenting, and Chester had already eaten two things he hated, bonked himself on the head, burned himself and freaking died because of a balloon. This was going real swell.
Well, no time to waste. The mouse got down onto all fours and looked for a trail. Smelling the distinctively spicy scent of tamato, he jogged out of the bushes that made up his home, following it.
Keeping an eye out for trainers, he kept on going, until he came across a small, shallow stream. The same one he came to for a drink whenever he needed it. He was relieved to see that Chester was sitting inside of it, slurping water up for dear life.
"[Chester, there you are!]" he cried, running over to the kid.
"[Hurrrt…!]" Chester replied, eyes watering. He went back to slurping at the water.
Standing next to him, the mouse breathed a sigh of relief. "[Did you-]"
"[Oh, he belongs to you then?]" a rattata said suddenly.
Pikachu jumped and looked off to the side. He saw two pokémon he was somewhat friendly with. Rattata and Tangela.
"[Um… more or less,]" Pikachu replied.
"[Er… 'kay,]" Rattata said. She scratched her head. "[… Should I ask the obvious question, or is it complicated?]"
Pikachu huffed. "[… Complicated.]"
"[Dude,]" Tangela said, looking amused, "[you didn't tell me you were a fan of the 'romp and run'.]"
Rattata huffed amusedly, but Pikachu groaned, face warming.
"[Why would your mind immediately go there?]" he mumbled.
Tangela sniggered, his many tentacles jiggling as he did. "[Well, if you've got a kid with ya on your own, then it tells a big story, don't it? You did the 'mate and escape', didn't'cha? The good ol' 'wham, bam, thank ya, Mam'.]"
Pikachu shot him a glare. "[… I swear, if this kid wasn't here, I'd zap you. Again.]"
Tangela just laughed harder. "[If it's not true, then why're you getting mad?]"
"[Gee, I wonder…]" Pikachu huffed, moving over to pat Chester on the head. He was still preoccupied with drinking water, so maybe some zapping wouldn't be so bad, after all…
"[Alright, hush up, you two,]" Rattata said, looking like she was trying not to laugh. "[You'll get the kid asking questions, or something.]"
Tangela chuckled again. "[If his dad's gonna be doing the 'bang and dash', then maybe he should know. Sooner rather than-]"
Going over to him, Pikachu snapped off one of his vines and shoved it into his mouth. "[Alright, that's enough out of you, ya jerk,]" he grumbled, looking away to hide his light smirk. Frick's sake…
Rattata giggled at the sight, though Tangela spat it out and frowned, instead. "[Ouch. Grouchy as ever, buddy,]" he grumbled.
Pikachu was about to reply, but Chester's screaming cut him off.
"[Arm gone! Arm gone!]" he squealed, looking at the mouse in disbelief.
"[W-What!?]" he replied, looking about frantically. "[What arm's gone?]"
"[Aww… I think he thinks that you hurt him,]" Rattata explained.
He gasped and shook his head frantically. "[N-No, Chester, don't worry! I didn't hurt him!]" he said.
"[Pfft, no way,]" Tangela explained. He shook his head about, sending several loose vines flying off him. Pikachu had to hold up his paw to avoid one hitting him in the face. "[These things are a dime a dozen. Or whatever those humans say nowadays. Doesn't hurt at all!]" the bush… thing said.
"[… No hurt?]" Chester asked, looking at him.
"[Y-Yeah, no hurt,]" Pikachu agreed, somewhat relieved. "[I wouldn't hurt someone that much. Not even him.]"
Chester breathed out a sigh of relief. "[Poppa's good,]" he said, smiling again.
"[He's a hard head, but he sure is,]" Rattata agreed.
Chester looked at her. Instead of replying, he moved over and studied her curiously. "[… Momma?]" he asked, tugging on one of her whiskers.
Her eyes widened. "[H-Huh?]"
Pikachu's fur stood on end. Oh, lord, no! "[N-N-No! She's not your momma!]" he stammered, face heating up horribly.
"[Yeah… not it,]" Rattata added, backing up and waving a paw dismissively. "[I'm not even a little ready for kids.]"
"[Aw…]" Chester mumbled.
Tangela cracked up laughing. "[Oh, man, maybe you two should change that,]" he joked. "[As long as you don't do the pump 'n' dump, anyway.]"
Pikachu rolled his eyes. "[If this kid wasn't here, man, I swear to the legends…]" he replied.
Rattata only giggled in response. "[Jeez…]" she mumbled.
Chester glanced around the field. "[Where's… Momma?]" he asked.
… Pikachu's heart froze in his chest. Oh no. "[… Um… she's…]" he started. He breathed deeply. This wasn't going to go well. "[Well, she's… not… here.]"
The kid's face fell. "[… Huh?]"
"[She's… um…]" He glanced off to the side. He saw the others giving him a worried glance, as if expecting the worst kind of answer. "[… We'll find her. Eventually.]"
"[Find her?]"
He tried to smile tenderly. "[Yeah. She's not here right now, but she will be one day.]"
Chester smiled. "[Okay~]"
Pikachu huffed out a sigh. Was it right for him to say that? He had no idea if they'd ever see that lady again, so he could be lying through his teeth, for all he knew.
Well, whatever. It was something to worry about for another time.
"[No, seriously, what's the deal with the kid?]" Rattata asked. "[Did you, um… find his… y'know? E-double-G?]"
He sighed again. "[If you mean randomly out in the wild, then… nope. Worse than that.]"
"[Ah… worse?]"
"[Oh, dude,]" Tangela murmured, "[his par- Um, they didn't, like… push up daisies, did they?]"
"[Daisies?]" Chester asked.
Pikachu felt some sweat build on his head. "[… We're talking about flowers,]" he said.
"[Flowers?]"
"[Yeah. Um…]" He glanced about. Eyeing up a patch of some flowers on the other side of the stream, he pointed towards it. "[Hey, look, there's some, kiddo! Go check 'em out.]"
"[Ooh, okay~]" Chester replied happily. He slowly wandered over to them, waddling through the shallow stream en route.
Taking a breath, Pikachu turned to the others. "[Alright, yeah… I guess I'll tell ya, quickly. Um, y'see…]"
He went on to explain the situation. From yesterday, when he'd almost been caught, to today, with the dream and Chester's wanderings.
When he finished, Rattata gave him quite the shocked look. "[Jeez…]" she said, "[and here Pidgey was yesterday, thinking you were just lazing about, like always.]"
He huffed. "[Not quite…]"
"[Hatching just when he was abandoned…]" Tangela mumbled. "[Thank Hell you were about, huh?]"
"[Yep,]" Pikachu replied. His ears dipped. "[He would've just been outside that researcher guy's place all night. Crying and calling out for his folks…]"
"[Aww…]" Rattata said with a sigh. "[Well… good on ya for looking after him.]"
"[Heh, thanks.]"
Tangela chuckled, as if something came to mind. "[Hey, if you want a mood lightener…]" he started.
Pikachu put his paws on his hips. "[Yeah…?]"
"[He just hatched yesterday night, right?]"
"[Right.]"
"[Hehe, that means his mom and dad only just had sex, like, three or four weeks ago.]"
Pikachu blinked. Face warming, he groaned. "[… You always know just what lovely images to put in my mind, don't you?]"
Tangela's vines jiggled as he laughed. "[Anytime, dude!]"
Rattata laughed, too, though she looked like she was trying to stop. "[Always the first thing on your mind, man!]" she chided.
"[You know me!]"
Pikachu slowly shook his head before looking back at Chester. He seemed to be giving the flowers a taste test. Something that didn't really surprise the mouse, at this point.
"[Hey, what're you gonna do with the little tyke, now, anyway?]" Rattata asked.
"[… Not sure,]" he replied with a shrug.
"[Whatever you do,]" Tangela said, "[try not to sleep when you're s'posed to keep an eye on him, again.]"
"[Yeah, yeah…]" Pikachu replied with yet another sigh. "[… I won't lie. I don't think I'm equipped for this at all.]"
"[Doing better than me, if it makes ya feel any better.]"
"[Thanks, man.]"
"[Say… that researcher guy,]" Rattata started, "[he was keeping you in that warm, cozy building, right?]"
He looked at her. "[Yeah?]"
"[And he kept you fed, right?]"
"[Well, I had to raid his place for food, since he was so busy… but yeah, I guess.]"
She smiled. "[Then just look after him over there! Problem solved!]"
His eyes widened. "[W-What? The guy wants to send me away to some trainer, how would that ever work?]"
"[Just leave the day before he does it! Problem solved.]"
"[Makes sense, dude,]" Tangela added. "[Food, shelter, no wandering kids, no predators… Sounds pretty perfect for raising a kid, if you ask me.]"
Pikachu breathed out deeply. They had a point, he guessed. In the wild, it was pretty much anything goes… but inside that researcher's place, there wouldn't be much to fear at all, would there? Nothing but future trainers, but even that probably wouldn't be much of a hassle if he did what Rattata had suggested.
Was… that the right thing to do?
"[I'll… think about it,]" he mumbled. He smiled at them. "[Thanks for the friendly advice, either way, guys.]"
"[No problem!]" Rattata chimed.
"[Just make sure he grows up big and strong to have kids of his own,]" Tangela added. "[And be sure to beat him if he gets ideas from his real dad, alright?]"
Pikachu chuckled. "[Alright,]" he replied.
He waved them goodbye and wandered over to Chester, who was still messing about with the flowers. Considering he wasn't eating them anymore, Pikachu guessed that he'd not liked the taste. Who knew with this little guy, though?
"[Hey, Chester!]" he said with a wave.
"[Poppa~]" Chester replied. He waved his arms energetically. "[Poppa, play with daisy flowers!]"
… Play, huh? Well, Pikachu had promised himself he would, so… "[Heh, yeah, yeah, sure,]" he replied.
"[Yay~!]"
Smiling, Pikachu moved closer and sat down next to the kid. "[Alright, um…]" He rubbed the back of his head, "[… how do I 'daisy flower'?]"
Chester looked like he was going to respond, but he stopped. Blinking a few times, he blankly looked down at the flowers. "[… Dunno.]"
Pikachu laughed. "[That so? Well… we'll find a way, I'm sure.]" He plucked a small flower's head. Thinking of something, he held it on the palm of his paw and then blew it towards Chester.
When it flew towards him, the kid giggled and tried to bat it away. He stopped and watched it curiously as it slowly floated down, before picking it up. Holding it out on his paws, he took a deep breath and did a big gaspy blow.
The flower didn't move much.
He dejectedly looked at it in confusion. Pikachu just chuckled.
"[Nice try, kid, but there's a… thing you have to do. Like… with your lips.]" He pulled an exaggerated face for emphasis.
Chester laughed at him, making the mouse's cheeks go hot in embarrassment.
"[W-Well… you get the picture,]" Pikachu said, cutting it out. When he saw the kid looking at him eagerly, he sighed lightly and pulled the expression again. Chester laughed just as much, making him go just as embarrassed as before. Tsk… the things he went through to make this little guy happy.
Once his laughter died down, Chester tried to pull the same face and blew again. The flower moved a bit more than before.
"[Yeah, yeah, almost!]" Pikachu praised. "[You just need to, um…]" He moved his mouth about, wondering how to explain. "[… Yeah, yeah! Just fiddle about with your tongue, and I think you'll get it!]"
The kid tilted his head briefly. He tried to do something with his mouth, took another deep breath and tried another blow.
The flower flew clean off his paws, lightly smacking against Pikachu's chest.
"[Hey, you did it, Chester!]" he chimed. "[Well done!]"
The kid gasped in delight. He cheered and clapped his paws together excitedly. "[Did it! Did it! Heehee, yay~!]" he sang.
Seeing his excitement made Pikachu's heart swell with warmth. D'aww… this was so precious. He wouldn't lie, either. He felt a huge pang of pride right now, too. This was kind of like… passing down his knowledge, wasn't it?
He smiled brightly. Maybe, just maybe… this adoptive fatherhood thing would turn out a-okay after all. He just had to keep this up!
As for that living with the researcher thing… he'd think about it. But for now, he had a kid to play with!
He blew the flower back at Chester, joining in his laughter as he blew it back.
Pikachu's eyes cracked open slowly. Immediately, his vision met Buneary's familiar face. She seemed fast asleep.
He blinked a few times, heart beating faster. Oh yeah… he'd gotten himself a sleeping buddy last night, hadn't he?
He grinned. Well, he wasn't exactly complaining, that was for sure. Even with that lengthy dream of his, he felt so refreshed it was unreal.
He yawned and carefully rolled onto his back. There wasn't a huge amount of room to work with - what with being inside Dawn's jacket - but he managed it. He blinked repeatedly when he saw the faint outline of the sun against the tent. A sign that it was morning.
Comfortable, he glanced at the bunny. She was curled up next to him, snuggling into his side.
His heart warmed at the cute sight. Heh, she was such a graceful sleeper, wasn't she? Probably a pretty heavy one, too, considering how fast she'd gone to sleep last night… but hey. If it meant that he got to see more of this pretty sight, who was he to complain?
To the side of them, he saw Dawn and Piplup still sleeping comfortably enough. Tsk. When they woke up, they were going to gush over the couple so much, weren't they? What a great load of embarrassment to start the day off with…
Huffing through his nose, he decided to run that dream through his head again. If only for an excuse to relax some more. For someone who'd been such a rookie at it, he'd been pretty decent for a first-time dad, in retrospect. Nothing compared to an actual father, probably, but he'd tried his best.
If nothing else, the experience had helped him out in the future. He'd applied that knowledge to looking after young pokémon such as Togepi, Scraggy, Axew, Phanpy, Cyndaquil, Happiny, and May's squirtle and eevee… as well as many others. The mouse always ended up falling into the 'big brother' role… though, honestly, he liked to think of it as more of a fatherly role. He never told anybody that, but he still liked to imagine.
Tsk… he'd forgotten that it'd been Rattata's advice that had convinced him to return to Oak's place. If it hadn't been for her, he might have never met all the people he knew now. Heck, he'd probably still be looking after Chester in the wild, or something.
… He wondered how his old friends were doing right now. He still saw them sometimes, of course - usually whenever Ash decided to visit his mom's place - but it was never for too long. In retrospect, they'd been closer to him than he would've liked to admit back then, so he owed them that much, at least.
… The next time he mentioned that he was dating someone to them, he was totally going to get comments from Tangela, wasn't he? He could hardly wait.
Speaking of which… he glanced at her for a while.
A smirk worked its way onto his lips. Oh… how could he resist? He slipped his arm around her back and pulled her into a one-armed hug.
She smiled warmly while mumbling. Wondering if she was saying something, he angled his ears.
"[Mmm, yea', baby, jus' like tha'…!]" she murmured, her smile growing. "[Dawn won't… hear… heeheehee…~]" She went back to snoring lightly.
… Face going sweaty, he faced back towards the tent's ceiling. Welp, so much for relaxing. Guess that was his payment for the egg daydream he'd had yesterday…
… He almost expected Tangela to burst through the tent door any second, ready with many more risqué quips.
He huffed somewhat amusedly. Joy upon joys…
TO BE CONTINUED!
Finished: 10/07 (July)/2018
Word count: 6,403
VGS2's pointless notes: Man, good job Pikachu's dad was an awful father after all, huh? In a roundabout way, it made Pikachu'd a much better poppa than he might've been otherwise. XP Not that I advocate this sort of thing, or anything. Else we'll get a 'Binding Of Isaac' situation, probably.
Shameless promotion: Today I wanna talk about a newcomer to the lagomorph scene! Someone called LiterallyJustPaul.
He's made a lagofic called 'A Wild Ride'. A slice of life fic where, you guessed it, Buneary has the hots for Pikachu! However, the mouse is rather tsundere, and all of his friends (Buneary included) love teasing him over stuff. Especially about his apparent feelings for Buneary. All this and a Team Rocket attack leave their relationship up in the air.
It's a fairly decent read, I'd say! Something that's extra impressive, coming from a newbie. I'd suggest checking it out and giving it a review! Especially since it's actually pretty amusing at parts. XP
Fun mistake/s of the day: #1: 'their natural instincts were minimal at bes, toot.'
(bes, toot? Sounds like something I would've named my miis in Tomadachi Life, for ships and giggles. XD Like the first baby I had birthed in the game, who I called 'Babbydoot' because I couldn't think of anything better. I think he was the kid of… um… Brock and Ursula from The Little Mermaid. Yeah. XP)
#2: '"[Why? What's…?]" Pikachu started, stopping when he noticed that the kid's his face'
(Plot twist! Chester was a part of him all along. Perhaps a bit too much so. O,o)
#3: 'Chester continually poke at it'
(That's an order, Chester! What's 'it', though? … You decide. XP)
#4: "[If it's not true, then why're you denying it?]"
(Because it's not true, ya dummy? XD Man, I didn't think this sentence through at all, did I?)
#5: "[N-N-No! She's not your momma?]"
(Why are you so unsure, Pikachu? Or are you in dismay? Either way, is there something you're not telling everyone? XD)
#6: 'Even with that lengthy dream of his, he felt so researched'
(Another case of the 'writing while distracted's… XD Guess that 'researcher' tracked him down to study him during the night.)
#7: 'He could hardly waity.'
(He can'ty waity, can he-y?)
#8: 'Wandering if she was saying something,'
(Hey, don't do that, Pikachu! It's rude to wander off if someone's talking to you. Tut tut. XP)
Welp, that's that! Tata for now! c:
Next up: Waking up!
