Greetings! And welcome back to 'All I Want For Christmas is a Pokémon'! After last chapter, looks like AJ's found the stowaway that's been hiding among them for some time now. And she asked it to stay in her locker room while she goes to look for some snacks. Will AJ succeed with her mission? And, more importantly, will the stowaway still be in the locker room when she gets back? Read on to find out, my loves. =)
Being careful with the snacks she had in a bowl, AJ made her way back to her locker room, hoping no one would see her or was following her. 'I know I should've let Stephanie and Alex know about what I found, but ...not just yet. The poor thing seemed so hungry and looked so tired. Just gonna see if it'll eat some of this, and then-'
Feeling someone bump into him, Jeff turned around and saw that it was AJ, who had taken a spill to the floor, a few fruits and some other snacks falling to the ground out of the bowl. Seeing the brunette with all of those snacks, a chuckle escaped the rainbow-haired man as he helped one of his sister's best friends off of the ground. "Good evening, April. What's got your head in the clouds?"
"My, my, Jeffrey," Maryse said with a laugh as she made her way over to the pair. "I knew you were a bit of a ladies man, but I didn't think that you could literally sweep women off their feet."
"What can I say? Just one of my talents, I guess," Jeff shrugged with a teasing grin, something that got a slight blush from the platinum blonde. Bending down to help AJ put her snacks back in the bowl she had, Jeff asked "So, what's with all of the snacks? You and Lexi need something to tide you guys over until the show starts?"
"You could say that. Bulby also seemed to be getting a bit hungry too, so I thought I'd get her something to eat, too," AJ lightly lied, keeping her recent discovery a secret.
"Well, with all of that, I'm sure you guys'll eat pretty well," Jeff said with a laugh.
"Yeah, I-I'm sure we will," AJ nodded as she thought 'I at least hope my new locker room buddy'll eat some of this.'
As she watched the pair talk, Maryse couldn't shake the feeling that AJ may have been lying with what she was telling Jeff. 'But, just what could April have to lie about? Unless she just doesn't want anyone to know about how much she eats, but I see no problem with that.' Even after the brunette had left, the platinum blonde still seemed to be lost in thought.
Looking over to see his search partner seemed to be thinking about something, Jeff asked "Maryse? Everything okay over there?"
"Hmm?" Maryse blinked as she snapped out of her inner thought bubble. "Oh, yeah yeah, tout va bien (everything's okay)."
"You sure? Seemed like something was wrong," Jeff said.
"No, no. I was just, uh, ...how do you say it? I was just thinking about where we should look next," the platinum blonde lied.
"Good thinking," Jeff nodded. "Maybe we oughta try looking around near Steph's office space. I don't think anyone's probably thought to try looking there."
"Bonne idée (good idea)," Maryse nodded. "But, first, I should go to my locker room and get my phone. Just in case we happen to find this stowaway."
"OK. You do that, and me and Spot'll keep looking around," Jeff said.
Nodding as she was joined by her Delcatty, Maryse watched as Jeff was joined by his Smeargle before the pairs split up. "Well, my précieuse (precious), feel like going with me to find Ms. April and see what's up with her?"
"Nyaa," Delcatty answered.
Smiling as she petted the feline Pokémon's purple fur, Maryse and her faithful feline walked away from where they currently were and began their search for the Chickbuster that had caught the platinum blonde's attention.
...
Making sure to do multiple double checks before finally feeling safe in the fact that she wasn't being followed-despite the weird looks she kept getting from those around her, AJ carefully opened the door before heading into her locker room, being just as careful with how she closed the door.
"Little buddy? Hey, little buddy, it's just me. I'm back, and I've got some snacks if you might want to try eating something," the Latina softly called out to her secret locker room guest.
She was almost set to just leave what she had managed to get for snacks when she heard what sounded like a soft "Pika?" behind her.
Slowly turning around, she saw it. She saw the ever-elusive stowaway that had been following them for so long that had taken to hiding in her locker room tonight.
Trying to keep her excitement at her discovery under control, AJ excitedly thought 'Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh OHMYGOSH! It's a Pikachu!' She watched as the stowaway slowly crawled out from under the bench, letting her get a better look at it: Yep, it was most definitely a Pikachu she was looking at. From its yellow fur to the round red areas on its cheeks to its long pointed ears that ended in patches of black fur to its tail that looked like a thunderbolt, she just couldn't believe that she was looking down at one of her favorite Pokémon.
Stopping in front of the human, the Pokémon, the Pikachu, couldn't help but tilt its head to the side as it let out a confused "Pika?"
Snapping out of her amazed admiration of the yellow mouse, AJ laughed a bit before saying "Sorry about that. I just wasn't expecting to find a Pokémon in here, let alone a Pikachu."
"Ka?" the Pikachu said, still feeling a bit confused.
"Don't worry about it. It's nothing," AJ shook her head before changing the subject. "Anyway, I was able to find some snacks, so feel free to help yourself. I've got some grapes, some orange and apple slices, and some cherries. I know this sounds like a weird mix, but I just thought I'd bring you a mix to try."
Watching as the human sat down on the floor at its level before setting down the bowl it had, Pikachu slowly walked over to inspect the food this human had brought it. Taking one of the first pieces of fruit it saw, that fruit being an orange slice, the Pokémon first took a few hesitant nibbles before taking bigger bites, enjoying the taste of the citrus fruit.
As she watched the Pikachu eat first a few orange slices then some of the grapes, AJ couldn't help the giggle that escaped her. "Wow. You sure do seem to like fruits, don't you?"
"Ka Pika!" Pikachu happily responded as it began to eat some of the cherries that were in the bowl.
Watching as the Pikachu ate the fruits she brought back with her, AJ decided to take that chance to get a look at this Pokémon. Upon first look, nothing seemed to be wrong with it. It looked to be in overall great health.
But upon closer look, AJ could see what looked like small cuts and scratches around its paws and in areas of its tail. 'Oh man. What could've happened to this Pikachu that gave it so many cuts? ...Wait. Steph did say something about light bulbs getting destroyed. Could this Pikachu be behind all of the property damage that's been happening lately?' she thought as she watched Pikachu finish eating what it could. Clearing her throat, AJ said "So, it looks like you've gotten your fill of the fruits I gave you."
"Kaaaaa," Pikachu said, a content edge to its voice.
"Good good, that's good," AJ nodded. Wanting to change the subject, the brunette said "So. I noticed that you may have hurt your paws and your tail."
It hadn't been expecting the human to notice where it had gotten hurt in the past, so, hanging its head, the Pokémon sadly responded with a "Pika."
Feeling like she was making a breakthrough with it, AJ hesitantly asked "And I'm guessing you were the one that's been behind the equipment and other stuff getting broken and messed up lately, like those light bulbs and Natalya's shirt. ...I'm right, aren't I?"
"Pika," the Pokémon responded in the same tone.
"Oh man. ...You just wanted some attention, didn't you? And seeing so many of the others with their own Pokémon…. That didn't help things, did it?"
All Pikachu did was nod.
"Well, you've got my attention now, little buddy. I'll help take care of you. But, first thing's first. I should probably take you to one of the medics here to get your wounds treated," AJ said.
Not quite liking the sound of what the human was saying, Pikachu responded with a growl and an angry "Ka!" as it rose up to all fours.
"No no no no no no no no no, Pikachu! Just ...calm down and hear me out here. Please," the Latina calmly said, trying to hopefully calm the Pokémon down.
"Chuuu" was Pikachu's response as it calmed itself down.
"Th-Thank you," AJ said before nervously swallowing. "Now, I'm not sure what has you feeling so angry about medics. But, it's okay. Here, we have some very nice doctors traveling with us that'll get you bandaged up and help you better get used to being around people. I'll even personally take you to see them myself and stay there with you while they tend to your wounds. But only if you'll promise to behave and be nice."
The Pikachu hadn't been expecting its time with the human to take a turn like this. Feeding it all the fruits it could eat. The kind talking. Offering to take it to get some form of care for its long-since healed injuries. The slightly stern edge her voice had taken when she was telling it how to better behave around the other humans. ...For some reason, ...it felt like it could trust what she was saying. So, slowly walking over to the human, Pikachu crawled onto her lap and looked into her eyes.
She couldn't believe it. AJ honestly couldn't believe that her talking with Pikachu would've led to the stowaway-the elusive mystery Pokémon that had been behind so much property damage in the past, that had been the cause of some of the headaches Stephanie had to deal with in the past, that had hidden away from the others for so long-acting so docile. 'Whoa. I can't believe my talking with Pikachu was such a big help. ...But, I can't dwell on that now. I should get Pikachu to Doctor Andrew. Just to see if he can help here.'
Keeping her hold on Pikachu as she stood up, AJ had just made it to the locker room door and opened it when-
"Maryse! Uhh, hi again," AJ nervously said to the platinum blonde.
"Hello again to you too, April," Maryse responded, her fist raised as if she was going to knock on the door. Taking notice of what the shorter woman was holding, the platinum blonde pointed at the Pokémon before asking "Care to introduce me to your nouvel ami (new friend) here?"
Aww, what a success. Looks like AJ's managed to make nice with the stowaway, said stowaway being a Pikachu (one of the chubbiest and cutest of Pokémon and one I believe AJ has said is one of her top favorites when she was asked that in past interviews). And it looks Pikachu was just as happy with their little bit of bonding. ...That is until AJ brought up what it's done lately and the prospect of seeing a medic (the last thing being something Pikachu doesn't sound too excited about...distrust of other humans, perhaps?). At least Pikachu seems willing enough to go see a medic if AJ stays with it (Trust built!), so ...that's a plus. With AJ now carrying her new chubby buddy, she's faced with a new challenge! Said challenge being introducing Maryse to the Pikachu. This ...may or may not go well. We'll just have to see how this goes ...next time! Until then, don't forget to RR please. =)
(Stay safe, warm, and healthy out there, lovelies. *sends love and good vibes out to you all*)
