"AJ? There you are. What brings you to these parts? And what are you doing with a Pikachu?" the Latina could vaguely hear. Snapping out of her inner thought bubble and looking to see who it was, AJ nervously said "Hey, Kait. Hey, Lay. Uhh, I can explain."
*waves* Hello, everyone, and welcome back to 'All I Want For Christmas is a Pokémon'. My biggest apologies for being fairly late with this update (I've been pretty busy with babysitting my nephew quite a bit recently, so that's something that's had me feeling fairly tired). But, lateness and all, here's a new chapter for your reading pleasure!
Just as a recap of the last chapter, Maryse decided to finally make amends with Alex, with Alex accepting on the condition that she get a chance to draw the platinum blonde with her dear Delcatty (something Maryse surprisingly agreed to, how nice). We then switch over to AJ and her new buddy Pikachu (who, thanks to AJ's lies, people think is Kaitlyn's Pikachu nicknamed Sparky) on a walk to the medic's office when she's found by Kaitlyn and Layla. This ...may or may not end well. How will things go here? Read on to find out, my loves, and I hope you all enjoy. =)
More people. Pikachu didn't think he and the human named AJ were going to encounter any other humans on their walk, so to be facing these new humans had it feeling a bit intimidated. "Pikaaa," the Pokémon nervously said as he trembled in the human's hold and buried his head in the human's chest.
Feeling Pikachu's trembling, AJ held the Pokémon as she rubbed his back and softly said "It's okay, Pikachu, it's okay. These are my friends Kaitlyn and Layla. They're very nice and won't hurt you."
His nervous trembling stopping, Pikachu looked up to the human and, in a small voice, asked "Pik?"
"Yeah, Pikachu, I'm sure," AJ nodded, a reassuring smile on her face.
Nodding himself, Pikachu turned around to look at this strange new pair of humans.
Feeling comfortable enough to go on, AJ said "Now, I'm sure you two already know, but this is Pikachu."
"So we can see," Kaitlyn said with a laugh before bending down a bit so that she could get a better look at this new Pokémon. "Hi, Pikachu. Like AJ said, my name is Kaitlyn."
"And my name is Layla," the Brit said with a smile and a wave. "You know, we have Pokémon of our own. Would you like to meet them?"
Meeting more Pokémon? Pikachu wasn't quite ready for something like this. Should he try to get away from AJ the human? Or should he stand and defend himself against these incoming new Pokémon in case a battle were to happen? These thoughts and more rushed through his head as he began to fidget around in the human's hold, trying to escape.
"Whoa. Pikachu? What is it?" AJ asked, starting to feel a bit alarmed by this sudden change. "What's wrong? J-Just try to calm down."
"Pika. Pika! PIKA!" Pikachu snapped, his fidgeting getting a bit stronger.
"AJ? What's wrong with Pikachu? Is he okay?" Layla asked.
"Y-Yeah yeah. He, uhh, I think he's just excited to meet Marill and Bulby," AJ lied, almost falling over from the force of the Pokémon's fidgeting.
"OK," Layla said. "Well, I'll go get them from Naomi and Zack, and I'll be right back."
Nodding, the Latina let out a sigh of relief as she could feel Pikachu's fidgeting slowly start to cease and she began to rub his back. 'Man, Pikachu did not seem too happy about meeting Bulby and Marill. I wonder why?' She had been so lost in thought over this recent development that it caught her by surprise when she heard someone clearing their throat behind her. Turning around to see that it was just Kaitlyn, AJ laughed a bit before saying "Hey, Kait. How are you?"
"Can't complain, doing fine. ...Now, do you want to tell me how you met this Pikachu here?" the two-toned woman asked.
"I ...This is Evan's Pikachu," the brunette responded.
"Really? I didn't know he had a Pikachu," Kaitlyn said. "I didn't think he would've wanted to have any Electric-types on his team."
"He ...said he changed his mind and wanted to shake things up with his team," AJ said.
"Really now? Interesting," the taller woman nodded. Kaitlyn knew that AJ was lying from the way she was standing: She fidgeted a bit in place and she also bit her lip after most of what she said. "April. You wouldn't happen to be lying to me, would you?"
"Huh? What? No of course not! Why would you ever think something like that?" the brunette asked.
"Because, April, I can tell when you lie. You fidget and you bite your lip a lot," the two-toned woman pointed out. "AJ, look. I don't know what the deal is here, but ...it seems like you've got something you may need to talk about. Just remember that I'm your friend. And that I'll always hear you out whenever you may need someone to talk to about stuff, no matter how crazy it may be."
Hearing this come from her two-toned friend had AJ feeling conflicted. Should she tell Kaitlyn about the true identity of the Pikachu she was currently holding? Or should she just do her best to keep up her ruse?
Something seemed wrong. Pikachu wasn't sure what it was, but he could feel that something wasn't quite right. Looking up to the human AJ, Pikachu asked "Pika?"
Hearing this almost seemed to snap the Latina out of her inner mental storm. Looking down at the Pokémon, AJ moved to set him down on a nearby table before she bent down to his level. "It's okay, Pikachu. Really it is."
"Ka Pik Pika," the Pokémon responded, a slight angry edge to his voice as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Hearing this come from from the new Pokémon had the two-toned woman snickering a bit. "Man, AJ. Sounds like Pikachu isn't too happy about what you just said."
"Pika Pi," the electric Pokémon nodded after hearing that.
A laugh escaping her, AJ had a feeling that her new little buddy wasn't all too happy with the lying she was doing about him. "I'm guessing from the sound of that, you want me to tell Kaitlyn, huh?"
At first, Pikachu wasn't sure how to respond to this. He didn't know whether or not he should or even could trust this other human. But, seeing how the human named AJ talked with the human named Kaitlyn had Pikachu thinking ...maybe he could indeed trust the other human. Looking up at the human named AJ, Pikachu nodded as he relaxed his stance and said "Pika."
This exchange between the shorter woman and the Pikachu had Kaitlyn feeling confused. She knew AJ didn't have any Pokémon of her own yet, so it felt fairly confusing that her petite teammate was talking so easily with Pikachu. "Umm? Did I miss something here between you two? Did you finally manage to catch a Pokémon of your own, AJ?"
A nervous laugh escaping her, AJ turned to her two-toned friend before saying "Not ...exactly."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kaitlyn asked, feeling confused by this.
Taking a breath in before letting it out, AJ began. "Well, ...you know the stowaway, right?"
"Yes. I do," the two-toned woman answered. "What about it?"
Slowly gesturing to the Pikachu, AJ responded "Kaitlyn. Say Hello to Pikachu. Our buddy, the stowaway."
It took it a few minutes for AJ's news to really register on her. She couldn't believe it. Kaitlyn just could not believe that AJ had somehow managed to find the ever-elusive stowaway. Her words all but failing her, Kaitlyn finally managed to get out "Wait. What?!"
...
"And here's the Lum Berry juice for your Pokémon," Nurse Amy, a blonde in her 30s, said as she gave Paige and Emma bottles of the berry juice for their Pokémon.
"Thanks so much, Nurse," the raven-haired woman smiled her thanks to the blonde in scrubs. "Dusky, Zips, I've got some nice juice for you both. Just a treat for helping defend us against that stowaway."
"Same goes for you both too, Quackie and Spins. You two may not have gotten physical during the battle, but you both were at least quick enough to get out of the way of that thunderbolt," Emma said as she handed her Pokemon each their own juice bottles.
"Skull. Duskull."
"Ba."
"Spin! Spinda Spin!"
"Duck."
Standing back as she watched the Pokémon drink from their bottles, the nurse decided to get right to the question on her mind. "So, just what is it that brought you guys here? Did training go wrong for you all? Or did something else happen?"
"The something else happened," Emma responded as she rubbed Quackie's head.
"And just what was this something else?" Nurse Amy asked.
Seeing that both of her ghostly Pokémon were both now drinking from their own bottles, Paige said "It's a bit of a long story. But, just a question. Have you heard of the stowaway that's been following us around lately?"
So! Looks like some big stuff happened here. AJ, after a bit of adorable scolding from Pikachu, told Kaitlyn about the true identity of her new buddy. And Paige and Emma told Nurse Amy, who was quite helpful with the Lum Berry juice, about their own encounter with the stowaway. So now, we seem to be left with some questions. Will Kaitlyn's keep Pikachu's real identity a secret? Just what was the deal with how Pikachu reacted to meeting more people and Pokémon? And will Nurse Amy have any helpful tips about trying to deal with the stowaway? These questions shall be answered...next time. Until then, don't forget to RR please. =)
(*sends love and good vibes out to you all*)
