"Actually, there's a bit of a funny story about Pikachu here," AJ said after Alex pulled away from her.
"Funny how? Did you catch him with our favorite graffiti artists?" Alex asked with a laugh as she thought back to one time she had seen Paige and Emma along with their Pokémon drawing on the faces of some roster members that had been caught by someone's Pokémon using Sing.
"No, not quite," AJ said before biting her lip."Well, what's the funny story?" Alex asked, feeling confused.
"Yes, April. Please do tell us this funny story about your Pikachu," Stephanie said after making her way over to the group.
Taking a breath as she slowly gestured to the Pokémon in question, AJ said "Stephanie. Alex. This is Pikachu, our friend the stowaway."
At first, neither Stephanie nor Alex knew what to say. After all, if April was indeed telling the truth, then that would mean that she somehow managed to catch the ever-elusive stowaway that had been following them for so long. Finally managing to find their words, all Alex could think to say was "Wait. What?!" as Stephanie stood in surprise of this new development.
Greetings, dear readers, and welcome back to 'All I Want For Christmas is a Pokémon'. So, first off, Happy Thanksgiving to all that celebrate it. I hope you all had a great day filled with food and family (and also football, if you watch it). Second, sorry for my lateness with this chapter (holidays, man, they're wearing me out more than my regular job of babysitting my nephew...but, 'tis for family, so I don't mind) *insert one of my apology notes from an earlier chapter here*.
With last chapter, we saw AJ let the Pokémon out of the Pokéball and tell Stephanie and Alex that she found the ever-elusive stowaway Pokémon. So just what will the Billion Dollar Princess have to say about this? Read on to find out, my loves, and I hope you all enjoy this. =)
"Yeah, this ...this is the stowaway. The Pokémon that's behind all of the damage to stuff lately," AJ said with a nervous laugh.
"But, ...how? How'd you manage to get this little fella to be so nice? After I heard about Paige and Emma's battle with him, I thought Doc would've locked him in a cage," Alex said.
AJ hesitated a bit before saying "Would you believe me if I said all it took was giving him some snacks and stern talking?"
Stifling a snicker, Alex then said "Well, crazy things can happen when it comes to some people catching Pokémon. I remember the way Jeff caught Splat was by working on a painting. But, that's a story Jeff can tell another time."
"Yeah, right, right," AJ agreed with a laugh. Clearing her throat as she turned to Stephanie, the Latina asked "So. I found the stowaway. Now that you know just what it is, what are you going to do about him?"
This all just felt like something that she still needed to process. Stephanie had been searching so long for the stowaway that she was honestly prepared for the worst, Pokémon-wise. So to see that the culprit of all of the damage was a Pikachu, a Pokémon that didn't look that strong at all, was definitely a big surprise for the Billion Dollar Princess. Finally managing to find her voice, Stephanie cleared her throat before saying "Well, April. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Now, if you'd let me take our guest here, I'll take it out to the woods near here and release it."
'Release it'? That didn't sound good. He had just managed to find a way to calm himself down around some of these humans. So to Pikachu, to have to say goodbye to the human named AJ and the other nice humans that he met wasn't something that he wanted to happen. Looking up to the human named AJ, Pikachu said "Ka. Pik Pika" as he shook his head and moved closer to her.
"I know, Pikachu, I know. I don't like the sound of this either," AJ said as she rubbed the upset Pokémon's back.
Seeing this had Stephanie feeling quite surprised. She was almost expecting the Pikachu to lash out and attack the younger brunette. So, seeing how docile Pikachu was being towards AJ-from the way he talked with AJ to the way he seemed so calm with the brunette-it was something that had the older brunette thinking as she listened on to the talking in the room.
"AJ, look. I know you think you can handle Pikachu, but ...I don't know. What if something happens that causes him to attack you? What then?" Alex asked, feeling a bit concerned for one of her former students.
"I'm aware of the dangers here, Alex. But, that's why I've been doing my best to help calm him down. I mean, at first, I almost thought he was going to shock me or try to scratch me when I said something about bringing him to see Doctor Andrew. But, I took care of that by telling him I'd stay with him during his check-up. I'm not sure just how things'll be going forward, but I just want to see how he'll do, to see how Pikachu'll do around the others. And, if he'll want to stay with me, to see if he'd want to be my first Pokémon," AJ reasoned.
Hearing this come from the older brunette, Alex could see what AJ was getting at. After all, with Pikachu largely being a wild Pokémon, it'd be understandable that he'd probably have some issues with being around so many strange people and Pokémon. Letting out a light laugh, Alex rested a hand on AJ's shoulder before saying "I'd say you're crazy for wanting to do this. But, I get what you're saying. I don't have the final say here, but hopefully, this little fella here gets to stay with you and be your first. Sounds to me like he'd have a great Trainer with a speech like that."
"I can only hope, Alex. Just all depends on what Stephanie has to say about this," AJ said as she turned to look at the older brunette.
All eyes in the room now on her, Stephanie then cleared her throat. "Well, April. Given all of this talk here, it seems to me like you've taken quite a liking to the stowaway. And it would appear that the same can he said about the stowaway, given how it seems like he's taken a liking to you as well. Now, ...this is something that goes against my better judgment, but ...I'm going to let you keep Pikachu as your Pokémon partner."
This was certainly something she wasn't expecting to hear. Shaking her head to try to get rid of the sudden shock, all AJ could manage to say was "W-Wha-What did you just say?"
"I said I'm going to let you keep Pikachu as your Pokémon partner," Stephanie repeated herself. Seeing the largely questioning look on the younger brunette's face, she began to explain. "Now, like I said. This is something that goes against my better judgment. But, seeing how you've been with Pikachu and seeing how he seems so calm with you, I suppose I can let Pikachu stay with you."
"W-Wow. Thanks, Steph. I didn't think you'd be cool enough to let me do this," AJ said, still feeling surprised by this.
"Well, actually, I do have one condition for this," Stephanie said.
"Really? O-OK. What's the condition you have?" the Latina asked, bracing herself for what the older woman had to say.
"Given what I know about Pikachu here and what he's done in the past, we can't let our guards down around him just yet," Stephanie began. Seeing AJ open her mouth to say something, the older brunette continued. "Now, April, I know you said you've managed to find a way to calm him down, but we have to air on the side of him possibly rebelling against what you say and do in the future. So, seeing as how we're done here for tonight, I'll give you until next Monday to do some training with him. Then, when we all meet up for the RAW tapings, I'll have you put your bond with Pikachu to the test."
"And just how will you test us?" AJ asked, starting to feel a bit nervous about this future challenge.
"My test for you both will be a battle," Stephanie explained. "If you can beat an opponent of my choosing, then Pikachu can stay with you and be your first Pokémon."
"O-OK. Th-that sounds fair," AJ managed to get out around a bit of stammering. "And who will my opponent be?"
"I haven't decided that yet. But, when I do, I'll be sure to let you know before Monday. Until then, I hope you training Pikachu goes well," Stephanie said before turning and taking her leave from Doctor Andrew's office.
With the Billion Dollar Princess gone, it seemed like the almost tense air in the room started to fade away.
Being the one to break the silence, Alex gave one of her former students a hug and said "Congrats, AJ! You finally got your first Pokémon! ...Well, almost."
Laughing a bit at her former teacher's enthusiasm as she hugged her back, AJ said "Yep. Almost."
A laugh escaping him at this, Doctor Andrew said "Don't worry, April. I'm sure you training Pikachu will go well. And, like Alex said, congrats."
"Thanks, Doc," AJ smiled. Bending down to the Electric mouse's eye level, the brunette said "Well, Pikachu, looks like there's a chance we'll get to be partners and teammates after next Monday. So ...what do you say? Would you like to stay with me and be my Poképartner? I'm not sure just what'll lie ahead for us, so how about we face all of that together? As a team?"
'Stay with me'. That sounded promising. Pikachu had never considered ever joining up with a human in any way. But, after hearing all of the talking going on between the humans in the room, it was something that had him thinking. Stay with the human named AJ. Train. Be her first Pokémon. Be her Poképartner. And face any challenges ahead of them as a team. He liked the sound of that, he liked it a lot. Nodding as he could feel a smile spread across his face, Pikachu said "Chu Ka Pi!"
Smiling herself, AJ picked the Pokémon up for a hug that she could feel Pikachu relax into as she heard a content "Kaaaaa". Rubbing Pikachu's back, AJ thought 'Don't worry, Pikachu. I'll do my best to help train you so that you can get stronger. Whatever Stephanie has in store for us, we'll face it all. We'll face it together as a team.'
Wowza! Looks like AJ got quite the surprise from Stephanie. It would appear that there's a chance our Pokémon loving geekette may get to keep Pikachu as her first Pokémon. But, first *insert dramatic music sting here* (man I use those a lot it seems ,), she'll have to win a Pokémon battle against an opponent of Stephanie's choosing. This certainly sounds like quite the test for AJ. It looks like she and Pikachu have some training to do. And that training shall begin...next time. Until then, don't forget to RR please. =)
(*sends love and good vibes out to you all*)
