Greetings, dear readers. And welcome back to 'All I Want For Christmas is a Pokémon'. ...Just to get to the story, first of all, *insert one of my apologies for my lateness here*. Second, I hope you all enjoy the following recap as a refresher for what happened to end last chapter.
Hearing the talking going on around her and following suit with the others as they got their Pokémon, went to their locker rooms and got their belongings and left the arena, AJ found herself shaking her head after letting the night's events soak in. 'I still can't believe it. I still can't believe that I finally have a Pokémon to call my partner. I just know things will go well between me and Pikachu. But, first thing's first. Gotta give Pikachu a bath and then look ahead to our future training sessions. Here's to hoping this all goes well.'
Now, with that mini refresher done, onto the new chapter. I hope you all enjoy, my dolls. =)
The ride back to the hotel went fairly smoothly, save for a fairly curious passenger in the car with AJ and one of her fellow Chickbusters.
"Pikaaaaa," Pikachu remarked in wonder at what he was seeing. This new mode of transportation, it was entirely different from how he had gotten around in his past travels. For the only sights he could take in before were of the insides of …whichever one of those weird boxes he could manage to hide in. So getting to ride in what he heard the humans call a "car" and getting to see all of these strange new sights-the lights, the buildings, the other cars that sped along and around them-it was something he couldn't help but be amazed by.
Laughing a bit as she drove along, Kaitlyn said "Sounds to me like our new buddy's liking what he's seeing."
"Well, think about it for a bit, Kait. Pikachu probably hasn't really had the chance to see much of the outside world the whole time he's been following and traveling around with us. If anything, I think it's okay that he's enjoying taking in the sights."
"Fair point, fair point," the two-toned woman nodded. She may not have been outwardly showing it, but Kaitlyn was feeling happy for AJ. She had joked for a while that when AJ would catch her first Pokémon it'd be because of a Christmas wish, so the fact that it was finally happening for her was something that had her feeling proud of the younger brunette. 'But, first thing's first. We've gotta help AJ train Pikachu so that he'll pass Stephanie's test.'
…
Having finally reached the hotel she was staying at until it would be time to head back out on the road to their next destinations-first, Baltimore for the RAW and SmackDown tapings and then their homes, as it was getting pretty close to the holidays, so she felt it would be best to let everyone have time off after the tapings to enjoy that time with their families-Stephanie let a sigh escape her after she had time to process the night's events. She finally found it. She finally found the stowaway Pokémon that had been the cause of so much of the damages they had seen to equipment and personal belongings of some of the wrestlers and other employees. And it was all because of a Pikachu. A Pikachu of all Pokémon! Honestly, she had no idea how to even go about dealing with it. Sure, she said she'd test AJ with a battle to show her the bond that the younger brunette and her new Pokémon had. …But, how would she even do so when she didn't even have a Pokémon of her own?
Sudden ringing snapped her out of her mental storm as she grabbed her phone. Seeing who it was, she answered with a laugh and said "You know you should be asleep now. Didn't the doctors tell you that you should be getting as much rest as you can so that your leg can heal up quicker?"
"You know me, Steph. Can't sleep when I've got stuff on my mind," the caller said.
"Oh? And what stuff would that be exactly?" the brunette asked, raising an eyebrow upon hearing this.
"Well, call it my inner sixth sense, but I just got a feeling that you may have seemed a bit stressed about something. Everything okay?"
Letting out a sigh, Stephanie said "No. No, not really."
"Well, what's wrong? Want to talk about it?"
"It's a bit of a long story. You sure you want to hear it?"
"I'm all ears, Steph, no matter how long your story is."
A soft laugh escaping her, Stephanie said "OK. But, just remember that you asked for this. Now, I'm sure you remember our little tag-along the stowaway Pokémon that was behind a lot of the damages to property and such lately…."
…
"OK. Here's your room key. And I hope you enjoy your stay at Hotel Baltimore," the receptionist said as she handed the key to Kaitlyn.
"Vee, Eevee," the receptionist's Pokémon said with a wave of her tail.
"Thanks a bunch," the two-toned woman nodded her thanks. "AJ, I got the key. We can head up to our room."
"OK," the Latina absent-mindedly answered, her gaze on Pikachu. Watching the Electric mouse as he padded around the hotel lobby, she thought ahead to what was up next in her nightly plans. "Pikachu, come on. I have somewhere else I want to show you."
"Pika? Pik Pi," he responded before making his way over to the human named AJ.
Picking up the Electric mouse once he got to her, AJ walked along with her two-toned friend as the pair walked along to their room for the night.
Looking down as she saw their new companion's gaze darting around, Kaitlyn said "Pikachu sure seems to be liking the sights."
"Remember, Kait. He probably hasn't seen much in a while outside of the equipment crates while we've been on the road," AJ reminded her two-toned friend. "I say just let him do all the sightseeing wants."
"Yes, mom," the older woman said with a snicker as they reached the elevator. As they stood in wait for their lift-
"Well, well, well. Would you look at who we have here, Em?" a voice could be heard coming from behind her.
Slowly turning around, AJ said "Hey, Paige. Hey, Em. Nice evening we're having, isn't it?"
"Nice enough, given the headache we had to deal with back at the stadium," Paige said. "A headache caused by that damn stowaway. And good for us, we get to search for that pest again tomorrow."
"We at least get the holidays off, Paige. That oughta be plenty of time to recover from all of this," Emma brought up in a bid to calm her friend.
"Psy Psyduck," Quackie said in agreement with a nod.
"Yeah, I guess you two are right," Paige agreed. Having finally taken notice of the Pokémon AJ was holding, the ravenette said "So, it would appear as though you've finally caught a Pokémon of your own. Congrats on that, AJ."
"Th-Thanks, Paige," the brunette said.
"It wasn't too hard, was it? I've heard that Pikachus can be among some of the harder Pokémon to catch because of how feisty some of them can get."
Hearing the slight growl coming from the Electric mouse, AJ said "Uh, n-no, it wasn't too hard. Would you believe that all it took was me giving him some snacks?"
"Snacks, eh? Well, that sounds like a bit of a first. But, then again, it was all thanks to a strawberry shortcake she baked that Em was able to catch Quackie," Paige said with a laugh.
"Quackie just wanted some strawberries, Paige, that's all. Luckily, I had some extra to share," Emma smiled as she rubbed the Psychic duck's head, something that got a pleased "Psy" from Quackie.
As the talk went on among the quartet, Pikachu couldn't help but let his gaze go down to the Pokémon named Quackie, something that he saw get returned. 'Wait. I saw him before. He was with these other humans that tried to battle me!' Instead of going with his base instinct-which was to zap the Pokémon named Quackie with a Thunderbolt-he just stayed in the human named AJ's hold as she talked with the other humans that soon left.
With the elevator finally reaching their floor, the group then boarded as they then climbed the floors to continue forth with their mission. Said mission being giving Pikachu a bath.
Well, it would appear as though Pikachu's been enjoying his time traveling outside of the equipment crates. Such a curious boi he is. And he didn't zap Quackie while AJ was talking to the humans that joined them. Good, Pikachu. Nice, Pikachu. Now, back to the matter at hand! Said matter being giving Pikachu a bath. Fingers crossed that that goes well. Moving away from Pikachu and the others, Stephanie gets a phone call during her pondering over the night's events. Whoever it is, they sound friendly. Maybe to her mystery caller will help Stephanie calm down and sort things out. So many things happening! And just what'll come around next? That shall be revealed...next time! Until then, don't forget to RR please. =)
(Stay safe, healthy, and cool out there, lovelies. *sends love and positive vibes out to you all*)
