Author's note: Yo, guys! Sup?
... Gotta say, I'm really not a fan of this episode. XD Like, at all. You can bet that a scene that's supposed to come later (which is the cringiest thing to come out of this anime) will be skipped like nobody's business. If you don't know what I mean, then... that's probably for the best.
(Though VGS2's fifth betrayal one-shot has the exact dialogue, copied word-for-word, if you're interested. All the way up to "Check this!" It was utter torture to listen to...)
... By the way, how many of you remember what Buneary actually sounds like? Especially in episodes like Hold the Phione? If you don't, then... again, that's probably for the best. XP
(She could probably stand to sound a lot cuter, is all I'm saying...)
Alright, enough of that. Ignore my tired ramblings written the night before posting, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!
LATER EDIT: ... Okay, no, guess I didn't skip the later scene, after all. XD I suppose I couldn't resist immortalising that POS myself. It deserves it for being... well... the cringiest thing to come out of this anime.
Best mistakes of the day:
'Brock had decided to join the nurses, helping out by bandagong'
(... I'm sorry, what? XD Is that some kind of tribal dance? *Brock does the bandagong around the room*)
'Pikachu felt his heat sink.'
(Oh, good! That means he won't... *looks at fic's rating* ... um... be too cold, I guess! Hahaha...)
Chapter Nine: Nursing Wounds
"I can't believe you failed," Dawn said, looking down at Pikachu with sad eyes. "Ash put so much faith in you."
Pikachu's ears dipped. "(Well, I know, but...)" he replied meekly, "(but Paul's strategy was too good...)"
"(You're his starter!)" Piplup yelled from on top of Dawn's head. "(You, of all pokémon, shouldn't be failing! It lets the whole team down!)"
Pikachu shrunk down in shame. "(But... But Paul's team were really strong, though...)"
Brock folded his arms, a disapproving gaze on his face. "After all the training you did, you couldn't even defeat one of Paul's pokémon?" he asked. "It's quite pathetic, really."
"(But... But...)"
"How could you, Pikachu?" Ash asked, his hat hanging solemnly over his eyes. "I trusted you to help me win! We were supposed to beat Paul, and show him the power of friendship, but... you screwed it up."
"(No, please, Ash, I'm sorry! I wanted to beat him, I really did! But his team was too strong, and his strategies were too perfect!)"
Ash turned his back to Pikachu. "(Goodbye, Pikachu.)" He began walking away.
Brock and Dawn turned and walked after him, not saying another word.
Bowing his head in defeat, Pikachu turned away, unable to bear watching them leave. He perked up when he saw a beaming Buneary on the other side of him.
"(Buneary!)"
Her beaming smile turned into a pitying one. "(Sorry, Pikachu,)" she said, "(but, after losing that battle, you're not hot anymore.)"
Pikachu's small smile immediately fell away in shock and disbelief. "(... What?)"
"(Yeah, sorry. Losers just aren't hot, you know? Only winners are hot!)" She hopped to the side a few times and latched herself onto Monferno's arm. "(Like Monferno here~! He's a winner.)"
Pikachu felt his stomach drop in horror. "(But... But Monferno did lose!)"
"(Not before battling four times, and knocking out the one no one else could~! Out of all of you, he's the biggest winner~!)"
"(Heh,)" Monferno replied, smirking, "(well, I guess I can't argue.)"
"(But...)" Pikachu weakly protested.
"(See?)" Buneary said, ignoring him. "(So, Monferno, you big, hot hunk of a man! You wanna date?)"
Monferno grinned. "(Heck yes, I do,)" he replied.
"(N-No, wait!)" Pikachu protested louder. "(Please! I can change! I can fight better! Don't stop liking me!)"
Buneary and Monferno began to fade away.
"(Wait!)" he cried again. "(I haven't even told you... I...)"
They were gone.
He stared at the blank space, still in shock.
After a few moments, the legs of a human girl stopped in his line of vision.
"You failed, huh?" the girl asked. "Well, it just goes to show that you were never cut out for battling, doesn't it?" She knelt down and held out a hand. "You never should've left. Come back where you belong, okay? Back with us."
"(Yeah,)" another female voice agreed, as a paw suddenly grabbed his own, "('cause I got you, babe.)"
Pikachu's eyes snapped open. He blinked rapidly a few times, as his pounding heart slowly calmed down. He saw Staraptor and Buizel, heavily bandaged and lying in hospital beds, avoiding eye contact with each other.
... Okay. It had been a dream. That was a relief.
Still, though, that had been one rough dream. It would take him a little while to recover from that one.
Heaving a sigh, he rolled over in his hospital bed. He grunted as he felt an aching in his muscles. He scrunched his eyes shut. Yeowch, he could already tell that he wasn't going to be having a fun day.
When he opened his eyes again, he saw Grotle, Gliscor and Monferno, all of which were lying awake in their hospital beds. Pikachu was about to open his mouth and greet them, but he froze at the sight of someone standing on the chair by Monferno's bed.
... Buneary?
At that moment, Grotle glanced in his direction. The tortoise smiled. "(Oh, morning, Pikachu,)" he said.
Buneary whirled around in her chair. She beamed at the sight of Pikachu. "(Oh, you're awake!)" she cried. Jumping off the chair, she hopped in his direction, then jumped onto the chair next to his own bed. "(Heeeey! G'morning!)"
... Right, yeah. Just because the Buneary in his dream had left him for Monferno, it didn't mean the real one would, too. After all, she wasn't that shallow, right?
"(Morning,)" he replied.
"(How ya doing?)"
"(Okay, thanks.)"
"(Good~! Oh, and I'm loving the new do! It's very 'you'.)"
He paused, confused. "(New do?)"
"(Yeah, the hair thing you got going on!)" She moved her paw in a sideways motion near her forehead. "(It's all swished to the side near the bandage!)"
He stared at her, horror settling into his stomach. He quickly tried to smooth it back into place, though it wasn't easy with the bandage in the way.
Hair. That was a 'nope', if ever he'd heard one.
She kept her smile. "(Aww. Well, you look hot, either way, so it's fine~!)"
He smiled slightly, something warm bubbling in his stomach at that. However, he couldn't help but be reminded of his loss to Paul, and how that had affected his dream. The bubbling faded, just a bit.
"(Thanks...)"
"(No problem~! Oh, and Ash came in here earlier, but you were asleep. Guy didn't look too good. Dawn and Brock left with him. I snuck back in to check on you guys~)"
... Ash hadn't looked so good? Oh dear.
... Though he did appreciate Buneary coming back to check on them.
"(Yeah,)" Grotle's voice from nearby agreed, "(he, uh... heh... looked a bit out of it, honestly.)"
"(He's probably so disappointed!)" Gliscor wailed.
"(Yeah...)" Monferno mumbled.
An annoyed huff came from both Buizel and Staraptor, neither choosing to say anything.
Gliscor was probably right, though. Ash was likely rather disappointed in their loss...
Of course, it wouldn't be as bad as the dream, where Ash had left Pikachu for losing. No, it was more likely that Ash was just generally feeling down about the loss. Probably wondering what had gone wrong, after all their preparation, just like Pikachu was.
Not to mention, being unable to put Paul in his place, like they'd wanted. Instead, the trainer with the cold, ruthless training methods had won out over the trainer with the kind, patient methods...
"(Hey, cheer up, guys!)" Buneary said, her smile never fading. "(I think you all did great!)"
"(... You weren't even watching the battle,)" Staraptor replied.
"(Well, no, but I heard it all from my pokéball! Plus all the commentary from Brock, Dawn and... what's-his-face... Paul's brother.)"
"(Reggie?)" Pikachu asked.
"(Yeah, that's it! Reggie! They were pretty much narrating everything, so I got it! And I think you guys did great!)"
"(But...)" Gliscor replied, sniffling, "(but we lost so badly, though!)"
"(It's okay to lose sometimes! Not everyone has to win all the time! It just means you have to pick yourselves up and try again next time!)"
"(But...)" Monferno said uncertainly.
"(I believe in you guys! All of you! Train hard and give him what for next time!)"
"(Pfft,)" Buizel replied, sounding unimpressed. "(Didn't you say we'd win six-zero?)"
Buneary blinked, looking a bit perplexed. Then she smiled again. "(I guess I did, huh? Well, I was a little bit wrong this time! But that's okay! It's okay to lose!)" Her gaze swept across the room. "(You all tried your best, and worked really hard. Paul was just a little too strong this time. But, next time, you'll beat him for sure! I believe in all of you!)"
Pikachu stared at her in awe, unable to speak.
She looked towards Buizel and Staraptor. "(So no more fighting, okay? I heard the fight last night and it sounded pretty brutal.)" Neither pokémon responded. She beamed brighter. "(Now's not the time for fighting! Now's the time to band together and figure out how to beat Paul! I know you guys can do it!)" She lifted up her arms and waved them around, like she was holding pom-poms. "(Go, team~! Number one~! Battle on, and get it done~! Time to get this battle won~! Do it right, and have some fuuuun~!)" She did one last dramatic waving of her imaginary pom-poms, then struck a pose.
Everyone stared.
"(I asked Piplup what the old cheer was, and he remembered! So I did it. Did you like it?)"
There were a couple of moments of silence. Then all five of Pikachu's teammates laughed heartily, all tension in the room gone.
Pikachu's heart swelled. He couldn't help the beaming smile that crossed his lips.
"(... What?)" Buneary asked, looking around in confusion.
"(Thanks,)" Gliscor said, wiping away his tears. "(I needed that.)"
"(Me too,)" Monferno agreed.
"(Oh!)" Buneary replied, beaming. "(No problem!)"
"(... Alright,)" Staraptor said, "(maybe I was a little too harsh on you guys.)"
"(A little?)" Buizel asked in amusement.
"(Okay, a lot. I wanted to win. More than anything, but... I guess you guys did, too.)"
"(Yeah, definitely,)" Monferno replied.
"(Very much so,)" Grotle agreed.
"(Mmm-hmm!)" Gliscor added, his voice warbling, like he was nodding really fast.
"(Yeah...)" Pikachu added, a bit distracted.
"(Exactly,)" Staraptor said, "(so... I'm sorry. For being a jerk.)"
"(Heh,)" Buizel replied. "(We'll forgive ya this time.)"
What followed was more hearty laughter.
Wow. Not only had Buneary brightened everyone's moods, but she'd also managed to convince Staraptor to apologise. Now everyone was back to being friends again.
Pikachu's heart positively glowed. She truly was one in a million, wasn't she?
Owww... It seemed Pikachu had been right about not having a fun day. Pretty much as soon as the group had left their beds to go and get their bandages changed, he'd started aching all over, barely able to move. It seemed it was true for the other five, too, judging by their groans of pain.
On the table, Pikachu and Monferno were been tended to by Nurse Joy. On one side of the floor, Grotle and Staraptor were being tended to by Blissey, and, on the other side, Buizel and Gliscor were being tended to by Chansey.
"(You know,)" he heard Blissey say, "(I know a Nurse Joy in Unova, who has an... audeen? Audyne? Some other pink pokémon that knows a healing move. It'd be nice if I had that, but I don't even have Soft-Boiled.)" She paused. "(... Maybe I should learn it, in case this happens again...)"
"(Please do...)" Grotle replied.
Silence fell as the three nurses continued with their bandaging.
Sometime later, Brock had decided to join the nurses. Taking over from Chansey, he and Happiny set about tending to Gliscor and Buizel. Meanwhile, Chansey had taken over from Blissey and was tending to Grotle and Staraptor, while Blissey was helping Nurse Joy tend to Pikachu and Monferno.
Pikachu wasn't entirely sure what was going on, and why everyone was moving around, but it didn't really matter. As long as his bandages were changed, he was fine with whatever they did.
"I'm still sorry about the mess earlier, Nurse Joy," Brock said. "Maybe I could pay you back for that machine we broke?"
'We', he'd said. It was just like Brock to take responsibility for something one of Ash's pokémon had done.
"Oh dear, no!" Nurse Joy replied. "There's no way children like you could afford such a machine!"
"(... Audeerno?)" Blissey muttered to herself. "(No, that's not it...)"
"At least let me pay a little towards it," Brock said.
"... Alright, but only a little," Nurse Joy replied. She sighed. "The money from the festival tonight was supposed to go towards a new machine, but... it looks like I'll just be replacing the old one."
"Again, I'm sorry."
"It's alright. It can't be helped now."
"(We'll just have to take more... precautions-)" Chansey said, as Pikachu heard a bandage tighten, followed by a sudden yelp from Staraptor, "(in the future.)"
Staraptor groaned. "(I said I was sorry...!)" he replied.
"Careful, Chansey!" Nurse Joy cried.
"(Sorry~!)" Chansey replied, not sounding sorry at all.
"... Uh, anyway..." Brock said awkwardly, "I sure hope Ash is doing okay."
Pikachu's ears twitched.
"Oh?" Nurse Joy asked. "Did something happen?"
"Yeah, he didn't take his loss well at all. He went elsewhere to... cool his head, I guess." He paused. "Dawn wanted to go after him, but I told her she shouldn't. Ash can get a bit... testy when he's in a bad mood."
"Ah, I see. So it's better for him to brood?"
"Yeah, sadly. He'll be fine after a while, though, I think. He just needs some time to cool off. I just didn't want them to get into a fight in the hallway."
"I guess that's understandable..."
Pikachu felt his heart sink. So Ash hadn't improved since that morning. He'd only gotten worse. He couldn't help wonder if there was anything he could do for his best friend...
He moved slightly and his muscles twinged painfully. Ow... Maybe he'd worry about it later.
A while later, when all of the team's bandages had been reapplied, Pikachu felt happy to close his eyes and rest for a bit. Everything ached. He hoped it wouldn't last for too many days, but pokémon were tough creatures, so maybe he'd be alright. As for right now, though, not so much.
As he was resting, he heard Brock loudly flirt with Nurse Joy. Afterwards, there was much screaming as he desperately tried to convince Croagunk that it wasn't what it looked like, in the clear hopes that the frog wouldn't Poison Jab him. Somehow, it worked and Croagunk walked away.
... It was kind of impressive, really.
"(Next time...)" Croagunk muttered as he walked past Pikachu.
"(Dang it, I was too slow...)" Chansey growled quietly from nearby. "(Next time...)"
... Seriously, those two were disturbing.
"Huh?" Nurse Joy suddenly asked. "Oh dear... Monferno's recovery seems so slow..."
Pikachu cracked an eye open, looking at the monkey lying on the table beside him.
Hmm... yeah, his tail fire did seem quite a bit dimmer than before. Jeez, just how much damage had the poor guy sustained?
"Brock, please..." Nurse Joy continued, "do you think you could go into the woods near here, and look for some cheri berries for me?"
... Cheri berries? Wouldn't oran berries have been better?
"I'd love to!" Brock replied enthusiastically. "I'll be back soon."
"Thank you." Nurse Joy sounded relieved. "I need to reignite the fire on his tail, and cheri berries are perfect for it. They'll warm his body right up!"
... Ah. Now Pikachu understood. It was less of a health problem and more of a... too cold problem, he supposed.
He watched with his cracked open eye as Brock left the room. Once the breeder was gone, he looked back at Monferno, lying motionless on the table next to him, probably after blacking out again. Then he glanced down at the floor, where his other four teammates were.
Again, he thought of Ash, and how the boy needed cheering up.
Then he remembered Buneary, and how she'd cheered everyone up with her bright, warm smiles and her bubbly personality.
... Hmm...
A little while later, once five of the six pokémon had recovered and were okay to walk, Pikachu hopped down from the table and gathered his friends together, telling them that he had an idea. They stood in front of him, eager to listen.
"(So, since Ash is feeling really down,)" Pikachu said, looking at them one by one, "(I thought maybe we could find him and cheer him up! Just like Buneary did with us this morning.)"
Gliscor gasped in delight. "(That's a great idea!)" he replied.
Grotle nodded. "(Yeah,)" he added, "(the guy needs it after yesterday.)" He looked at his friends. "(Not that I'm blaming anyone.)"
Buizel glanced at him. "(Yeah, we know,)" he replied.
Grotle smiled. "(And hey, if we're splitting hairs, I did the worst out there.)"
Buizel gave him a light grin. "(Heh. Maybe work on that.)" He looked back at Pikachu, folding his arms. "(Anyway, Pikachu, sounds like a plan. So how do we cheer him up?)"
Pikachu paused, having not given this much thought. "(Well...)" he replied slowly, "(I guess... we just show him that we're fine... that we're not affected by the loss. Knowing Ash, part of why he's sad is probably 'cause he thinks we're sad.)"
"(We were sad, though...)" Gliscor replied.
Staraptor ruffled his feathers, though non-aggressively this time. "(Yes, well...)" he said, "(we're fine now, aren't we?)"
Gliscor smiled, sticking out his tongue. "(I guess so!)"
Pikachu also smiled. "(Yeah, exactly!)" he said. He pumped his fists, his smile more determined. "(I think we should channel Buneary and give some of that positive energy to Ash! Let him know that losing isn't everything and we'll come back stronger next time!)"
Buizel smirked. "(I'm up for that,)" he replied.
Grotle nodded. "(Me too!)" he added.
"(Me three!)" Gliscor cheered.
"(Sounds good,)" Staraptor agreed. He paused, glancing behind him briefly. "(And what about Monferno?)"
His smile slipping slightly, Pikachu looked up at the table, where Monferno was still lying motionless. "(Uh...)" he replied. He looked back down, unsure what to say.
"(Yeah, he should be there with us!)" Gliscor said, looking sad again.
"(I agree,)" Grotle added. "(It'd help with the whole 'we're fine' thing.)"
"(Ash'd be happy to know he's okay, too, right?)" Buizel said. "(Especially him.)"
"(We should wait for him to heal first,)" Staraptor said. "(Then we can all go together. Right, Pikachu?)"
All four of them looked at Pikachu. His eyes widened in surprised delight. Yeah, his teammates were right. It just wouldn't be the same without Monferno. It wouldn't mean as much without him. In order to truly show Ash that everything was fine, it was essential to bring the monkey along.
He gave them another determined smile. "(Right!)" he replied. "(You guys are right. When Monferno eats those cheri berries, and his fire burns again, we'll all go to see Ash together!)"
"(Yeah!)" all four of them cheered in synch.
