Author's note: Howdy hey!

... Okay, before you ask... a lot of this is dialogue from an actual episode. The dreadful one called Uncrushing Defeat. XP I doubt many of you remember it (since it aired a long time ago now), but... well. It's memorable, for all the wrong reasons. XD

I did cut a lot of it out, though, to spare both you and me the pain.

So why did I write a fic around an arc I frigging hate? Well, let's be honest here. I hate pretty much all of Sinnoh, so it's not gonna matter much. XD Besides, I've always wanted to write around the Lake Acuity arc. Why? I dunno. Guess I thought it would be interesting. XP

Anyway! Hope you enjoy the chapter!

P.S. The aforementioned segment also appears in one of VGS2's Betrayal one-shots, which you should totally read, coz they're awesome. And this is coming from someone who hates betrayal fics with a passion.

It's one-shot number five, Betrayals Into Dreams, if you're wondering. XP


Chapter Twelve: Enduring Cringe

Still sitting on the couch, Pikachu watched as Buneary, Piplup and Pachirisu stood on the stage in front of Mamoswine, wearing their respective vest, clown outfit and cheerleader outfit. They all smiled out at the audience.

"AAAAnd now!" Dawn said dramatically. "For our next act, we have...!"

Suddenly, three figures slid on-stage in front of them, all posing dramatically and singing a small entrance jingle. One was a woman with long reddish hair, one was a man with bluish hair and a large moustache, and one was a bald dwarf with a small moustache. All three were wearing construction gear, and had tiny glasses resting on their noses.

Pikachu was intrigued. Oh? So Dawn had gotten someone else to join in on the circus?

"Hmm?" Brock asked. "Aren't they the clean-up crew?"

Clean-up crew? Ah, right, the group that had been doing construction work on the battlefield outside. Pikachu hadn't gotten to see them himself, as Nurse Joy had been getting him ready for the battle at the time. They looked a little bit like Olivier's helpers. Just a little.

"Wow," Ash said, sounding excited, "this oughta be good!"

Pikachu perked up. Oh right, yeah, the performance!

He glanced to the side of the stage, where he could see a drum kit and a trumpet. Would they be using those, too? Sounded fun!

"Uh..." the woman said, clearing her throat, "testing, testing! One, two, three... Now, how many people do you see..." In one instant, she went from speaking to screaming. "Who are bummed out?!"

Pikachu shrieked in shock and fright. By the sounds of it, everyone else around him had done the same.

"None other than he..." the clean-up crew said at the same time, indicating the people on the couch.

Once Pikachu's heart stopped racing, he stared at them, perplexed. What were they even talking about?

"Aww," the dwarf said in a babying tone, "wooks wike we got a sourpuss in our midst!"

"(... Huh?)" Pikachu asked, utterly baffled.

"Uh..." Ash said, "that's kinda weird..."

"(Is this... supposed to be funny?)" Buizel asked from Pikachu's right.

"(I... don't know...)" he replied.

"(M-Maybe it'll get better?)" Monferno suggested from Pikachu's left.

"(I... hope so.)"

"Rumour has it," the woman said, "that someone got crushed in his last battle." She pointed directly at Ash. "And that someone would be you!"

Pikachu flinched. Really? They were really doing this? Using Ash's lowest point as their stage gag?

Had... Dawn really approved of this?

Ash made a weird strangled noise. "Who, me?" he asked slowly.

"Well," the woman continued, "we've got the perfect drink for you!" She pulled out a bottle and held it out.

It... had a picture of Ash on it. On his hands and knees. Crying.

... They were really doing this, weren't they?

Sure, it was well-drawn, but really? This was a bit much for a skit.

The woman continued. "Because it's the sports drink of championship losers!"

The dwarf jumped on the drum kit, and the man grabbed the trumpet. They played... the most obnoxious tune on them, while the woman danced around.

"Loser, loser, loser, loser~!" she sang. "You stink!" She turned up her nose. "Hmph! Stink! You stink!" She turned up her nose again. "Hmph! Stink!"

As he watched, Pikachu felt something creep up his spine. It moved all the way to his face, where he cringed the hardest he'd cringed in a long while. Yep, that was some nauseating second-hand embarrassment.

They thought this was funny? They thought this would get laughs? That it would cheer Ash up? Surely, Dawn hadn't approved of this.

He glanced over at her, and noticed that Dawn and her team looked utterly lost for words. Well, except for Mamoswine, who'd closed his eyes and looked very fed up.

... Okay, so maybe they hadn't. That was reassuring, at least, but still. A shudder went up his spine. This act was... so embarrassing that it made him want to crawl into a hole. Despite it having nothing to do with him!

"Have I forgotten something?" the woman continued, still doing all the talking. "Oh, that's right. Stink!" She stuck up her nose. "Hmph! Stink! And that means loser." She started dancing again, while the dwarf played the drums and the man played the trumpet. Badly. "Loser, loser, loser, loser, loser~!"

Oh, good lord, Pikachu was going crazy! He could feel his face burning up in horrendous embarrassment, and he was very tempted to just leap straight off the couch right now, and get the heck out of the room.

"Wit'out foither ado," the dwarf said, speaking up for the first time in ages. "Check dis!"

Pikachu paused, just as he was about to stand up. Huh? Check what? He looked over to see that the dwarf was now holding something.

His eyes bugged. Was that a bazooka?!

"It's our super-special, patented Pikachu get net!" The dwarf aimed it at the group on the couch and fired. "Geeeet dat!"

Before he could register what was going on, a net encased Pikachu and yanked him away from Ash.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried out in shock.

Crying out, Pikachu struggled against it, panicking and utterly confused.

"Alright," Brock said angrily, "who are you guys, really?!"

The woman laughed. "If you don't know who we are, you will soon enough!" she replied.

"Watch the twerps go ga-ga when the going gets rough!" the man added.

Wait. Laughing. Rhyming. Twerps.

Pikachu opened his eyes to see exactly what he'd been fearing. White uniforms with a red R emblazoned on the front.

"(Team Rocket?!)" he cried out.

Jessie held out a shovel. "Shovel may care!" she said.

James held out a pickaxe. "Pick a pair!" he added.

"Want Pikachu?" the one holding him up, who could only be Meowth, asked. "Well, tough!"

Great. So the clean-up crew had been Team Rocket all along?! Pikachu closed his eyes again, pained. How could he have not seen this?!

As they continued with their motto, he kept trying to break out of the net. It was sturdy as always, though, and wouldn't budge.

"(Let me go!) he cried. "(Put me down!)"

After a moment, he felt a jolt of movement. He snapped his eyes open, and saw that he was outside. He could see Lake Acuity, and lots of yellow stalls being set up everywhere. The people they passed all glanced their way in confusion and concern as they ran by.

"Gimme back Pikachu!" Ash called out angrily from behind them.

In response, Jessie sent out Yanmega, to cover the group in Haze. It was quickly dispelled, however, by Buizel's Water Pulse. Then Ash told Pikachu to use Thunderbolt.

Pikachu tried, but, unfortunately, nothing happened. He groaned. Yet another electric-proof net.

Well, sometimes, Team Rocket slipped up and forgot, so it was always a good idea to test it.

When Gliscor used Sand Attack, kicking up dirt with his pincers and temporarily blinding Team Rocket - as well as Pikachu, ow - Jessie called out Yanmega to knock the bat away with Sonic Boom.

Then James called for Carnivine to use Bullet Seed, but Ash's team were quicker on the draw. Grotle knocked out Yanmega with Energy Ball, and Staraptor knocked out Carnivine with Aerial Ace.

Afterwards, Monferno used Mach Punch over and over again on Team Rocket, and Pikachu was sent flying out of Meowth's paws. Soaring backwards, he flipped over and landed on his backside in the dirt. Ow...

Looking up, he blinked. Oh, the net was gone! Smiling, he got up and ran over to Ash. "(Ash!)" he called out.

Ash chuckled happily. "Pikachu!" he replied.

"(Thanks for the rescue, guys!)"

"(Heh,)" Buizel replied, "(no prob.)"

"(Yeah, no prob!)" Gliscor added happily.

"(It was our pleasure,)" Staraptor said.

Grotle nodded. "(Definitely!)" he agreed.

"(Glad you're safe,)" Monferno said.

"Alright, guys," Ash said, "let's go take care of Team Rocket." Everyone nodded in response.

As they approached the trio, however, they overheard a conversation they were having.

"Whoever said that the twerp was bummed from losing his battle, and would be an easy mark, is an absolute buffoon," Jessie grumbled. "Lemme at that idiot..."

"You're dat idiot..." Meowth replied in a grumble.

Pikachu paused. Wait. So that 'act' earlier... it hadn't been done to entertain, or to cheer up. They'd been trying to upset Ash?! Trying to depress him? Demotivate him? Ruin his self-esteem, so that Pikachu would be easier to capture?!

His felt anger bubble up inside him. How dare they. How dare they do something so callous! It was lucky they hadn't tried it back when Ash had been lying on the grass, moping. Before his team had cheered him up. Before Dawn's circus had made him laugh. Who knows what it would have done to the poor guy.

Pikachu glanced at his team. Every single one of them, including Ash, had the same expression. One of anger. They glanced at Pikachu, then at each other. Then he saw them smirk, one after another.

He couldn't help but smirk, too. Especially when Team Rocket finally spotted them.

At the same time, all six pokémon said either "(Hey)", "(Yo)", or "(Sup?)" Pikachu personally opted for the former.

Team Rocket looked very sheepish as they tried to talk their way out of it, but everyone knew what was coming.

"Kay, Buizel, use Aqua Jet now!" Ash called out. "And Staraptor, Aerial Ace, let's go! Alright, Grotle, use Energy Ball! Gliscor, X-Scissor now! Monferno, use Flamethrower! Pikachu, Quick Attaaaack! Go!"

All at once, the six pokémon charged up their respective attacks, aiming them directly at Team Rocket. The trio screamed, before the six attacks pummelled them all at once. There was a huge explosion, then Team Rocket immediately went flying over the mountains in the distance.

A wave of relief washed over Pikachu. Despite everything, the day had turned out pretty well. He cheered, along with everyone else, as they raced back to Ash's side. Soon, the cheering turned to laughter. Heck, he was so happy, he was barely feeling the injuries! And it seemed the same was true for everyone else, too.

After the laughter died down, the group all turned around and headed back over to where Dawn and Brock were waiting with their pokémon. Surprisingly, Nurse Joy, Chansey and Blissey were there, too.

"Huh?" Ash asked, also surprised. "Nurse Joy?"

"We heard the commotion and came running," she explained, "but it seems you had the situation handled."

"Yeah! Me and my pokémon are back on form!"

She smiled. "That's great to hear!"

Chansey and Blissey nodded in agreement, though Chansey's smile looked more strained than Blissey's.

"Nice going, Ash," Brock said.

"Thanks!" Ash replied happily.

"Yeah, good going!" Dawn agreed. She beamed. "Ooh, by the way! Nurse Joy said there's a contest in Lilypad Town! So we'll be going there next!"

"Lilypad Town, huh? Where's that?"

"If you come inside, I'll show you!" Nurse Joy replied.

Everyone began to follow her inside. Pikachu, however, paused as he caught sight of Buneary's beaming smile.

"(Glad you got saved!)" she said.

He smiled sheepishly. "(Yeah, me too,)" he replied.

"(It was super cool to watch!)" She waved her paws around like pom-poms. "(I was cheering so hard, you've no idea!)"

He felt a mixture of affection and bashfulness. "(O-Oh yeah?)"

"(Yep!)"

He beamed back. "(Well, thanks.)"

"(No problem~!)" She winked. "(Anything for a hot guy like you!)"

He felt his face warm. At the same time, he could hear the chuckles of his teammates, who hadn't quite left the area yet.

Man, this girl...


"This is Lilypad Town's location," Nurse Joy said, pointing to a flashing red dot on an electronic screen.

"Oh," Brock replied, "I see." He looked inside the guide book he always carried around. "So all we have to do is head south right from here."

Ash had a quick look at the book. "Yeah," he agreed, "that looks right."

"Wow, Piplup!" Dawn said excitedly, looking up at the penguin on her head. "I can't wait!"

"(Yeah, me neither!)" Piplup replied.

Dawn turned to the others. "Though I guess we should go to the pikachu festival first, huh?"

"Oh yeah!" Ash replied. "The festival."

"It'll be just the thing to end off the day," Brock said.

"Yeah!" Dawn agreed. "Then it's off to Lilypad Town tomorrow!"

"Let's all have a bite to eat first," Nurse Joy suggested. "Though maybe just a small one, since there'll be plenty to eat at the festival tonight."

"Yeah," Brock agreed, "and the money all goes to your new healing machine, right?"

Nurse Joy nodded. "That's right!" she replied. She smiled sheepishly. "And, hopefully, this one won't break."

Ash chuckled awkwardly, and Pikachu couldn't help but do the same.