Author's note: Heyo! Sup, mah Sinnoh bros!

... Speaking of Sinnoh, it apparently used to be called Hisui? And it was full of Hisuian formes that... I guess all went extinct, or something? XD

So what does that mean for the lore that "Dialga and Palkia formed the Sinnoh region long ago", to quote Gardenia. Did the space-time duo create Sinnoh or Hisui? Mysteries...

... God, the Pokémon franchise is so stupid sometimes... XD (I'm looking at you, Ash-Greninja, you... nonsensical transformation of overrated BS.)

Ahem, anyway! Hope you enjoy the chapter! :D


Chapter Thirteen: Connecting Dots

As Pikachu ate his pellets, he couldn't help but think back over the crazy day he'd had. From getting injured... to having to cheer Ash up... to learning about the lake guardians... to watching Dawn's circus... to being captured by Team Rocket... to being rescued by his teammates. It had been quite an eventful day, indeed.

Hopefully, the festival later would be a nice wind-down to everything, and a good note to end the day off on.

He glanced up briefly as another person walked past. The pokémon centre was bustling with people now, all coming in and out, and eating at various tables, so it was clear that the festival was soon.

"You know," Dawn said from the nearby table, "I still don't know why I never knew about the lake guardians. Everyone in Sinnoh knows about the rulers of space and time... we have shrines dedicated to them, and I even used to pray at one when I was little... but I didn't know anything about the lake guardians!"

"Not even Mesprit?" Ash asked.

Dawn's tone turned shocked, probably at herself. "No! Professor Rowan told me about that one, you told me about Azelf, then Zoey told me about Uxie! Though Cynthia's the one who told me their names."

"And what about that 'original one' that Nando mentioned?" Brock asked.

Dawn gasped. "Oh yeah! I have no idea what that is, either! I'd never even heard of an 'original one'!" Her voice lowered to a grumble. "I only ever knew about Dialga and Palkia..."

"Well, I guess the other legends can't be too common in Sinnoh then, if so few people have heard of them."

"I guess so..."

"Yeah, well," Ash said, "we didn't have any legends or deities back in Kanto. All I remember were pictures of legendaries... so it's really cool, learning about the ones in Sinnoh!"

Dawn's tone immediately perked up. "Oh yeah?" She giggled. "Yeah, it is cool, isn't it? I'm learning so much!"

"It's very interesting," Brock agreed. "I remember legends in Johto and Hoenn, too, but they weren't as widespread."

"Huh? Really?"

"Yeah. And there certainly weren't statues and shrines everywhere."

"Huh. Must be a Sinnoh thing then."

Pikachu agreed that it was interesting. Never before had he been to a region with so much lore. Rulers of space and time, lake guardians, and an original one. He also agreed that Sinnoh was definitely the most religious region he'd ever been to, what with all of its shrines and deities. Only two of which were widely known and worshipped, strangely.

"(... Hey,)" Gliscor said tentatively, "(do you think we went a bit overboard on Team Rocket earlier?)"

"(Hmm...)" Grotle replied, "(maybe...)"

"(Nah,)" Buizel replied. "(Didn't hit 'em hard enough, if ya ask me.)"

"(I agree,)" Staraptor said. "(They were quite out of line with what they did.)"

"(Yeah...)" Monferno added in a quiet grumble, "(they were really mean to Ash, so they kinda deserved it...)"

Pikachu nodded. "(Yeah,)" he replied. "(Jerks.)"

"Oh yeah," Dawn said, "by the way, Ash... I forgot to say earlier, but..." Her tone turned amused. "What was that before?"

"Huh?" Ash asked.

"You know! The whole 'Use Aqua Jet now!', 'Use Aerial Ace, let's go!' and 'Quick Attaaaack! Go!' It went on for ages, and you-" She giggled. "You really seemed to be getting into it."

"Yeah," Brock agreed, sounding awkwardly amused, "maybe that was a bit excessive."

"Huh?" Ash asked. "You think so?"

"Definitely, Mr. Power Trip," Dawn replied. "You were having a liiiittle too much fun utterly destroying Team Rocket."

"Yeah, well, they deserved it! Right?"

Brock chuckled. "I'm not disputing that," he replied.

"Me neither," Dawn added, "but still." She giggled again. "All of those moves, all called out together, made you sound like a total dweeb. Not gonna lie."

"Hey!" Ash retorted. "It did not!"

Pikachu's ears perked. It had?

"It kinda did. Especially with the 'now's and the 'let's go's." Dawn sounded like she was holding back laughter. "Talk about overkill..."

"Hmph. Yeah, well, they were trying to make my day worse, so I was letting 'em have it."

"I know, I hear ya... but you still sounded like a dweeb."

"Did not!" Ash huffed in annoyance. "I thought it sounded cool... It did sound cool, right, Brock?"

"Um..." Brock replied awkwardly, "it was certainly enthusiastic... but, like I said... a bit over the top."

Ash's tone turned dejected. "... Aww, man..."

... Oh dear. Now that Pikachu thought about it, maybe the battle had been a bit embarrassing. Fun, cool, and adrenaline-pumping, but... embarrassing, too.

Well, nothing could be as cringe-inducing as Team Rocket's performance. Though was it as bad as he'd thought, now that he knew it had been done to upset Ash?

He thought back, remembering the scene. Remembering the cries of 'Loser, loser, loser, loser'... remembering the dance... remembering the 'You stink! Hmph! Stink!'... remembering the badly-played instruments...

He cringed. Nope, it was still embarrassing. Heck, maybe even more embarrassing now, thinking about it. They'd been trying to upset Ash, at a point where he'd cheered up too much to be upset, so hadn't they just been making fools of themselves either way?

Urgh. Too much cringe.

Dawn giggled. "Aww, cheer up, Ash!" she said. "At least you've still got the festival later!"

Ash's voice suddenly perked up. "Yeah! The pikachu festival!" He paused. "Though I can't imagine what a pikachu festival would be about..."

Brock chuckled. "Pikachu, I imagine." He paused a moment. "Hmm, let's see... the poster says that a chance meeting made this festival happen... and that it's 'For pikachu-lovers, by pikachu-lovers, so come on down and meet your fellow pikachu-lovers'."

"(I'm a pikachu-lover!)" Buneary piped up excitedly. "(Should I come on down?)"

Pachirisu burst into giggles. "(Oh, definitely!)" he replied.

"(Maybe someone should invite you, huh?)" Piplup suggested tauntingly, looking over his shoulder at Pikachu.

"(Ooh, that'd be nice~!)" Buneary replied.

Pikachu's face burned. This again...

... Then again, he liked Buneary now, didn't he? Like... actually liked her. In a romantic way. Would asking her to the festival be such a bad idea?

His face grew hotter, and he shook his head, willing away the image. He paused. Wait, why was he still fighting this? Why was he still burying his head in the sand?

Well, obviously because his friends would make fun of him if he dated Buneary. Plus, he didn't know how he felt about... her...

Wait, yes, he did.

... Argh. He was doing it again. Avoiding uncomfortable subjects and hoping they'd sort themselves out. Except they never sorted themselves out. Someone had to step up and take care of them.

If only something could give him the confidence to do that.

Could he see himself dating Buneary? Well... maybe. Though he'd spent so long avoiding it that it would be weird to ask her out now, wouldn't it? Though she had been waiting for his answer for several months... and never pushing him to give an answer...

Did he have an answer now?

"I wonder if Uxie will be watching the festival," Ash said.

"Dunno," Dawn replied. "Hope it enjoys it, if it is!" She paused. "... Wonder if it's a boy or a girl..."

"Hard to say without seeing it properly," Brock replied in amusement.

Dawn sighed. "Yeah..."

"So why are they all in different lakes, anyway?" Ash asked.

Dawn huffed. "Well, obviously, they're protecting Sinnoh! Those are the three biggest lakes in Sinnoh, so they've got great vantage points!"

"... I knew that." Ash paused. "Still! Why not swap around every so often? Why stick to their own lake?"

Dawn hesitated. "... Uhhh..."

"I think that has to do with the lakes' names," Brock replied.

"Oh yeah?" Ash asked.

"Yeah. Do you know what 'acuity' means?"

"Not a clue."

"Sharpness of wit. Whereas valor means courage, and verity means truth."

"So Uxie's connected to wit..." Dawn said, clearly trying to grasp what he was saying, "Azelf's connected to courage, and Mesprit's connected to... uh, truth?"

"Right! Knowledge creates wit... willpower creates courage... and..." Brock paused. "Well... the last one's a bit tricky... though I suppose emotion can create truth..." He trailed off, sounding unsure.

"... Sounds like you're reaching a bit to me," Ash said bluntly.

Brock chuckled awkwardly. "Well, I can only give you my theory..."

Dawn giggled. After a moment, she hummed in thought. "So you think the lake guardians created the lakes?" she asked.

"It's possible. Especially if they really were made by this 'original one'."

"Wow..."

"Then Mesprit's kinda bad at naming its lake..." Ash mumbled. There was a light thump underneath the table. "Ow, hey!"

Dawn huffed. "Serves you right for dissing a lake guardian. Especially since it's the one I saw."

"Now, now, you two..." Brock said in exasperation.

Pikachu chuckled awkwardly to himself. Sometimes, Dawn could be a little over the top when it came to her personal feelings. Another reason why it made sense for Mesprit to show itself to her...

Regardless, that talk about the lake guardians had been interesting. The idea that knowledge created wit, and how Brock had seen Uxie... that willpower created courage, and how Ash had seen Azelf... that emotion created truth, and how Dawn had seen Mesprit.

It was all so strange, how all three humans had managed to see a lake guardian that best fitted their personality. It wasn't as if they'd seen them around the same time, either. Dawn's encounter had been at the start of her journey, Ash's had been midway through their journey, and Brock's had been late into their journey.

It was almost like fate.

... Even stranger was the fact that the final lake guardian had been seen here, at the same place, and even the same day, as the pikachu festival that was being held.

Heck, it was almost like the legendaries themselves were trying to tell them something.

... Actually, only two days ago, he'd finally buckled down and given serious thought to his feelings towards Buneary, hadn't he? And he'd come up with an answer later that same day. Though he'd chosen not to do anything about it yet, since he'd had Ash's battle with Paul to worry about first.

Now Piplup and Pachirisu wanted him to invite Buneary to this festival. The... pikachu festival. A festival for pikachu-lovers.

Was... this a sign, maybe? A... sign that he was supposed to... do something?

He glanced over at Buneary, who was still admiring the poster, while chatting to her friends. She wanted him to invite her to the festival. Two days after he'd realised his feelings. After their trainers had all seen a lake guardian.

It... really did feel like a sign.

... Knowledge creates wit, huh? And wit meant perceptiveness, didn't it? Well, he'd known of her feelings for a very long time now, but only recently had he become perceptive of his own feelings. His knowledge had made him want to sharpen his wit.

Emotion creates truth. Well, he'd felt an onslaught of emotions around her for months, but only now had he decided to examine them for the truth.

Willpower creates courage...

... Well... he'd always had the willpower to give Buneary an answer to her question one day, but never the courage to figure out what his answer actually was. At least, not until two days ago.

His eyes widened. Was... was fate trying to tell him to tell her tonight?!

Everything seemed to line up so perfectly. Almost as if the universe itself was giving him the push he needed.

... He took a deep breath. Okay. Okay. Fine. He'd do it. It was kind of scary, but he'd never get another chance like this again. Never get an opportunity so perfect again.

So... fine. He'd take her to the festival, and give her his answer there.