The website is still insanely broken, but I've been told some of you are able to read this on the app. So, if that's you, hello there!

This is yet another day where I stayed on theme. I really love the relationship between Pikachu and Misty, and knew this would be a fun one to write. I kind of got to go the action route here, which was really fun!

Pikachu Protecting Misty

When Misty opened her eyes, all she saw were trees and a dark sky. She wasn't entirely sure of where she was, and at this point, couldn't even remember how she'd gotten here. Her mind felt hazy and her thoughts jumbled, the breeze whipping in her ears doing nothing to help matters.

"Pikachupi?"

Misty slowly turned her head, and her eyes soon locked with the big black ones of a very familiar Pokémon.

"Pikachu!" Misty gasped, shooting up straight. That was apparently the wrong move, however, as her head began to throb from the sudden movement. She groaned and reached for her temple, wincing as she did so.

"Pika…" Pikachu murmured in concern.

Letting out a long breath, Misty felt relief wash over her as the pain passed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm okay…I think."

Only somewhat comforted by Misty's reassurance, the electric type jumped into Misty's lap and rubbed against her. She smiled at the mouse and scratched him between the ears, slowly turning her gaze back up so she could look around. "Where are we?"

It was clear to her they were in a forest, although which specific forest she wasn't sure. To be fair, they all kind of looked the same. The longer she looked, however, the more apparent it became to Misty that she and Pikachu were all alone. And that actually scared her more than not knowing where they were.

"Pikachu, where's Ash?" Misty asked, praying the mouse had more of a clue than she did.

He quickly bowed his ears and muttered a desolate, "chu," however, instantly dashing her hopes.

"It'd be so much easier if I knew how we got here," Misty groaned, giving Pikachu a reassuring hug. "Or at least where we are…"

"Pi," Pikachu agreed.

The one thing Misty knew for sure was that they'd never figure it out if they just kept sitting around, waiting for someone or something else to do it for them. Cautiously, she managed to get to her feet, keeping Pikachu in her grasp as she stood up. She loved Pikachu just as much as Ash did, and she refused to let anything happen to the sweet electric type.

"We'll just have to find him ourselves," Misty declared, causing Pikachu to tilt his head back to look up at her. Misty cast her gaze downward and smiled at Pikachu, who managed to return her optimistic expression. When he turned his head back around, he seemed to notice something, however, and began excitedly chattering.

"Chu! Pikachu, Pikachupi!"

"Hmm?" Misty hummed. "What is it, Pikachu?"

The mouse pointed down towards the ground. Misty looked herself and gasped, realizing that she could see a line of footprints in the dirt, leading up to the very spot where she'd woken up before.

"I bet those are mine," Misty murmured. "Which means we must've come from that way!"

"Pi!" Pikachu squeaked.

"Good eye, Pikachu!" Misty complimented him. "If we follow those footprints, we just might find our way back to where we came from!"

She started up the path, walking in the opposite direction that her footprints faced. Retracing one's steps was always a good idea, and the fact that Misty could actually see hers only helped their case. As she followed them, however, Misty once again began trying to jog her memory of how she and Pikachu could've possibly ended up there. Did they get lost? Had they already been looking for Ash? Maybe Misty had tripped and hit her head. She'd like to think she wasn't that clumsy, but she'd had her moments, so it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities.

The trail of her own footprints soon led Misty to the edge of the forest. She let out a sigh of relief once she realized the trees were behind her, and the realization hit that perhaps now it would be easier to find Ash.

Pikachu, meanwhile, began sniffing the air, searching for any trace of his trainer's scent. But he soon caught something else, instead, that caused him to go rigid. Misty noticed the change in the mouse's stature right away, and she nervously glanced down at the electric type.

"What is it?" She asked hesitantly.

Before Pikachu could respond, the sound of growling could be heard in the distance. Misty clutched the Pokémon tighter, looking around them. She wanted to run, but she had no idea where the growling was coming from and didn't want to run into any more trouble.

Unfortunately for her, the trouble was going to find its way to her first.

A pack of wild Mightyena emerged from the trees, surrounding Misty and Pikachu from every angle. Their red eyes were glowing, and their teeth were barred threateningly. Reaching down to her waist, Misty readied her hand to grab a poke ball, but froze when she touched the waistband of her shorts and found it completely empty. "Oh, no. Where are my Pokémon?!"

Misty held her breath as the Mightyena growled once more, unsure of what to do or where to go. From where she stood, it really seemed like there was no way out. That she and Ash's beloved partner were going to get mauled to death in the middle of nowhere. And even though she should've been terrified by such a fact, she was in too much shock to actually process it. Enough shock, in fact, that she couldn't even move a muscle.

Now I understand why people aren't always able to get out of the way of clear danger…

Pikachu, for what it was worth, was just as afraid. But he was able to work around the fear in order to reach the conclusion that he, as a Pokémon, had to protect both himself and Misty.

He would've done it for anyone, really. It made sense. He had powers that humans simply didn't. And Pikachu, like his trainer, had a very strong sense of morals. If someone was in danger, then Pikachu was going to step up and help.

But Misty was an entirely different story.

Pikachu cared deeply about Misty. And he knew Ash did too, even though his trainer could be too stubborn to acknowledge it sometimes. She was kind to him, and always looked out for him, especially when Ash wasn't around. Misty went beyond Pikachu wanting to help.

She was someone he needed to protect.

With a sudden surge in his strength, Pikachu wiggled out of Misty's grasp and landed on the ground in front of her, his cheeks sparking as he glared at the pack of Mightyena staring him down.

"P-Pikachu?" Misty stammered, finally able to at least move her eyes downwards.

The dark types snickered at the mouse, hardly afraid of such a little thing. Pikachu's scowl deepened, and he quickly fired off a zap of thunderbolt; right in between two of the Mightyena as a warning shot. That got the bite Pokémon to stop laughing, but Pikachu wasn't willing to back down just yet. After a short moment of what must've been surprise, the Mightyena started to growl again and continued to close in on Pikachu and Misty, the thunderbolt attempt having provoked them.

Pikachu could hear Misty let out a short gasp, and that gave him the final push he needed. Without wasting another second, Pikachu fired off a real thunderbolt; the kind where he planted his paws into the ground and used all of his energy and determination to make the attack as strong as it could possibly be. With that kind of effort behind it, every single Mightyena surrounding the two of them was struck by the electricity, feeling it throughout their entire bodies.

As soon as Pikachu stopped the attack, all of the Mightyena just stood still, eyes wide and bodies shaking. Their fur stood up on end in an absurd fashion, electricity crackling off their tips. Pikachu took a step forward and barred his own teeth, growling at the Mightyena himself. While it was far less intimidating than what the dark types had managed to muster up themselves, the thunderbolt had done enough to strike some serious fear into them, and the Mightyena ran off with a flurry of terrified whimpers and shrieking yelps.

Once they were out of her sight, Misty sighed heavily and knelt beside the still on guard electric type. "Pikachu, you were so amazing!"

The mouse Pokémon finally sat back and smiled up at Misty. "Pi-ka!"

"Misty! Pikachu!"

The two of them glanced up, over towards the path they had been following before being surrounded by the Mightyena. They soon saw exactly who'd they been hoping to see, and both of them instantly lit up.

"Ash!"

"Pikapi!"

Misty gathered Pikachu back into her arms and ran to meet up with the raven-haired trainer, who appeared to be quite reassured.

"I'm so glad I finally found you!" Ash breathed, his grin widening when Pikachu jumped into his grasp. "I got really worried when I heard that explosion."

"Explosion…?" Misty repeated.

Ash nodded. "Yeah. Don't you remember? Team Rocket attacked us and stole Pikachu. You and I chased after them, but they went down a fork in the road and we weren't sure which path they took, so we split up. I never ended up coming across Pikachu, so as soon as I heard the boom, I assumed you did and something must've happened."

Misty blinked, and suddenly, her eyes widened. "You're right! I remember now! That's how Pikachu and I ended up here! I did come across him and Team Rocket, but I realized that in all of the commotion I had left my Pokémon back at the campsite. So, I had to find a way to rescue him on my own. And I did, because their stupid inventions always have some kind of fatal flaw to them. But in the process of finding that fatal flaw, I made the whole thing blow up. At least I'd gotten Pikachu back before that happened! I'm assuming those three bozos were blasted off and we ended up deeper in the forest."

Ash chuckled at Misty's assumption. "I wouldn't be surprised! But still…are you two okay? You're not hurt or anything, are you?"

Misty smiled at Ash's concern. "No, we're alright. Although I would've been in a whole lot of trouble if Pikachu hadn't stepped up to protect me!"

"Protect you?" Ash murmured. "From what?"

"A pack of wild Mightyena," Misty grumbled, shaking her head. "They came out of nowhere while Pikachu and I were trying to find our way back. And again, I had no Pokémon to defend us! So, Pikachu did it himself. He was really brave; he didn't even flinch at those nasty Pokémon!"

"Pi…" Pikachu chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Really?" Ash marveled. "That's so awesome, Pikachu! Thanks for looking out for Misty."

"Pi-ka!"

Unable to help herself, Misty wiggled her eyebrows. "So, you were really worried about me, huh?"

Ash frowned. "Of course, I was!" Suddenly blushing, he continued, "I don't know what I'd do without you, Mist."

Misty smiled sweetly at the boy, while Pikachu just smirked smugly to no one in particular.

It sure is nice when he decides not to be so stubborn!

I always think about how Professor Oak said Pokémon can sense their trainers' feelings, or that they share those feelings. At this point in their lives, I imagine that Ash is slowly starting to realize his feelings for Misty...something Pikachu has sensed for quite a while and is probably getting tired of Ash not seeing himself!