Episode 7: Pikachu's Goodbye

"Pikachu! Pikachu!" Serena said as she dashed through the woods, clutching the mouse Pokémon close to her heart. The egg in her bag jostled around and smacked into her hip a couple of times but that was the least of her worries.

"Pi…ka," Pikachu murmured, curling into a tighter ball. Some electricity leaked from his cheeks, stinging her, but it wasn't that bad.

A tear dropped from Serena's eye. "I let Ash down!" she thought. "Why? Why am I Pikachu's trainer? Clemont should train him! Or even Bonnie. Even Professor Oak's home is a better place!"

"Wait up!" Clemont said behind her, but she kept on running, leaving deep and wet footprints in the forest floor. It had started raining.

"Serena! Serena!" Bonnie said, raising a hand and splashing into puddles. "Watch out where you're going!"

And then a trip. Serena stumbled on a stump or rock or maybe a Metapod. It didn't matter. She skidded across the damp leaf and moss-covered floor, adding countless scrapes and bruises to her arms and legs. Her white hat with the Pokéball-insignia dropped into a dirty puddle. It was a miracle the egg didn't break. She didn't know what she would've done if that happened.

"Serena, are you okay?" Bonnie said, catching up to her.

"Dedenne!" the orange mouse squeaked worriedly.

"Why…" Serena said.

"What is it?" Clemont said, and he touched her shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" Serena snapped, slapping Clemont's hand away.

"Serena!" said Clemont.

"Why aren't you the one who's taking care of Pikachu?" Serena said to Clemont. Her face was a third rain, a third tears, and a third rage. "You're an electric-type gym leader. Why is a Pokémon Performer taking care of Pikachu instead of you? I'm weak! I'm pathetic! I can't do it! I can't keep him safe. It's all your fault, Clemont."

Shoving Pikachu into Clemont's arms, she picked up her hat which was soaked. Despite that, Serena plopped it over her head and ran.

"Serena, wait!" Bonnie said. She started to run after him, but then stopped. "Brother! Come on!"

However, Clemont didn't move. He held Pikachu in is arms, his glasses fogging up as the rain cried for him.

It took a while before Serena stopped running. It was raining harder—she only noticed her tiredness when she clutched a tree for support and started puking. Once done, she collapsed, looking up in the gloomy grey clouds.

She hadn't meant any of the words she said to Clemont. It was unfair. She shouldn't have said that.

"Braix!"

"Braixen!" Serena said. "Go back into your Pokéball. It's raining. You're a fire type." Holding the ball up, she pressed the release, but Braixen dodged the red light.

"Sylvie!"

"Pan!"

"Stop it, please, you two, get back into your Pokéballs, you're going to get wet."

They instead rested on her. Snouts, heads, ribbons, whatever they can get.

"Please," Serena said, trying less and less harder to get them off. "None of you need to do this."

They instead rested their entire bodies and snuggled on her.

"I don't deserve to be your trainer, you know?" Serena said, surrendering and resting her head on Braixen. Even though it was raining, she drifted off to sleep.

Not too far away, a familiar trio were pulling twigs and rocks out of their clothes and hair.

"I can't believe our luck," Jessie said, attempting to straighten her hair into its usual shape. "It just had to start raining as soon as we crash landed."

James was pulling on one of Inkay's tentacles—his Pokémon was submerged in the mud. "I know, right? And we were so close! But the brat's Pokémon is beating us even though he isn't here!"

"Are we doomed to suffer?" Meowth said, wringing his hands. "So many years have passed and we still haven't captured the brat's Pikachu. And it's only on missions involving Pikachu, too! Remember Unova? We flattened Team Plasma!"

"Maybe we should swap targets for a while," James said. "It'll raise our spirits. Capture some easy Pokémon here, give them to Giovanni, and get a raise. Maybe then we can go back to finding Pikachu."

"Great," Jessie said. "Now we just have to find a trainer who has some Pokémon...isn't that the brat girl?"

Team Rocket froze in mid-walk as they looked at Serena and her Pokémon.

"Woooobbbuuuffet!"

"Shush!" they all said at the same time, pushing the alarmed Wobbuffet down. Luckily for them, it didn't seem like Serena nor her Pokémon noticed.

"I can't believe our luck!" Meowth whispered.

"We must be cursed! Cursed I tell you!" James said. "As long as Pikachu isn't there, it's our lucky day!"

"Quiet!" Jessie said, a finger on her lips. "Now let's steal her Pokémon and get out of here!

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Serena! Serena!" Bonnie said, shaking Serena. The other girl opened her eyes, trying to get used to her surroundings.

"Bonnie?" she said, her vision blurring on the blonde girl in front of her. The rain had luckily stopped.

"Don't leave us like that!" Bonnie said, her lips trembling. "You could've gotten hurt!"

With Bonnie's help, Serena stood back up. Her clothes were a mess—she hadn't been this dirty since her Rhyhorn training days. And then she saw Clemont. He was carrying Pikachu in his arms, not saying a word. The electric Pokémon wasn't moving either, and Dedenne was frowning and poking him.

"Technology is amazing!" Bonnie said. Normally, Serena would have been shocked that Bonnie said that. "The Footprint-Track-O-Matic followed your footprints! Yeah, the rain made it all wet and explode, but…"

"Clemont…" Serena said.

"No, Serena, I'm sorry," Clemont said. "I should be the one who takes care of Pikachu."

"No, really, it's my fault, I shouldn't have—"

He clenched his teeth and continued. "Serena, I owe it to you and Ash. You shouldn't have to carry all of the burden alone. I was afraid at Pallet Town when I tried to order Pikachu. But that's nothing compared to what you've been through the last few days."

"Clemont, no, I'm sorry for yelling…" then Serena trailed off. "Wait, where's my Pokémon? They were right here. Braixen? Pancham? Sylveon?"

"Serena?" Bonnie asked.

She almost gave herself whiplash as she felt around her belt for their Pokéballs. "My Pokémon! They're not here! Where did they go?"

"Serena!" Clemont said.

"I can't even keep track of my own Pokémon!" Serena thought. She began hyperventilating. "Am I that bad of a trainer? Oh no. Oh no no no. Why did I go to Kanto!? Why did I think I could save Ash? Why—"

"Pi-chu!"

Serena leaped back at the yellow creature in front of her, letting out a shriek of surprise. Both she and the Pokémon tumbled to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Clemont said.

"Pika?"

"Ka chu?"

"Pichu?"

"Wah, so many Pikachu and Pichu!" Bonnie said. When Serena opened her eyes, even her mood—or the fact she saw one before—couldn't stop her from opening her Pokédex.

"Pichu. The Tiny Mouse Pokémon," the Pokédex said. "It is not yet skilled at storing electricity. It may send out a jolt if amused or startled."

There was a lot—at least two dozen crowded around the group. For wild Pokémon, they were incredibly friendly—they approached and to Bonnie's delight, snuggled near them. Sometimes a Pichu would let out a tiny shock of electricity from excitement.

"Pika?" one of the Pikachu said, approaching Ash's Pikachu. It poked him, and he let out a faint "Pi…ka…"

"A female Pikachu!" Clemont said, adjusting his glasses. "You can tell by the heart-shaped tail."

"Pika pika!" the female Pikachu said, somehow making a fist with a tiny paw. The other Pikachu and Pichu crowded around Clemont and Ash's Pikachu.

"Pika!"

" Chuchu!"

"Chu pi!"

Electricity started forming between all of the electricity Pokémon's cheeks.

"Uh, Clemont?" Bonnie said, backing up slowly. "I think you might want to stay away…."

"Pi ka…chu!" said all of the mice. Even Dedenne joined as a massive bolt of electricity erupted from the ground.

A few seconds later, Clemont crashed to the earth, his hair in a weird afro.

"Brother," Bonnie said. "It looks like your movement is a failure…"

"Pika pika!" Ash's Pikachu said, suddenly energized. Hopping to his hind feet, he clenched his paws and some sparks escaped his cheeks.

"Well, at least Pikachu is well now," Clemont said, still on the ground. "Maybe he was overly charged from Team Rocket's cage?"

"That's good, but we still have to find my Pokémon!" Serena said.

"Pika pika!" Pikachu said, leaping on her shoulder, but whether purposefully or accidentally she brushed him off.

"Where could they have gone?" Bonnie said. "Did someone take them?"

Clemont's eyes flashed. "I have a device for situations like this! The future is now, thanks to science! Citronic gear, on!"

His Aipom arm made a revving sound, ready for action.

"Introducing the Footprint-Track-O-Matic! It—"

"Brother, again, that's a terrible name. And you forgot it already broke, didn't you?" Bonnie said.

Clemont's world shattered when his sister broke the news. His Aipom arm even deflated.

"Pi-ka!" the female Pikachu said. Sniffing the air, she pointed in a direction. "Pi!"

"Pika pika?" Ash's Pikachu said.

"Pi!" the girl Pikachu asserted. Waving at the rest of the group, she started sprinting into a same direction.

"She wants us to follow it," Serena said, already chasing after it. Pikachu ran at Serena's heels, on all fours as it raced to catch up.

"Brother, you're slow!" Bonnie said, making a silly face backwards.

"Wait up!" he said.

XXXXXXXX

"We got some Pokémon! We got some Pokémon!" Jessie, James, and Meowth cheered on their makeshift picnic blanket. The Team Rocket trio were partying next to the balloon, Serena's Pokémon growling next to them.

"To celebrate our blooming return to Kanto career!" James said, pouring some drinks into everybody's red plastic cups.

"Now let's party!" Meowth said. "Okay. Guess who I am?"

Meowth turned away, covering his face as he assembled his mask.

"JESSIE. JAMES!" he said in a deep voice. Meowth was wearing a slicked-back wig and scratched age marks down his chins. "Where is that Pikachu you promised me?"

Jessie sniggered. "That was a good imitation of Giovanni. But how about this?"

She put on a pink cardboard hat, complete with a blonde wig. "Oh, I'm so pretty! All of these Kalos peasants have such bad taste, they voted me over Jessie to be their Kalos Queen!"

"Woooobbbuffet!"

"Ooh, oooh, I have an idea," James said. He pulled out a baseball cap. "I'm Ash Ketchum!" he said in a squeaky voice. "I gotta catch 'em all! Oh wait! I haven't been catching any Pokémon, Oak! Do these thirty Tauros make up for it?"

"That's not what Ash sounds like!" Serena said. Her Pokémon cheered when they saw their trainer.

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.

"If you say 'Pika!" Meowth said, tearing off his wig.

"Prepare for trouble!" said Jessie, taking off her hat.

"And make it double!" said James, pulling his costume out.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To stand by the evils of love and truth!"

"The lovely, charmy, villains!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"The pair from Team Rocket soars through the galaxy!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth! That's right!"

"Woooobbuffet!"

"Wow! That's a lot of Pikachu and Pichu!" James said.

"Chu! Pika!" the female Pikachu said.

"Chu!" Ash's Pikachu reprimanded the girl Pikachu. Her ears slunk back, unsure what she had done wrong.

"Whaat?" Meowth said. "They're Pikachu's family? That means…that means…"

Meowth went back into a deep Giovanni impression. "The more Pikachu relatives, the better! They must all have his shocking electric power! Capture them!"

"Good thing I've prepared a device for this type of scenario!" James said, and he pressed a button.

A giant net shot out of the deflated Meowth balloon, trapping all of Pikachu's family. The group tried Thundershocking and Thunderbolting their way out, but the net wouldn't budge.

"Go, Luxray!" Clemont said.

"Lux!"

"Pika!" Pikachu said. Somehow he managed to escape the net. On all fours, his eyes shot daggers at Team Rocket.

"Pikachu…" Serena said. "You're listening to Clemont now!"

"Pika?"

"If that's how you want to do this," Jessie said. "Go, Gourgeist! Use Shadow Ball!"

"Inkay, Psybeam!" said James.

"Luxray, use Electric Terrain. Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Clemont said.

Luxray howled, turning the field yellow around him. Pikachu was about to charge up his Thunderbolt, but both the Psybeam and Shadow Ball slammed into him.

"Pikachu!" Bonnie said as the Pokémon squealed in pain.

Clemont grimaced. "Luxray, Discharge! Pikachu, Electro Ball!"

"Gourgeist, Seed Bomb!"

"Inkay, Tackle!"

Luxray managed to send a pulse of electricity throughout the arena, but it didn't deter the Gourgeist or Inkay. The two enemy Pokémon launched their respective attacks onto Pikachu, sending him flying into the air again.

"Pikachu!" said Bonnie. "Why is he so slow? Why isn't he attacking?"

Serena had a thought. No, that couldn't be right. But judging by the way Pikachu hesitated there, just for a second…

"Clemont!" Serena said. "Pikachu doesn't want his family and friends to be hurt—that's why he's not attacking Team Rocket."

"Pika!" Pikachu said, agreeing.

"What? Why?" Bonnie asked.

"Remember the device they used yesterday?" Serena said. "I'll bet my Pokédex that they're using the same thing today."

"That's right twerp!" Meowth said. He cackled—first like Giovanni and then as Meowth—and he held up a controller. "You brats are smart to have figured that out! But we have a large supply of these torture devices, so you better just hand over Pikachu!"

"I see," Clemont said, nodding his head. "Pikachu, get back then. I'll use another Pokémon!"

"Pika!" Pikachu said crossly. He looked at the trapped Pichus and Pikachus.

"How do you expect us to free them then?!" Clemont said almost wringing his hands.

Pikachu then looked at Serena. His eyes were bright. Pleading, as his ears drooped.

"Why me Pikachu?" Serena said, looking at Ash's best friend. "Why? Listen to Clemont—he's a better battler than me! He's smarter than me! Or even Bonnie—she wants to be a Pokémon battler! Please, Pikachu, stop looking at me, I don't know why you're choosing me."

"Well, I'm bored of this speech," Jessie said. "Time to finish this! Gourgeist, use Dark Pulse to knock Pikachu out for once!"

"Inkay, use Foul Play!" said James.

"Pikachu!" Bonnie screamed as the moves slammed the target. It kicked up a massive dust storm—everyone, including the Pichus and Pikachus,

"Braix! Braix!" was the first cry anyone heard.

"…Pikachu, are you okay?" Serena said, rolled up in a ball next to Pikachu. She said it quietly, and it pained her lungs every time she breathed.

"Serena!" Bonnie said, gasping and trembling. The older girl had taken the blunt of the attacks, leaving Pikachu safe from harm. Her hat had fell off again, leaving a long trail in the mud.

"…pika. Pika pika!" Pikachu said, poking Serena. When Serena stirred, the Pokémon turned towards Team Rocket.

"Uh oh," Meowth said, looking at the amount of sparks flying from Pikachu's cheeks. "I think we made it a little mad."

"Well, it's now time to strike!" Jessie said. "While the brat girl is out of the picture! Gourgeist, use Seed Bomb!"

"Um, um, Inkay, Psybeam!" James said.

"Oh no you don't!" Clemont said. "Luxray, Discharge!"

"Pika…pika…chuu!" Pikachu said, leaping up until the air. A huge Thunderbolt hit the ground, splitting the earth as it arced towards Team Rocket.

"W-woah, that electricity is huge!" James said.

Inkay and Gourgeist stood no chance. Once they were zapped, they flung back into Team Rocket. However, Luxray and Pikachu didn't relent. Both of them continuing their cries, the electricity shocked the villains for a few seconds before sending them flying into the sky.

"Remind me to never make Pikachu mad ever again!" Meowth said.

"I can't believe his electricity power got even stronger!" James said.

"We really should just stick to capturing other Pokémon!" Jessie said.

"And we're blasting off again!" they all said.

"Woooobbbuffet!" came the last Pokémon's cry as they all disappeared in a white star.

"Braix!" and "Pan-cham!" and "Sylve!" were the three Pokémon's cries as they rushed towards their fallen trainer.

"Serena!" Clemont and Bonnie both said, rushing forward to pick her up.

"I-I'm fine, I'm fine," Serena said after being helped to her feet. "Braixen, Team Rocket hasn't done anything to hurt you, have they? Thank you for my hat, Pancham. Ooh, a little tight there Sylveon,..Pikachu?"

She turned to look at the Pokémon who was with his recently released friends and family. From the sound of it, they were all talking quite happily, sometimes using jolts of electricity to talk faster.

"Let's go," Serena said quietly to Bonnie and Clemont. She already began moving away.

"W-what?" said Bonnie.

"Dedenne?" said her orange mouse.

"Pikachu's happy here," Serena said. "Maybe not as happy as he would be with Ash, but definitely happier than he would be with me. I can't protect him, but he'll be safe here. He can hide with the rest of them in this huge forest. Don't worry. We'll come back once we get Ash."

"Serena, you can't be serious about this," Clemont said.

"You saw what happened today! And yesterday! And the day before! I can't trust myself. And what do I say to Ash when he finds out I'm the reason why his best friend is hurt? Now let's leave before—"

"Pikapi?" Pikachi said, stopping his conversation. One of his ears perked at Serena.

"Pikachu, I'm leaving you here. You heard that whole conversation, right? I swear we'll let you know as soon as possible when we find Ash."

"Pi-ka," Pikachu said, shaking his head.

"Pikachu," Serena said, her tone harsher. "I'm not a good trainer. Please. Just leave me."

"Chu. Pika chu chu pika," Pikachu said. He began climbing up Serena's legs.

"No, Pikachu! I don't want you perched on my shoulder! I'm not Ash!" Serena said, shaking her shoulder. However, Pikachu wasn't there. He was near her stomach, licking a wound from the Seed Bomb.

"Pi-ka. Chu." Pikachu said.

"Braix," Braixen said, and she also moved in to lick another one of Serena's wounds, followed by Pancham and Sylveon.

"N-no why? I don't deserve this, I—"

"Serena," Bonnie said. "I think you have the wrong idea about what makes a good Pokémon trainer."

Clemont put a hand on Serena's shoulder. "You're one of the greatest Pokémon trainers I know," he said. "As good as Ash. You risked your life to save Pikachu, Serena. That's why Pikachu—and all of your Pokémon—love and follow you. For Pikachu, other than Ash, there's no one else he would rather follow."

"C-Clemont, are you all right?" Serena said. She noticed the boy had a tear in his eye.

"N-no, it's okay," he said, shaking his head. He pumped his fist, looking right into Serena's eyes. "I have to work on that myself. Yes, I would do anything for my Pokémon. But you, Serena, you love and care for everyone. You would sacrifice your dreams and talents just to help a friend, and that makes you one of the best Pokémon trainers in my book."

Then Serena cried herself, and before she knew it, everyone started bawling, even Pikachu's family and friends.

"Well Pikachu," Serena said, after she stopped hiccupping and wiping tears from her eyes. "I think you have to say good-bye now."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu said, waving to his family and friends. The female Pikachu walked up to him, and then to everybody's surprise, she seemed to give him a kiss on his cheek.

"AWW," Bonnie said, smiling widely at Pikachu's blush.

"Ready Pikachu?" Serena said, motioning to her shoulders.

"Pika!" Pikachu said, climbing up. No one noticed it, but the egg in Serena's bag gave a small shake.