ML54: Hey guys, sorry about the delay. What with University and everything, I just forgot all about this fic!
Froakie: Okay? And how long has this chapter been done then?
ML54: ...two months.
Pikachu: ...Stone him!
ML54: Not again! OW I don't own OW Pokemon...OW!
What is Love?
Fennekin smiled a little, happy to have been able to vent these conflicts raging around in her head. Sure, they were still slowly swimming in the pool of her mind, but she was sure they'd sink after a couple of days when she got over the hero worship stage and got back to liking Froakie as a friend.
As she thought that, another pang hit her chest and she grunted. "Arg! There's that pain again, what is that?"
She shook her thoughts away for a second when she heard a commotion in the Pokemon Reception. As she got closer, however, she could swear she could hear the familiar sounds of Pikachu struggling against something. "Oh no! Team Rocket or, worse, someone competent could be trying to steal Pikachu!"
She charged into the room, a determined frown etched onto her face, preparing a powerful Flamethrower for anyone who decided to be stupid enough to attack them in the middle of the day...
...that soon turned to a few flickering embers and a confused expression made itself known to her features.
Because, in the middle of the room, Pikachu was being hugged and swung round by some blue and white Pokemon that she didn't recognise. "Pikachu! It's so good to see you again!"
Pikachu, with a slightly purple face, trying his best not to let off a Thunderbolt, wiggled around and tried to do...something to get out of the new Pokemon's grip. "Osha...wott...you're...choke...ing...me!"
Oshawott blinked, looked up at his friends face and quickly dropped him, grinning. "Eheh, sorry bud, it's just I haven't seen you in so long! I missed you, pal!"
"Heh, yeah. I missed you too, you big Goofball!" Pikachu replied, punching him in the arm, causing the Water-Type to chuckle and notice the Fire-Type.
"Oh hey, are you one of our new team-mates?"
Pikachu turned to her and smiled, waving her over. "Nah, this is Serena's Pokemon, Fennekin. Fennekin, this is my best friend, Oshawott!" Fennekin's eye popped out a little at that declaration.
"Huh? How'd you get title of 'best' friend. As far as I see it, Pikachu has a lot of friends," Oshawott grinned, punching Pikachu's shoulder while the mouse's ears flopped down, already knowing how and it was kinda embarrassing.
"Well, I gave him a few pointers in the art of flirting and he managed to not look like an inexperienced idiot in front of the love of his life!"
"...Well jeez, when you word it like that, it sounds really embarrassing," Pikachu replied, glaring at Oshawott, who laughed a bit.
"Ah, you can't do everything, Mr. Perfect," Oshawott teased him, getting a blush out of the yellow Pokemon. Fennekin blinked at them, before let out a few giggles herself.
"I like this guy, he's sounds like a lot of fun!" She thought to herself, before she glanced left and noticed Eevee standing there and jumped back a bit. "WHERE THE HECK DID YOU COME FROM?!"
Eevee turned to her fellow fox and grinned. "Blame mah parents, sweetie," She remarked, turning to the otter. "Howdy, Ah'm actually a knew gal on yer team, Ah'm Eevee. Pleased ta make yer acquaintance!" She announced, holding out a paw.
Oshawott smiled, holding out a paw to shake hers. "Oshawo-" Was as far as he got before the little brown Pokemon started to shake his arm, up and down, wildly and forcibly, nearly knocking him over a few times.
"Oshawott, huh? Been a while since Ah saw some o' ya species round these parts," She commented, smiling while Oshawott rubbed his arm with an obviously pained expression on his face.
"...You remind me of cartoon I saw once," He replied, not really noticing her comment.
"Yeah, Ah get told that a lot," She grinned, cheekily. "It's real funny when Ah tell 'em Ah know Mega Kick too. They just buy it an' don't do anything ta set me off!" She laughed, causing the three of them to laugh, nervously, and take a cautious step back.
"...Well, this has been fun, but I'm apparently here to cheer up a fellow Water-Type in need!" Oshawott declared, holding a paw to his chest, taking up a heroic pose while Pikachu held a paw over his face in exasperation. "And I may suck as a battler, but I certainly know how to entertain people! I just kinda wish I had my magic set..."
"I thinks it's in everyone's best interest if you didn't have that," Pikachu groaned, causing the two girls to giggled as he dragged the Water-Type away. "Last time you did, you convinced everyone you made Scraggy disappear and Emolga appear in her place!"
"Hey! It's not my fault that nobody at the lab knew that Ash and Iris traded them, I just saw an opportunity and I took it!"
As they left, Eevee nudged Fennekin in the shoulder. "So Ah heard from that cute lil' Chespin friend o' yers that ya talked ta that blue guy, how'd it go?"
Fennekin smiled back at her new friend and answered. "It went...Well, as well as can be expected," Eevee noticed the sparkle in her eyes and chuckled, knowingly.
"That mean ya got yerself a boyfriend then?" She replied, causing Fennekin's eyes to widen and her face to flush up.
"W-what? No! I mean, well I don't..." Fennekin flinched, looking up at Eevee and sighed. "I'm not in love with him..."
After she said that, the Normal-Type started to laugh and caused Fennekin to look up in surprise. "Well Ah sure as shootin' didn't ask if ya did. Ah asked if ya had boyfriend, now didn't I?"
Fennekin tilted her head to the side in confusion. "What's the difference?"
Eevee blinked and looked at her in disbelief. "Y-ya...Ya don't know tha difference between datin' and bein' in love?" When Fennekin shook her head, Eevee glanced at the door and waved towards it. "You are familiar with tha outside world, aren't you?"
"Yes!" Fennekin replied, narrowing her eyes. "And Serena reads me stories all the time and they say that people who're in love date and get married and stuff."
Eevee blinked, before her face held a deadpan look and she sighed. "Ya got romantic advice from books?" When she nodded, she rolled her eyes. "Yer startin' ta sound a lot like another cartoon character from tha same show, Miss 'goes crazy and over thinks things, lookin' ta books fer tha answer'."
"Hey!" Fennekin snapped back, turning and folding her front paws in front of herself. The Eevee chuckled and gave her a one-pawed hugged.
"Aw, ya know Ah'm just windin' ya up!" Eevee grinned, rubbing her face into the side of Fennekin's, causing her face to light up.
"Um...Personal space?" She asked, nervously. Eevee just rolled her eyes, unhooking her arm from around her.
"Ya make it sound like Ah'm gonna kiss ya or something!" Eevee laughed, causing Fennekin to kick the floor, nervously. "Ah bet ya wouldn't mind a kiss from ya knight in bubbly armour, huh?" She teased, causing the Fire-Type's face to light up. "Wait...Ya got a kiss from tha blue guy?!"
She flinched at that, especially when she noticed Hawlucha and Dedenne look over in their direction. "No...I kinda...kissed him."
"You kissed Froakie!" Dedenne asked, lighting up at the possible romance in the air. Hawlucha just shrugged and went back to leaning against his pillar. Like all bad-asses do!
"Uh...Yeah, I guess I did. But it didn't mean anything!" Fennekin quickly added, before the little Electric-Type can go spreading the 'New, aspiring couple' rising in their group. Eevee rolled her eyes.
"Careful there, you'll sound like one o' those Dare-Care Dittoes," She mentioned, grinning at her new friend's reaction, which was for her face to flare up again and to stutter out a response. She's just too easy ta tease.
"I-I...I don't...I can't...It won't...GAH!" She yelped, causing Eevee to put a soothing paw on her shoulder.
"Look, it's okay if yer not in love with tha guy, Ah wouldn't expect yer view of him ta change over night. But at least give him a date or two before completely rejectin' him," Eevee reasoned with her, causing the fox to look up at her and the little mouse now on Eevee's head.
"Yeah! He's, like, madly in love with you, you know?!" Fennekin's eyes flew open again, causing Dedenne to match her look. "...And I wasn't supposed to tell you that! Just forget what I said!"
"...What?"
"Yeah! Like that! Perfect!" She smiled, before she felt a brown paw nudge her side.
"Ah think she's confused, sugar, she heard ya," Eevee explained, causing Dedenne to fall off of her in horror.
"No! I broke a promise! Now I owe Chespin two Pecha Berries! Why?!" She cried out, dramatically, before falling asleep besides them with overly-dramatic snores.
Fennekin blinked when the words finally caught up with her. "Oh no..."
Eevee gave her friend a sympathetic look. "Ah really do think ya should give him a chance but, in tha end, it's yer decision."
Just as Eevee was about to leave, Fennekin stopped her. "Wait! Could you just answer one question? And be honest with me! No teasing!"
Eevee blinked, but nodded in agreement. Fennekin sighed. "What exactly is love, then? You seem to know."
Fennekin waited for an answer, before Eevee shook her head. "Sorry, sweetie, but Ah haven't tha foggiest idea what love is," She answered to a bewildered looking Pokemon. "It's a good thing, don't get me wrong, but it's always different fer everyone. A love fer one's friends is different than love fer one's mate an' such..."
"Then...How would you know if I didn't..."
"Ah didn't, it's just something Ah assumed, really. Shouldn't o' done that," Eevee replied, shaking her head. "Tha point is, there isn't an answer. People have debated and argued over it ferever and we'll likely never get a real answer."
Fennekin's head lowered in contemplation as Eevee left, thinking everything through. "What should I do? I don't love him...But maybe I could fall in love with him," When her chest didn't start hurting again, she knew what she had to do.
ML54: Hey guys, thanks for being patient if you're still reading! Please review, and don't worry, I know where this story is heading!