Chapter 43 everyone! Yes, it's a Christmas miracle! :D
Big news since the last time we spoke—I am now, OFFICIALLY! A DOCTOR! :D It's so good to be finally done with that you have no idea *sob*
So—probably won't update this in the next two weeks because of the holidays, so I made sure to at least have the next chapter done and up today…I want you all to know that this chapter gave me grief because EMOTIONS ARE HARD, OKAY!? But on the positive side, extra long chapter for you lovelies, because you're worth it. :D
Dragonkeeper10, thanks for the review! Yes on both counts.
ChangelingRin, thanks for the review! It's good to be back! ("Isn't it great to be writing again?" "It's great to be doing anything again!") Yeah, dissertation kicked my can, but it is finally defeated and I can focus on my writing for a bit before the hunt for a job nails me. D: Ah, thank you. :D
Zaralann, thanks for the review! Thank you, I will! :D
AverageHiveMind, thanks for the review and MORE fanart! ;v;/ Hey, don't blame me—take a look at the source material! There's Charmander, Brock, we don't know who Ash's father is, we don't know Gary or Misty's parents, it's implied Bulbasaur was abandoned, that Jessie's parents are dead…holy cow that's dark for a kid's show. :O Bulbasaur is always the best voice of reason, second maybe to Brock. :D Good question….And honestly, the bit with invasive species is how I headcanoned ORAS, or at least what I could play of it (my beautiful home gen, how they did you dirty T^T). HMMMM….Aw thank you you make me blush. ^v^
Winged Golden Tiger, thanks for the review! Yes…it's a hard decision for anyone to make, to be honest. And to be fair, Pikachu probably deserves that slap. Ah thank you, glad you liked it! :D
InkayInks, thanks for the review! Yes good to be back! :D Darkrai is definitely going to be threatening this chapter….
Ardtornismyname, thanks for the review! Yes, finally! I even managed to update twice in one year! *bricked* Ah thank you—and we'll see….
Reapercrone, thanks for the review! And thank you for being a loyal follower! As for your request, I cannot say….
Cockatiel, thanks for the review! Ah thank you, I shall strive to continue to please!
The Weapon 2000, thanks for the review! I've done bits and pieces that far ahead, and I can tentatively say…maybe. :)
Thanks for the review, Sparky! Hey, that's cool to hear—I got involved with a kickstarter about invasive species a few years back, which put it on my radar as something to focus on. And rejoice! Updates should be regular after this! :D
Vampireharry the 2, thanks for the review! I shall do my best!
Muds, thanks for the review! Ah, thank you. :D
Sheaon13, thanks for the review! Thanks—I love writing them up. :D I can see that….
Jakeroo123, thanks for the review! That's a good question about the Z-move….Oh yes—this chapter alone was nearly 6K. It does….
Thanks for the review, Reader! YES!
Thanks for the review, Toxin! Rejoice, it's finally here!
SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan, thanks for the review! *makes waffling motion with hand*
IceDragonGirl36, thanks for the review! We'll see…and thanks, it's good to be back! :D
Thanks for the review, Guest! Yes I did, and I was cackling the whole time I did. :D
Thanks for the review, Cockatail! I can neither confirm nor deny your suspicions about my membership, but thank you, this long review and the knowledge that you reread this fic makes me flail in happiness. :D I shall strive to continue to please, and I hope you enjoy this new chapter! :D
Animegirl257, thanks for the review! Me too….I do need a kick in the pants, but progress should be more regular now that this arc is over and my dissertation is done (this chapter killed me, ngl—emotions, why u so hard?). YES! And I shall! Thank you! :D
Pokémon © Game Freak; Nintendo
Robots © 2005 Blue Sky Studios ("That's another fifty bucks! Are you keeping track?")
And now, for something completely different:
The Azelf on the Shelf is watching you, watching you, watching you! The Azelf on the Shelf is watching you, on this festive cozy eve!
Pikachu, for the most part, managed to keep a reputation of being very impressive by mostly hanging back under the pretext of keeping his little sister safe—months of not using any hunting or foraging skills had left him rusty, and his title as Darkrai-vanquisher was tenuous at best. What a jerk—and all for some stupid Oran cakes.
He wasn't able to focus on being too irritated at Darkrai, though—not with an overly excited little sister to keep track of.
"So I bet you did all sorts of really cool things while you were gone I bet you fought off EVERYTHING and were super-cool what did you do while you were gone huh huh did you fight uh, did you fight Darkrai every day huh huh?"
Pikachu smoothed his chest fur, thinking. Well, if butting heads counted…."Oh sure, we fight most every day," he assured her. "I always trap him in the crushing grip of reason."
"What move is that?"
"Uh…I also took down an Onix. By myself, I might add."
"An Onix?" another Pikachu asked, looking over at him. "How on earth'd you take down an Onix?"
"Um," Pikachu noised, looking around, ears pricked—point at a boulder. "Observe."
He got down on all fours, shuffled a bit so he had a good grip and center of gravity, focused energy into his tail as some of the others stopped what they were doing to look—
Charged the boulder when he felt enough energy, jumped, flipped—
He was almost certain his Iron Tail was as impressive as it felt, especially when the boulder split clean in half, cracks running through it from the point of the impact onward.
"That was TOTALLY WICKED!" his little sister yelled as he pranced back to her, adding a little extra bounce in his prance as he went and trying not to look too smug. "What else can you do?"
"Well there's Volt Tackle—listen, this super-big Raichu taught me, so—"
"Ahem."
Pikachu immediately flattened to the ground when he looked over to see the Scarred One glaring down at him—hadn't even been a day and he was still intimidated by the biggest dam of the troupe.
"If you're quite done attracting unnecessary attention, it's time to return to the rest of the troupe," she said, turning away and turning her tail flick into the ultimate dismissal.
"That was super-cool though," his sister whispered to him as they fell back in line.
"Yeah," another younger Pikachu said, maybe this side of evolved, tucking up on his other side. "Can you teach me that?"
"Well sure," Pikachu said, lifting his head and feeling a little pride swelling back after being so rudely deflated. "We'll see about Volt Tackle too—that's a really specific move that takes a lot out of you though, so not everyone might get that one."
His mom smiled back at him, lightning-bolt tail twitching in the follow-me pattern he remembered as a Pichu. "We're going to have to get you in the training clearing then—we're going to be around for a few days before migrating again."
"Oh?" he asked, ears pricking. "Where are you going? Back up to Viridian Forest? There's a big Beedrill nest there."
His dad shook his head. "The human places near Viridian are getting too travelled, and the Power Plant to the east is out—a bunch of humans set up there and brought a bunch of Voltorb and Grimer."
Ew. "Well as it turns out, Viridian Forest is only like that when they release new trainers into the wild—"
"Listen to him," one of the other Pikachu said, tossing his head back and forth. "A few months being human-coddled and suddenly he's an expert."
"You hush," his dad said sternly.
"Hey, I'm just saying—oh wait, you know exactly what's up, being human-coddled—"
Pikachu's dad looked like he was ready to chew this smartmouth's ear off, couldn't because he was a Raichu and charged with setting the example.
Pikachu had no such restrictions—hence why he was now in front of the smartmouth, staring him down.
"Yes I was," Pikachu said, cheeks sparking. "And you know what happens when you're a trained 'mon? You suddenly get really, really good at battling. Now, you wanna have a go at me, or do you want to shut up and get back in line?"
The smartmouth's cheeks were sparking too, but there was hesitation in his movements—he could tell who the stronger 'mon was, and it wasn't the one shuffling back.
"Enough," his dad said sternly. "Son…you. Get back in line."
Pikachu bared his teeth at the smartmouth before doing so.
"Jerk," the smartmouth muttered.
Pikachu's mom jumped in the way before Pikachu could make a move. "Both of you, stop—if you feel you have something to prove, then prove it in the training clearing tomorrow."
"Unless you're just a big ol' Feebas about it," Pikachu couldn't help but shoot.
"Fine!" the smartmouth barked. "Tomorrow after breakfast!"
"I'll be there."
Pikachu waited until the smartmouth was out of hearing range before ducking close to his mom. "Please tell me you haven't moved the training clearing."
"We had to move the training clearing," she told him. "Some humans put park benches and tables there. Don't worry, we'll show you the new one after breakfast."
"Oh thank you," Pikachu breathed, sagging.
"Mum, Da, is big brother going to teach that guy a lesson? Teach him a lesson," his little sister told him. "He's a jerk."
"I noticed," Pikachu muttered as they reached the clearing. Glance at where Ash and the others had set up camp, Misty and Brock sitting on their sleeping bags, look at the troupe disappearing into the brush and into their nests for the night….
"Give me a minute, okay?" he asked. "I have to go say goodnight."
His mom nuzzled his cheek. "Be careful."
"Ah, don't worry—Darkrai's about ninety-percent bluster," Pikachu assured her, bouncing over to the others.
"Darkrai is also not ninety-percent deaf," Darkrai muttered, not opening his eyes.
"You hush," Pikachu said, hopping onto Ash's sleeping bag and dodging around Vee to sit next to Ash's head. "Hey—I'm going to be sleeping with my family tonight, okay?"
Ash blinked, looked at him—Pikachu figured he must have interrupted his drift off to sleep. "Oh hey Pikachu."
Pikachu rolled his eyes, not quite able to resist smiling, pointed at his family. Ash propped himself up on his elbows to look.
"Oh cool," he noised, before looking at Pikachu. "I mean yeah, that's fine—whatever you want, okay?"
"Good," Pikachu said, hopping onto Ash's chest to give him a nuzzle before hopping off and heading for his family. "Make sure nothing eats him, okay?" he asked Vee on his way by.
"Uuuh?" Vee noised sleepily.
"You're hopeless, I want you to know that."
"I'm keeping an eye on everyone, don't worry," Bulbasaur said, laying loaf-style next to Brock. "Enjoy your family reunion."
Pikachu twitched his ears at him, nodded, padded away after his family. Curled up tight around his sister when they were safe in the den, mom and dad curled around them both, familiar scents surrounding him…he'd sleep soundly tonight.
Which was good—he had some trouncing to do early in the morning.
Pikachu's family got him up early the next morning so they could show him the training clearing and find some breakfast. Pikachu had sniffed around for some berries for a grand total of five minutes before the scent of Brock cooking breakfast tempted him back to the camp.
"Oh, look who decided to join us!" Brock greeted. "Breakfast?"
"Yes please," Pikachu said, sitting up and not really caring what the other Pikachu thought—it'd be a moot point after he kicked that one 'chu's can. "Give me the Champion meal please, I have some points to prove."
"Not home for a full day and already you're causing a stir," Bulbasaur sighed.
"It'll be a major stir once I find the training ring—excuse me, but there's no ketchup on this—"
Ash squirted some ketchup in the bowl. "So how's the family reunion coming along?"
"I love how he asks this when he doesn't understand what we're saying," Pikachu said to Bulbasaur. Glance around—"And our cheap translator is gone."
"As I understand it, he's off, and I quote, 'doing his own thing,'" Bulbasaur said, scratching at his chest. "Whatever that means. And don't worry, they like it when we talk at them, it's a human thing."
Pikachu sighed, ears twitching at the sound of the other 'chus muttering in the bushes. "It's fine, Ash—nothing I can't handle."
Ash didn't look convinced.
"Tone is everything," Bulbasaur said.
Pikachu gave Ash a broad smile, got a pet and head scratches in return—ooh yes, right there, right there—
"Psst!"
Pikachu's ears twitched—he looked to see his sister peering at him.
"What are you doing?" she hissed.
"Uh," he noised, thinking. "Manipulating human emotion. It's actually super-easy—just look cute and they give you stuff."
His mom poked her head out of the bushes, scowled at the scene. "They also try to catch you—don't teach her bad habits."
"Oh," Patches noised—Pikachu's ears twitched at him. "So there really is a bunch of Pikachu out here. Hi, Bulbasaur said you guys had been around the Viridian Forest? I think our thorns might have crossed paths once?"
"We don't call our groups thorns," Pikachu's mom said, emerging just enough to lick at a patch of fur. "Son, the training ring—"
"Ah, right," Pikachu said, beaming smugly at the rest of them. "I'm going to be trouncing some loudmouthed jerk later—who wants to come watch?"
"Ooh—me!" Vee yipped.
Patches tipped his head, looking confused—exchanged glances with Bulbasaur before looking back at Pikachu. "Is that even fair?"
Pikachu blinked. "Huh?"
"I mean, is it fair for you to be fighting someone from your thorn—group? Because to be fair, you've got a LOT more experience and power than a regular wild Pikachu would."
"He does," Vee agreed, nodding. "He totally does."
"He totally absolutely TEN-THOUSAND-PERCENT does!" Pikachu's sister called over.
"YEAH! WE'RE GOING TO GO CHEER SO LOUD!"
"YEAH!"
Pikachu's mother looked like Misty did when she didn't have a comeback against Darkrai.
Pikachu, meanwhile, hadn't given much thought to that—but this was a point he needed to prove and dangit, he was going to prove it.
"It'll be fine," Pikachu assured Patches. "It's one of those 'I'm still as good as I once was' things."
Patches didn't look convinced.
"Just don't get caught up in that and go too far," Bulbasaur said, gnawing between the claws of one forepaw.
"It'll be fine," Pikachu assured him, pausing in his breakfast to scratch his foot. "All it'll really take is one good Tackle and then blammo, 'whatever you say, I am SO SORRY I ever crossed you!'"
"Hmph, that sounds like my reasoning."
Pikachu and a few of the others tumbled backwards, startled by Darkrai's sudden reappearance.
His little sister was the first to bounce back in recovery.
"YAAAH! I'll be like big brother and knock you for a loop! Prepare to hurt! CRUSHING GRIP OF REASON AAAAH!"
Pikachu winced, paw up—
Darkai lifted his arm to better examine the Pichu clinging to it, kicking with her hind paws and gnawing at his fur. "Seriously?"
"Go down hard," Bulbasaur counseled. "It's good for the self-esteem."
"Whose self-esteem are we talking about?"
"Aw, are you being bested by a little Pichu now?" Misty teased.
"PLEASE, stop antagonizing the large predator!" Pikachu's mother begged, looking a few shades away from total heart failure.
"I'll owe you a second favor if you go down to my sister," Pikachu sighed.
Darkrai considered this…flopped back dramatically, splayed on the ground with his arm up in the air, claws twitching.
"Ha HA! I win!" Pikachu's sister cheered, pointing at Darkrai before bouncing down on his chest. "I slew the monster too!"
"So this runs in the family apparently," Darkrai muttered.
"You sap," Misty said.
"Shut up."
Soon enough, the Pokémon were wending through the forest to the training ring, some of the Raichu stopping the trainers.
"Just—stay there, we'll be back," Pikachu said to Ash, earning a blank stare. "Ugh—Darkrai, tell him."
"That makes three favors, I want you to know—are you keeping track?" he asked Brock.
"What I wouldn't give to understand both sides of this conversation," Brock sighed.
Pikachu sighed, shook his head, followed his mother through the brush until they came out into a clearing, the hotshot Pikachu already sitting there and grooming his fur.
"So you showed up," he said. "And you brought vermin with you."
"So I did," Pikachu said, sitting up and rolling his neck.
"What's vermin?" Vee hissed to Pikachu's sister.
"It must be some kind of Pokémon," she hissed back. "Don't worry, I can take it, and if I can't big brother can."
"Wuff," Bulbasaur noised, muscling his way past the last of the scrub. "Should have followed Patches through that mess—are you refereeing this?" he asked, going over to sit next to the Raichu sitting on the edge of the clearing.
"Yes," she said, glancing at Bulbasaur. "And what's one of you doing way out here?"
"Just passing through," Bulbasaur said, sitting down next to her.
She nodded, turned her attention to the ring. "Fight until one yields or I end it. Do not aim for crippling injury. You may begin."
The hotshot Pikachu launched into action, charging Pikachu at what he probably considered a blistering speed—Vee could out-speed him.
Pikachu rocked to his feet before plastering himself against the ground—the hotshot Pikachu faltered for a moment before continuing the charge. Perfect.
Patches made an enlightened noise over by the ring's edge—good; he was the one Pikachu got the trick from after all. Apparently it was a thing with the Nidoran line that when something charged you, you plastered yourself against the ground. This covered your soft spots and exposed all your sharp ones, and if whatever got too close, you could butt out and catch them with a face full of spikes.
Pikachu wasn't Poison, but that didn't stop him from being able to catch the other Pikachu under the chin with a Headbutt. The other Pikachu reeled back—Pikachu swung around, slammed him in the chest with a Mega Kick, sending him rolling away.
He didn't get up.
"That's it," the Raichu said, padding over to the other Pikachu. Pikachu did the same, tapping him on the head.
"Maybe don't rush in next time," he counselled.
The other Pikachu looked like he dearly wanted to comment, couldn't because Pikachu had knocked the wind out of him, spat pink spittle at him instead. Pikachu glared at him, wiped his fur clean—
Turned and kicked twice, scattering dust on his face before twitching his tail in dismissal and heading back to his friends.
"That was way too short," his sister said. "I was hoping for a big epic battle."
"Big epic battles are only in trainer movies," he told her. "Real fights don't last that long."
"That's true," Vee said, a paw to his mouth.
"Why did that one move look like one of mine?" Patches asked.
"Because I might have stolen it—oops?" Pikachu said, sitting down. "But it worked, so…."
Patches nodded, looked over when Bulbasaur padded over and sat down. "So?" Pikachu asked him. "What did you think?"
Bulbasaur looked like he was debating hard on what to say. "Was that really necessary?" he asked finally.
"I beg pardon?"
"Was this fight really necessary? That Pikachu was a blowhard and that's it—that was a wasted fight. He doesn't respect you anymore now than he did then, and the fight took no effort on your part."
"That doesn't mean it wasn't necessary."
"Does it? Do you feel better? Did that soothe your wounded pride, curb-stomping that other Pikachu, who now resents you? Did that solve any of your problems, or did it just compound them?"
Pikachu's ears flattened back at that. "Look—"
"I did—I've done more looking than you have, for longer than you've been alive. That was an unnecessary fight. You could have walked away from any of it at any time and been the better 'mon, ignoring hot air from a fool—but you didn't." Bulbasaur stood, headed for the edge of the clearing—paused at the undergrowth to look back. "I think it might be worth you asking yourself WHY you thought you needed to fight him."
And with that, Bulbasaur was gone, heading back to the trainers.
The rest of them stood in silence for a moment.
"What did that mean?" Pikachu's sister asked, looking at Pikachu. "I thought that fight was totally necessary—wasn't it?"
"I think I get it," Patches said, looking back at the other Pikachu, that had finally gotten his wind back. "You don't fight unless you need to."
"That's right," Pikachu's mother said, padding over to sit next to them. "And sometimes you do need to fight to clear the air." She twitched her ears at the other Pikachu, now limping away next to the Raichu. "Although I don't think he learned his lesson," she sighed.
"Sometimes that happens," Vee said. "Darkrai's always saying that Ash never learns anything—it's the one thing Misty agrees with him on."
Pikachu's mother eyed them suspiciously. "So I was right—you DO travel with that monster."
"Darkrai's a nice monster."
"They travel with him because big brother beat him," Pikachu's sister piped up. "Right?"
Patches carefully nudged Pikachu. "Right?"
"Hmm?" Pikachu noised, twitching his attention back to them. "Um, right, right…."
He wasn't paying strict attention to the conversation—Bulbasaur's question had cut deeper than Pikachu wanted it to. Why had he accepted that challenge? He knew going in that he'd have that yutz flattened in two moves or less. Was it wounded pride like Bulbasaur had intimated?
No…no, maybe not—maybe he simply wanted to ensure that he was still part of this troupe—that being with a trainer hadn't changed him, that he was still the same Pikachu he had been at the beginning of the year.
But he wasn't, even discounting the new moves he had learned. Something had changed, was different…he tried to hook his mind on the thought that had dominated it before, started slipping the longer he traveled with Ash—suddenly travelling the same routes with his troupe, scrounging for food and worrying about predators…suddenly his old life no longer held the appeal it had. Suddenly…it wasn't enough.
No…it wasn't sudden. This had been building up for some time now, maybe ever since his conversation with Volt. Things were different now—he was different now—he had responsibilities that…he had responsibilities that he wanted to live up to.
He didn't want to be just another Pikachu in the troupe anymore.
His mother nudged him, talking about foraging—Patches headed back for the others, but Vee wanted to try it. Pikachu agreed to let him, to his mother's consternation and his sister's glee—the Eevee and Pichu had become pretty fast friends.
Last year he wouldn't have even considered talking with someone outside his species.
He shook his head, followed his mother—he needed to figure this out, and soon.
He needed to figure out which side of the fence he was going to fall down on.
Pikachu found Bulbasaur laying under a shade tree late that afternoon.
"What were you talking about, earlier," he asked, wavering on whether he wanted to sit down yet or not.
Bulbasaur lifted his head, considered him. "Sit."
"Answer me first."
"I said sit."
Pikachu wavered…finally did.
"Good." Bulbasaur looked up, watching the leaves, the shifting light dappling his blue-green skin.
"You never want to fight just to fight," he said finally, looking back down at him. "If you fight, there needs to be a reason."
"But there was a reason for that fight," Pikachu protested.
"A good reason. Like—to defend your friends, your family—"
"He was insulting my family, it counts."
Bulbasaur leveled an even glare at Pikachu until Pikachu was forced to look away.
"That's how you deal with a blowhard," Bulbasaur said. "You know as well as I that Pokémon can sense the difference in experience—Levels, as the humans call it. You could have stared him down without wasting the time or energy for that fight."
"So you're saying I shouldn't have bothered at all, is that it?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. Unnecessary fighting is bad."
"What about trainer battles?" Pikachu shot. "Isn't THAT unnecessary?"
Bulbasaur glared at him, looked away, eyes dancing around the clearing…settled on one spot for so long that Pikachu finally fell to temptation and looked. Nothing but a dandelion, growing near a bush.
The dandelion suddenly vanished in a puff of seeds, severed by a Razor Leaf.
"I know you're smarter than this," Bulbasaur said. "I know you know the difference between right and wrong—I know you know that you were better than that fight." He stood, started to walk away.
"Wait," Pikachu said, bounding after him. Bulbasaur stopped, considering him; Pikachu stood there, flexing his front paws, looking anywhere but right at the Seed Pokémon.
"I don't know what to do," Pikachu admitted finally.
Bulbasaur tipped his head. "Yes, you do," he said. "You know what to do, you just know it'll hurt. Life hurts sometimes, even when you do everything right. But you have to ask yourself what the right thing to do is—for you, for your family, for your troupe…for your friends."
Pikachu looked away—was surprised when Bulbasaur nudged against his chest.
"You'll do the right thing," Bulbasaur assured him, smiling. "I know you'll do the right thing."
Pikachu waited until Bulbasaur was gone, wandered off to be with Brock.
"Yeah," Pikachu muttered. "I just wish I knew that too."
Pikachu didn't come back to camp that night.
Ash sat with Vee in his lap, massaging the Eevee's head, debating hard on what to do. He didn't want to leave Pikachu—Pikachu was his friend. His best friend, after maybe Darkrai.
But this was Pikachu's family, and he obviously missed them—and if Ash were in his shoes, if he had been caught and separated from his family…well, he'd want to be with them too.
He knew what the right thing to do was—it just hurt.
"Hey," Brock noised, coming over to sit next to him.
"Hey," Ash greeted, tone distant—he was still stuck deep in his thoughts on Pikachu.
"So are you planning on getting any sleep tonight?"
"I guess," Ash said, looking down at Vee. "Um, Brock…I don't know how to ask this, but…Pikachu looked happy to you, right?"
Brock was quiet for a long time.
"You're thinking about leaving him here, aren't you?" he asked finally.
Ash nodded, looking away—Vee was looking up at him in confusion, making little noises at him.
Brock considered. "Well, I won't tell you one way or the other…but I will tell you to take it up with Pikachu. I mean, you don't want him to feel like Charmander, or Bulbasaur."
"No," Ash said, bunching up the end of his shirt with his other hand. "But…I don't know, if I do that he might decide to come with me because…I don't know. But he might decide to do that even though what he really wants is to stay with his family. I don't know—it's…."
Brock nodded. "It's difficult," he said. "Because you want to do the right thing, but you're not sure exactly what the right thing is, because either way someone gets hurt."
"Y-yeah…pretty much."
Brock lowered his head…reached over and patted Ash's knee.
"You'll do the right thing," he assured Ash. "I know you'll do the right thing."
Ash watched as he got up and headed for his bedroll, Misty already curled up in hers with Oddish planted nearby.
"Yeah," Ash sighed, looking away. "I just wish I knew that too."
But with everything he had seen….
There was really only one solution Ash could come up with.
Hence why, in the morning, Ash said they were leaving.
Misty looked around, looked at him. "Without Pikachu?"
"Pikachu's with his family—that's the important thing," Ash said. And then—because he couldn't stand everyone's looks, because he knew that if he spent one more second here he'd break—he turned and headed for the trail, just a shade below running.
This was the right thing—it had to be the right thing.
Now if only it didn't hurt so much.
Misty watched Ash go, rounded on Brock once he was gone.
"Care to explain to me why Ash is being more of an idiot than usual?" she demanded.
"Now that's not good, if it's more so," Darkrai said, lurking around Brock and hoping for a few moments of unguarded food—ah yes, give him an Oran cake, smart move. "What'd the idiot do now?"
"He's going off and he's leaving Pikachu here."
Darkrai had bitten into the cake already—choked on it when what she said sank in. "He did what?"
"See? See? You know it's bad if we're agreeing on something."
"Ash is just thinking about Pikachu," Brock said, crouched on his heels. "He's thinking he's doing what's best for Pikachu by leaving him with his family." Look around, back to Misty. "Kind of think that's what Pikachu thinks too, seeing as he hasn't been here since morning yesterday."
Oh did he now?
Darkrai was about to correct that perception.
Pikachu had made his decision the night before.
Hence why this morning he was breaking the news to his folks.
"You're leaving?" his mom asked, aghast.
Pikachu nodded, not quite looking at them. "Don't get me wrong, I want to stay—I really do—but…but the thing is…."
The thing was, even after a full night of thinking over what he had to say, what he wanted to say, he had no idea, couldn't make the words translate his feelings into sound. He just…wasn't sure…he knew what he wanted to do, but…he knew it would still hurt.
His dad—the released Raichu—was the one who was finally able to articulate it. "But you want to go with your trainer."
Pikachu nodded, bit his lip. "Ash is a good kid—I know, I know, every trained 'mon says that, everyone thinks they're brainwashed, but…but it's not like that. L-listen—during one of the gym battles…we were close, real close, to everything going sideways, to me not even being here—and Ash…it scared Ash…I think the idea of losing me scared Ash so badly he wanted to quit. He asked me if I wanted to keep going, and….
"And I said yes. And thinking about it more, I still do—that fight yesterday—it wasn't even a fight. I could have taken him down in one move—I could have killed him in one move—
"Pokémon…Pokémon move on, don't they, when they become too strong for their area?" he asked tentatively.
His mom nodded, not looking directly at him either. "Some don't, but…usually they do more harm than good, sticking around."
She knew what he was getting at. "And Ash…I want to go with him. I've seen more in the past couple of months than I have in my whole life—I took down an Onix—how many chus can claim that? I…." Swallow. "If I stay…I'm just going to make a mess. If…if I go…if I go I'm going to miss you guys…but…."
His sister tugged on a paw. "But you'll come visit lots, right?"
Pikachu coughed, trying to hold in a laugh. "Are you kidding? I'll visit all the time—I can say the word to Ash and I'll guarantee you he'll drop everything and rush me right back here. He's like that."
His parents looked sad…and, weirdly enough, kind of proud.
His dad stepped forward, put a paw on his shoulder…rested his forehead against Pikachu's.
"I'm glad you got a better one than I did," he murmured, voice thick with emotion. Pikachu nodded, feeling tears threaten—couldn't help them spilling out when his mom hugged him.
"I'll miss you dearly," she said, rubbing her cheek against his.
"Me too," he said, hugging her tight. And then patting her on the back when she wouldn't let go. "Um…."
She coughed, let go, wiped her eyes—his dad patted them both on the shoulder, Pikachu coughed—
Dipped down and scooped his little sister up into a tight hug.
"Keep everyone in line for me while I'm gone," he told her, holding her away and up.
"Only if you promise to beat all the baddies," she told him.
"Pff—no problem," he said, putting her down. "Nobody out there will stand a chance—you saw me take down that Darkrai, right?"
"YOU STUPID IDIOT RAT!"
Pikachu sighed, turned to the angry black blot he had been unfortunate enough to summon—wow he looked mad.
"ExCUSE me, I was having a nice heartfelt moment and you RUINED IT," Pikachu scolded, indicating his cowering family. "Thanks for nothing, you useless Legendary."
Darkrai didn't seem to care, loomed over Pikachu and jabbed a razor-sharp claw dangerously close to his nose. "What is this I'm hearing about you leaving? We had a deal, you stupid rat."
Pikachu's sister nudged him. "We can take him."
"In a minute," he said, patting her on the head before giving Darkrai his own I can't believe you're this stupid look. "Yes I'm leaving—I was just telling Mom and Dad and Sis goodbye. It was nice and heartfelt and tender and then you go and ruin it. I'm going to let my sister kick your can again, and this time I'm not stopping her."
Darkrai blinked. "Excuse me?"
"You're excused. Not yet, sis," he added, catching her by the tail.
"So let me get this straight—you're leaving with the rest of us."
"I believe that's already been established."
Darkrai pointed the way he had come. "Then you'd better go tell Ash, because he's leaving without you."
It took a moment for that to sink in. "WHAT? Why?"
"I don't know, something-something blah-blah-blah, 'Pikachu will be happier with his family I'm an idiot'—that sort of thing."
Pikachu slapped himself in the forehead with both paws, dragged them down his face—turned to give his parents fast hugs.
"This is why I have to go," Pikachu announced, rubbing his sister on the head before walking backwards, indicating Darkrai. "Ash is a knucklehead, but he's MY knucklehead, and if I leave him he's stuck with THIS jerk."
"Excuse you," Darkrai sniffed.
Pikachu ignored him, focus on his parents….
Who nodded, smiling.
"I'm proud of you, son," his dad said.
"Be careful," his mom said.
"KICK ALL THE CAN!" his sister screamed, causing Darkrai to lean away.
"I'm about to," Pikachu assured her, before turning and running for the trail as fast as he was able. Reach open ground, crest a hill—
Saw Ash trudging away.
"HEY!" Pikachu screamed—Ash turned—
Pikachu blistered down the path, past a startled Brock and Misty—
Tackled Ash square in the chest, knocking him flat on his back.
"Gaah…Pikachu?" Ash wheezed, having the gall to look confused—
Pikachu planted his paws firmly on Ash's chest, cheeks sparking.
"Now listen here you…you IDIOT trainer," Pikachu spat. "I am the starter here—and that means I've got more responsibility then all the Pokémon you ever catch put together." Volt's words made sense now. "That means no matter what, I'm going to be sticking with you, stopping you when you do something stupid and supporting you in everything else. Because that's what friends do, got that? You're not allowed to run away from being friends, got it? You're stuck with me—for life. And yes, that's a threat I intend to carry out."
Ash stared at him for the longest time…tone, they understand tone….
Suddenly sat up, hugging Pikachu tightly and sobbing, making exactly zero sense but sounding like he was trying to apologize—
Pikachu hugged him back, closing his eyes and nuzzling close.
"I love you too, you stupid human."
Pikachu's father was not enthused about being left in a clearing with some dark monster, but he was willing to bluff to keep his family safe.
"You," he said, addressing the Darkrai. It glanced at him. "You ever hurt my son, I will hunt you down and make you rue the day you were ever born."
It snorted, not seeming impressed. "You wouldn't be the first rat that's threatened my life."
it drifted off before he could make sense of that. He glanced at his mate—had to run after his youngest when she darted forward, obviously looking for the trail.
They caught up with her at the crest of a hill, managed to stop her there…ears perked up at a wailing sound—
Spotted their son being hugged tightly by a sobbing trainer, the two larger trainers crouched nearby, patting him gingerly, the Darkrai circling around at a distance.
He let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding then, leaned into his mate when she leaned into him. His main worry had been that his son was mistaken, that he had fallen into the same awful trap that he himself had, that he was looking at the torment of being used and then abandoned….
He was a mite jealous of what his son had accomplished, to tell the truth. And proud…and glad that he was in good hands.
"Mum, Da," their youngest said finally, not looking away from the scene beneath them. "When I get older…I think maybe I want to travel. With a trainer."
He and his mate exchanged glances—that was never a fate they wished on their kids, but….
His mate reached over, patted her head gently before tugging her close.
"I think that would be grand," she said finally.
He thought so too.