Chapter 3: VillaFied

(Beverly Hills, CA, USA; 13:23)

Removed from his world by curiosity, Ash and Pikachu rode in a red convertible with the teenage spies on their way to a villa the three apparently owned, Sam behind the wheel. "Don't worry, Ash!" shouted Clover, making sure he and Pikachu listened. She sat in the passenger seat, in front of Alex. "You and the Pokémon will enjoy the area!" Ash nodded to the promise.

"The villa actually belongs to our parents and loaned it to us while they were away in Europe for business," Alex explained. After some driving, the convertible arrived at a quaint upper-scale house with a room at a corner surrounded mostly by glass windows. The group came out to see the house. Ash and Pikachu awed the sight.

"This is your villa?" he gawked.

("It's huge!") gasped Pikachu. The girls made it to the door with Sam unlocking the way inside.

"Wait until you see inside," she offered. With Pikachu on his shoulder, Ash entered the villa behind the girls and viewed the inside. The first room inside had two levels reachable via small staircase. The lower level had a wraparound yellow couch with colored pillows and a wide-screen TV set below an aquarium. The upper level had a glass table and chair set at one end. Pink carpet coated the ground to both levels with some yellow on the upper. Ash awed the room's design.

"Whoa!" he awed. "Amazing!" Ash viewed the room with his mouth open. He scoped the kitchen which had a refrigerator with a built-in water and ice dispenser, a digital oven, microwave and cookware beyond imagination. "If only Brock came with me, this detour would be ideal." Pikachu caught an aroma bleeding from the refrigerator. He opened the door and what he found, his eyes glistened.

("There you are!") he squeaked as he pulled out a ketchup bottle. Just as soon as Pikachu took the tiny bottle, he squeezed a tiny blotch of ketchup and licked it before repeating the process a few times, much to the amusement of the spies and Ash's chagrin.

"Pikachu!"

("What? It's ketchup! I like ketchup!") Even if Ash didn't understand what Pikachu pleaded, it wasn't about what Pikachu wanted.

"You know it's rude to just barge into someone's refrigerator and take their food." Realizing his mistake, the Electric Mouse felt terrible, his ears droop in shame.

("That's why… I'm sorry!") Alex knelt to Pikachu's level to comfort him.

"That's okay," she acknowledged. "We've got plenty of ketchup stored." Pikachu felt better about the rush to supply himself. Sam began to wonder the connection between the boy and the mouse.

"So how long have you two been together?" she asked.

"Since I started my career as a Pokémon Trainer," Ash replied. "And despite some close calls, we've been together on every region." The girls awed the longevity of the unity, but the close calls had Alex a little concerned.

"Why not discuss this over some pizza," she suggested. "You have any toppings you don't favor?"

"Not that I know of."

"Okay…" Alex got on the phone to order the pizza, having it delivered. The extra large pizza, once it arrived, had pepperoni, Italian sausage, red and green peppers, onions, mushrooms and black olives. The spies and Ash scarfed on the pizza before Alex wanted to ask about the relationship. "So you two have been together since the beginning."

"And it wouldn't have happened if I didn't destroy my alarm clock." Clover and Sam snickered while trying to keep their slices in their mouths. "Okay, let me clarify. As a new Pokémon Trainer, I had an opportunity to have either a Bulbasaur, Charmander or Squirtle. Unfortunately, other trainers got them before me. That's when my professor offer Pikachu and aside from some disagreements, we've been side-by-side." Sam nodded to the chemistry between the two.

"I believe you," she scoffed. "After you were knocked out by that blast in Versailles, Pikachu didn't leave you until Jerry assured you'd be okay."

"Of course, that was one of two instances which we could have been two separate entities." Now the spies listened. "One time, we found a tribe of Pikachus frolicking around. When my Pikachu rescued a little one, the other Pikachus accepted him as a member… at least what I believed at the time... So much so that I felt he was better off with the Pikachu than with me." Clover and Alex gasped. "After helping the Pikachus, I felt confident that my Pikachu could make sure the tribe was protected. So I left. It's not that I didn't have more Pokémon on me, more of these Pikachus needing a guardian. As the sun came up after an exhausting night, the Pikachus stood at the top of a hill when my Pikachu chose to stay with me instead of staying with the rest of the Pikachus." During a pause, Ash snagged his cap and put it on Pikachu's head. The Pokémon pushed the bill to see the girls. "Instead of going different ways, the experience brought us… closer together." The girls began tearing up at the story.

"That was beautiful!" wept Clover, a napkin drying her face of tears. Alex sniffled, her arm used to prevent mucus from dripping.

"You two went through so much!" she whimpered. Sam hid her eyes with a hand.

"I'm so proud of you two being great friends!" she cried. The girls were somber about Ash and Pikachu's story of before. The two looked befuddled at the three shedding twin waterfalls upon the tale.

"I know we're telling the truth but do they really need to act like we lost someone special?" he wondered.

("I think it's the onions,") Pikachu pondered. With one more sniffle, Clover faced the boys again.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to choke up," she apologized. "I mean… you two have been together for a long time and the bond really shows. I wish the bond between the three of us was as strong." Pikachu understood the girls' reaction to the touching tale. That's when Clover had an idea involving the Pokémon. "If it's okay with you, we'd like to spend time with Pikachu." Ash and Pikachu looked to each other where the Electric Mouse nodded to the idea.

"If Pikachu agrees to it, I won't say no," he accepted. Pikachu leaped into Clover's open arms, not receiving the electric reaction she got in Versailles. As the girls showed Ash around the rest of the villa, Clover and Pikachu sat down to watch some television. The sun began to set and Ash decided to step out to the patio in the back which had a pool and a jacuzzi. Ash didn't take a dip, still fully clothed despite giving Pikachu his cap. Beyond the patio was a beach that lead out to the ocean. A picturesque view would make about anyone marvel. However, something seemed to bother Ash. He wasn't feeling happy, more flustered. From next door, a young raven-haired woman, skin as white as humanly possible, peered out a window to see Ash, bemused to who the boy was.

"When did those three decide to take a boy into their silly beach house?" she scorned. Through her binoculars, she observed the physical structure of the boy to eye on. "Sure, he's younger than those brats… Maybe he'd be better off here with me, not them." She soon saw Ash shake his head. "Goodness… I figured that he needed someone better than those three." Inside, Alex and Sam had concerns but not about Ash.

"Clover, you really think it's a good idea for Pikachu to sleep in your room?" questioned Alex. Clover and Pikachu blinked to the concern.

"We agreed that Pikachu can spend time at nights to snuggle with the three of us," she reassured.

"Well… yeah…" Sam hesitated. "But what about Mandy?" The name had Clover shiver. Pikachu blinked to the interest of the name.

("Who's Mandy?") he asked. The little mouse's squeaking alerted Clover to answer Pikachu.

"She's our rival and perhaps the biggest prick in Beverly Hills High!" she scowled.

"She tries everything to get us in trouble," Alex added while mulling. "The whole 'most popular girl in school!' façade she continues to paint."

"Not to mention her room next door is directly across from my room so Mandy can see what I'm doing, even if it's none of her business." Pikachu could sense problems if he spent a night in Clover's room.

"So I think tonight, you can be in Alex's room," Sam suggested.

("Sounds good,") Pikachu squeaked. Alex glanced to the patio deck to see Ash looking rather down.

"I wonder what's wrong now?" Before going to see Ash, a knock on the door. The girls looked about to panic. "Speak of the devil..." Sam quickly developed a plan. "I'll deal with Mandy. Clover, go check out what's wrong with Ash and Alex, take Pikachu to your room." The girls nodded before splitting up with Sam approaching the door and opening to see the raven-haired.

"Sam, what a pleasant surprise!" she greeted with some sarcasm.

"Hey, Mandy… What's up?"

"Well, I noticed that you have a rather curious young man hanging around the back. I didn't think you'd be capable of going after boys younger than yourselves." Sam realized Mandy referred to Ash and had to come up with a lie quickly.

"Oh, Ash… Yeah, that's Alex's cousin visiting us from Miami." Mandy seemed intrigued with Alex having family visiting her.

"You're kidding! That young guy's a family member? Why wasn't I aware of this?"

"Easy, you don't care what we tell you. In one ear, out the other involving us." Mandy didn't feel shameful for the ignorance.

"In any case, I was wondering if I could take Ash out one of these days? I could ask Alex if she's available." Now Sam felt cornered. To her going to get Alex would put Pikachu at risk of exposure. That's when she came up with a way to buy time.

"We're gonna get him situated around Beverly Hills before you can have a chance." To Mandy, Ash needed some comfort to the city before he's ready for the people around here.

"Yeah, it does sound better for him to be familiar in the 90210. I'd like to meet him as soon as possible. Well, goodnight." Mandy walked from the door back over to her house. Sam closed the door before applying her back on it and sliding down, grateful for her successful repel of their rival. Meanwhile, Clover heard Ash's story, sympathy risen among her.

"It wasn't a loss but a crushing defeat?" she guessed.

"Yeah," Ash replied. "A full six-on-six Pokémon battle. I had the Pokémon with me, plus Gliscor. He had Grotle's evolved form, Torterra, as well as Ursaring, Weavile, Electabuzz, Honchcrow and Magmortar. I could only knock two of Paul's Pokémon. He got momentum and I just… I couldn't find any ground to move in the battle. He wiped me out and my Pokémon looked beaten in more than just the battle." Clover felt that his Pokémon didn't want to fight anymore.

"They lost confidence in how you're able to command how they battled." Ash nodded, though ashamed to be clear.

"I mean… Dawn did try to help out in getting me back on my legs after the defeat… but I still hear Paul long after he won, still nagging at me in saying that I'm pathetic. That's why I was tired before the Unown brought me to that rift and Versailles." The tale of Ash suffering had Clover come over and give Ash a hug.

"Hey, it's best not to think about it now. It's not Lake Acuity. You'll have plenty of time to relax while here." Clover felt Ash's head bobbing. Sam recovered and saw the scene.

"Feeling better?" she asked. Ash and Clover broke their hug before facing Sam.

"Getting there. He told me about his worst loss." Suddenly, Clover thought of a way to help Ash's mood. "You know, a trip to the mall and some new duds may give our new ally a new head to his shoulders." Sam seemed interested with the idea.

"It always works with you. Some new threads he can take home when he's done here." To Ash, maybe something new to wear may help him in the long run.

"I can't see anything wrong with trying out something different," he believed. "We'll ask Alex about it and see if she's willing to go." Clover agreed, thinking that a trip wouldn't be without the three together. Tomorrow would be a nice, leisurely trip for new clothes… right?

TO BE CONTINUED...