Chapter 11
Somewhere on a bustling street in the midst of Lumiose City, three people sit around a table outside a small café. However, to say 'three people' is misleading, for if one looked closely at the shortest member of the group, one might find something decidedly…. Meowthy about them.
The three members of Team Rocket stare glumly at the single croissant sitting on a plate in the very centre of the table; this was all the trio had could afford with the money they had been able to scrounge up.
"One measly croissant…" James whines, resting his chin on the table. "I can't believe we only have enough for one measly croissant… that's barely anything!"
"We spent our entire budget on that electric cage," Meowth replies, propping elbows up on the edge of the table as well. "And the Boss ain't gonna give us any more money either until we have somethin' good to give him."
All three of them shudder at the thought of having to report their failure to the leader of Team Rocket and face the inevitable angry tirade about what imbeciles they all are. Jessie growls, slamming her hands down on the table and making her fellow team members jump in surprise as cutlery clatters to the ground. "This is all that twerp's fault!" she grinds out, tablecloth bunching in clenched fingers. "If I ever see him again, I'll show him and that pesky Pikachu just who's in charge!"
"Yeah!" James and Meowth cheer. The redhead snatches up the croissant and goes to take a big bite out of it, still scowling dangerously. Before her teeth can make contact with the pastry, however, two hands reach out and attempt to wrestle it out of her grip.
"Hey, no fair! I wanted to eat that!"
"Leave a piece for Meowth!"
Jessie yanks on the croissant angrily. "Both of you couldn't even defeat a tiny Pikachu!" she says scornfully. "Since Pumpkaboo did the best, this croissant is mine!"
"I was the one who put that cage together!" her teammate complains, making another grab for the pastry as Jessie moves it out of reach. "And Inkay did just as well as Pumpkaboo in that battle!"
"Hey, are you both forgetting I was the one who came up with the plan?!" Meowth protests. "If anyone deserves that croissant, it's me!"
"The plan didn't even work!"
"It was working fine until that pipsqueak Pikachu and the twerp started messing things up!" Meowth retorts angrily. The three glare at each other for long moments, the croissant still held firmly away from them all in Jessie's hand, until Meowth relents, folding his arms. "There's only one way to decide this…" he says in a serious tone, nodding sagely.
"…Scissors, paper, rock!" James chimes in, leaning forward eagerly.
Jessie considers this a moment, then drops the croissant back onto the plate. "Alright, let's do this!" she says, a determined look on her face. Meowth sweatdrops. Jessie's kinda scary when she wants something…
The three of them each hold out a hand over the croissant. "Ready? Scissors, paper, ro–!"
A nearby voice floats past their table. "Uh, excuse me, ma'am?"
The trio freeze in their seats at the sound of the familiar voice. "That voice just now –" Meowth asks nervously, glancing around. "It sounded like –"
James inhales sharply and waves a frantic hand at Meowth for the Pokémon to be quiet as he peers cautiously around the leaves of the giant pot plant next to their table. "It's the twerp!" he hisses almost inaudibly, edging sideways to make sure he's hidden completely by the plant. Jessie and Meowth abandon their seats and inch forward, both peeking through their leafy cover.
It is indeed the twerp who had so thoroughly thwarted their plans the day before. He looks none the worse for wear after their encounter – of course not, he's not the one who had to spend hours picking mud and wet leaves out of his hair afterwards! Jessie thinks with a scowl – and luckily for Team Rocket, it appears he hasn't noticed them there at all.
The trio strain their ears to shamelessly try and eavesdrop on the twerp's conversation with an older lady. It's hard to make out the whole conversation, but it appears the kid is lost and looking for directions to a pharmacy, if the occasional words like 'medicine shop' and 'bandages' and his worried expression are anything to go by. The lady points across the square with a kind look on her face, to which the twerp immediately brightens and thanks her before running off again in the indicated direction. He doesn't go far, disappearing inside a shop on the opposite side of the square to the café.
Potential threat now safely out of sight for the moment, Meowth takes the opportunity to pull over a second pot plant for more cover, just in case the kid comes running past again. As he manoeuvrers it into place with a grunt of effort, Jessie and James exchange glances.
"A pharmacy for medicine and bandages, huh?" James whispers speculatively. "I wonder what he's going there for…"
"Isn't it obvious? There's only one reason he'd go there today," Jessie declares, her eyes aflame with the fire of a new, success-guaranteed plan. "It must be for treating that Pikachu's injuries!"
"Oh!" James eyes light up in understanding and he grins at Jessie. "So if we follow him when he comes out, we'll be able to find that pesky Pikachu!"
An evil grin spreads across Meowth's face, identical to the ones his fellow team mates currently sport. "And then we'll capture it while it's still weak from the battle!" he chimes in, rubbing his paws together with dark glee. "That Pikachu is a powerful Pokémon, it'll make the perfect present for the boss!"
"He'll be so happy, he might even give us a bonus!" James says excitedly, a cheering thought to the other two. They all cackle madly for a moment; so caught up in their daydreams that none of them notice a flash of light escaping Jessie's waist.
"Wobbuffet!" the blue Pokémon agrees loudly as he appears, only to be piled upon by the other members of Team Rocket.
"Ssssh! Be quiet, Wobbuffet!" Jessie hisses, all of them suddenly remembering that they are, in fact, in public and that the other café patrons are now starting to stare at them. The trio fall silent as they settle in to wait for their target to re-emerge.
And wait.
And wait.
"Geez, what's taking him so long?!" Jessie demands irritably. "Come out already!"
"Ssssssh!" James and Meowth both hiss, motioning her to be quiet. "Keep watching, or we might miss him when he comes out." She huffs in annoyance, but stays quiet.
As they continue to wait – what is he doing in there, buying the whole shop?! – Meowth eyes their paltry cover of pot plants and decides it could use a bit of sprucing up. He spots another pot plant near another empty table not far from their own. "You guys keep watch, I'll be back in a minute!" he says, jumping down from his seat.
"Meowth?" James calls quietly after him, but Meowth just waves a paw at him and continues to sneak over to the other pot plant. Behind him, he hears Wobbuffet ask what they're all looking for in a loud voice, only to get shushed again by Jessie and James.
He reaches his target without any difficulties and is in the process of figuring out how to move it back to their table without attracting attention when suddenly the empty table beside him becomes decidedly not empty. Meowth darts behind the pot plant as two teenagers – Pokémon Trainers, judging by the Pokéballs on their belts – plunk themselves down at the table. Geez, of all the tables they hadta pick!
"– was awesome! But man, the Lumiose Gym is tough!" One of them groans good-naturedly, running hands through his hair. "Me and Slurpuff will have to do some hard training before we challenge it again!"
The other boy laughs. "Yeah, I had to challenge that Gym three times before I won my badge!"
"Oh! You've already got the Voltage Badge? Lemme see!" There's the rustle of cloth as the speaker leans forwards excitedly. "That's so cool! Do you have any tips?"
Meowth rolls his eyes, hoping that they finish their conversation soon so he can sneak back to Jessie and James without being seen. It doesn't seem likely, however, as the other boy hums thoughtfully and replies, "That depends, who did you battle?"
"Who…? The Gym Leader, of course! Clemont!" Oh, I think I know that one. Meowth taps his chin thoughtfully, trying to think back to the briefing documents they'd been given on the Kalos region. He's the blond nerdy looking one with glasses, right?
"Ahh, I forget you're not from Lumiose. For the past few months we've had two Gym Leaders – one is Clemont and the other one's a robot."
A what? Meowth rubs at his ears. Did I hear that correctly?
"A robot?" his companion repeats, sounding just as incredulous as Meowth feels. Meowth's ears perk up; apparently he hadn't misheard after all. A robot? This sounds like it could be valuable information! Maybe getting stuck behind a pot plant while these kids chattered away wasn't such a bad thing after all!
"It's true! My first Gym battle here was against it. I was so surprised that I got kind of distracted during the first round!" The kid laughs. "My second time was against Clemont. Their styles are kinda different, you know? But they're both pretty incredible, I guess that's why they're Gym Leaders."
The first Trainer leans forward, asking questions excitedly, but Meowth has already tuned out. A robot acting as a Gym Leader! This could be a great opportunity! I gotta tell Jessie and James, quick!
Both of the kids at the table seem utterly engrossed in their conversation, so Meowth takes the risk and darts back to his teammates' table. "Guys! Guys!" he hisses, jumping back onto his seat. "I just came across a very interestin' piece of information."
"Oh?" James says in interest. However, Jessie doesn't look around and merely flaps a hand in their direction with a shushing noise.
"No, you're gonna wanna hear this," Meowth insists. That gets both of his teammates' attention and they lean forward in a conspiratorial huddle as Meowth fills them in on the conversation he'd overheard in a whisper.
"A Gym Leader robot…" Jessie repeats when Meowth finishes talking. A small, devious smile appears on her face as she glances at James.
"Not just any robot, a robot that controls Pokémon!" Meowth points out.
"A robot like that would make a great addition to the team!" James adds in an excited whisper.
Jessie's grin grows wider. "Not to mention, that robot is part of the Lumiose Gym," she tells them, leaning in further. "Just think of all the powerful Pokémon we could get our hands on at the same time!"
"We'd be unstoppable!" James and Meowth both cheer. The trio cackle with laughter again as they imagine their success. Wobbuffet starts to join in, but movement across the plaza catches his attention. A figure in a red and white hat is exit the pharmacy with plastic bag in hand; they pause just outside the door, looking around for something. Wobbuffet frantically tugs at his Trainer's skirt and when he finally has her (slightly annoyed) attention, the Pokémon flails unceremoniously in the direction of their target.
It takes a moment for his Trainer to catch on, but she grabs the other two as soon as she spots their target as well. "Hey! It's the twerp!" she hisses. "Quick, let's follow him! Good work, Wobbuffet."
"Wobbuffet!"
As the four of them sneak out from the cover of their wall of pot plants, James grabs the croissant still lying forgotten on the plate in the centre of the table. Finders keepers! he thinks with a grin and stashes the pastry away in a pocket to eat later.
.
.
.
"Is he lost?" Meowth asks incredulously from behind the wall. They're following the twerp onto a familiar street for the third time in the last ten minutes and Meowth is starting to wonder just how they managed to lose to an idiot like this. Ahead of Team Rocket, the black-haired kid is looking around with a puzzled expression on his face.
Nevertheless, the three watch their prey intently until finally the kid seems to spot whatever he's looking for and goes dashing off again. Team Rocket follow behind as closely as they can, but find themselves falling further and further behind. The twerp runs fast, almost inhumanly so. Eventually, they have to give up out of exhaustion, collapsing to the ground as they all pant for breath.
"This is ridiculous! Who even runs like that?!" Jessie demands of the world at large. James just shakes his head, too out of breath to reply. Meowth is the only one who keeps an eye on their target, and as such, realises that they've come to the central plaza that boasts Prism Tower at its heart. Meowth blinks as he watches the twerp slow down to a walk and disappear through the automatic doors at the base of the Tower.
"Ah guys?" he says. "It looks like he went into Prism Tower…"
James gets his breath back. "Isn't the Lumiose Gym located in Prism Tower as well?" he asks. Unnoticed by the purple-haired Trainer, one of his Pokéballs releases a small floating squid Pokémon in a flash of light, who immediately seizes the chance to snatch the hidden croissant from his Trainer's pocket and munch on it happily.
"Even better! We can grab all of them at the same time!" Jessie answers, eyes lighting up with fierce determination. "Our success will be the first step towards taking over the Kalos region!"
"Yeah!" her teammates cheer, throwing their hands up in the air.
Jessie gets to her feet. "They'd better be prepared for trouble!" she declares, striking a pose.
"And they'd better make that –" The declaration cuts off with a wail. "Ah! Inkay! My croissant!"
/\/\/\
Clemont dozes while Bonnie busies herself with grooming all of his Pokémon. He's not fully asleep – one ear is vaguely listening to the sound of Bonnie's voice and all his Pokémon just to make sure everything is going alright – but he's not really paying attention to anything much either, just drifting along in oblivion and trying to ignore how hot he feels. It's only when his mind absently notes that he can't hear Bonnie anymore that he shifts back into a more wakeful state.
His eyes blink open to find Bonnie less than a few hand-widths away from his face, staring at him intently. Clemont startles, suddenly much more awake than he had been before. "Bonnie…?" His voice is slightly high-pitched and strangled from shock, but at least he manages to tamp down his initial reaction to shriek.
Bonnie doesn't reply. Clemont becomes aware that it's not actually him that she's staring at when he notices Pikachu using his blanket-covered body as a shield to hide behind as the Pokémon peers over him at Bonnie. Clemont sighs. "Bonnie," he repeats reproachfully, propping himself up on his elbows (which is as far as he can get before he starts feeling dizzy again). He doesn't reach for his glasses even though the blurry world is giving him a headache because he plans on collapsing back into his pillow as soon as he can.
His sister finally breaks her staring match with Pikachu and looks up at him. "I just wanna brush Pikachu's fur and make it all shiny and soft," she complains, her cheeks puffing out in a pout, "but he won't come over."
Clemont falters a bit. It's not really Bonnie or Pikachu's fault that one wants to genuinely look after the other and the other just doesn't want to be touched. Still, Pikachu has already shown his thoughts clearly on the matter and Clemont doesn't want anyone getting hit by a stray Thunderbolt from a nervous Pikachu again. He feels something brush against his arm and looks down to see Pikachu flattening himself to the bed to hide even further behind Clemont. "But Pikachu doesn't like it." he says patiently to Bonnie. "You remember what Ash said, right?"
'Bonnie, this is Pikachu. He's a bit wary of people at the moment, so make sure you give him some space, alright?'
Clearly Bonnie does remember Ash's words from a few days ago, because the pout fades into a contrite look. "I'm sorry, Pikachu," she apologises. "I forgot."
Pikachu's head pokes up over his Clemont-shield, ears twitching he considers the small human girl. When it becomes clear that Bonnie isn't going to drag him away to brush his fur, Pikachu sits up properly. "Pika pika!" No worries!
Clemont smiles at both of them, pleased that they've worked things out and flops back down against his pillow. One arm covers his eyes – the light in here is bright and isn't helping his headache – and almost immediately he can feel sweat starting to soak through his sleeve. "What time is it?" he mumbles. How long was I asleep?
Bonnie reads him the time off the clock and Clemont frowns against his arm. It's been almost two hours since Ash left – surely he should have been back by now? I hope he hasn't run into trouble again!
With his arm covering his eyes, Clemont misses the way Pikachu's ears prick up, but even still he barely has time to start worrying about Ash's continued absence before Pikachu is bounding over his stomach – oof – crying out, "Pikapi!"
"Hahaha, heyyy Pikachu!" Clemont breathes a quiet sigh of relief against his arm at the sound of Ash's voice, filled with laughter. He peeks out from under his sleeve, but it's a pointless exercise without his glasses. With an internal sigh, Clemont struggles into a seated position, reaching blindly for his glasses. As he jams them on his nose, he's greeted with the sight of Ash greeting Bonnie and all the other Pokémon crowding around him. "Hi guys! You're all looking great!" The robot looks to Bonnie with a grin. "Thanks, Bonnie, you did a great job!"
"You're welcome!"
Vision restored, Clemont casts a worried eye over Ash, checking for any kind of injury. Much to his relief, the robot looks much the same as he did when he left, so it doesn't seem like Ash ran into any trouble while he was gone. The shoulder that Clemont had fixed also seems to be working properly, just as Ash had said – in fact, Pikachu is clinging to it, riding on Ash's shoulder as the robot came over to greet Clemont.
"I'm back!" Ash says cheerfully, stopping next to Clemont's bed and crouching down to eye level.
"Welcome back," Clemont replies with a smile, Bonnie chiming in behind Ash.
"You took ages!" Bonnie adds, hands on hips and a scolding note in her voice. He wasn't the only one who had been worrying, it seems. "What happened?"
Ash laughs sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Aha, well, to be honest… I… kinda got lost?" he offers. "I forgot how big Lumiose City actually is…"
Clemont blinks. "You… have a map of the city in your knowledge banks, though?"
"Oh yeah…" Ash says, trailing off thoughtfully. He flashes both of them a guilty grin. "I forgot about that!"
Typical Ash , both the siblings think in unison, sharing a smile and a fond shake of the head between them.
Ash brightens suddenly. "Ah, but Clemont, I got your medicine!" he says proudly, holding up a bag. "Here." He hands the medicine over to Clemont, who studies it for a moment to make sure it is, in fact, the right one. Luckily, it is.
"Thanks, Ash," he says gratefully. "You didn't have to go to all that trouble though."
Ash waves off his words. "Nah, 'course I did! Anyway, the lady at the pharmacy said they'd make you sleep, so I don't know if you want to take them now or not…"
"I could probably do with some more rest at the moment," Clemont admits. "My head really hurts and I still feel hot all over." Ash frowns at that and leans forward, resting his hand against Clemont's forehead to take Clemont's temperature again. His hand is refreshingly cool as always.
"Hrm," is all the robot says as he sits back, however, so Clemont figures his temperature can't be too high despite how light-headed he feels from the heat. Clemont downs some of the medicine with a glass of water as Ash settles Pikachu in his lap and checks over the Pokémon's bandages carefully.
"Everything looks okay for now so I'll change them a bit later, alright?" Ash says to Pikachu, rubbing the Pokémon's head. Clemont hides a laugh behind a hand when he sees Magneton and Magnemite not-so-subtly drift over in the hopes of getting a pat as well.
"You should get back to the Gym," he tells Ash as the robot predictably reaches out to rub the magnet duo's heads as well. Ash pauses mid-pat to shoot him a startled look. "I'm sure there will be challengers arriving there by now," Clemont explains. "You should go too, Bonnie. It'll be boring to just stay and watch me sleep." He smiles. "Besides, someone needs to cheer Ash on."
"Yeah… are you sure you'll be okay though?" Bonnie asks, leaning forward on the bed with a concerned look on her face. Behind her, Ash has almost the exact same expression on his face even as he gets up to do as Clemont has suggested.
"I'll be fine, don't worry!" he reassures them both. "I'll just be sleeping. Plus Pikachu's here to look after me, right?" he adds, glancing sideways at Pikachu as Ash sets him down beside Clemont carefully.
"Pika!" the electric Pokémon agrees.
"Thanks, buddy." Ash scratches Pikachu behind the ears and then whirls to face the rest of Clemont's Pokémon. "Alright then! We'll do our best at the Gym today for Clemont, right guys?"
The Pokémon chorus an enthusiastic agreement and they bound – or float, in the magnet Pokémon's case – over to Clemont for a final well-wishing before he returns them to their Pokéballs. "You take care as well," Clemont says as he places the Pokéballs into Ash's waiting hands. "Don't be reckless and get yourself injured again, alright?"
Ash laughs sheepishly. "I'll do my best?"
"That's all I need to hear," Clemont says with a smile, before breaking off into a yawn. His whole body feels heavy and the effort of keeping his eyes open is starting to be a much harder task than it was a minute previously. Well, that medicine sure sets in fast, he thinks vaguely as he slides under the covers again. After sleeping all day yesterday, you'd think I'd have a hard time trying to fall asleep now…
"Good night again," he mumbles, eyes slipping closed. He feels Ash ruffle his hair fondly as Bonnie gives him a hug that he tries his best to return. Clemont's not sure how well he succeeds though, given that he's out like a light within seconds.
"Sleep well, Clemont," he hears as he drifts off into sleep.
/\/\/\
Unfortunately, his sleep is anything but restful: Clemont jerks awake, the remains of vague, unsettling dreams that he can't quite remember clinging on in his mind. He squeezes his eyes shut again, trying to both calm his shaking and ignore the sense of sickening foreboding settling in his stomach. There's no-one in the room with him when he squints around – he doesn't know what time it is, but there's still light filtering through his window so Ash and Bonnie must still be down at the Gym.
He can't stop shivering.
Clemont raises a hand blearily to check his own temperature and finds his bangs soaked with sweat. Fever must have broken, he thinks, noting that part of the reason why he feels so gross at the moment is because he's sweated through his clothes. That's one good thing, I guess.
It doesn't feel like a good thing, even if the shivering and sweating is a sign that from here on he's slowly going to get better. Right now, Clemont just feels miserable as he curls up into a ball under the sheets, teeth chattering as he tries desperately to get warm again.
"Pipika?"
He pokes his head above the covers again and comes face-to-face with a concerned looking Pikachu. Clemont sucks in a breath – Pikachu's never come this close to anyone but Ash before – and tries to smile reassuringly at the electric Pokémon. "I'm-m ok-kay," he says carefully, trying to keep the shivers from his voice. "J-j-just cold."
Pikachu's ears twitch and he glances towards the door, as though debating whether to go and fetch one of the other humans. "Really," Clemont insists, although he supposes looking like a shivering ball of misery isn't making his words all that believable. Pikachu stares at him for long moments, clearly unconvinced, before the Pokémon sighs.
Clemont squeaks in surprise when Pikachu crawls under the blankets with him, wriggling between arms and knees until the Pokémon is curled up against his chest. Pikachu's body is like a furnace and Clemont resists the instinctive urge to curl up around the source of heat because he really doesn't think Pikachu will appreciate it. "Are you… t-trying to w-warm me up-p?" he asks hesitantly, looking down at the ball of yellow fur.
"Pika!"
The affirmative reply is muffled against his nightgown. Clemont smiles, touched that Pikachu would be willing to curl up with him to keep warm despite his wariness of humans. "...I'm all s-sweaty though, y-you don't have t-to…" And I know you don't like people touching you…
Pikachu cuts him off. "Pikapi pikachu Pipika pi!"
Clemont wishes he knew what Pikachu was saying – hrm, I wonder if I could create a Pokémon translation machine? he muses, filing away the idea for later – but it seems like the small form has no intentions of budging.
He rests his hand hesitantly on Pikachu's back, prepared to snatch his hand back if he doesn't seem to like it. Pikachu tenses under his touch for a moment and he's about to pull away when Pikachu visibly relaxes and presses closer into Clemont's chest instead. The Pokémon doesn't protest when Clemont curls an arm around him carefully. Pikachu is wonderfully warm. "….T-thank you." he whispers, closing his eyes again to sleep.
.
.
.
This time when Clemont wakes up, he does so gradually, awareness coming back in drips and drabs as he blinks blearily at the world around him. Every part of him still feels weak and aching, but to Clemont's immense gratitude it seems as though the shivers have passed.
There's a warm spot against his chest; Clemont looks down in surprise to see a blurry Pikachu still wrapped in his arms. Pikachu still seems to be asleep and Clemont hesitates, unsure if he should stay as he is or try to give the sleeping Pokémon more space. He must make some kind of movement though, because Pikachu stirs before he can come to a decision. Pikachu's eyes open and he yawns widely, stretching in the circle of Clemont's arms before twisting to meet Clemont's gaze.
"Uh… good morning?" he offers, unsure.
"Pipika!" the electric Pokémon chirps happily and much to Clemont's surprise, nuzzles against his chest. Pikachu seems to regret doing this almost immediately, wrinkling his nose and then wriggling out of Clemont's arms to sit on the pillow beside him. "Chu pikaaaa," Pikachu tells him, making a face.
Clemont sits up slowly – he still feels sore – and grimaces at the feeling of dried sweat on his skin. No wonder Pikachu retreated so quickly; I must stink! He fumbles for his glasses. "How are you feeling?" he asks in concern, absently frowning when his fingers brush against a scrap of paper folded under the frames of his glasses. What's this?
"Pika!" Pikachu replies back cheerfully and Clemont smiles. With his glasses on, Clemont can see that Pikachu is sporting fresh bandages, so clearly Ash has come by at some point while he was asleep. Clemont glances at the clock. He can't hear anyone else in the apartment and it's mid-afternoon already, so Ash and Bonnie must be down in the Gym again. His suspicions are confirmed when he unfolds the scrap of paper to find a hand-written note:
Hey Clemont!
You were still sleeping pretty deeply
when we came by for lunch,
so we left you some sandwiches
in the fridge :)
- Ash
Clemont huffs a laugh at the smiley face at the end of the note. He folds the note in half again, suddenly realising that his appetite is back in full force: he feels ravenous. Even simple sandwiches sound amazing right now – he's noticed that Ash has been sticking to meals that are easy to make, though whether that's for Clemont's benefit or simply because Ash is yet to master the art of cooking, he doesn't know.
He stretches and looks down at Pikachu. "Are you hungry?" Pikachu nods eagerly. "Let's go find these sandwiches that Ash mentioned then, shall we?" Clemont suggests. "Ash and Bonnie are still probably down at the Gym, I don't want to disturb them."
Gingerly, he gets out of bed. Maybe I can have a shower now that I'm feeling less light-headed… after I find some food first, though. Deep in his own thoughts, Clemont is about to try and get to his feet when he feels paws climbing his sleeve and a weight settling on his shoulder. He yelps in surprise.
From his place on Clemont's shoulder, Pikachu snickers and pats the side of his head. "Pipika!"
"Ah – are, um – are you okay up there?" Clemont stammers, too surprised that such a wary Pokémon would be willing to trust Clemont enough to sit on his shoulder the same way he rides on Ash's shoulder.
"Pika!"
Clearly, he's somehow managed to earn some measure of Pikachu's trust whilst he's been sick; he may not get the same level of adoration that Pikachu reserves for Ash, but Pikachu is more open and friendly with him now than he's ever been. Not to mention that when Clemont lifts a hand to scratch cautiously behind Pikachu's ears the way he's seen Ash do, he gets a whine of pleasure rather than an irate Thunderbolt. There's a warm glow of happiness and pride inside Clemont at having won the small Pokémon's regard; it gives him the energy to get to his feet and wobble out to the kitchen.
There is indeed a plate of sandwiches neatly covered with plastic wrap in the fridge. Clemont carries it over to the table, where the two of them proceed to devour every last crumb on the plate. As he eats, Clemont runs a practiced eye over Pikachu's injuries while Pikachu munches on a sandwich across the table from him. What he sees pleases him: Pikachu is almost fully recovered and it's clear that Ash has been doing a good job caring for him. The strangest thing is, Clemont gets the feeling that Pikachu is giving him the same kind of health check-over. When Ash asks him to do something, Pikachu really makes sure to do it, huh. He wonders again just what exactly Pikachu intends to do when he's fully healed. There's still a good chance he might go back to the flower garden, although Clemont knows that Pikachu's leaving will absolutely crush his friend. Ash and Pikachu share a deep bond, even after only a few days of knowing each other. They fit together like they were always meant to be that way, the same way Ash's new appearance had been less of a change and more like a realisation what should exist in the first place.
"Pipika?"
Clemont realises with a jolt that he's been staring off into space for who knows how long, sandwich teetering precariously in his hand. "Sorry, I got caught up in thinking," he laughs, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
Pikachu tilts his head to the side, looking confused. "Pi?"
He shakes his head. "It's nothing." He takes a bite of his sandwich and chews thoughtfully. "Ash has gotten better with food, hasn't he?" Even if it's only sandwiches. Clemont smiles at the enthusiastic response from his table mate. Setting the empty plate by the sink – he mentally apologises to Ash for not cleaning it up himself – he leans against the counter for a moment, overcome by a wave of tiredness. I'd better shower quickly and go back to bed…
"Shall we head back?" he asks Pikachu, who looks up at him in concern. Pikachu doesn't reply, merely climbs back up his pyjamas to perch on his shoulder; Clemont takes that as a 'yes' anyway. "Alright then…"
He shuffles back towards his bedroom, one hand on the wall for balance. Even as tired as he feels, Clemont can't help noticing Pikachu staring around in fascination. "That's right, you probably haven't seen much of the rest of the apartment, have you?"
Pikachu shakes his head in response and Clemont slows down to point out the different rooms as they head back to his room. On the way, they pass Clemont's workshop and Clemont takes a moment to stop in the doorway and lean on the door frame. "This is my workshop," he explains to Pikachu, who is looking around the room with interest. "I like inventing things, and this is usually where I make them….uhhhh, and don't be worried if you hear anything explode in here! These things happen!" He laughs a little nervously before sobering. "You know that Ash is a robot, right?"
As expected, Pikachu nods, ears twitching. Clemont finds it interesting that Pokémon seem more attuned to recognising this compared to the humans Ash meets, although admittedly Clemont really only has his own Pokémon and Pikachu to base his observations off. "I made him," he tells the small Pokémon, who perks up. "Right here, in this workshop. I just wanted to create a robot that could help me out with the Gym sometimes… but in the end I got so much more than what I was expecting." A fond smile curves his mouth as Clemont thinks about all the time that Ash has spent with Bonnie and himself. Clemont honestly cannot imagine his life without Ash in it now.
"Ash wants to go on a journey to become a Pokémon Master…" A subdued laugh escapes Clemont. "If anyone could do it, it'd be Ash for sure!" His voice trails off into a sigh. "I want to support his dream but… at the same time, I really don't want him to go," Clemont confesses, looking down at his slippers. "Ash would make a great Trainer, but it'd also be really dangerous for him to go on a journey like that. There's things that humans would be fine with that would cause him trouble – he doesn't even know how to swim! I don't even know if he even can! And what if people treat him weirdly because he isn't actually human? What if he gets injured again? Ash is sturdy enough but even the smallest injury could cause a huge problem… and it's not like something like that would just heal on its own!"
"Piiiika," Pikachu says, patting him on the back of the head in an effort to calm the human down. Clemont sighs again, reaching up a cautious hand, and when the Pokémon stays put, pets Pikachu's head gently. "I just don't know what to do," he tells Pikachu forlornly. "We even had a fight about it. Even though we made up and Ash said he wanted to stay as a Gym Leader for now, I can't help but think he only decided that because of me. Is it really alright for me to tell Ash not to go just because of my own selfish worries?"
Pikachu's ears lay back, a troubled look on his face. "Pikachuuuuuuu," he answers, sounding apologetic.
Clemont mentally shakes himself out of the melancholy he's fallen into. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't dump all this on you," he apologises, looking sideways at the Pokémon on his shoulder. "I can't expect you to have any answers when I don't." He scratches Pikachu under the chin like he's seen Ash do before. "No matter what happens, we'll all just have to look out for him, right, Pikachu?"
"Pika!" Pikachu nods firmly in agreement, making Clemont's small smile grow wider.
"Thank you," he tells Pikachu. You want to protect Ash just as much as I do and you make him happy. Thank you. He doesn't elaborate on any of his thoughts when Pikachu looks at him in inquiry, merely pushes himself away from the doorframe and turns his back on his workshop. While his fingers are starting to itch from the urge to pick up tools and work, what he really needs right now is a shower and then more sleep. Maybe tomorrow, Clemont thinks as he shuffles down the hall, and then amends wryly, if Ash and Bonnie let me out of bed, that is.
/\/\/\
Unsurprisingly, Ash and Bonnie don't let him out of bed the next day, although they are glad that his fever seems to be going down. Bonnie does, however, thankfully take mercy on him and brings Clemont a book to read and a pad of paper and pencils to keep him occupied. She brings one for herself as well and promptly sprawls across his floor to start drawing. Apparently, she's going to keep him company today rather than watch Ash's Gym matches. As much as Clemont would like to see something other than the four walls of his bedroom for a change, this arrangement is for the best – his mind might be much more alert now, but his body is still weak with fatigue as it recovers. Designing things on paper is all he's probably capable of doing at the moment.
With this in mind, Clemont flips open the sketchbook and starts to idly draw some of the ideas that have been floating around in the back of his mind over the past few days. If I could make some thing like this … then there'd need to be this part here… oh, it'd need something like this to let it move properly… and then it could…
He becomes so absorbed in his plans that he almost doesn't notice when Pikachu creeps over to peer at his work, except to absently scratch him on the head. Clemont does, however, start paying proper attention when he notes the flash of yellow in the corner of his eye disappearing every now and then. The next time he loses sight of Pikachu, Clemont pauses mid-drawing to check what is going on and realises that Pikachu has been ducking down behind Clemont's blanket-covered knee. Clemont is confused at first, before he follows Pikachu's eye line and finds Bonnie staring over at the two of them. Well, he realises, at Pikachu, anyway. When she catches him looking, Bonnie blushes slightly and looks away quickly, going back to colouring in her picture. Pikachu cautiously peeks over Clemont's sketchpad again. Upon finding the coast clear, Pikachu straightens up to stare at Bonnie in turn, ears twitching every now and then. Pikaachu doesn't seem to be in any kind of distress, so Clemont mentally shrugs and goes back to sketching out his ideas.
An hour later, though, he's finding it hard to concentrate on his designs in favour of trying to suppress a smile at their antics. The two of them are engaged in an ongoing cycle of sneaking glances at each other and pretending they aren't every time the other looks over. Clemont finds it actually rather endearing to watch. It's not until a stray chuckle escapes him that both of them realise that he's been watching them and get embarrassed.
"Clemont!" Bonnie complains as he gives up on trying to hide his grin.
"I'm sorry," he replies, laying his pencil down, "but what in the world are you two doing?" Clemont glances down at Pikachu as he speaks, but the electric Pokémon just looks up at him sheepishly.
"We're not doing anything!" Bonnie protests, but her gaze drifts over to where Clemont is scratching Pikachu's head. Her cheeks puff out in a pout. "No fair, Clemont! Keeping Pikachu all to yourself!"
"Huh?" Clemont asks, hand freezing as he blinks at her in surprise. Bonnie ignores him, crossing her arms.
"I wanna be Pikachu's friend too!" she declares stubbornly.
Clemont lets out a silent sigh of relief. So that's what's bothering her. He glances down at Pikachu, considering. Pikachu is more comfortable around him now and much friendlier and openly affectionate because of it, so it's only natural that Bonnie wants to be able to interact with Pikachu the same way Ash and her big brother do. Unfortunately, that part is all up to Pikachu, but Clemont has an inkling Pikachu might be more open to the idea than he was before. Even though Pikachu is still putting Clemont in between them, he's clearly curious about Bonnie rather than just hiding away like before.
"Why don't you see if Pikachu wants to play with you?" he suggests to Bonnie, keeping an eye on Pikachu's reaction. Pikachu's ears prick up, but he doesn't react negatively to his suggestion and Clemont takes that as a good sign. Still… "Just be gentle, alright?" he cautions.
Bonnie is up on her feet in a flash and over by Clemont's bedside almost before the words finish leaving his mouth. She crouches down to Pikachu's eye level as Clemont moves his sketchpad out of the way. "Um, Pikachu, can I please brush your fur?" she asks with a bright smile. "I promise I'll make it all nice and shiny!"
"Piiiika…" Pikachu replies hesitantly. He glances up at Clemont, who gives an encouraging smile.
"Go on, it's okay," he tells Pikachu. "Bonnie will take very good care of you. She's good at looking after Pokémon, you saw the other day."
That seems to decide Pikachu. "Pika pika!" he says happily, bounding over Clemont's legs. The grin on Bonnie's face is practically blinding as she plonks herself down on the floor, brush at the ready as Pikachu jumps into her lap. Clemont smiles at the two of them, pleased that they've managed to become friends as well. He returns to his sketches, keeping one eye on the duo on the floor.
They stay like that for a while – Clemont sketching and Bonnie and Pikachu playing – until Pikachu perks up and launches himself at the door with an excited "Pikapi!"
Clemont looks up – Pikachu has a sixth sense when it comes to Ash, although Clemont is aware that it's only because Pikachu has a better sense of hearing than humans do – just as Ash comes into the room bearing a tray of sandwiches. Pikachu has already perched himself on Ash's shoulder, munching on a sandwich that the robot gave him. "Welcome back, Ash," he says with a smile.
"I brought lunch," Ash says unnecessarily as he puts the tray down on the bedside table within Clemont's reach. "It's just sandwiches again tho– oh hey, you're inventing again! Cool! Can I see?"
Clemont laughs at the eager look on Ash's face. "Of course you can, I'd love to show you!" He flips back a few pages. "See, this is a design for something I was thinking about the other day…"
Ash leans forward in fascination as Clemont continues to explain his idea, Pikachu jumping off his shoulder onto the bed. It's not until Clemont turns a page and happens to glance down at Ash's hands, spread out on the bed to support him, that he notices something amiss. One of the fingers is laying at an odd angle. Clemont frowns. "Ash, is your hand okay?"
"Huh?" Ash asks blankly, before looking down at his hands. "Oh yeah, that. I hit it by accident before and I can't get it to go back… it doesn't hurt though!" he adds hastily at Clemont's unhappy face. "I'm fine, really!"
"Pikapi," Pikachu replies disapprovingly before Clemont can say anything. Clemont gives Ash a pointed look.
"See, even Pikachu agrees with me. Let me see, please." Clemont puts down his sketchbook and holds his hand out expectantly; despite his protests, Ash still obligingly lets Clemont take a closer look at his damaged hand.
"Hrm," Clemont says after a moment, adjusting his glasses. He doesn't let go of Ash's hand; Clemont has a shrewd idea that if he does, he'll lose his chance to fix it when Ash suddenly decides that Clemont shouldn't be doing anything while he's still sick. "Bonnie, could you get my toolkit please? This should be simple to fix, I can do it now."
"Sure thing, Clemont!" Bonnie chirps, darting out the door.
"Ah, wait –" Ash starts, but realises that he's speaking to empty space and sighs. "Sorry, Clemont. I didn't want to bother you with it while you were sick…"
"It's never a bother, Ash," Clemont says sincerely. "Besides, I'm feeling much better today!"
"Oh really?" Ash asks, brightening. "That's great!" He reaches out his free hand in a now familiar gesture, pressing it to Clemont's forehead. "It looks like your temperature has gone down too, thank goodness!"
"It's thanks to you and Bonnie and Pikachu taking such good care of me," Clemont tells him with a smile, scratching Pikachu behind the ears and drawing a pleased 'chaaaaa' from the happy Pokémon. Ash looks surprised for a few seconds, clearly not expecting Pikachu's mistrust to have mellowed. Then he beams, looking thrilled.
"Pikachu's really taken a liking to you! That's awesome! See, I told you that Clemont and Bonnie were great!" This last comment is directed at Pikachu, who nods with a happy agreement.
"I found it!" Bonnie announces as she reappears, lugging one of his smaller toolkits. "Here you go!"
"Thanks, Bonnie," Clemont says as he takes the box from her, rummaging through it until he finds the one particular screwdriver that he needs. He sets the toolkit aside on the bed and sets to work on fixing the misaligned joint of Ash's finger. As he had told Ash earlier, it's a fairly minor fix. It's therefore rather easy to split his concentration between the task at hand and the conversation going on between Ash and Pikachu:
"…should be fully healed really soon," Ash is telling Pikachu. "So if Clemont says it's okay, we can probably take those bandages off tonight and leave them off."
"Pika!" Pikachu waves his arms happily. "Pika pikapi pikachu!"
Ash looks apologetic. "Sorry, Pikachu, I still don't think it's a good idea for you to come with me to the Gym though…"
"Chuuu…" Pikachu's ears droop.
Does he actually understand what Pikachu is saying, or is he just guessing? Clemont wonders absently, not for the last time. Still, he can't see any reason why Pikachu can't go and watch Ash – as Ash had said, Pikachu is almost fully healed. It'd mean that Clemont would be stuck here without any company, but then again…
He leans over to Pikachu. "It's alright," he whispers. "We'll both sneak down to the Gym tomorrow and watch, okay?" If Clemont is being honest, he's well enough now that staying in bed will be rather boring. Besides, Clemont misses watching Ash battle.
"I heard that!" Ash grumbles. "As much as I'd love you guys to be there, you should both be resting until you're completely better."
Clemont knows that Ash is just really worried. This is his first time dealing with Clemont or Bonnie being sick, after all. "We've both been resting a lot. Honestly, a change of scenery would probably help more," he points out, meeting Ash's eyes. The worry he sees there makes him add, "I promise I won't overexert myself."
Ash hrms, eyebrows furrowed in concern. "You'll go back to bed if you get too tired?"
"I promise," Clemont says seriously. He knows his own limits and he doesn't want to worry Ash in the middle of an important match by collapsing from exhaustion. Falling asleep on the benches in his Gym would just be uncomfortable, anyway.
"Pika pika!" Pikachu echoes, waving a paw. Ash looks between the two of them and then over at Bonnie, asking her opinion silently.
"It's okay, I'll keep an eye on them!" Bonnie says brightly. "Pikachu can sit with me!"
Ash sighs, his shoulders slumping, but at least some of the worry has disappeared from his expression. "Alright then." The happy cheering at from the other three occupants of the room brings a smile back to his face, his earlier worries soon forgotten.
If they'd known what troubles were going to come their way the next day, maybe Ash wouldn't have given in so easily.
Because that isn't ominous at all...
Thanks for reading! C: