Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.

Piplup POV:

After Emolga had been hit by her own Discharge attack, she had gotten up and wobbily flown off somewhere. It was nearing nightfall now, and she was still gone. Interestingly, Ash had been the first one to notice; not Iris, Emolga's trainer. I wonder if there's a reason behind that.

Now everyone had split up into groups to look for her. Our trainers had taken the more easliy-accessible places, like the roads and buildings. The Pokémon had split up into several groups to look in the less accessible places, like the parks and forests.

My group consisted of Oshawott, Buneary, Pikachu, and me. We had been out here for a while and were currently in the middle of a forest. It was getting darker as the sun was setting.

"Emolga!" Pikachu called out. "Where are you?"

"Come out, Emolga!" Buneary called as well.

The two of them had been calling her the entire time we had been walking, unlike Oshawott and I. We knew why Emolga flew off; but we decided to not tell anyone else. At least for now.

"We should head back" I commented. "It's getting dark and becoming hard to see with all these trees. Besides, she obviously doesn't want to be found."

I left out the part of not wanting to find her, although it was very much true.

"Yeah, I bet everyone else has gone back by now" Oshawott said. "For all we know, they found her, so there's no point in us looking for her."

"No, lets keep looking" Pikachu said, forging ahead without looking back. I glanced to my side at Oshawott, who was doing the ssame. We simultaneously shrugged our shoulders and followed Pikachu.

The air kept getting colder and the light kept fading. Pikachu kept walking deeper into the forest, constantly shouting for Emolga.

"Ugh, I wish Quilava was here" I said. "Her flames would help us see in this dark forest." I shivered as a cold damp breeze blew past me. "Not to mention she'd keep us warm!"

"I'm not cold at all!" Buneary gloated. "All of this fluff I have really does keep me warm!" I groaned.

"Well, the rest of us are not!" I snapped, wincing afterwards. That sounded way harsher than I intended. "Sorry Buneary, I wasn't trying to sound mean. It's just getting so dang cold!"

"Stop being such a wimp, Piplup" Pikachu sighed, sounding irritated. I stopped and crossed my flippers. The others stopped and looked at me questioningly.

"Well, I'm going back" I declared. "It's pointless to continue searching in the dark and cold. Besides, our trainers must be worried about us."

"And you're not worried about Emolga?" Pikachu questioned. I shook my head.

"Nope, not at all" I stated honestly. Pikachu frowned at me.

"Are you really that apathetic about her?" he asked, a little anger seeping into his voice. "What would your mother think of that?"

'Mother.' My whole body froze in shock as that word repeated itself over and over in my mind.

'Mother.'

'Mother.'

'Mother.'

My eyes widened in shock as I immediately recognized that last voice. 'Oh no, not this again! Not him!' My knees buckled and I fell face-first into the ground as I was sucked into another terrifying memory.

The sky was clear and windless, the hot sun beating down on me. "Premium Piplup Purveyors" the dirty sign read.

I hit the ground hard after a Steel Wing to the stomach. I tasted a mixture of coppery blood and slimy mud from faceplanting into the ground. I heard a dark cackle from above me, and I did not have to turn around to know it was my brother.

"Worthless filth" he hissed as I wrapped my flippers around my aching stomach. "You killed my mom, and you deserve to die." I rolled over and saw him sneering down at me.

"You mean our mom" I choked out. "We had the same mom." He scowled angrily, and I took another Steel Wing to the chest. I wheezed as the coppery taste of blood filled my mouth.

"Shut up scum, I didn't tell you that you could speak!" he hissed. "It was your fault she died. Your egg killed her, you're a murderer. But instead of killing you like you deserve, I'll make sure your life is a living hell!" I took another Steel Wing to the stomach and I cried out loudly as I felt several of my ribs crack from the impact. Another wave of blood rose through my throat, overflowing my mouth and dripping down my beak.

I heard my brother walk away as I laid there in agony.

/

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