Chapter 21: Come As You Are
Nighttime had approached. Dawn and her Pokémon had decided to start a fire at the camp while waiting for Ash and Brock's group to return. They were on the lookout for the past hour but just like for the past two days, there were no signs of either the electric mouse or the little brown bunny anywhere.
Dawn sadly stared into the fire. Words couldn't describe how worried she was about Pikachu, about Buneary, about Ash and about how things will turn out if worse comes to worse.
She felt a hand on her leg, or rather a small flipper. She looked to her left and saw Piplup giving a gentle gaze of reassurance.
"I know...things will turn out fine." Dawn said soothingly with a light smile as the rest of her Pokémon decided to huddle up around the fire. As much as she didn't want to admit it...she was starting to lose hope.
Piplup turned away from her and sighed as he stared into the fire. "(I just can't believe that I didn't notice she was gone right away.)" He muttered, a prominent frown spreading across his beak. Suddenly, he felt a feathery touch upon his shoulder, startling him ever-so-slightly and causing him to look at the source only to see Staravia's gentle smile.
"(Hey don't sweat it. None of us did.)" The bird said. Piplup blinked, then merely shook his head.
"(But I can't. I'm her teammate after all.)" He said, looking away from everyone else. "(And besides, if there's anyone that I definitely should've noticed, it's her! Aside from Ash, she would be pretty devastated about all this.)"
"(Hey man, it's been a super crazy time for everyone. You'll see, she's out there somewhere but she's definitely okay. She's like Pikachu, super tough and she can totally handle herself.)" Staravia said as he retracted his wing.
"(Yeah, you're not wrong about that.)" Piplup said, trying to hold back another sigh as his gaze settled on the other Pokémon.
"(Man my feet are killing me!)" Pachirisu muttered, rubbing his aforementioned body parts.
"(Same...I can't even feel mine.)" Turtwig remarked, lying down on the grass.
Unbeknownst to the group, a familiar brown bunny had just entered the vicinity of the camp and was crouched behind a large rock. She took a moment to calm herself, steadying her nerves for what was about to happen.
"Showtime!" Buneary thought to herself as she moved from around the rock and proceeded to hop towards the group.
"(Hey guys!)" She called out.
Everyone looked up only to hold their mouths agape upon seeing her.
"(Is that...?)" Staravia wondered aloud.
"(It is! It's-)" Piplup managed to say before a squeal rang out from behind them.
"BUNEARY!" Dawn cried out as she immediately sprinted towards the bunny.
"(Hey everyone, I just-ack!)" She said before Dawn suddenly embraced her in a strong hug.
"Oh thank goodness you're okay!" Dawn exclaimed to the heavens, her voice clearly starting to choke up as she began to happily sob as she pressed her cheek against the rabbit's face.
"(Happy to be back Dawn!)" Buneary exclaimed as she returned her hug.
"(Buneary!)" Piplup shouted as she ran up to join them in their embrace.
"(Heh, hey there Pip.)" Buneary beamed.
"(Ohhh, that's a relief!)" Aipom sighed as she placed a paw on her chest.
"(I'll say! Where were you?! You've been gone for days! Days!)" Turtwig shouted.
Still being tightly hugged, Buneary managed to crane her neck over to them to get a good look.
"(W-Well you see...I was playing hide-and-seek and I looked up and I saw this huge aerodactyl in the sky!)" She said, waving her paws in the air for dramatic effect. She took a moment to gauge their reactions and judging by how shocked they were, her little story seemed to be working. "(Yeah, and I sort of...ran and hid in the forest.)" She said, tapping her paws. "(I-I mean I wanted to come back as soon as I could but, well...I was afraid I was gonna get snatched up...and then I got a little lost. I'm really sorry guys.)"
Buneary quickly looked over to see what their reactions were now. After a pause, Piplup suddenly put his flippers on his hips.
"(Huh, can't say that I blame you! I mean, we ended up fighting that thing ourselves! And it gave us quite the ordeal!)" He proclaimed as everyone else nodded in agreement.
"(Oh? You guys ended up fighting it? Are you all okay?)" Buneary asked, blinking rapidly.
All of the Pokémon looked at each other and then back to her.
"(Well...we're okay...but...)" Staravia weightily said, his mood suddenly becoming more serious.
"(Hmm? But what?)" Buneary asked, tilting her head a little.
They all looked at each other again, this time with more uncomfortable expressions.
"(Buneary...there's something we need to tell you.)" Aipom gravely started.
"(What is it?)" Buneary asked, putting on quite the convincingly innocent tone.
Piplup walked up to her, put his flippers on her shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes.
"(Buneary...you're going to want to sit down for this.)" He solemnly said.
"(WHAT?! You must be joking! How could this be!? Oh my poor Pikachu!)" Buneary screamed, giving the best damn dramatic performance of her life.
"(I'm afraid so.)" Piplup sadly said, looking down at the grass.
"(Well c'mon! Let's go find him right now!)" Buneary shouted.
"(Buneary, we've been at this all day and we haven't found much else.)" Staravia said.
"(Yeah! And we probably won't do much better in the dark either!)" Sudowoodo followed up.
"(We'll keep at it tomorrow morning.)" Buizel said.
"(Oh poor Pikachu! My poor, poor Pikachu!)" Buneary declared as she dramatically put her paw up to her forehead.
"(It's okay Buneary, we're all in this together!)" Piplup declared.
"(Yeah!)" Everyone else replied in unison.
"(Thanks you guys!)" Buneary cried out before embracing them all in a hug. Unbeknownst to them all, the little bunny was doing everything she could to prevent a smirk from showing on her face.
"Heh, I'll take that Oscar now please." She thought, pride filling her heart.
An hour passed after Buneary's arrival and everyone was sharing stories around the fire, many of which were Pikachu-related and his many exploits.
"(And then he said that he used Volt Tackle and boom! That Regice went down!)" Piplup dramatically cried out.
"(Heh, that crazy fool, trapped in ice twice and frozen and he still had the drive to keep going.)" Buizel responded, arms folded over his chest and closing his eyes.
"(Yeah...he's pretty amazing.)" Buneary muttered, genuine sincerity breaking through her façade.
There was a moment of silence before Turtwig piped up. "(He's tough...one of the toughest Pokémon I've ever known; we'll find him and he'll be fine!)" He confidently declared.
Piplup looked to him and realized how much they've been talking about their friend. Sure he was missing Pikachu too but it was getting rather depressing wasn't it? What good would it do for them to be even more depressed than they already have been for the past few days? Wanting to change the subject, Piplup patted his chest.
"(That's pretty impressive...but this one time I was out by a waterfall and I-)" Piplup started but was interrupted by the sound of something hovering in the air.
Everyone looked up and saw a familiar-looking hot air balloon.
"Right on time." Buneary thought, trying to hold back another smirk.
"(Okay maybe another day then...)" Piplup sighed.
"Hello everyone!" Jessie declared. "Long time no see! The pleasure is all yours I'm sure!"
"You guys?! Can't you give it a rest already?!" Dawn yelled, jumping off the log that she was sitting on.
"Listen, is that a voice I hear?" Jessie started.
Many in the group loudly sighed as they waited for the trio to quickly get to the point.
"Dashing fear and putting hope in its place!" James declared.
Rolling her eyes, Buneary looked off into the forest. Just need to stick to the plan.
"We're in your face!" Meowth said, finishing their motto.
"Seriously?! You're trying to steal our Pokémon even after everything that's happened?!" Dawn shouted, completely furious.
"Hey Pikachu or no Pikachu, we still have a job ta do!" Meowth said.
"And first up on our list iiiiiiiiisssss..." Jessie started as she pointed between Piplup, Buizel and-
"(Oh no you don't!)" Buneary shouted before suddenly hopping in front of everyone. "(Today is not going well for me and I am in absolutely no mood for you clowns!)"
"My, my feisty today isn't she?" Jessie smirked.
"I'm guessing she got the bad news too." James followed up.
"Er, yeah but dat's too bad Buneary 'cuz you're da first runner up!" Meowth yelled before taking out a remote control and pushing a button.
Suddenly, an opening appeared from the bottom of the hot air balloon's basket and from it produced a clear glass cage held by a mechanical appendage.
The glass cage quickly shot forward. Buneary braced herself as she was quickly scooped up, being lifted into the air just beneath the basket.
"And don't think about using your signature move there dear Buneary! It won't do you any good!" Jessie laughed.
Just for good measure, Buneary used Ice Beam and – just as expected – it didn't even leave a scratch on the glass. Pretending to be disappointed, Buneary let out a rather-loud sigh before looking off into the distance at the edge of the forest. Okay, this was a pretty clear cue if she did say so herself.
"Told ya!" Meowth mockingly laughed.
"And that's not all!" James said. "Runner up number one is down for the count, let's see number two!" He yelled before pushing a button and another mechanical arm appeared underneath the balloon's basket, next to Buneary's cage.
"Not so fast! Turtwig front and center!" Ash called out.
"Oh, so you want to go there huh? Alright then!" Jessie replied before taking a Pokéball and throwing it towards the group. "Seviper go!"
"You too Carnivine!" James said immediately before the plant-Pokémon munched on his head. "How many times do I have to say I'm sorry, just do me this one solid please!" James cried out before taking the Pokémon off his head and throwing him towards the ground next to Seviper.
"Now, Seviper use Haze!" Jessie commanded.
Seviper opened its mouth and a thick, black smoke came out, enshrouding the area.
"Good, now Carnivine use-" James started before something interrupted him.
Out from the haze and beyond the campsite, a lightning bolt suddenly tore through the air and struck the ground where the two enemy Pokémon were at, causing them to fly backwards and momentarily knocking them out cold.
"What?!" Jessie cried out.
"Huh?!" Meowth followed.
In response, another lightning bolt shot out and struck both mechanical arms, destroying the glass cage containing Buneary.
Buneary fell from the short height and she did, her mind was already one step ahead.
"Alright, now nothing left to do but just sit back and enjoy the show!" She thought as she gracefully descended before being caught by Dawn.
Just as Dawn caught Buneary, everyone witnessed a third bolt of electricity accurately strike the strings attaching the hot air balloon to the basket which contained the three occupants.
The ropes snapped and before they knew it, Team Rocket fell screaming during their short fall.
All eyes turned towards Pachirisu. The little squirrel was standing next to Brock and upon realizing the undue attention, merely shrugged in response. Well if it wasn't Pachirisu who made the electric attack...then who?
Buneary couldn't help but smile to herself, knowing what was coming next.
"We should seriously consider suing someone for shoddy string production." Meowth grumbled as he got up. "Alright, who da heck do ya think you are?! Show yourself!" He commanded, pointing towards the edge of the forest where the attack had come from.
Everyone leaned forward and squinted, attempting to peer through the thick haze that still lingered. What they saw required a double-take.
Out from the haze was the figure of a pikachu but something was very, very off about it. Its normally-yellow fur was entirely replaced with a dark purple one. Upon closer inspection, the tips of its ears, normally black, were bright red. Perhaps most unnervingly, was that from each eye were bright red wavy lines that extended down to its red cheeks. It almost looked as if it were perpetually crying rivers of blood down its face that accumulated into their own little pools. Its face was nothing like what they had ever seen on a pikachu, Ash's or otherwise. Its eyes were pitch black yet gave the impression that it was looking beyond what it was staring at. Not to mention...its face was contorted in a way that almost appeared unnatural for its species.
"What...what is that?!" Dawn shakenly cried out.
"It looks like..." Brock started.
"...Pikachu." Ash finished, completely bewildered.
"That's an unusual looking pikachu..." James remarked, unable to take his eyes off of it.
"Yeah and not in the good way." Jessie replied.
"You don't think that's..." Meowth concernedly asked.
The creature suddenly let out a disturbing noise that sounded like a mix between gasping for air and an empty spray can being rattled around.
It lumbered forward, looking as if it was severely injured. Sparks began to appear on its cheeks.
Then it began to speak in a raspy, perverted tone.
"(I've come back for yoouuuuuuuu.)" It moaned.
"Come back? For us?" Meowth asked, completely flummoxed as he took a step backwards.
"What?!" Jessie and James cried in unison.
"(Darkrai sent me, it calls for you...)" It said, continuing to lumber forward. "(It no longer wants to wait...)". It produced a wicked grin. "(To drag you down to hell!)" It shouted before producing electricity all around it. The bright yellow light enveloping it only further contrasted the creature's dark-colored body, emphasizing its sickly appearance.
Everyone shielded their eyes to avoid the bright light but the unmistakable sound of a Thunderbolt rang out towards a screaming Team Rocket, knocking them further away.
As soon as they landed, the creature bolted straight towards them using Quick Attack. Before they knew it, it was right in front of them, giving them an unnaturally wide, wicked smile.
They each opened their mouths to say something but were blasted by another, albeit much weaker, Thunderbolt which sent them flying again with Meowth landing elsewhere into the darkened forest.
The creature suddenly looked back at the group who all shivered at the sight of it. Out of everyone's view, Buneary gave a slight nod to it. The sickly beast smirked and quickly disappeared into the haze and out of everyone's sight. It ran towards the forest and climbed up a tree.
Meowth started to get up from his landing site, groaning as he placed his paw on his head.
"Man, this week just won't end." He grumbled before he was interrupted by a haunting voice
"(Meeeeeeeeeeoooooooooowwwwwwwtttttthhhhh~)" A perverted voice called out. The wind rustled the trees as it seemed to carry the voice even further.
Meowth, in absolute horror, looked around in every direction.
"Who...who are you?! What are you?!" He cried out.
"(I've come for youuuuuu~)" It replied. "(You all should've have chosen your other paths in life...)" It mockingly continued. "(Jessie, contests. James, bottle caps. You, entertainer.)"
Meowth only felt more creeped out as he started backing up from his spot. "How...how do y-you know that?" He stuttered, his entire body shaking.
"(It's too late now, Darkrai calls for you~)" It said, sounding somewhat closer in that moment.
Meowth only continued to stumble backwards, still looking in every direction in front of him.
"N-No! You've got it all wrong!" He stuttered again.
"(Darkrai wants you nooooowwwww...it wants to drag you into the dark depths...)" It started. "(With me!)" It finished, its voice now sounding like it was right next to him!
Shrieking, Meowth jumped backwards and fell on his rump. He quickly looked up and could only muster a terrified gasping sound, too shocked to unlock his chest and produce a scream.
It lumbered towards him, continuing to make that awful rattling noise, its eyes now wider than Meowth had ever seen Pikachu's go. They looked like gaping maws about to swallow whatever they were staring at.
"(I haven't even been dead for a week and you're still committing your sins...)" It croaked.
"B-B-But I-I-I didn't even wanna to do it! Ya gotta believe me! I've been a bit bad here and there b-but I-" He shrieked but it only continued walking towards him. "No please, it wasn't me! It was Giovanni he's the one!" He pathetically cried out while crawling backwards.
"(Enjoy your last moments of peace, because where you're going...there won't be any!)" It yelled, sparks flying out from its cheeks.
Meowth immediately picked himself off the ground and ran towards the edge of the forest back into the clearing. His eyes closed; he ran as fast as he could while he continued to pant.
"IT WASN'T ME! I DIDN'T-!" He screamed before plowing into both of his criminal companions who at this point were just starting to get back up from the place they had landed.
Upon getting up from their crash site, Jessie suddenly huddled up next to James.
"Jaaaamesss! What is that thing?!" She shouted.
"It's the ghost of Pikachu come back from the depths of hell!" Meowth cried back, joining in the huddle.
"Whatever it is, just give it what it wants! Just don't let it get me!" James yelled.
Suddenly from the haze, the creature used Quick Attack to cover the distance from the forest. It stopped quite a ways from the trio.
Meanwhile, everyone else looked at the figure with horrified expressions. To them, this sickly, evil-appearing creature was a far cry from their beloved friend.
"Pikachu..." Ash muttered in astonishment.
Pikachu's ears pricked up having heard that. He struggled not to turn his head in concern, attempting to keep up the act. Ooooh boy he'll have to really make it up to Ash for this.
He continued to lumber towards Team Rocket.
On the outside, he looked terrifying and evil, but on the inside Pikachu's mind was racing, trying to think of something spooky to say to them.
Drats, it looks like he used up all of his best material already, most of which was on Meowth and the rest he was saving for the grand finale. He struggled to think of something else as he had to say something at this point! After thinking for a bit, he came up short. So he did the only thing that he could think of: he gave a ghostly "Oooooooo" as if he were part of a Saturday morning cartoon show. Thankfully, everyone around him were already so terrified that they didn't even notice how ridiculous it sounded.
That is, almost everybody.
For the longest time, Buneary was doing a good job stopping herself from showing anything other than shock and horror just like everybody else. After all, Pikachu was doing a great job as he both looked and sounded very convincing! But hearing him making a silly ghostly moan forced her to bite her bottom lip to stop herself from laughing.
"Oh lord, he must've run out of material!" She thought, stifling her giggles.
"What is it that you want?!" Jessie cried out.
"Are we even sure that thing is still Pikachu?!" James yelled.
"(I'm not Pikachuuuuuu, I'm a ghooooooooost!)" Pikachu improvised, leading to comically high-pitched squeals from the wannabe thieves.
Nope, it was too much. That did it. The dam has officially burst.
Unable to hold back anymore, Buneary suddenly let out a loud laugh, no longer being able to stop the floodgates. In fact, her laughter was so strong that she had to double over while holding her sides!
All of her Pokémon friends looked at her, eyebrows raised.
"(What's up with her)?" Buizel asked.
"(Beats me.)" Staravia followed.
"(Yeah, what the heck girl?!)" Piplup cried out, doing his famous flailing dance. "(This is no time to be laughing!)"
Feeling as though the gist was up, Buneary tried speaking in-between breaths. "(Oh boy that was laying it on a little thick don't you think? He was doing so well before!)" She giggled.
Piplup merely looked at her. "(Huh? Laying it on a little thick? Doing well before? What in the world are you talki-)" He suddenly caught himself. He looked at her, then back at Pikachu.
Piplup's expression went from one of genuine confusion to mildly amused exasperation. He turned back to Buneary, blinking. "(For real?)" He asked to which she eagerly nodded, her paws covering her mouth, trying to stifle herself.
Everyone was still confused and became even more so as Piplup squinted his eyes so hard that they swear that they were replaced with simple slits on his face.
"(What's going on?)" Buizel asked, a bit annoyed.
Piplup merely kept his expression and pointed a flipper at Pikachu. "(Uh guys, I think that's Pikachu.)" He said rather nonplussed.
They simply looked at him.
"(Well yeah! That's Pikachu's ghost!)" Pachirisu said with a noticeable tone of fear in his voice as he held on to his own tail.
"(No I mean that's literally just Pikachu dressed up to look like a ghost. He's trying to scare Team Rocket.)" Piplup said still holding his expression, tone and flipper.
Everyone looked back at the "ghost" of Pikachu and then back to Piplup.
"(No way...)" Turtwig incredulously said.
"(Yeah, think about it, if he's a ghost, wouldn't he know Ghost-type moves? Why is he still using the same moves he used in life like Quick Attack?)" Piplup asked.
Sudowoodo scratched the side of his head with his branch-hand. "(Um...maybe because he hasn't been dead for very long so he hasn't learned any yet?)"
"(Suuuuuurrre and what about her?)" Piplup asked, pointing at Buneary who at this point was on the ground, plopped on her back, laughing so hard that her arms were on folded over her stomach as she kicked her feet in the air.
"(Well clearly...she's...so distraught with grief that she's crying...with laughter...yeah...)" Pachirisu said, obviously trying to convince himself yet instead he began to feel his own terror ebb away.
Buizel looked back at the fray. Pikachu's "ghost" continued to advance towards a terrified Team Rocket and let out another "Ooooooooooo" moan.
Suddenly, Buizel felt a smirk spread across his face. "(Pffft! Okay, maybe that really is just Pikachu!)" He said as he started laughing. "(I've never met any ghost Pokémon that literally went 'oooooo' before!)"
"(Yeah! That's a bit much don't you think?)" Sudowoodo exclaimed, now fully convinced and laughing himself.
Their reactions combined with Buneary's infectious giggling immediately spread throughout the group, causing everyone to start chuckling before progressing to raucous laughter all at once.
Their sudden change in reaction didn't go unnoticed by their trainers. Dawn was the first to see it out of the corner of her eye.
"Huh? What's with them?" Dawn inquired, turning towards the group followed by Ash and Brock.
"What's going on?" Ash asked.
"That's pretty odd to see right now..." Brock remarked before turning back to the "ghost" of Pikachu. He didn't know why, but he couldn't stop looking at the electricity coming from its cheeks. Then suddenly, somewhere in the mind of that ever-observant, bright Pokémon Breeder in training, it clicked.
"Wait a second..." Brock murmured to himself.
"Huh? What is it Brock?" Ash asked turning to his friend.
Brock suddenly smirked. "Just watch." He calmly said before his two friends turned their attention back to the battle.
Still racking his brain to say something else, Pikachu only came up empty again. Yup, out of material. Looks like he'll need to finish this up soon.
Stepping forward, he maintained his furious expression, making his eyes looking like they could spit fire.
"Please! Have mercy angry spirit!" James begged.
"Yeah! We promise, we'll never try to steal another Pokémon again!" Jessie cried out.
Making his eyes and face appear as dark as ever, the "ghost" of Pikachu made his voice sound as deep as it can go.
"(No...you won't!)" He declared, before raising his arms up into the air. "(PREPARE TO FACE YOUR DESTINY!)" He shouted before unleashing Thunder in every direction, yet notably not hitting anyone.
As lighting rained down and struck the ground all over the area, James suddenly got to his feet and ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction.
"You're not getting me that easily!" He screeched, his arms and legs flailing all over the place as he ran for his life.
Jessie followed behind him. "You're not leaving me behind! I'm too pretty to be dragged down into darkness!"
She herself was followed by Meowth. "What about me?! They always go after the funny guy foist!"
Finally, he was followed by their other Pokémon.
"(I'm outta here!)" Carnivine yelled.
"(You got that right!)" Seviper followed.
The "ghost" of Pikachu continued to scream in fury and unleash Thunder until Team Rocket was finally out sight. Heh, they probably won't stop running until well past noon tomorrow.
When he could no longer see them, the "ghost" finally ceased the attack. He turned towards his group of friends. Then he bowed.
"(Aaaaaaaand scene!)" He proudly declared. All of the other Pokémon continued to laugh uproariously and immediately started applauding.
"(Bravo! Bravo!)" Turtwig happily exclaimed.
"(Encore! Give this man an Oscar!)" Piplup shouted.
Brock's smirk only grew wider. "Heh, I knew it." He said with a satisfied smile.
"Oh that sly devil-mouse!" Dawn yelled, grinning herself.
Still not getting it, Ash merely looked between them. "What's going on?!" He shouted in frustration.
"It was all an act Ash." Dawn remarked. "It's just Pikachu in disguise to look like a ghost!"
Ash merely blinked at her before turning his attention to Pikachu.
"Pikachu? Buddy? Are you...okay?" He asked rather carefully.
"(Never better!)" Pikachu replied in his usual happy self while raising an arm in assurance, his expression bright instead of the dark, terrifying one he had a moment ago.
Ash paused before taking it all in. He suddenly smiled, then started laughing as he ran towards his best friend, arms outstretched. Feeling a wave of relief washing over him, Pikachu smiled and ran towards the young trainer.
"PIKACHU!" Ash cried out as he embraced his best friend. "I thought I lost you!"
"(Don't worry Ash, a little aerodactyl battle isn't going to stop me!)" Pikachu said as he stole a glance at Buneary who took notice and began to lightly blush.
Pikachu's ears suddenly twitched as he felt droplets hitting the top of his head. He looked up and saw tears coming down Ash's face despite the boy's clear attempts at holding them back.
"I-I'm just so glad you're okay!" He said in-between hiccups as he hugged Pikachu even tighter. "We looked everywhere for you b-but couldn't find anything e-except..." He continued but stopped himself as he tried to push back the horrible memory of finding the blood on that shore.
"(Ash...)" Pikachu softly said with a smile as he hugged his best friend back. Despite everything that's happened, he was simply glad to be in his trainer's arms again. Maybe now things can finally go back to normal.
Everyone looked on and smiled, finally relieved that it was over, the worst having been avoided. They stayed like that for what felt like quite a long time.
Ash continued to hug his closest friend in the whole world but suddenly he felt something rub off on him. He looked down and saw purple splotches on his skin and clothes.
"Huh? What's this?" Ash inquired as he raised his stained arm to get a better look.
Pikachu sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as he remembered what he was covered in.
"(Oh yeah, one sec!)" He said as he jumped off Ash's lap and ran towards a pitcher of water. He lifted it up and poured the water over himself. Thankfully, most of the berry juice had washed out of his fur, save for a few splotches of particularly stubborn stains. He shook himself off and soon, he was back to looking like his old self! Well, save for the bandages that covered parts of his body.
"Ohhhh, I get it! You must have covered yourself in berry juice to use as makeup!" Brock remarked to which Pikachu replied in the affirmative.
Suddenly, Pikachu felt multiple bodies all around him, embracing him in a giant hug, some were laughing, some were rambling and others were crying.
"(Buddy!)" Piplup shouted through tears as he embraced the mouse so strongly it rivaled Buneary's nuzzles.
"(Thank the legends above you're okay!)" Aipom squealed as she piled on them.
"(What a relief!)" Staravia shouted as he continued to hug him.
"(Yeah, but what happened though, you were gone for days! We saw blood at the lake!)" Turtwig remarked, taking a step back from the huddle, a somewhat serious look on his face. Soon, everyone else did the same.
Feeling his cheeks heating up, Pikachu nervously rubbed his arm. "(Oh yeah, well I was in really, really bad shape from the battle. Thankfully, somebody saved my life.)" He said as his gaze focused on Buneary who began to fiddle with her fluff, her face becoming redder.
Everyone turned their attention towards her.
"(You saved his life?!)" Piplup asked, completely shocked.
"(Well...I guess...I helped a little.)" She bashfully said, staring at the ground albeit with a tiny smile.
"(Are you kidding? She totally saved me! I would've been a goner if she hadn't nursed me back to health in a cabin!)" Pikachu happily exclaimed.
Hearing the mouse's praise filled Buneary's heart with a warm happiness that overwhelmed her. Unable to take it, she turned completely red and buried her face in her fluff.
"(Ohhhhh that makes sense. I thought it was strange that you were gone for days!)" Staravia said, looking at the bunny before turning his gaze back to Pikachu. "(And why you're covered in bandages!)"
"(Yeah.)" Aipom started, not wanting to waste the opportunity. "(It must not have been all bad though, spending all that time alone together~)" She teased.
This time it was Pikachu's turn to feel his face turn red...and feel like it was in front of the freaking sun!
"(Well in any case, I'm just so happy that you're okay and that we're all together again!)" Sudowoodo cried out.
"(Yeah! Hooray!)" Pachirisu exclaimed as he jumped in place.
Their celebration was cut short when Brock made a surprised noise, causing everyone to look at him.
"Huh? Hey what's that?!" He asked as he pointed at Pikachu.
Everyone turned their focus back on the electric mouse and some of their eyes widened as big as dinner plates while others covered their mouths in shock.
"(Hmm? What's wrong?)" Pikachu asked as he looked around, noticing that everyone was staring at him.
"Pikachu! Are you okay?!" Ash exclaimed as he quickly walked over and kneeled beside the mouse.
"(Huh? What do you mean?)" Pikachu asked as he looked over himself. He quickly took notice of his bandaged side. A noticeable red splotch had begun emerging from the white fabric of the pad that covered his injury. Taking a moment to register it, he gave an embarrassed chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head. "(Oh uh...whoops! Guess I overdid it!)"
Brock quickly knelt next to Ash and examined the mouse's side.
"Hmm, looks like Pikachu has quite the injury on his side. But..." He said before raising an eyebrow. "It looks like it's already been taken care of!"
"Huh? Did Pikachu do that?" Dawn inquired.
The three humans looked at Pikachu who merely shuffled his feet along the grass, his arms behind his back. They looked to everyone else, some of whom gave rather amused expressions before suddenly everybody took a step away from Buneary, giving her the spotlight. Confused, the little brown bunny looked between everyone.
Blinking, Dawn took notice of her Pokémon's guilty expression...an expression that she had seen multiple times whenever she was particularly flirty with Pikachu.
"Buneary...did...you...?" She asked before Buneary began fiddling with her fluff again, unable to look her in the eyes. "Really?!" She exclaimed before the bunny nodded in approval.
"Buneary bandaged up Pikachu? But when?" Ash wondered aloud.
"Well in any case, Pikachu's injury has opened up, we should get him to the Pokémon Center right away!" Brock declared.
Both trainers looked at him and then to each other before nodding in approval.
"Alright, let's not waste any time! Back to the Pokémon Center then!" Ash declared before taking out his Pokéballs. Likewise, Dawn and Brock did the same.
"(Okay, but you better give us the full scoop afterwards!)" Aipom shouted at Pikachu with a smile and wink.
"(No problem.)" Pikachu laughed, rolling his eyes.
Soon, one-by-one everyone was returned to their Pokéballs until just Pikachu, Buneary and Piplup remained.
"Okay Buneary, return!" Dawn commanded as her Pokéball shot out a familiar red light only for Buneary to side-step it. "Huh?" She muttered, completely baffled. "What's the matter Buneary?"
Buneary merely gave her a determined look as Dawn confusedly blinked back. Before she could say anything, Brock nudged her arm and pointed towards the bunny. Following his pointing, Dawn saw Buneary standing rather close to Pikachu. Blinking again, it finally got through.
"Ohhh I get it!" Dawn said with a smile as Buneary looked away in embarrassment. "Okay, tell you what, you can stay out of your Pokéball this time! Gotta keep an eye on Pikachu right~?" She laughed with a wink.
Pikachu couldn't help but droop his ears as a light blush began to dust his face. "(R-Right...)" He muttered.
"(And I'm staying out too!)" Piplup declared with his flippers on his sides.
Dawn merely looked at him before nodding. "Okay, you too Piplup!"
"Alright, if we're all good, let's get going!" Ash yelled.
"Right!" Everyone said in unison before Ash gently picked up Pikachu and placed him on his shoulder. Likewise, Dawn picked up Piplup while Brock lifted Buneary. With that, all three began running to the nearest Pokémon Center.
Author's Notes:
And thus ends the Aerodactyl Arc! We're coming up on the end of Act I so hang tight! Up next, a fairly long but very, very special chapter! Stay tuned!
As a side note, did you know that a Discord server has been made for PikaBun fans? It was recently made by the amazing Lenard! If you're curious, check out his DeviantArt account: NerdoodleN and send him a message to join! Come on by and make our community a little closer together!
Fun fact about me, before writing this fic, I was going to make a YouTube video (my first one) about what I would've wanted to see for Ash and Pikachu in the future. I actually wrote a script and it would involve Ash and Pikachu coming into personal conflict for the first time since the pilot episode along with other ideas. I would say about 50% of my ideas ended up happening in the show in some form although my version was more jaded and slightly more mature. I swear that I haven't seen anything after Diamond and Pearl and no less than two months later did we get the final stuff with Leon.
I don't know if I have the absolute worst timing in the world or the best because now, I have an even better idea for how to eventually end this story.
Anyway, just wanted to share that with y'all! See you soon!