Author's note: Heyo!
I've been looking forward to this chapter for quite a while, so it's cool to finally get to it!
And also, Sho's dialogue (much like with the Team Rocket stage performance) deserves to be immortalised, so I did just that. XD
Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Seventeen: Facing Pasts
Pikachu headed past the stalls, and through the slowly-growing crowd, towards Sho and his raichu, with Buneary by his side. Amusingly, the rabbit was still pouting about having to throw her juice box away. Why she wanted to keep it, though, was beyond him.
Well, yes, she liked Pikachu, but wasn't it a little much keeping anything with his face on it?
... Okay, well, it wasn't his face. It was actually some other pikachu, modelling for the picture, but still. The pikachu species generally looked fairly similar, so she clearly wanted to keep it because it looked like him.
Argh, he was a little torn. It was kinda strange, but also kinda flattering.
"This is one sweet shindig, yo!" Sho suddenly said, attracting Pikachu's attention. The boy was smirking at the stalls. "The big wigs up top have some rad taste in merch!"
Pikachu cringed. Ah yes, he'd forgotten how... interesting Sho's way of speaking was...
Looking down at Raichu, Sho continued. "What say you, homeboy?"
Raichu, also smirking, shrugged. "(Eh, s'not bad,)" he replied. He tapped his chest a few times. "(Though it coulda done with some raichu merch, too.)"
Sho looked contemplative. "... If I'm catchin' what you're throwin' down, then no doubt!" He looked around again. "This fest needs to represent the rest of the lightnin' line!
Raichu nodded. "(No doubt.)"
Sho huffed in slight irritation. "Well, whatevs, yo." He smirked again. "I'm still down for browsin' the loot and snatchin' up somethin' sweet!"
"(Yeah, you do that.)" As Sho moved away to look at one of the stalls, Raichu turned his head away, immediately meeting eyes with Pikachu. The larger mouse's eyebrows rose in surprise. "(Oh? What do we have here?)"
Pikachu chuckled awkwardly. It was kinda weird, having to talk to this guy again. "(Hey, Raichu,)" he replied, giving a small wave.
Raichu smirked at him. "(Well, if it isn't Mr. Hotshot himself!)" He paused, looking him up and down. "(Man, did a truck run you over? You look awful!)" He cackled to himself.
Ah yes. The bandages. Pikachu smiled sheepishly. "(Well...)"
"(Oh! And who's this?)" Raichu indicated Buneary. "(A friend of yours?)"
"(Yep!)" Buneary replied somewhat cheerfully. "(I'm Buneary!)"
"(She belongs to Dawn,)" Pikachu added. "(You remember Dawn?)"
"(Hm?)" Raichu asked. He thought it over for a moment. "(What, the blue-haired chick who was with Ash?)" he replied. Pikachu nodded, causing Raichu to grin. "(Yeah, I remember.)"
"(Hey, hey, I'm back!)" Pichu's voice suddenly called out. He ran over on two feet, holding a muffin with a pikachu's face on it. Pichu gave a mischievous grin. "(Look what I nabbed off some poor schmuck!)"
Raichu smirked and huffed. "(You stealing stuff again? That's gonna get you in trouble one of these days.)"
"(Nahhh!)"
Pikachu couldn't help but give a disgruntled frown. They'd met the little guy when he'd stolen some of their food, and it seemed he hadn't improved at all since.
"(Finders keepers!)" Pichu continued, turning to eat the muffin. "(Losers weep-)" He stopped when his gaze met Pikachu's. His eyes widened. "(Oh, hey, it's you!)"
Pikachu gave another awkward chuckle and wave. "(Hey,)" he replied.
Pichu looked him up and down and winced. "(Jeez, what happened to you?)"
Pikachu gave a second sheepish smile. "(Had a rough battle.)"
"(No kidding?)"
"(He fought really hard, though!)" Buneary said cheerfully. She patted Pikachu on the back. He winced slightly from the pain, but it wasn't too bad. "(He did his best!)"
Pichu blinked at her. "(Who's this?)"
Raichu turned towards him. "(Remember the blue-haired chick?)" he asked, still smirking.
"(Oh, the one with the piplup?)"
"(Yeah, she's her 'mon.)"
Pichu's eyes widened in understanding. "(Ohhh, okay.)"
"(Seriously, though...)" Raichu turned his smirk on Pikachu and shrugged exaggeratedly. "(You look that bad from a battle?)"
Pikachu's sheepish smile strained a bit as he gave yet another awkward chuckle. "(Yeaaah, well,)" he replied, "(at least it's not as bad as the time I fought you.)"
Raichu blinked, raising an eyebrow. "(Eh?)"
Pikachu paused, caught a bit off-guard by the reaction. "(... You know, when you... hospitalised me.)"
Raichu frowned, stepping forward quickly and getting right in his face. "(What do you mean 'hospitalised' you?!)"
Although it was a bit unnerving, since the larger mouse was so tall and muscular, Pikachu tried not to look intimidated.
... At the same time, did Raichu really not know about his hospitalisation? Even after knocking him so unconscious that he'd needed to be carried to the pokémon centre?
"(H-Hey, hey!)" Buneary said in concern. "(Come on, don't fight! He's injured!)"
"(Yeah, I can see that!)" Raichu glared right into Pikachu's eyes, but there seemed to be something else there, too. "(... What happened?)"
... Maybe he didn't know, after all.
Thinking about it, no one had told Raichu about that, had they? And Pikachu had been fine when they'd battled the second time, so... there was no reason he would have known about that, right?
"(Hey!)" Raichu snapped. "(Answer me, will ya?!)"
Pikachu shook off his stupor. "(Uh...)" he replied, "(I... well, remember the point-blank Hyper Beam? It... kind of got me sent to the emergency room.)"
Raichu backed away, an incredulous look on his face. "(... You're kidding me.)"
"(No, I...)" Pikachu looked down at the floor as the memories resurfaced. Immense shame began to blanket him. "(... I nearly died, I think...)"
A long silence followed his statement. Chancing a glance back up, he saw a frown of pure shock and horror on Raichu's face. Pichu had dropped his muffin on the grass, and had his paws over his mouth, his eyes wide. Glancing at Buneary, Pikachu saw her giving him a sad gaze.
"(... I...)" Raichu muttered. Pikachu looked back at him, surprised he'd said something. The larger mouse turned away with a concerned frown, scratching his neck awkwardly. "(Man... I did that?)"
Pikachu blinked at him, not expecting this reaction. "(Uh, yeah...)"
"(Jeeeeez...)" Pichu mumbled.
"(I'm... sorry, man...)" Raichu said. "(I wasn't, like... trying to kill you, or anything...)"
Pikachu blinked again. "(Uh...)" he replied, stunned, "(that's alright...)"
Wow, the absolute last thing he'd expected was for Raichu to apologise. It kind of made him feel bad for holding it against him a little bit.
"(Didn't know you were strong enough to kill people, Raichu...)" Pichu breathed out.
"(Yeah, me neither...)" Raichu replied. His eyes lit up in realisation, and he turned to Pikachu with a perplexed frown. "(Wait, but you looked fine when we battled again!)"
Pikachu rubbed his own neck. "(Yeah, I'd... recovered by then,)" he replied. "(Spent the night on an oxygen mask, and...)" He paused as he noticed Raichu cringe. "(Uh, you know what? It's alright. Water under the bridge, and all that.)" He forced a smile. "(Right?)"
Raichu stared at him for a moment, before heaving a sigh. "(You're a good guy, you know that?)"
Pikachu blinked. "(I am?)"
"(Yeah... Sorry again for almost killing ya. Gotta watch my power level from now on.)"
"(... Hey, hey!)" Pichu cried, looking panicked. "(You didn't kill anyone else, did you?!)"
Raichu's eyes went wide. "(... Oh, man, I hope not...)"
Pikachu did another awkward chuckle. Yeah, he did, too...
"(It's okay!)" Buneary said cheerfully. "(If anyone had died, it would've been on the news, right? Has Sho been watching the news?)"
"(... Well, I guess so,)" Raichu replied. "(Don't remember hearing about anything...)"
"(There you go! So it's probably fine! Just watch how hard you fight next time, okay?)"
A smile worked its way onto Raichu's face. "(Heh. Sure thing.)"
When Pichu smiled, too, Pikachu felt a warmth in his chest. Buneary was even cheering up people she barely knew now! Gosh, she was such a great girl...
After a few moments of comfortable silence, Raichu's eyebrows rose. He looked around briefly. "(Say, Pichu... is Pikachu not back yet?)"
Pikachu's ears perked up. Hmm? 'Pikachu'? Well, he assumed they weren't talking about him, so...
"(A pikachu?!)" Buneary asked, her voice full of shock and intrigue.
"(Yeah, our teammate,)" Raichu replied. He smirked. "(Sho finally got himself a pikachu, like he always wanted.)"
"(Yeah,)" Pichu agreed with a grin, "(he completed his collec-)" He glanced down and jumped in shock. "(Argh, I dropped my muffin!)"
Raichu cackled at him. "(Butter fingers.)" Pichu pouted in response, as Raichu looked back at Pikachu. "(Yeah, so... he finally completed his evolution set, like he wanted.)" He shrugged. "(Traded his mareep for some chick's pikachu.)"
"(Oh,)" Pikachu replied in intrigue. "(And Mareep was okay with this?)"
"(Yep. Girl didn't like fighting, anyway, and that other trainer wasn't one for battling. So a perfect fit, really!)" He gave a toothy grin. "(Whereas the new girl got bored of never fighting, so she's a perfect fit for our team!)"
"(Oh, I see!)" That was quite interesting, actually.
"(Oh. She's a girl?)" Buneary asked.
"(Yep!)" Raichu replied. He looked around again, and his eyes lit up. "(Oh, speak of the devil!)"
Pikachu glanced over. As Raichu had said, a pikachu with a heart-shaped tail was running over on all fours. When she got close enough, she skidded to a stop and stood up on two feet with a satisfied huff.
"(Have fun staring at the lake?)" Raichu asked with a smirk.
"(Hmph,)" she replied, folding her arms haughtily. "(As I matter of fact, I did!)" She smiled. "(It was a lovely view, and much better than this dumb festival, that's for sure.)" She glanced over at Pikachu, and they met gazes. "(Hmm? Who's this?)" She cringed. "(And why is he in bandages?)"
"(Ehhh, he's an old friend of ours.)"
"(One who battled a bit too hard, huh?)" Pichu added, grinning at Pikachu.
Pikachu chuckled awkwardly for what felt like the hundredth time during this conversation. "(Yeah...)" he replied.
The female pikachu clicked her tongue. "(Well, as fun as battling is, do be careful, alright?)" she chided.
Raichu cringed when she said this, but Pikachu didn't think she'd noticed.
"(Yeah, sure,)" Pikachu replied.
The female pikachu nodded. "(Good.)" She glanced over at Buneary, and her eyes immediately widened in shock. A second later, though, her arms fell to her sides and she was glaring. "(Wait... Emma?!)"
"(Hmm...?)" Buneary replied absentmindedly, as though her attention had been elsewhere. Her tone suddenly brightened. "(Oh! Diana, hey! Long time, no see!)"
The female pikachu clicked her tongue in agitation, as she folded her arms again. "(Figures you'd be at this festival...)"
Pikachu blinked, then blinked again, as he looked between the two girls. Okay, first, they knew each other? Where from?! And second, Buneary's real name was Emma?
That... was a rather cute name, actually. It kind of suited her, somehow.
"(You know this chick?)" Raichu asked, an eyebrow raised.
"(And your name's Diana?)" Pichu asked, sniggering. "(What a girly name!)"
"(Hmph!)" 'Diana' huffed in annoyance. She turned her glare on Pichu. "(Shut it, you.)" She turned to Raichu. "(We grew up in the same area. Our clans lived pretty near each other.)" She turned an especially harsh glare in Buneary's direction, her folded arms seeming to tighten. "(I didn't think I'd be seeing you again.)"
"(Me neither!)" Buneary replied happily. "(Good to see you again!)"
Diana snarled, unfolding her arms to point a finger at her. "(Don't you get all buddy-buddy with me!)"
Pikachu couldn't help but jump slightly at the sheer vitriol in her tone. What the heck?!
"(Huh?)" Buneary's tone was softer now, and sounded confused. "(Why not?)"
Diana's eyes narrowed, her arm dropping to her side. "(Don't you give me that! You know what you did.)"
"(... Uhhhh... no?)"
Raichu and Pichu were both glancing between the two girls now, looking as confused as Pikachu felt. He felt a frown develop. Just what was going on...?
Diana's eyebrows rose, though she still looked furious. "(You don't know?! How can you not know?!)" Her frown deepened. "(Don't play dumb with me!)"
Feeling a defensive anger bubble up inside him, Pikachu moved in-between them. "(Hey, hey, hey, come on,)" he said as calmly as he could. "(Cool it.)"
"(Yeah, Diana, what's the deal?)" Raichu asked, folding his own arms.
"(What the heck are you so angry about?)" Pichu asked, tilting his head.
Diana let out a loud huff. She continued glaring harshly at Buneary, though she looked like she was trying to compose herself at the same time. "(This girl...)" she replied, "(broke my little brother's heart.)"
Pikachu's ears perked up. Hmm? What was this he was hearing?
"(Huh?)" Buneary asked. "(You mean Daniel?)"
Diana's tone sharpened. "(Yes, Daniel! He came running to me, crying his eyes out, because of you!)"
"(... Huh?)" There was a pause. "(... But Daniel dumped me, though...)"
Pikachu whipped his head around so fast that he strained his injuries. He winced, though he ignored that to focus on Buneary's face. "(Wh-What?!)" he asked.
She was blinking, tilting her head, and looking completely lost.
"(... Oh my lord, they were right,)" Diana mumbled. "(You really are that stupid...)"
Feeling the defensive anger bubbling up again, Pikachu whirled around to glare at Diana. "(Hey, don't call Buneary stupid!)" he snapped.
Okay, so much for staying calm...
Diana narrowed her eyes at him. "(... Wait... oh no, don't tell you're her new boyfriend...)"
Caught off-guard, his face warmed. "(Huh? W-Well, no, but...)" Not yet, anyway. As long as everything went well tonight.
Her frown relaxed. "(Oh, you're not?)" She huffed. "(Well, good. I'd keep it that way, if I were you.)"
He blinked. "(Uh...)"
Her gaze softened into pity. "(Trust me.)"
"(... Huh?)" Buneary asked.
Pikachu opened his mouth to say something, but his mind was blank. Just what did she mean by that? It didn't seem like Buneay had any idea, either...
"Yo, homeboys and homegirl!" Sho called out, distracting Pikachu. He watched as the boy walked over, holding a few bags with pikachu designs on them. "Done eyeballing the sights?" They all nodded in response, so he grinned and pointed in the direction of the game stalls. "Rad! Then let's head downtown and get our groove on with some games, yo!" They all replied positively. It was then that Sho looked in Pikachu's direction. He blinked. "Hm? A pikachu mummy?" He grinned again. "Wicked cool costume, yo!" He shrugged exaggeratedly. "Though I'll be straight up." He threw a thumb over his own shoulder. "Spooky season's already gone and booked it! Ya dig?"
Pikachu did yet another awkward chuckle. Oh, he 'dug', alright...
Raichu chuckled in amusement. "(Well, looks like we're off,)" he said, doing his signature smirk. He did a short wave. "(Catch ya!)"
Grinning, Pichu waved. "(Yeah, see ya!)" he said.
Pikachu waved back, glad that he was on better terms with them now. "(Bye, guys!)" he replied.
As they turned away and began walking off, with Sho following after them, Diana made a move to do the same.
"(Uh, bye, Diana!)" Buneary called out.
"(Hmph!)" Diana huffed, ignoring her.
"(O-Oh... okay...)"
Pikachu threw Buneary a pitying gaze, noticing that she looked sad, and no less lost. Just what that female pikachu's deal, anyway?
He placed a comforting paw on Buneary's shoulder. "(Hey, you okay?)" he asked.
"(Yeah, I guess so... though I don't know why she's so mad at me...)"
"(Yeah...)" He turned to frown at the retreating form of Diana. "(Me neither...)"