Warning. ALTERNATE UNIVERSE approaching.
Author's note: Heya!
This one-shot is dedicated to the person known only as 'Guest'. Their idea was so cool and original, how could I refuse? I do like a challenge, after all!
Honestly, I'd rather leave the cliché plots to somebody else. Like Christmas, birthdays, life or death situations, etc. Besides, they're a good place for writers to start, if you're struggling for ideas! Something small, simple and cute like that.
Anyway! I really don't want to prattle on about this much longer, so... hope you enjoy the one-shot! The episode it's based on is... weird. Like, it doesn't make any sense at all and it's riddled with plot holes. XD Planning this AU was rather tricky.
... Also, here's a section of a song for the previous Alola-based one-shot... "In the summertime, when the weather is high, you got women, you got women on your mind~!" Tis fairly fitting, I'd say. XP
Space Cadets
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Ash cried.
Charging electricity in his cheeks, Pikachu released it in a powerful stream towards the cell's bars. After a few moments, he ceased the attack.
"Piplup, use Bubble Beam, go!" Dawn cried.
Piplup fired a volley of fast-moving bubbles at the bars. Each one slammed into them, causing a slight shockwave. After a few moments, he ceased his attack, too.
"Now, Croagunk, use Brick Break!" Brock cried.
Croagunk leapt forward, his fingers glowing white. Swinging his arm, he struck the bars with all of his might.
... The bars didn't budge at all. Not a dent. Not even a scratch.
Pikachu's ears slumped in frustration. Argh! Darn it! This stupid new cell of Team Rocket's was really sturdy. Much sturdier than their cages. To think they'd fallen into it through a hole in the floor, too. They probably shouldn't have bought into the whole 'Pokémon Trainers Tower' and 'Ten zillionth trainer' business...
"Alright," Ash said with a tone of authority. "This time, why don't we all attack it at once?"
Suddenly, a ping sounded. Pikachu lifted his head to see an automatic door open in front of the cell. Inside it was... a togepi? Now that was a rare sight.
"(Hi there!)" she said happily.
... Huh. The last time he'd seen a togepi had been back in Hoenn, when Misty's togetic had left. Had this togepi come from Togepi Paradise? If so, she was an awfully long way from home.
He was distracted from his thoughts when she pulled a lever, opening the cell door.
After the humans thanked her, she hopped backwards, towards the door she'd come through.
"(This way!)" she said.
Oh, it was an elevator! Perfect. With this, they'd be able to either get their revenge on Team Rocket or simply leave the building. Either option was fine with him.
Climbing into the elevator, he watched as Togepi pushed a button for the fifth floor.
Okay, this was the fourth time they'd fallen through the floor and landed in this stupid cell! And the last time, they'd been on the same freaking floor! How was that even possible?!
Pikachu huffed in annoyance. All he'd wanted to do was get out of this stupid tower! And now the togepi that had kept freeing them seemed to have disappeared again. Wonderful...
"Alright," Ash said after enough time had passed, "since Togepi's not here, I say we all attack it at once! Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"
Charging electricity in his cheeks, Pikachu unleashed it at the bars.
"Piplup, use Bubble Beam!" Dawn cried.
Piplup fired a torrent of bubbles at the bars. After a while of attacking it together, they waited for the next instruction.
"Now, Croagunk, use Brick Break!" Brock cried.
Pikachu and Piplup halted their attacks the second Croagunk flung himself at the bars, so as not to hurt him. Fingers glowing white, the frog struck the bars as hard as he could.
... They didn't budge this time, either.
"Man!" Ash said, sounding frustrated. "What's it gonna take to get out of here?"
"(Good question...)" Pikachu grumbled in response.
"Hmm..." Brock said in thought, "how about we try attacking the same place on the cell door?"
Ash smiled. "Great idea!" he replied.
"Will three pokémon be enough?" Dawn asked in concern. "Maybe we should bring in some more."
"Nah, it'll be fine!"
Dawn paused a long moment. She seemed to be contemplating something.
Eventually, she plucked a pokéball from her bag, enlarged it and stared at it in her hand.
"Maybe..." she muttered, "Buneary could help."
Brock smiled. "Good idea, Dawn," he replied. "If Buneary freezes the bars, and we all attack at once, then-"
He was cut off by a loud crash behind them, which made Dawn jump in fright and drop the pokéball. It hit the floor, calling out Buneary.
The rabbit materialised on the ground next to Pikachu.
"(Ready for anything!)" she said enthusiastically. She blinked at her surroundings, inside a cell with Team Rocket lying in a heap on the floor. "(Uh... what's going on?)"
"(One heck of a day, that's what...)" Pikachu replied dryly.
... Wait, what was that the trio were saying about an evil togepi?
Suddenly, there was a ping from the elevator. Turning to look, Pikachu watched as the door opened. His eyes widened. Just like the other three times, there was a togepi standing there, but... she looked different from the other one. Those eyes weren't full of love and kindness. They were full of... malice? Sadism?
Team Rocket leapt to their feet and screamed, declaring her to be the evil togepi.
"Quick, Yanmega, use Sonic Boom!" Jessie cried, throwing a pokéball.
It popped open, calling out Yanmega. The bug's four wings glowed white, before she shot a blast of air through the bars.
Smirking, the togepi took the attack full on in an explosion of smoke. When it cleared, she was nowhere to be seen.
"It used the old Teleport dodge!" James said.
Teleport? Pikachu had no idea that togepi could learn Teleport.
Before he could think anymore on the matter, another togepi wandered in from the side, her eyes full of kindness. Pikachu gave her a suspicious gaze. Was this the same one? She looked different, but...
It was clearly the same togepi that had kept freeing them. Had Dawn been right earlier, though? Had the togepi actually been tricking them this whole time?
Jessie didn't seem to think so. According to her, it was a different one.
Pikachu watched, confused, as this togepi freed them from the cell again. Team Rocket leapt over, thanking her. Pikachu followed suit, along with everyone else, wondering just what the heck was going on as Togepi led them toward the elevator again.
"Wait a sec!" Brock said. Everyone halted, turning to look at him. "There's no way Togepi should be able to learn Teleport."
Pikachu blinked. What?
He listened to Brock's explanation. So it hadn't been Teleport, but Substitute? But Substitute only allowed you to move a small distance away. You could never travel across a building with it. Which could only mean that Togepi hadn't been leaving the area after using it...
Everyone turned to look at Togepi. She turned around, chuckling darkly at them.
He gasped. Dawn had been right all along. They'd been tricked!
Understandably, Meowth was angry. He leapt towards Togepi, claws extended for a Fury Swipes.
Then she put her paws to her mouth and blew a kiss. A mass of yellow hearts flew across the room.
Before Pikachu could move out of the way, one struck him in the face.
One of the yellow hearts struck Buneary in the face, irritating her slightly. She shook off the annoyance. Afterwards, she blinked, wondering why it hadn't really done anything. She felt no pain, or status effects. Huh, how weird.
She looked around her. Her eyes widened at what she saw.
Pikachu, Piplup, Croagunk and Meowth all had slumped shoulders, and their eyes held lifeless gazes. Huh? What kind of move had Togepi used for it to do that? And why hadn't it affected her?
She glanced up, noting that it hadn't affected Yanmega, either. But why?
"It's Togepi's Attract!" Brock called out.
... Attract?! Okay, she knew that Attract made the opposite gender too infatuated to battle, but since when did it turn them into mindless zombies?!
"(Right this way, boys!)" Togepi said, indicating for them to follow.
Buneary watched, awestruck, as the four males slowly trudged toward the elevator.
Ash and Dawn called out to their pokémon, but they didn't listen. They didn't even look back. The elevator door closed behind them.
... Wow. The togepi must have had a really dark heart for Attract to do that.
After a moment, anger began to surge within her. If it had been a normal Attract, used for the purpose it was intended, she wouldn't have minded so much. But this was so much more than that. She was using them as slaves. Getting them to do her bidding for her. Who knew where she planned to take them and what she planned to do with them.
In a moment of fury, she hopped over and swung her ear, punching the button for the elevator.
... Nothing happened.
She growled. Darn it! The elevator wouldn't be able to come back down again while they were still riding it!
She tapped her foot impatiently, watching the floor number climb. It stopped at six. Okay, sixth floor. She punched the button again.
Nothing happened. She punched it again.
... Nothing.
She growled again. Oh, so the elevator wasn't working, was it? Had Togepi somehow managed to hack into it, so they wouldn't be able to ride in it?
She despised that girl, but she had to admit... she was good.
She rounded on Jessie and James. "(There are stairs, right?!)" she yelled angrily. "(Where are they?!)"
"What's her problem?" Jessie asked.
"She's upset that Pikachu got taken," Dawn replied.
"Is there another way up there?" Ash asked.
"Well," James replied, "there is an emergency stairwell over that wa-"
The second he pointed her in the right direction, Buneary bolted off towards it. Not long afterwards, she heard the humans running after her.
On the way up the stairs, they were hurriedly discussing how Yanmega hadn't been affected by Attract because she was a girl.
Buneary didn't care about any of that. She had to save everyone! Piplup, Croagunk and especially Pikachu!
... Oh and Meowth, too, she supposed, but whatever!
She kept hopping and hopping, bounding up several stairs at a time. Behind her, Dawn was yelling at her to slow down, but she ignored her. She couldn't hear Yanmega anymore, either, so she must have been returned to her pokéball, or something.
Whatever. Not important.
When Buneary was almost at the top, the building started shaking. She wobbled off balance, falling backwards and crashing into Ash. Thankfully, he managed to catch her without falling down the stairs, himself.
Then she heard Team Rocket say something about the building being an actual rocket. What the heck?! What was wrong with the world today?!
Pushing out of Ash's grip, she continued bounding towards her destination.
She eventually reached a door. Leaping up, she slammed on the button with her ear, opening the automatic door.
Now inside the rocket's bridge, she could see the four males operating different stations, while Togepi sat comfortably in a captain's chair. One look out the large window told Buneary that they were flying out of the Earth's atmosphere.
She growled. Okay, she had no idea what this togepi's game was, but she was messing with all of them! She was messing with her, she was messing with her friends and, most importantly, she was messing with the guy she liked.
Unforgivable!
Before anyone could say anything, she lunged at Togepi. She sent energy to her ears, preparing for a Dizzy Punch.
When she was within range, she swung with all of her might.
She certainly struck something, but then Togepi disappeared.
Buneary clicked her tongue in annoyance, looking around for her adversary. Substitute. Of course...
"(Challenging me?)" Togepi taunted from across the room. She looked up to see the girl smirking darkly at her. "(You'll regret that.)"
Buneary scowled at her. "(We'll see about that!)" she yelled back.
Sending energy to her feet, she leapt towards Togepi in a single bound. Extending a foot towards the girl's face, she intended to hit her with Bounce.
Suddenly, Togepi's eyes glowed a light blue. Buneary didn't have time to wonder what it was before she was stopped in mid-air.
She yelped. What the heck?!
With a dark chuckle, she was flung across the room. Hitting the ground, she slid along it, eventually coming to a stop by Dawn's feet.
"Buneary!" Dawn cried in shock.
Buneary growled again, pushing herself to her feet. Oh, so this girl had Psychic, did she? What other tricks did she have up her sleeve?
Choosing not to think about it, she powered up an Ice Beam and fired it across the room.
"(Heh,)" Togepi said.
Opening her mouth, she released a Flamethrower. It crashed into the Ice Beam and the two pushed against one another.
Buneary poured more power into the Ice Beam, while Togepi seemed to pour more power into the Flamethrower. After a few moments, there was an explosion of smoke.
Buneary ground her teeth together. Argh, it seemed this girl had a counter to everything she did! If only she had a fourth move. She'd never be able to counter it with Attract.
"(Boys,)" Togepi said, "(I tire of this pest. Meowth, Croagunk and Pikachu. Get rid of her. Piplup, continue manning the cockpit.)"
"(Yes, dear,)" Pikachu, Croagunk and Piplup replied robotically.
"Anytin' for you, darlin'," Meowth also replied robotically.
Oh, so she was siccing the boys on her now? That togepi had reached a new low.
As the three of them climbed out of their seats, Ash pulled out a pokéball.
"Hey, three against one's not fair!" he yelled. "Grotle-!"
"Wait, Ash!" Brock cried. "Most of the team are male, so they'll only fall prey to Attract!"
Ash hesitated.
Brock pulled out a pokéball of his own. "I'll handle this." He threw it. "Happiny, let's go!"
It popped open and Happiny materialised on the floor. Nearby, Jessie also threw a pokéball.
"Yanmega, you're a girl, so help out, on the double!" she cried.
The pokéball popped open and Yanmega materialised in mid-air, furiously beating her wings.
"If only I still had Ambipom..." Dawn said. She paused, frowning in determination. "Then again... for Buneary, this fight's probably personal."
"I'm willing to bet you're right," Brock replied. "Now, Happiny, you take Croagunk! Bring him back to his senses!"
"(Sure thing!)" Happiny replied.
"And Yanmega, you go after Meowth!" Jessie yelled.
Yanmega nodded. "(Got it,)" she replied.
... That left Buneary with Pikachu.
She glanced over at Dawn, who nodded silently at her.
Ah. She'd done that once before, with Phione. 'This is your battle', that nod said.
She braced herself as she turned to face Pikachu. So she had to fight her crush? And without instructions, at that? So be it. As little as she wanted to hurt him, she had to snap him out of his infatuation. She wouldn't let him be controlled by that stupid togepi anymore!
As two other battles raged around her, her focus was entirely on Pikachu as he ran towards her with Quick Attack. Too slow to dodge, she felt him crash into her.
She flew backwards, her feet skidding across the ground. She gritted her teeth, then ran at him. Sending energy to her ears, she prepared a Dizzy Punch.
She swung an ear, but he dodged. She swung the other ear, but he dodged again.
His tail glowed white, before he swung around and struck her with it. She flew backwards again.
"(Don't get in our dear Togepi's way,)" he threatened.
... Their 'dear Togepi'? Good grief, this brainwashing was making her sick to her stomach.
"(Snap out of it, Pikachu!)" she yelled.
Sending energy to her feet, she leapt into the air. Falling back down with one foot extended, she struck him in the face. Now it was him flying backwards.
When he stopped, he growled at her. "(Nothing will stop our beloved from exploring the universe!)"
Buneary pulled a face. Beloved? Urgh.
... Wait, universe?
She glanced out the window. Her eyes rapidly widened when she saw that they were in space. What the heck?!
She was distracted from her thoughts when pain shot through her body. Argh, she was being electrocuted!
Turning back to Pikachu, she fired an Ice Beam through the Thunderbolt. It hit Pikachu, freezing his lower body solid and cutting his attack.
"(Hey!)" he yelled. "(Lemmie go!)"
Scowling, she ran up to him, preparing another Dizzy Punch. "(I said...)" She swung with all of her might. "(Snap out of it!)"
Her ear punched him hard across the face.
He yelped in pain. Then he blinked. He blinked again, looking around him. "(... Huh? What happened?)" He shivered. "(And why's it so cold?)"
She beamed, joy filling her. "(Pikachu?! You're alright?!)"
"(Yeah... I remember getting hit by a heart and then... that was it.)"
"(It was Attract! You were basically being used as a slave by Togepi!)"
He blinked. "(I was?)"
"(Yeah!)" She paused. "(And I had to freeze you to keep you in place. Sorry.)"
"(Oh...)" He looked down at his frozen body. "(That explains it.)"
"(Yeah...)"
Buneary quickly glanced around her. It looked like Croagunk and Meowth were snapping out of their infatuation, too. Now Happiny and Yanmega were advancing on Piplup. Satisfied, she turned back to Pikachu, intending to break him out of the ice.
Suddenly, there were a string of explosions across the entire rocket.
With a scream, Buneary was flung off her feet. Another explosion resounded near Pikachu, shattering the ice he'd been encased in. He tumbled to the ground.
"What was that?" Ash asked, sounding shaken.
"It's Rayquaza!" Brock cried in horror.
... What? What was one of those?
Buneary looked over at the window and her eyes bulged. The rocket was rapidly falling away from a giant green snake that was floating in space. He looked angry.
... Wait. They were falling?!
The lights immediately shut off. Quickly scrambling together, the group started discussing what to do. Meowth began using terms that Buneary didn't understand, like 'energy flow', 'power source' and 'control system'.
... All she knew was that they had to do something quick, or they'd all die!
It was then that James stepped up, taking the seat that Togepi had been sitting in earlier.
They listened as he described the plan for them to stay alive.
The next few minutes were a blur.
Pikachu charged the rocket's power source with Thunderbolt. Buneary cooled down the rocket with Ice Beam. Piplup and Grotle stabilised the rocket with Bubble Beam and Energy Ball.
Now they were now gently drifting to the ground on a parachute that James had deployed.
Buneary heaved a relieved sigh. "(Man...)" she said, "(what a day...)"
Pikachu gave her a half-hearted chuckle. "(You don't know the half of it...)" he replied. "(All day, we were falling down pits in that stupid tower. Ones that Togepi kept leading us into.)"
She looked at him in surprise. "(Really?)"
"(Yeah...)" He paused. "(Though I'm not sure how she knew that tower inside out. Team Rocket built it, yet she knew how it worked better than they did.)"
"(... Huh.)" Glancing over at Togepi, she saw the girl angrily pouting in the corner. Probably because her fun had been ruined.
"(... And I never got to ask, with all the chaos, but... why were we in space?)"
She looked back at his confused face. "(Well, you said something about your 'dear Togepi' exploring the universe.)"
He blinked. "(... I did?)"
"(Yeah.)" She paused. "(Do you remember anything?)"
"(Not since the, uh... Attract hit me.)"
"(Oh. Well, like I said, she was using the four of you as slaves. Slaves to... I guess help her explore the universe?)" Buneary scratched her head in thought. "(James did say something about a 'super dimension system', but I wasn't paying attention.)"
Pikachu blinked. "(So this thing has a warp speed, or something?)"
"(No idea. She didn't get a chance to use it, before we showed up.)"
"(Ah.)" Pikachu beamed. "(Well, thanks for saving me, Buneary.)"
Feeling embarrassed heat rising to her cheeks, she fiddled with the fluff around her waist. "(... Well, it wasn't just me... Happiny and Yanmega helped, too.)"
"(Guess I'll have to thank them, too, then!)"
"(Y-Yeah.)" Aww, the praise was being directed elsewhere now...
"(Though you're the one who punched me out of it, right?)" Pikachu tenderly rubbed his cheek. "(It's still kinda sore.)"
She gave a light gasp. "(Oh! Sorry...)"
He laughed. "(That's okay. If not for you, then we'd be at the other end of the universe by now!)"
She gave a light, embarrassed smile in response. "(Heh. I guess so.)"
Eventually, the rocket had safely drifted back down to Earth, somehow managing to land in the same place it had launched from.
Tired and disgruntled, Togepi had decided to go home after the day's adventure. Who knew what trouble she'd get into in the future, or what mischief she'd cause. Either way, Buneary was just glad she was out of her hair.
Now outside, Jessie waved a hand at them. "Well, twerps," she said, "since our teamwork was on par today, how's about we call a truce?"
"A little thank you for saving our caboose!" James added.
"We'll get Pikachu anodder day," Meowth added, "so, for now, cut loose!"
"Heh," Ash replied, "sounds good to me."
"Thanks so much for helping us out against that togepi," Dawn added. She paused. "Oh, wow, we accidentally rhymed!"
"Hey, that's our bit!" Team Rocket all yelled indignantly at once.
"Ingenious rhyme!" Jessie said.
"All the time!" James added.
"Team Rocket's in its prime!" Meowth added.
"Back tomorrow with more crime!" they all yelled, running back into the rocket in a goofy manner.
"Oh, those three..." Brock said in amusement.
Suddenly, the rocket exploded, collapsing into pieces. High-pitched screams could be heard inside.
"... Lemmie guess..." Ash said, sounding exasperated, "Togepi?"
"Probably."
"Yeah," Dawn replied. She paused. "For something that's supposed to be filled with happiness to be evil..." She sighed. "I guess even togepi have a dark side..."
"Heh. I'd say that one's an exception, Dawn."
"Man..." Ash said happily, "but wasn't it so cool getting to go to space?"
Dawn giggled. "True that!" she replied, as they turned to walk away from the rubble.
"(Yeah!)" Pikachu agreed. "(I felt like an astronaut!)"
Buneary giggled. "(Would have been better without the threat of death, though,)" she replied.
Pikachu chuckled awkwardly. "(You're not wrong.)" After a moment, he smiled at her. "(Again, thanks for helping me out.)"
She beamed back at him, her cheeks warming in joy. She'd be happy to jump to his aid whenever he needed it. Especially if he was unable to help himself, like today.
Because... she really cared about him.
"(No problem!)" she replied.
The End