Author's note: Yo! Question time!
So, I was wondering. What are your favourite things about this fic? What are your least favourite things about it? The best kind of reviews are ones that give advice on how to make a fic better, but are sandwiched in-between compliments. That's how I always make sure to write reviews, myself. So that the writer knows what they can improve, but they still feel motivated to continue.
So, please, feel free to do just that! I can take criticisms, as long as that's not all your review has to offer. Is the fic going too slow for your liking? If so, how can this be rectified? Does it not have enough action? Do you wish it would get to the point sooner? Or does it need more wacky shenanigans? More unexpected twists and turns?
And yes, I extend this to everyone's fics, not just mine.
... Okay, now that question time is out of the way, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Twenty: Headaches
It had been around a week since Ash had caught Gible. In that time, not much progress had been made with perfecting Draco Meteor, but Buizel had learned a new move. Since Ash was keen to practice both - and Dawn had a double appeal round to practice for - the humans had decided to have an appeal battle.
Pikachu, who was standing on the sidelines, yawned. Last night, he'd slept poorly, due to having a fever dream. Flashes of colour, snippets of voices, images going too fast for him to register or understand. It had been absolute chaos.
It wasn't often he had those kinds of dreams, but he really hated it whenever he did. He never felt rested upon waking up, and his head always pounded relentlessly. It had taken a while for it to ease off, but, thankfully, it had. He was still rather tired, though.
"Buizel, use Aqua Jet!" Ash called out. "And Gible, use Rock Smash!"
Buizel surrounded himself in water. At the same time, Gible's fist glowed white. The two rocketed forwards, toward their opponents.
"Piplup, use Bubble Beam!" Dawn called out.
Piplup opened his glowing beak before releasing a torrent of fast-flowing bubbles. They crashed into Buizel and Gible, throwing off their attacks and pushing them back.
"Now, shoot up!"
Piplup angled his head upwards, continually firing bubbles. Except, now, they were slowing down and beginning to float in place.
"Alright, Buneary, use Ice Beam!"
Buneary opened her mouth, a pale blue orb of energy forming, before shooting out an icy beam. She turned her head sideways slightly, causing it to sweep over the floating bubbles. Then they both cut off their attacks.
The frozen bubbles, now far too heavy, plummeted to the ground, towards Buizel and Gible.
"Gible, Dig! Buizel, Sonic Boom!"
While Gible dug underground to avoid the frozen bubbles - which may have counted as an ice-type move, Pikachu wasn't sure - Buizel swung in a circle, sending a shockwave out of his tail. It hit any frozen bubbles that were about to land on him, causing them to explode in a shower of sparkles.
Dawn smiled. "Not bad, Ash!"
Ash smiled back. "Thanks, Dawn! Okay, Gible, rise up and use Dragon Pulse! And Buizel, you use Water Gun!"
As Gible popped out of the ground, he formed a turquoise ball in front of his mouth. As he fired it towards his opponents, Buizel also shot out a stream of water. It hit the Dragon Pulse from behind, propelling it forward.
"Piplup, Buneary, dodge it!"
In perfect synchrony, Piplup and Buneary pirouetted at high speed, then flung themselves in opposite directions. The combined attack struck the floor, exploding on impact.
"Wow, nice!" Ash clenched a fist. "Okay, Buizel, Aqua Jet! Gible, hop on and use Rock Smash!"
As Buizel surrounded himself in water, Gible jumped on his back, his fist glowing white. They shot towards their opponents.
"Buneary! Piplup! Hit back with Dizzy Punch and Peck!"
Buneary's ears glowed a rainbow-tinted white, while Piplup's beak glowed white and extended in length. They lunged forwards and slammed into their opponents, hitting them multiple times to push them back. It only worked for so long, before Buizel and Gible pushed past their defences. They struck their mark, sending Buneary and Piplup flying backwards.
"Alright! Now, Gible, Dragon Pulse! And Buizel, Sonic Boom! Rapid fire!"
Landing, Gible started firing off turquoise balls of energy, while Buizel continually spun around, sending out shockwaves.
"Buneary, grab Piplup and Bounce!"
Quickly grabbing hold of Piplup, Buneary jumped into the air, avoiding the shockwaves. However, she landed on one of the turquoise balls. It rang out with a strange noise. She jumped to the next, which rang out with a slightly different pitch. Dawn looked surprised.
"Huh?" she asked.
"Alright, Gible, time to crank it up! Use Draco Meteor!"
As Buneary and Piplup landed on the ground, Gible's body began to glow orange. Forming an orange ball, he shot it into the sky. Curious, Pikachu angled his head upwards to watch it. Would it work this time?
As the ball of energy reached its peak, it was supposed to explode into a shower of meteors, which would come crashing down to earth. Instead, it made a popping noise and fell in a zigzag pattern.
Pikachu heard a shriek. Looking down, he saw Piplup shove Buneary to one side and run away, desperately trying to escape the Draco Meteor. Like a homing missile, however, it somehow followed his every movement, until it eventually hit him and exploded on contact. He was left a smoking mess on the ground.
... Pikachu smiled awkwardly. He really didn't want to believe Gible was doing this on purpose, but one did have to wonder sometimes...
Ash chuckled. "Sorry, Piplup!" he said. "Not what I wanted to do, but I guess it still worked out, huh?"
"Very funny, Ash!" Dawn scolded lightly.
"(Urrrrgh...)" Piplup replied woozily.
Having decided to let Gible and Piplup sit out the appeal battle for now, Ash and Dawn continued with just Buizel and Buneary.
"Alright, Buizel, time to practice Ice Punch!" Ash called out.
Concentrating hard, Buizel caused his paw to glow pale blue. He ran at Buneary, aiming to jab her with it.
"Dodge it, Buneary!" Dawn called out.
Buneary hopped backwards, barely dodging each thrust of Buizel's paw. Pikachu watched intently, almost holding his breath in anticipation. Buizel was aiming for Buneary's heart. The last time he'd struck a pokémon in the heart with this move - namely, Clayton's mr. mime - he'd been taken down in a single hit. The move was powerful and so was Buizel. Combine that with a heart strike and Buneary was in trouble.
"This is bad..." Dawn said worriedly. "Buneary, Dizzy Punch!"
Buneary's ears started to glow a rainbow-tinted white. Swinging one of them around, she slammed it into Buizel's paw. The weasel flinched. Not one to back down, though, he pushed back. They were locked in a stalemate.
Then Pikachu saw it. Ice was starting to climb up Buneary's ear. She flinched from the cold.
"More force, Buizel!"
"Buneary, don't give in!"
They pushed harder. The ice continued to creep up Buneary's ear at an agonisingly slow pace. Both she and Buizel were gritting their teeth, concentrating hard. Each one desperately trying to overpower the other.
"... Alright, guys, lunch is ready!" Brock called out.
"Awesome! Food!" Ash replied, immediately distracted.
"Okay, guys, great work!" Dawn said, beaming. "Now let's break for lunch!"
Immediately, the pokémon halted their attacks.
"(Argh!)" Buneary yelped, grabbing at her frozen ear. "(Cold, cold, cold...)"
"(Pfft!)" Buizel said with a smirk. "(That's a good look for ya.)"
She pouted at him. "(Not funny...)"
He sniggered, walking away. Pouting harder, she hopped over to where Pikachu was.
"(Hey, good job in the battle!)" Pikachu said, smiling.
"(Thanks... though my ear's kinda unusable for a while.)"
His smile turned sheepish. "(Yeah, shame... though I'm sure it'll thaw out.)"
Suddenly, Monferno appeared by the rabbit's side. "(Hey, need any help with that?)" he asked.
Buneary smiled in relief. "(Oh, would you?)" she asked. "(Thanks.)"
Monferno beamed. "(Sure thing!)"
"(Uh...)" Pikachu said hesitantly, "(I'm not sure if that's a good-)"
Monferno blasted out a stream of fire from his mouth, straight at Buneary's ear.
A loud scream rang out across the campsite.
Buneary was still pouting as they ate their pellets, her unrolled ear singed black.
"(... Does it still hurt?)" Pikachu asked cautiously.
"(A little...)" she replied.
He gave her a sympathetic gaze. "(Aww...)"
"You did really great, Dawn!" Ash said from nearby. "A little more practice and you'll totally nail that appeal performance!"
"Thanks, Ash!" Dawn replied. "Though I'm thinking maybe the bubbles shouldn't fall..." She paused in thought. "If I can get them to stay floating... then maybe do something with that... Oh and then there's that other thing, too... Maybe I could do something there..."
"Heh. I'm sure you'll figure it out."
"Yeah! No need to worry!"
"(Heh,)" Buneary said with a small smile. "(You know, sometimes I'm glad I'm mostly used for appeal rounds.)"
"(Yeah?)" Pikachu asked curiously.
"(Yeah...)" She stretched her ear, flinching slightly. "(... Though it might be nice to battle more, I guess...)"
He smiled. "(Heh. Maybe you should join Ash's team, then.)"
"(Heh, maybe.)" There was a comfortable silence for a short while as they ate their pellets. Eventually, Buneary spoke again. "(... This next contest should be fun.)"
"(Yeah! And hey, if Dawn perfects her combos, you'll earn your fifth ribbon!)"
Buneary brightened. "(Hey, yeah! And then we can enter the Grand Festival!)"
"(Yeah!)" Pikachu clenched a determined fist. "(You're gonna win it, for sure.)"
Her eyes sparkled. "(You think so?)"
"(Heck yeah! You'll beat out Zoey, Kenny, Ursula... even Nando! Dawn will be a top co-ordinator and you'll be a... well... a top... thing?)" He blinked, realising he didn't have a word for that.
Buneary giggled. Pikachu rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
"(I get ya, though. Thanks! I'll do my best!)"
He lowered his paw. "(You'll do better than your best! You'll blow 'em away!)"
Buneary balled her paw. "(Yeah!)"
Suddenly, Pikachu remembered something. Smiling, he seized the opportunity and grabbed one of his pellets.
Buneary blinked at him. "(Huh?)"
He lifted the pellet into the air. "(To victory!)"
She beamed. Grabbing one of her own pellets, she lifted it into the air and tapped it against his. "(To victory!)" She giggled.
Nearby, Grotle chuckled. "(So corny...)" he muttered.
Blushing, Pikachu rubbed the back of his head again with an awkward chuckle. Buneary giggled in amusement as they lowered their pellets.
Grotle shook his head, still smiling, and turned away.
Pikachu slowly lowered his other arm, still a little embarrassed. "(S-So, yeah... like I said... you're gonna shine!)" Buneary blinked at him. Motivated, he continued. "(Shine brighter than a star. Than a... a constellation! Than-)" He paused as he noticed her suddenly look sad. He blinked. "(Buneary?)"
She shook her head rapidly, then smiled. "(Y-Yeah! Shine! That's what I'm gonna do! For sure!)"
Now he felt concerned. "(... Are you okay?)"
"(Yeah! Of course!)"
"(... Are you sure?)"
"(Yeah.)"
He contemplated pressing the issue. In the end, he chose to drop it.
"(... Well, okay...)"
There was a slight pause. "(... S-So, anyway! Your eighth gym battle's coming up soon, too, right?)"
"(Y-Yeah, it is!)"
"(And then, after that, it's on to the Sinnoh League!)"
"(Yeah!)"
"(Good luck! Though I know you're gonna... shine, too!)"
The pause had been strange, but he chose not to question it. "(Th-Thanks.)"
She balled a paw again. "(Go and help Ash become a league champion!)"
Mimicking her, he also balled a paw. "(Yeah! For sure!)"
She held up a pellet. "(To victory!)"
He held up his own and tapped it against hers. "(To victory!)"
"(Oh, for crying out loud...)" Mamoswine mumbled in annoyance from nearby.
Pikachu felt embarrassed for the third time that afternoon.
That night, Pikachu lay snuggled between his girlfriend and his trainer, content and comfortable. After last night's fever dream, he was looking forward to some well-deserved rest. Buneary was already drifting off, and he was sure to follow her soon.
Eventually, he felt his consciousness float away on the cool night air.
Images, images. So many sounds. Sounds, sounds, sounds and words. Words. Words. Colours. Blue, green, yellow, brown, black. More sounds. Colours.
Pain? Drain? Teaser? Easter?
Images, images, images...
Pikachu drew a sharp breath as he awoke. Breathing deeply, he looked around him. Forest. Okay. Forest was good. It meant stability. It meant sane. It meant normal.
Why was his head so cold? He reached up and rubbed a paw against it. It was wet. Cold sweat?
Inhaling deeply to calm his nerves, he dropped his head back onto the grass. Only now did he realise that his head was hurting.
Wow. Another one, huh? That had been the second fever dream in two nights. What was wrong with him?
... Maybe he'd been working too hard. Or maybe it was from the stress. After all, he still occasionally worried about his eevee dreams, and what they meant. If they meant anything at all.
To have replaced them with this, though...
Which dreams were worse?