Author's notes: Hey there, folks!
We're on the big two-two for chapters! How exciting! It's not the end, though! There's plenty more where this came from!
Hope you enjoy the chapter! It was a fun one to write!
Chapter Twenty-two: Alarms
Around a week passed and a lot had happened with the group. Monferno had become an infernape, Piplup had learned Hydro Pump, and Grotle had both become a torterra and learned Leaf Storm.
Ash had tried his hand at winning the beacon badge, but, thanks to Team Rocket causing chaos, the battle had been postponed. Ash hadn't been very happy - as he'd already been waiting so long to get this badge - but there was nothing they could do about that. So now, instead, they were on their way to the Grand Festival at Lake Valor.
In the meantime, Pikachu's brain hadn't given him a single break. Eevee dream after eevee dream after eevee dream. Every night. Sometimes more than once. It was starting to drive him insane. Just what was his brain trying to tell him?!
He'd tried to ignore it. He really had. Buizel had said to, after all. Why were there so many now, though?!
Despite that, he tried to stay optimistic. As his heart continued to weigh down with guilt, he kept on smiling. Because, eventually, he was sure the dreams would fade away. All he had to do was be patient.
"(Alright!)" Piplup announced. "(I suggest we play tag!)"
"(I'm game!)" Pachirisu replied excitedly, jumping up and down.
"(Me too!)" Buneary agreed with a smile.
"(Yeah, sure,)" Buizel replied, shrugging with a light smirk, "(why not?)"
"(Great!)" Piplup said, puffing out his chest.
"(Last one to the open field's a bad egg!)" Pachirisu cried, racing off through the bushes.
Everyone immediately started running after him.
"(Come on, Pikachu!)" Buneary said excitedly. "(Let's go!)"
Pikachu chuckled. "(Okay,)" he replied.
His girlfriend hurriedly hopped away, disappearing though the bushes.
Feeling less enthused than he'd like, he walked over, slowly parted the leaves and stepped through.
An eevee's face stared back at him.
He jumped backwards with a loud yelp.
"(Oh, hi there!)" she said, beaming. She. Female. "(Quite the commotion going on. Are you playing a game?)"
His brain had frozen.
Oh no.
No.
No no no no no no.
She blinked at him, tilting her head. "(Are you okay?)"
A cold chill ran all the way down his body. This couldn't be happening. Why was she here?!
Many times, he'd seen that face in his dreams, but to see it in front of him? Now?!
She waved a paw in his face. "(Helloooo!)"
A coincidence. That was all it was, right?
Right?
Right?!
She gave him a perturbed frown. "(Uhhhh, anyway... can I play with you guys?)" She went back to smiling. "(I'm new around here and haven't made any friends yet, so I thought-)"
"(I'm not dating you!)" Pikachu suddenly yelled out. He clamped a paw over his mouth.
The eevee blinked. Then she looked confused. "(Uhhh...?)"
"(Um... I mean... I have a... well, a girlfriend, so...)"
She gave him that perturbed frown again. "(... Good for you? But I never asked you to date me. I only just met you...)"
Heat flooded Pikachu's face. "(Well...)"
"(... Is that your way of saying 'hi' or something?)"
"(Um...)"
She shook her head. "(You're weird.)" After a moment, her smile returned. "(So, can I play with you guys?)"
"(... Yeah. Sure.)"
"(Great, thanks!)" She skipped away to where the others were.
Pikachu just stood in place, dumbfounded.
A coincidence. This just had to be a coincidence. It couldn't be anything else. Because, if it wasn't, then...
His eyes widened. Oh no. What if all of his eevee dreams had been premonitions? What if they'd been warning him of the future? Of today? Of the day he and the eevee would meet face-to-face?
His heart rate began to skyrocket. Oh no. Did that mean that...?
Was this the eevee he was going to cheat on Buneary with?!
His breathing came in panicked gasps. How would it even happen?! When would it happen?! Why would it happen?!
No. No. He was overreacting. Surely. Buizel would probably laugh at him if he could see him now. He needed to remember that he was over-exaggerating!
He took a few deep, calming breaths.
Once his heart rate had fallen back down to its normal speed, he slowly walked in the direction the others had gone.
"(Alright!)" Piplup said. "(Eevee, you can be 'it'. Wait for around ten seconds while the rest of us run away.)"
"(Okay!)" Eevee replied with a smile.
"(And... go!)"
Everyone bolted away from Eevee.
After a full ten seconds passed, the fox was suddenly on the move.
One by one, she tagged the pokémon out. It seemed she had Run Away as an ability, because she was very fast. About as fast as Pachirisu, who she struggled to catch.
Then she turned her sights on Pikachu.
Powering his four feet with Quick Attack, he ran as fast as his limbs could carry him. With every step, he could hear her gaining ground behind him. Gritting his teeth, he tried manoeuvring around at ninety-degree angles.
He was on his third turn when something suddenly slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. He rolled along the grass, before coming to a dead stop on his back. Eevee lay on top of him, a victorious grin on her face.
She wagged her tail happily. "(Gotcha!)" she said.
A cold chill ran down his spine, his eyes growing wide.
She blinked down at him. "(Wow, you really don't like being caught, huh?)" She smiled. "(Well, no worries!)" She jumped off him, then offered him a paw. "(Here. I'll help you up.)"
Oh no. This was playing out like one of Dawn's cheesy romance comedies!
He tentatively grabbed her paw, allowing her to pull him up. Once he was on his feet, she let go.
"(Good job, though!)" she continued. "(You're pretty fast!)"
"(Thanks...)"
"(Well, I gotta go catch your friends, too.)" She turned around. "(Catch you la-)" She paused, then laughed at her accidental joke. "(I mean, see you later.)"
"(Yeah. See ya.)"
She raced off. He could do nothing but stare at her retreating form.
At dinnertime, Brock - having noticed the group's tagalong - laid out an extra bowl for Eevee. Buneary immediately chose the bowl next to her.
With gritted teeth and a stiff spine, Pikachu sat next to them. He slowly picked up a pellet and started nibbling on it.
After eating a few of her own, Eevee beamed to herself. "(Mmmm!)" she said. "(Wow, these are delicious!)"
Buneary smiled. "(I know, right?)" she replied. "(Brock made them. He's a really good cook!)"
"(Brock, huh?)" Eevee glanced over at the humans. "(Which one's that again? The squinty one?)"
Buneary giggled. "(Yeah, that's the one!)"
"(I see... and which one's your trainer?)"
"(The girl. Her name's Dawn!)"
"(Okay... and the other one?)"
"(That's Ash. He's Pikachu's trainer!)"
"(Ah, okay!)" Eevee turned back to Buneary. "(Is it fun having a trainer?)"
"(Yeah! I get to do contests, where you make all your moves pretty and sparkly and... stuff.)" She paused, blinking. After a moment, she shook her head and continued. "(Anyway, Pikachu gets to do gym battles, which... is just plain battling, really.)" She turned to Pikachu. "(Right?)"
Pikachu jolted. "(Uh... yeah!)" he replied hastily. "(Right!)"
Buneary turned back to Eevee. "(Have you ever thought about having a trainer?)"
Pikachu froze halfway through biting into a pellet.
"(Well, I guess I considered it a few times!)" Eevee replied.
... Oh no.
"(Well, you could join one of our teams~)"
Oh no.
"(Maybe even Dawn's! She does need a sixth pokémon!)"
Oh no!
Pikachu suddenly swallowed, causing the debris of the chewed pellet to slide down the wrong hole in his throat. He hacked and coughed.
Buneary gasped. "(Pikachu! Are you okay?)"
"(Y... Yeah...)" he replied. He coughed once more to clear his throat. "(I'm fine...)"
"(Careful with those pellets,)" Eevee said in concern.
"(Y-Yeah...)"
After watching him for a moment, Eevee turned back to Buneary. "(Anyway, thanks, but nah. I'm not looking for a trainer at the moment.)"
Pikachu looked up, a sense of utter relief washing over him.
Buneary pouted slightly. "(Aww, really?)" she asked.
"(Yeah. One day, maybe, but not now.)"
"(Aww. Well, okay then.)"
They continued eating in silence for a short while. To Pikachu, the lack of conversation was suffocating. Buneary and Eevee, however - from what he could tell - didn't seem to mind it.
"(So, uh...)" Buneary said. Eevee looked up in intrigue. "(You can evolve into lots of things, right? Lots of... you know...)" She blinked.
Pikachu blinked. Was Buneary starting to sound like him?
Eevee chuckled. "(Yeah, I can!)" Her eyes suddenly shone with excitement. "(And I really wanna be a jolteon!)"
Buneary looked intrigued. "(A jolteon?)"
"(Yeah! I've always had a huge thing for electric-types!)" Eevee turned to grin at Pikachu. "(Like your boyfriend over here.)"
Pikachu felt his heart stop dead in his chest.
"(Oh really?)" Buneary asked curiously.
"(Yep. Yellow's my favourite colour. Plus, creating thunderstorms? What's not to like, right?)"
Eevee's gaze hadn't faltered from Pikachu at all. He felt his blood run cold.
Buneary giggled. "(I guess you've got me there.)" She paused. "(And how did you know he was my boyfriend?)"
Eevee finally turned to smile at her. "(Oh, lucky guess.)"
Buneary giggled again. "(Was it that obvious?)"
"(A little.)"
Conversation continued as they ate their pellets. Pikachu took one small bite at a time, not really feeling hungry anymore.
After dinner, the pokémon played for a while longer, until the humans started setting up camp. At that point, Eevee turned to the group.
"(Well, I guess I'd better go,)" she said with a smile. "(Thanks for letting me hang out with you today!)"
"(Oh, no problem!)" Buneary replied happily.
"(Pity we can't play more!)" Pachirisu said.
"(Them's the breaks, huh?)" Buizel said, folding his arms.
Eevee giggled. "(Yeah,)" she replied. She turned around. "(Well, see you guys around!)"
"(Bye!)" almost everyone said as Eevee dashed away.
The only exception was Pikachu. He continued to watch her as she left, wondering. Had the time passed? Was he safe? Was the premonition not going to come true, after all?
Was he... not going to cheat on Buneary?
He desperately hoped so.
That night, Pikachu couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned, this way and that, long after everyone else had fallen asleep.
Every time he closed his eyes, he could see her face. Not Buneary's, like he wanted. No. Eevee's.
She wouldn't leave his mind.
Had he truly escaped fate? Surely, it couldn't be that easy...
He'd run through every possible scenario. How it would happen. When it would happen. Why it would happen. There were so many possibilities. So little time.
Suddenly, he heard a noise. Snapping open his eyes, he glanced away from the camp, where he'd heard the sound.
His eyes widened as he saw the same eevee from before walking past.
Oh no. Was this a sign?! Was this where it would happen?!
He could just let her go. Let her walk past, get on with whatever she was doing and everything would be fine, right?!
... Wait. Just where was she going this late at night?
He watched the empty space where he'd seen her for a short while. He contemplated. Stay here and continue trying to sleep, or follow her?
Well, he was getting pretty frustrated with the lack of sleep. Plus, he couldn't deny he was curious...
... There was also the prospect of finally putting all of this to rest...
... Dang it all.
Through some bushes and up a slight incline, Pikachu found her.
Eevee was sitting by herself, staring up at the stars. When she heard him approach, she turned around in surprise. After a moment, she smiled.
"(Oh hey, it's you,)" she said.
"(Yeah...)" he replied, his own smile wary, "(hi...)"
... Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe he shouldn't have come here. Had his curiosity ruined everything?!
"(What are you doing up?)"
"(Um...)" He couldn't exactly say he'd been thinking about her all night. A shudder ran down his spine. Oh no. The first sign... "(I-I could... you know, say the same...)"
She chuckled. "(Yeah, you got me.)" She looked back up at the stars. "(I was just looking at the stars. I didn't get to see 'em much where I used to live.)"
That made him curious. "(Oh yeah?)" He slowly walked over and sat next to her, though not too close.
"(Yeah. I lived in a wooded area near my parents. One day, though, I thought, 'I wanna go elsewhere!'... so here I am. I love looking at the stars every night.)"
He looked up. With it being a fairly clear night, many white sparkles dotted the darkened sky.
"(Sometimes I see constellations, too!)" she continued. "(None tonight, though...)"
"(Yeah...)" He, himself, could see a distinct lack of constellations.
There was a long pause. "(... You know, it's kinda scary.)"
Surprised, he looked over at her. Her long ears were lowered. "(Huh?)" he asked.
She looked back him, her purple eyes sad. "(Being away from Mom and Dad. I've... not been here long, so I haven't made any friends yet and I-)" She paused. "(It's scary.)"
He blinked at her. After a moment, he composed himself and smiled comfortingly. "(Hey, it's okay. It's always hard at first.)" He scrambled for something else to say. "(... Heck, I was alone for a really long time after my trainer released me.)"
She blinked back at him. "(Huh? But you have a trainer.)"
"(Not that one, another one.)"
Her eyes lit up in realisation. "(Oh.)"
"(And I didn't even have a family, so...)"
She looked surprised. "(You didn't?)"
"(Nah. But now look at me! I have lots of friends! So, hey.)" He smiled brighter. "(If I can cope with all that... then so can you! And you have it easier! I assume, anyway... You'll get lots of friends and... and you won't have to be scared anymore! Plus, you can always visit your mom and dad, right? So you'll be fine.)" He nodded. "(Yeah, you'll be just fine.)"
She blinked at him again. "(... Huh.)" She beamed back at him. "(You know, you're not so bad, after all!)"
He gave her a confused look. "(Huh?)"
She stood up. "(You were acting a bit weird when we met, but... you're a really nice guy.)"
Walking over, she began to nuzzle her face against his cheek. His eyes snapped all the way open, his spine suddenly stiff. His blood ran so cold, it was almost ice.
"(Uh?! Wh-What are you doing?!)"
"(Thanking you. You've made me feel a lot better.)" She pulled away, still smiling. "(You know, I wondered before, but... now I can see why your girlfriend likes you.)"
He started to shudder, unable to respond. His heart was pounding. His mouth was dry. Alarm bells were ringing in every corner of his brain.
"(A... Aheh...)" That was all he could manage in response.
Eevee gave a pleased hum. "(Well, it's getting late. I should get to bed. See you around.)" She walked past him, her tail brushing against his face. He could feel every excruciating fibre. "(And thanks again~!)"
"(Y-Yeah... No... problem... Bye.)"
"(Bye~!)"
With a dash of her Run Away, she was gone.
Pikachu didn't move from the incline for an agonisingly long time.