Author's note: Heyo!
This chapter is dedicated to PokeMaster64, since his idea was what inspired me to write it! It took a while for me to try and weave it into the plot, but I have finally succeeded! So I hope you enjoy it!
Chapter Thirty-seven: Helpers
After some more travelling, the group made another pit stop, so that Brock could make everyone dinner. As he ate his pellets, Pikachu listened to the chatter of his friends and girlfriend around him, and occasionally piped in with comments of his own.
Once dinner was finished, and most of the pokémon wandered off to play, he stayed behind to gather up a few of the food bowls that were scattered around. As he picked one up, he paused, noticing that it was next to a boulder that was embedded in the ground.
Heh. If Gible saw this boulder, he'd probably start chewing on it, knowing him.
Glancing around absentmindedly for Gible, he noticed him and Croagunk standing in the middle of the campsite, staring unblinkingly at each other.
... Were they having a staring contest, or just being their usual selves? It was hard to tell with those two.
Shaking his head, Pikachu directed his eyes elsewhere. He paused again as his gaze landed on Buneary, who was helping to clear away some bowls in the distance.
He still wasn't exactly sure how he was going to go about confessing to her. He wanted to, though, and soon. In fact... how long ago had it been since their last monthly anniversary?
Hmmm... he wasn't sure, but it was probably coming up soon. No doubt Brock would know exactly when it was, being the romanticist that he was, but still. Would that be the best day to confess? He wasn't really sure.
Glancing away again, he set back to gathering the bowls when he caught sight of the boulder again. He did a double-take, then stared. There was a flashcard sitting on top of the boulder that definitely had not been there before!
He did a quick glance around, to see if anyone had seen anything suspicious or strange, but no one seemed to be looking in his direction. Perplexed, he looked back at the boulder.
Now that he looked at it, the flashcard seemed to have some kind of drawing on it. Intrigued, he placed down the stack of bowls he was carrying and walked over to have a look.
There was a drawing of a pikachu's face, with an arrow next to it pointing left. He tilted his head at it. What the heck?
Purely on instinct, he looked to his left. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw movement in the trees nearby. There was a hand waving him over.
He glanced around at his teammates again, though no one else seemed to have noticed. He looked back at the hand.
... Well, a quick look probably wouldn't hurt.
Picking up the flashcard, he wandered over to where the hand was. As he slipped behind the cover of the trees, he encountered three people. A woman, a man and what appeared to be a dwarf, since he was only slightly taller than Pikachu was.
All three were wearing glasses and fancy-looking suits, and were beaming at him.
"Why, hello there!" the woman said.
"Nice of you to drop on by!" the man added.
"(Yeah, hey,)" Pikachu replied with a smile of his own. He held up the flashcard. "(Um... this was for me, right?)"
... Wait, how would they understand him?
"Ya bet yer lightnin' bolt dat flashcard was for you!" the dwarf replied.
Pikachu stared at him. "(... You can understand me?)"
The dwarf shrugged. "Of course I can understand ya! I'm an expoit on t'ings like dis!"
Pikachu blinked. "(... An expert?)"
"Dat's right! An expoit!"
"Now," the woman said, looking at Pikachu, "our very reliable sources tell us that you are in a bit of a pickle!"
"(Huh?)" he asked.
The man shrugged dramatically. "Ever want to say something really important and meaningful, but you just can't quite find the words?" he asked.
Pikachu's eyes widened. "(Y-Yes!)"
"Den look no foither!" the dwarf replied.
The man and woman stood back to back in a dramatic pose. "The name's Jessamine," the woman said.
"And I'm Jamin," the man added.
"Meo, at yer soivice!" the dwarf added.
"And we are..." Jessamine continued, "the Professional Organisation of Pokémon Speech Therapists!"
"And Reformers!" Jamin added.
"POPSTAR, for short!" Meo added.
Pikachu's eyes bugged in shock. "(You're pokémon speech therapists?!)" he asked.
Meo waggled his finger. "Professional pokémon speech t'erapists."
"And reformers!" Jessamine added.
"We help you with all your stuttering and stammering problems!" Jamin said.
"And reform ya into a poifectly normal pokémon of society!" Meo added.
"With Meo here as our translator," Jessamine explained, "there's nothing we can't do!"
"We'll get to the root of your problems," Jamin added, "and help you overcome your shortcomings, so that you can do otherwise simple things, like... confess to a girl you love!"
Jessamine beamed. "Doesn't that sound splendiferous?"
Pikachu stared at them in wonder. He couldn't believe his amazing luck! Just when he most needed help phrasing something perfectly, he just happened to come across professional speech therapists! And not just any speech therapists, but ones that were specifically created for pokémon!
He couldn't pass up this chance!
He nodded enthusiastically. "(Yes! Yes!)" he replied. "(It sounds great!)"
Jamin clapped his hands in delight. "Great!" he said. "In that case, let's get started right now!"
Pikachu blinked. "(Right now?)"
Meo hurried over to him and gently grabbed him. "You just park yer rump right dere," he said, pushing him into a sitting position. "Poifect! Now we can get on wit' yer questions!"
"(Questions?)"
"Dat's right!" Meo waltzed back over to where Jessamine and Jamin were. "We gots to know ya before we can cure ya!"
"(... Oh. Okay.)"
"Now then..." Jessamine said. All three of them pulled out clipboards, holding their pens at the ready as they sat down opposite Pikachu. "When exactly did you start having these speech problems?"
"(Well... I dunno, really. Maybe always? Though they've never been this bad before.)"
"He said dat he might've always had 'em," Meo explained, "but dey've never been dis bad."
Jessamine and Jamin nodded, while all three took notes.
"I see..." Jessamine replied.
"And what do you think's the main cause of them being this bad?" Jamin asked.
"(Uh...)" Pikachu replied, thinking, "(well, I guess Buneary. That's... my girlfriend, by the way. I started stuttering like crazy when I met her. Then it kinda... went into overdrive when I started dating her.)" He chuckled sheepishly.
"He said de cause is his goilfriend, Buneary," Meo explained. "It got bad when he met her, but now dat he's datin' her, it's gotten woise."
"Mmm-hmm..." Jessamine replied, her and Jamin nodding again, while more notes were taken.
"And why do you think that is?" Jamin asked.
"(Because...)" Pikachu replied, "(I-I just get so nervous around her! My heart beats a mile a minute and... and... I guess I just really wanna impress her. Be a good boyfriend. But the more I focus on what I'm doing and saying, the... more I mess up. You know?)"
"Mmm-hmm..." Meo replied, nodding. "I see. Truly tragic."
"What did he say?" Jessamine asked.
"He said de more he tries to impress Buneary, de more noivous he feels, and de more he messes up."
Jessamine put a hand to her mouth. "Oh, my, that is tragic!"
"More tragic than a Shakespeare play!" Jamin added, gripping his pen tighter.
"Well, dat settles it," Meo said, smiling at Pikachu. "Now dat we know yer problem, we can woik on yer solution!"
Pikachu's eyes lit up. "(You can?)" he asked.
"Course we can!" Meo paused. "One more question, dough." He pushed up his glasses. "What kinda t'ing do ya wanna woik on?"
Pikachu blinked. "(Huh?)"
"That's right!" Jessamine said, beaming at him. "Is there anything in particular you want to say to her?"
"Remember," Jamin added, also beaming, "we can't help you if we don't know~!"
Pikachu blushed slightly. "(Oh,)" he replied, "(well... I kinda... wanted to... well, you know... say... something...)"
"Ya wanted to say somet'in' to her?" Meo asked. "And what's dat?"
"Hmmmmm?" they all asked at once, leaning in eagerly.
"(Um...)" Pikachu replied, feeling awkward and embarrassed, "(well... I...)"
Maybe it would be okay to tell them? They wouldn't blab, after all, right? He'd wanted Buneary to be the first to hear it, but if POPSTAR really couldn't help him, unless he told them, then...
He looked down at the grass, lowering his voice to a murmur. "(... I wanted to tell her I love her.)"
"Aww, how sweet~!" Meo replied. "He wants to tell his goil he loves her~!"
Jessamine clapped her hands, attracting Pikachu's attention. She held them by her face. "Oh, how positively romantic~!" she said.
Jamin wiped his eye underneath his glasses. "It brings a tear to your eye..." he said.
"Well, in dat case!" Meo said enthusiastically. "Now dat we know what ails ya... it's time to woik on yer treatment!"
Pikachu's eyes lit up. "(Really? Great!)" he replied. He paused as he realised something. "(Wait. Uh... how long will this take, exactly?)"
Meo blinked. "How long will it take?"
Jessamine frowned. "It'll take as long as it takes!" she replied angrily.
Jamin shrugged. "Which will depend on your learning speed," he added. He beamed. "Though we'd prefer to get it done before nightfall!"
Pikachu's eyes widened. "(Before nightfall?!)" he asked in disbelief.
"Dat's right!" Meo replied. "We gots t'ings to do, after all. Odder clients to see. So! When can ya start?"
"(Uh...)"
Gosh, only a single evening? In that case, he had to either work really hard, or be a really fast learner. He didn't fancy his chances, but what other option did he have?
He glanced in the direction of the campsite. "(What about my trainer? Won't he notice I'm gone?)"
"Hmm?" Jessamine asked. "What's he saying, Meo?"
"He's askin' about de tw- Uh, his trainer. And how he might notice if he's gone for a while."
"Ah, good point."
"Not to worry!" Jamin said, smiling. "Your trainer's sure to do some after-dinner training, no? A-At least, I assume so. Mayhaps you could sneak away then?"
"(Hmm...)" Pikachu replied in thought.
It was true that Ash often liked to train in the evenings, so he was likely to do it tonight. Especially since his battle for the beacon badge was coming up soon. He'd want to be prepared for it.
Could he effectively sneak away, though?
"(I... guess I could try,)" he continued.
Jamin beamed. "Splendid!"
"(So, uh...)" Pikachu explained to his girlfriend, "(if it's okay... while Ash is training, I'd, uh... like to... you know... go for a walk? By myself?)" He paused awkwardly. "(... Is that okay?)"
Buneary blinked at him. "(Well...)" she replied, "(sure, but... is there any reason you wanna go alone?)"
Panic rose inside him. "(Uh, no, no! Well, I mean, yes, but... argh. I just... want a little time to myself today, that's all!)"
Her ear drooped slightly. "(Oh... well, okay. Sure.)"
... Dang it! He'd messed up again, hadn't he?!
He worked his brain extra hard to come up with something to save himself. "(Uh... but, uh... how about we, uh... you know, go on one of those things together? Those date things! Uh, tomorrow, I mean.)"
A small smile appeared on her face. "(Date things?)"
He blushed. "(Aheh, well, you know...)"
She giggled slightly. "(Yeah, sure.)" She paused for thought. "(... I guess it's good for you to get some alone time. Some 'you' time.)"
"(Y-Yeah!)"
"(Keeps the relationship fresh, I suppose.)" Her ear lifted again. "(Alright, then. I'll cover for you while you're gone.)"
He gave her a thumbs up, his smile brightening. "(Thanks. Ash shouldn't notice, since he'll be busy training, but, if he does...)"
"(I'll find a way to explain it to him.)" She giggled. "(Somehow.)"
"(Okay, great! Thanks, Buneary.)"
She moved over and nuzzled him. "(No problem, Pikachu.)"
Beaming, he nuzzled back.
Moving back behind the cover of the trees, far away from camp, Pikachu gave Jessamine, Jamin and Meo a thumbs up.
"(Okay, we're ready to go!)" he said.
"Looks like we're good to go!" Meo repeated.
"Great!" Jessamine replied, beaming. "Then let's get started with your speech therapy session!"
"First off," Jamin said, "we'll tackle the root of the problem!"
"Yer a bag of noives around yer goilfriend, right?" Meo asked.
"(Y-Yeah?)" Pikachu replied.
Meo grinned. "Den dat's where we start! By curing yer noives!"
Jessamine adjusted her glasses with a smirk. "We'll make you so incredibly brave and confident that you'll be doing human customs and getting married!" she said.
Pikachu blushed. "(M... Married?)" he asked.
"Yup!" Meo replied. "Married!"
"By the time we're done," Jamin said, grinning, "you'll be a whole new man!"
"(... That... sounds good,)" Pikachu replied, his face still warm.
"It sounds good, he said!" Meo told them. "Den let's get to woik!"
All three of them pumped their fists into the air. "Yeah!" they all said at once.
"(Uh... y-yeah!)" Pikachu added, pumping his own fist into the air.
He had to admit, he was a little nervous about what sort of thing they might be doing, but POPSTAR were professionals, right? So nobody would be better at helping him than them!
... Even if he only had one day to master everything. Could he do it?
Well, if it would build up his confidence enough to properly confess to Buneary, then he'd certainly give it a try.