CHAPTER 14: Oshawott's worst day

Ash, Iris and Cilan had arrived Professor Juniper's laboratory, and they wondered what they could do since the Unova League ended. The Professor said that her father was doing investigations heading to the White Ruins, place where it was associated with the legendary Pokémon Reshiram. The three trainers accepted the idea and decided to go to that place, making stops along the way.

In middle of the way, they met with a mysterious man, he was called "N" and had the ability to communicate with the Pokémon. All of them talked a bit to know that man better. When he asked to them where they were going and they said that they were going to the White Ruins, N mentioned that he had an encounter with Reshiram, while Ash said that he had possibly encountered with Zekrom after landing in Unova for the first time. The mythology said that when the hero turns darkness to light and his heart became one with Pokémon, Zekrom or Reshiram would descend and lend the hero its power. In middle of the conversation, N asked to Ash what his dream was, and the young man from Pallet Town answered that he wanted to be a Pokémon Master. For the mysterious man, he didn't like what he heard, he said that he disliked to see Pokémon fighting each other under trainers' orders until hurting themselves and getting fainted. There was a strong clash of ideals between N and Ash.

During the trip towards the White Ruins, the three trainers said goodbye to N and later they returned to see him again in some occasions. What they didn't know was there was an evil organization inside Unova that wasn't Team Rocket. It was Team Plasma, what they wanted was to control the Pokémon with very advanced technology and bring out their true power. Ash and his friends bumped into the organization controlling the Pokémon so they destroyed everything in their path, but thanks to allied people that Ash met, they were able to disrupt Team Plasma's plans for the moment.

What Ash, Iris and Cilan didn't know either was that N was related somehow with the criminal organization from Unova. There were occasions where the three trainers came across with N trying to stop the evil team's plans and rescue the Pokémon that they had controlled. What Team Plasma wanted with N was to do a ritual to summon the legendary Pokémon Reshiram. After an intense conflict where the Unova region was in serious danger, Ash and his friends were able to stop Team Plasma completely and its grunts were arrested by the police. Once the criminal organization had been captured, N thanked Ash, Iris and Cilan and all of their Pokémon for stopping the evil team, and they said goodbye to N later for the last time.

In one point, Ash didn't know what to do, until he was told that he could return to the Kanto region, his home region, by cruise trips where they would make stops on several islands, called Decolore Islands. Ash accepted the idea and along with his companions decided to go to Kanto on cruise, where they would visit the island and have several adventures.

One afternoon that was night falling, Ash, Iris and Cilan were in the cruise as they watched how one of the islands that he had visited went far away. That island was the Scalchop Island, where a competition that Oshawott and Dewott participated was made. Ash's Oshawott participated there, but he sadly lost; not only that, he fell in love of a female Oshawott called Osharina. She sadly rejected him, so the Ash's Sea Otter Pokémon got completely sore, but his heart got healed quicker that they thought after seeing a Cinccino passing by from there. He fell madly in love of her and went to chase her to declare his sudden love. At least he returned to be happy.

More than a half hour had passed and for some reason, Oshawott didn't come back where the three trainers were. It was getting darker and they were worried about him, where would he had gotten so that he didn't come back with them? A Pokémon from the trainers, Snivy in this case, said to them that she would try to find her teammate for him to come back, they accepted her idea and the snake went to look for the water-type.

After a couple minutes, Snivy had found Oshawott, he was alone while he looked how the sun fell to the sea. By the position that he was, the grass-type supposed that he was sad for something that happened to him recently. She had to know what was wrong with him. She came closer and asked to him:

"Oshawott?"

The Sea Otter Pokémon heard her voice and turned around, it was her partner Snivy. He greeted her very discouraged.

"Oh… Hi, Snivy…"

"Oshawott, what are you doing here? It's getting late and you have not still come back with the others. Did something happen to you?"

He just nodded and said:

"You don't probably know what I had to live today, so I'll tell you what happened to me."

"I hear you."

"Well… Hours ago, Ash and his friends arrived to an island and visited it, that island was called Scalchop Island. A competition between many Oshawott and Dewott would be made there. I was very excited for participating there and try to win. That island was very cool in my own words, even there was commerce with motif of scalchops. At the bottom it was a stage where the competition would be made. The winner was going to receive a big prize, and not only that, the winner would also have the honor to be next to a female Oshawott called queen Osharina. That charm, that cuteness, that beauty, I was completely in love of her, and that also was of my own species. I dreamed that we would be the perfect couple."

"Are you talking seriously?"

"Yeah, that was the most appropriate girl for me. To win her I had to participate in the competition, so I'd do my best of me to be next to her. In that moment, after falling in love of Osharina, I went to declare my love to her with some flowers, but she ignored me with scorn and she went to another part of the stage. 'Why did she reject me that way?', I wondered in that instant. I tried to get up to the stage to talk to her, but someone hit me in the head before doing that, and I got without being able to move for a while."

"Who did it hit you?"

"It was a Dewott with an orange scarf, that hit me with one of his scalchops. While I was on the floor, Ash assisted me and asked to the responsible one why they hit me. A young man with glasses called Cadbury, who was the owner of the Dewott with orange scarf, who was called Caesar, said that nobody dared to touch queen Osharina. He also said that his Pokémon was the perfect candidate to be with her, because he was strong and skilled by being trained since very young, and that they were going to win the competition. When I recovered from the hit, I heard all of that. I didn't want that happened, I wanted to win the competition to be next to Osharina. It would be very hard for me, having Caesar as a competitor, so I had to put my best effort if I wanted to win the queen's heart."

"So you participated in the competition to be next to queen Osharina, and were you lucky?"

"Mmm… I don't know how to explain it well. I'd passed many of the tests, all of them related with scalchops. There were occasions that I almost failed, but I was very lucky. Before the finals, only three contestants remained: me, Caesar the Dewott and … oh, that."

"Is something wrong?"

"I just remember that Team Rocket also wanted to participate, and they put Meowth in there and made him a costume of Dewott, and he carried bigger scalchops than normal. Somehow, Meowth was along with the two of us, mostly because cheating, I wanna think. In the test that the three of us were it was a talent demonstration. Cadbury ordered to his Dewott to use Aqua Jet, he spun in circles over the spectators and a rainbow was created, the judges and the crowd liked it a lot. It was my turn, Ash said that I'd do the same but more spectacular. I used Aqua Jet and spun in circle, like Caesar did, but I'd have to use my scalchop to surprise the judges. But…"

"What happened in that moment?"

"I looked sideways to Osharina for a moment, I got very in love to see her as I was in the air, but I lost my focus and ended falling on Ash. It was one of the worst mistakes that I made in my life. Why did I have to do it, why did I have to look at Osharina in that moment, trying to be the winner of the competition to be next to her? The illusion of being with her made me play against me. The judges criticized in an ugly way for what I did. In that moment, I thought that I had already lost it, I'd lost the perfect opportunity for getting a girlfriend, all because of my clumsiness."

"And that was how you lost the competition. I see…" she said as she felt pity in the inside.

"Actually, it wasn't like that how I lost."

"No?"

"No. Well, I'd made a poor presentation that would let me eliminated of the competition, but the Dewott that was Team Rocket's Meowth remained to present himself. He would do his routine on a trampoline. He was ordered to use Sword Dance and he started to thrash violently and moving his scalchops as he was in the air. What they didn't know was the painting and the decoration of the costume fell apart, revealing that all this time the weird Dewott was a Meowth. After that, Team Rocket introduced themselves, said their motto and went to steal the prize, but Pikachu blasted them off all again before that happened."

"Did really that happen? And what did happen with the competition later?"

"It got resumed as if nothing had happened, being me and Caesar in the finals. After noticing that I passed to the finals because Meowth was an imposter all this time, I felt with a ton of luck, if wasn't for the fake Dewott, I wouldn't have reached the finals with the terrible presentation that I made before. I was completely grateful that inconvenient had happened and that gave me a second opportunity to win the competition."

"So you had to face Caesar in the finals. How the final round was?"

"It was a Pokémon battle, but we had to fight on some platforms that floated on the water. I had to do my best if I wanted to win and get Osharina with me. The battle began and I started to fight. I was on much disadvantage because I faced my evolved form. All of the attacks that I made were weaker against Cadbury's Dewott. If the attacks collided, he would overpass me in power and did damage to me."

"What did Ash and you do when they reached to that point?"

"I was very weak to continue fighting, but Ash didn't want to give up, and I tried to do the same. In a moment of the battle, when I had no more energy to continue standing, Cadbury ordered to his Dewott to use a combination of Aqua Jet and Razor Shell to give the final hit. He activated his Aqua Jet and put his scalchops on his sides to finish with me. Ash said to me not to give up and use the same as Caesar. I made my last effort on defeating him. I used Aqua Jet and put my scalchop in the center and I started to spin like a drill."

"Okay…"

"We crashed each other with a lot of power and we ended very damaged because of the crash. We were lied down on the platforms as the trainers ordered to us to get up. I felt very exhausted and sore to get up in that moment, but I tried to make my last effort in doing so. The first that got up was Caesar and Cadbury celebrated, but it was prematurely, because Dewott got fainted somehow while standing, and fell on the platform, unavailable to continue. Meanwhile I got up with the last of what I had left, later I realized that my opponent had fainted, so, the winner of the competition was me."

"Are you talking seriously, Oshawott?! Did you really win the competition?!" Snivy exclaimed amazed.

"I couldn't believe it either," Oshawott said getting happy for one moment, "I had won. It was the first time that I won a competition in my life, Ash and me were very happy for having won. It was a moment that I'll never forget in my life. Heh… Something that I'll never forget in my life."

He later returned to be sad and gave a heavy sigh. Snivy asked to him:

"Why did you get sad again, Oshawott? Have you not won the competition? You should be happy for that."

"Exactly, I should, but not everything was as I thought in that moment. Yeah, I was very happy for having won. They gave me the prize that I deserved for my effort on winning the competition, but there was something behind that we didn't know. The good thing of having won was I had the honor to be with queen Osharina and be in the island as their king, but the bad thing was I had to stay there until the next competition, which it would be in a year exactly."

"Are you joking?! Did you have to stay in the island for a whole year?!"

"Yeah, it was what the rules stated. What could I do in that moment? I'd won and had gotten my perfect girl, but did I have to stay in the island without seeing Ash for a whole year? Ash wanted to travel with me for longer. So he was in conflict about what to do with me, if it was a good idea to leave me in the island to be their king and be next to queen Osharina for a year, without seeing my dear trainer that I met since a long time ago. I still remember that time when I met him and said something cute to me, that was why I wanted to travel with him. Oh, those nice moments when I tried to do my best on winning, or when he helped me to solve my problems that I had. Those nice memories with Ash are what I treasure the most in the world."

"So what happened later? Ash decided that he wouldn't leave you in the island?"

"Actually no. He was still in conflict about what to do with me. Afterwards, I noticed that Osharina had got up to the stage to receive the winner of the competition. By seeing her, I got completely in love of her. It was the first time that a female came closer to me for all the effort that I've made on winning something. I thought that I'd got the perfect girl for me with all honors. In that instant, I didn't want to pay attention the fact that I had to stop seeing Ash for a year, I only wanted to be next to Osharina and rule the Scalchop Island along with her," Oshawott got sadder, "but… but…"

"But what?"

"Osharina… Despite that I'd won the competition and I did everything possible to get her as a girlfriend… she didn't want to be with me… she ran to the crowd and jumped, falling on Caesar, Cadbury's Dewott. The young man with glasses realized and said that Caesar and Osharina were destinated to be together."

"D-d-di-di-did she really want to be with that Dewott, who lost the competition, and didn't want to be with you, who had won after doing everything possible just to be with her?! Are you seriously not joking all this time?!" Snivy asked completely astonished.

"It's not a joke, Snivy. All of that actually happened. Me, after seeing my girl, that I'd did everything possible to be with her, on the arms of my opponent in the finals, I… I… it left me completely destroyed in the inside and in the outside. No one had ever rejected me so fierce in my life. I was in total shock. I never imagined that they would drill my heart so hard until the point of feeling it breaking in two inside me. Feeling that rejection was so heavy that not only my heart got broken in two, but my scalchop also broke in two parts, like they two were linked somehow. If it wasn't enough, the narrator of the competition, after seeing my scalchop broken in two, said that, according to the rules, I ended being disqualified to be king of the island, so that honor passed to Cadbury's Dewott. I was there, on the floor, without moving, totally in shock, as I felt a cold breeze covering my body. It was the worst thing that I'd lived in my life. I'd lost the prize, and the chance to get a girlfriend…"

"Oshawott…"

The Sea Otter Pokémon only gave a heavy sigh while he tried not to cry for all that what had happened in the island. Snivy, meanwhile, couldn't help to feel a lot of pity for her teammate. He had tried his best to win the competition and get a girlfriend that he was looking for all this time, he had done it and had gotten all what he wanted, but fate said other thing, taking all what Oshawott had won away from him and he left the island empty-handed, leaving him with a deep sadness that wouldn't get away in a long time. Oshawott said afterwards to try to finish his story:

"But… the story doesn't end here."

"No?"

"No… Minutes ago, Ash and his friends were in the cruise waiting for the next destination, leaving behind Scalchop Island, the place where everyone saw me win and lose at the same time. I was near them, trying to pass my sorrow and trying to heal my broken heart, at the same time that my scalchop tried to return to be as before. We put it two adhesive tapes to unite them and that the broken pieces didn't get lost. I was told that I should be happy from one side, because I'd continue traveling with Ash and wouldn't stay in the island for a year without able to see him; they also told me that my scalchop would eventually heal like my broken heart. I doubted that was gonna happen, they'd made a hole in the heart so deep that I doubted that was gonna be healed completely. I was so sad… until that…"

"Huh? What happened in that instant?"

"In that instant, I saw someone passing in front of me, I was only able to see that it was a gray and white figure and that its voice was very cute. After noticing that, I decided to see who it was: it was a about a female Cinccino who was walking happily as she walked around that area of the cruise. That Pokémon had a very cute appearance for me and had a tender voice. Unintentionally, I fall quickly in love of her."

"But, why?" Snivy said unbelieved.

"I thought that Cinccino was gonna give me the love that I couldn't receive with Osharina. It was like my second chance to love in the day, and I didn't have to waste it. I started to follow her with a bouquet of flowers through all the cruise to declare her my love, but…"

"Now what happened to you?"

"I realized that Cinccino didn't want to have anything with me. I followed her through all the cruise, but in a moment, she stopped just to give me Double Slap with a lot of strength. Those hits were so strong that I was sent against a pillar at the edge of the cruise. After falling to the floor, I got up very sore and wanted to know where the flowers were, it seemed that I'd dropped the bouquet because of the crash on the pillar. Later, I looked to the sea, and saw that the flowers to declare to Cinccino were floating on the sea, getting further and further to the horizon. I got sad by that. I remembered later that I was following Cinccino to say that I love her, but… she wasn't there anymore, she'd possibly gone far away from me. I got sorrowful. Afterwards, I noticed that my scalchop had unstuck again with the hit I received from Cinccino. I tried to stick them with the adhesive tape, but they didn't stick no matter how much I tried. I…" about to cry, "I felt very unhappy and disconsolate for all that I lived today… Sniff… I've been rejected by two females… I just wanted to have someone to love me… Sniff… this is the worst day that I lived until now…"

Afterwards, he cried with a lot of sadness. Meanwhile, Snivy tried to calm his grief patting his back to comfort him. It was true that Oshawott lived his worst day in his life. He had lost the competition in Scalchop Island in an unusual way and was rejected twice in the day, leaving his fragile and weak heart more damaged than before. Oshawott said:

"Can't I really be happy in my life?! Didn't they really let me have someone to love?! Do I really have to be the laughing stock for other for all my love misfortunes that I had in my journey?! Do I really have to live with this bad luck in love?! I don't understand. I DON'T UNDERSTAND! ! !"

"Oshawott, please, calm down! I don't want to see you like that! You are going to harm your health in general! Don't cry, please!"

"Sniff… Ah… I-I'm sorry, Snivy… I think I… got carried away by my sadness… but the thing is… Today's was very painful for me… to not to cry and not feeling bad for… all what I lived in this day… I'd like to forget this day forever… and move forward with my live… but…"

Oshawott tried to calm himself down and not to get upset too much again. He gave a heavy sigh and tried to pass his sorrow. He commented:

"I'm a total failure, why did all my bad luck have to happen in this day, the most important day of my life? I've gotten what I've always wanted, but now they took it away from me completely and now I got nothing…"

He gave another heavy sigh. Snivy talked to him saying:

"Oshawott… I'm very sorry for all what you have lived today."

"Don't worry, Snivy… It was never your fault in all of this…"

"Although… I should feel guilty partially, what would we all do if you stayed in the island without able to see us for a whole year? Everyone would miss you a lot. I… I couldn't bear the fact that you would abandon all of us to stay with Osharina, if she accepted you first at all. You are an important member for Ash, his friends and all of their Pokémon. Without you… our journey wouldn't be the same. You make it interesting and fun, not only for us, but everyone that sees you. I know that you are the laughing stock of everyone because of your misfortunes, but I know that there are people who cares a lot about you and for all that you have lived in this journey, including me. I… I don't know with whom to talk in the free times if you are not with us. I would feel… empty with your absence, so to speak."

"Are you talking seriously, Snivy? Do you… consider me as someone important for you?"

"Since we are teammates and friends, we always have to take care and ensure the safety of those who are most in need, including you. Being honest with you… you are… really important for me."

Those words that Snivy said made Oshawott feel very well, he was a very loved Pokémon for all, and that, despite that the others laughed at him because of his constant misfortunes, he knew that there were beings that loved him and cared of him, like Snivy. For her, Oshawott was the most important Pokémon. He felt special after hearing those cute and nice words. The Sea Otter Pokémon said to her happier than before:

"Thank you so much, Snivy. I thank you that you are my partner and friend."

"No problem, Oshawott, I'm always next to you for you to feel better in your sad moments. Don't worry, if someday we come back to Scalchop Island, I will give a tremendous beating to that Osharina who rejected you even if you won the competition fairly."

Oshawott laughed by her comment and said:

"Thanks, Snivy, you made feel happy even though it was for a moment."

"You're welcome, Oshawott."

There was a moment of silence until Snivy asked:

"Why not we see together the sunset before returning with the others?"

"Yeah, sounds very good. The sadness is eventually going to pass after that."

"Okay."

Both of them sat together and were seeing the sunset for some minutes, until that the sun had finally hidden completely. Snivy said to Oshawott:

"It's time for us to come back with Ash and the others."

"Okay."

And they walked together to where the three trainers were. They were worried because they hadn't seen them in a lot of minutes, but at least the two Pokémon had returned with them. Ash noticed that Oshawott looked a little bit sad for all, it seemed that the Cinccino that he wanted to declare his love had rejected him like Osharina hours ago. He didn't want to imagine how destroyed he must have been felt when female Pokémon rejected him twice in the same day; despite that, at least Snivy accompanied Oshawott in his gloom until he felt a little bit better. He was probably going to get better with the next days. It was already night and it was better to dinner and later go to sleep to wake up in a new day, waiting the next stop in the Decolore Islands on their way to the Kanto region.