My Amour

Call Me

Pikachu was having a relaxing afternoon. It had found the perfect sun patch, right on the front steps of the school, and was finally getting a proper break. The entire week, Ash had been pushing the team incredibly hard, and despite knowing where Ash's conviction came from, even Pikachu thought it was too much. But that wasn't a problem for right now, and all Pikachu had to do at the moment was sit and laze around while Ash chatted with the Professor.

Pikachu yawned and stretched, before settling back into a curl. He was glad that his partner was finally having a chat with someone. The little mouse Pokémon was getting... not exactly frustrated, but sometimes it just sucked to not be able to speak the same language as his friend.

He wanted to be able to comfort his best friend properly. There was only so much that a hug and a cuddle could do, and it was getting exceedingly impossible to wake up to a boy that was yelling in his sleep, and not having the ability to talk him through it properly.

Pikachu sighed and looked towards the school. The major problem was that Ash had nobody to properly talk to, and the electric mouse hoped that this talk from the Professor would change that. Despite living together for quite a while now, Ash still held himself back from being truly open with the Professor.

Pikachu suspected that it had almost everything to do with how Ash's life had panned out so far. Ash's mom was a wonderful lady, but Delia Ketchum tended to be a little too much sometimes. Some would call her overbearing, but Pikachu preferred to say she cared very much for her only family. Unfortunately, this didn't lend well to developing good communication skills with her son. It was clear that there was an unshakable bond of love between them, but while at home Ash didn't talk about the more harrowing parts of his journeys, like he would have done with his travelling companions. He instead chose to reminisce on the good times.

Pikachu could still vividly remember the whiplash of going to the Ketchum home for the first time. Going from travelling with the tight-knit, mostly self reliant group of Ash, Misty and Brock to being completely pampered at Ash's home was strange, to say the least. Not that he was complaining. Staying at the Ketchum house was always a nice reprieve between journeys, but Pikachu knew that the environment wasn't where Ash was at his best.

No, his partner was an adventurer, down to his bones. On unfamiliar routes and in various foreign cities, Ash thrived. He made friends out of everyone, and created firm bonds with his travelling companions, celebrating their victories and lamenting their losses, together.

Which is what Ash was clearly missing at the moment. People he could properly confide in. Alola was a good mix for his partner, a combination of relaxation and adventure, perfect to soothe his soul after the particularly intense events that transpired at the end of his last journey. Even Pikachu shuddered a bit when he thought of Ash almost being mind controlled, he couldn't possibly understand how Ash felt about it.

He understood his partner's hesitance to talk to any of his Alolan friends.

Hopefully this talk with the Professor would crack Ash's wall with everyone in Alola a bit. In the time that they'd lived with the Professor, Ash had built a bond with the man that Pikachu hadn't seen his partner have with anyone. The Professor had become someone that Ash looked up to, truly respected, and often asked for advice. It was something healthy that Ash had needed for a while, and hadn't had since those late nights in Kalo-

Suddenly, the front door to the school slammed open and Pikachu jumped a foot in the air. Dashing out of the school was his partner, positively buzzing with excitement and sporting a massive grin on his face. After recovering from his shock, Pikachu smiled. This was more like his partner. The mouse Pokémon gave a little chirp as his trainer, partner, and best friend scooped him up onto his shoulder. Wherever they were going, Pikachu was glad to join.