Pokémon: Always Remember ✔ (Complete)

Whispering of the heart

Sanda's laugh resonated inside the place full of leaves and dust. "Battling is so fun, don't you think?" He looked at his mentor with a friendly smile, shaking his body to get rid from all the dirt.

Pikachu chuckled in agreement. "It sure is! It's the reason I've been doing it for basically all of my life, and I'll keep at it."

Despite his recent grin, the Pichu quickly noticed how his ears lowered and he looked away in something akin to shame. "...But until Ribbon returns... I don't think I'll ever be able to enjoy something again," he muttered, sounding depressed.

Sanda's own ears lowered in sympathy and his grin became a frown. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to," he apologized, feeling bad.

"It's fine, it's not your fault, Sanda..." the older Pokémon responded, attempting to give him a smile but failing when a small tear droplet escaped from one of his sepia eyes.

"Huh?" The Pikachu's long ears raised a little in surprise as he contemplated the giveaway of his sadness.

Worried, the shiny lifted a hand to reached the broken-hearted parent, but called him the last thing he needed to hear at that point by accident. "Raimei-"

"Don't." Pikachu cut him off. "The lesson's over... I'll be leaving now." He quickly turned around before rushing away with the gusts of wind.

He didn't want to let Pichu see the streaming tears falling down his cheeks.
-

"Pi... Pichu (Where... where am I?)"

"Pichu... I see you're finally awake."

"Pi-Pichu! Pichu?! (W-wait! Mama?! Where is she?!)"

"I'm sorry... Your mother and siblings aren't here," Professor Oak answered in a mutter even though he couldn't understand Pokémon talk. But he noticed the little Pichu's saddened and confused deep brown orbs. Sighing in pity, he went back to minding some scientific tests and examining Pokémon DNA samples.

Pichu was more than puzzled: one second he hatched from his egg inside the big warm Pikachu family that awaited him, surrounded by pretty green bushes inside the woods.

The other, he played with his brothers, bickered with his sisters and got his tail brushed by Mama...

The next, a group of weird people in uniform broke into their haven and he couldn't really remember anything afterwards.

"You must feel horrible... Team Rocket is truly an awful organization." Professor Oak sighed deeply. "We were lucky the rescue mission caught you before it was too late... Otherwise..." He paused, unable to continue talking.

Team Rocket? Those horrible people... Now that the initial shock had worn out, he finally recalled the terrible scene: his parents, siblings, cousins and grandparents being stolen by the strange purple-haired people, getting sucked into giant bags where they couldn't escape, until the former Pikachu village became completely desolate.
-

Pikachu grimaced, just like back in the memory. He didn't want to remember. He wished he could forget it all. But if that shiny kept calling him that...

Reclutantly, his eyes shut close and his mind drifted off once again.
-

Moments later, Professor Oak was examining the young Pichu as well; checking for any injuries or signs of sickness. Meanwhile, Pichu remained unresponsive, greatly concerning the scientist even though he understood why.

This baby Pokémon had been depraved of his family. It'd been whisked away and he couldn't cope with it.

Nevertheless, he really hated looking at the sad, depressed creature; feeling somehow it was all his fault for not being able to save him sooner. He sighed. "I'm sorry..." He apologized for the thirteenth time. "If only I had known..."