Kalos Quest Vol 3: Trapped

75. Pika Wants to Evolve

Having left Dendemille Town, Axel and Luna once again set off back to Lumiose City, this time along Route 16. Axel decided to do some battle training in preparation for his battle against Clemont, the Lumiose Gym leader. He was excited to try out new strategies with his newly evolved Gabite, Aburi, through sparring with Pika.

At the same time, Yako and Gogo were facing off in a friendly duel, while Llade learned how to regulate its sensory powers from Hexa and Squishy in order to master Mega Evolution. Ash's Greninja, of course, had been doing some special training with Froxel. Under Ash's Greninja's strict mentorship, Froxel's movements had surely grown sharper and more precise.

"Aburi! Dig!"

Aburi dug through the dirt, burrowing its way underground, out of sight. Pika's cheeks crackled as it charged up a Thunderbolt. Jumping into the air, its tail glowed silver, then gold as it was super charged by electricity. The ground cracked as Pika slammed its tail into it, blasting Aburi out from its hiding. Being exposed, Aburi used Mud Shot on the ground. The attack propelled it upwards, positioning itself above Pika.

"Way to go! Now, Dual Chop!"

Using the momentum from the jump, Aburi dived down as its claws glowed green. Reacting quickly, Pika charged up a Quick Attack to intercept the Gabite, spinning to counter Dual Chop with an Iron Tail of its own. However, Dual Chop was a multi strike attack. With its other arm, Aburi landed a hit on Pika. Axel pumped his fists back, "Finish it with a Mud Shot!"

Balls of mud appeared in a circle behind Aburi, and with a quick swing of its arm, they shot towards Pika, sending it crashing into the ground with a thud and knocking it out.

"That's a solid combo!" Axel smiled proudly, "Did you see that, Luna? The Lumiose Gym Badge is as good as ours!"

"Yeah yeah, don't get ahead of yourself," she sighed, "wait until you get that badge."

"Do I get a gift or something if I do?" Axel said playfully but was of course rejected by Luna.

With a hearty laugh, he turned around, "Pika, nice job as—

"...Pika?"

—

Pika scurried through the bushes, panting and stumbling. It occasionally glanced back to check whether Axel was chasing after him, which it hoped he was.

He wasn't.

Did it stray too far?

Did Axel even notice it to be missing?

Lately, Axel had been giving it much less attention, and Pika certainly wasn't thrilled about that. Pika wanted to battle, and it hadn't been getting that opportunity. Instead, it felt more like a punching bag to the rest of Axel's team— a burden even. Axel often used it to try out new combinations— and by that, it meant Axel's Pokémon using their developing combos on Pika.

Pika simply felt more and more insignificant on the team— understandably. After all, all of Axel's other Pokemon have evolved. They may be weaker than Pika back then, but now, they are definitely more powerful than it.

An Oddish came out of the bushes and stared at Pika, who promptly scared it away with a jolt of lightning. After a few seconds, a horde of Gloom soon emerged behind the Oddish, along with a furious Vileplume.

Pika gulped and fired a Thunderbolt at the horde, before dashing away immediately.

"I've got you!"

Pika crashed right into a net, much to its surprise. It unleashed a Thunderbolt right away in an attempt to get out, but that did nothing. It growled at its capturer and slashed at the net with Iron Tail.