This Is Normal

(Un)naturally calm

When Kukui went to go get a glass of water he looked over at Ash and Pikachu. They were sleeping on the couch, the only reason being that Ash had asked to sleep in the living room for the night. Something about the way the two unnerved Kukui though. Ash was snuggled up in a ball, the only thing him from crippling in on himself as he slept being Pikachu, who was snuggled into Ash's chest. The way the two were breathing wasn't quite right to Kukui either. There breathing wasn't erratic or anything, but Ash and Pikachu were breathing in deeply and breathing out shallowly.

Kukui looked away from Ash and his partner, heading to the sink to wash his cup. When he looked back at the couch that Ash was sleeping on, there was no one there. Kukui panicked a little, thinking Ash might've been kidnapped again, at least until he heard the toilet flush and watched Ash and Pikachu both walk out of the bathroom.

"Ash, you scared me." Kukui said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Sorry professor. I didn't mean to." Ash said, laughing a little. "Well, anyways. Let's both get back to bed. But before that though, why was Pikachu in the bathroom with you? Not that there's anything wrong with that." Kukui said, a yawn escaping his lips. "When I got taken yesterday I literally meant that it was the first time me and Pikachu had been apart. Well, good night professor. See you when it's not the middle of the night." Ash said, snuggling back up on the couch. Then Kukui went to bed, falling asleep quickly.

Time skip brought to you by Gladion's magnificent hair

"Hey Ash! Wanna battle!" Kiawe shouted, his voice loud enough for Ash to hear from several yards away. "Sure!" Ash shouted back, his voice louder than Kiawe's. Ash rushed over to Kiawe, almost crashing into him. "Now now boys. We don't have time for that right now. We're exploring the forest today." Kukui said, gathering up all of his students. Ash and Kiawe sighed, but were instantly excited again.

Time skip brought to you by yellow mouse type Pokémon

As everyone was exploring the forest, all within hearing distance of one another, Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder and started sprinting towards something. "Wait up Pikachu! I'm not as fast as you, remember!" Ash yelled, chasing after his partner. "Ash come back! Come on kids! We gotta follow Ash!" Kukui yelled, everyone running after Ash as fast as they could.

The chase lasted about 24 minutes, but when Pikachu finally stopped, there were a bunch of berries in a clearing. "Pika-pi!" Pikachu said, hopping back on Ash's shoulder. Ash walked into the clearing, getting closer and closer to the suspicious pile of berries. "Ash! Don't go near those! It could be a trap!" Sophocles said, calculating all of the things that could possibly go wrong. "Don't worry. They're just berries." Ash said, stepping even closer to the berries. Just as Ash went to reach out for the berries though, A metal cage dropped down on him.

"Did someone ask something? We're here to find out!" A woman said, popping out of a bush. "Noble answers are what we're all about!" A man said, popping out of the bush right after the woman. "The beauty so radiant the flowers and moon hide in shame, a single flower of evil in this fleeting world, Jessie!." The woman said, revealing her name. "The noble heroic man of our times, the master of darkness fighting back against the tragic world, it's James!" The man said, also revealing his name. "It's all for one and one for all, a glittering dark star that always shines bright, dig it, while Meowth takes flight!" A talking Meowth said, coming out of the bush that the other two had come out of. "Tram Rocket, let's fight!" Jessie and James said, their voices perfectly in sync. "That's right!" The talking Meowth said. "Wobbuffet!" A Pokémon said, jumping out of the bushes.

"Hey. So what are you doing here?" Ash said, his smile still plastered onto his face. "Oh. We were assigned here by our boss, Giovani. Right now we're kidnapping you." James said, looking at Ash. Everyone was confused about how Ash was so calm, but they just figured that they could ask later. "Hey! I don't know who you are but you better give us Ash back!" Mallow said, pointing at Jessie. "We literally just introduced ourselves twerpette. I'm Jessie, and my friend over there by Ash is James. And no, we will not be giving the twerp back. Or Pikachu, for that matter." Jessie said, looking directly at Mallow.

"Why?! Why won't you give Ash and Pikachu back?!" Lillie yelled, her concern for Ash as clear as day. "Because. We take just the Pikachu and he follows. Then we get zapped by Pikachu, which hurts a lot by the way, and we fail again. Besides, boss would be mad if we had the chance to kidnap him and didn't take it." James said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Plus his hair is soft." Meowth chimed in, leaning against a tree. "Hah! I knew it! So Ash, I'm going to ask you a series of questions which I need you to answer truthfully." Sophocles said, taking out a notepad.

"Actually, before that twerp starts, why does it not hurt for you when you get zapped?" Jessie asked, looking over at Ash. "First off, I've been dealing with it since my tenth birthday when I first got Pikachu, so naturally it's not gonna hurt me. Secondly ask your boss. He can tell you why." Ash said, patting Pikachu's head as he spoke. "You know Ash, you're unnaturally calm about all of this. Why?" Lana said, voicing everyone's thoughts. "I told you didn't I? It's normal for me to get kidnapped about twice a week. I'd be more worried if I didn't get kidnapped twice a week." Ash said, looking at Lana.

"Alright well it's time for us to take our leave. Good bye!" James said, grabbing what appeared to be a rope attached to Ash's cage and and running away. Meowth, Wobbuffet, and Jessie, who were sprinting right behind Ash's cage, were surprised when they realized that James was able to drag the cage all by himself, especially since James wasn't a very strong person.