Spice: This is the corniest plot I've pitched in a while. I'm not sure if I'm embarrassed that it's so cheesy, or proud of us for finishing it anyway.

Feel free to imagine what they did in that last scene cut. We figured it sounded better if we left it ambiguous.

Another beautiful day in Alola had brought the local teens from the Pokémon Trainer School out to the beaches for another thrilling outdoor-class. The group of friends had taken to enjoying their lunch break playing in the surf with their Pokémon.

All except for one Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu, that is. The short teen had wandered away from the group during his exploration, hoping to see some new Pokémon. He wasn't lost, not by any means, but should probably get headed back to–

A shout interrupted his train of thought, followed closely by the sight of some Team Skull Grunts chasing after a runaway Wimpod. The little thing greatly outpaced the humans, but its erratic path brought it close enough to them for it to be in danger of being caught.

"Get back here, yo!"

"Hurry up 'n catch it! Boss is gonna be pissed if ya lose one!"

The Wimpod held by the one Grunt lagging behind didn't seem too happy, if their panicked little squeaks were any indication. That settled it for both Trainer and Pikachu as the former burst into a sprint over to the delinquents. "Hey! Leave that Pokémon alone!"

"Shit! It's that kid!" One of the Grunts chasing the Wimpod yelped, almost tripping over the Grunt in front of her as he dove to catch the fleeing bug-type. Pikachu snickered at the comment as its Trainer grumbled, pouting. ("I'm not a kid…")

Before he had the chance to voice that fact–rather loudly so the Skull Grunts would hear him–the Grunt holding the Wimpod started a retreat. "Uh-oh! We gotta go, like now! He can do them z-moves, yo!"

"B-but the Wimpod?" The Grunt that nearly fell shouted after him, already following.

"Ferget it! We'll tell Boss! He can get it back!"

"Naw, screw it! I can handle some kiddy moves! Can't handle Boss bein' angry, man!" The Grunt on the ground wheeze-yelled at his companions, causing them to pause briefly considering the pros and cons of facing down an angered boss or a z-move. Ash seized the opportunity while he could, his partner at the ready.

"Pikachu, thunderbolt, quick!" The electric mouse didn't need to be told twice as it leapt into the air, it's usual overpowered bolt of electricity arching out and catching the Grunt who'd hesitated to flee, and the beach beneath him. The resulting explosion sent the poor grunt flying into the others, and the trio (plus two Wimpod) were blasted off. "Seems kinda weird when it's not Team Rocket, huh Pikachu?"

"Pika!" Pikachu shouted instead of replying, pointing urgently to the Wimpod who had gotten away, reminding Ash of the two that Team Skull had already grabbed before they blasted off. Feeling terrible at the realization he'd blasted away two innocent Pokémon, Ash responded, more to himself than to Pikachu. "We'll go after them once we make sure this one's okay." Team Skull were sure to turn up again at some point, right?

The teen cautiously made his way over to the rock he'd seen the bug disappear behind, finding it cowering in a hollow just beyond. Slowly, he was able to convey that neither him nor Pikachu meant it any harm, Pikachu doing its level best as translator. It seemed to make up its mind after a few minutes, casually crawling over to the human to be picked up. Together with their new friend, the duo-turned-trio headed back to their class.

After rejoining the other students, Ash had lead an immediate charge to the nearest Pokémon Center to make sure the little bug was alright. Nurse Joy happened to mention that the Wimpod wasn't, in fact, wild at all. Leaving the gang, except for Ash, rather off guard.

"But…no one trains Wimpod?" Lana mentioned softly, tilting her head in a thoughtful pose.

"Huh?" Ash blinked at his companions. The wriggly baby was snuggled up against his chest gently chirring in comfort, Pikachu poking at it occasionally from its own perch on Ash's shoulder.

"Yeah, it's a real-" Sophocles started, only to be cut off by an upset Rotom Dex.

"Let me! Let me! It'zzt my job, zzzt!" The floating Pokédex grinned and swooped to the little Bug-type in Ash's arms, taking a quick snapshot before rattling off the information it had in its databanks. "Wimpod, the Turn Tail Pokémon. It'zzt a coward who alwayzz runzz away. It'zzt legzz move so fazzt while running that it leavezz a sparkling clean path in itzzt wake!" The group of local trainers nodded in agreement.

"They're so weak…and they run away at the smallest thing, too. Watch!" Sophocles grinned and took a deep breath, before shouting "BOO!" at the bug in Ash's arms. As expected, the Wimpod startled and scurried out of Ash's arms knocking Pikachu off the trainer's shoulder and taking up residence on the top of his head, giving little bug hisses at the rotund boy.

Ash patted at the bug-type placatingly as his confusion only furthered. "Well, then why did Team Skull want them?" From what he'd seen of them so far, they were like Team Rocket – only after supposedly 'valuable' Pokémon.

Kiawe, Lana, Mallow and Sophocles stiffened and exchanged looks as they caught the connection instantly, Lillie speaking up for the group with a gasp. "You stole a Team Skull Wimpod?!"

"What? No! They were...stealing them?"

"Ash, no! You don't understand! Wimpod might be funny little weaklings, but Team Skull will freak out if you take or hurt them!" Mallow continued, stepping next to Lillie and looking down at Ash in a mix of worry and scolding.

Ash was about to respond when the Pokémon Center door opened, and every person in the (actually rather busy) center went silent.

"Got that right, girly." A large shadow fell over the gathered teengers, drawing gasps out of them and sending the smaller two girls and Sophocles to hiding behind Kiawe and Mallow, respectively.

Ash shared a side glance with Pikachu – who simply offered a shrug from its vantage point on the floor – before turning around to face the new speaker and source of the shadow. An incredibly tall man with white hair and goofy-looking sunglasses...was this guy supposed to be scary?

Guzma took a long, lazy look around the now-silent Center, raking in the effect of his presence, before getting back to business. "Yeah, thats right! Here's destruction in human form! It's ya boy Guzma!" He sneered down at the short teenager, who met it with a glare. Jerking a finger at the Wimpod perched on Ash's head, he continued. "And you got somethin' that belongs to me. Now hand 'em over."

You could hear a pin drop as people held their breaths, even the nurse's Comfey stilling to watch. It wasn't often these days that someone crossed Team Skull – at least, not enough to get the Boss involved. The grunts were rather harmless and easy to ignore, elsewise.

Ignoring the tense atmosphere in the rest of the Center, Ash continued to glare, Pikachu following suit by his side. "Were not handing over anything!" He declared, taking the Wimpod off his head and cradling it close again.

"Like you get a say in it ya lil brat, how old are you even?! 9? 10?" Guzma rolled his eyes. Damn tourists. At least the adults had the sense not to mess with the local gang, but this kid–

"I'm 17! Not a kid! How old are you? Huh? 50? 60?" Ash's retort caught Guzma off-guard, stunning him for a moment before he could reply.

"SAY WHAT?!" The taller man took a double take, looking the not-kid over. Seventeen?! There's no way! He's way too cute to be older than– wait, what. "YO! Just 'cause I got white hair don't make me old! I'm only 20!"

"And just 'cause I'm short doesn't mean I'm a kid!" Ash quipped back without missing a beat.

It should, Guzma thought, not willing to acknowledge the heat rising to his face as anything other than anger. "Tch, whatever! Just gimme my damn Wimpod!"

"Not a chance! As if I'd give a Pokémon to a member of Team Skull!"

"Keep insultin' me brat, see what happens."

"Maybe I will, jerk!"

"Ugh! This is stupid, just gimme my Wimpod, yo! I didn't steal it, it's mine!"

"Why should I believe you?!"

While the two argued, much to the horror of the quarrel's onlookers – save for Pikachu, who was just getting progressively more annoyed – Wimpod had begun wiggling in Ash's hold. The yelling was too loud for its little buggy senses! It wanted to run! Being the bug specialist in the room, Guzma picked up on its distress right away.

"Arceus fuck! Just put the poor thing down! Can't ya see yer scarin' 'im?!"

"I'MSCARING HIM? You're yelling too!"

"'Cause you STOLE my Pokémon!"

Having been tugging on its ears from where it stood on the floor due to the yelling, Pikachu apparently decided enough was enough, making its decision known with a short yell and zap of the two arguing humans. Though Ash had gotten used to electrocution over the years, it still shocked him enough to allow Wimpod to wriggle its way to freedom. In the blink of an eye, the little bug zoomed out of the Poké Center, putting as much space as it could between it and the commotion.

"Shit!" Guzma swore under his breath, bolting after the bug, pausing only long enough to cast a sideways glare back at Ash. "We'll finish this later!"

"Wha-? H-hey! Get back here!" The short-statured teen called out, but his demands went unanswered, Guzma already long gone from the Center. Ash, now Wimpod-less, was left fuming in the dust, face uncharacteristically flushed. He grumbled something about the Team Skull Leader being a jerk before noticing the group staring at him, slack-jawed.

"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!"

"…Do what?" Ash tilted his head.

His classmates exchanged glances while the rest of the patrons in the center began to gossip among themselves. Ash looked to Pikachu and shrugged, getting a shrug in return before the electric mouse climbed up to his shoulder once more. Alola sure was a strange place.

The following few days passed without any signs of Team Skull, including their Leader. Of course, nothing good could last forever.

Professor Kukui had run out of food– or, rather, Ash had attempted to cook the last of it, and now was in search of more to replace it with at the local mall. Looking around for the items instead of his trajectory around a shelf led him to crash into the exact person he wasn't looking for, Guzma. The stunned silence of the onlookers, mimicking the crowd back at the Pokémon Center, was really starting to grate on the short teen's nerves. What was this, a train wreck?

"Watch where ya goin'!" The taller man spat out, his ire from their first meeting returning. Of course, Ash wasn't having any of that.

"You watch it!"

As the Nothing Fight™ wore on, crowd as uneasy as ever, it was clear that Pikachu was no longer paying attention. There were so many better things to look at, like those cool Tapu Cocoa cans with the Skitty on them!

Pikachu resigned itself to waiting out the argument, but kept an ear perked in case it needed to jump in. Though as predicted by the small electric-type, there was no need. And the arguing eventually petered out with an angered "Shut up!" from Guzma before the Skull Boss shoved past Ash and continued on his way.

What it hadn't predicted, was for that flush to show back up on its Trainer's face. Pikachu gave a sigh and returned to Ash's side, tugging on the teen's pant leg to knock him out of whatever mental images he was entertaining. With a huff, Ash continued through the mall. "Come on Pikachu." For once, the mouse was hoping Team Rocket might make an appearance, if only to distract the agitated trainer.

"I CAN'T STAND THAT LITTLE BRAT!"

Plumeria, somehow, miraculously, managed to contain her groan as Guzma started up again. "I'm tryna do shit, boss."

This, unfortunately, did not deter the Skull Boss' tirade. Kid this, kid that, "How the hell is he 17?!", kid's stupid Pikachu companion, blah blah blah. To say Guzma had been complaining about a certain newcomer to the region would be an understatement – Plumeria was pretty sure everyone on Ula'Ula knew about Guzma's doofy little crush on the kid by this point.

Unfortunately, she was the one who had to hear it the most, and the Poison-type user was quickly losing her patience. "Look, either go kiss the kid already, or shut yer face!"

The comment caught Guzma off-guard, a few seconds of sweet, sweet silence passing before he lit up, face as red as a Tamato berry. "Wh- whAT?!"

"Jeez, you're dense. Ya got a CRUSH on 'im!" Plumeria rolled her eyes, going back to her magazine in an attempt to semi-ignore him again. "Swear everything outta yer stupid mouth, been about that kid since ya first met!"

Though the last comment had been mumbled, the Team Skull Boss still heard it, and ended up spluttering indignantly "Have NOT!" The red on his face traveled lightning-fast to his ears and the back of his neck.

"Blush any brighter and ya gonna start lookin' like a lightbulb." Guzma tensed at the observation, fists clenched and teeth grit. Plumeria did groan externally this time, loudly, before regaling the dense bug nerd with examples of why yes, he had not shut up. If he bothered to do the math (which she didn't, either – she got the stats from that one math nerd Grunt), he would find he's spent an average of 4 hours every day hissing and ranting about this new trainer. Enough so, the majority of Grunts could probably identify the teen in a line-up based solely on Guzma's rants.

"You even called this guy 'cute' at least three damn times just today!" Guzma had the nerve to attempt to argue that fact, but was silenced by a hand in his face. "Now, if ya ain't gonna do nothin' productive, boss, why don'tcha go take a walk or somethin'. Dang."

Pulling his head back from the hand, Guzma hmphed loudly and stomped towards the door of his second-in-command's bedroom, obviously in just as much of a mood as when he busted in. "Fine! Maybe I will!"

"Finally…" With her troublesome boss now out of her hair, Plumeria turned on the small radio she owned and once again reclined in bed with her magazine. Her job was done; time to relax.

Meanwhile, the other kids in Ash's class had been dealing with a similar situation involving their recent addition. Kukui, being the person Ash lived with, suffered the brunt of it, as well as the younger's classmates complaining to him about his charge's behavior and the occasional input from Rotom Dex of its hairbrained thoughts on the issue. So, as it was the weekend, and thus classes were out, Kukui had brought it upon himself to set Ash down and give him a stern talking-to about his recent – and rather unusual from experiences so far – attitude.

"Guzma's a jerk."

Yep, he should've expected that.

Kukui sighed for possibly the billionth time since attempting the conversation. Ash couldn't seem to identify any other issues he was having, except for his bizarre dislike(?) of the Team Skull Boss. Had it been any other situation or any other person, Kukui could have easily waved the comments off, since it was true after all. Guzma was a jerk. But for one thing, this was Ash! Who didn't (to his knowledge) hate anyone. And for another…half of the complaints and 'insults' about the gang leader were borderline flirtatious!

Eventually, the beleaguered Professor had endured enough. Not even toughing out Pokémon moves could compare to this. "Just…go take a walk or something. Maybe clearing your head will help, yeah?"

Ash pouted, still grumpy. "Okay. Come on, Pikachu." The Pokémon in question sighed, shrugged, and shook its head as it followed its silly, clueless Trainer out of the lab.

Of course, as luck goes in the Pokémon universe, the two found themselves on the same beach during their walks. With their moods already so foul to begin with, it barely took eye contact to get their blood boiling again.

"Arceus fuck! Are ya stalkin' me or somethin'?!"

"I should ask you that, jerk!" Ash snapped back, not even noticing the exasperated Golisopod sitting on the sand next to Guzma. Neither party noticed as their Pokémon greeted each other. Pikachu gave a nod to the Golisopod before sitting boredly next to the bug to wait out the argument.

The bug-type began to perk up when it realized how the two were gravitating towards each other while arguing. They were in each others' faces by now, Guzma having to lean down to do so due to Ash's height, or lack thereof. Pikachu seemed to catch on to Golisopod's growing idea and had to suppress a giggle as the bug-type stood up, lumbering over to the oblivious trainers.

In the split second the two trainers took to catch a breath between their arguing, Golisopod gave a loud chirr and shoved Guzma forward. Pikachu couldn't contain its laughter at the faces the humans made as their mouths crashed together.

The surprise contact immediately silenced any further arguments, both aloud and internal, for the pair. The bug-type sighed in relief, waddling over and flopping back down next to the electric mouse Pokémon. Both of them shared a high five and snickered as their trainers attempted to reboot, the unexpected action having solidly put them in blue screen territory.

After a few more seconds, the two brains managed to catch up with their bodies, and they jerked away from each other, blushing heavily. Talk about makin' shit awkward, thanks Goli.

"Uhh…" The Team Skull Boss was at a loss for words. Just what the hell was he supposed to say here?! He couldn't even say the kiss had been an unpleasant experience – no, of course it had to feel good, just his luck. But now what? Before Guzma could completely lose himself to his negative and confused thoughts, he was interrupted.

"...Wanna...try again?" The Pikachu trainer questioned, hoping he'd read the situation right for once.

Swallowing thickly at the suggestion, Guzma couldn't help glancing around the beach, paranoid someone would see them. A hard tug at the lapels of his hoodie pulled him back down to Ash's level just enough for the shorter trainer to plant a small peck on his lips.

Ash's retreat was done in by Guzma catching him at the last second, pulling him into a much deeper kiss…

The end of the day found a far less frustrated Ash happily returning to Kukui's house, a relieved Pikachu in tow.

"Oho, finally clear your head, yeah?"

"You could say that." Ash grinned, wondering when he'd be running into the "Big Bad Boss" again. Hopefully, soon.

FIN