No No Pokeball (swearing/violence/death. PG-something.)

[Satoshi_Red]

This story has light swearing, frequent violence, death and philosophy. I edited the very beginning for better clarification.

No No Pokeball

--

Episode One;

I choose... Where'd they all go?!

--
Sniff. Sniff.

Tall, unnaturally smooth sticks stuck out from the ground, blocking the way. Paint chipped off of them, smelling acrylic and foul to his nose.

A hole appeared in his sight, a chip in the fence and he eyed it warily. A snug fit.

Wiggle. Wiggle.

It snagged uncomfortably at the ends of his yellow hairs, but he managed to tug through. Warily he glanced about, but spotted no dangers. So good so far. Rows and rows of delicious fruit upon trees, apples and leaves hanging just out of reach, branches directly above head. It was Eden; or it could have been. Carefully he dug his nails into the sides of the bark, and scurried towards the direction of the sky.

Pichu and Pichu, fed soon, me shall. He thought to himself, balancing on a tight and narrow branch as it began to split off into twigs, and made a hasty grab for a sweet delicious branch. Snap! He tumbled to the ground, but with his prize in hand. A row of sweet, fresh apples lay on the broken stick inside his claws.

Gripping it in his teeth, he almost dropped it as barking and shouts greeted him not far in the distance. Glancing sharply upward, he spotted two figures emerging from the bright red human nest. Uh oh.

A red, shaggy dog with cream tail and mane and jagged black stripes running down it's snout snarled as it was unchained. Quickly he ran, sweeping under the fence and practically flying across the ground as he ran towards the forest.

Howls lit the air, and his heart pounded faster, faster, and faster. Through undergrowth and bushes he raced, deadly barks gaining ever closer. A dog's mouth snapped by his lightning shaped tail, and faltered back.

A yip of pain was heard, the growlithe tripping. Not pausing even to look behind, he sped on.

Predator gone? He wondered, ducking behind a tree. Silence echoed all around the forest, not a single sound or bird chirping. Nothing alive was in sight, except for the worms and plants themselves.

His chest movements slowed, and his body gave a breath of relief. Turning, he plodded to a small hill, feeling rather pleased all in all. Two delighted squeaks greeted him, as two small fuzzy baby mice bolted towards him.

"Want food?" He beamed down at them as they tried to leap up and grab the stick from his mouth. He'd been trying to get them to speak lately; they did it far too little for their own good. The little pichu's tails wiggled furiously against their fuzzy yellow bodies, and they pouted as they couldn't jump high enough to grab the apples.

Finally, one opened his mouth. "Want! Want!" The other began to chime in as well, staring intently.

He laughed, and lowered the fruits into their reach. Ravenously they seized on them and nibbled. A blur lurched from the trees, and he blinked as jaws snapped around a pichu.

Down the furry bundle went, blood leaking from the jaws of the farmer's dog. Unable to believe his eyes, he leapt backwards as a row full of teeth snapped at his feet, belonging to a fearsome orange-red canid. In fear his remaining son cried, trying to dart behind him. Whirling, he leapt to protect him, still unable to believe his own eyes from what had happened so fast.

Can't... Can't be dead. He stared in utter horror at the killer, chills running up his spine as the dog shot forward, snapping at his remaining child huddled beneath his feet. A cold rage broiled in his gut, and he snarled, cheeks sparking.

The growlithe hesitated, eyeing the well-guarded lives before him.

Then, it growled and choked forth a mouthful of flame, spitting it forth. Frantically, the pikachu dodged, grabbing his baby in his mouth and tumbling backwards.

Quickly he tucked his child behind a rock-- and felt claws digging into his side as he was yanked backwards. Snarling he twisted, scratching and biting back at his attacker who bit deeply into his flank, freeing blood and flesh. Landing a hit on the sensitive black nose, the dog loosened it's hold on him and he squirmed free, dropping to the red stained grass.

By the time he was back on his feet and facing the growlithe, the dog had lost attention in him, instead staring towards the rock and stalking forward.

No no no!

He raced forward.

The dog stalked intently towards the littlest pokemon, having spotted the twitch of a black ear, and pounced.

He sped faster.

The jaws snapped down on the pichu even as it tried to scramble away, cold gleaming slimy teeth digging in sharply as daggers.

He sped faster, limbs stretching as far as they could stretch, time itself seeming to slow in those few seconds.

Too late.

The crackling snap of bone ranged out through the air; a motionless body flopped about like a rag in the canid snout. The little neck lay at an odd angle, limp and slightly torn. The black eyes stared blankly outward at him, complete with a dull twist at the end of the ever open mouth on the carcass.

DIE! He thought furiously, smashing into the dog, sending the canine flying into a tree. A small current coursed through his body as he trembled with rage, stalking forward as the growlithe got up.

The growlithe gave him a single glance straight into his eyes. Then, it ran, a jackal like laughing as it bounced through the meadows. Cursing internally, he made to go after, the dog twisting and turning every which way.

For a moment, his heart almost stopped as the murderer disappeared from sight.

Frantically he listened, turning about, wondering which way the dog had went, limbs shaking with suppressed rage and indignation. A small, faint sound like a whimper perked his ears, and round he turned, leaping off like a rocket over a bush.

In mid-air he caught the dog, bashing him to the ground, and the two tumbled as they scratched and bit, releasing fire and electricity as they crashed. Faintly, he caught sight of a human boy, looking shocked, before his head smacked against the ground and his eyes rolled upward.

Black stars bubbled and flashed across his vision, pain shooting up everywhere as his vision blurred.

...Did... I kill...

His eyes fluttered shut.

- - - - -

Tap. Tap. Tap.

A lazy eye opened to the blurry sight of... Mother tapping her foot. Delia didn't look pleased. Sunlight was pouring in the room, so it couldn't be too late for breakfast.
What had he done this time?

"Satoshi!" She growled, waving a newspaper threateningly while in her apron. "I agree to sign the release papers from school and you don't bother to go do what you claimed you needed it for?"


Uh oh. The Pokemon!


Satoshi sat up, as his mother tisk'd in annoyance while he quickly fiddled with his socks and shoes, putting them on, then slipping off of bed. He quickly went to his PC, (personal computer), and hit download for a healing spray. Knowing himself, he'd need it.

In the meantime while it transferred, he quickly foraged through his closet to grab his bag.

"While you grab your stuff, I'll go downstairs--"

"I'm done!" He waved, grabbing the potion and stuffing it haphazardly in just like everything else. Delia sighed.

"You know how I feel about these Pokemon journeys."

Yeah. He remembered all too well. Just a growing list of people, Gary among them, who felt he might not be up to snuff.

He'd show them. He was going to be the best. A master.

Leaving through the door, he paused at his mother's voice broke through once more.

"Oh, and by the way, Farmer Hatchet claims a wild pokemon stole some of his crops. His growlithe got loose going after it. Watch out for the wild--"

"Yeah yeah, there are tons of wild pokemon, even in Pallet, Mom." He waved her off, walking briskly toward Oaks. He sped up as he saw the crowd. Oh, some of the trainers must have gotten their pokemon already;--

"Watch where you're going!" Old widow Green shouted as he nudged by her.

"Sorry! Coming through!" He nudged his way through the crowd, and managed to see the spiky hair of Gary through the crowd.

"Hey! Professor Oak, I need my Pokemo--" He tripped, as suddenly the crowd moved past him. Turning his head, he overheard joyous shouts.

The other trainers were leaving.

The crowd was following them to the edge of town.

"No, wait, I still haven't got my Poke--"

It was useless. He looked downcast as the crowd moved off. Oak must have been with them, because he wasn't around as Satoshi glanced about. The Starters were all taken.

He couldn't, couldn't be the only kid his age at school... He dealt with enough torment already there... The only kid without a Pokemon. Maybe if he had been from one of the cities, and not a little place like Pallet, where it was tradition for everyone at the age of ten to leave with a Pokemon, even if they came back a week later, which was quite frequent.

And he had begged his Mother hard enough as it was to follow through with it; her originally being from Viridian, not Pallet, meant she hadn't grown up with Pallet traditions.

Viridian! That was the answer! Maybe they had some left-over Pokemon there from the trainer academy graduation? He hoped so! There was only a small route of wilderness to the city; they didn't really have any roads, but Satoshi couldn't possibly run into any trouble in such a short distance. Nobody would ever know from Pallet that he hadn't received his pokemon from there; it was perfect!

You might be wondering at this point, if you don't have some clue already, who exactly Satoshi is. Satoshi Red is a ten-year-old boy born and raised in Pallet; black haired, wearing a red jacket and hat, slightly on the skinny side but a heavy eater, and not exactly the brightest... Anything, actually. He wasn't the most unself-centered, or giving, either.

But that didn't automatically mean he was worthless. Or at least so he told himself. Or, at least, he wouldn't be worthless in the future. In the future, he thought, he'd be tall and famous, skilled and have the greatest Pokemon, so nobody would mess with ol 'Red, not even that rich jerk Gary Oak who had /more/ of a family than just a single poor mom who ran a Garden Shop.

Or so he told himself.

Satoshi slipped by Farmer Hatchet's fence, one of the very last houses on the road; actually, at that point the town was so scattered there were entire farms, and he was practically in the wilds anyway.

Maybe it was a bit bigger than he thought.

The landscape was fairly pruned of trees; large fields and meadows that marked the end of town. Trees and ferns appeared more frequently as he left the edges, until he was surrounded by them.

He could no longer tell which way Viridian was just by looking; he'd have to be careful to keep heading in the same direction he'd already been going.

A growl interrupted his thoughts.

"Huh?" He whirled, a little spooked, suddenly reminded of the fact that there were rocks on the ground, and he could throw them. But rocks weren't much deterrent to a determined animal; whatever it might be.

The bushes made a racket, and there was a foul smell of blood. Lots of blood. He calmed enough to frown at this, narrowing his eyes. What was going on?
A figure emerged from the bushes behind him.

He whirled, his heart thumping. It was just a Growlithe. Farmer Hatchet's, in fact.
The boy tried to relax, but suddenly he caught sight of blood on... The growlithe? It stepped forward, revealing itself more, it's lips were curled back and blood stained it's jaws.

It snarled.

Satoshi bunched himself up, preparing for the blow that was obviously coming, throwing his arms over his head and throat to avoid getting them mauled.

The sound of flesh meeting teeth rang out in the eerily silent forest, with snarls and growls echoing all around.

But nothing had happened.

Peeking from behind his arm, he saw a yellow blur attacking the Growlithe furiously. Electricity laced the air.

The growlithe paused and released a fireball of heat from it's mouth, hitting the ball and knocking it off his body. It slide unconscious to the ground, and he could now see that it was a Pikachu, bloody and burned.

The growlithe turned it's head toward him menacingly, and--

Fainted, collapsing on the spot.

"Crikey." Satoshi breathed, disbelieving all that had just happened. "I..." He stepped forward. "I almost--" He couldn't talk. Died. He turned his head and looked at the Pikachu. He needed to get it to a Pokemon center, didn't he? Or any kind of hospital help, really.

He crouched down and picked the mouse up tenderly. It didn't move. He stood up, and then ran.

Ran like a life depended on it.

--

Satoshi arrived at the centre, panting. His mind tuned out all the new sights and smells. He had never actually been in a Pokecenter before. His eyes whirled toward one thing. The official medical desk.

"Help! This Pikachu is injured." Satoshi panted out, placing the Pikachu who saved his life on the counter in front of a pink haired lady with a strange hair style and official looking outfit. "Where's the nurse?"

"I am Nurse Joy." She looked at him, alarmed and astonished at the blood. "How could you let your Pokemon get in this condition! Pokemon battles are strictly non-lethal blows only--"

"It's not my Pokemon!" Satoshi replied unhappily. The Nurse took the Pikachu and placed it on a healing mat, that made a strange dinging sound as she wrapped it in bandages.

"Did you steal it?" She looked at him pointedly. For someone with such a soft and kind voice, she had a rather stern manner. "I'll have to report you if it isn't yours--"

"No! He--" For a moment, Satoshi wondered whether it really was a he or she. "is wild!"

"Oh my. And he let you touch him? No, he must have been too hurt to do anything at the time." She thought out loud. "Did you steal him from some Fearow trying to eat him? While that's very commendable, it happens all the time in the wild--"

"No!" Satoshi said, turning a little green at the idea of this happening normally. Why had nobody ever told him about that before? "This Pikachu saved my LIFE." Satoshi stated finally, as the Nurse returned the Pikachu to him.

She stared at him strangely, as if she had never heard of such a thing before. However, after a short silence that lasted only a few seconds; "It's not as bad as was feared. Most of the blood wasn't its own. The burn wounds weren't from a very powerful source, they should heal nicely."

"Oh, okay. Alright, thank you." Satoshi calmed. The Nurse wasn't that bad after all. He was just... Overreacting. This wasn't what he imagined his first day as a trainer would be like.

"Uhm..." He fidgeted, holding the Pikachu in his arms. "Now... Now what?"

She smiled. "Now he needs rest. Trainers get free board and meals for a night at the centre."

"But I'm not a trainer." Satoshi looked at her quizzically. "I mean, I don't have a Pokemon yet. I was supposed to get one..." Telling the truth to just one person couldn't hurt.

"It's alright. You have a Pokemon with you right now, or have you forgot already that he liked you enough to save your life?"

Satoshi's ears tinged pink. He wasn't sure that was it at all. "Right."

He headed upstairs, on the next centre floor, and opened up a nice door leading to a bare-looking room with a bed, a drawer and a window, but nothing else. He placed the pikachu softly on the pillow, and stood back, looking at the strange Pokemon. Earlier that day, all he knew about Pokemon were that different types came in all sorts of shapes and all had names based on the sounds they made, and that you could fit one in a Pokeball and collect and battle them. Now... He wasn't sure what he knew.

They could be bloody, and violent, and not all of them ate just factory manufactured Pokechow.

"Guess I'll just wait for you to wake up then..."

He fidgeted.

And sighed.

And sneezed once.

It was going to be a long wait.

--


Pikachu, pikachu see glimmering light… Not dead…? Oh no… Pichu… Pichu de-…

Dead… Oh no… No… No…

--


Satoshi blinked.

The yellow mouse was finally opening it's eyes.

"Hey!" Satoshi grinned. "I--"

"Pika-chu!" Pikachu almost growled, whirling on to it's feet in the blink of an eye, despite its injuries. Electricity started to dance from it's red cheeks.

"Woah, wait! I just wanted to know why you saved my life!" Satoshi exclaimed, stepping back and almost tripping over the drawer.

The Pikachu stopped, looking confused.

It hadn't been on purpose, then. That kind of sucked, Satoshi felt.

"Pika... Pikachu." Its... His? Hers? Eyes became half-lidded, and it seemed to gain a serious face. "Pichu. Ka-chui!" It explained, chattering unhappily as it sat up on the bed, looking straight at him.

"Uh... I just remembered I don't understand Pokemon."

The Pikachu looked vaguely annoyed. "Pachu."

"Uh, thank you? And, before I forget, are you a girl?"

The Pikachu shook it's head in exasperation. At least it wasn't trying to kill him, like the other one was. Good, not every Pokemon could be that bad. And that Growlithe had been raised by humans!

It made no sense.

Satoshi fiddled with a Pokeball, then, very slowly, brought it before the Pikachu's eyes. The fur on its, no, his back stood up. "You recognize this. It's a Pokeball. I thought, maybe, since you, well, rescued me, you might want to journey with me... I understand if you refuse."

He placed the Pokeball on the bed, before the Pikachu's feet, nervous but trying not to show it.

He stepped back, and watched as Pikachu looked down at it, reaching down his paw and then--

Whirling around, and then sending it sailing through the air with his paw, smashing it into the wall on the opposite side of the room.

"I see." Satoshi breathed out disappointedly. "I'll go." He turned. He kept his word. He'd... It would be too late to grab any Starter now. He had waited the entire morning. He'd just go home. And be mocked. And watch Gary become a champion.

He felt something touch his shoulder.

"What?" He turned his body slowly, and noticed he didn't feel his hat on his head anymore.

Pikachu was wearing it.

"What does... Are..." He gestured randomly, lost for words. "Are you coming with me?" He pointed toward himself hopefully.

"Pika!" Pikachu shouted, leaping off the bed and landing on to Satoshi's shoulder. A strange light feeling settled in his stomach, but it wasn't a bad feeling. It was good. Giddy, almost.

"Yeah!" Satoshi leaped into the air, kicking his feet. "Beat that, Gary! I'm gonna be the best, with Pikachu!" He darted out of the room and down the flight of stairs, leaving the center.

"Let's go get... A milkshake!"

And they went off, riding, I mean walking, toward the beautiful light of a restaurant.

--

Human! Run!

Not going to hurt Pikachu?

Pikachu, protect, scared, no Growlithe want! Try to save no human, save… Pichu Die.
Stupid. Pikachu explain for no anything!

Pikachu puzzled? Ask-- He ask--… Asked?

Pokeball cage! But… He asked. No No Pokeball. No… Pokeball, but go, Pikachu… No anything, for Pikachu. But no-yes--… But maybe human let Pikachu feel no… Pain for awhile. No pain for No Pichu, just… Be Pikachu.

Strange thing. Go on head?

Yes… Milkshake? Pikachu want?

--

End of Episode. Credits Roll.

--
Opening Theme Rolls. Game boy music plays and a Gengar and Nidorino fight…
--

Episode Two: The First Fight!
--

--
A bored black-haired boy with a red hat looks off to the side bored as a teacher is heard droning on. It is a classroom full of kids.

"-example argument is that of a trainer with a Magikarp, fighting a Moltres. Most experts are in favor of something in-between, that it is both the trainer and the Pokemon that must be up to snuff to win a fight. The argument whether it is better to raise one's Pokemon to be as powerful as possible, or to develop one's own skills more, is undecided." The teacher lectures.

A group of girls are heard giggling about something to do with a give-away, and the teacher's voice is droning in the background: "Pro. Oak, and several previous Champions, believe the Pokemon are the most important component. Team Rocket, in it's cruel behavior, in contrast, seems to lean to the Trainer being more important."

"Naturally, a good trainer can't win with a weak Pokemon. It's the Pokemon that matters." A brown haired boy speaks up with a snotty voice, looking directly at the black-haired boy.

"Yeah, Gary!" Chant the girls behind him.

"I don't believe that. I think a good trainer could make victory even over a stronger opponent."

"Yeah, but only if the Pokemon is already strong. A Pokemon with a type advantage is equal to a stronger opponent. I always knew you were a cruel loser, Satoshi; think of that, putting yourself in front of your pokemon. Selfish."

"Selfish." The girls chanted in agreement.

"But…" The boy began, looking uncertain. "Then what are trainers for?" He exclaimed.
Gary waved a hand. "I always knew you were stupid, but this takes the cake! Pokemon just aren't--"

The bell rang.

"Smell you later." Gary laughed, and left.

Damn you, Gary Oak. You with your family, your money… Your talent… He looked miserable at the last thought, glancing down at his papers. He wasn't doing so well in school. His mom wasn't going to be pleased.

He walks out of the classroom.

--

Suddenly a bag was thumped upon a counter. Satoshi walks away from the counter and his mother Delia looks up from cooking as he enters the kitchen. Moonlight glints in from the windows, but is overcast by the stronger lights in the kitchen.

"Can I get my license? Gary is hosting a give away of a couple Pokemon, or more specifically Professor Oak is, and…--"

His mother frowned. "That nice bright friend of yours? You know how I feel about Pokemon journey's. Your father did it, and…" She bit her lip.

"He left you."

It was a statement.

"Please? Delia?"

She winced. "You know I prefer you to call me Mom. Fine, torture your mother, go ahead and apply for your… License."

"Did you ever…?"

"For about two days. Then I got bored." She grinned. "Maybe you'll do the same."

End memory
-

Satoshi frowned, slurping on his milkshake.

"What do you mean you are out of Pokeballs?"

"Our shipment doesn't come 'till later. Normally we'd have some, but today is the big day for many trainers, and we were all bought up." The man replied. "You must be from out of town if you haven't grabbed some Pokeballs yet for your new journey. Do you perhaps know a Professor…" He seemed to glance down at something. "Samuel Oak? From Pallet Town? This special package came for him." The storekeeper set a package on the register.

It certainly didn't seem like a special package.

"Yeah, I know him." He could hear Pikachu slurping on a milkshake by his ear. "He's THE Professor Oak."

"You josh me."

"I josh you… Not." Satoshi replied, a little unfamiliar with the phrase. "I'll take it to him, anyway." And show off Pikachu, too cool! I bet all the other trainers will be jealous Pikachu beat up a rampaging Growlithe. He hefted the package, and turned to go out of the store. He'd buy something from it later. He still had that healing spray from earlier to tie him over if an emergency happened-- It had been stupid of him to forget he had it when Pikachu rescued him. At least he made it up by giving Pikachu a milkshake. A ketchup milkshake. Disgusting, but Pikachu adored it enough to finish it before they had even gotten out of Viridian.

He headed down a less shady and tree filled path than before this time, deciding to veer on the side of caution in case of more wild Pokemon. Wait, he still had one pokeball, didn't he? He and Pikachu could battle something. Were Pidgey good to catch?

He glanced about. There! A Caterpie! They were fairly rare so far from Viridian Forest. It must be good luck!

"Pikachu! Go get it! I want to catch it!"

Pikachu stared at him blankly. It closed both it's eyes and then…

Began to snore.

"Wake up!" Satoshi grumbled. "I thought we were a team!" He'd shake Pikachu, except
he was holding the package and barely managing to balance it in one hand while holding the Pokeball in another.

"Fine." Satoshi grumbled. Pikachu peeked an eye open. "Can we fight that Rattata instead? For experience? And then maybe I catch it? Please--" Pikachu closed it's eyes and fell asleep.

The boy sighed, and walked back to Pallet Town. He didn't attempt to get Pikachu to do anything again. He still didn't know why he didn't do it the first time when Satoshi asked him.

He went by a friendly 'Welcome to Pallet Town!' sign, walking by the fence of Mrs. Green's old house. Pikachu looked around curiously from the viewpoint of Satoshi's shoulder, and ducked behind Satoshi's head every time he spotted a human.

Satoshi carefully balanced the package with his leg and one hand in order to free the other one as he arrived at Oak's lab door. He knocked twice, then put down his leg and grabbed the package with his other hand again.

The door opened. Pro. Oak stood, blinking, holding a coffee mug.

"Satoshi? What are you doing here? Come in, come in please." He waved him in. One of Oak's assistants was filing through a shelf, otherwise the place was rather empty and badly-lit. Satoshi guessed they weren't doing much at this time of day.

He stepped through, and Pikachu nervously peered at Oak and his aide from behind his head. "Hey Professor! I brought this package for you. I was in Viridian and this guy didn't immediately recognize your name, wanted me to deliver it, fancy that." He stated loudly and cheerfully, placing down the package toward where Oak waved him over to.

"It's a custom pokeball they sent for me to study; I'm afraid I can't tell you what it is. It's a secret." Professor Oak replied, gaining a shrewd look on his face. "Say; I don't recall giving out a Pikachu. And I didn't see you at the give-away."

"Oh, that." Satoshi said, offhandedly like it was nothing important. "I missed the give-away. This is Pikachu."

Oak stared at him. "Excuse me? How did you get him, then? You didn't sneak into Viridian and grab one of their starters, did you? You know that's dangerous, with wild pokemon hanging out in the grasses."

"No!" Satoshi exclaimed, feeling a little put-off and embarrassed that it had been his original plan.

Oak rubbed his eyes, in a tired frustration. "I have to ask. Did you steal him? I don't know what else to assume, it's not like anyone in Pallet has a Pikachu."

"No! Pikachu, is wild." What was with people assuming that he stole things? Did he seem that untrustworthy? "He wanted to come with me." He grinned proudly. Pikachu meanwhile was licking himself as if he couldn't care less.

"How?" Oak looked genuinely happily surprised, and scratched his head of white hair. "Wild Pokemon usually don't walk up to people randomly. Unless catching them has become much easier since I last tried. Which it probably has, to be truthful, but that besides the point."

"Erm." He had really not wanted to bring this part up. "I sort of got almostattackedbyaGrowlithe. He saved me, then I brought him to the Pokemon Center, and he woke up, and I asked him if he'd like to journey with me, then he stole my hat, then--"

Oak raised a white eyebrow. "I think I get the story, Satoshi." He sat down, and sipped his mug. "Did he go in a Pokeball?"

"Well, no…"

"I'm not surprised. Untame Pikachu hate pokeballs more than most Pokemon. Alright, I'm convinced. That's really an amazing story you have there." He chuckled. "I'm afraid Pikachu will need to be registered by the system, however."

"So he won't get caught if another trainer throws a pokeball at him?"

"Right." Oak nodded. "I'll need his pokeball signature."

Satoshi looked slightly confused. He could guess what Oak meant, but, he didn't really know what a pokeball signature was.

"I'm afraid I'll have to use a pokeball for this. Is that alright with you?" He looked at Pikachu.

"Pika?" Pikachu turned to look at him, startled from looking at the ceiling. Oak took out a pokeball attached to a wire running to a computer. He tapped the ball, and a red light shot out. Pikachu freaked, and made to leap off Satoshi's shoulder, but the beam caught Pikachu. For a brief moment, Pikachu disappeared, and the pokeball tried to close. Pikachu reappeared at the last moment, escaping from the red light, and fell to the floor on all floors neatly.

"Feisty fellow." Grinned Oak. "I'd guess to be a mature adult male, three years of age." He turned to read the results on his computer. "Hold on while I illegally send this to the system."

"You can do that?" Satoshi's eyes widened. "Why doesn't everybody catch pokemon that way, then?"

"Because it doesn't work, of course. The pokemon doesn't become tame just because you register it." He laughed. "I'm only messing up the PC system to believe he's been caught, and registered to your license. I wouldn't be able to do that if I didn't have access to the PC transferal system, of course." Satoshi lost him right there, confused. "I transferred him from nowhere. It'll look like a normal registry, unless someone pries."

"Should I assume someone will do that?"

"No. It's pretty unlikely. Even if you make it to the tournaments, where they do routine checks for stolen pokemon, they won't be looking for that. Overwriting or transferring a pokemon that's already been caught is an entirely different matter than this." Pro. Oak explained. "But I'm not really a professor on computers, really, just Pokemon." I would have never guessed. "Bill is the real expert."

Satoshi fidgeted impatiently. "Do I get a Pokedex?"

Oak looked startled. "Oh, right, sorry. There is one right here." He turned and handed it to Satoshi. "I like to call that one Dexter."

He turned to leave, and Pikachu looked up at him, looking a little miffed, but ready to go. He hopped up on his shoulder and they went out the door. However, Satoshi paused before closing the door, and looked back.

"Erm, on one note, please don't tell my Mother about this… And Professor, is it true Pokemon are more important than the trainer in battle?"

"No Satoshi. But neither is it true that the trainer is more important than the Pokemon."

"I don't get it."

"You will someday." He offered a grin, then turned his head and began to talk to his aide about something. He and Pikachu nodded and left.

They both left Pallet Town, to not see it for many weeks again. Then they headed up towards Viridian. On the way, they noticed Farmer Hatchet talking about his Growlithe turning up practically dead. Frowning, Satoshi hurried on after that.

They reached Viridian. It was a small town, but much larger than Pallet and lacked farms; it had a few roads leading out of it that led to Victory Road and other cities. But they weren't really safe to travel on, and there were only two routes he was really interested in.

But Viridian Forest was blocked off.

By an obnoxious old man.

"Get off me property!" The man scolded, waving his cane.

"I'm getting, I'm getting!" He cried, irritated. Pikachu hopped by his side as he turned and went back.

"I'm sorry, he hasn't had his coffee this morning!" A girl shouted.

"Gee, thanks for the apology." He muttered out of earshot. Pikachu glanced at him in concern, noting his tone of voice with his sharp ears.

"It's alright Pikachu." He nodded to himself reassuringly. "We'll head around toward the old victory road route, then circle around past Viridian and go to the Forest."

"Pi, Pikachu." The little mouse gave noise of agreement, darting alongside, not at all worn out by the travel despite having much smaller legs.

They crossed down a rocky dirt path, frequently traveled by trainers but not the best-kept. A nidoran skittered into a bush, startled by their presence, but otherwise it was a fairly uneventful journey. The Spearow that lived here were quiet at this time of day it seemed.

Pikachu's ears twitched, and the little yellow Pokemon looked alarmed. Satoshi glanced at him, puzzled, but Pikachu kept silent, and seemed to be sniffing something. It was strange to think the little mouse had a keener sense of smell than he did.
Finally they stopped, Pikachu halting suddenly and turning around.

"What is it--" Satoshi spoke, but he was suddenly interrupted.

"Hey Red! Thought I heard a Dork, guess I was right! What's a dweeb like you doing hanging around here? You can't possibly be looking to get into Victory Road; only real trainers with badges go there!"

Satoshi whirled around at Gary's voice, and was unpleasantly surprised to see a tall, brown haired ten year old, along with a… Growlithe? Pikachu bristled, and looked as if it was barely restraining itself.

"And I suppose you already have a badge, Oak?" Satoshi ground out.

"Indeed I do! What, you telling me you don't? Man, this is a breeze, I'll be a master in no time if all I have to face are idiots like you hanging around with…" Gary paused, looking at the Pikachu, slightly surprised. "Lame pokemon like that! I guess you already caught one, huh? Unless Gramps reserved a special lame-o Pokemon just for you!"

"Stop insulting me! I'm going to be the best Pokemon Master there is, Gary!"

"Yeah right. I'd like to see that. Well, not really. I have an idea; let's pit off our Pokemon. I bet you don't have a full team yet, so I'll go nice on you and beat you up with just one!"

"It'll be you who loses! Let's go, Pikach--!"

Not needing another word other than that, Pikachu shot off without warning at terrific speed, tackling the Growlithe with great ferocity. He bite down, but at Satoshi's frantic waving, lessened the blow and didn't draw blood. He scratched and bit repeatedly, giving little time for either trainer to shout off a command. Gary showed no such restraint on having Satoshi's pokemon beat up when Growlithe bite down, drawing blood.

"Growlithe, Ember! Knock that Pikachu off!"

"Uh… Pikachu, thundershock!"

Growlithe rolled, forcing Pikachu to dart out of the way. Sparks blew from Pikachu's cheeks, but the Growlithe already breathed in, puffing up it's chest. Pikachu made to dart out of the way, but small embers caught his tail, singing it. The little pokemon winced in pain, but ducked as the Growlithe made a clumsy attempt at a tackle, and released a shock of electricity.

It was clear which was the more experienced Pokemon, although Pikachu seemed just as healthy and strong as the Growlithe. Perhaps it was merely the attitude that was different between the two Pokemon, since Pikachu's blows lessened and became less frantic, as it seemed to realize this fight was nothing like the one it had before. The Growlithe relied a little too much on Gary's commands, but did not execute them gracefully or automatically, and it didn't seem to have any instinct on how to fight the battle.

Finally, panting and exhausted, the Growlithe plopped on the ground.

"Hey," Gary looked alarmed and annoyed. "Get up, you lazy Pokemon." Growlithe looked at him, and whined.

"Fine." Gary muttered, and returned the Growlithe into a Pokeball with a beam of light. He turned to face Satoshi. "I would of won, if my Pokemon wasn't so weak!" He smirked suddenly. "Smell ya later!" Gary Oak turned and walked off.

Pikachu stared. "Pachu." It muttered.

"Agreed, Pika." Satoshi yawned, bringing his hand to his mouth. "Let's go."
They headed back to town to heal up. Pikachu droopily slept on Satoshi Red's shoulder as they walked, still hurt and tired from the battle. The Nurse Joy from before blinked at them when she saw them come in for the second time, but did not say anything, merely smiled and picked up the exhausted Pikachu.

Satoshi stared out the window, while the machine dinged repeatedly in that soothing pattern of noise it made. His eyes widened slightly when he noticed the old man from before walking with a cup of coffee. That was good news. He turned his head, about to say something, but he realized Pikachu was still snoozing on the machine.

Oh well.

Life was good. Or, well, mostly good. Training was different than he realized. What had he expected, no blood, no cries of pain, a perfectly behaved Pokemon that would win him badges and more Pokemon on the first day? Maybe. He fidgeted.

Ah well. Those expectations were unrealistic, anyway. Reality added more challenges, and he knew, he and Pikachu could overcome them together.

That, or, well, realistically have their heads beaten into the ground.

Yeah…

Oh, look, Pikachu was done healing!

--

End Episode. Roll credits.

--

 

[Satoshi_Red]

I dunno if I have enough space to put this in my previous post. XD. Don't think I have the patience to try it.

--

Episode Three:

Second Day of Truimph, First Night of Pain

--

Pikachu nibbled on a fruit-cake, walking along. A part of him felt anxious walking like this. It was difficult to run on two legs, and he was in plain sight of any predators. But he was with a human now, and humans tended to scare off most predators, especially the smaller Pokemon.

It was different, traveling with a trainer. He had only been in one battle, but already he could note the difference. Not only were fights not for food, they were not for anything of importance at all! The battling was different; biting and scratching frantically and shocking erratically didn't seem to work as well as a calmer pace. In addition, there was the humans themselves to consider, besides the obvious benefit of them no longer trying to chase him with pitchforks. Back in the farmland at Pallet, he had barely used his communication skills. Now, with Satoshi's seemingly endless talking, he had to use it all the time to figure out if any of it was relevant.

Most of the time it wasn't.

His own vocabulary was growing. Pokemon relied greatly on tone of voice, body language, emphasis and situation to puzzle out meanings of words, with most Pokemon quickly grasping which words were positive (Yes!), negative (Danger!), or related to food. He could understand all the Pokemon from his region; Rattata, Pidgey, even a few smattering of those strange starter Pokemon's language from Pallet.

To be truthful, he didn't understand a lot of what Satoshi actually said, but it wasn't too hard to figure out when to nod or call him an idiot, which Pikachu did frequently, sometimes just for fun. Satoshi was a bit strange. He acted very boisterous, but didn't seem to actually have as much confidence as his happy-go-lucky attitude presented.

Not that Pikachu really cared. In truth, Pikachu was more concerned about his annoying habit of trying to catch other Pokemon. Why had Satoshi asked him to come along and then try to grab other Pokemon without asking them? Why did Satoshi want to share any of the food with newcomers? Some Pokemon, Pikachu knew, got very big, and he didn't like the idea they might eat all the strangely easy to get food.

He and the human were walking through a forest he had only been in once before. He had finished his fruit-cake piece. Eyes of other Pikachu occasionally glanced at him from the trees and bushes before scurrying away, but the human didn't seem to notice any of them had been there.
Nor did he seem to notice the other human approaching in the distance. It was a shorter than Satoshi and therefore easier to beat up, so Pikachu almost dismissed it as nothing, until he noticed the faint sniff of the metal from a Pokeball. His hair raised, and he wondered if there would be another nasty pokemon like the Growlithe.

"I challenge you to a battle! Winner takes prize money!" The trainer noisily walked through some bushes, spotting Satoshi. Satoshi's head turned, and he narrowed his eyes.

"I accept!" Satoshi declared. "I'll choose Pikachu!"

Chose Pikachu? Chose why?


"Weedle, go!" The strange human threw a Pokeball, and out from it appeared a tiny bug.
Pikachu was supposed to fight that tiny little thing? He could eat it. He remembered Satoshi didn't want him to kill the Growlithe though, when he had begun to draw blood. It probably wasn't for eating. Maybe he should go to sleep again.

The other trainer shouted something strange.

"Weedle going to win!" It suddenly launched itself at Pikachu with surprising strength and agility for a little bug, almost knocking the bigger mouse over. It reared a stinger, and Pikachu with alarm knocked the little bug off his body.

"Win?" Pikachu replied, staring it down as they began to circle one another. He had heard stories, and seen trainers, fight with Pokemon before. But the idea they fought purely to win wasn't one he had actually thought of. Then again, he didn't talk to a lot of other Pokemon, not with himself only just managing to win the right to Pichu recently. Perhaps it would have been better if he had joined with a colony, instead of rearing them off on his own, considering he had… He didn't want to think about it.

"You strange. Act wild. Newly caught? Easy to beat, then." The Weedle gave what seemed was a taunt. He raised his stinger, and Satoshi shouted something familiar. That electric shock attack?

Seemed like a good idea. It used up a bit of energy, but maybe with so much food around it wouldn't be dangerous to use too much of it. His cheeks swelled with energy, sparking off, and the Weedle threw a tiny barbed stinger toward him that dripped with something clear but foul smelling.
It went into his fur, but got tangled in the yellow fur and did not penetrate enough to do much harm. Pikachu released his charge of electricity, and it went in an ark through the air, lashing the ground and the air around the Weedle, finally managing to connect with it. It collapsed to the ground and thrashed in pain, but it did not take long for it to dizzily get back up on it's numerous little feet.

It rushed at Pikachu, but tripped and rushed past into a tree. Immediately, he pounced on it, grabbing hold and giving an electrical shock at a range the bug could not possibly dodge, charging it directly into the Weedle's body.

Pikachu felt the barbed stinger of the Weedle go into his gut, and let go uncomfortably, wincing in pain. The Weedle was no better off, in fact was worse, as it could not move from it's spot, trying repeatedly but it's body would not move enough, paralyzed.

Suddenly, a pokeball fell in front of the Weedle, and the bug's image disappeared into the Ball.
The battle was over.

"Good job, Pikachu, you won!" He turned his head to look at Satoshi speak. The kid was fiddling with some money, handed to him by the strange trainer was grumbling at it's lose.

"Pi?" Pikachu made a noise of curiosity, leaping agilely on to Satoshi's shoulder.

"Yeah, you did good." He grinned. "I barely had to tell you anything, though." He frowned briefly, trying to decide if that was a good thing or not, but finally broke out in a grin. "Guess you have a natural battling talent, then? Or have you been in lots of battles before?"


"Battles Pikachu run away." Pikachu stated sagely, nodding.

"Oh, cool! Whatever you just said…" The kid blinked. Pikachu resisted the urge not to laugh at his expense.

"Uh, let's go." He scratched his ear briefly, then turned and went. "With this prize money, I could buy some more potions for the future. Uh, do you need one now?"

Sigh. Novice. No experience with Pokemon whatsoever. Not that Pikachu knew anything about humans either, but at least he understood what they said half of the time. "I'd like you to help me take the stingers out of my fur." To help, he gestured at a stinger in his fur and made to pull it out, tugging, but it wouldn't budge without hurting even more.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't know those stuck in." He looked embarrassed, and carefully took one. Surprisingly, Pikachu noticed he easily took it out from the tangle of fur and from the flesh without hurting him too much. Maybe it was his hands, allowing him to untangle the fur from the needle. Satoshi grabbed the next one that was placed deeply in his belly, and it stung horribly when he pulled it out, bleeding.

The dark-haired boy quickly turned to grab a potion spray from his jacket pocket, and sprayed the wound. It made the entire area itchy, and Pikachu squirmed, but the actual pain went away. He glanced curiously at the wound. He couldn't actually see it, but there was bloody fur there.

"Let's go now." Pikachu spoke, hopping along. His muscles ached slightly from the unusual amount of exercise. He was used to briefly running away from things, but walking long distances, fighting, running, and all that in the same day he simply wasn't used to the strain of. It was a good ache, though. The exercise helped burn off energy he would have otherwise been using to sit around depressed.

Satoshi followed. They encountered several pokemon, including a Nidoran and a Caterpie. Satoshi tried to get Pikachu to catch the pokemon, but once again Pikachu triumphantly used the snore-tactic. The boy was starting to look a bit miffed, and was complaining on how Pikachu barely listened to him at all. He went so far as to claim Pikachu was merely hanging around for the fruitcake.

Which was one of the reasons he was hanging around, sure.

They encountered yet another Caterpie. There were numerous amounts of them in the forest. It was tempting to just bite some of their heads off and store them in that back-pack Satoshi was carrying for later eating. He didn't think Satoshi would like it very much, though, especially if he forgot they were there and they began to smell and rot.

"Why won't you at least try to catch it? It'll be fun. You and him could be friends." He grinned.

"Friends eat all the food."

"Erm… Okay. Having another Pokemon on the team would be cool, and useful! I don't really know what a Caterpie could offer, but he… She… I dunno… It could help battle when I run out of potions and you're hurt."

Pikachu paused. That was a good argument, although he doubted Caterpie was tough enough to take on anything than managed to injure him that badly. And, he hated Pokeballs. Going in to an unneeded fight just to catch another Pokemon in a tight little cage seemed… Cruel, in a way. He had seen the way the tame Pokemon acted. They were fierce fighters, but there was a calm docile-ness to them that Pikachu didn't like, a heavy reliance on their 'trainers'. He, for one, liked annoying the kid, who was taking this silly ordeal too seriously.

Speaking of which, where were they going? What the heck were they doing? Food was in the other direction, and there were plenty of people back in town who might have Pokemon to beat up for no reason.

Unless there were more milkshakes where they were going. He looked up at Satoshi wide-eyed. Were there going to be more milkshakes? He hoped so.

"Aw, don't look at me like that! Fine, you don't have to help me catch him. I'll catch him myself." Surprised, Pikachu did not move as Satoshi turned around with determination, raising a pokeball.

The damn kid threw it.

The Caterpie couldn't be weak enough to get caught that easily, could it?

No… Couldn't be. The beam shot out and laced toward the Caterpie, and it looked startled as it fell into the ball.

Couldn't…

Ding. There was almost no visible wiggle to the ball, and it clicked almost immediately.


Well, dang. Caterpie caught. Annoy Satoshi, think good idea now. He turned his head and chattered in annoyance, a sound some pokemon make when displeased. It wasn't completely true that the only sounds pokemon make is their names. It was simply the only sounds that sounded remotely like a word.
"Hey, no, I just wanted to catch one! Can't I catch a Pokemon? You're against the entire idea, aren't you Pikachu? I thought you might've just been lazy, but you are deliberately trying to stop me! I don't get it. All trainers do it, it's not a bad thing." He kicked the dirt. "'Sides, if Caterpie really minds, he'll just run away, right?"


"Pachu! Why think wild pokemon try to run away from Satoshi?" Pikachu resisted to urge to cringe at his idealistic mindset. "Pokeball. If beaten, if trapped, run won't work twice, right?"

"He won't run? Is that it? I'm confused why he wouldn't… Oh, Caterpie don't make very good runners, right? I guess…" He sighed, and looked down. He hunched over and grabbed the pokeball, staring at it as he picked up. "I'll let him go, okay?"

Go okay?! Pikachu was startled. He would actually let the Caterpie go? He supposed that had been what he had been hoping for, after all.
Satoshi tapped the pokeball, and it enlarged. He held down the button and it opened wide, releasing Caterpie on to the ground, the bug looking quite bewildered.

"Me eaten?"

"No, not Caterpie eaten. Listen." Pikachu nudged his head toward Satoshi's direction. The boy cleared his throat, and bent down to talk to the bug face to face.

"Erm, I'm sorry for catching you, and stuff. You can go free now. Again. I mean, like you were before." He stumbled on his words.

"I not understand." Caterpie spoke quizzically, though it was hard for the bug to sound confused, as insects do not carry emotion very well into their voices or facial features.

"Pokeball. Human. Trainer. Ring bell by head?" Pikachu tried to get him to nod, as Satoshi turned around to leave. The caterpie nodded slightly, and Pikachu turned to go, trotting off and leaving behind a confused looking caterpie…

"If you really don't want me to... I guess I could promise not to capture pokemon with pokeballs anymore..."

--
------------ Later ---
--

Satoshi noticed something strange about this part of the forest.

He was a bit lost, admittedly, but that had nothing to do with the fact that there were practically nothing but Kakuna and Weedle hanging around. It made no sense. Where were all the Caterpie? The Pidgey? The rare adventurous Rattata or Nidoran?

Pikachu was sleeping soundly on his backpack. He reached to tap him lightly awake, but instead touched something sticky. He pulled it forward so he could see it, and blinked. It looked to be some sort of webby substance that caterpie liked to shoot out.

"Pikachu? What's behind me? Wake up." He nudged Pikachu slightly. Pikachu startled awake, and sparks shot from his body. Thankfully, Satoshi did not have to frantically leap away, as Pikachu stopped once he realized what had bothered him.

Obligingly, Pikachu jumped off and took a look at his back-pack.

"Pikachu!" Mirth colored the little rodent's voice.

"What?" He spoke, annoyed. Satoshi took off his back-pack and saw, on the back of it, a metapod was resting, attached by a sticky goo.

"Ugh, gad." Something clicked. "Is this the caterpie from before?"

"Pika." It sounded like a probably. Best to assume it was, not like he could easily hold a conversation like that.

"Okay. I guess he wanted to stick around… Oh, great, I just made a bad pun on accident." He groaned. "I didn't mean to put you through that torture, seriously."

"Pi." Pikachu shrugged. No harm done. Good thing no small children were around, they might think it was actually funny. Except for Satoshi, that is.

"Well, if he's hanging around anyway with us, I'd rather him or her be in my pokeball than gooing up my back-pack, no offense."

Pikachu sighed, and nodded. Satoshi took out his pokeball and easily caught the metapod once again. "I don't know why he wanted to be around. Hey, maybe I was right and Pokemon don't mind pokeballs."

Pikachu picked up a rock, and he blinked. "Uh, no that's okay, I'm sure you were right!" He waved his hand peacefully.

Pikachu chucked the rock at him. The new trainer dodged, looking unhappy. "I get the point!"

"Pikachu pi Pachu." Pikachu stated smugly.

"Whatever. Revel in your victory." He wasn't as annoyed as he was pretending to be, actually. But he had to say so himself that he was doing a good job looking put off.

Only to realize there was a strange buzzing noise.

"Erm, Pikachu?"

"Pi…" Pikachu looked alert, and alarmed. A look of fear passed on the small Pokemon's face. Pikachu suddenly ducked, hiding behind a bush. Following his lead, feeling a little foolish as well, he ducked behind a tree.

The sound increased. Shadows of beating wings fell upon the ground, hundreds of wings. The horrible buzzing sound increased tremendously. He quieted his breathing, moving as little as possible. What was out there? He peeked briefly.

A tremendous black Beedrill flew in front of a great yellow swarm. Yellow Beedrill of the swarm individually dove at any Pokemon they saw that was not a Weedle or Kakuna; killing any that got in their way, then returning high above in near the treetops of the forest to the rest of the swarm, following with their kills to some location that the black Beedrill was leading them.

Several minutes passed. He and Pikachu went undetected.

Until, nearly every single one was gone. Two scouts were left behind, looking for tasty left-over parts. One fearsome yellow Beedrill, thankfully of normal size for Beedrill, began to wander toward their location.

"What should we do?" Muttered Satoshi, watching anxiously. "Should we follow the swarm?"
Pikachu looked at him as if he was nuts.

"I guess not. Can you handle the two scouts?"

Pikachu frowned, and his tail twitched.

"Maybe not? Okay, we'll try to sneak off--"

A huge yellow face suddenly stuck itself into their way.

Pikachu and Satoshi leaped backward with alarm, sparks flying from Pikachu's cheeks at the sight of the beedrill.

"Beedrill, drill, drill." It droned, raising it's fearsome arms and preparing to try to gut Satoshi with it. Pikachu hissed, bunching up his legs and then launching forward as if on springs, tackling the beedrill.

The other beedrill scout raised it's head at the attention, and appeared before them, it's wings beating in the air above them. It released poison stingers toward them, and they both frantically dodged. One of the stingers hit the beedrill that had originally been attacking them.

Satoshi slumped behind a tree as he quickly fiddled through his stuff, looking for something to help them. "My Pokedex, maybe it has some information!" He flipped Dexter open.

"Welcome. I am Dexter, the--"

"Shut up!" mouthed Red, annoyed. "Just tell me about Beedrill."

"Beedrill. Bug and Poison Type. Evolve form of Kakuna, it is extremely territorial, and their nests should not be approached. It sometimes attacks in swarms."

"I already knew that! Anything useful?"

Dexter was silent. Useless Pokedex.

"Damn it." he swore in frustration, ready to tear out his hair. Pikachu, meanwhile, was dodging both of the beedrill's attacks simultaneously, but had not managed to land a single hit. The beedrill were fiercer and more experienced and powerful fighters, but thankfully not as agile.

"Pikachu, Thundershock! They have wings, maybe they'll be slightly vulnerable to it like flying type pokemon! It's the only thing fast enough, and they can't block it, only dodge!" At least he hoped they couldn't block it. He heard of some Pokemon could reflect those sorts of blows.

Pikachu paused, charging up electricity. He would have thought that it would have come naturally to Pikachu before now, as one of it's strongest attacks, but Pikachu seemed reluctant to use it before for some reason. Not now, however. With relish it released a strong arc of electricity into the air, electrocuting both the beedrill in the same manner as the Weedle that had been fried before.

However, they picked themselves back up, and started a furious attack with their pins! It looked like a Fury Attack, as it was incredibly rapid and they, well, did seem like they were ticked off.

Pikachu was smacked down into the ground, and he tried to dart beneath one of their abdomen in order to escape, but was pinned there by the second beedrill. He was dangerously placed, and the Beedrill rose it's stinger and attempted to stab. Pikachu tried to thwart it's attempt by releasing a bolt of his Thundershock ability, shocking both beedrill.

Furious, one of them continued to attack even through the painful jolts of electricity, and managed to hit Pikachu. The small mouse gave a cry of agonizing pain as poison entered his system, and blow after blow continued to land on his body. The other one rose, and it's mouth parts clicked, looking hungry and hopeful.

In a panic, he threw a rock.

It hit the back of it's head, and the one that held down Pikachu paused to look over at him with it's multi-faceted eyes. Satoshi gulped, but bravely rose, launching another rock and hitting it in the eye. Pikachu squirmed out of it's grip as it winced in pain.

"We got to get out of here." He breathed, admittedly more terrified than he'd ever been in his entire life. First there was the Growlithe trying to kill him, though he'd been too startled and in disbelief at the time to really allow the fear to sink in, now he was frighteningly clear minded. Pikachu's eyes were half-lidded as the poison began to take affect, and it weakly darted toward Satoshi, full in agreement with the idea to get out of there.

But how? Beedrill were much faster in the air than either of them, and if they called the swarm back, they'd be toast.

Suddenly, the two beedrill made a clicking noise, and rose, no longer paying attention to the two. They beat their wings and rose into the air, and he realized the two Pokemon really were quite battered, one wasn't flying properly, it's wings sometimes uncontrollably giving an odd jerk that threatened to send it crashing down.

They weren't stupid, obviously.

But why leave right then? Beedrill were notorious for their fury, and they had once again been near death. A crazy thought occurred to him, that perhaps… He looked at Pikachu's ears. They weren't twitching. So they weren't receiving some weird Pokemon call, then.

At least Metapod was uninjured.

"Let's get out of here, before they come back in greater numbers." Satoshi breathed, turning and picking up Pikachu, not trusting the mouse not to faint right then and there. Pikachu looked much worse than he had originally thought. His cheeks feverishly gave off sparks, and Pikachu seemed to wince in pain whenever one of the sparks hit him. That wasn't normal.

He raced through the trees, looking for anywhere safe. But they were lost.

Satoshi pulled out his bottle, and shook it. He was out of potion spray, too. He had used it all up earlier, dammit. Nevertheless, he stuck two fingers in and scooped out a few drops, smearing it on the worst of the wound, hoping it would at least help stop the bleeding quicker.

Satoshi had no idea where the end of the forest was, or how to get out. Pikachu could be dying, and he couldn't give Pikachu the care he needed… He groaned, slumping against a tree as he realized he had gone in a circle. He couldn't call for help; it would attract more wild Pokemon, and that wasn't what he needed.

No, there had to be somewhere safe to hide down for the night. It would be sunset soon, in perhaps an hour or so.

There. His eyes flickered toward a spot. A fallen decaying log covered in brambly thorny bush with an opening. It wasn't his choice of comfort with all the bugs crawling around in it, but the brambles would keep wild pokemon from trying to eat his sleeping body--

When had he become concerned with such things? He had never thought it would be on his to-do list as a Trainer two days ago.

Well, exactly. Two days ago he hadn't run into murderous Pokemon twice within a short span of time.

Satoshi reluctantly crawled under the log, trying not to leap out of his skin as hundreds of little white worms wiggled in the log, and the beetles that crawled under his feet and hands. Gross. Bravely, he poked one to see if they were murderous too. Nope, just disgusting to look at. He crawled back out, and carefully cupped Pikachu in his arms, and crawled under. From his back-pack he took a small sleeping bag and pillows, and tucked it under the two of them so they wouldn't have to sleep in dirt. Satoshi tried to avoid scraping his skin against the pointy bush above him.

He breathed out.

He breathed in.

He breathed, terrified, despite his best efforts to be calm. He was just ten years old, away from home, sleeping outdoors for the first time… He truly doubted if most of these things happened frequently to other new trainers, like it happened to him. Somehow, he doubted his mother would have ever let him on the journey if she had any clue how dangerous it was going to be.

Well, Satoshi grinned, maybe it wasn't so bad after all. There were no grownups, unless Pikachu counted, and dangerous was kind of cool. Imagine what kind of story this would make for bragging! Well, if he lived, he guessed. That part really wasn't as fun as they made it out to be on the T.V.

"I guess…" He sucked up closer to Pikachu, the cold night air breezing uncomfortably against his cold sweaty body. "I just hope you live."

Pikachu might die.

He closed his eyes. It was too astounding to comprehend for him. It was better not to comprehend it for the moment, then.

He turned over, extremely thankful that the skies were clear and that he wouldn't be wet, and went to sleep.

--

--

In the morning, Satoshi woke up to the singing of a Pidgey. There was barely any sunlight, but he didn't care.

He cared more about how freezing and wet it was. Dew from the bush fell on top of his head, and his teeth chattered. Satoshi moved, brushing it off and then anxiously glancing at his wounded comrade.

Pikachu was still breathing. That was good.

Hey, Metapod lived here. Maybe he knew the way out of the forest? He scooted out of the bush, glancing about for danger. It was probably too cold and early for much to be stirring except for the earliest waking bird pokemon.

He tapped Metapod's pokeball, mentally promising Pikachu he'd never catch another pokemon with a pokeball again if he would simply live. The red beam shot out and Metapod cheerfully popped out on to the ground.

"Meta! Pod!" It burst out, happy to be out of the ball. Or possibly to see him. Satoshi couldn't help but grin. He couldn't help it. He got enthused easily.

"Metapod, can you help guide me out of the forest?" Red asked, smiling.

"Metapod!" It wiggled happily in agreement.

"Okay. Which way heads toward Pewter? This way?" He randomly pointed at a direction. Metapod shook. "No? How about this one?" He pointed.

"Meta!" Metapod spoke.

"Okay." He grinned. "Thanks. You can't walk or anything, so I guess I have to put you in a pokeball." He frowned. "Even if you want to go, if the Beedrill come back, I don't think that'd be a good idea." He returned Metapod to his ball.

He crawled over to Pikachu, and carefully picked the little mouse up and carried him out of the hiding place. He placed him in his backpack and then grabbed his pillows and sleeping bag and shook them vigorously, little bugs and spiders fell out of them.

He packed up and left, trotting through the forest. Small dark shapes flittered through the trees, Pidgey and Spearow, too small to be anything else. Good. They had keens eyes. They'd know of any danger before he did.

The first sign of humanity he saw was not from Pewter City's appearance. Nor was it another wandering, lost human.

It was unfinished rail-road tracks.

He blinked, looking at all the seemingly new construction. Some tools littered on the ground. No time for stopping, however. He continued on, seeing buildings in the distance. Pewter. Finally. His brain refused to think any further, it was simply locked up in blessed relief. He carried on, hurrying with Pikachu in his backpack on to the main turns of the city. Satoshi's eyes briefly lingered on the sight of a flier for a gym welcoming all contestants and challengers.

He turned a corner and Satoshi's face broke into a grin as he saw the Pokemon Center. He dashed in the door, almost smacking his head on a corner and bumping into someone. It was shouted at him to be careful, but he paid no heed, coming to a sudden halt and skidding in front of the help desk.

""How may I help you?" Nurse Joy… Again? This one looked slightly different. It didn't matter, he supposed. Maybe the hair dye was part of the uniform.

"My Pikachu is hurt. Really badly. I got lost in the forest--" He placed Pikachu in front of her. "And Pikachu and me got attacked by Beedrill."

"Why isn't it in its pokeball?" She obligingly took the mouse and began to treat it's wounds immediately. A Chansey at her side hummed soothingly, and took Pikachu after a moment. Joy turned to look at Satoshi again.

"He doesn't like Pokeballs." He fidgeted. "He likes to… Be wild, I guess, even if he's traveling with a trainer like me."

Surprisingly, she took his account for it, and turned away to tend to his Pokemon. "Be back in a moment." She went into a backroom.

Satoshi closed his eyes, and sat down.

Something hopped on his lap. He opened his eyes to see a Jigglypuff a little too close to his face for comfort, looking at him strangely.

"Gid' off." He mumbled, and he pushed the Jigglypuff gently off his lap. "Not in the mood."

"Jigg!" The Pokemon puffed up, inflating it's entire body except for it's little arms. It released out a breath of air, but instead of some attack like he might expect, it was simply singing at him.

"Huh?" He said, looking at it in surprise even as he suddenly felt his lids droop…
Thunk.

"Ohmegosh, I'm so sorry, did my Jigglypuff do that to you?"

"Dude, he's asleep."

"Oh… Oh! I knew that…"

--// End episode.

 

[Satoshi_Red]

Episode Four:

For Eggs, Hive, and Queen

--

Pikachu drowsily peered an eye open. There was a blurry human figure in the room. Somehow, this seemed inanely familiar. The memory of Satoshi giving him an unwanted startle made him want to smile. It seemed like a strangely long time ago, the days etching out painfully long, each moment startlingly new and strange. He was a bit glad the kid was around now. Maybe if Pikachu had stayed behind, he could have fought another Pikachu and gained the right to Pichu again, if he had any challengers that time around. But… He was glad because he didn't want to think about them…

As if they were just replacements.

He couldn't have Pichu so soon, not yet, not now. He sighed. Maybe if he'd double checked, maybe they were still--

Even as he thought it, he knew it was absurd. One had been eaten. The other had his bones broken. They were dead, that much he was certain. He finally had accepted it, then, they were dead… A part of him hadn't believed it before, refused to think it.
But they were.

And… They weren't coming back. Maybe if he had just done something different, maybe if he--
It didn't matter. It was all his fault, any way it panned out.

He felt his wounds had greatly healed now. Pikachu had been close to death, and he knew it. That close brush of death, the strange quiet of this room, now, with some hospital worker (Believe it or not, Joy wasn't the only one. They needed a janitor, at least.) fiddling in the room, checking equipment, he felt finally at the peace of mind to think about it. Having a beedrill jab him in the gut left one no time to think. But, it was as if something had changed then.

It made him want to think. Did he really feel that working alongside a human would pan out? After all, not all trainers could manage to become the strongest, or there would be no strongest. Would he even become stronger, like trained pokemon boasted? Would he… Become something to fear for the other wild Pokemon? What really signified the difference between being wild, and being tamed?
He didn't know. He shifted uncomfortably, and sat up finally. A sleeping Rattata was in the same room with him, he could see and smell. The light was not on, but there was no doorway and light poured in from another room down a bend. The human stood up and left, satisfied.

The Pokeball. It tamed a Pokemon, held them captive. How? His mind was quizzical as he leapt off the warmly bedded steel table. He didn't think Satoshi knew, and he didn't think he'd be able to communicate the question to him anyway. Pikachu turned around the bend, and noted humans moving busily around the large room. In one section he could see several doors, one was open and revealed the Pokemon Center help desk, a few machines at the front at it, but then, there were strange objects everywhere. He blinked as he saw a crushed looking bulbasaur wheeled in to another section. Had someone from Pallet been in a fight?

He led himself out the door, not bothering to wait for one of the official workers to notice he was awake. Pikachu took the easiest route, hopping on to the front desk and leaping off. A few people stared, sitting on chairs or pausing as they appeared to have been previously pacing. The others were too absorbed reading or some such thing to notice his entrance.

He stumbled slightly as he landed on the floor. His injury was still bothering him. He looked about for Satoshi, and noticed he was sleeping on the floor. Something pink was hopping on his head, shaped like a balloon. It was obviously a Pokemon, but Pikachu didn't care, particularly when he noticed someone giggling at his Ally… Pet… Friend… Human's expense.

"Get off him." Pikachu growled. Normally Pokemon don't purposefully go looking for unneeded fights all the time, but Pikachu didn't feel like asking.

"Jiggly! Don't want! Fun! Fun! Join in?" The pokemon laughed, bouncing on top of Satoshi, who showed no signs of moving, and was snoring soundly. Why weren't the other humans helping him? One of them was laughing at him, even, and another politely looking off in another direction, as if it he would feel embarrassed to get involved. Was this laughing human somehow involved despite not doing anything? Or was it merely unusually rude?

The pink pokemon, who Pikachu identified as a girl, suddenly got in his face. "Got hurt? MY trainer say Pokemon need be educated, big conspiracy! Maybe not happen if you educated."


Pikachu felt annoyed. "Suppose she wants to put wild educated, too?"

"Yup!" The Jigglypuff bounced back on to the poor kid, and started poking his face.
"Listen here, you puffball! Off, or you scramble as weak normal you are!" He growled, raising his tail and pinning back his ears, curling back his lip and showing his bared teeth.

The Jigglypuff pokemon swelled in size, and for a moment Pikachu felt slightly intimidated by the now bigger looking Pokemon. This feeling vanished as it looked rather absurd, bouncing up and down furious.

"Not play? Not play?"

Pikachu moved forward. "Not play, yes." He growled and suddenly bit the other Pokemon on the arm, and leaped back, in case of retaliation. His cheeks felt hot, and he anticipated a battle--

"Oh god, he bit my Pokemon! That Pokemon is feral, I swear! Get away from him, Penny!" The human who had been laughing now was frowning, scooping up her Jigglypuff and looking angry. "Someone get rid of it!"

He startled, and he felt… Something he couldn't place. Confusion was a part of it. What had he done wrong? They were supposed to be battle… Oh. He hadn't realized he wasn't supposed to battle without Satoshi commanding it. How was he supposed to know that? The Jigglypuff looked ready to cry.

"I'm so sorry, Miss." He heard Nurse Joy from behind him. He turned his head, his eyes wide. "He was in the facility, healing, and must have woken up and gotten loose while nobody was watching him. I'll put him back now, he isn't fully done healing." She frowned, and seemed to want to offer further conciliation, but could not come up with any.

"He's wild! Someone should put that nasty rodent down."

"I'm afraid we can't do that miss, he is owned." Afraid? Wanted to do it? Pikachu felt horrified. "I'm sure he'll calm down once he's been trained more. I'm sure you've had to tame a Pokemon before, Miss."

"Hardly! My Pokemon all loved me the day they met me!" She giggled. "Right Jigglypuff?"

"Right!" Jigglypuff beamed in her arms.

Hands picked him up, and he was carried back to the room, feeling quietly shocked, and he did not make any movement or struggle as he was put back.

Just…

Why anything?

He closed his eyes, deciding to wait for Satoshi to get him.

Why?

- - - -

--

Satoshi groggily woke. A few people were bending over him, muttering on how he'd been out an awfully long time. Other, whispered, comments seemed darker, but he couldn't figure what they were about. He strained his sore neck to look at them better, and people stepped back in surprise.
The Jigglypuff was gone. Thank goodness. He gave a sigh of relief.

Why was his back sore in addition to the front? He could understand his face and such, seeing as he had landed on them painfully when he fell into a sleep. It was a little embarrassing that he'd survived several murderous Pokemon thinking about eating him and even attempting, but he had fallen at the first attack of such a… Cute little puffball. Not that he really found it attractive, but it had cutesy features, with large eyes and such. He couldn't help but wonder if maybe that was a defense mechanism, or something, to prevent people from wanted to poke its eyes out.

In any case, it didn't really work this time, as he was in a horrible mood when he stood up. He needed to check on Pikachu, no time to fool around with obnoxious Pokemon that held might hold a grudge against someone who merely didn't want them in their lap. He walked toward the front desk, craning his head to see if he could spot a Nurse nearby anywhere. They were usually there. How long had he slept?

In any case, it didn't matter much as within a minute Nurse Joy herself appeared, beaming. He had no clue who the real, first Nurse Joy was, and he supposed it didn't matter much.
Why the heck were people glancing at him and then looking alarmed when he caught them doing it?

"Hello there. Your Pikachu has recovered, but he's not quite ready for extensive battling yet." The Nurse greeted.

Satoshi felt relieved. "Where is he? Can I see him?"

"Sure, just a minute." The Nurse turned around to a Chansey, and asked it to go retrieve Pikachu.
"Uh, what happened while I was out? Did anybody try to wake me?" He asked her, before she could turn her attentions to something else.

"Indeed someone did, but you were out like a snorlax. Erm…" She looked a little embarrassed. Satoshi felt surprised. What could she have to be embarrassed about? "I'm afraid while you were out your Pikachu got into a fight, or tried to anyway."

He straightened himself, his attention grabbed by it's Achilles heel. "I thought he was unconscious?"

"He woke while partially recovered, and nobody was expecting him to wake at the time, or for him to wander off from the medical room on his own, so he wasn't watched or held down by anything." She frowned. "Your Pikachu, he…"

"What?" He stated, feeling even more alarmed now.

"I'm afraid while you were asleep a Jigglypuff decided to jump on you." Oh. I can see why she's embarrassed… Not that annoying Jigglypuff again? "Pikachu took offense, and bit her sharply. It was stopped before it could escalate, and her trainer was highly annoyed by the incident. I'm afraid you'll have to speak to her if she's seen again, she won't be happy."

"She won't be happy? What about me? That Jigglypuff conked me out solid!" Satoshi flung his arms into the air, ready to tug on his hair. "Ugh!"

"I'm afraid your Pokemon did actual harm, however." Well, that was a good point. Sleeping wasn't really a major offense. His mother would have killed his school teachers by now if that were so for putting him to sleep. "You'll just have to rectify the situation if it comes up."

He rubbed his eyes, and at that point the conversation was impeded from going on further by the arrival of the Chansey with Pikachu, who was yawning. Upon spotting him, however, it brightened, and it leaped toward him, stopping on the desk and looking up at him.

"Hey buddy."

"Pikachu." It greeted, hopping down to the floor and walking casually toward the door. He then glanced back at Satoshi, silently asking if he was ready to go.

"Alright, let's go Pikachu." He grinned, walking out the door. Pikachu ran out in front of him, stopping occasionally to see if he was still following, and he took his time catching up, enjoying the air. It wasn't early morning, but it wasn't quite noon yet, it seemed. Had he been out for an entire day?

It reminded him of Gary, and the other new trainers. He had already been almost a day late on receiving his Pikachu, and his actual journey into Viridian Forest didn't begin until the day or so after that. Then, he dallied there, managed to get his Pokemon severely injured, and in total he wasted two days there. Then he wasted another day in the Pokemon center, probably more. He was horribly behind Gary and the others, although he suspected he accidentally took a shortcut through Viridian, and actually took less time even with his mess-up. Gary already had a badge, and had probably managed to add another while he was in the Pokemon Centre snoozing. This sucked major time. But moping about it wouldn't help, he supposed.

Pewter City was a little bit larger than Viridian, or perhaps the same size. It took him some time to figure out how to navigate through. A man in a humiliating costume of a dead fish fossil tried to hand him fliers to a museum, but the costume freaked him too much for him to be interested in the subject. Besides, learning about dead things and rocks wasn't really his thing.

He spotted the gym, but hesitated. Satoshi was hardly ready, with a weakened Pikachu at his side that barely listened to him, and a Metapod that could barely move normally anyway. Besides, he felt like there was unfinished business, back in the forest. He frowned, and turned away.

Satoshi needed more information. Red couldn't just jump in blindly and beat up all the beedrill. He wanted to know what was up with the railroad, and the swarms. It was not really any of his business, he couldn't explain why he wanted to get involved after it had proved itself to be so dangerous. But perhaps that was it. On some level, it was personal to him; they had fled, beaten, from the Beedrill. Of course, the Beedrill had fled too, but it still rankled uncomfortably.
He couldn't just do it for the sake of pride. But he felt he at least needed to know more about Beedrill in case he encountered them again. And that railroad. It looked like it had been heading into Beedrill territory. Did the workers know that? It wasn't any of his business, but… He bit his lip, turning toward the forest.

What if somebody died? Maybe they'd feel he'd just be getting in the way, prying into something that he, as a novice trainer, could not help much with anyway.

Pikachu's ears flattened as they approached the forest, and he looked up at Satoshi, his eyes asking him if he knew what he was doing.

Satoshi merely looked away, feeling nervous. He forced a grin on his face and then looked back at Pikachu. "It'll be alright, Pikachu." They reached Pewter City's edges within twenty minutes. Good time, if he was to say so. This time Satoshi stuck entirely on the main path, and whenever it got overgrown in places, he checked a map that he had snitched from the centre (It was only borrowing! Honestly!) and checked to see which direction to go. He did not fancy accidentally walking into Beedrill swarm territory again.

It took two hours before they reached the tracks again. He recalled last time taking a much shorter time, but he guessed nobody wanted to take the dangerous shortcut he had taken.

When it did come into sight, he noticed it was busy with activity and building by men and pokemon alike. There were a few machines he didn't recognize around, moving around and carrying materials. They looked similar to the few cars he had seen before in his lifetime, so he assumed them to be some variant of. Perhaps he should have watched more non-Pokemon related T.V.
A man noticed he was there and turned around to face him. "Excuse me kid, this is a construction site. Please walk past as quickly as possible if you need to get through."

"Sorry to be a bother, but I wanted to ask some questions. Where is this leading?"

"To Goldenrod."

"Oh, I, err, never heard of it."

"Kids just don't pay attention to school anymore ever since that stupid law came saying they could leave it at ten." The man grumbled. "They don't have that law in the bigger cities, and that's precisely why those cities are so successful." He kicked the dirt. "I bet you never bothered to study the other regions, either."

"Uh…" Satoshi decided not to argue. It seemed to be a heated issue with the man. In truth, he had bothered to study… He just had a poor attention span for schoolwork, he couldn't help it. "What do you know about the Beedrill swarms?"

The guy blinked, pausing, then scratching his head full of grayish balding hair, he replied. "I suppose they are fairly common in the forest's wilder areas, good reason to stick to the paths. But last winter's cold killed off the ones in this area. Why the sudden change in topic?"

"Me and my pokemon companion Pikachu narrowly missed encountering one on the move. We hid and two scouts left behind tried to kill us, before they suddenly left. We headed toward the quickest way to Viridian and we saw the railroad. I don't think the swarm is quite as dead as you think."

He frowned. "But there isn't one in the area. How big was the swarm?"

"I don't know. It took a couple minutes before the entire swarm managed to leave, and they were going pretty fast."

The man groaned. "That wasn't just a swarm. That was a hive moving to a new nesting site. A new queen must have been born this spring."

"A queen?"

The man rubbed his head. "You'd have to talk to one of the more local residents. I don't know a lot about Beedrill; just how to avoid them best."

"Alright. Do you know anybody who is an expert?" This is just bloody fantastic. Why am I getting involved again? I want to be a Pokemon Master, not DEAD. Satoshi thought.

"No. I'll ask one of the guys what they know. Hey, Sandy!" He shouted, turning his body and waving toward someone. "What do you know about Beedrill?"

Sandy was a wiry young looking woman with grungy looking overalls, and she and another person stepped over. "Ooh, I'll take any excuse for a break." She paused, looking at him. "Not much. I know the pheromones they use for most communication is often used in pokemon repellent. Their offspring tend to spread across the forest even into areas where beedrill aren't present, but they take good care of their egg sacs in the hive. Only queen beedrill get to lay eggs, and the smells they release makes beedrill more territorial and protective than normal."

"That helps a lot. Thank you." Satoshi nodded. "But how do I get rid of the swarm? Do I just have to get rid of the queen?"

"Well, you can destroy the nest site, force them to move to a new one, but sometimes they merely rebuild the broken nest. The queen will leave the swarm without purpose unless they get a new queen, but it's very hard to get to the queen Beedrill. The entire swarm will guard her with their life."

"Oh… Can't I just… I dunno, ask them to move?"

Both of them grinned, trying to withhold a laugh. "Unlikely. They'd kill you before you finished asking them. Beedrill only pay attention to other beedrill, usually."

"Well, can't we trick them? Get another beedrill and have it become the new queen, or something? Or pretend to be Beedrill?" Never mind the fact I can't catch one without Pikachu freaking out.

"You or it will be attacked unless you smell like a member of the swarm." He shook his head.

Satoshi sighed. "Okay. I give." But what if I did become one of the swarm? Gee, I'm freaking crazy. This will never work. "What will you do if you encounter the swarm while working?"

"Swarms usually avoid large groups of people, unless they intrude close to their nest, or provoke it." She frowned. "We'd have to call in strong trainers, but I don't know if the ones that commissioned this project have enough money to do that."


Money? But, wouldn't they do it for free? "Surely some trainers will help you out if you just ask them."
"Kid, it's really hard to train your Pokemon up to a high enough level it won't get killed by an entire swarm bearing down on it, and it takes time. There is a reason why settlers choose to settle close to Viridian, despite the dangers, the swarms made the other pokemon there unusually weak and not very dangerous, since they would kill anything that made itself a threat to their hives. A newbie trainer like yourself could defeat most of the Pokemon here."

"But that doesn't explain why people won't do it for free." He protested. "Just because something is hard doesn't mean people won't do it." Not everybody can be that selfish. What about the people who do it because it's their passion? Surely they'd care.

"Kid, the ones that manage to go that far, usually dedicate a part of their lives to it. If you're a dedicated trainer, you need to make a living somehow if you aren't just a hobbyist. Accepting money for your work and winning tournaments is a good way to do that." She rubbed her eyes. Sandy looked impatient. "I have to get to work. See you later, kid, but not if you know what's best for you."

"Alright. I guess I'll go." He watched the three go back to work. The one that had stayed silent the entire time simply offered a smile of encouragement, before walking off as well. One of them muttered something about Sandy being a liar and too modest, since she knew more than the both of them combined.

Pikachu, who had patiently been listening the entire time, looked straight at him. "Pi pika pikachu, pa pichu pachu chu?"

"I've got a plan, don't worry… It's not a very good plan, though."

"Pika?"

"We sneak into the hive nest, of course."

"Chhuuu!" Pikachu sounded fearful and unhappy, shrinking back.

"Please trust me on this, okay?" Satoshi bent down, allowing Pikachu to stare at him face to face. Finally, Pikachu nodded. "Think about it. The hive will smell like the Beedrill." Pikachu looked curious then, and it seemed to click in his mind what Satoshi wanted to do.

"Pachu." Pikachu spoke, looking moody.

"I'm not looking forward to it either, but that's no reason to call it stupid." Pikachu looked startled, as if he hadn't expected Satoshi to understand what he meant. Satoshi hadn't, really, but he was pleased that he had guessed right for once. So that was what Pachu meant. He'd been calling Satoshi it a lot, and it was getting aggravating.

He could get payback later. With tickling. When Pikachu was in complete health… On second thought, this was highly stupid. Not that he was going to tell Pikachu that, though. He hardly needed to give that mouse more ammunition.

They stepped off-path, and he felt his hair raise on end, he felt so nervous. Not that he showed it. This was pretty cool. They were going straight into dangerous territory, on a quest to save… A railroad. It didn't seem so glorious when he put it that way. Railroad workers, then. A mission to save railroad workers, brave and daring, and only a few days into his journey! He never imagined he'd get to do so many cool things, even if they were, well, stupefyingly frightening. That part he could do without, but maybe that's what real heroes did. Go in completely and utterly terrified.
Why then didn't that sound the least bit heroic and awesome?

Maybe because it wasn't. He gulped, seeing growing numbers of Kakuna hanging from the trees. If just one of those evolved into a beedrill, he was doomed. He wasn't sure he could just knock it out, either; what if it released some sort of fear-scent that attracted other Beedrill? He hated communication he couldn't read.

But maybe Pikachu could.

"Pikachu." He whispered, crouching low in the foliage. "Can you smell where the main nest is?"

Please don't. Then I can go back without a guilty conscience.

"Pi." Whispered Pikachu, who had his ears flattened. His nose twitched and he fell on to all fours, ears twitching as well as he became in tune with his work. He closed his eyes to concentrate on a scent better, then opened them, and looked forward.

"That way?" He asked in a hushed tone. A Weedle nearby continued on oblivious to their presence. He hadn't seen any Pidgey for some time.

"Pika." A grim face nodded. Great. Well, I was asking for this.

"Lead on." He waved encouragingly, and slowly followed the little mouse through the undergrowth.

"Erm, I just thought of something. How do we know they won't use their sensitive, well, senses, to sense us somehow?"

"Pika." Pikachu answered gruffly, not really seeming to care at this point. Well, he didn't know if that was meant to be reassuring.

The rows of trees gradually lessened in number, and he could see the sky much more easily. A lone Beedrill flew through the air, and they hid. It passed without noticing them, and they continued on, Pikachu watching the ground while Satoshi looked up toward the air.

They barely missed an encounter with a beedrill several times, and as they got further, the frequency increased. Soon, Beedrill were everywhere around the place. There were easily ten or so Beedrill flying in sight at a time. A sticky, honeycomb-like substance appeared, coating the trees in the area, clumping closer and closer to the heart of the hive, where rows of trees were swallowed by the substance, and actual cavernous entrances appeared. The heart of the hive was incredibly tall, and hundreds of beedrill circled around in a buzz of activity.

And this hive was supposed to be the new one?

How in the world were they going to get in past the guarding drones? Thinking, he fingered Metapod's pokeball. Satoshi probably shouldn't have brought it, but he forgot to leave Metapod back at the center where he'd be safe with Nurse Joy. He placed the pokeball in his pocket. It would have to do for now. He turned, thinking. Bugs don't like fire. If he set a fire, however, he'd have no place to hide, and it might damage the hive so he couldn't get in to it. He could try to destroy the hive, but, the Beedrill could simply rebuild it. How would that help?

This was looking pretty frustrating. He blinked, seeing once more the Black Beedrill. It was larger than the rest, and crawling on the Hive's entrance. Is that the new queen? Maybe he could challenge her, alone. An amusing image popped in his mind of Pikachu and him having crowns put on them by Beedrill. Perhaps not.

Beedrill also disliked the cold. He knew firsthand it got rather cold at night in the forest. It would suck trying to wait until night, though.

Thinking, he picked up a rock. Nothing was looking in his direction except for Pikachu.

He threw it straight at the queen, and quickly darted behind a trunk, pressing himself against it out of sight, and Pikachu stiffened, freezing in his hiding place. They couldn't be seen, but it wouldn't help things if they moved or made noise.

No longer could he see what was going on. There was an angry buzz of activity, and it sounded like a fight was going on.

Bravely he glanced at the situation. It appeared the black one was blaming another beedrill for the 'attack', having not spotted the rock, and a fight was ensuing.

The yellow beedrill flinched and cringed as the black one lashed down at it, and tried to appease. As yet another attack was leashed upon it, it reluctantly lashed back, and their bodies pressed together in a tangle as they attempted to sting one another, and slash. The yellow broke free from the tangle suddenly, and made darting, real attempts at damaging the other before darting away.

The black responded fiercely, it's attacks seeming to do more damage than the other when they hit. They both rose into the air, and attempted to gain the advantage by going above one another, diving and hitting, making wild jabbing attacks. The black was hit several times, and Satoshi felt despite himself respecting the bug as it seemed to not let itself be affected by the blows. The yellow seemed fearful, if that was possible for Beedrill, but was angry at the same time, enraged. It did not hesitate as it attacked any longer. Other Beedrill hovered around with interest, trying to decide whether to intervene.

Finally, they came to final blows, and the yellow pinned the black on to the honeycomb structure, and raised it's stinger for a killing blow. The black struggled, then, unexpectedly, lashed out with it's head and bit off the neck of the other beedrill.

I… Wow…

Gruesomely, the abdomen continued to try to move even after the head was detached, and the legs randomly twitched. The black wasted no time, knocking the rest of the body over, and then proceeding to defile the body of it's supposed challenger, biting off the stinger and eating the legs one by one, before setting on the twitching body headfirst.

The head fell to the ground, unnoticed, nearby Satoshi. Feeling brave, he crawled near it, and grabbed it.

"Pika?" Curious, Pikachu? I would be too.

"It has the scent of the nest on it. If figure out how to use that, maybe we could approach without our odd smell being noticed immediately and Beedrill going to investigate."

"Pika, Pikachu…"

"We'll have to get in without being spotted, I guess." He interpreted, hoping his companion hadn't lost all hope in this yet, as Pikachu was looking rather despairing the whole time. "It would really help to have you along, and I don't know if I can do this without you…" Satoshi looked Pikachu in the eyes, noticing how strange it was, looking into black eyes. He had no idea if Pikachu was actually looking at his eyes as well, although it seemed so. "But, if you want to go, you can. I wouldn't want you to get killed. That would be a really poor way of returning the favor you did me, don't you think? I know I'll get through this, one way or another." He stated determinedly. "But, erm, just in case reality doesn't work based on blind faith, you can leave if you want to… Am I repeating myself over and over? Sorry…" The trainer looked embarrassed.

Pikachu did not look away. His eyes narrowed, and Satoshi wished he could know what he was thinking, or saying. Finally, his eyes widened and he nodded, as if some silent communication had gone between them, except Satoshi wasn't quite sure what he'd accomplished or said by staring at one another.

"We'll wait for when most of the swarm is gone." He thought aloud for the Pokemon's benefit.

"Then, we'll sneak in while nobody is looking. We'll grab what the swarm values most in the nest; the eggs. We sneak out, and then move them to another location… And somehow build another nest so the Beedrill decide to move there? Uh… Great, I haven't really thought that part through."

Pikachu whacked his own head, looking clearly frustrated by how brash Satoshi was being, going in with only half a plan. They were stuck here now until they managed to leave, or, well, saved the day.

Satoshi paused. No matter what they did, if the beedrill were really determined, they'd stay. But maybe they'd been going about it the wrong way. What if the beedrill weren't really determined? What if enough cuts would leave the swarm crippled enough that it would decide it merely wasn't worth the risk?

"On second thought, I do have a plan."

"Pi?"

"But it'll involve a lot of waiting."

"Chuuu!"

- - - - -

It was night. The beedrill were asleep. Pikachu was climbing up the hive, and reached the entrance, entering. He felt a lot better now. His wounds he had gotten more used to, and they still weren't fully healed. But if they got in a fight, he could handle himself without it affecting him too badly, he felt.

When Satoshi had tried to involve himself with the beedrill business once more, Pikachu hadn't been too keen. It was none of their business, and this kind of thing had happened to pikachus for a long time, as long as any pikachu could remember, in fact, to their own colonies. Now it was happening to humans, and there was a big fuss about it. It figured.

Perhaps he was getting a little too cynical too quickly, but in his experience, a lot of humans weren't as kind or as smart as the boy seemed to want to believe. It was sweet in amounts, that naiveté, for it reminded him of his own children. But he was not his Pichu, and... Well… Satoshi didn't really matter in that anyway, he seemed to be an exception, not a rule. He brushed off his own confusion on the subject, and proceeded.


"Who's there?" A voice clicked, and he could see a shape stirring. It was, thankfully, alone. It approached, and he could faintly see a Beedrill shape. "You smell as family. But not look like." It turned it's head, confused. It was a female, Pikachu could tell by smell, but with Beedrill, most members were female. Their tones of voice were no lighter than the male's, and many in a hive could not breed, the queen being the exception, and those few with the potential to be queens. Their bodies did not look 'female' at all, and they were often mistaken by humans for males. Not that it mattered, when you weren't capable of having children anyway.
He had to think quick. His voice was a dead-give away as to what he was, but he couldn't just come out with the truth. Satoshi would be killed at the least, and he would be severely injured while trying to escape.

"Am… New family. Adopted." Pikachu tried out. Satoshi was nearby but not really noticed yet by the Beedrill; who seemed to not be able to smell the difference between the two under their masked smell. The human was quietly freaking but staying still, not completely stupid.

"Adopted?" It sounded confused. "Non-Beedrill in hive? Prey part of hive?" Pikachu felt annoyed to be referred to as prey. Pikachu were often preyed upon, but he wasn't to be taken lightly like-… Like a defenseless milkshake!


"Quite. I be Beedrill now, collect and hunt for Queen. Queen and Weedle. That what matter, not I, not you."

"Agree. I not matter. Only Queen, only young, for that lie survival. You think like Beedrill. Maybe you beedrill." It spoke, and it was hard to tell what it was thinking from it's body language and tone, being a bug type.
Pikachu stepped forward. "Why you awake at time of night? Sleep help you help Queen." He thought quickly. Maybe, maybe he could convince it--

"I guard! Always must guard." It looked a little unhappy at this, if Pikachu was any judge. Time to placate.


"I guard. My type of beedrill not need sleep. Queen deserve you to be at best, I sure you will be great for Queen if so."
"For Queen then. You serve her well. Sorry doubting."

"No problem. Sisters of Hive as one, simply glad it resolved for Hive."


And now, as bizarrely as it occurred, the beedrill turned back, deeper into the honeycombs. Pikachu felt embarrassed. He couldn't believe it had actually fallen for that, he'd only been guessing what to say based on what he overheard from the humans earlier that day.

He sniffed. All clear. Any doubts he might have about the beedrill's sincerity disappeared.
He went forward, going down strange twists and turns, which sometimes included going straight up or down, being that Beedrill were not limited in their movement.

Pikachu could not believe it when he saw the place full of sleeping beedrill on his sharp turn. Food and young were placed in little honeycomb chambers between the adults. His abrupt stop startled

Satoshi, who had the entire time the sense to be quiet. One wrong move and it was all over.
Why the heck was he doing this again?

Right. Because he couldn't let the kid go off and pull this stupid stunt on his own. If it weren't for him, that beedrill would have scrambled the poor guy into pieces.

Reluctantly, he reached down and grabbed an egg sac. They were small, so he grabbed another in his teeth. Satoshi piled them up in his arms, carefully tip-toeing between the beedrill. It looked pretty absurd.

They couldn't get all of them, unfortunately. They left as quickly as possible, breaking into a run once they were far enough. Kidnapping. This was just so noble.

Red and he slid down the steep surface of the hive and ran. The idiot who had the bright idea for the whole thing panted behind Pikachu, carrying a heavy load while running nonstop.

"Maybe - we -should - pause - for - a - moment-" Satoshi called out from behind him, unable to keep up with his speed. Reluctantly, he slowed down and let him catch up.

"I don't think they woke up and decided to follow us. I think we should walk the rest of the way. I don't want to drop one of the eggs." He muttered. So the kid had a soft spot for Beedrill, or at least Weedle, after all, even if they weren't exactly the nicest guys around.

"What do now, smart guy?"

"Uh… I can't figure what you said, sorry. Um, I should probably let Metapod out the moment we get back, right? He's been in there a long time."

"What floats the boat, I guess." Pikachu didn't want to admit it took him a bit to translate what Satoshi just said.

--

They arrived back to the railroad. There was little activity there, but a few workers were still there, talking loudly and laughing. The workers paused when Satoshi and Pikachu arrived in sight.

"What in the world are you carrying? Hey, you're that Beedrill boy, aren't you? I thought I told you to get lost." Sandy spoke, stepping out from the group. "It isn't safe here for you."

"I just busted my bump getting these for you guys." Satoshi answered hotly. He didn't appreciate it, even though he knew she was trying to be nice to what she viewed as a little kid. But he was not little. And he wasn't just a kid, dammit.

"Uh. That's nice. They are…?" One of the workers spoke. He didn't recognize them.

"Weedle eggs, of course. Straight from the Beedrill hive."

The workers all straightened, looking alarmed. "What in the world do you think you are doing? You'll attract Beedrill here, you idiot!"

"I'm going to use it to convince the Beedrill to leave their nest. I need to know a place that's out of the way with lots of hunting ground, though."

"Wait, if he managed to get past the Beedrill, maybe we could get past and destroy their nest. That would get rid of all of them!" One of them shouted excitedly.

"But then who'll take care of the eggs?" I don't like Beedrill much, but Weedle never did me great harm… Except for that one who fought Pikachu, but that was on orders from his trainer, and it wasn't that serious.

"Why should we care? Just sell them to some trainers or something, I'm sure some collectors would pay for them, their eggs are pretty hard to get hands on, they are normally guarded at night as well, I think."

"I don't think it's necessary. I mean, if you were a mother, you'd do anything to get your kids back."

"These are beedrill we are talking about." Sandy spoke pessimistically, frowning. C'mon. Please.

"No, I think he has a point." Another spoke.

"Finally." He grinned. This is going to work after all. That's great. Really great. "Just tell me where to go."

--
--

The moment had come. Beedrill activity was all over the forest, even where they normally did not wander. The railroads were declared unsafe for the day, and Sandy and her crew celebrated on the day off.

Satoshi stood, holding an egg in his hands. The rest were safely hidden.

A Beedrill flew through the air. Pikachu perked his ears, despite the fact it was one of several flying nearby that had not yet noticed them. Was it that one from before who mysteriously did not fight them? Impulsively, he waved and called it toward them.

Pikachu leapt forward, as the Beedrill sped toward them. It landed on the ground, and appeared quite angry.

"Bee, Beedrill!"

"Pika, pi pikachu! Cha!" Pikachu responded, pressing forward anxiously, appearing to be trying to talk sense in to it like before. Or perhaps lack of sense, whatever he was saying.

Mysteriously, it's anger subsided slightly, and it looked uncertain, waving back and forth. It looked at him, then, anger returning, looked back at Pikachu.

"Drill, drill, bee." It responded, flexing it's stinger in anger, looking ready to launch an attack.

"Pika-chu! Pikapi, Pachu." Hey, was he calling him an idiot again? Great. Now he was being insulted as if he wasn't even there as well as to his own face.

"Beedrill?" It clicked twice, and stopped swaying. It's wings rose, and it looked ready to fly off.

"Pika, Pikachu." Pikachu nodded calmly. It rose into the air with beats of it's wing, then took off, flying past them.

To get more Beedrill? He didn't know.

When the other Beedrill in the area disappeared and stopped flying in his sight, he knew something was either very, very wrong, or right.
Then he saw the swarm.

Pikachu flinched, and looked ready to run, but he and Satoshi stayed in place. In the front was the mighty black beedrill, the royalty of the swarm.

And she was furious.

Launching forward suddenly, she made to attack. But just as suddenly the Beedrill from before launched unexpectedly, knocking into her.
And there a conversation ensued.

- - -

Pikachu had been nervous, setting the Beedrill off as his only hope. He knew Satoshi stood little chance trying to talk to the swarm and to sway it to his side. Whatever had been right among the things the workers had said, part of it had been true. They were Beedrill. But it was also true that they cared greatly about their offspring, even if they didn't always keep track of it once it hatched, considering Weedle sometimes ended up in the weirdest places.

The swarm had come. All of it. He was terrified. All those predators, in front of him, ready to devour them at the slightest opportunity.

And he had not expected the sudden attack. The queen had launched herself forward, only to be thwarted by one of her swarm.

"Listen!" It spoke. "Eggs still hidden. We not find, but he lead us. Want us to leave territory for own good. True beedrill mindset, like our sisters, he is. Humans will come way and prey disturbed, and it not come back. Must get the eggs!" It was frantic, showing a compassion that Pikachu never knew beedrill could have. It was centered only on the hive, but Pikachu never realized beedrill were more than uncaring, merciless hunters before. They acted like monsters, but only for the sake of their young. He realized that now.

"Fool. I am maker of Eggs. I Queen. I the eggs, I the hive. You are one with me, without me nothing! We scare off humans, we make eggs, we KILL THEM!" The Black Beedrill finished, launching herself forward and tackling Satoshi. The other beedrill began to swarm forward. The egg was loosened from his grip, and it fell through the air, cracking and spilling it's lifeblood on to the ground.

The egg was dead.

The swarm halted in confusion, but the Queen continued. Pikachu launched himself forward, knocking her off Satoshi before she could murder him with her stinger.

"Pikachu! Don't be lenient on your Thundershock attack! I'll give you lots of milkshakes!" It sounded absurd, and they both knew it, but it worked. A tremendous bolt ripped through the air, and Pikachu immediately felt drained as he released it, hitting the queen and launching her backwards.
The swarm looked on, hesitant.

"Rip them!" The Black Beedrill commanded, not losing a second's time as she launched forward once more.

"But eggs!" The beedrill as a whole shouted.

Pikachu growled, not caring what the end result would be in the end. This was going to finish now.
He unleashed another shock, then another zap. The Beedrill dodged, coming in fast. A cold needle plunged into his body, and Pikachu choked. Multiple hits landed, over and over. He began to feel like a rag doll, just one that leaked out blood. His head was slammed into the ground, and he stopped breathing momentarily.

This was it. His body bunched with determination, as the Black Queen rose her arm to deliver a final blow, and then drove it forward.

He leaped forward.

The blow hit the dirt.

He breathed again, turning around to face her, his tail raised and his every sense tuned on her. If Satoshi had said anything to him, he had not been able to notice, too absorbed in this life or death fight. This time, he would kill without hesitation, no matter how nicely the boy wanted to play.
But he did not get the chance.

The yellow beedrill from before landed on the ground, looking at the queen. "Eggs! Hive! Queen! All one! You not care for the eggs, you unfit queen. You die!" It challenged, stepping forward. Satoshi naturally looked confused at this sudden turn of events.

"Don't both gang up on Pikachu, that's cheating!"
He was thankfully ignored.

"Fool! Eggs not be without Queen, without Queen no eggs!" The Black Beedrill whirled forward, and Pikachu did not attack as her back was left unguarded when she turned to face her possible usurper.

This was not his fight now, somehow.

This was a fight for the future of the hive.

It was brief.

It was sweet.

They launched toward one another, in a flurry of attacks. Blow after blow, bite after sting, and then simultaneously a leg ripped.

And a head rolled.

The yellow Beedrill stood posed, locked in sync with the black Beedrill. The black had her jaws placed firmly locked on part of the yellow Beedrill, and her eyes seemed to shine with victory, or at least, that's what her last moment must have been, for her eyes were no longer on her body. The yellow Beedrill had her jaws clamped on the neck of the black, and the head was now gone.
The Yellow Beedrill was now the new Queen.

Pikachu felt alarmed as she turned her head to look at him.

"I new Queen now. I care for Hive. I do not like that you trick me, before. But I spare you, if you give eggs." She spoke, powerful, radiant at her victory and looking quite fearsome and bloody. The swarm seemed to calm, respecting her prowess. They accepted her as their new queen.
Pikachu dipped his head respectfully, and looked at Satoshi.

"Little idiot, care to finish your plan?"

"Everything is okay now Pikachu?" Satoshi spoke, looking relieved. "I guess they have a new queen, or something. I'll show them the eggs now, before they rip my head off or something." He grinned, and turned around and jogged back to a bush. He removed it, and then began to brush away some of the dirt. Underneath lay the eggs.

"They weren't under there for too long, so they should be fine, I gave them a bit of space to breath and stuff. Being raised in a place like Pallet has some advantages, I guess, even if it's just for knowing how to hatch farm-bird eggs." He took them out. The queen approached, and took it in her mandibles. Slowly, the rest of the swarm approached, and took the eggs one by one, a little unused to being so calm while all assembled around a human, and with a new queen to boot. One of them looked at Pikachu hungrily, but couldn't do anything with an egg in her mouth.

Slowly, then, the swarm as a whole rose. It was difficult to tell which was the queen now, but he could barely note the difference, especially in her proud stance.

There was a warning there, he knew.

Mess with the Beedrill again, and die by the swarm.

 

[Crimson Arcanine]

You post also on fanfiction.net as well, i'm pretty sure. Am I right?

 

[Satoshi_Red]

Yes. I have a slightly more completed story there. Have you seen me on there, then?

 

[Satoshi_Red]

Episode Five;

Trouble in Paradise

--

Pikachu glanced at the crowd. The workers waved at them as they left triumphantly.

A camera flashed.

"Neh?" Satoshi glanced. He puffed up and grinned broadly as a news reporter tried to interview him.

Pikachu shook his head, amused.

"I'm going to be a Pokemon Master! Oh,--" Pikachu tugged on him. "I got to go now!" He turned around and jogged off.

--

"Hey, we made it into the local newspaper!" Satoshi pointed with a spoon full of yogurt. He was sitting at a table alongside Pikachu and Metapod. It was fairly comfortable, and they were sitting outside under an umbrella in the outside dining area of a shop. He poked the spoon in his mouth, finishing his breakfast and relaxing back in his chair. There was a plate of pancakes, a small bowl of yogurt, and a couple rice balls.

Pikachu hopped up on the table, careful to avoid getting into Satoshi's food, and looked down at the newspaper. He couldn't read, but he saw a very tiny picture of him on the page. He wondered how he got a double in there. It was like a reflection of him, except it didn't move when he moved. He sniffed. It was just ink!

"Pikachu, your tail is about to get in my food." Satoshi spoke, annoyed, flicking his spoon at Pikachu immaturely. Yogurt splattered on to his head. Pikachu, unperturbed, rubbed the yogurt off his head and licked it off his paws. He turned his nose toward the bowl and sniffed, before grabbing it and hopping off the table.

"Hey! That's mine!" Satoshi made a wild grab, and Pikachu darted out of the way. Yogurt mine! Pikachu internally grinned, as Satoshi crashed into the ground after another attempt. "Oww." He rubbed his head, sitting up. Pikachu leapt out of reach, and placed the bowl down and began to lick it up, pleased.

Metapod couldn't eat, so earlier Satoshi had bought a little pokechow for Pikachu. But Pikachu had not eaten any of it.

"I got you your own food, remember?"

"Pi!" He made a grumpy face sticking out his tongue. Poke-chow tastes okay, but it's all the same flavor, and so bland! You try eating it! Pikachu pointed at the bag of opened Pokefood.

"Alright, fine, I'll give you your own special food from now on, besides the milkshakes I was already getting you… Did you just eat the last of the yogurt? Ugh. Never mind, I'll just finish my pancakes. You can have some rice balls." He banged his head against the table, but didn't look as annoyed as he could have been. In fact, he looked like he was hiding a smile under the table. Silly kid.

They finished up eating. He and Satoshi had known one another for a whole week now. What did that say about them? He felt like it had been longer, yet at the same time it was all strange and new. They were both young, and away from home, though it wasn't exactly the first time for Pikachu. There had been a time when he himself had been a Pichu.

With a mother.

It was strange. He never thought about her anymore. She was mostly likely dead, of course. Most Pikachu didn't survive to old age. It was a fact of life. He didn't feel sorry; he had expected to die after raising a few litters himself. Had it ever occurred to him that he might have been captured? Often. In the back of the mind of a wild Pokemon, there is always the thought of predation, of capture, of the struggle to gather and find food and raise young. The incautious ones always died quick after evolving and setting off on their own.

It was a fact of life.

Except, now, all that had been overturned. He was not captured, nor was he capable of being captured. He did not have to worry about food, or shelter, and while predators still worried him, they had not as yet appeared even once in the city. All for what? The price of accompanying a little kid who reminded him of--…

A wannabe trainer who he had to baby-sit? There were strange rules about fighting, and there were times where fights were expected for no real good reason. It was incredibly confusing. Where was the catch? The trick?

Where was the price of this freedom, this, in a strange way, paradise?

Adapt, and survive.

But can you survive if there is nothing to adapt to?

- - -

Satoshi was beaming. He was finally going to catch up to the other trainers. No beedrill were here to side-track him, no lack of a starter, no raging insane Growlithe, no injuries. His Pikachu was completely healed from his nasty wounds. Metapod wasn't evolved still, but had managed to start wiggling enough that it could tackle if needed.

He approached the Gym. Red had traveled enough around Pewter city to know where it was and to find it without getting lost now, although it wasn't very speedy getting there. Pewter was still decently large, even if you could walk to one end to another within a few hours.

Suddenly, a girl burst out from the doors, wailing. "I can't believe I've been defeated! I-" Sniff. "Had-" Cry. "Six Pokemon! I traveled all over for those!" A fainted Jigglypuff lay in her arms. The girl was several years older than him, about 14 or so he'd guess, and a bit taller. She wore an obnoxious pink and yellow outfit, and her hair was violet, obviously dyed.

She had a full team? And she'd been defeated? He glanced down at Pikachu. What did that say about his chances? Wait a moment… Wasn't this that obnoxious Jigglypuff that had been leaping on his head?

"You!" He pointed. "Are you the trainer of the Jigglypuff that put me to sleep?" He glared accusingly.

She immediately stopped sniffling, looking infuriated. "Yeah! Oh, it's you, the trainer of that nasty Pikachu! Did you tame it yet? I see you have it outside it's Pokeball. Guess not. You should really have that thing put back in the junkyard where it belongs!"

Pikachu growled fiercely, and Satoshi fully agreed with him. "You take that back! Pikachu is not nasty! It's you who is the nasty one. You didn't even care when your Jigglypuff was doing that, but the moment Pikachu retaliated to defend me, everything became his fault! Why should I care what my friend Pikachu did to him--"

"It's a her." She cut in, looking cross.

"--her, if you don't even care what happened to me!"

"But I did!" She looked put-out. "I asked you if you were okay, but you were asleep, so…"

Satoshi looked at her, in disbelief. "Excuse me? You asked someone who was sleeping if they were okay? Good grief! No wonder you think Pikachu is nasty, you're too self-absorbed to notice other people unless they affect you!"

"That's not true!"

"Fine!"

"Fine! My poor Pokemon are fainted, so goodbye, and good riddance!" She stormed off. It took a while for her to disappear out of sight, but then, it wasn't for her lack of trying. There was just a lot of open space.

"Ugh. People like that are really annoying. I finally understand why those railroad workers thought a trainer would only be interested in helping them for money, if people like her are common." He ground out, opening the entrance to the gym. He looked down, and took a deep breath. "Let's just cool down. We have a battle to fight."

"Pika." Pikachu agreed.

They entered. The gym had some strong lights, but was rather large, and so a lot dimmer than he was used to.

The entrance was rather impressive. There were two grey stone statues by it of Sandslash. An arena awaited, a fairly simplistic one, with simple ropes showing the lines of the arena, but the arena itself having a rocky, dirty ground and a large enough area for the largest of pokemon to turn around comfortably in.

They both made to go toward the arena, but were interrupted by someone darting in front of them.

"Hey, wait, you can't challenge Brock just yet!" It was a kid, not much younger than he was!

"Why not?"

"You gotta get through me first." He grinned. "You're light-years away from facing Brock!" The youngster trainer took out a single Pokeball, and released a sandshrew.

"Go, Sandshrew!" He called out.

"I'm not really in the mood."

"You can't back out of a trainer battle, it's not honorable!"

"Fine, fine. Whatever." Satoshi waved, annoyed. "Pikachu, go!"

"Pika!" Pikachu leaped forward, electricity lancing from his cheeks dangerously. He must have remembered what he'd learned fighting the beedrill, Satoshi thought.

"Scratch!" Ordered the kid. The Sandshrew obediently launched forward for the first attack, but Pikachu did not wait obligingly for Satoshi's command, and sent a powerful shock straight towards the attacker.

But little happened. The sandshrew shook itself briefly, before swiping with it's attack. It was not clumsy and as inexperienced as the other tame pokemon Pikachu had met. In fact, it seemed evenly matched in strength with Pikachu, although the scratch attacks were not the most powerful moves.

"Aren't you going to command your Pokemon?" The trainer's voice was annoyed, and a little curious.

Satoshi had forgotten.

"Oh, err, right. Pikachu, dodge and then release a Thundershock!"

Pikachu didn't seem to feel like listening. Instead, he waited for the next attack, and when Sandshrew was hurling down with his claws toward him, Pikachu launched under the arms and tackled the Sandshrew, knocking it on to the ground.

"Pikachu, listen to me!" Please! We have to win this! What's the point of being your trainer if you won't listen to me?

Pikachu charged up an electrical attack, then blasted the Sandshrew with full force.
Nothing had happened.

"Pi?" Pikachu spoke quizzically, but he didn't have long to ponder as he was hit directly in the face by the Sandshrew. "Chaa!" He cried out in pain, hitting the ground, slash marks welling up and bruising on his face.

"Thundershock!" Pikachu tried once more, listening this time, but more for lack of ideas in the short period of time it had to attack before the Sandshrew once more launched itself forward to attack. Sandshrew managed to land a blow once more.
Pikachu grabbed the clawed paw of the Sandshrew and used it's momentum to fling it past him, crashing it into the dirt. However, it didn't do very much damage. Slamming into the dirt was Sandshrew's specialty, actually, considering their type.

"Pikachu, try tackling him!" Pikachu ignored him, instead, he tried to wear Sandshrew out by dodging and leaping.

"Your Pokemon doesn't even listen to you! You're pretty pathetic, and using a weak electric type! Man you're lame." The youngster mocked.

"Shut up!" Satoshi shook his fist. Don't make me more angry!

Pikachu and the Sandshrew locked paws, and Pikachu resorted to biting the Sandshrew, making it quickly back off.

"No fair! Bite isn't one of Pikachu's official moves!"

"Try explaining that to him. Smacking into him isn't exactly a 'move' either, but it's still legal." Sighed Satoshi. "Pikachu, tackle him and pin him down!"

Pikachu obliged, finally, pinning down the Sandshrew successfully despite its attempts to get away. Yes! Maybe this will work after all. With Pikachu listening to me!

"Now, bite it--"

Pikachu was suddenly kicked off by the Sandshrew's attempts to get free, and in a moment of unguarded weakness on the ground, the Sandshrew threw itself on top of Pikachu, preparing for another hit. In his panic, he ignored Satoshi's orders and released a powerful bolt of electricity…

No!

And fainted at the full battering blow he received to the head.

Should he try Metapod? The other trainer looked at him expectantly. No… Metapod would surely lose. He didn't want to do that to both his Pokemon.

"Yes! We won! Good job Sandshrew!" Shouted the obnoxious youngster, returning his Sandshrew.

Satoshi felt shocked, and did not bother to hide his expression on his face, even with the gloating figure of the kid who defeated him looking at him right there. He didn't care what it looked like. He hadn't even gotten to Brock yet, and he'd been beaten! Pikachu had fainted!

It was his first real loss. But it wasn't Pikachu's.

He picked up Pikachu, feeling a strange familiarity. It reminded him of other times Pikachu had nearly or completely fainted. Except this time was shameful, humiliating. He hadn't just nearly been beat, he'd been utterly, completely been so.

Someone clapped.

He froze, Pikachu still in his arms.

"That was a good battle, both of you." Satoshi turned around his head to look at him. A probably young brown man with strange eyebrows but a mostly friendly expression stood there. "But you should know that electric attacks aren't very affective against ground types. They are very weak in this gym. This isn't the first time I've seen someone try to bring a Pikachu in and lose; they might be one of the most 'cute' and type-advantaged pokemon in the forest, but here they are the weakest. Why didn't you use a different Pokemon?" Great. Difficult explanation time.

"I… I only have one other Pokemon, and it's a metapod."

He looked amused. "A metapod, huh? That's not so bad. If you want to win, I suggest you evolve it. But why didn't you try catching another Pokemon?"

"Uh, Pikachu…" He rubbed his shoulder. This sounded really absurd. "Doesn't like Pokeballs." Maybe he should come up with a more plausible sounding story than the real one.

"You shouldn't let anyone be the Boss of you, kid. Besides, your metapod must not mind it, otherwise it wouldn't be in a pokeball right now. Why not catch other Pokemon?"


"I--" Why not? It doesn't make sense not to. Just because Pikachu doesn't like it doesn't mean other Pokemon will do the same. But Pikachu never wanted me to catch Pokemon… Why? Everyone does it… It isn't like it's wrong, lots of Pokemon are happy being trained and caught.

But I did make a promise. That day. With the Beedrill. I can't go back on it now. "I'm afraid I can't. I won't. I told him I wouldn't, and I stick by my word, okay?"
The man frowned. "I suppose that's the responsible thing to do, keeping your promises. Alright. I'm Brock, the gym leader here."

"But you're so young!" Satoshi protested. Weren't you supposed to be really old in order to become a gym leader?

"Ah, I'm not that young. Lots of Gym leaders aren't that old, anyway. You shouldn't judge by age. I think you should go to the Pokemon Centre now, for your Pikachu." He turned to face the other trainer. "Now, about you. I suppose you came for a match?"

"Yup." Vigorously nodded the trainer.

Satoshi didn't stick around to hear the rest of it, pushing out the large doors and going outside.

If only Pikachu would listen to him!

But maybe that was all his fault. He closed his eyes.

Everything had seemed so perfect. But… He didn't really know anymore than he did several days ago what to make of it.

Everything had changed since a week ago, when he hadn't been a trainer.

Everything… It…

Everything, perhaps, merely was revealing itself to be the way it really was.

- - -


"This is all your fault!" Pikachu growled in his bed, which was placed in a boxlike set of rows that each held an injured pokemon. "Look, my bedmate is a stupid looking plant pokemon who's shaped like a seed, and I can't even eat him! How horrible is that?" He didn't mention that he and the other Pokemon had talked, and he'd enjoyed a small grammar lesson. Nope. Never.
"Maybe if you had listened to me, we could have won!"

"When I did listen to you, it turned out horribly! Also, you need to take a bath, you stink from worry."

"You didn't even give me a chance!"

Outside the room, the janitor paused as he heard what appeared to be a human voice talking to 'pi, pi!' over and over again. The guy must be nuts, the janitor figured. What's next, talking to walls? The janitor shook his head and walked away. It was little known that, in addition to their being many Joys and Jennies, there were also identical Johns, who cleaned up the toilets.

"I didn't need to! You screwed up on the very first second. I trusted your word that my electric attacks were more affective than just biting wildly, but now I see I was wrong!"

"If you'd listened to me the last few seconds of the battle, instead of freaking out and electrocuting everything when the damn shrew was immune to it, we would have won!" He scowled.

"I didn't have time to do anything else, dimwit!"

"Pachu again? Stop calling me an idiot! If you don't like or accept what I'm saying so much that you'd rather sit here and call me insulting stuff I only barely can translate, maybe you should get out!" He shook his hands, rubbing his head in frustration.


"Get out? Oh, I'll do more than get out, you dimwit; that's right, I called you a dimwit again; I'm leaving for good!" Pikachu had enough of this. He hopped down, testing his body. He felt fine enough. Pikachu went toward the door, and looked at Satoshi's face.
Satoshi looked really irritated, recognizing the Pachu word, but dropped the look as he suddenly realized what Pikachu was about to do. "No, look, I didn't mean it--!"
Pikachu turned around and left, pushing through the ajar door.

He felt stressed and frustrated. Pikachu had finally gotten the point of all this; winning the battles and getting badges from gyms. That's what trainers wanted to do. And Satoshi couldn't even do that. What would happen to Pikachu, once Satoshi got bored of these pointless loses? Would he go back on his word and put him in a pokeball for all eternity? Would he stop getting good food and have to forage for it again? Would other trainers start leering at him, wanting to add him to their collections, and try to catch him once more?

Would he die in a fight?

No! He couldn't let it happen. Pikachu's tail twitched. There would never be 'another Growlithe fight' where he showed himself too weak to prevent… Things. He couldn't allow it. He couldn't be… weak. He shivered. That as, if fighting would even make a difference in that… Would winning really make him any stronger? In the wild, fights were always about things, food, mates, protecting the pups and kits, territory… Reasons other than simply for fighting. No predator or prey fought for no reason. It would only serve to make them hungry, and increase the chance they'd get damaged and wouldn't be able to hunt or forage for food the next day, or be able to run away from danger when they actually needed to.

Here, things were safe. Healing was unusually quick, and easy, without scarring. Apparently trainers didn't like to leave scars on Pokemon, for some reason. Why, he didn't know, since it wasn't like it would make the initial wounds hurt less, and fighting was, after all, to cause damage. Little they did made sense, although he guessed it wouldn't be smart to kill another Pokemon off, or their trainer, even if it meant they'd not have to fight them again. After all, he wouldn't have liked being killed when he had been beaten.

People stared at him as he moved rashly toward the forest, feeling a little ticked. Satoshi could do with that stupid metapod; she actually liked being his toy pet, after all. 'Course, maybe once the little thing evolved it would have enough brains to realize Satoshi didn't even know that she wasn't a boy metapod.

He reached a 'sign', one of those weird human contraptions that look simple but he'd never be able to make that gave information about the town. He sniffed it. It didn't say anything to him. It must have been broken. Or maybe nobody had gotten around to scent marking it yet. Nothing was more informative than that! He raised a leg near the poll, and--

"Pikachu, no! Not on the sign!" Satoshi ran forward. The little runt must have been following him, great. "Do it in the bushes, where nobody can see!"

Humans were weird. Why not place the stupid sign where nobody could see, then? But then, Satoshi didn't seem to want him to pee on the sign, so perhaps it was just the sign itself. He'd have to ask one of the trained pokemon how to read a sign one of these days, then, if they weren't scent-marked.

He stared at Satoshi, and twitched his one and only tail in irritation.


Have something to say? Hmm? He glared at the human.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" Satoshi Red crouched down to look at him eye to eye. "I went in there without a clue what I was doing. I don't actually want you to go." He fiddled with his fingers, looking sideways. "I just wished you would listen to me more. You always treat me like an idiot who never says anything of value. I get enough of that from Gary. I guess I kind of deserved it this time though."

"Yup. I forgive you, let's go, I'm getting hungry."

"Isn't this the part where you go on and make a speech about where you were wrong too?"

"Eh, nope." Pikachu hopped up on to his shoulder, yawning and making a nest in Satoshi's hair. How he managed to balance on the kid's head when it moved so much, nobody knew, but apparently he could do it laying down.

"Oh… What did I forget?" He seemed to frown internally at himself. "Well, you got to agree that we got on off the wrong track." Satoshi poked him, and Pikachu opened an eye in irritation. Didn't he ever give up? "We got to change our style."

"I guess we can't have you shouting commands at me all the time. You should shut up from now on, I think."

"Uh, is that an agreement? Anyway, I…" He paused, thinking hard. "You won't listen to me. And… I don't really listen to you, do I?" He looked curious. "I mean, I try to figure out what you say, but… I've been kind of disregarding it?"

Pikachu stared out him. Maybe the kid had more smarts than he had thought. Go on. He nodded. Maybe I was… Wrong. But I'm not about to follow you blindly. You can't expect that. Do you know that? I don't know how to make it any clearer…

"I think we should compromise. I noticed how some pokemon are commanded to dodge. You can do that on your own, right? And, it seems it is only the humans who ever make strategy. If we both worked on it, together instead of against one another, we'd have an advantage. Two brains instead of one. And…"

He paused, thinking. "As part of the agreement, you won't blatantly ignore me when I say stuff. But in turn, you can modify it however you like, or even, well, disregard it if you see something I don't. That way, I can interpret your actions and we can sort of figure out what the other is thinking without giving it away to our opponent what our plan is, because they'll only be expecting me to be the one planning." He grinned. "But, if I see something you don't, a weakness or something, part of it means you'll listen to me enough to use that weakness."

Pikachu stuck a paw out. "It is an agreement. And… I'm sorry too." He muttered the last part, looking down.

He was still on Satoshi's head.

Satoshi craned his head and tried to look at Pikachu, but try as he could he simply couldn't manage to see out of the top of his head. Pikachu leaned slightly so he could see the outreached paw. Awkwardly Red reached out a hand above his own head and shook the paw lightly. It was weird trying to talk to someone on the top of your head.

"Agreed then. " He grinned widely and bounced on his feet, and Pikachu clutched madly to his head in order not to be flung off. Watch it! He thought in panic.

"I could eat twenty pancakes. Let's have a picnic." Picnic? "We could try to train metapod a little. I don't know how the heck we'll manage to train him when he can barely move, but the Gym Leader did suggest we try to evolve him." Her. It's a her.

"They must have a way to evolve naturally in the wild. When I was a Pichu, I never fought, but I evolved anyway." He looked curious. "There must be other ways to evolve than to just gain experience fighting. Perhaps age is a factor."

"You think we should try anyway?" Satoshi stated, guessing blindly at what he said and what would be an appropriate response.

"Pi." Yes. He nodded to make it clearer, making certain that Satoshi could see the movement as well.

They went back toward town, but not toward the gym or poke-centre. Instead, they went to a shopping mart, one that wasn't specialized for pokemon, since Pikachu had made it clear he wasn't fond of any pokemon products that he'd encountered so far, including the food.

"Picnics should always have sandwiches." He grinned, putting in some bread and other foods. "What else?"

"Milkshakes! Please, please, milkshakes!"

"Uh, I dunno what you said. Anyway, Metapod can't eat, but since potion spray works on them, so maybe we could put some sort of food paste on him and he'd absorb some of it… Wait, if he can't eat, then that means he'll have to evolve before he gets too hungry." The black-haired ten-year-old looked thoughtful. "Right?"

That has to be the stupidest thing I ever heard, but on the other hand, it's the only thing that makes sense, I suppose. Metapod in the forest, of course, would often collect the morning dew, but that isn't exactly food, I suppose they have to live off their own energy supply while they ready themselves to evolve.

"Oh, I can't forget drinks." Satoshi grinned, grabbing a carton of milk and a few other things. He turned his head. "And I can't resist muffins!" He grabbed a box of those. "I shouldn't buy too much. I'll quickly run out of money." He frowned. "I'll get money when we win some more battles, I guess."


Money? Pikachu's ears twitched. He'd heard it mentioned before, but he didn't really understand the concept. Little wads of money got you food. So the food really wasn't free, in a sense. But it looked like there was plenty for everyone here. Pokemon weren't exactly overly kind and giving, but they usually didn't fight over food when there was plenty for all.
It was pointless to try and understand humans, anyway. He shook his head to himself, and Satoshi wasn't paying attention, as he turned to the cash register and paid for it all. They left the store and went toward the forest. Pikachu's eyes widened in alarm, remembering the beedrill, but many trainers traveled through the forest without encountering beedrill territory, to be truthful. The main path was safe, and even most grassy areas that wandered slightly from it.

Satoshi set down a blanket in the sun, nearby a chirping flock of Pidgey. It was a nice day, and it seemed others had the idea to spend time in the safer part of the forest. The town was still in sight, but the trees blocked most of it. There were only a few other humans, and they appeared to be flying a strange contraption called a kite.

"Go, Metapod!" Satoshi called out ecstatically, releasing the creepy-crawly cocoon. Metapod wiggled on the blanket happily, glad to be released out. Satoshi laid the food out on the blanket, and Pikachu leaped off his head and began to clumsily make his own sandwich.

"Sorry I haven't been letting you out as much as I should." He talked to Metapod. "Anyway, I never asked before, I guess. I'm going to fight my first gym leader battle, you want to help?"


"Sure! Metapod like!"

"Heh, you aren't going to be much help like that. You have to evolve." Pikachu licked his paws after getting peanut butter on them.
"Me evolve? But did already."


"Evolving just once isn't enough for you, I'm afraid your kind evolve twice. Don't you want to be a Butterfree?"
"Ooh. Much yes."


Satoshi chewed on a muffin, and gulped the rest of it down, finishing. "Metapod, can I smear some peanut butter on your head? I was wondering if maybe you could absorb nutrients through your skin-shell-thing, or something."

"Pea-nut butter? Butter peas?"

"Okay." Satoshi dabbed a finger and smeared it on Metapod's head. "There."
Nothing happened.

"Pea-butter weird." Stated Metapod. Despite not moving much, or having the appearance of a mouth, it was somehow very talkative.

"Uh… I'll leave it like that for a few minutes, then clean it up. I don't know if that'll help you evolve any." He shrugged, and suddenly his stomach growled. "I'm just really hungry, don't mind me." He hummed, biting into another muffin.

He and Pikachu had soon devoured many sandwiches, an entire carton of milk, and half the muffins. They put the left-over food away for later eating, stuffed. For their small bodies, they sure ate a lot. Well, they were growing, so they had an excuse.
They shook out the blanket and the pidgeys flocked to the crumbs, despite their fear of people. They stuck around simply to savor the warm day sun, sitting on the soft grass. Satoshi wiped the peanut butter off Metapod's head, much to the cocoon's relief, as the peanut butter was getting warm and sticky in the sun, and beginning to melt all over his body.

They helped out when the kite crashed into the tree. Apparently, Pikachu learned, playing with kites was a game human children liked to play, and crashing into trees wasn't the objective of that game.

Finally, they themselves played a game, trying to get strengthen up by vigorously jumping up and down. Metapod managed to get into the air a few times, but was quickly exhausted by the exercise.

"I guess you had enough, buddy." Satoshi sighed. It didn't look like she was going to evolve today. Metapod simply seemed to enjoy being the center of attention for awhile, however. Satoshi picked the bug up and carried her back to town. Pikachu was pleased by this, since he didn't like seeing any pokemon stuck in a pokeball. "Do you think we should try to go fight the gym anyway?"


"No." Admitted Pikachu, shaking his head. "We didn't just lose because we couldn't cooperate. We weren't prepared, either. While we know the right way to battle this time, the opponents are certain to be stronger than that Sandshrew, and I was about the same strength as him." Pikachu sighed.
"If you think so. I guess I shouldn't be over-rambunctious." I didn't know you knew such a big word. Pikachu smirked at him, but Satoshi didn't notice.

- - -

Each day after that, they spent time outside with one another. Metapod was definitely getting stronger from the attention, as it could keep doing the activities for longer periods of time. They were a little boring, and looked very silly, almost as if they were trying to teach Metapod to dance, but nothing nearly so exciting happened.

Try doing nothing but hopping up and down and wiggling side to side for an hour, each day and see if you begin to get bored of it.

In any case, Satoshi was beginning to get frustrated. Pikachu seemed to care less, though who could know what Pikachu thought? Another week had gone by and nothing had happened. Well, except that one time a trainer called them 'foolish looking idiots' and they ganged up on him and beat him and his pokemon up for fun. That was cool; until they found that he'd already defeated Brock and was just leaving town. That was their seventh encounter with a trainer who already had beaten Brock.

All the trainers he'd faced had more pokemon than he did. Some had apparently won from sheer wearing down of the guy's pokemon, sending one by one. Some had a type advantage. None had been 'stupid' enough to send an electric pokemon in to fight the guy, apparently.


It was truth that many trainers never got past the three gym mark. Many chose to pick the gym closest to them first, and those gyms weren't always the weakest ones. Supposedly, the gym in Viridian was very powerful, in fact, but it shut down for awhile. But Pewter was supposed to be one of the easiest ones! He was almost an entire month into his journey, and he still hadn't beaten it, or evolved a single pokemon. I am such a sucky trainer. No wonder Pikachu insults me all the time, I deserve it. Not that I'll tell him that, but…
I only have one year before the tournament starts.


If only he could have caught more pokemon. But Pikachu didn't approve… But, shouldn't he view it as, perhaps, a challenge to his abilities, instead of a hindrance? A real trainer should be able to make it to the league with or without pleasant bonuses to make things easier! If he had to… He'd go through all the gyms with just two Pokemon! A real master could do that, he figured.

But then, it brought up the point Brock had made. Why stick to two Pokemon? Surely Pikachu would understand if he found other Pokemon who were willing to join him… But, you usually did have to use Pokeballs to catch wild pokemon. They liked to fight against you. It was unlikely he'd get lucky enough to have another 'Pikachu incident' again.

"Pi." Pikachu whispered in his ear, tugging on his shirt. It was night, and moonlight was pouring into the room. He was surprised to see it; he must have lost track of the time if there was already a new moon out.

He slide off the bed. Satoshi had been renting a room at the centre, which, annoyingly, only provided a free room for one night before he had to pay. At least healing was free. He guessed they had to make money somehow.

"What is it?" He rubbed his eyes.

Pikachu pointed.

Metapod was on the floor. Moonlight reflected on his hard case, revealing a dark crack on the surface.

"Oh no!" Satoshi's eyes widened. "What happened to him? Wh--"

"Pika." Pikachu held his finger to his mouth, signaling for him to be quiet. He calmed, and stared, not moving.

Something poked softly out of the crack, soft, glistening, and wet. It disappeared back in, then reappeared, pushing even more of it, whatever it was, out. It was crinkled looking, from what he could tell in the dark as his eyes adjusted better.
What the heck was going on? He fiddled for his Pokedex.

A head suddenly broke free, and large, glistening round eyes stared at him, red but not cruel or angry. They seemed almost childish, even.

"Butterfree? Metapod, you evolved into…?" He grinned widely, but talked softly.

"Free!" It spoke, it's crinkled, glistening wings unfolding, and it burst out of the remains of its cocoon. It beat it's slick, wet wings, attempting to dry them. Butterfree turned its attention to the old case that had held it, and nibbled on it, devouring the remains as its first new meal. Silver and dark purple; the black and purple wings glinted strangely in the dark, the silver light giving an odd tint through the thin fragile wings.


Cool… We'll win now-- The thought caught somewhere in his head, and he felt the urge to simply sit down and…
Watch.

He yawned. It couldn't hurt to rest his head for a moment…

The room seemed to get darker, and Butterfree finally rose into the air, wings dried enough for it to take first…

Flight.

(Continued since it was too big.)

 

[Satoshi_Red]

- - -

"I'm back!" He slammed the doors open.

"Watch the door, you'll slam it into the wall." Brock waved, looking like he was
focusing on something else. He paused, and looked back. "Who were you again?"

Satoshi smacked his face. Pikachu merely sighed. "Never mind the dramatic entrance, then. Anyway, I'm Satoshi Red, and I challenge you to a battle!"

"Very well. I accept. Release your first pokemon into the ring." The gym leader turned and walked toward the ring, enlarging a pokeball. He threw it into the air. "Go, Geodude!"

A pokemon that looked suspiciously like a, well, rock with arms landed into the battle arena.

"Go, Butterfree!" Satoshi commanded Butterfree into the ring. The Pokemon had not changed much in personality since last night, when it had still been a Metapod. Still, a look of seriousness was adopted on its face for the first time.

"Tackle!"

"Confusion!"

He and Brock shouted at the same time, and Geodude and Butterfree launched their attacks. Geodude attacked before Butterfree could properly react, and the pokemon was pummeled into the ground.

A few more confusions, a string shot to slow it down, and a tackle finished the Geodude off. Butterfree was looking tired and hurt already, but continued on as a gigantic snake like pokemon was released on to the field, an Onix.

"Bide!"

This was new. Satoshi hesitated, but had Butterfree release a powerful confusion attack.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the smartest choice. Quickly, Onix suddenly retaliated, its body glowing as it slammed into Butterfree, who fell to the ground, easily crushed by the larger mass.

"Butterfree, return!" Satoshi threw his pokeball, and sent Butterfree inside, not wanting to know if the bug could go on, for it seemed outmatched. He glanced down at Pikachu. What chance did Pikachu have? He frowned.

Pikachu looked frightened, and perhaps a little horrified, staring at the tremendous mouth of Onix. However, without being asked, he leaped over the ropes in to the rocky arena, and turned to face it. Apparently, the little mouse had taken their conversation literately, and had seen the command to go into battle not necessary.

"Is this your next Pokemon? An electric type. A poor choice." Brock frowned. "Very well. Onix, rock throw!"

Onix obliged immediately, raising its tail and striking the huge boulders that lay around the ring, sending them crashing toward Pikachu, who, smartly, had begun running even before the words were out of the Gym Leader's mouth. It sped easily out of the way of the rocks and dirt, which surely would have been super-effective.

As an unintended side-affect, the rocks crashed into the ground and released more rubble and dust into the air, and Pikachu took the welcome distraction to attack, launching forward and biting at the other pokemon. It quickly stopped, as it seemed to do nothing whatsoever.

"Pikachu, you'll have to hit it with your entire body to make any affect." Satoshi told him, worrying. It would take a lot of blows before it even would begin to feel the effects of Pikachu's attacks. Something else had to occur.

Brock noticed Red hadn't given a command yet, but didn't seem to think anything in particular of it, setting the thought aside. "Onix, tackle that Pikachu!"
Onix launched forward, and Pikachu leapt towards him fearlessly, hopping on to the top of its head as it smashed into a wall. Onix was persistent, and tried to smack Pikachu off it's head. The little mouse leaped off and slammed down into its body, but like Satoshi thought, it seemed to have very little affect. Onix seemed almost amused.

"Wrap attack!" Onix, already having Pikachu on it, merely tried to wrap around its stomach. Pikachu made to get out of the way, but his tail got stuck, and his leg slipped into the grip. Pikachu cried out in pain as Onix constricted, trying to crush him.

Satoshi thought quickly, trying not to pace about. What to do? "Pikachu, just attack repeatedly in one spot until it begins to hurt!" It wasn't like Pikachu could possibly miss.

Pikachu, not seeing a better option as his frantic wiggles to get free didn't work, began to slam his body against Onix, scratching and biting before trying to hit for another full-body blow. Onix seemed more amused than anything, although it lost it's humor as the pikachu continued. It constricted as tightly as it could, and Pikachu cried out, unable to even try to move for a moment, blinded by pain.

Furiously, Pikachu seemed to squirm after that, and as Onix loosened it's grip ever so slightly after he cried in pain, Pikachu managed to escape free, falling to the ground on all fours. The mouse painted pokemon panted, not having been able to breath properly just a few moments before.

"Onix, tackle it!"

Onix lazily raised a massive tail, and smashed it down full force towards Pikachu. It seemed that, simply through unleashing so many attacks, it was tiring ever so slightly. But since it had not moved as much as it normally did in battle, not even bothering trying to dodge attacks, it looked quite fresh compared to Pikachu, who looked to be half-way on the road to fainting already.

Pikachu lashed out, meeting the tail head on. Amazingly, Pikachu actually managed to halt the attack, and Onix looked very slightly pained. However, so did Pikachu.
Satoshi meanwhile was quickly flicking through his Pokedex information. Nothing of use. Except… He glanced down. Did Pikachu have quick attack yet? Technically, the moves Pikachu had been doing so far would have been classified as it, since 'tackling' wasn't on the low level move list. They didn't seem to look a lot different, though, it did occur to him that pokemon didn't really seem to know the Pokedex's or Pokemon League's rules on them, as they defied it too often for his taste.

Nowhere was battling with a low-level electric type against a similarly leveled rock type recommended anywhere. Being considered a huge mistake, there wasn't even any advice on how to do it. He sighed. They'd have to figure this out on their own. Surely battling was more than about just power, right? Then again, Brock didn't exactly look like an idiot, either. He frowned, thinking. So far Brock was underestimating them; he didn't seem to take them seriously at all. Maybe that was the key to winning the battle, by playing on Brock's weaknesses, not Onix's.
But what mistake could the clearly more experienced trainer make? At this rate, it looked like Brock was justified in not taking them seriously.

In fact, he thought, if Brock had taken them more seriously, they might even have a better chance. If Onix dodged Pikachu's moves more, it would get tired out more quickly. On the other hand, the way it was now meant Onix took more damage, since Pikachu pretty much always landed a blow. It was difficult to decide which was better.

What if they bluffed?

He frowned, thinking about how to communicate that to Pikachu. It wasn't like he could say 'Let us bluff now' since Brock would immediately catch on. And, him not taking them seriously could in fact be more advantageous.


Wait… He got it!
"Pikachu, charge up your electrical pouches!"

Brock glanced at him sharply, looking confused, then simply disappointed. Pikachu also looked utterly confused, but, thankfully, actually complied, though he didn't stop tackling Onix. He had decided to hold to their agreement, despite the fact that it was also within the rights of the agreement for him to decide to ignore Satoshi's commands completely if he felt like it.

Satoshi smiled.

"Thundershock, light up the entire ring non-stop!" Satoshi shouted. The gym leader merely shook his head and sighed at this moronic move, muttering how electric attacks did no damage.

Pikachu stopped moving, and stood on his two hind legs, clenching his eyes together fiercely as he unleashed the bright, blinding light into the air. Neither Satoshi or Brock could really make out what was going on down at the field. Pikachu surely couldn't keep this up for long, however.

"Now! Pikachu, keep it up, but quick-attack while your opponent can't see you!" Satoshi grinned triumphantly, although he had no clue what happened next, he simply assumed that Pikachu was smart enough to figure out the usefulness of this strategy and would decide to continue going along. Now he had the advantage.

Brock looked shocked. "Onix!" He shouted, but he didn't order anything, being unable to see the field of battle, and feeling helpless about it.

That was Brock's mistake. If he had merely ordered Onix to use his other senses to dodge Pikachu's attacks, or even simply had Onix move instead of stay in one place, Satoshi's advantage would be ruined. Satoshi didn't need to see Pikachu because he knew Pikachu was smart enough to attack on his own; his ears and nose were all the little yellow mouse needed to find his opponent, along with his memory of where Onix was last.

Also, Satoshi did not need to order Pikachu on how to attack; if he had, Brock would have immediately picked up on 'use your senses' as he stated it and realized that Onix was probably equally capable of using the blinding field to his advantage.

It worked perfectly, although it only lasted perhaps half a minute or less. As the field returned to normal, only small sparks of electricity dancing through the air as Pikachu cooled down his cheeks, one saw Onix was considerably more battered looking. Although one of Pikachu's attacks by itself was very ineffective, multiple blows upon the same spots rapidly could and did take their toll. However, Pikachu himself was much more drained looking. For the entire battle, he had not used a single electric attack until then, and it was only because of that he'd managed to pull the deed off; it took up much of his energy.

It could go either way, Satoshi thought worriedly. It depended on how Brock reacted now, and if Pikachu would still act normally enough that Brock might think he could pull off another such surprise attack…

"Pika, pikachu!" The little pokemon jeered, readying for another flurry of attacks. Onix gave an angry roar in response, although it didn't sound very intimidating, or at least as much as it probably should have, as it still did have some power backing it.

"Onix, don't let him out of your sight!" Ordered Brock, as Pikachu began to give dancingly quick steps about the field. Apparently, he really was worried about what he might pull next. "I apologize to you both. I didn't think your pulling out an electric type pokemon was anything more than a desperate move."

Satoshi refrained from blushing. It had been a desperate move.

Pikachu bounced into Onix, and was rewarded with a retaliating blow of Onix's tail smacking Pikachu away defensively. Pikachu attacked again and again, and seemed to have gained a lot more confidence during the fight, although Satoshi worried he'd drop down out of exhaustion soon, as the blows slowed ever slightly over time.

"Bide!" Ordered Brock, apparently believing that the mouse could do enough damage that such a move could pay off. It wasn't as comforting a thought as Satoshi would have liked to believe.

Pikachu hesitated, catching a breath between blows while he thought carefully about what to do next. Making up his mind, Pikachu bounced off Onix's body repeatedly.

"Release it, Onix!"

Onix actually looked confused, but obliged.

Nothing happened.

Pikachu, it seemed, had tricked them as well. Using his speed, he had made it appear he was attacking, when in reality he was redirecting his energy by bouncing off Onix at the last moment with his feet at an angle.

Frowning, Brock ordered another set of Rock Throw attacks, resorting to trying to do serious amounts of damage again. Pikachu dodged, getting hit once and appearing to bounce back up on his feet again magically like nothing happened. It was a bluff, however. Pikachu was in fact about to faint.

"Pikachu, hit him as hard and as fast as you can!" Satoshi called out, sensing the need for the battle to finish quickly. The young pewter city Gym Leader looked like he wasn't going to have any of it, though.

"Onix, try to dodge all the attacks, and hit the Pikachu when he goes past you!"
Pikachu's eyes widened in alarm, and he found himself dodged blows as soon as he landed, or failed to land, them. Onix, however, was getting just as much of a workout trying to dodge his attacks.

Then, Pikachu got hit by Onix's entire head straight on.

Pikachu fell meekly to the ground, eyes closing. He didn't even cry out, and Satoshi knew he was losing consciousness. Once he hit the ground, he was unmoving.
Had he… No… No!

Pikachu had fainted!

He threw himself over the ropes, and went to Pikachu, double-checking. It was true. He picked Pikachu up softly, not willing even now to put him in a pokeball. That would be a breach of trust.

He couldn't have lost the match! He and Pikachu had been such a good team! And Butterfree had done well too--

Wait.

Butterfree had never actually fainted! But he'd been horribly close. How could he have forgotten that? Could… Could he risk it? Was it even worth it? If both of them were fainted, he'd feel horrible, and it would be really irresponsible of him…

But he had no choice, unless he chose to forfeit the match. Brock was smiling triumphantly. "You really shouldn't have used an electric type. Admittedly, you actually did pretty well with it, and I'm glad for the match--"

"I'm not done yet." Satoshi snapped out, making up his mind. He went to Butterfree's pokeball, and released it into the air. Butterfree cheerfully appeared, although it definitely was not as happy as it usually was, also looking near ready to faint.

"Butterfree, you got to finish this off fast!" Satoshi told Butterfree, allowing the bug to take a moment to gather in the situation before he gave it a command. He opened his mouth to give a command--

"Onix, tackle attack now!"

"Get out of the way!" Satoshi shouted, as Onix leashed it's entire body full throttle toward Butterfree. Butterfree flew out of the way just in time. It crashed into a wall, and looked dazed. "Confusion!"

The very last bit of energy, every bit, went into Butterfree's attack, as he didn't seem like he could possibly make another one. It racketed Onix's body, which thrashed at the attack that affected it's very mind.
Onix then went limp.

Butterfree fell to the ground, unable to battle further.

Satoshi held his breath, not daring to think or say anything. Who had won?
Both Pokemon briefly stirred, and looked like they might try to get up, but they both stopped moving, going completely slack.

"Enough." Brock's voice cut through the air sharply. "I've seen enough. The battle is over."

"You are the Winner. I present to you this badge." Brock stepped forward, enlarging his pokeball and letting Onix inside to rest. Walking forward, he reached and grabbed something from his clothing, and held it open in one hand, something gray but shiny. Satoshi peered curiously, not sure if he was amazed or simply high-headed from the shock of winning the fight. Either way, he was feeling gloriously happy.

He reached out to take it as Brock held it forward for him. It was the boulder-badge, he recognized from the gym's poster. Satoshi beamed, and pocketed it, then realized he hadn't returned Butterfree. He did that, and turned around to leave.

"Wait. There's something I'd like to say first." Brock stated. Satoshi turned his head curiously.

"What is it, sir?"

"Don't call me sir." Brock grinned. "I'm not that old. Anyway, I'd like to thank you for the battle. Your style was unique and refreshing; I feel however, that you took unnecessary risks for you and your Pokemon. I stand by what I said, that you shouldn't have used Pikachu. Somehow, though, you turned your weakness and your mistakes into a strength. Even your Pokemon's seemingly feral behavior strangely seems to work out for you. For that, you have earned that badge, and my respect." He nodded. "I don't know how you did it, but thank you. I will try to learn from this."

Satoshi paused, then smiled. "You can begin by listening to your Pokemon more."

Brock looked at him quizzically, but he didn't respond to the look, turning around while he stared and walking out the door.

First stop, a Pokemon Centre. Second Stop; somewhere even farther from what he was used to at home, that much he was absolutely certain of.

He just hoped that not all battles would tinker on the edge just as much as this one. For, surely the opponents would become stronger, and then…

Then what would he do?

Maybe, he grinned, he would just listen to his own advice.

- - -

End Episode!

 

[Satoshi_Red]

I feel that a fic should have several plotlines, especially fics with a more serious theme than usual. When you see a beginning trainer story, you assume two plots; gaining badges/ribbons/cookies while trying to become a pokemon master/breeder/contest-champ, and gaining pokemon. There are usually enemies such as team rocket, or sometimes even legendaries. But surprisingly, you can't take plots /about/ pokemon for granted. If one is lucky, you get a fic where you can see the Pokemon's point of view, or the trainer actually talks to his pokemon. But, all too often, even in those, the pokemon become side-stories, challenges for the main character to overcome or allies/tools that help him fight.

Beginning trainer fics are named so because usually, they are all about the beginning trainer. We assume the conclusion of these is likely to involve the (trainer) characters accomplishing their goals.

The automatic assumption, that this 'beginning trainer' story will have, at least, two major plots, gaining badges to become a master, and gaining pokemon…

Is, in the end…

Well, you'll find out what it is, won't you?

--
A Nidorino and a Gengar fight, as the opening rolls…
--

Episode Six:

Robbery
--

"Pikachu, choose your human."

"I choose the Satoshi! Go!"

There, sitting in the middle of a stadium, was Satoshi on all fours, sniffing and looking at his opponent, then turning his head toward Pikachu as he spoke. "Satoshi! Satoshi!" Replied Satoshi cheerfully to Pikachu, who was much taller than him, and standing far away, not too far off from the stands… What stands? Oh, right… The ones all full of Jigglypuff…

"Use your complain attack, Satoshi." Ordered Pikachu.

"Sa, toshi!" Red complied, and launched himself toward the other human, then started babbling on and on, working up quite a rage.

The other human started looking miffed.

"Tune him out, Gary! Then use brag!"

Gary stopped listening to Satoshi, and then started adding on his noise to the mix.

"Gary, gary, gary."

"Satoshi, get angry at him tuning you out and bragging!"


"Big mistake from Growlithe, folks! Now Satoshi can use his rage attack!" An Onix announced on the field.
"Toshi!" Cried out Satoshi, standing up to his full height, his fists being shaken wildly.
Gary began to look a little intimidated.

"Ooh, and the newcomer scores some points!"

"Gary, you lousy human, use your insults!"

Gary stepped forward, and wagged his finger, shouting at Satoshi. Satoshi looked even more infuriated, so much that he became speechless.



"The Gary evens out field now, folks!"
Suddenly, Satoshi ran forward and began to tickle the Gary.



"What are you doing?!" Shouted Pikachu. "I didn't command that!"
Satoshi looked up at Pikachu, stopping. "Satoshi?" Didn't we have a deal, Pikachu? We were going to work together now….

"Tickle attacks are ineffective against Gary Types!"

"Sato, satoshi! Red!" I didn't know!

"Look, you lost us the battle!" The field suddenly drained away into black, and it was just him and Pikachu now, staring face to face.

"It's not my fault!" Satoshi shouted, it no longer coming out as his name.

"It's always your fault. It is the human who matters, not the pokemon, remember? You can't be a hypocrite and not apply it both ways."

"I swear I didn't mean--Pika, pikachu!" Suddenly, his body shrank and became disproportionate, and Pikachu's accusing face began to turn into…

His own?


-

"UGH!" Satoshi flung himself upward from his pillow, the covers falling off him easily. He looked around, unhappily, in both directions, before looking down at his hands. It had just been a dream. It didn't mean anything.

Pidgey chirped outside, and the sun had barely risen. He relaxed slightly, sighing.
It was so strange, though. He shook his head, sighing. What could have brought it on?

How did he feel about it, for one? It had made him uncomfortable, and he had not enjoyed it. But he had never yelled at Pikachu like that, right? Wait. He had, sort of. Before the agreement. He'd apologized, though; and in the dream, Pikachu… Or his other self, broke the dream agreement. Was he feeling guilty about what he'd originally behaved like? But that was in the past now. (Although, he hadn't felt very guilty when he'd been doing it.)

He closed his eyes, and laid down his head. It was early still, he didn't need to get up for a bit. He decided it was useless, feeling guilty about something he clearly didn't do. He frowned. It was still a horrible dream in his mind, though.

Was that…

The way he could have behaved?

His eyes fluttered open, feeling like he'd found something important, but rolling it over in his mind, he failed to grasp what it meant.

"If I was the human, that means the dream was saying that… Pokemon are the most important, if humans represented Pokemon? It seems so wrong when you put it that way, though, to blame…"

"Free?" Butterfree's voice broke in, startling him. He turned quickly around to look at Butterfree, blinking.

"Oh, just a weird dream I had." He replied to the tone of puzzlement. "You all healed up now? Or did you wander loose from the nurses on your own?" Satoshi chuckled. "I wouldn't blame you. Heck, I might do the same. Is it possible to kidnap your own pokemon and run away out of boredom? I don't know." He slid off the bed, and slide on his backpack. "Go see if Pikachu's ready to go. I'm leaving the centre for a bit, I'm going stir-crazy here; I'll check out if he's ready."

"Butterfree!" The butterfly-like pokemon fluttered his wings and soared out the doorway, down the steps of the stairs that trailed not too far off from his rented room.

Satoshi yawned. From now on, he decided, he'd keep Butterfree outside his pokeball unless Butterfree was injured or wanted to return. He wondered what Butterfree thought. He didn't seem to share the same ideas as Pikachu, but didn't actually talk about his ideas. Was that the way a normal pokemon behaved? Not that Pikachu was unus-- Alright, Pikachu was very unusual; but the idea that was so was strange. He was trying to base his training style on this odd Pokemon who didn't behave like the rest. Was that a good thing or a bad thing, he wondered?

Or was it really true that, in fact, he was a sucker who was supposed to have 'tamed' Pikachu, and had let the thing go wild and be the 'boss' of him?

He frowned. There were many that thought Pokemon weren't as intelligent as people. There had, in fact, been numerous tests where the intelligence of pokemon had been tested and they hadn't done as well as humans on the subjects, with the exception of certain pokemon like Dragonite… What did that mean? Pikachu certainly seemed brilliant enough to him. Was Satoshi really just a fool, a bigger moron than the rest?
But…

So far, being friends with Pikachu…

Had worked.

What did that say about the tests, he wondered?

- - -

Erg.. Light… The sounds of a spearow chirping in the morning…

Wait a moment! The battle!

Had we lost? No! I failed again… I fainted. I can't believe it. The kid actually showed real brains that time, he couldn't have lost… We couldn't have lost.

Pikachu opened his eyes slowly, the corners of his mouth twisted in a human-like frown, a habit he had been starting to pick up that he had not had before.

Strange gray stripes lay in the air in front of him, metal, and smelling of disinfectant.
Alarmed, he glanced about. On all sides were these metal stripes, and on top and bottom were planks of steel.

I'm in a cage! No! I thought Satoshi knew I didn't want to be caged! Ever! He broke our--

Nurse Joy, one he recognized by smell, walked by, and left into another room. Pikachu calmed. He was in the Pokemon centre again, wasn't he? That meant the Nurse had put him here… The same damn nurse that had said she'd keep him from running loose the next time he came here.

Gawd. He rested his body against the cold metal strips. Annoying, this really was. This was all because he'd bitten that Jigglypuff, wasn't it? He glanced at a weird shape on one of the metal things that kept him in the cage. It looked sort of like a human device. Did that monitor his progress somehow, he wondered? He stood up.
Sparks flickered from his cheeks, and he zapped it violently.

Nothing happened.

Pikachu sat back down, ears drooping and tail twitched in aggravation.

"Those bars can't be destroyed by a pokemon, you know." A voice broke his thoughts.


"What?" Pikachu glanced toward the voice, and spotted a Spearow in another cage not too far off from him. There were other Pokemon in the room, but he hadn't noticed before.
"Bars. Those metal things." He bobbed his head in a friendly manner. The Spearow politely did not make eye-contact, as that would have been taken as a threat between unfamiliar, wild pokemon.


"Oh. I see. What are you in for?" Pikachu asked, curious.

"In for?" He croaked a laugh. "Nothing. I'm newly caught. Not exactly a tame one, you see, so they don't trust us not to wander off."
Pikachu nodded. "How come you know so much about humans and their things?" He glanced at the Spearow curiously, being careful to stare at the entire body instead of just the face.


"I grew up here in this town. I would talk to the Pokemon injured here through the openings of the building all the time, or the ones walking down the roads. Most pokemon when around humans don't talk to me, though." He chirped, not seeming at all upset by this fact. "I don't actually know who my owner is. I was nibbling on some food left on the ground when suddenly all went black. I was so afraid, I thought I was going to die right before I fell asleep."

"I just bit a Jigglypuff at the center." Shrugged Pikachu. Wandering around the city, spending more time than necessary there, seemed suicidal to him. But then, he'd been raised in a forest, and didn't have wings to fly away with. Bird Pokemon always seemed to live everywhere. Perhaps wings, and the feeling of flight, gave one an unusual sense of freedom. Or perhaps birds were just bird-brained.

The Spearow blinked. "Who is your master?"

"I don't have one." Pikachu answered truthfully. Well, at least his version of the truth.

"You're wild?" Spearow took a step back, seeming to forget that he himself had been wild only a little while ago.

"I never allowed myself to be put in a pokeball." His fur rose, and he showed his teeth. "I don't understand how one can sit back and accept being someone's pet."
Another pokemon in the room, a female Sandshrew, spoke up. "Sandshrew think it not so bad. Sandshrew lost battle fair and square; Sandshrew be soon stronger, not lose same battle again!"

Geeze. Had that been what he'd sounded like before he learned to talk properly?

"I didn't battle, but still… I think I deserve it. To let someone sneak up on me like that. Better a human than a predator. I would have died. In a way, I owe them my life."


"I don't think you need to repay them by becoming their pets!"

"We won't be their pets." The Spearow squawked in anger. "They will earn our respect, and in turn we will battle for them…"
"But you don't have any choice in the matter!"

There was a brief silence.

"Sandshrew no know what to do… Not much Sandshrew do if Sandshrew no choice."


"Yes, Sandshrew." The Spearow bitterly closed his eyes. "You are right. Now you have your answer, Pikachu of no master. We don't have a choice. Why couldn't you have let us pretend to have our dignity?" He suddenly had his voice give way to a shriek at the end, and crashed against his bars in rage.
Pikachu was caught between a fierce, wild response and a feeling of shame. A growl leashed in his throat, but his eyes met Sandshrew's and he found himself looking down, submissively, admitting defeat without even battling. Spearow immediately calmed at this, and threw him the cold shoulder, turning around, no longer speaking.

"How you here, if you no master?" She asked, softly, not as angry as Spearow. Nor did she seem as upset. The idea of a pet was a human one, at least, and she seemed to have had the least human contact of them all before reaching this place.

"Someone asked. A boy." Spearow no longer pretended he wasn't listening, and turned around, curious. "His name was Satoshi. I had just saved his life. He asked if I wanted to journey with him, and offered me a pokeball. I smacked it away."
Sandshrew blinked, and lowered her head, confused.


"But I did not decline his offer." He finished.

"What do you mean?" Spearow looked at Pikachu in confusion. "Doesn't that mean you willingly choose to have a master?"

"IT DOES NOT!" Pikachu growled, whirling around to face Spearow. "Let me clarify, then. I leapt on Satoshi's shoulder, and we traveled together to new places. At first, he tried to order me around, and tried to get me to battle and to catch Pokemon for him. I ignored his orders completely, until a battle came that interested me. Even then, I did not give him time to tell me what to do during the battle, moving too quickly for words. I won, and surprisingly, he did not scold me, though he seemed slightly disappointed. Finally, after losing a battle, I began to listen to him a little more. We made an agreement or two. He would not catch Pokemon--"

Spearow's eyes widened. "What? He willingly gave up the Pokeball?"
"--And he would let me do what I wanted in battle. In turn, I would actually consider his words in battle before making my decisions."


Sandshrew and Spearow were silent, struggling to grasp what this all meant, and how they should reply. Pikachu decided that bird pokemon, were, in fact, bird-brained, after some time of impatient silence on his part. Sandshrew usually weren't talkative in the first place, however, being very quiet Pokemon that preferred to listen most of the time. Being a predator, and mostly solitary, they would listen acutely for their prey.

Thankfully, being both of similar size and a creature of a different habitat range, Pikachu weren't naturally on that list, so Pikachu felt no fear whatsoever toward the predatory shrew, despite his type-disadvantage if a Sandshrew had wanted to eat him. He had faint memories of Spearow trying to eat him as a Pichu, but those days of danger were passed, and they were around humans now anyway. The boundaries of predator and prey simply didn't seem to exist anymore, and they could make friends, strangely enough, with their natural enemies.


"How did you get a human to do this?" Spearow asked, finally. "Could we… Could we do that?"

"To be truthful… Satoshi did it on his own. Perhaps he felt the same obligation you felt, feeling that I had saved his life…" Pikachu sounded puzzled at that thought. Why had he asked? Why had Satoshi assumed that Pikachu was not merely an untamed Pokemon that needed to be beaten in to his commands? He understood the asking the first time, as Satoshi had no way he was going to get Pikachu in a ball, but after he got another Pokemon on his side, after he had gotten Pikachu near other humans who could help Satoshi claim Pikachu as his little pet…
Why?


"Pikachu! Where are you?" A beautiful, but strange voice floated out. Butterfree? Was that really her? She sounded so different from when she had been a Metapod! Spearow and Sandshrew glanced toward the hallway, as Butterfree floated by it. She still didn't sound clearly feminine, being a bug, but at least she didn't have that odd Metapod voice to her anymore, and there was a sort of handsomeness to her voice now.

"Here!" Pikachu responded, feeling pleased. Butterfree flittered in gracefully, having great control of her wings already. Perhaps Satoshi had let her out more than usual. That would explain it. She landed. "I'm sorry I screwed up the battle--"

"You didn't mess up." Her red eyes blinked at him. "Even though you fainted, you managed to wound it enough I could finish it off in one blow. Thank you for that, I didn't have enough energy for a second blast, or a single attack toward me." Butterfree were incapable of smiling. But he imagined she was, from the happy bounce to her.
"Oh." He felt immensely relieved. "By the way, do you still think Satoshi is great?"


Butterfree flew into the air. "Yup! I think everybody is great! Especially you, I mean, you really helped me along." Pikachu flicked a single ear in embarrassment. He hadn't done that much. "Oh, Satoshi says if you are ready to leave he'll check out."

"He has no idea I can't go out to meet him, does he? I'm stuck in a dang cage." He rolled his black eyes.
"Uh, I'll get you out. Where is the opening on this thing?"


"We don't know." Chirped Spearow, breaking into the conversation finally.

"Oh." Butterfree sounded crestfallen.
"Yes-no top? Lots human things open by top!" Suggested Sandshrew.


"Okay!" Butterfree closed her eyes, and Pikachu's cage shuddered slightly. Then it stopped.

"No? Then it has to be one of the sides. What about the one with that strange thing on it? It looks similar to what humans use on doors and things, maybe it opens in a similar manner. It has no doorknob, though." Spearow squawked.

Butterfree tried, but then gave up, sighing. "I'll grab Satoshi, then. He isn't stupid enough to not realize Pikachu isn't coming with."

"Oh. Was hoping Sandshrew get loose too." Sighed Sandshrew.

"Maybe you still can." Pikachu flicked his tail in amusement. Could he convince a human to let them all loose, he wondered? "Aren't Nurse Joys supposed to let us loose once we are all healed up?"

"Or return us to our Pokeballs and wait for our trainers to return." Sighed Spearow, though he looked faintly hopeful.

"So you wanted to return to the wild, huh? Decided not to follow all that pokeball crap? You realize your trainers will just track you down, right?" Pikachu responded, thinking how he could help. "Wait… what if we smashed your Pokeballs in?"

Sandshrew lowered her head, thinking. "You sneak human in here, you make him set all loose?"

"I don't know if Satoshi would know what I meant, and might release just me, or even just have a Nurse release me and let me go to him." Pikachu frowned, ears twitching in discontent.

"I'll go get him, in any case." Butterfree stated, flying through the door.
"Sandshrew guess up to Butterfree…"


"What if we staged a robbery?" Suddenly spoke up Spearow, after he had been silent for some time. Sandshrew and Pikachu turned to look at him through their cage bars.

"What robbery?" Asked Sandshrew.

"Theft, I mean." Spearow clarified. "Even if only Pikachu gets loose, he could help us. If our trainers think we are stolen, and we are released into the wild instead and look like every other Pokemon, they'll have no idea, right? But we need a bandit costume… And a bandit." Looking at Sandshrew, he hastily clarified. "I mean thief."

"Pikachu could be Bandit. If dress him up really well, and make lights go out so they mistake for human?" Sandshrew suggested.

"Alright. I'll do it. I'll need time, though… Won't I get caught in the act?" Frowned Pikachu. "And my voice will be a dead-giveaway I'm a Pokemon, even if they manage to mistake me for a midget human in the first place because of the costume."

"Don't speak, then. And just fry them before they can react, if they try to grab you." Spearow chirped.
"Keep down that racket, you three!" Scolded someone from another room. Oops.


"Let's be more quiet, then." Whispered Pikachu. The others nodded.

"Sandshrew just want see old den… Maybe be Sandslash, and have pups." Sighed Sandshrew softly. "Taste Spearow meat again."

"Hey!" Spearow fluffed his feathers indignantly, looking about to fly into a rage again. Spearow were infamous for their short temper, after all. Pikachu looked on with amusement. "Just wait until I evolve into a Fearow! Then I'll eat you in one bite!"
Suddenly, they were interrupted by the door opening.

"Pikachu? You there? I thought something was strange when Butterfree didn't let me go out the door, or talk to the Nurse…" The voice of Satoshi muttered, and his head poked through the door as he stepped through. Butterfree flew in from behind him.
"Oh. There you are. Sorry for the cage, I guess I have to let you out, then." Satoshi turned his head toward Butterfree. "Why wouldn't you just let me talk to the Nurse about it?"

"Look, I can't explain, so I'll just show you, okay? Trust us." Muttered an exasperated Butterfree. Pikachu chuckled in amusement at her wearied tone.

Satoshi turned and bent down, looking at the cage contraption thingy. "This requires a key, sorry. There is a lock right here, see?"


"Key?" Asked Butterfree, twirling in the air.
"One of the Nurse Joys probably has it. There is a desk right over here, maybe it is on top…" He scanned the desk. "File, file… No key." Satoshi muttered.


"He isn't bad." Muttered Spearow appreciatively. Pikachu shot him the look 'are you kidding me he is an idiot'. Spearow merely looked amused at that.
"Butterfree, you could mimic a key. Get him to tell you more about it." Pikachu spoke up, ignoring Spearow.

Butterfree tugged on Satoshi's arm, and pointed at the locks.

"What?" Satoshi turned.


"Key." Pointed Butterfree, toward the locks.
"I don't get what you mean. Do you want me to pick the locks? I don't know how to do that, I think we should just grab a nurse." Butterfree shook his head at Satoshi. "No…? Then?" Butterfree made a scribbling motion with his hand, in the shape of the locks. Then he pointed at the desk. "Locks and the Key? Wait… You don't know what a key looks like?"


"Bingo!" Cried Pikachu.
"Alright." He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket, and scribbled a picture of a key, and held it up. The Pokemon all stared at it.

"Sandshrew saw one those at front desk, before Sandshrew in cage!"

"What's all this fuss about, anyway--" The cage door glowed, as did Butterfree's eyes, and suddenly it swung open. Pikachu hopped out. Satoshi smacked his head. "Why do I feel like I'm going to get into trouble for this?" He sighed. "Alright, let's go." He turned, and opened the door. Pikachu leapt on to his backpack, and pulled out a handkerchief from one of their picnics. He then placed it on his face. He looked like a very strange, absurd thief, being that the pattern was polka-dotted red and white. He took another one and used it to hide his ears.


"Ooh, you need a cape! To hide your tail!"

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking." Nodded Pikachu. "The blankets I was sleeping on in the cage will do." He hopped off, and grabbed a grey hospital blanket and tied it on around his neck, letting it trail behind his back. "Ta-da!"
"What the heck are you doing, Pikachu?" Frowned Satoshi. "You look ridiculous. The clothing doesn't even match. The two handkerchiefs on your head even have different patterns."

Spoilsport. "Kid, you need to get out of here. I don't want them thinking you are the criminal, after all. Butterfree, get him out of here, 'kay?"


"'Kay! Off you go." Butterfree ushered Satoshi out the door.
"Hey!" Was heard from the halls. "What the heck are you doing, Butterfree?" The voice got more and more distant, however.

"Okay, operation super-thief-bandit-pikachu-rescue, go!" Pikachu stated, running through the halls. Pokeballs, Pokeballs, where did they keep the Pokeballs? Suddenly, all the lights flickered off, courtesy of Butterfree as the pokemon left the building.
The lights are off. I only have a small amount of time, then, before they flick back on.

There. The faint smell of metal and disgusting pokechow.

He rounded a corner, and brushed past someone's legs.

"EEK! Who's there?"

He darted by past, ignoring the human. Reaching the room, which had strange rows and rows of Pokeballs on shelves, he searched for the balls that had once contained his new companions, of sorts. There. There was the faint sniff of Spearow and Sandshrew, but it smelled fresh, and the pokeballs looked unscratched and new.

He grabbed the balls, and the lights began to flicker on. No, wait, it was a flashlight.
"Thief! Thief in the pokemon room!" Nurse Joy shouted, a chansey by her side, that much Pikachu could smell.

Before his true form could be learned by the morons, he leaped off his perch, pokeballs in hand, and darted straight under their legs.

He turned around the corner, into the halls, and someone's hands tried to grab him, tearing off his cloak. He leapt into the room containing the cages just in time, as the lights flickered back on. Butterfree was there, opening the two cages of his companions. Quickly, Spearow and Sandshrew stepped out of their cages. They could hear steps around the corner.

Pikachu smashed open a window, and leaped out, Pokeballs in hand. Footsteps came running into the room, but the other pokemon had already followed him outside. Losing no time, the trio dashed into the vegetation, and hid.

The voices from the room broke out. Officer Jenny had arrived, apparently.

"I don't understand how he could have gotten away so quickly!" Nurse Joy spoke, a frown in her voice.

"You say the thief only left behind this?" Officer Jenny spoke next. Pikachu didn't dare peek to see what they were talking about. He knew it had to be the cloak... Or rather, blanket. He wondered if they would notice that. It wasn't like the blanket had a logo on it or anything, but still, it looked exactly the same as one of the hospital blankets.

"Yes."

"I see. This doesn't appear to be the work of Team Rocket, or any other thief we've heard to be in the area." A frown. "They must have been quite skilled to pull this off. We don't see any signs of tampering with the lights, though I haven't been done looking over everything yet, of course."

"Jenny, I smell something strange, or rather a lack of it. There isn't any scent of human sweat here." Spoke up her Growlithe. "I don't see who the thief could have been, by these smells. A trainer was here recently, though."

Pikachu froze. "What is it, Growlithe?" Jenny spoke, not knowing what her Growlithe had stated. "That reminds me. The thief is probably still in the area. This might be our only chance to catch him. How many Pokemon did he take?"

"Just two, I think." Joy sighed with relief.

"Then he might strike again for more. Let's go!" Officer Jenny whirled, sounding like she was leaving. A door opened, and then closed, rapidly. Barks were heard.


Spearow sighed. "Thank you so much. We'll go now, but first, to deposit those Pokeballs somewhere safe."

"No, Sandshrew destroy!" Snarled Sandshrew. The pokemon raised it's claws and slashed down, but failed to cut through the balls, only scratching them. Again and again it whirled, but to no avail.

"Let's just go, then, before they check here. Had they realized there was a thief earlier, they might have had more Growlithes trying to sniff us out." Butterfree cheerfully hummed, flying through the air off toward where he'd last seen Satoshi. Pikachu nodded, then took off his handkerchiefs and gave them to Sandshrew.
"Make sure nobody finds them." Pikachu gave a small squeak, speaking to them both, and then ran off, hopefully to never see them again.


"Goodbye!" Shouted Sandshrew and Sparrow, before they both parted ways, carefully carrying their Pokeballs to safety, to do with as they pleased.
--

"What do you mean, a thief?" Satoshi spoke, nervously, not liking being interrogating by an officer, even if it wasn't officer Jenny herself. Had his hunch turned out correct? Had he landed in a lot of trouble for helping Pikachu out of his cage?

"Exactly. Just a few minutes ago, an extremely short, or possibly someone who was bent over who ran low to the ground, stole several pokemon from the Pokemon center." A man spoke, frowning. He had brown hair, and looked familiar.
It wasn't him, then, and he wasn't under suspicion. That was good. "Would your name happen to be Officer John, by the way?" Spoke Satoshi.

"It is." The man shrugged. "Why?"

"No reason." Satoshi merely remembered meeting a Janitor who looked remarkably like him. He wondered if they were twins.

Pikachu came running toward him, and Satoshi's eyes widened. The officer turned around, blinking, wondering what he was staring at, and spotted the Pokemon, which was shortly followed by Butterfree soaring overhead. They landed by his side, and Pikachu hopped on his shoulder and happily greeted him.

"So you're back from your little trip, huh? Wonder what took you so long." Satoshi grinned. "I'm starving. I haven't even had breakfast yet."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu responded, happily, but did he just throw a wary glance at the officer? No, couldn't be, Satoshi thought. Pikachu wasn't involved… Was he? It did seem rather suspicious, now that he thought about it. But it was too insane to consider properly.

"Are these your pokemon, young man?" Asked Officer John.

"Yup." Smiled Satoshi.

"Do you normally let them out of their balls, to run around as they like? That's dangerous, now, they could get stolen like that, you know."

"I know." Satoshi scratched the side of his head in embarrassment. "But they don't really like being in their balls. Besides, they can actually defend themselves if they aren't in their balls, you know." Red pointed out quickly.

"I suppose that's a good point. Well, good day. Tell me if you remember seeing anything suspicious."


I could tell you loads of things that were suspicious… But then you'd think I was nuts! Satoshi thought. "Goodbye, sir!" He waved, and turned around, walking off. Satoshi didn't return Butterfree to his pokeball, simply letting the pokemon hang outside with him. If there really was a thief, and that thief wasn't currently trying to snooze on his shoulder, he felt it was better to let Butterfree be out. If nothing else, it would let Butterfree be out in the sunshine and get some exercise.
"Piii…" Pikachu began to snore slightly, very tiny snores, which unfortunately were right by in Satoshi's eardrums.

"Ugh." Satoshi pushed Pikachu's head away from his ear. "No thanks, Pikachu. You walk and not snooze on my shoulder, or no milkshake when we arrive."

At this, Pikachu's ears perked up, and he shot right off Satoshi Red, landing on the ground and actually speeding off in front of him, unable to be patient for milkshakes.

"Woah, wait, wait up Pikachu!" Satoshi ran after him, his legs getting a good workout through the city of Pewter one last time. "It's the other way!"

- - - - - - - - - -

End Episode. Roll end theme-music, dun-dun dun.

 

[Buoysel]

Your first chapter is very hard to understand until you get several chapters in.

Over all it is a good story and I like it, despite that you use and an overused starter, and it follows the game/ TV shows. You put a different prospective on the story, I guess that is what I like.

 

[Satoshi_Red]

Yeah. I've grown a lot as a writer since then. XP

--

Episode Seven:

Magic, Magic.

--

The Growlithe snarled.

A stick was raised.

"How dare ye come back without that miscreant!"

Smack.

Pause.

"Well, at least you gave him a good old fight, right? I wouldn't be so angry at ye if I hadn't found you eating some strange things remains behind the barn. I can't believe I had to drag ye away from it. Ye ain't acting right. Ye'r actin' too… Feral."

A snarl shook the pup's body, and it rose itself up, and prepared to attack its master once more.

"Don' ye dare. Don' ye even dare." A flicker of intelligence shone through it's eyes for a moment, and it stood still, calculating its human master cautiously. The day it had learned to hunt, to think for itself, it had forsaken him, even if only for a moment, by daring to think it could take human flesh.

But loyal obedience was inbred to the Growlithe, and his master's superiority, even now, shook that slightly awake, making the beast remember. Hazily, in pain from the beating, it decided to demand the opportunity to hunt down the miscreant once more, though its grasp of its own language was poor, having been raised in its earliest days with humans.

But it never got the chance.

"I can take that Growlithe off your hands sir, with compensation."

"Eh?" The man whirled. The Growlithe barked sharply, alarmed that it had not sensed the intruders presence already. This was still his barn, and he had been bred to alert the farmer to intruders. Something stung that it had already failed, even if it was thinking of tearing the farmer apart.

"It is obviously gone feral. It will require retraining, taming. Farmers like yourself usually don't deal with this, being that you raise them from their earliest days. But my associates do. We could take the trouble off your hands right now. Otherwise, you'd have to kill it." It was a woman's voice. Growlithe usually relied on scent to figure out the gender of humans, but it was disguised by some strange perfume it didn't recognize.

"And yet ye do? What's me compensation?" The farmer spoke, gruffly, not wanting to be taken advantage of.

"Why, enough money to buy a tamer, already trained one as a replacement… When we are done with him, you may even get him back. Think of it. Two dogs working for you instead of one. You can't lose, either way you look at it."

The farmer looked at the woman warily. "Alright. Ye got yerself a deal, missy."
He handed the Growlithe's chains over to her. It feebly snarled, his air cut off as he even began by the woman's sudden sharp tug. She turned and walked away.
That night, the Growlithe the man newly purchased was stolen.

His life was about to become a living hell, he realized, as approached a man with a black suit and stern figure. Some sort of symbol was on the man's upper-clothing thing.

But we all know that little detail didn't matter… Right?

--

"We beat 'em! Yeah!"

"Pika, pikachu!"

The sun shined through green, newly grown leaves. Behind these leaves lay a road where a young boy and two pokemon happily bounced, and an even smaller boy sulked, returning a Rattata to it's pokeball. The Rattata was not too bloodied, as they'd tried to fight more or less nicely, but he was looking rather horribly burned from electric shock.

It had not been long since the robber Pikachu the Bandit incident, a few hours, perhaps. The sun was still shining, and it was still early morning, the dew, however, was mostly gone from the trees. There was a feeling of triumph, of, perhaps, a touch of relief, in the air.

Several battles in a row had been won, Butterfree and Pikachu often wiping the floor with their opponents without working up too much of a sweat. At first, the battling was awkward as Satoshi, Butterfree, and Pikachu focused more on each other than on the battles, still unused to the balancing effort of working together with full effort without taking full control of the situation.

Satoshi was nervous at first. With his boisterous attitude, and seeming fearlessness at jumping in to things, it did not really show. He wished to give Pikachu the full benefit of the doubt, and Butterfree, of course. He had no reason after their win at the Gym to doubt them. No, it was really himself that he was feeling nervous about.
He was wondering if he could catch up with Gary. He didn't know how far behind he was compared to the annoying little prick, and the idea in his mind was driving him slightly crazy. Pikachu, ha, he could see clearly that Pikachu could care less. The electric hamster had probably forgotten about his fateful encounter with the other boy's Growlithe already.

However, the battles had steadily risen his confidence, putting his mind off things. He reflected too much on his insecurities, really, he knew that. It was a misconception that the unconfident had to be shy, and openly, well, fearful. But Satoshi was more average than one would think; the insecurities of his mind were always brushed back, dismissed, but nagging. And he always constantly tried to prove himself, to dissuade them.

They often came, somehow, reflected in the form of childish taunts from others. How others always knew what some part of him was silently chiding himself for, he did not know. But somehow, they did.

He wondered what his father looked like.

For the moment, though, his fears were fleeing from his mind, at least temporarily he had forgotten them. His battle was won, and he was euphoric, ecstatic.

"Hand over the winnings!" He happily outstretched his hand. Money was placed in his hand with some grumbling. It wasn't much, but it paid back the lunch he had bought earlier, and that was what mattered. I can afford another meal. The true reason why people battle; to get horribly broke!

"Pika!"

"Free!"

They walked down the road, leaving a snotty kid rather grumpy. The monetary system was simple; one placed their possible loss and winnings at the beginning of the battle. If wanted, there would be no exchange of money. Most battles were more for fun, anyway.

"Ugh, I should have known better than to fight someone with a badge!" Exclaimed the kid they beat behind them. Satoshi chuckled.

They continued on, a happy silence. But something was bothering a certain individual…

"Pi pa pikichu, ikuchi pa pikachu kaaa?" Pikachu spoke up, trotting along on all fours beside him. Satoshi didn't know what he said, but it sounded like a question, so he responded without dwelling too much on what Pikachu might have meant.

"We are almost to the mountain pass. See that mountain ridge up there? The closest mountain is Mt. Moon, I think. I don't know how we'll be getting across, but I know another city is on the other side, waiting. Our trip could take a few weeks.

Thankfully, they have a center around here somewhere, as a rest stop for travelers and for, I think, research. I heard there are fossils in this mountain range." Satoshi spoke, looking forward as he walked, not stopping. Pikachu glanced down, seeming to consider this for a moment, before looking back up.

"Pika." He responded, thoughtfully, looking up at Satoshi. "Pa Pichu?"

"I didn't answer your question?" Pikachu glanced back at the kid they left behind. "I see. You were curious about the battles we were having. Or at least that one we just had. Umm… Battles are pretty much normally like that, though they vary. Not every battle is like a Gym Leader Battle. Gym Leaders are not the strongest, but they are a measure of growth for trainers, varying in their level of abilities." He grinned. "My goal is to collect badges so I can go to the League… So I can be respected as one of the best trainers of all time. Maybe even be known as a Pokemon Master."

Pikachu snarled suddenly.

"Sorry…" Satoshi apologized. He had forgotten, in his mellow joy, how touchy Pikachu was. "It's just a word… Most people don't really think of pokemon very highly, I guess. A Pokemon Master, at least in those terms, is one of the elite trainers who managed to gain not only eight badges, but also managed to defeat the other trainers of similar skill in the League Tournament. I guess because pokemon aren't viewed very highly, they think one has to have a mastery of pokemon to get that far."

Pikachu looked like he was going to hotly reply, but he suddenly looked down, sighing. "Aku pika pi…"

"I know… Nothing I can do about it. I'm just a kid…"

There was an uncomfortable silence the rest of the walk.

The center came into sight. It was a pokemon centre, like Satoshi had said. The land was rocky, dry and hilly, with some tall grasses sparsely placed here and there. Spearow flocks pecked at the ground here and there, and the few trees that lay around they hanged on around. A lone mankey was trying to eat one of them, but with little success.

They entered the centre and briefly rested. Friendly faces greeted them, but most didn't even bother to look up. A gruff looking man was muttering under his breath about rockets on the loose, looking at the newspapers. Sitting in a chair next to him, was a younger man with a friendlier appearance, wearing glasses. He seemed knowledgeable.

"Excuse me, sir?" Satoshi spoke up. "Do you know anything about Mt. Moon?" The custom of never talking to strangers had never applied to Red. Or, well, more like he didn't care.

"Oh." The man whirled around, startled, almost knocking off his glasses. "Hello there. Yes, yes, of course I do. You're only the tenth person to ask me about it today. I can't fathom why. Now, the best advice I can give is not to go over the mountain. You'll get horribly lost. There's a tunnel leading through Mt. Moon to Cerulean."

"What about the fossils, sir?" Satoshi asked curiously.

"Oh, those. All the ones discovered have recently all been completely dug up. It's a shame; we haven't found any new ones in awhile."

"I thought Mt. Moon was, well, one mountain… But there looks like there are several..?" He blinked.

"If you mean the multiple bumps, cliffs and ridges on the mountain, you should know mountains aren't all uniform looking like in cartoons. But yes, in this case there are several mountains. Kanto is famous for having lots of mountains. Although several of those Mountains are nameless, you might recognize the name Diglett Cave. This mountain chain extends fairly far." He grinned. "I love mountains. Did you know that--"

"Err, I think I heard enough. Thank you for your time." Satoshi backed away. Crazy nerds.

"…Kids these days." Muttered the guy, turning away to admire his pocket protector.
Butterfree was admiring the flowers.

But where was Pikachu? Satoshi blinked.

Faintly, he picked up something, and turned to hear it more sharply. "Come get your super-special secret pokemon!" Someone was shouting.

He doubted it had anything to do with Pikachu, but he was curious. What could they mean? He walked forward, and Butterfly circled above, appearing to be so absorbed in looking for Pikachu he didn't even notice that Satoshi was walking off. Or perhaps Butterfree didn't care Satoshi was walking off. He was old enough to be wandering around without his parent after all.

Red found a peculiar looking booth with a man inside, set up against the back of a sheer rocky hill face that went vertically upward. The man was fat, had a white apron, smelled, was balding, had funny squinting eyes, and was holding what looked like a dead fish.

Wait… It wiggled. It wasn't dead.

The man's eyes latched on to Satoshi's figure immediately after he had failed to persuade a young lady to consider his wares. "Ah, you look like a sharp young lad!" He whirled enthusiastically, arms wide open, making Satoshi take a step back as for a moment he had been afraid the man was going to hug him. Thankfully, the stinking man did no such thing. "Would you perhaps be interested in a rare, fabulous pokemon?"

Satoshi paused, hesitating. He didn't know what to think of this. He didn't want anything to do with the man, but against his own will he found himself speaking up. "What kind?"

A childish naivety in Satoshi spoke up, telling him that a rare and powerful pokemon would make a wonderful addition to his team. Another part, an ugly side that liked to rear it's head after disappointments, tried to tell him to be wary of the offer. He did not have any experience with scams; he had been too young for his mother to have ever really considered letting him in to any monetary decisions by himself, and Gary, the type who would pull a scam on him for amusement, tended to be too preoccupied with showing off how superior he was to pull such a thing.

But, the part of him that had experience, spoke up in a manner he had not considered. Pikachu. How did this deal with their Pokeball agreement? Was it the same? Or was it different? He didn't know. Was buying a pokemon the same as capturing them? It depended on Pikachu's reasoning, didn't it? He carefully thought back. His assumption had been that Pikachu hadn't liked it because not all Pokemon wanted to be in the Pokeball, and to not be caught.

Stretching that, it seemed to him like being in a store would be something a Pokemon would like even less. It seemed reasonable of him to consider buying it under the agreement, but he simply wasn't sure. Subtle reasoning was not something Satoshi had really been taught to understand, even if some part of him hinted that he might need to use it here.

That had always been his problem in school. He always had a nagging feeling what he should have been doing, but he often felt lost anyway in the sea of words and numbers. His teachers didn't have time to carefully explain things to him when they had everyone else to consider, and his often rash and obnoxious behavior when he was really young had not left him particularly well-liked by his teachers. Satoshi had learned to fear his mother's wrath, and had calmed down, but there had been a time when out of sight meant out of mind for him.

"It's called a Magikarp, sir, uh,--"

"You can call me Red." Satoshi offered, not wanting to give his first name.

"Red, good name, good name. It's a water pokemon, and so young into your journey you most likely don't have one yet, am I right?" He smirked, before correcting it with a friendlier, more innocent smile. "Now, a sharp lad like you could see the advantage of raising one so early on, right? It would become strong much more quickly, and--"

"I'm not really interested in that." Satoshi interrupted. "Actually… I'd just like to know if it's still alive." He meant to be polite, but it didn't come out that way.

The man looked shocked. "Excuse me? I mean, of course, of course, you wish to see how lively the little snapper is. It, uh--" Lamely, the man placed the nearly dead fish on the booth.

Satoshi stared in disbelief. "That's it?"

"Magik, karp karp." It wiggled, then seemed to give up.

"That'll be 500 goldenrods."

"No way." Satoshi waved, turning around.

But he stopped. Nobody with half a brain was going to buy that thing… That poor pokemon.

"I'll consider." He finally said, not turning around.

Suddenly, his mind snagged upon a solution. What if he bought it, and consulted Pikachu? He didn't have to put the Magikarp in a pokeball, and since he didn't really want it, he could just release it. His conscience didn't have to berate him no matter what he did if he did that.

But 500 would leave him without any money. Food, especially human food, was expensive. Pokemon didn't have to eat as much if they were in their Pokeballs whenever they weren't battling, but he didn't have that luxury. It wouldn't have been so bad if Pikachu hadn't declared that he hated the easy to buy, cheap pokechow. The little mouse simply didn't understand economics. Well, neither did Satoshi fully understand either, but at least he knew how to use cash.

"Alright, I'll buy your stupid half-dead fish." He turned around. The man grinned greedily, and didn't even seem to take offense at that. What a sleazebag. Red put down the last of his money, sighing sadly. The man grabbed it readily, and quickly it seemed to vanish after he counted to make sure it was all there.

The boy took the poor Pokemon and it's gold pokeball, and immediately looked around for a river. Walking back to the centre with it in his arms, he immediately checked it in, sat down, and waited patiently. Half of him pessimistically thought that the thing would croak on him at any moment. It was probably a waste of time.

He had been told, time and again by others, that he was nothing more than an idiot. He wouldn't be surprised, he thought bitterly, if that turned out to be the case now, and his kindness turned out to be nothing more than a waste of money. Or maybe worse, the thing would spit water in his face and rabidly chew on his arm the second it got better… Although he was pretty certain he could defend himself.

Maybe, though, he was being too hard on himself.

--

"You!" Pikachu glared at a familiar face.

Spearow was at the window of the Pokemon Centre.

"What do you want?"

He snarled.

Spearow tapped on the glass, and mouthed something.

Oh. Right.

Pikachu hopped outside, and went around to the other side of the window. He wasn't in a good mood at the moment. Okay, well, he had been, but he didn't want to admit it to anyone that he'd been enjoying battling alongside Satoshi. And that he was now bored waiting in the centre for Butterfree to finish having his tiniest cuts healed up. Mostly, he didn't want to admit he could in the slightest way actually see the old birdbrain. Spearow flew down to greet him.

"Now that we can hear each other, what is it you want? I did you one favor already. I'm not a human who sitters on babies, waiting for them to hatch!" Okay, so his terminology was a little awkward. But he was still getting used to human society.

"Too bad. You looked like you'd make a good father of some pups." Spearow quipped, taking it literately, twisting the words. It stung more than Spearow even realized, but Pikachu refused to cringe at the lightly made barb. "That's not was I was hoping for, anyway. Me and Sandshrew naturally moved away from the city in order to avoid trouble and to… Dispose of certain items. Sandshrew actually lives here. But in our new home we've found something… Strange going on."

"Strange?"

Pikachu's black eyes shone in the sunlight, glittering dangerously as a tone of impatience entered his voice yet again.

"There's been activity."

Spearow threw a pointed look. "We think it may be Pokemon from within the mountain. Whatever they are, they aren't Sandshrew or Zubat."

"How does this have anything to do with me?"

"You are heading that way, right?"

Unhappily, he nodded in admittance. He could have seen that point coming a mile off, but still.

"I suppose you want me to find out what is going on?" The yellow mouse narrowed his eyes.

"Not exactly… You see, the disturbances aren't natural. Rumbles through the ground, entire rocks moved, whole new tunnels carved… And dead Pokemon left on the scene. The Clefairy have been even more secretive as of late, we think they know something. None of them seem to have been affected."

"You want whatever their protection is."

Pikachu smirked smugly. It was no question.

"Right." Spearow nodded, looking irritated. "Stop interrupting or I'll eat you. Now--"

"Oh, you wish." Pikachu muttered.

Spearow chose to pretend he hadn't heard that. "Anyway, we'd like you to go undercover."

Pikachu dropped the attitude. His face went blank with shock. "Exccuuusee?"

"That's right. We want you to join the Clefairy cult. I don't think they recognize pikachus, so you might have a chance if you fabricate some sort of story."
He looked a little abashed. It did seem rather absurd, after all. Pikachu was staring at him with a 'is-that-all-you-could-come-up-with?' apathetic look.

"I'll think about it." Pikachu spoke finally, breaking the silence. He turned his head, and he could hear the flutter of wings as Spearow left, the pokemon beating the air noisily to his ears but much more quietly to a human's hearing range. It attracted no attention.

He stared at the humans who walked two and fro from the centre, and noticed something.

He didn't hear Satoshi inside the center. Either the kid was asleep, sitting really, really still, which was unlike the child unless he was terrified out of his wits, or he had left already without him. Giving a sigh of frustration, the pokemon hopped forward, and peered through the window. No sign.

Great.

The pikachu spotted something up in the sky, however. It was Butterfree, who seemed to be looking about for someone. Probably him, or Satoshi. Geeze, was his so called hiding spot really that good that both of them could have looked right past him? Then again, his coloring almost blended in with the cheery looking building, and that was sort of a frightening thought. In the wild, one might have assumed the building was poisonous… Or a giant box shaped flower.

She managed to catch his eye, and over excitedly dove down.

"Oh, Pikachu! I'm so glad to see you!"

She twirled. Her voice was not really feminine compared to the rest of her type, but Pikachu was slowly getting used to the finer tones of her strange bug voice, and it seemed to have a handsome quality to it, for a bug type, at least.

"Uh… Glad to see you too?" He offered, not quite sure how to react to that. "Where is the little snot?" He dove straight to the point.

"Oh. The 'snot' as you call it-- I mean, him, is over toward a strange booth thing with an obnoxious man that venonat would happily lay eggs in."

Pikachu winced at the imagery. Was that meant to be descriptive, or an insult? He couldn't tell with Butterfree, who didn't even blink as she said it. Disgusting. Bug mentality was strange. Pikachu shook his head, and followed Butterfree as she flew forward, gliding on the currents of the air not too high up above him.

There was a booth.

But no Satoshi.

Glaring at Butterfree, she seemed to wilt unhappily at his disapproving stare. "He must have already left…?" She offered, trying to appease. He sighed, not really being able to stay mad. She was like a child, even though she had evolved more than he ever had. It just went to show that evolution had little to do with maturity levels… Or maybe she was more mature than he was, he mused.

While he mused, he found her staring easily amused at a flower.

Eh… Probably not.

They returned to the center. Satoshi was there… With another pokemon. Fur and hackles raised, he whirled, glaring at Satoshi, silently demanding an explanation. Had he dared--

Satoshi seemed oblivious, smiling at his appearance. "Oh, hey Pikachu! I was worried when I hadn't seen you for so long. Anyway, I have something I have to talk to you about."

However, there were other people in the center. Red had been talking a little too loudly. They stared.

"He's talking to his pokemon…" Someone muttered, rolling their eyes and going back to their newspaper. Satoshi stared at them, wondering what the hell that was about.

"Uh, anyway," He began, speaking a little more quietly, crouching down closer to Pikachu for good measure. "Do you understand the concept of… Buying and selling?"
Pikachu stared, confused. But he nodded. One exchanged funny little items for other funny little items.

"Okay, good." He smiled. "Some people sell pokemon."

They both paused. Satoshi let it register. Pikachu, slowly, let an expression of horror come onto his visage as it clicked. He bought that pokemon. It was hard to grasp. He didn't really understand how little coins could represent food, and had always wondered why people would just give food away for free. But vaguely, he understood, that Magikarp's life could be equated with food, or any other item that they bought and sold. That Magikarp had no choice in the matter. It, he understood, came from someone else, who must have kept it in captivity, and then given it to Satoshi.

It was hardly better than the Pokeball. Maybe it was worse. He didn't know.
It wasn't against the agreement, though. He shook with rage. Satoshi had tricked him. He'd found a loophole for controlling Pokemon. He didn't care at all, Pikachu's mind muttered at him. Why he found what Satoshi cared about important, a part of him didn't know, but he did. It hurt.

"Look…" The kid frowned. "I didn't mean it like… What your assuming right now. I realize that it could sound kind of bad, but his situation was not going to be better if I just left him there."

That too was a strange concept. That one could somehow fix or soothe a wrong by committing another wrong. That one slavery was better than another.

"And I wanted to consult you on it." Satoshi said, finally, taking in Pikachu's silent reaction, looking uncertain at the seeming lack of response. No barrage of words, no banter of how he was wrong, no agreement that he was right.

"I haven't put him in a pokeball yet." Satoshi confided, looking like that was some sort of big secret that he was whispering in the ear of a friend. "He already had this one." He showed Pikachu a strange golden ball. "I could release him into the wild. He's sick, so I'm having the nurses do a check on him first, but…"

Pikachu relaxed. Satoshi really had thought this through. That was the only thing to do. He nodded, looking appreciative, though Satoshi mistook it all as simply agreement, not catching the subtle thank-you for considering his emotions in that.
A little later they went out to a mountain river, a decently fast-running but not powerful cold stream of water that Magikarp could do just fine in, it seemed. The nurse had told them it was miraculous Magikarp had survived for so long without water.

Satoshi released Magikarp into the wild. It splashed madly, seemed to regain it's balance, perk up, and…--

It…

Continued to splash madly.

They both stared at it in embarrassment.

"Yay! Food? Food? Mm, no food. Splash, splash, splash--"

It didn't shut up. Oh gawd… Pikachu covered his furry face in embarrassment with his little paws. Satoshi just blushed.

"Um, you can go free now?"

It splashed some more, flailing madly in the water.

Oh hell. It couldn't swim… The Magikarp had no idea how to swim! How lame was that thing?

"Pikachu, as much as I hate to say this, I think it's gonna die in a few minutes after exhausting itself with splashing…" Satoshi offered up, awkwardly trying to build up to what he was going to say next. "I mean… I think the pokeball is the best thing for it… It's just that, well, stupid. No offense." He rapidly glanced at Pikachu for his response.

Pikachu was clutching his ears, shaking his head madly. "Yes, yes, anything, yes, just SHUT THAT THING UP! It won't stop singing Splash!" This was just humiliating.
A familiar red beam shot out, and Magikarp was returned into its ball. Butterfree stared.

"I liked him." Butterfree offered.

"You would." Muttered Pikachu. Maybe it would have been a mercy just to let that insult to the pokemon gene pool die off right then and there. Too late, though. Satoshi just had to be kind, didn't he?

"What is that supposed to mean?" Asked Butterfree clueless.

"Nothing. Let's just go, okay?" Pikachu replied, shaking off the question and leaping forward. On second thought, maybe he would take that cult mission after all. Anything to get his mind off that annoying tick that had just joined the, well, team. Amusingly, it occurred to him that if a wild pokemon never went in a pokeball, Satoshi's only real official pokemon was that loser. He wouldn't -really- wish such a thing on the kid, though; although Pikachu only admitted that in the safest depths of his mind.

The sky was swallowed by ever-increasing bumps and dips, sheer cliff and rock, rising high enough to swallow the sun. Pikachu stared in amazement, having never seen such a thing.

Finally, the ground right in front of them began to dip, twisting and turning deep into the ground, whole rock swallowed by deep darkness…

They were at the hole. The entrance to the cave, the foot of Mt. Moon…
And, something in his mind muttered to him, it did not seem all that welcoming.

- - -

Flick.

Satoshi held a flashlight, a shining beam against the darkness.

The mouth of the cave behind them shone with light, but it was soon not enough as they went forward, their eyes not yet adjusted to the darkness. The rock sometimes resembled rubble beneath their feet, easy to slip upon for the ground was not evenly flat. Sometimes, huge rock sometimes narrower than a grown man pointed straight upward, like pointed daggers one would like to avoid tripping on.

The light of his flashlight disturbed some roosting Zubat above, and they scattered. A horrid smell greeted his nose coming from the area right below where they had been sleeping… It wasn't hard to guess what it was. Disgusting.

He approached a steep downward tunnel, where someone had placed a ladder.

"Can't hurt to go down, right? Someone must have already gone that way, after all." Satoshi handed the flashlight to Butterfree, who had some difficulty at first gripping it, and then he climbed down. Pikachu stared down, probably wondering if he dared jump. Satoshi didn't think his legs long enough for the pokemon to climb down the ladder the normal way.

Butterfree simply flew down, descending slowly. Pikachu could clearly see for a moment the downward slope. He leapt on to the ladder, then immediately leaped again down on to the cave floor. It was relatively smooth here, and Satoshi glanced around to see where to go next.

Two ways he could go.

He sighed.

"Which way do you think, Butterfree?" Red turned to look at his friend.
Butterfree cocked his head to the side, thinking. Normally Satoshi didn't ask him (Or rather, her.) such things, and instead asked Pikachu. But Satoshi felt that Butterfree was just as much a part of this adventure as Pikachu was, so he had been making a habit of it to treat Butterfree mostly the same. Of course, he couldn't treat him completely the same, because Pikachu was infinitely more finicky than Butterfree was, which was strange since Pikachu had shown himself willing to take the oddest of things, including meat.

Truly, when one thought of a cute little yellow mouse, one thought of a vegetarian. But pikachu (plural) it seemed, while they did mostly eat berries, seeds, fungi and vegetables, were opportunistic omnivores, willing to eat insects and meat, though they did not eat much of it, and were not really great predators.

"Fer-reeet." Butterfree replied, diving toward one of the tunnels. Pikachu moved after.

Suddenly, Butterfree stopped, and out of the darkness a shifting shape rose.

Butterfree clumsily aimed the light at it, and it was revealed to be something pi--
The flashlight hit the ground, and turned off. Great.

"Fr." A voice broke through. Satoshi assumed it to be Butterfree, and dove to the ground, searching for the flashlight. What had been that thing? He could hear it shifting about in the dark, but it seemed to be going away.

"Pika, pikachu!" Pikachu growled in the dark. Presumably, Pikachu's sharp ears could pick up on something Satoshi couldn't. He found the flashlight with his hands, but paused as suddenly he heard something as well.

Voices sounded faintly down one of the tunnels. He twitched a smile on his face, thinking that whoever they were they would know more than he did about the tunnels. He'd been an idiot to go in here without a map… But, truthfully, I didn't know the place was going to be so dark and cramped… I've never been in a cave before… Or even a mountain, for that matter.

"…-Fossils…"

Wait. He suddenly stopped smiling. That scientist guy, earlier, said no fossils had been dug up for a while, right?

What was going on?

He could see light faintly coming from one of the tunnels.

"-guide got off to?"

"Wait, I think I hear something."

The group, for it was a group of people, seemed to pause.

Satoshi held his breath. Butterfree and Pikachu, where-ever they were, were also quiet. If pokemon had a better sense of smell than humans, did that mean that they could smell anxiety?

…He hoped not. Personally, there were times when he didn't want anyone to know what he was thinking. He could just imagine Pikachu telling him what a wuss he was in one situation... Satoshi paused. He'd actually imagined Pikachu with a human voice for a moment, talking sarcastically.

That was strange.

But then again, he didn't know how else to view him. He knew pikachu were not human, but Pikachu himself had shown a cunning spunk that just didn't belong to a mere animalistic beast, even if Pikachu seemed to have slight difficulty understanding English when they had first met.

"It's nothing. Probably just a Zubat. Let's go. We got to carry these shovels to the fossil site as fast as possible."

"Why do we have to help with the manual work?" Someone whined loudly.

"Shut up, Jimmy. Remember, I'm not one of your friends."

Slowly, the light disappeared, just as faintly as it had came. Quickly, his eyes having adjusted more to the dark, he scrambled forward, but slowed down as he almost kicked a rock loose.

"Pikachu, who were those guys?" He whispered, preparing to creep down that tunnel.
No response.

"Pikachu?"

He turned his head.

Butterfree glanced about in confusion, and gave a small, sad mummer.

Pikachu wasn't there.

--

"You."

"Why did you follow me?"

"You tell me. You did something to Butterfree, I know it. Or tried to, anyway."

"I did not."

An indignant figure stood on the scaling, rising wall of rock. Below it stood Pikachu, glaring, eyes reflecting off the tiny light in the darkness, that came from tiny pinprick holes of sunlight beaming through the ceiling. They must be near the surface somewhere, Pikachu figured.

He decided to try a different tactic. This… Clefairy, did not know what Pikachu was like. It was time to play 'nice', if he wanted to get anything out of him. Lowering his head, he stared at the ground. "I am sorry. I should have known that one of your noble kind would not do such a thing."

Secretly, he couldn't help but find the Clefairy disgusting. Years of living in secrecy in the darkness must have rendered camouflaging pigmentation useless, giving them their pink pallor… And, due to the lack of predators, their utterly useless, frail wings. They must have seemed cute to countless humans, however. He knew taste differed between species, after all, and pink and frail would appeal to any human who liked ruling over a creature weaker than itself, but also at the same time more powerful.

"I understand." It, no, it was a he, smiled. "You have not glimpsed a fey before, have you? But you have reverence for our culture? How strange." Actually, Pikachu had said no such thing. If the idiot wanted to infer that, let it be so. He nodded in response, but to which, or if to both, he let the clefairy decide.

"Dear fey, why did you-" He thought quickly. He had to careful to choose his words so he would not be suspiciously flattering, or seem suspicious of the Clefairy. "-Choose to appear in front of us?"

The clefairy paused. "You are with a human?" Pikachu couldn't tell from the tone of voice if the pokemon found that to be a bad thing or not. He internally cursed.

"No. I have traveled far and wide. My… Companion, Butterfree, was captured by that human. I have longed to enter these caves for a long time, so I agreed to lead the human in return for the human beast releasing her."

"How awful!" His eyes widened, and his wings rose and fluttered for a moment, like a bird disturbed from the nest. "I am Crater of Stars. What is your name?"

Pikachu paused. He actually didn't have one. He had never needed one. On the rare occasions he did, he went by a nickname or title… Wild pokemon usually did not need to converse that much, except for the extremely social ones. Calling someone brother or sister was usually efficient to convey meaning in family groups, for instance.

The pokemon language is not as complex as English, even though it did have some grammatical rules. Many pokemon went their entire lives without learning those, however. Grasp of certain words came practically instinctually, but then, barking tended to convey the same meaning whether it began with 'arf' or 'roar'. Small twitches of body parts, like ears, mouth or tail, were also highly important, sometimes more important than what was actually spoken.

"Thunder of… The Sky." He finished lamely. Crater did not seem to notice, though.

"You do have an understanding of us!" Clefairy announced proudly, turning. "Come. You must have come, seeking that which we have."

Seeking that which we have? What did that mean? Or was it really intended to be interpreted as it was, that they had something and he was willing to share it with him?

He reluctantly followed Clefairy, down the passages, up and down, until he couldn't figure out whether they were high up or deep down at the heart of the mountain. Pikachu supposed it didn't matter. He could always follow his scent trail back.
Light filtered inward to… A cavern. They were approaching a large cavern. They reached the entrance and they both leaped down on to the strangely smooth, even floor.

His eyes widened.

Clefairy.

Lots of them.

They were positioned around a large stone, which had odd holes on it here and there, irregular bumps, and a strange shape. It smelt unique compared to other rocks, but was not obnoxious or strong in scent, actually rather plain.

The clefairy danced around the rock merrily, chanting, eyes closed. One opened its eyes and turned toward them, her eyes a milky white. She danced toward them, smiling.

"Who is this, my son?"

"Thunder of the Sky, Odd-Mother." He dipped his head. Pikachu did the same, sort of, hoping he didn't just mess up. "He has come, hoping for enlightenment."

Her eyes closed. "Of course. He may join the Dance."

"Uh… Can you tell me how exactly you found the enlightenment?"

"Silly!"

He laughed. "We have not found It yet. Why else would we be here? But we are very close. Very close indeed."

"Very close indeed." Agreed Odd-Mother.

This was just getting weirder and weirder. Pikachu stopped himself from shaking his head. They might notice his odd behavior. "Of course… I am continually amazed by the… Fey… But--" He decided to take a chance. "--There have been odd events happening to others who are not the Fey. The Fey, to my knowledge, has not been affected. Why is this?"

"It is because of our faith, little ones. The All-Father would not harm us."

The All-Father? Had they inadvertently revealed the true cause? This All-father? Or was it something else?

If nothing else, they were sounding more and more nuts. The sooner he could get out of here and tell the others what he had learned, the better.

"Thank you. But I should like to go rescue my friend now from the human." He bobbed his head respectfully, or at least he hoped it looked respectful. But Clefairy did not seem to buy it, as his face suddenly became disapproving.

"You do not need to rescue your friend. The All-Father will not let harm come to him." The Clefairy smiled.

"But--" He thought quickly. "She also knows of the Fey, and wishes to see you. I must release her so that she may also find enlightenment--"

He had made a mistake. The clefairies stopped dancing, and stared at him.

"What?" Crater spoke, confused. "Enlightenment cannot be found by looking to us." Odd-Mother also stared at Pikachu strangely. How was he supposed to magically know their weird philosophy thing? So the enlightenment wasn't some weird thing shared by the Clefairy. Then what was it? And what did it have to do with this All-Father creature they spoke of?

"You let an outsider come here! He does not understand our ways!"
Suddenly angrily spoke one of the younger clefairy.

"He seeks to steal it! We must send him away!" Another spoke.

The rock rose. Pikachu's eyes widened, and it came crashing down toward him. He leaped out of the way, and moments later it smashed against the ground a hair away from him, air whippeting by him.

He growled, but staring at their many glowing eyes in the darkness, made the wise decision… To flee.

--

 

[Satoshi_Red]

Satoshi watched below the odd costumed men and women work back and forth. He was careful to avoid the lantern or torch-lit areas, and being so high above could afford to mostly stay still, hidden in the darkness.

Pokemon worked alongside them. He counted at least twenty people down there. They wore black, white or gray costumes, with some sort of red shape usually on each. He managed to make an R out once, but he didn't know if it was the same letter on all of them. If he remembered correctly from a newspaper, it fit the memo of some group called the Rockets.

They had, apparently, almost entirely dug up the 'last' fossil. There were at least two others, from what he could gather. Butterfree scanned about, sticking close by him. He wondered if that was like a normal pokemon acted like toward their trainer, or if there was even such a thing as a normal pokemon at all. Maybe saving your life had a weird way of making you refuse to accept the one who you rescued treating you poorly.

Was it saddening that he now viewed the normal treatment of pokemon as poor? Wasn't he insulting people he greatly respected? And also the average trainers, most of whom he had never met or heard of? He bit his lip. Well, they'd just have to deal with it if he ever met them.

Meanwhile, some of the people below seemed to move off down one of the tunnels. A disturbance? Another trainer, perhaps?

Should he go find out?

Did he have anything else to do?

Besides finding Pikachu and getting the heck out of there? Well, no, no he didn't have anything to do. He slid down, carefully and silently going further and further down, then creeping around the edges of the walls. Thankfully, this was a natural cave, with plenty of places to hid from sight, since it didn't usually make perfectly smooth rooms.

The group he followed was all male, uniform in appearance, and very unfriendly looking as they marched along.

"Our source tells us a trainer is loose in here." Spoke what appeared to be the leader of this small grunt team, even if he couldn't tell for sure.

"What's the worst they could do at this point? Call the cops? Yeah right. The idiot is probably lost."

He was right. There was another poor trainer in here, completely oblivious to their fate! He did ponder for a moment though who their source was.

Suddenly, down one of the tunnels, he noticed a faint yellow figure approaching. Was it… It was Pikachu!

But, no, that wasn't a good thing. What if Pikachu didn't realize he was sneaking around these guys? His eyes widened. Oh no… Worse, what if they captured Pikachu?
Thankfully, Pikachu crept unnoticed toward him, and he gave a sigh of relief. His buddy joined up with him after the group went forward down another passage.

"Where've you been?" He looked at Pikachu, frowning softly in concern.

A raticate traveling at the front of the group suddenly twitched it's ear. The Rockets, for some reason, slowed. Satoshi froze, wondering what they had spotted ahead.

"So… When were you going to show your face?" A grunt spoke, whirling around, the rest of the Rockets. They all held pokeballs in their hands, staring at Red. The raticate had somehow tipped them off. How could it have hearing so sensitive? That was amazing.

They stepped forward, and now with Satoshi and Pikachu suddenly in the light they could actually see them both. "Just a kid? Give yourself and your pokemon up and we won't hurt you, kid." One demanded, stepping further forward, holding a pair of cuffs. Wonder where he got those.

"No way." Satoshi exclaimed. "I could never hand over Pikachu to you like some…" Weapon? Tool? "Pet!" He declared, stepping back and readying himself to fight or flee. He looked down at Pikachu to see what his response was.

A determined glare thrown toward the Rockets was his answer. Pikachu was willing to fight, it seemed.

"Raticate, hyperfang!" Commanded one of the men. Raticate immediately sprang forward, hissing and snapping it's teeth. It crouched down low and then bounded forward, sailing through the air straight for pikachu, fangs wide open, ready to bite down on any opening, even the neck.

Luckily, Pikachu dodged well before-hand, and immediately retaliated with an electrical shock along with a slam with his front feet. He bounced away before the slower rat could react, tail flickering as if in a silent taunt.

Raticate lashed forward, seemingly unaffected by the attack, though it had shook itself before from the pain. It did seem to wince in anticipation of an attack as once more it was commanded to bite Pikachu. It managed to grab ahold of the smaller mouse, but the mouse quickly maneuvered out of the grip, a bloody dripping patch of fur all to show for it.

Snarling, pikachu crouched low, as if about to spring, and Raticate seemed ready to move away. Instead, Pikachu unleashed an electrical bolt straight toward the rat pokemon, partially hitting it but not with full damage.

Satoshi didn't have anything to add, but one of the rockets seemed to notice how strangely he wasn't commanding Pikachu to do anything. Instead, Satoshi was focusing on how to get behind the Rockets and possibly distract them during the battle, grabbing their Pokeballs so they would only have to face one pokemon, not several.

Unfortunately, Pikachu did just a little too good of a job. The raticate fell down, unable to move a single muscle even though it was still awake. Unhappily, the grunt returned it to it's ball.

"Enough of that. No mercy. Release all your pokemon!" He commanded, and suddenly all the rockets threw their pokeballs, releasing a Pidgey, Rattata, Grimer, Electrode, and even a Sandslash.

Great. He was outmatched. He noticed Butterfree hovering off in the darkness, but silently waved for Butterfree to stay still. They might need her to make a surprise dash in later. And if they were captured, Butterfree shouldn't be on the list… As much as he hated to say it, he could have cared less if they had Magikarp. And they already knew about Pikachu.

"Pikachu, you've got to attack all of them, or they'll lash out on you the first chance they get!"

Understanding the logic of this, Pikachu unleashed a powerful charge on all the pokemon. Satoshi realized that the same blow might paralyze or possibly kill a couple of the human rockets, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to make such a bloodthirsty command just yet. Maybe he was just too nice. After all, they had no compunctions on following the rules.

One or two of the pokemon already looked nearly fainted. Silently he cheered. Making sure the rockets were not paying attention to him first, he turned and made a signal to Butterfree. A silent confusion attack among the chaos would be extremely helpful.
Pikachu leapt and bounced admirably in the tangle of bodies as they all tried to attack the faster mouse. One nearly fainted Rattata matched him in speed, but Pikachu used the slower bodies of his companions to slow the troublesome pokemon down. It was more instinctually done than thoroughly thought through at that point, since there was no time for in-depth thinking when one was about to be attacked every three seconds, but it was still moderately clever on his part.

Soon, several pokemon dropped down. Pikachu smirked, pinning down the Rattata and finishing him off with a good clean volt.

Satoshi stared in horror as Sandslash approached Pikachu from behind, preparing to hit Pikachu while he was temporarily distracted. With no time for words, without thinking he launched himself forward and tackled Pikachu off the now fainted Rattata, and painfully he landed against a wall.

The Rockets were surprised at this sudden interference with their battle. Most people weren't stupid or brave enough to dash in the middle of a battle, after all, and normally such a thing was forbidden.

But in Satoshi's mind, this wasn't a real battle.

Pikachu snarled and squirmed out of his arms, wondering what the hell the kid had been thinking. Pikachu stopped the moment he noticed Sandslash standing right in front of the Rattata, looking confused. Startled, he glanced at Satoshi.

And his eyes widened.

Red suddenly felt someone grab him and was dragged backwards. Looking upward, he saw a man was dragging him along like a rag doll. He struggled, but he had never been the strongest kid around, especially not compared to a full grown adult while his feet weren't even on the ground.

"Pachu, aki pa Pichu." Pikachu spoke demandingly, in a tone with no broking for arguments.

Did I just get called an idiot again? Or did the rockets just get called idiots?
He thought miserably as he was yanked upward and his hands tied behind his back. He glared at his captors. I guess either of us deserve it.

"Come with us or your buddy gets hurt." As if to augment their argument, Sandslash hopped over and placed his claws by Satoshi's gut. That was just a tad disturbing. Just a tad.

Pikachu's ears drooped, and hesitantly he approached, glaring at the nearly defeated Pokemon and muttering something insulting and nasty toward them, which made Sandslash bristle in contempt.

"Admin Tech, we have just caught the intruders, over. A Pikachu and a boy, just like described."

What?! Pikachu and Satoshi both looked alarmed at each other at this. They knew they were coming? How? Did they have cameras stationed around here somewhere?
Satoshi's pokeballs were grabbed. They tried to unsuccessfully return Pikachu to a ball, before giving up and simply letting the 'worthless' little mouse tag behind.

They approached the large fossil dig site once more. It was well-lit here, and his eyes stung painfully somewhat from the increased light for a few moments before they adjusted.

The pokemon fossil was now completely dug up. His eyes narrowed at this fact. He did not dwell on it long, as he was soon forced down on his knees.

A woman approached him, wearing grey and smirking. Two thugs surrounded her sides.

"So this is the miscreant you spoke of, Nyasu. Surely he didn't cause that much trouble?" She blinked, looking at the group that had brought him in. It also seemed like a question for this Nyasu character.

"Err, well, a little, Admin Bella. He managed to take down half our team with one pokemon." One man spoke.

"A pity. I'll have to have you replaced." She muttered. Their eyes widened. Thankfully, she did not continue on that vein. "Nyasu, I suppose you had slight reason for this."

"Of course I did." Between two grunts suddenly stepped out a…

Meowth?

Pikachu looked as surprised as he did. A talking pokemon was something neither of them had heard of. It stood upright, which was also unusual for its kind, walking like a human, with no slouch, appearing quite comfortable that way.

"Pika, pi pa pika pi, kaachi!" Suddenly shouted off Pikachu, stepping forward aggressively, though he did not actually do anything.

"Eh? You gotta lot of spunk, talking to me like that! Of course I know what I'm doing. I like working for profit." He smirked, an odd expression on a feline, and truly disturbing.

"Chupika! Pachu--" Even as he heard the rest of that, he could tell the response probably wasn't going to go well, Satoshi knew. Pikachu really wasn't being diplomatic. He'd probably forgotten all about the Sandslash that was thinking about ripping his guts open. Or not. Maybe he didn't care, though that was at odd with the way he acted earlier. Who knew?

"Enough!" Growled Nyasu, or Meowth, or whoever he was. "I'm not working for the humans, I'm working for myself! I coulda been left out of this, but I chose not to!" Nyasu smirked. "I got more freedom than a trainer's pokemon, and I like it. There isn't any room for such a thing in honest society, you know." He seemed irritated, but whether it was from what Pikachu said or the fact he couldn't walk around town applying for a job Satoshi didn't know. "Meowths can't get jobs. But I can earn money just fine illegally." He smirked.

Red stared. Meowth was free?

Like… Pikachu? There was another pokemon like Pikachu? But this pokemon was just the opposite! How could that be? Enslaving other pokemon was never something Pikachu had worked to do. Yet this Pokemon willingly chose to do it, in a way no different from the rest. Was this the true attitude of most trainer pokemon, he wondered? It was hard to believe… No, this one was worse than the rest, he had to believe that.

"Are you done hacking your hairball, Meowth?" Muttered a red-haired rocket.

"Shut up Jess! I'm Rocket Nyasu now, not Meowth!" Meowth whirled, shaking his fist in a very human manner. Admin Bella seemed to take this as a time to step in.

"No matter. Your abilities to talk to the Clefairy are no longer needed, Nyasu. We are ready to leave." Spoke the Admin, smirking.

"What of them?"

"Mm? Our end of the bargain? No need to uphold it, of course. Of course we aren't going to deliver them lots of moonstone and Mew on a platter, or whatever it is they want… Oh, you meant those two. Dispose of them… Make it amusing." She smiled.
Sandslash rose his claws and prepared to slash Satoshi's head off. He ducked, and Pikachu smacked into Sandslash furiously, knocking the ground type away from Red. He was at a disadvantage, but still.

Bella chuckled. "You know, this might be amusing. Let's play a little game. Sandslash, step back for a moment." She twirled a ball in her hands, and threw it through the air.

A Growlithe smacked into Pikachu, growling fiercely, next thing they knew. Pikachu's eyes widened in-- Was it fear? Rage? Sadness? Both? Satoshi couldn't tell, but suddenly Pikachu reacted very violently, attacking constantly, almost exactly like a day so very long ago, almost like… The day they met.

But this couldn't be that same Growlithe, could it?

But this Growlithe was much more skilled, or had something greater to lose this time, for it reacted much more efficiently, dodging Pikachu's emotionally-charged, thoughtless blows with ease. It suddenly grabbed Pikachu, and slammed the little pokemon down to the ground. It lowered its head, snarling, opening its jaws and preparing to bite down on the neck in a deadly blow--

And was suddenly knocked off Pikachu.

Satoshi stood, grinning, although still unable to use his hands, and--

BANG.

He clutched at his belly, crashing down on the floor, giving a violent cry of pain.
Admin Bella stood not too far off holding a gun, frowning. "You know, I really hate it when people interrupt my games."

Pikachu stared in blank, non-comprehending horror. The rockets piled out, leaving.
It wasn't over.

But they had lost.

/To be continued…

 

[Satoshi_Red]

Episode Nine: Astrapemania
-- x --
Life…

Death. All that crap. Remember the seemingly happy ending from last chapter? Forget it.
Rain poured down from the sky, hitting them upon their heads as they approached Cerulean. Teeth chattered, and a hastily put-on jacket helped little to protect against the cold and wet.

Fragile wings beat slowly in the gloom, the cold was not meant for bugs. Her eyes shut closed, and a ray of light flew forth, returning her to her ball. Satoshi's hands never touched the ball, she had returned herself by her own will.

An amusing sight greeted any passer-bys, if there were any stupid enough to be traveling out in the rain.

A long yellow string tied to a finger trailed down toward a fin. Magikarp wobbled in a stream, partially splashing forward, partially being dragged forward as they walked.

Pikachu sneezed.

Yes.

This life's journey certainly was going to be the Death of him.

"It's just right up ahead." Red rubbed his nose. "I hope I don't get sick from this. I thought the weather this week was going to be good, too."

Pikachu felt his body sink knee-deep into the mud, and almost swam forward through the gunk as he struggled to keep up. He glared at Satoshi, who had it much better with his long legs and yet was still complaining. "What were you expecting? I'm amazed the weather stayed good for so long while you began your journey, it really should have stormed by now. I can just feel the thickened pressure on the air. The storms probably aren't going to dissipate for a couple of days." Pikachu sneezed off the mud that had suddenly plunged up his nose. "Yuck! Oh, foul, foul! I got it up my mouth while I was talking to you! That's it, I'm not saying another word." He growled, eyes narrowed, but the affect was lost as he sneezed again.

He sorely hoped he would not get sick. Pokemon could get sick just like anyone else, but not as often. Diseases that managed to cross the species barrier usually didn't pose too much of a threat, and ones that mutated didn't usually become fatal simply from a change in one gene. One never knew, though. Sometimes sickness did kill, and certainly he could remember one day, several years ago, as a Pichu, that he had caught a sickness that had killed one of his sisters. He had survived, obviously, but… Pikachu shook his head. It wasn't something to dwell on too long, in any case.

The rain temporarily lulled, and a small gap in the clouds appeared for a little while. The sun faithfully poked through, and for a few moments, he could have sworn he saw a rainbow beyond the trees. But the sun and the rainbow disappeared as fast as they came.

The land was different than he was used to. There was tall grass here and there, and trees here and there, but things weren't as tightly clumped together as they were back near Viridian and Pallet. And the mountains were happily behind them, so lurching rock did not decorate the landscape quite as much as was so near Pewter. It seemed each place they traveled to brought something new.

Even the grass and the dirt seemed to be tinged a different color. Or maybe it was just his imagination because everything was dripping wet. They passed by a wooden sign with a fine plastic coating and Pikachu still had no clue as to how to read such a thing. The stream took a turn there and Satoshi returned the obnoxious but thankfully quiet today Magikarp to the Golden Pokeball. The golden ball itself was started to have it's gold bits flake off all over everything in the rain, but it was only to be expected from something bought from a cheapskate salesman.

They passed by buildings and the road turned from dirt to actual pavement. Satoshi glanced in amazement as he saw street lamps, multiple buildings more than two stories high, signs and posters everywhere, and actual cars here and there. Cerulean was a real city.

"The rain is picking up again." He frowned. "Where's the stupid pokemon centre so we can get out of here before it starts raining again?"

"I don't know. Wait, I forgot, I'm not talking to you for awhile. Never mind." Pikachu muttered. The smell of the city was strange. Especially near the roads, however, it could hold a foul stench. It was lessened by the rain, and for that he was glad. He couldn't imagine what it smelled like normally.

Occasionally Pikachu spotted city-pokemon in alley-ways, hiding under trashcans or boxes. He was startled to see how comfortable they were there. The city was large enough that feral pokemon could live off human scraps, and not just bird-types that could easily fly away from humans.

This place… Was disgusting, if strangely beautiful and large on the surface.

"There's the center!" His eyes widened happily at Satoshi's remark.

They stepped in just as the rain began to pour down on their heads again, even harder than before. Passing through the doorway, they shook off, and Satoshi made to sit down on one of the chairs. Pikachu was rather sorry-looking as he stepped in, his fur from the ears and the top of the head down covered in muck. There was easily a small crowd of people within the center, but it was so large that the place still looked spacious. People were sitting around, and nobody really blinked. A few people were talking at the front desk toward the nurses.

Pikachu sneezed. "Nice place, I suppose. Doesn't beat a good old dirt-den, though… Too cold…" He muttered, just as another person walked past the glass doors.

"Satoshi? What the heck is a loser like you doing straggling behind here? Oh, don't bother to answer, I remember hearing something about a run-in with Rockets. Is it really true?"

"Gary." Satoshi stood up, his eyes whirling toward the immature prat. "That obnoxious voice could only belong to you," he muttered. "But yes, I did."

"I don't believe it. Wait, yes I can, because you got your butt smacked, or rather shot." He laughed. "I was just about to leave town. But I can stick around to humor you in a fight, if you like. Maybe the rain will lessen up." The boy's hand went to the first pokeball on his belt.

Pikachu's eyes narrowed. There were six poke-balls in all. Magikarp would be useless in this fight. Could he and Butterfree take on three each?

If that Growlithe was one of them, then Pikachu gladly would. Young Oak couldn't have been training his pokemon for very long. And, Pikachu, Butterfree and Satoshi did have their deal. Somehow, he expected that none of Gary's pokemon would be able to go to the sidelines to relax for a bit if they so desired. One glance at Satoshi's face told that the kid clearly desired to spit out a challenge right there and then, but didn't want to look like an idiot if he lost. "I'm willing to fight. Let's do it."

"I accept. But I think you're going to be unpleasantly surprised!" Satoshi glared, or, well, tried to. He just didn't have a very menacing face.

Gary chuckled, and tossed his pokeball. It bounced upon the floor and opened wide, spitting out a Pidgeotto.

Satoshi's eyes widened. An evolved pokemon? But, then he recalled that Pidgeotto was one of the weaker evolved pokemon, and it was only to be expected that if Satoshi had managed to evolve Butterfree, then Gary would have an evolved Pokemon or two as well. He narrowed his eyes.

"Shall we begin?" Gary grinned. "I'll go first--"

"You two! No fighting in the center! Go outside if you want to duke it out!" An authoritative Nurse stomped over toward them, wagging a finger. Pikachu glanced at the pouring rain outside, but nobody seemed willing to point out the obvious fact that it probably wouldn't make much difference whether they fought inside or out, only that the center would probably have to deal with a harsh case of sniffles and mud getting tracked through their doors if the latter happened.

"Uh, let's go." Satoshi took one good look at the grumpy face of the Nurse Joy. She wasn't like other Joys, and he could see why most of them never frowned or glared too deeply. She looked
surprisingly ugly with her face in a grump.

While Pikachu and Satoshi made a hasty enough retreat, Gary wasn't quite so lucky, and was thrown by his ear out the door. "Ugh! Let go of me you crazy harpy!" The stupid idiot probably thought that he wouldn't be visiting the center anytime soon again, otherwise he probably wouldn't be so quick to insult the very individual who would be tending his wounded pokemon.

"Pidgeotto, whirlwind!" Gary began once more. This move was quite nasty in the rain and muck, becoming an obscuring cloud that splattered street water all over Pikachu's face. Sparks flew from his face in agitation.

"Pikachu, the area is wet… And Pidgeotto is a flying type!" Pikachu gave a smirk, or at least as much of a smirk as his face could make, and Gary's eyes widened at his own incredibly stupid mistake. Hastily, he stepped back on to slightly drier ground right before voltage ripped through the air.
Pidgeotto fainted in one attack.

Satoshi blinked. "Well, that was surprisingly easy, actually." Pikachu internally agreed.

"You just got lucky because of the weather, that's all." Muttered Gary. "Still, I think you'll find this battle a challenge." He went to his Pokeballs and took off one ball, enlarging it and then tossing it forward. It burst open in midair, releasing a Raticate.

Red simply raised an eyebrow. Raticate was not anything particularly special. But it was an evolved pokemon. Pikachu, technically, was an evolved pokemon as well, though most did not consider him one. He felt they were fairly even.

"This be shall pleasing, victory certain for Raticate!"

Raticate chattered, giving off a series of squeaks and lowering himself to the ground. Pikachu's ears twitched in annoyance at the high-pitched voice that couldn't even talk properly. He faintly wondered how Gary had managed to make so obedient a newly caught pokemon. Then again, Gary must fight a lot with that insulting mouth of his, so he also shouldn't expect it to be too weak. Speaking of which, Gary started to shoot off a command--

But Pikachu wasn't going to let him get off free shots while he just stood there like an idiot. Moving quickly, Pikachu lashed forward, slamming down on the rat. Blood splattered all over his coat, but it was rather fitting, as he was already dirty. Raticate shrieked in rage, and as Gary gave the command, bit down on the much smaller Pikachu with a hyper fang attack.

Pikachu shut his eyes, wincing in pain as his ear was shredded and a nasty gash was left on his head. He bounced backwards, and he failed to notice Red's sickened look at this. Sparks lashed from his cheeks, and as Raticate bounded toward him with a quick attack, he stood his ground, energy building around him.

Raticate's feet hit a puddle, his whisker touched Pikachu-- and within a millisecond, he was being fried from electrical shock. Raticate stopped in his tracks and shuddered, not looking like he wanted to go on. "C'mon, you lousy pokemon, do what I told you! Quick attack him!" Shouted Gary.

Reluctantly, Raticate shot off once more, and before Pikachu could move, he found himself pinned to the sopping wet ground. Cold, burning mud rubbed in his wounds, and he had to stop himself from crying out merely from that.

"Pikachu, just shock him and then you can switch out." Pikachu blinked. That sounded highly appealing right now. Claws scratched over his body and teeth opened wide, preparing to lash down, but Pikachu kicked upward and freed himself from the other's grip, and let loose a shock.

Unsurprisingly, Raticate backed off and slumped by a puddle, closing it's eyes and simply trying to breath, it's internal system wrecked. His initial judgment was right. Raticate hadn't had a lot of time to level up, even though he put up a good fight. A sniff confirmed that Raticate wasn't in complete pain, and could continue to fight. But it certainly didn't look it. And it did not seem loyal enough to not pretend it wasn't out cold.

Who could blame him?

Pikachu mused. This was the way many fights must end, he thought. Many Pokemon simply gave up from the pain and ache, unless pressed by their trainers by love and loyalty or fear.

"Get up, you worthless rodent." Gary muttered, stalking forward. Raticate twitched, but decided not to try to get up. Deciding that Raticate really couldn't, the boy returned the pokemon to it's tiny, red and white round cage. "Alright, go, Growlithe."

A purple beam sent out the dog. Pikachu hesitated, knowing Satoshi was expecting him to return right now for a brief rest. But did he really want to leave fighting Growlithe, the one he had wanted to fight all along, up to Butterfree?

But… A glance at Growlithe's face reminded him that this was not, NOT the one who…

Who killed his…

Children.

Very well. He bounced back toward Satoshi's side, and curled up on the kid's shoulder. It was really a lovely warm spot, despite the fact the kid was also freezing just as much as Pikachu was in the chilly cold.

"We-- I mean I, switch to Butterfree." Butterfree appeared, not happy to be in the cold, but looking warmer than before, and ready to fight if needed.

Growlithe shot forward, predictably Gary relied heavily on his fire techniques, which burned and left Butterfree looking quite miserable, if at least warm. However, this was mostly solved by Butterfree fiercely beating her wings and sending wet muck through the air. When the wind and rain picked up, the whole flame thing became mostly moot.

Deciding to switch tactics, despite the super-effectiveness from when it did hit, Growlithe startled attempting to land biting blows upon Butterfree. However, it became obvious that Growlithe was aiming specifically for the wings; if disabled or even slightly torn, Butterfree would quickly be out of the battle.

"Fly out of reach and use Confusion." Satoshi ordered. It would have been stupid for Butterfree to have done anything else. Growlithe's snaps reached harmlessly on the air. He paused, as Gary quickly realized the uselessness of this. It looked like he had no choice but to switch out there to another pokemon.

But then, the rain and wind stopped blowing for a moment, and the sun broke through, gleaming.
Triumphantly, Growlithe loosed off a start of a series of flaming embers, but Butterfree also had something to gain from the sudden change in weather.

"Sleeping Powder!" Satoshi grinned.

Butterfree beat her wings, and while some of the dust was eaten up by the flame, other parts of the powder were inhaled in the limited air by Growlithe. The pup's eyes wobbled, and it slumped to the ground, trying to shake off sleep.

Gary bit his lip, narrowing his eyes. "Growlithe, get off one more shot before you fall asleep."
Startlingly, the dog obeyed, and in her surprise Butterfree did not dodge in time. Growlithe fell into sleep, but at the same time, Butterfree was nearly down for the count.

Pikachu cursed himself, realizing he should have stepped in sooner. He was already feeling better, after washing the horrid mud out of his wounds and the stinging and bleeding began to fade just a little.

"Growlithe, return." It was a command. But it was not like the sleeping Growlithe could have listened if it wanted to.

"Butterfree, you can return now." Butterfree happily offered no resistance, having wanted to return all along but not feeling like trying unless the opportunity was offered. Pikachu leaped forward and the mud he landed in splattered all over Satoshi. "Yuck, watch it." Satoshi was amused, though, Pikachu could pick that tone up faintly with his keen ears. "What, no funky retorts to me devastating your team, Gary?"

"Well, considering I've probably already devastated half of yours, no need, Red." Gary sharply cut in. Satoshi didn't seem to know how to respond to that, mostly because Gary had once again managed to find some retort that would sting. It shouldn't have, even though it was true, but Pikachu knew that did not matter to the boy. Any insult from a rival is one you have to pay back in full. And, in truth, switching Butterfree out would have been utterly stupid if the weather conditions hadn't meant Growlithe was mostly useless… Or should have been utterly useless.

Next, Gary loosed an… Abra?

Pikachu had never seen an Abra before, to be frank, but Satoshi had, and he seemed to think the Pokemon was a joke compared to Gary's others. And, well, it did seem to be. Pikachu realized the stupid thing was sleeping, of all things.

"One of my newer additions." Gary sneered. "Pretty weak, until I added a few moves on. I think training it up on you losers will be good practice."

x-- x --

"Gary, I'm not a loser. How many times do I keep having to tell you that?" Satoshi grit out. He was tired of being insulted over and over again by this creep. That gash on Pikachu looked nasty. He couldn't wait to have it treated. He hoped it didn't get infected. That was the last thing Pikachu needed, the poor guy. And Butterfree. He trusted them, though. He knew they could hold out.

"Until it's true." Gary shot off easily. "Abra, teleport."

How the hell did he do that? How the hell did he just insult people day and night without blinking like that? Absentmindedly he registered Pikachu repeatedly trying to shock and tackle Abra to little avail.

"It'll have to try to attack you sometime, Pikachu. He's just trying to get you frustrat…" Satoshi's eyes widened. "You lousy cheater. You're trying to knock my attention off the battle. That's why you do it."

Gary paused. "Huh, well, I'd like to claim that, but really that's just a side benefit. The truth stings, doesn't it?" He smirked. "Abra, bide."

Satoshi groaned. "Is it at all possible that you could freaking drop it? I can't believe we used to be friends."

"Drop what, loser?"

Red gritted his teeth. "You know what? You win. I'm pissed off. Oh, and Pikachu, just flay the entire freaking field until the little sucker faints and stops teleporting." Straightening himself, he stared eye locked to eye with Oak.

"Gary… Just damn bug off. Every single time we meet, from the earliest days of my damn life, you've been insulting me and annoying me every damn step of the way. I'm tired of it, I'm sick of it, and I'm not tolerating you doing it any damn longer!" Gary stared at him. Pikachu paused to stare as he heard an unfamiliar word being spouted into his ears. Abra was already unconscious anyway. Satoshi knew a part of his words weren't true, but he did not care.

"You swore. Quite an immature way to try to prove a point." Muttered Gary, in a tone that somewhat reminded one of the fact they were still children, mostly because it almost sounded because he was tempted to go tell his mother. Before Satoshi could retort, however, he spoke again. "Never thought you had it in you, Satoshi." He chuckled. "Well, I doubt you can do anything about it whether you tolerate it or not. Abra, return."

Satoshi glared, cooling off as cold rain literately began to rain down on his head again. He missed his hat. He'd forgotten to ask if Professor Oak had gotten it out of the pokeball yet. Gary did not immediately insult Satoshi again, which was a strange relief. Perhaps his words had some affect after all. They better have.

"Go, Wartortle." Gary shouted. Satoshi blinked in gaping surprise as yet another evolved Pokemon, this time one of Oak's famous rare pokemon, leaped out. As a water type, this one would be extremely happy in the rain. "Don't get shocked, finish him off quickly with Mega-punch."

The evolved pokemon tore through surprisingly quickly, having absolutely no problem with the cold slush. Pikachu made to dodge but Wartortle was fast enough to change direction and move after Pikachu without blinking and delivering the blow. The clawed fist sent pikachu flying through the air, surely to leave a bruise or two in the morning.

Mid-air, Pikachu balanced himself using his tail and landed perfectly on all fours as he reached the ground. Whirling, Pikachu braced himself for another possible hit and simply swerved right under the fist, biting down on the tail as it passed by. Blood stained the pools of water all around them now, and slowly drained down in to the sewer gutters below. Satoshi reminded himself that this was what pokemon training was really like, not the glorified battles they often showed on the kiddy channels. He had learned the truth practically the hard way on his first day, after all. Right now he was still feeling a little abashed he'd sworn.

"He's as fast as you are. Obviously, you have to shock him as soon as you get a chance." Satoshi told Pikachu. "Wartortle is a water-type, and with all this water around, you, not him, have the advantage if you can just manage to get a shock off."

Pikachu nodded, apparently thinking along the same lines but finding himself reacting more instinctually in response to the whirlwind of attacks-- Which just happened to try to smack him right while he was nodding. Pikachu felt some of his fur rip off as he narrowly backed off quickly. Electrical pouches flaring, he glared right toward Wartortle, only to suddenly get a handful of bubbles in his face. Pikachu sputtered, losing concentration for a moment, and Wartortle smacked Pikachu backward.

Snarling at the foul play, Pikachu grabbed on to Wartortle's arm before the stupid turtle could react and sent a direct static charge right through. At such close range and at such a direct hit, it was almost certain to paralyze.

Wartortle fell backward, struggling to get off the ground and almost managing. Mercilessly, Pikachu electrocuted the wet ground around Wartortle.

Needless to say, Gary returned him after that. Satoshi almost felt sorry, for-- No, he did feel sorry. It wasn't the Pokemon's fault that it belonged to Gary, really... Unless it was. But how should he know that?

"Best saved for last." Gary smiled, and Satoshi knew that was never a good thing. "Rhyhorn, go!"
Satoshi stared in shock, along with Pikachu. The thing was massive, well-built, though not as nearly as large of course as Onix had been from Pewter, it still looked like a gray rocky tank. He had no idea where Gary had gotten one of those, he didn't even know they had enough food in the area for them around here to survive. "How…--"

"It's quite amazing what money and influence can get you, really." Gary shrugged in a poor attempt at looking humble. "A little trading never hurts either. Stomp!" He commanded, in glee at Pikachu's face of utter dismay as the beast suddenly turned toward Pikachu.

It charged forward, and Pikachu, a more agile creature, made to dart out of the way, but had poorly chosen his place to run, and found himself trapped in front of some buildings. Large feet rose above him, smacking at the ground repeatedly as they charged right past, only barely managing to stop before colliding with the buildings before turning around again.

When the attack was over, Pikachu looked crushed, struggling to stand up. "Pikachu, please return." Pikachu weakly hobbled over on all fours. Satoshi frowned, picking Pikachu up. Butterfree would just have to do.

"Go, Butterfree!" Butterfree looked highly startled as she appeared, not expecting to have been called to battle again. A glance back at Pikachu confirmed any of her suspicions and doubts, however; and without a command, she unleashed a confusion attack on Rhyhorn.

It seemed to get confused… Unfortunately, this wasn't exactly the greatest thing. It began to charge
straight forward, and Satoshi had to dart back out of alarm as it almost hit him. As he moved sharply, his old wound felt a small stab of pain. "Call it off, Gary! You can't win!"

"Yes I can!" Gary glared. "Fury attack!"

Rhyhorn shook off the confusion, and charged forward. Butterfree whirled out of the way and loosed a sleeping powder, but unfortunately it didn't work. Trying again, she flew up and sparkled poison powder downward. Finally, Rhyhorn looked a little bit ill.

Butterfree launched a confusion attack. Again and again, Rhyhorn attacked, like some sort of relentless, brainless creature that didn't have much of a mind to attack in the first place. A horn managed to strike Butterfree's wing, and she toppled on to the ground. Quickly the bug got back up and attempted to fly again, mostly unharmed, but extremely agitated Rhyhorn did not give her a chance, brutally striking forward with its foot. Butterfree cried out, unable to fly forward with her wing pinned to the ground.

Satoshi's eyes widened, and, not willing to let it go on, decided to let it be. "C'mon Butterfree, you can return." Happily, Butterfree disappeared.

He'd lost. He couldn't send out Pikachu or Butterfree now…

"I see you got one more pokeball on your belt. C'mon, send 'em out already!"

"Oh, um, he--"

"C'mon! I'm waiting so I can crush you! Besides, I went full-out on you. Do the same, unless you're chicken!" Glaring, Satoshi reluctantly threw his pokeball into the air.

Not so magically, the great, the magnificent, the utterly moronic Magikarp fell down on to the ground.
Gary stared. "That's it? Geeze. But, oh well, fun's fun. Rhyhorn, tackle it down in the mud!"

Satoshi's eyes widened. The stupid fish was going to be flattened! Geeze, couldn't Gary be compassionate for once? The stupid jerk had an ounce of compassion in him once a long time ago, he knew. "Wait, I giv--"

Gary wasn't listening, for at that moment, Rhyhorn charged forward, tried to stop right before Magikarp and lower his horn down--

And went hurtling right past into a building, slipping on the mud.

Rhyhorn worked vigorously to get himself out of the building it just broke the wall of, and poison was still taking affect. Furiously, it finally turned around and charged right toward Magikarp, which it stupidly assumed to be the source of all problems. It smacked the poor, splashing, annoying pokemon right into the air.

Magikarp came sailing down, and conked Rhyhorn right on the head.

"You've got to be kidding me." Muttered Satoshi, jaw open. The blow didn't do much damage, but Rhyhorn was really getting unlucky there. "Magikarp, splash. Or, you know, whatever."

x-- x --x

"WHY WON'T FISHY STOP SINGING SPLASH!?" Roared Rhyhorn once more, wanting to throttle it. Vision blurry from the water splashed into it's eyes by Magikarp, it charged forward, missing wildly and smashing into another building.

Pikachu stared in amusement at it all, although he was in great pain. He really couldn't believe it. He wasn't sure who to root for.

He hoped they both fainted.

Except then he'd have to deal with two humans in a poor mood, not just one.

Ah, did he really have to choose? It was so hard. On one hand, Magikarp meant Satoshi won. On the other hand, Rhyhorn meant that Magikarp had shut up. While to any humans it appeared that it was pure luck that was winning the battle, it was that and more; Magikarp really was so infuriating that it made Rhyhorn too clumsy to properly slow down. The Pokemon's instinct was to charge at full speed anything that put it in a rage, but in the rain, one really wanted to go at half-speed, and somewhere deep down it knew that.

But both their brains were too tiny for really any strategy. And both Pokemon listened blindly to their 'masters', so to speak, although Pikachu couldn't help but feel half of what was being said went right over their heads.

Ah, the joys of just watching a barbaric slaughter. Not literately, of course, but… Well, some poor stupid passerby could end up dead.

Minute after minute passed of Magikarp spouting nonsense.

Finally, Rhyhorn simply tired himself out. "Me done." Rhyhorn anticlimactically just closed his eyes.

"Rhyhorn? Get up! Come on! Ugh." Gary practically growled. Glowering at Satoshi, he returned Rhyhorn to his pokeball.

"So…" Satoshi smirked. "Do I get any prize money?"

"It was just a fluke, don't get a big head or anything. You're still a loser. Well, I'm off from this dump, smell you later." Gary stalked off. Satoshi wondered what the heck Gary was doing, considering a pokemon centre was right behind them, but then he realized that Gary wasn't stupid enough to go back in there after he had annoyed the Nurse.

Well, Satoshi didn't mind going in, Pikachu knew that much.

"Come on guys."

-- x - --

Satoshi was amazed how quickly Magikarp and Butterfree were treated, their poke-balls handed to him only an hour later. He thought the Rhyhorn would have done more damage…

"Wow, this is a lot different compared to the other centers I've been to. Why come, miss?" Satoshi asked, as his poke-balls were handed to him.

She blinked. "Beginning trainer, right? I'm taking a stab and guessing you came from one of the smaller towns? Neon Town maybe?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm actually from Pallet Town." Satoshi grinned. "I'm not so new, I already got a badge."

"Ah, I'm afraid a lot of people manage to get one badge. Anyway, part of it is that your Pokemon's bodies have adjusted to the stress of battle somewhat by now, another is that we have more funding here. The town is well-traveled by trainers, so us and the gym get a lot of business. Interesting fight, by the way."

"You were watching?" The scary Nurse had been watching him? And he'd swore his mouth off? He blushed slightly. Great… Lecture for certain.

She nodded. "I didn't see much of it, though. The Gym hasn't been visited all day, helps relieve some monotony of the rain, I suppose."

Satoshi nodded, not thinking anything of the statement at the time. Suddenly, he heard a crash and Pikachu a second later bounced up on the counter in front of him, chattering loudly in agitation with a series of high pitched squeaks. Not far behind him tumbled a doctor and a nurse who fumbled about holding a pokeball, exclaiming loudly. "Get back in a pokeball so we can return you to your trainer!"

Satoshi blinked. "Ahh, that won't be necessary, I'm right here. I think I'll be going now." He grabbed Pikachu around the middle and hoisted him up, turned around and darted off.

"Ugh!" Exclaimed a Nurse behind him.

"You get in trouble a lot with other people, don't you?" He muttered, looking down at Pikachu. Pikachu shrugged unabashedly up at him, his ears perked slightly up. As Satoshi pressed his hand on the glass door, Pikachu stuck his tongue out at the nurses behind him while he thought Satoshi wasn't looking. "You know, that's really not a good way to treat the people who heal you."

Wet droplets greeted them outside but all in all the weather was behaving much better. It was actually warmer, for the wind had died down completely. Pikachu did not look embarrassed at getting caught at his childish act, but merely shrugged. "Pika, achu pik kik."

"I get it. You blindly hate them, so you are going to make them miserable just because they are used to doing their jobs with pokeballs and cages, right?"

"Pi!" Pikachu smiled, nodding vigorously.

"Charming." Satoshi chuckled, rolling his eyes.

They went to a small store, one of many, and Satoshi was amazed to see things available that never had been back at Pallet's small, unvaried stores. "Bikes? Sweet. If only I could afford one." He grabbed a small pokemon pamphlet and browsed through. "Several types discovered, scientific discussion about sub-class 'metal' type moves deserving their own type class, Steel. But majority of pokemon that might fall under such are part electric, and pure steel type must be discovered for full analysis."

Pikachu did an impression of a zombie robot, hopping down on the ground and walking stiffly around, making monotone 'chu's.

Satoshi laughed. "Yeah, I guess that sums it up pretty good. The only pokemon I can think of that might fit is Magneton and Voltorb, and I haven't heard of any real good non-electric type moves from them, you know? Steel type. What's next, a Dark type composed of spooky Zubat and nothing else? Yeah right." He paused, flipping through. "Nevermind. Apparently there is a lobby to make Dark Type a real type too. They have a real pokemon that might fit, though. A Sneasel, I think they call it?"

Pikachu looked up at him curiously, but also demandingly. "Right, um, I've been thinking I could brush up on some stuff. I did pass a trainer's exam, but you don't have to be a genius to pass those.

Although, being a pokemon, I guess you know everything about your kind, right?"

Pikachu shook his head. "No? Huh. Well, there goes my theory that pokemon have a super secret society behind everybody's back." He grinned. "Anyway, why don't you go look for an interesting book while I browse here?"

"Pachu." Pikachu's eyes became half-lidded in annoyance. He pointed at the book, then at himself. "Pika pikachu, chupika chu." He made a show of reading an imaginary book and scratching his head clueless.

"Ah… That's right, I forgot you can't read. Maybe I should teach you sometime." Can Pokemon read, though? Has anyone ever tried to find out? "You can still go look around, I guess. There's a bookstore over there that is actually open. Let's risk the rain and go out again."

They went outside, and a car passed by, splashing and soaking Satoshi completely. He shook his hand in irritation. "Ugh." They went inside the bookstore, and it was surprisingly warm and dry. Satoshi released Butterfree out, figuring the bug would enjoy the warm air and getting to stretch.
They split up and Satoshi headed toward the pokemon section. He crouched down and started looking around randomly.

"Let's see… Raising Pokemon guides, Researcher's Studies, Trainer's guides to Locations, wonder what that actually has to do with Pokemon, Your Pokemon and Five Ways to Tame, Famous Trainer Books and their stories, fictional pokemon stories… Geeze, there is a lot here." He frowned, turning around. "I guess I have time to blow, though."

He grabbed a book that semi-interested him. "Battling, huh?" He looked at the back. "A brief overview of types and moves, levels-- This sounds like a book form of my useless Pokedex." He placed it back on the shelf.

"Pokemon intelligence?" He grabbed another.

'A series of tests conducted by myself, Professor Yukon.

First test:

I placed several different types of pokemon in several different rooms. All were recently wild-caught, so as to not disturb results with any food-rewarded tricks humans might have taught them to seem smarter than they were. They did not see me. A speaker placed in each room allowed me to speak to them.
The goal was for each Pokemon to identify an object. A teddy-bear, a square block, a cup, and a series of pictures and letters on the wall were in each white room.
Subject A was asked to find a triangle. Despite a giant green triangle being drawn on the wall, Subject A, a Sandshrew, failed to notice it.
Subject B, a Golduck, was also asked to find the triangle. It failed, despite successfully figuring out none of the objects placed before it were a triangle.
Subject C, a Dragonite, successfully found the triangle on the wall.
After the study was submitted, angry trainers of Sandshrew and Golduck brought forth their pokemon and pronounced that they could find the object, but due to human interference, we can only conclude that Pokemon can successfully make pointing and scratching like motions when directed to by humans face to face.'

"I think that's junk." Muttered Satoshi. "It can't be an accurate portrayal of their intelligence compared to a humans… It doesn't even show anything. For all we know, Sandshrew tried to communicate and the researchers couldn't understand him." He put it back. "So that's where all these prejudices about Pokemon come from… I wonder…" He grabbed another book off the shelf and flipped it open randomly.

'If your pokemon attempts to bite you or attack you in any way, it is obviously vicious and untamed, and several techniques must be employed immediately.
Physical contact is somewhat discouraged, although batting a pokemon on the nose or pushing them to the ground if they are about to attack is perfectly alright, being in self-defense. Such is a good deterrent against a future attack on you, but physical contact is also discouraged due to the fact that Pokemon are usually more powerful than humans.
Instead, one should return the pokemon to the pokeball immediately, and then simply repeat the procedure of letting it out. Eventually, the Pokemon will tire. Alternately, the Pokemon may possibly be released into battle, as most pokemon after refusing to battle and getting beaten up will change behavior. If the pokemon willingly leaps into battle, you can simply get it used to listening to your commands gradually, and depending on temperament, threaten to put it back in it's ball if it does not battle as you wish.
In general, untamed pokemon will have already been partially tamed by your defeating them in battle with your own pokemon and then trapping them in your pokeball. For some more social pokemon, the position of alpha is natural to them, and they will bond to you according to their natural social roles. More lone pokemon tend not to be as intelligent and can be more easily swayed by the simple act of your feeding them.
Never let your pokemon hunt, even if tamed. Only catching Pokemon for you should be any outlet for possible such instincts in that direction. Some pokemon may feel such a powerful urge to hunt they will do as you wish simply for the rush of attacking another pokemon. This is the same for highly territorial pokemon, and you should cultivate such instincts carefully.
Territorial pokemon may treat you as a part of their territory if allowed to 'establish' one, but this may not be beneficial, as they may attack humans who interact with you. In general, such behavior should be discouraged, as it easily can turn into dominance/disobedience, and it may turn on you once more. '

"Right…" He raised a brow. "This stuff is really all the same, isn't it?" Satoshi put it back.

"I guess I'll just try to take a book about the gym--"

"Mouse! Vermin loose in my store! AIII! Get rid of it! Quick, quick!"

Satoshi dashed around the bookcase corner, alarmed. A lady held a broom high above her head, and was swooping it down toward Pikachu, batting at the poor yellow pokemon. Pikachu leapt backward, holding a small book in his hands.

"Stop, stop! That's my Pokemon!" Satoshi stepped in front of Pikachu before the woman could make a sweep again, and probably end up getting shocked when Pikachu retaliated.

"Yours?" She paused, surprised. Then she glared and pointed at a sign. "Can't you read? No pokemon inside the building! I don't want vermin chewing up my books and piddling on my floor!"

Satoshi glared back. "Fine. Come on Pikachu, and put the book back. Butterfree, come on, we're going."

"Butterfree?" The lady glanced about nervously. "There's another one?"

"Yes. And she is the most evil, drooling, chewing on books, piddling on floors creature you've ever seen." He announced, having a hard time keeping a straight face but managing to look perfectly serious.

The lady fainted.

Butterfree flew in, looking curious at the unconscious woman on the floor. "Free?"

"Nothing important. We're kicking ourselves out of the shop. The rain has let up anyway. Think it might be sunny for a few hours?" He walked out, hopeful the weather would stay the same this time.

"Pi pikachu!" Pikachu bounced forward, a general tone of hopeful agreement. He looked back curiously at the bookstore once, narrowing his eyes, but finally put it off mind and turned back to stare at the sunny sky as the clouds finally began to clear somewhat. Red himself didn't look back, for the combination of the type of books and the shopkeeper's attitude painted an all-too clear picture in his mind of exactly what had happened, a picture that was merely a piece of an ever-larger puzzle of human kind.

It was a huge relief.

But whether it was a huge relief to be gone from the store or to have it not rain he wasn't quite sure.

-- x --

Pikachu found it really refreshing not to have spent much time at the center. And he actually felt healed, refreshed, enough that he could fight again, even. But something odd was up with Satoshi, the kid was easy to read and something was certainly on his mind. Had it been the battle from before? Or, was it something in the store that had disturbed him?

Increasingly, Pikachu had built a picture of discrimination against his kind. But he didn't blink at it. Any culture that would enslave another would have some odd ideas about the 'lesser creatures' they captured, he figured. He all filed it under 'human stupidity' in his brain. In general, humans weren't too utterly horrible, he supposed, since Satoshi was one and he was alright, although pikachu viewed him as an exception. It was incredibly annoying, though.

But had Satoshi been bothered by it? Surely the kid knew how his own kind acted.

Then again, Pikachu didn't know everything about Pokemon. But still.

The kid seemed to have been slightly oblivious to Pikachu's true reasons about disliking Pokeballs. But he seemed to be getting better and better about it by leaps and bounds. The idea that Pikachu himself had done something to influence this gave himself a feeling of pride.

Satoshi would probably play it on the cautious side and not go to the Gym today. That was fine. Pikachu really could use a good nights sleep, to be frank. There was something to be said about human comforts, and Pikachu was rather getting used to the comfort of having a roof over one's head, and a warm bed free of bugs to sleep upon, lighter and fluffier than he'd ever slept in before.

Something whipped by him.

Pikachu turned around and made to grab the piece of paper. He stared at it curiously. Nonsense markings greeted his eyes. "What's this? Come here!" He looked toward Satoshi and waved it.
Satoshi stooped over. It was really irritating how tall humans were. "It's a flier for a 'Nugget Bridge'. Beat five trainers, win a prize…"

Pikachu bounced, amused. "Beat up five humans? Sounds fun. Can we use sticks of wood?""

He padded through the streets. They headed across town; it was a pretty large city, so literately it took some hours to get across. Satoshi started to look agitated as the buildings only got larger. Pikachu was surprised to see a crime scene near one house, officers standing by with strange yellow tape all over. He hadn't seen anything like it in the other human places. What had happened?
It smelled of fear, and sweat, from what he could tell before they walked away. Satoshi seemed vaguely curious about it, but didn't talk about it.

Soon they reached on of the edges of town, and a bridge could be seen stretching across a pool of water. Pikachu tapped on Satoshi's pokeball and released Magikarp on to the ground. He took the string from before and looped it around Magikarp, then dragged the fish in to the water. One way or another the stupid fish was going to learn how to swim eventually.

Butterfree chirped up. "I'll watch him! Give me the string!"

"Okay, here. It might make you insane though."
"Why would insanity result?"
"Never mind." Pikachu shook his head, a tone of amusement in his voice. "I'm off to battle. More violence for me."

"I thought you didn't enjoy it?"

"Who ever said I didn't enjoy winning?" Pikachu grinned, darting forward, leaving Satoshi behind. He had finally gotten used to the idea that battling did not have to be for food or survival, and a hazy understanding of what it could be for, instead.

"Hey! Wait up!" Satoshi hurried on, breaking into a run. "Pikachu, there's nobody there!"

Pikachu, up ahead, stared. There was nobody on the bridge. He was alone, so to speak. The rain had scared everyone off for the time being. His ear twitched in annoyance. Great. All this way for nothing.

He paused, smelling something smoky.

Butterfree caught up to him. Pikachu stared at her, wondering if the string was long enough that Magikarp wouldn't be dangling out of the water underneath the bridge. He supposed it wasn't that big a loss, he hadn't wanted to fight that much anyway, he'd just wanted to see the annoyed faces of the trainers when they lost again.

"You know, I know what they call pyromania, but what do they call electro-mania?"

"I think there are humans here after all." Pikachu ignored his comment, moving forward. "Yes, definitely, a smell of smoke. Butterfree, can you smell it?"

"My antennae are more suited for detecting flower fragrances and other bugs' chemical signatures, I'm afraid."

"Wait, it just occurred to me… You don't actually have a nose, do you?"

"No."

"But you can smell… Weird."
(continued)

 

[Satoshi_Red]

He remembered many times in the wild where something odd had appeared, and he had gone to investigate. Only, sometimes, to meet a predator who had done the same.
Remembering that hard-earned caution, he approached the smell more cautiously. Plumes of smoke could be seen rising from some trees in the distance, away from the bridge. A chimney poked out from the trees, and his eyes relaxed in their expression slightly as a mere house was revealed, his ears curving in disappointment. No one was out after all.

Leaping agilely on to a post several feet higher than him, he surveyed it more carefully. In through the windows a young man was busily working on some metal boxy-shaped thingy…
Yes, thingy. I am the god of description, I know, I know. Pikachu mused to himself. Bow down before me, weaklings.

He leaped down, and pushed upon the wooden door curiously. It didn't budge. He backed up slightly, dropped on to all fours, and then ran forward, pushing off the ground at the last moment and putting his front paws in an out-held position. They collided palms-first upon the door, and it shook at the impact. He threw his tail forward and swerved his back feet under him, kicking backwards.
Satoshi grabbed him in the air.

"What are you doing? You can't just go breaking and entering into people's homes!"

Pikachu paused. Breaking and entering? That's someone's home? But all the human dens, or rather buildings I've been to everyone could walk in to. Does Satoshi live in the Pokemon Center? That's an awful lot of homes. Even I just kept to one or two dens! He looked up at Satoshi curiously.

"There are laws against going into buildings that are… What's the term? Not public? Privately owned, unless invited or you own it or something. We could get into a lot of trouble if--"

The door opened.

A young man much older than Satoshi stood straight but curious and relaxed in the frame of the door. "You were the one knocking on my door?"

"No, I mean, he was--" Clumsily he tried to point at Pikachu while holding him.

"I've been getting a lot of visitors this week." He grinned, turning around and walking further in to the house and waving his hand. "Come in, come in. I suppose you came to see my pokemon collection?"

"Wait, what?" Satoshi blinked, dropping Pikachu. Pikachu glared at him after landing on the ground painfully, sparks lighting from his cheeks slightly.

"Oh, I thought you knew. I'm Bill, the infamous poke-maniac, and Eevee evolution collector. Are you sure you didn't come to see them?"

Satoshi nodded, stepping in. "Satoshi. I swear, this is going to sound weird, but my pikachu pal here was trying to break into your house."

Bill stared, and scratched his head of black hair, looking straight at Satoshi. "…May I ask why?"

Pikachu took that as a demand to hop forward in front of Satoshi and Bill and start speaking. "I was bored. Please do not partake of Jenny Growlithe alerting action on account of my wrong-doing. I will be sure to ask for an invitation first in the future before destroying your door." He finished.

The poke-maniac looked down in startlement as Pikachu began to speak utter gibberish to him. He
replied, but once again directed it to Satoshi. "What did he just say?"

Pikachu fumed, ears and tail twitching once more at the failure to understand his words. This was just getting to be a pain. Scooting forward, and opening his mouth wide, he prepared to seep his
teeth down wide into--

He was grabbed once again. "Uh, he was just saying you had a nice house." Satoshi offered meekly, holding a struggling mouse in his arms. If I didn't half like you, you'd be so dead by now. His mouth tugged into a completely grumpy frown.

Bill shrugged, quirking a brow. "Riiight. Anyway," He excitedly sat down into his revolving chair in front of his desk, clicking the computer screen on. "are you sure you don't want to see my pokemon?"

"I'm sure." Satoshi replied, a meek somewhat fake grin on his face. "Do you work with computers?"

"I do. I work with all things electronic that involve pokemon, almost. No, I don't work for Silph Co. before you ask."

"Wait." Something seemed to click on Satoshi's face. "Are you the same Bill Oak mentions every once in awhile, the one responsible for the major advancements with PC systems?"

"I am." He nodded his head. "Technically, I'm really still working on those. You see that?" He pointed at the boxy thingy. "That machine is my current project, somewhat similar to what you use on Pokeball Transporting systems. Imagine, a full-sized teleport machine, capable of carrying humans across distances." He smiled. Pikachu moved toward it in curiosity, placing his paws upon it.

"Isn't that dangerous? I mean, what if someone started putting humans in, I don't know, poke-balls
or something?"

I love that idea. Does anyone know how much I love that idea? I want a pet human. Wait, I already have Satoshi. Never mind.

"Pokeballs aren't programmed to hold non-pokemon, and second, they'd have to be a human sized pokeball, probably, without serious modification. Have you ever heard of the technique Minimize?"
I have… I think some Clefairy can use it, though I didn't see it used… Fascinating… So reports of shrinking in size when one goes inside a ball is real, isn't it? I wonder how they manage to involuntarily trigger it in Pokemon that can't even use the technique normally? Then again, how do they make doors?

Pikachu licked the machine in an exploratory manner, and received a slight metallic taste, and a foul plastic tange.

The kid nodded slowly, gradually trying to work together where exactly he had heard of it.

"The point is, Pokemon can much more naturally be induced to simply reduce in size, so you don't need the same complicated stuff as a real teleporting machine." Bill leaned back. "I doubt I'll ever make it really work, though. Do you know how many people have already tried?"

"Hmm, lots?" Satoshi had no clue. But the phrasing seemed almost rhetorical a question.

"Right." Bill nodded, whirling around in his chair. "Well, if you didn't really come to visit me, I guess there is no real reason for me to try to force you to stick around. Too bad." The fellow seemed to be musing about his eevee collection again.

Pikachu poked his head inside the door of the machine. He stood upon two legs and peered upward at the machine ceiling above, with fascinating wires and all sorts of things. Electricity faintly attempted to be connected through them, but the machine wasn't actually in use. The possibility was fascinating, though. If he provided a connection, could he run his sparks through those little wires? Or receive electricity through them? That sounded tasty. He wasn't stupid enough to try, though.
He climbed up on top, curious at the fascinating switches and buttons. He'd seen something similar before.

"Pikachu, get off that thing!" Satoshi moved over, trying to reach up to grab him.

"Ah, hold on, I'll get him for you--"

Pikachu hopped down into the machine, bouncing off Satoshi in cruel amusement, causing the kid to stumble after him slightly--

And land right on top of Pikachu. Startled, the mouse released an electric jolt. It zapped through both of them briefly, and connected right into an open circuit on the machine--
And it flicked alive.

"Ah, cra--" Bill started to say.
-- x --

They/he/he dazily woke.

A paw/hand lifted up, impulsively to grab at the head/holding to pull oneself upon. It jerked, going in an action in-between.

"You sorry sucker…" Muttered Bill's voice.

His eyes opened wide without hesitation that time, his head awkwardly turning to face the bright lights and the dark, blurry figure standing above him that was distinctly beginning to look like the hum--person named Bill.

He tried to shake his head and walk forward at the same time. He slipped, smacking down on the
ground.

He stared at his… Tail?

I have a tail?

Of course I have a tail.

Wait, but…

His face screwed up. That fall must have hurt more than he thought. No, wait, it hurt exactly as much
as he expected it had. No, yes, no, yes…
Couldn't he agree on anything today?

"Bill? How badly did I conk my head there?" He paused, realizing what that sounded like. Half of it was in a different language than what he normally spoke in… Which half? Both? Neither? Wait, this was so confusing..

Bill stared at him funny.

"Pikachu, Satoshi? Which one are you? I can only understand half of what you say." He stared.

What kind of stupid question was that? "Of course I'm Sa--.. Sorry, I mean Pika-- No, wait, I…"
I don't know who I am… I'm… I'm both of them.

His eyes widened in horror. Or rather, their eyes. They. The movements, the thoughts, made so much more sense now for both of them. Except there was only one individual.

How was that possible?

"Somehow, the machine improperly teleported you in… To the same exact spot you were in before." Bill muttered. "Okay, the important thing is, it should be able to turn you both back, if you're all there. I need to call Professor Oak." He ran a hand down his hair nervously. "Great. The bad news is, because you seem to share one brain from what I can tell, it might become permanent."

"What do you mean?"

"Basic brain theory. Connections are made and snipped constantly in the brain. Before you know it, you really are one being, at least brain-wise or something… I don't know what would happen. Maybe multiple personality disorder. The longer you stay like this, the longer you'll adjust. Can you hop into the machine and zap it again?"

"I don't can of course do that." He paused. "The human side of me, I mean Satoshi, I mean me, I mean… Sorry, doesn't know how to do that. I'll try." He hobbled over, voluntarily not of his own will falling over on to all fours once. Con-"fusing." Each side couldn't even decide at the same times when to speak aloud and when to keep quiet.

He made it to the machine, and decided to try to relax to let himself/Pikachu/me one half of him take over. The body scrunched up, which sort of contradicted the relaxed part, and released a shock…
That flickered out within an inch of his cheeks. He wondered what he looked like. He was taller-- no, short-- between what he was before. His body has pale, ugly blackish yellow fur sparsely coated all over, a fairly Pikachu-like body overall but straighter standing and longer legged, with bigger paw-hands. It was just weird, from what he could tell so far. He really didn't want to look in a mirror, though he probably wasn't too grotesque or anything, he didn't want to know.

"Your eyes are freaky looking, by the way."

His cheeks sparked in agitation. Huh. So that was what it was like…

"One way or another, I need a reliable power generator. This place is still hooked up to the old electrical power plant… But that place hasn't been running for a little while now, to Cerulean's detriment. I hear there are plenty of electrical pokemon running around there after the abandonment."

"What happened?" He carefully controlled himself that time, slowly focusing on the words and nothing else.

"Everything was working properly… But… Everyone just left one day. A horrible thunderstorm wracked the place, and it hasn't let up since."

-- x --

End Episode
-- x--

 

[Wolfwhispers]

Hey, its good to see that you posted this here. No need to repeat all the good reviews I've already said, so I'll just continue to review on ff.net. ^_^

 

[Buoysel]

Hey, its good to see that you posted this here. No need to repeat all the good reviews I've already said, so I'll just continue to review on ff.net. ^_^

Yes I too am happy that you have updated this. I hope you continue to update.

P.S. I didn't see any mistakes.

 

[Satoshi_Red]

x- - -
Just One
Episode Nine;
x- - -


CHZZ.


"Batteries are all fried. You really did a whopper on them." Muttered Bill.


Satoshi tried to say something at the same time Pikachu did. The funny thing, he was aware of the decision from both sides as they were being made. It was more the result from a desire to be perceived as separate, and being used to having single rule over his thoughts and actions. It came out garbled.


Logically, a part of him spoke that he should accept this in order to best adjust. But another was in full disbelief, and unhappy at the change, worried that working together might make it somehow permanent. But, then, how were they supposed to get anything done if they could not work together?


This was just too weird.


Refocusing, this time paying careful attention to his thoughts and trying to settle a compromise first before moving, he still found it jarring.


"Sor-ry. We wi-lll have t-oo do something el-see." He was not used to the mouth movements. Pikachu, the Satoshi part of him noticed keenly, found speaking English strange, as technically he did not know how to speak it. But the dimensions of his face had also changed, making it a little different to speak as Satoshi would normally.


He had never been so aware of himself and his thoughts before, either of them, as they had to pause at each of them. But something both of them came to focus upon was the thought of the power plant. If they could return it to normal, they could have the machine powered up in no time and return them to normal.

What if I don't want to return back to normal?

A thought suddenly bounced in to his head. He wasn't sure exactly where it had originated from, but, considering it, he had to agree that there were some enjoyable qualities. Being able to talk like a human, being able to produce electricity, if perhaps of a slightly poorer grade than before, was wonderful and fascinating. And frightening. They were new, and he did not perhaps understand them fully, though oddly he once did. He touched a seemingly forbidden desire to understand, and was comforted that it came from both sides.

"The Power Plant." He spoke jarringly, but more confidently than before. "We… I… We could go there and get it working again while you fix up whatever is wrong with it. Also," His eyes lit up mischievously. "I am sorry about the door--"

What the heck? That wasn't part of the plan! What are you doing?

Well, it didn't work anyway. I accidentally switched to pokemon speech. And you know perfectly well what I'm doing. Why am I arguing with myself anyway?

Don't say stuff like that! It's disturbing… Well, that's actually not saying… Don't nitpick.

Please stop arguing before your head gets any more confused, thanks… Although, I don't suppose I need to ask myself--


He decided to internally shut up then.


Bill stared. "You've been staring at me blankly for a while now. Are you going to leave yet?"


Pika-Red blushed. "Yes." It came out as a squeak.


He turned and unsteadily plodded forward, before deciding to go into an easier to control four-legged bounce. His ungainly body handled it better, the extra legs affording him more balance. He pushed open the door and was greeted with the sight of a post-storm sky.


A plethora of smells attacked his nose, and he felt overwhelmed at the strength of them, and how they seem to stick out so much when Pikachu had never thought much about them before. For the pokemon side of him, it was actually weaker than before.

"Hi!" Butterfree suddenly swooped in his face, speaking. "Uh, Pikachu, don't you look a little funny today?"

"AHHH!" He flipped backwards. "You talked!"

"No, you did, silly." Butterfree giggled, or at least giggled as much as a bug could. Of course Butterfree talked, stupid. She always does. You just can understand her.

He felt a little unnerved that he'd yelled. Shouldn't Pikachu have stopped that? Then again, it wasn't like he had control over both sides. That feeling of alarm was as real as if a human suddenly started talking pokemon in front of him.
"Why do you smell like Satoshi? And talk like him?" She prodded him with her antenna. Although pokemon had no personal polite etiquette, he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed at her being so close to him and prodding him like that. Ironically, had he been just human he might not have cared as much, since he didn't feel like he was the same type of creature, or, well, half of the same type of creature. "Where is he?"

"Right here. Sort of. I'm still Pikachu, but we're both here. There was a bit of an accident."

"Uh…" Butterfree looked startled, but seemed to be utterly undisturbed by the idea of Satoshi and Pikachu being fused together, more by the fact she had completely forgotten that Magikarp existed.


"Oh, he should be right over there." She flew towards the stream.


Magikarp was swimming upside down, the string the only thing to keep him from sinking to the bottom and being carried off by the current. Debris occasionally hit him upside the head. Sato-Chu lowered his ears in embarrassment and disappointment. Magikarp dipped upwards out of the water slightly as Butterfree yanked on the string, and gurgled loudly.

"Splash splash splash splash splash splash--…" Magikarp continued on.


He stared, mouth open. What the heck?


Sato-Chu cautiously padded over and helped Magikarp pull himself upright. The hide was scaly and slimy, though being wet that was perhaps to be expected. Something he had never noticed before however was how the scales glinted off the light very slightly. Somehow, being merged with a Pokemon made Magikarp look marginally more attractive looking… But just barely. The slightly unattractive fish smell made up for it.

"Food? Me food?"


Sato-Chu snorted at the unintentional meaning of Magikarp's comment. "No, you aren't food." Although he sort of wished he was. Probably wouldn't be too appetizing though… Wait, surely

Magikarp wasn't that annoying that he wanted to eat him? A part of him suddenly reassured, that for very good reasons, yes, yes he was.

"Food?" Magikarp pressed, looking confused and uncertain as to whether that was a yes to his question.


The softer part of him took pity on Magikarp. "No, no food for you, Magikarp, not right now. Maybe later, if you can manage to swim upright all the way through for once."


The fish appeared rather unhappy at that statement, but also slightly puzzled for a bit as he tried to figure out the meaning of his words out. Realizing that there was an implication of his being expected to do something for the food, he happily began to swim faster.


Satoshi and Pikachu sighed, turning and darting forward. Butterfree flew aside and slightly above them, looking joyful as the sun's rays finally began to truly warm her wings, giving her extra speed.


"We are going to the Power Plant that provides energy for Cerulean. Butterfree, can you spot it from above?" He asked pointedly. A strange nervousness filled his chest, a reluctance to follow through. Strangely, it came from Satoshi. Pikachu had never thought him anything but brave and foolhardy before, if a little uncertain at times. Yet, there was no actual pause in the words and his steps.


He regretted leaving his Pokeballs behind along with his clothing. Magikarp would be better off inside them. Yet, the fish pokemon really did seem to be swimming better. It occurred to him that nobody had ever offered the poor cod any encouragement or incentive before. Was his seeming lack of understanding really stunted growth from lack of contact?


The idea was a little depressing and disturbing. He shuffled it back into his mind for further reflection later. Human caused suffering was something he was only beginning to learn the full extent of.

"I see a huge storm above." Butterfree stated nervously. "Should we really be going there? I picked up streaks of light through the sky, it is certain to attract electric-- Oh, right." She glanced down at him amused. Butterfree was a flying type and a bug type; normally electric pokemon would have been her foes. The irony was not lost on him.


The stream, thankfully, connected to a larger river running to the power plant. Unfortunately, the waters were increasingly polluted as they got closer. Magikarp managed to stand it, however, it seemed. He was glad he didn't have gills.


Rain poured down upon their heads, and the cleansing rains were clean enough to offer some little comfort to Magikarp. Butterfree drooped, slowing slightly as her wings and her body got colder.
The open land got denser and more wild looking as the barest tops of the tallest cerulean buildings disappeared beyond the landscape, and the ground began to turn to even thicker and fouler mud than before as it received the full torment of the continued rain. At this point it was practically slush, and small amounts of water actually flooded on top of it, flowing past his paws. This worried him.
Instinct told him to seek higher ground, faint memories stirring of flash-floods occurring when the ground was too soaked to hold water. But he refused to change course for now, certain that it was not a problem for yet at least. Fearfully he glanced up as thunder rumbled, but he soothed himself at his foolishness of fearing lightning.

"I don't think I can continue on." Shivered Butterfree, drooping. "It's so cold… I feel sleepy and vulnerable."


"Just keep Magikarp close nearby you, okay? I'm going on ahead. Keep safe and call if danger."

"Food?" Gurgled Magikarp, which seemed to be his way of expressing concern.

"No, no food just yet, Magikarp. But I'll treat you to a feast later." His face quirked upward in a smile. He shook himself in a doomed effort, getting rid of some of the water, and continued. The land was dark, and the trees loomed surprisingly high.


His steps were quiet, almost silent, and for some time, he was truly alone. But his keen ears and eyes noticed strange shapes and varieties of figures moving through the forest. Pidgey and Spearow boldly made their presence known as they swooped across the forest, or sat on their perches, all looking for some cover, some still foraging like usual. It was strange, but he suddenly realized that they were not paying attention to his presence at all.


He miss-stepped, and found himself neck-deep in mud for a moment before pulling himself out. Moving across the ground, he passed a Nidorino by that was only a few feet away, not bothering to hide his presence. The animal merely snorted, and he was startled to see so many pokemon out and about. In comparison to Satoshi's usual walks, the land was almost barren of pokemon. Because he never really tried to catch any, he hadn't really noticed, but… A part of him, Pikachu, recognized this as normal. They smelled strange, but did not look human or particularly dangerous. Life often hid right close by plain sight when humans were around, wary. Still, he knew they were wild, and instinctually knew not to get too close. Allowing oneself to be seen and being friendly are two different things.


There. He spotted the tall, lurking building through the trees. The wind picked up violently, and the dark shadows flashed with light.


His eyes widened as they revealed a figure. Yellow, jagged fur was revealed, only to go dark once again in an instant as the lightning no longer flashed.


Eyes gleamed in the dark, featureless orbs that moved forward, stalking, predator. A muzzle dipped out from the shadows, stalking forward. The fox-like creature stared, determined, a pose of all-business, and obviously assertive and dominant in nature. Yet, there was a hint of hesitation that only keen experience caught. The animal had stopped in front of him, staring challengingly, judging his movement and posture, preparing to move again, and, by the swing of the body, possibly, to pounce.


A cat and mouse game could then ensue. But faintly, he knew that Pikachu were not native to these parts. And certainly, the creature, this Jolteon, had never smelt one so strange. Satoshi, indecisive, surrendered to Pikachu's thoughts.


Instinct screamed to leap, to flee, to keep still and to hope they were somehow not noticed, but Pikachu ignored it all. The rain improved his scent, and by the smell he knew this pokemon stood an even chance of killing them. No, he needed a different tactic.


He needed to not assert himself as prey.


Aggressively, but not too threateningly, he stepped forward a blackish-yellow paw, ears tilted upward and non-submissively. The Jolteon's eyes and ears seemed to waver slightly, and Pikachu, in almost full control, took another step full forward. Confidently, challengingly, he stared him straight in the eyes even as he felt slight fear, and the Jolteon suspiciously took a step back, slightly more respectfully this time.


The fox-like pokemon turned and began to circle. Pikachu stalked across the ground and did the same, giving the same narrow stare, tail high but not too high. The fox lowered, as if preparing to strike, body tensing, and Pikachu suddenly sat down, pretending indifference.


He licked his paw, pretending it was the most interesting thing in the world, watching the fox out of the corner of his eye. Smell told him it was female, with cubs. He was willing to bet on this, now.
Pacing restlessly, and slightly put off by this, the fox moved forward, then, at the last moment, seeming indecisive, hovered there in his spot. As quickly as the pokemon had came, it then soon left, slinking like a hyena into the shadow.


He quickly stopped his grooming display and stared back at where the pokemon had gone, glancing and listening all around. It really was gone. The pokemon had not been willing to risk injury with strange prey it did not know how to handle when it had cubs and had left off. Satoshi, at least what part of him remained mostly independent, found this amazing, for no exchange of words had occurred. It had not been what he had expected.


Quickly, with no time to lose, he darted forward. The watchers within the forest seemed to mostly get the message, and, following the Jolteon's example, seemed content to leave well-enough alone the stranger for now in the sopping wet rain.


He touched concrete. Smell told him that humans had not been there for some time, though that he already knew. Memories flitted suddenly, unbidden.
--
"The clear is coast!" Pichu gleefully exclaimed, through body language.

"Is it so, is it so." Stated another Pichu, beaming up at his face. Never had he been so proud. His son's meanings were garbled, but they were really trying. A small lick touched his face. 'I love you' the meaning of it stated.

He closed his eyes happily, striding forward. He made a big show of sniffing. "Yup yup! Food now want?" He glanced down, knowing the response.

Both Pichu bounced, exuberantly proclaiming their want with their cries, as if fearful that he actually believed they might not want any.

The smell of humans was old. He let it past. There were none here.

Creeping forward, he poked his paw forward in to the metal stick thing, grabbing and successfully pulling the food forward toward himself.

The trap sprang.

- - -


He whirled, startled. That had never happened to--… Oh. His mind puzzled it out, despite the strange realness of it for both entities. He felt strangely bitter. Why had that memory, of all memories come?
He felt confused. When had that happened? Since when had Pikachu been with Pichu following him?
There was little desire to think about it. But something within him pressed, curious, fascinated by his past.


Growls erupted briefly, and he pounced onward, looking for a way to enter the building. The wound from his bullet, oddly enough, didn't bother him at all. Glancing downward, he confirmed that somehow the transformation, or perhaps simply spending time as part pokemon, had decreased it a little further than before.


He nibbled at a window's edge curiously, a faint taste of static. It led into the basement. He was sure he didn't want to open there. But the front doors were surely locked. Thunder crashed, and he decided to climb up upon some vines. His hands, now equipped with claws and a slightly human-like structure, were more keen at climbing than ever, even at the tiniest edges and weakest threads of vine.


Carefully, spotting a higher up window, he swung the vines from side to side, preparing to spring. He had to judge it carefully, but with his changed leg proportions, he was not exactly sure how powerful to make the jump. The vine swung backward, bending and threatening to snap under his weight, then swung forward. At the last moment, he let go, flinging forward, scrabbling for the edge as he began to fall. He caught it, and almost skidded across, grabbing the edge of the surprisingly open window and pushing himself through.


The windowsill was immensely wet as he stepped through, but as he leaped on to the floor, it became slightly more dry.


Electricity flowed across the floor.


Startled, he leapt upward, falling on to the back of his feet, staring. But it coursed by him mostly harmlessly, even in a slightly regenerating manner as it touched him, which was incredibly odd. Drawn forward, his cheeks unbidden began to spark slightly as he moved across the dark but somewhat lit room, crossing through the door, approaching the source of light in an almost hypnotic manner.


The halls brightened as he passed through them, and he spotted pokemon flying past him through the halls. All of them were electric. He felt alarm, and his hair raised, aware that what he was approaching was something probably big, powerful, and alive. Soon, he would set his sight upon the source of these storms.


He squeezed his small body through a tight space, a mass of abandoned equipment strewn across the room. Poking his head out, his eyes blinked and shut tightly at the sudden blinding light that filled them. He raised a paw defensively in front of them, desperately trying to see and adjust his eyes.
There are stories. Stories of pokemon of great, tremendous power. Pokemon capable of changing the very environment around them. Pokemon capable of decimating entire buildings, destroying entire towns when angry. Pokemon highly prized by men, and priceless for the wilderness that sometimes spawned them.


There are a rare few pokemon in the world that can only survive more or less on electricity and little else. Magnimite are one of them.


When a pokemon of enough power appears, they change the very ecosystem around them, the very land and weather. It is no wonder that they were once worshipped as Gods. Others of their kind benefit from them, the very land shaped over time by them, feeding them, helping them.
And now he was staring at one of them.


Electricity arched powerfully over the body of the tall beast that stood before them. Black, grizzled stripes characterized it, and the very eyes of it glowed with golden, featureless sparks. A tail flickered back and forth, unconsciously sending torrents of energy across the room. Large canines opened wide, shining, and the fearsome mouth of the beast was lowered to feast upon the energy of some cable wires, cutting cleanly through.


It seemed agitated, looking toward them, as he dropped ungracefully on to the floor, hitting his head. He froze, terrified, aware increasingly of his dangerous plight as the monkey-like beast slouched forward toward him. His legs screamed at him to move, but he did not for several, gaping moments.


The fist of the Electrabuzz rose back, and threw itself forward into the wall. Pika-Red flew forward, ducking under the arms in terror, flunks of paint and plaster scattering across the room with the force of the decimated wall. Lethally, slowly, the Electrabuzz turned to consider them, fangs slowly showing. Lightning coursed upward from it's body, leaping outward toward the sky, adding to the madness that drove so many electric pokemon here.


There was a reason that powerful pokemon are rarely disturbed.


Backing up submissively, tail tucked, he turned sideways, carefully readying to make his next move as the Electrabuzz tried to decide whether to consider him well and fully dealt with, or perhaps as food. Acting like nothing happened, it turned back as before, tearing away at the cables, still dissatisfied. It had been originally attracted by the generators, which had been turned off for some time. Not too far off beyond it, he could see the control panel. Only hit a switch and his troubles could be over.


But the beast was directly in his way.


How in the world could he fight past such a creature, he wondered? Few outside the ranks of Pokemon Masters held such beasts, if his calculations of how powerful it was had been correct. He narrowed his eyes. His mind was once more conflicted. Pikachu wanted to try to sneak by if possible. Satoshi wanted to leave, but feeling that it was unacceptable to do so, wanted to attack and try to lead off the Electrabuzz to a new location, distract it and then come back. Oh lordy.


He was surprised at his expectation of failure. Pikachu felt there was nothing to fear, provided one moved with enough caution. Yet, Satoshi pessimistically found himself expecting to see the worst. He had to do this. He had to. He'd look like a coward if he didn't, he thought.


Pikachu bluntly did not care about such things, about appearing a coward, not when it was reasonable to retreat. Are we in this together, or are we not?

He internally growled at himself. It disturbed him, but in a way he had already gotten used to this. He didn't enjoy the thought of being comfortable with it, not really.

He stalked forward, watching, sliding by the yellow apish tiger's back, noticing little reaction but the swishing of the tail. Good, good so far. He turned his head toward the panel, and hopped on to it, scrambling as he slightly misjudged the jump and clanging against it with his small claws. He winced, but soon quickly peered down and tried to find the proper switch to turn. He felt clueless. For all he knew, this controlled the air conditioning. The dust and debris wafted around and obscuring things didn't help much either.

"sO HUnGrY…"

Hissed a voice, moaning with a distinctly inhuman quality.

He froze. Predator. Escape. Run. The thoughts wafted through his head before he could contain himself. No, he couldn't run. Taking a paw, he began to flip some of the switches. Let's see… He glanced about hurriedly.


Nothing happened.


Claws scraped behind him slowly, the beast muttering self-absorbed, agonizing thoughts.
Why hadn't anything happened, dammit? Wait, if this was some sort of computer, then didn't it require some sort of electricity to run--…

"yOu," A voice growled. Sato-Chu quickly turned his head around, only to stare face to face with a gaping mouth of fangs and drool, sizzling with electricity. "sHaLL fEeD mE."

The irony of a electricity producing machine that requires electricity to run. Pika-Red scooted downward, leaping headfirst underneath the massive blow of arms that ensued. Fur lashed into the machine, and like a ball of clay it bent smoothly and effortlessly. His eyes widened as shrapnel flew and the beast turned his head, growling, hungry. The eyes narrowed, as it seemed to decide to become serious.


"You have to leave this place." He stated. "The humans-- I mean, the people who work here will come back and hurt you." Something in him bunched up. This is foolish. Stop talking, get moving, he's going to kill us.

But what if we can convince him to leave? His eyes softened naively, placating. "Please?"


The next thing he knew, he was in shooting pain. Although he hadn't even registered movement, now gigantic claws trapped him against the cold floor, digging in. Electricity raced across his body, and that was his only comfort, for he somehow fed upon it, sensed it, but…
The charge increased, and the monster roared.


Even the electricity began to burn him. He squirmed, exclaiming out in pain as blood suddenly leaked upon his fur. He felt his body no longer touch the floor. His eyes went wide, and his fur tugged loose in bloody heaps as he squirmed just barely out of the grip in the chaos.


It hurt so much… It hurt… And it had only been barely trying.


His paws touched upon the floor. He whirled to face it, snarling, hackles raised, long scratches running alongside his back and belly. Electricity spazzed out from his body, but uselessly, bouncing off the Electrabuzz with no harm done. It carefully seemed to consider the next move…


And smiled.


He lurched frantically off the ground, leaping higher than he had ever gone before in frazzled excitement, soaring right over the head of the pokemon, heading toward a windowsill as a last-ditch means of possible escape. As he went, a ball of white energy foamed inside the creature's mouth, rolling deceptively harmlessly on the creature's tongue. It curled, reared back, and unleashed.
His claws faintly touched the sill.


The glass shattered, and for a moment, everything was a blinding white, then black. Blood, tasting copper and warm, was felt inside his mouth. He felt his feet upon the floor, heard the steps coming toward him, knew it had judged him incapable of escaping with his struggles.
The blurry world began to come back in to focus, and he saw a raised claw reached toward him.

This is… The end.

For us.

No… We're a team… It's not the end for us…

It's the end for me. He clenched his eyes, accepting, finally, that they were a single unit. Claws clamped around him, blood flowing…


And, unexpectedly, memories flashed before his eyes.

X--x

"Hey Gary." He offered shyly. "Can I play in the sandbox too? I brought my Onix toy! And my truck!" He pushed them out, held in his small little hands.

Little six year old Gary looked up absentmindedly, playing with his blocks. "Mm, okay. Don't you think you're a little too old for dollies, though?"

"Onix isn't a dolly!"

"Yeah it is. But it's okay, I don't mind if you're a wuss."

Satoshi snorted, giving a small laugh despite himself. "Gee thanks, Gary, you are so kind."

"I know." Gary didn't seem to notice the sarcasm, too absorbed in his toys and making them topple. Satoshi climbed in and sat near him.

He looked down at Onix.

Then he looked at Gary, who paid no attention.

He frowned, and tossed Onix aside.

"So, want some commy-merce at your city?" He held up the truck.

X--x

They slide neatly down the supple, furry throat. Dark blood stained the coat in splotches, and it shook, shaking the newer morsels loose.

A fleck of blood landed on his nose.

All within a second.

All within a second, and they were all dead.

Silence.

Paws powerfully leaped across the ground, moving away, fleeing into the bush, intent, intent purely to kill.

Pikachu watched, still, shocked, silent.

The little blood droplet fell off his nose.

And then, he curled his lips, and let loose a series of silent, screaming snarls as he bounded after his child's soon to be dead killer.

The Growlithe would pay.

The Growlithe would die.

He flung all of his remnants of pride to the side, uncaring, ungraceful. If pride comes before a fall, then he could not fall, for he was stripped of all he came to care for.

He had nothing to lose.

He had everything to die for.

X--x

"Mommy…"

He looked up at her, tears in his eyes.

"Why did they hit me?"

She stared at him, uncertain of what to say. She tried to finish what she had been saying before. "--don't bite people Sato…" Her words dropped off. "You bit him first, Sato."

"He told me dad was a bastard."

She looked away, and did not meet him in the eyes. "Let's buy you a honey-coated rice ball, Satoshi."

X--x

Their lifeless eyes stared at him.

They stared at him in his sleep.

They stared at him when he looked into the boy's eyes. The same boy offering his trust.
Please.

Just make the images, the shame, go away… Just for awhile…

Just for awhile…

Forget.
X--x


His eyes snapped open and a violent snarl loosed, fangs open wide. A wave of electricity loosed from his body, as thick as he was wide, smashing inside the mouth of the monster-like beast. The claws lost their digging, flesh-puncturing grip.


It screamed in rage.


He stared at it, head crinkled in a snarl in turn. Giving no pause, he shot forward, barreling into it's softer belly, digging in to the fur, fighting like a feral animal, biting down on it's side into the softest bit of flesh. It tumbled backwards, surprised by this sudden change in attitude and unable to erect a defense in time.


Crimson fluid tasted bitter inside his mouth, and in startlement, he let go.
He had hurt something. Someone.


Again.


It quickly regained it's footing, staring, calculating with an ancient, feral, sentient cunning. Pokemon gradually increase in size over the years, and for it's kind, it was staggeringly giant. The ears scrapped barely across the ceiling as it moved forward, suddenly charging with great speed.
Just barely did he tumble away, a foot scrapping against his blackish yellow fur. The tail whipped and smacked against him, sending him flying temporarily upward.


Eyes narrowing, he acknowledged the strength of it silently. The speed for such a normally somewhat average creature was amazing. He was lucky not to have broken bones, only to have bruises and multiple gashing deep cuts. The agony had faded somewhat with adrenaline, but it was still jarringly there.


He would have to change tactics.


Vague shapes decorated the entrance of the exit. Others were watching, waiting. Scavengers and opportunists would feed on any scraps eagerly, but did not dare get too close. It was hard to see, the Electrabuzz blocking some of his view.


He tried to dart to the side, hoping to race towards--


A fist smashed into him, and bone audibly broke.


He bit down and refused to give a small scream as he horrifyingly glanced back at his broken, bloody tail and back leg. Pika-soshi found himself lifted upward and whirled around in the air, over and over by his own tail. What if he threw up? He had a good lunch today, he didn't really want to pay for a new one-- His mind babbled half-insanely at him for a moment as he suddenly felt the grip on his tail accidentally slip, and his body was flung across the room.


The Electrabuzz was startled, glancing upward at the suddenly empty hands. Quickly Pika-Red tried to limp out of the door, catching a glimpse of a possibly familiar Jolteon backing away in fear in the shadows. It spotted the human-pokemon mix, and slowly, triumphantly, came forward, mouth widening, salivating in anticipation of warm, wiggling, possibly live food.


Suddenly, Pika-sushi gave a tired smile, turning to face Electrabuzz. He had just remembered something, from the Pewter Gym.


Light can really blind.


Electrabuzz shut his eyes in sudden confusion as light flooded his senses, a flashing defense filling the whole room in a visually disorienting manner. Blindly it backed up, grunting, waving in front of it, having no defense for this, despite being electric itself.


Pikachu-Satoshi crawled, unleashing his last bit of energy as he crawled upward, clambering into the window.

"BUTTERFREE! BUTTERFREE!" He shouted.

-Satoshi and Pikachu?- A faint, psychic voice connected.


Something growled behind him. His eyes widened, and he turned his head.


Voluntarily, he pushed off, and fell.

All went black and silent.

X/ end of episode.

Quiet, the credits roll.

 

[Buoysel]

Nice cliff hanger, I hope you stay around to finish this. Please don't leave me hanging.

After the transformation, Its really hard to tell what happened, and I'm still a little fuzzy on the exact description of "Sato-Chu."

 

[Satoshi_Red]

Episode Ten:

Halving Us

- - -

Butterfree was so glad. The storm had cleared a little! Her elegant wings shook once, clearing the water droplets cleanly off her back with little effort. The mossy, shadowed tree was still cold. Eagerly, she pushed off into the air, seeking warmer air.

Flying was more difficult than it looked. However, a few hard beats of her wings and she soon switched to gliding above the trees. Flying about, she eagerly searched for a place of rising warm air conflicting against the cold to both ease her flying and warm herself. If she got too cold, she could not fly.

Faint yells caught her attention, and she glanced sharply downward. Smells of Satoshi and Pikachu wafted by her antennae, and keenly she wobbled them, her attention suddenly riveted by the smell of blood.

Her psychic abilities were poor, but, the building where they had gone to was some distance away. She wasn't even sure where they were exactly.

-Satoshi? Pikachu?- Feebly, she tried to send out a psychic message.

It connected.

Pride and glee filled her, and she twirled about in the air, almost forgetting the serious business that she was about. Slowly she righted herself, and dove downwards. Her eyes spotted Sato-Chu, or Pika-Red, or, well, she wasn't really certain what to call the odd combination of the two. Friend would do fine, she supposed. Satoshi was much nicer though; Pikachu was kind of mean and no fun at times.

A yellowish figure tumbled from a window, and her eyes widened. Maybe that was why Pikachu was so bitter! He couldn't fly!

But something was wrong with the picture. A large, fearsome hand struck out after him, a head and body threw itself out from the window in an attempt to snatch Pika-Red. Blood coated his body, and Butterfree dove downwards toward him.

She out held a claw, trying to snag him, when, glancing sharply upward, she spotted an alarming sight. Drool dripped upon her head as she glanced directly into a mouth of tall knives roaring. Keeping her cool, she snagged the unconscious furry burden and swung backwards, somersaulting uneasily in the air with his heavy weight.

The Electrabuzz narrowed its eyes, and suddenly the wall of the building broke free, smashing into a thousand pieces. Butterfree gave an angry, demanding click, but there was no answer but a guttural snarl.

Eagerly, the powerful apish tiger smashed his claws in to the remnants of the building, and began to clamber downward, tail swishing. It did seem to be finally having second thoughts, however; this was a lot of work for a meager snack.

"HaNd iT oVeR bUg aNd nO HaRm sHaLL cOmE tO yOu…" It uttered. Butterfree tried to fly higher, straining her wings, going farther away from it at what was hopefully a safe distance. It could not grab them now.

"No." She stuck her proboscis out immaturely. It didn't quite have the same affect as sticking out a mammal-like tongue, though. "Why don't you go play with, uh, your tail or something? I'm sure it'll be quite yummy after you chase it for awhile."

Electrabuzz was momentarily puzzled by her talkativeness, but growled. "Do nOt mOcK mE fOOl!"
The clouds rumbled once more. Lightning climbed downward, a brilliant blue bolt, striking the ground not far from her.

She trembled slightly.

"Bye."

Butterfree launched away, twirling in the air, and the beast screamed in rage, electricity sparking and lacing by her. Hot, splashing pain touched her wings, and they occasionally twitched erratically, jerking her badly in flight. Not good not good! She thought.

A faint figure was below on the ground. She couldn't land there. Magikarp. She had to go get back to Magikarp… No, even though Magikarp was practically incapable by himself, he'd be even worse if she led the Electrabuzz to him. Then again, Magikarp in general were almost inedible.

Almost.

"Uhhgg…"

"Sato-Chu? Are you waking up?" She glanced down. No answer. She would frown, if she were capable. She settled for an unhappy buzz.

An arc of electricity shot outward past her face. She swerved, and dove towards the cover of the trees. A glance backward showed the Electrabuzz dropping on to the ground. Lovely.

Leaves and branches scrapped against her harshly as she plummeted. Butterfree were not pokemon renown for carrying heavy objects, and the strain was starting to get to her steadily. Rain started to pour once more, a sign the Electrabuzz was regaining his bearing and heading this way, perhaps.

Quickly, she pushed Pika-Red into a tree, hiding him, and swerved back, pretending to still hold something. A bit of his blood smeared on her should deceive the Electrabuzz's sense of smell. For now, she would act the part of a decoy. It was a mistake to think Butterfree was completely stupid... Just very oddball and oblivious most of the time.

Shadows dappled her from the trees above as she flew low-lying above the forest floor. A curious figure poked its head from the shadows below, a fox-like shape.

"What is he?" The Jolteon asked briefly.

"I dunno! Two friends, I guess." Butterfree hovered to stop to answer.


The mother's eyes narrowed. "He doesn't smell right. Are you sure that he is not meant to be killed by the One?"
"One?"

"He who we follow. A death-bringer, and a life-bringer, alike, making storms that we can feed upon… Yet killing and murdering us whenever he gets a chance. Such is the way of things."

"No. Satoshi and Pikachu, they don't deserve to die. It's only temporary. Soon they'll be a human and a pokemon again, you'll see."

"A… Human?" Fear flickered on her face.

"Yes. I follow him, for he is a friend, and that is what friends do-o!" She twirled in singing-song.

Jolteon narrowed her eyes. "Your antics and words make little sense, frivolous fly--"

Jolteon's head spattered in a ray of blood, crushed by a yellow striped fist. The Electrabuzz peered out from the shadows, picking her up by the scruff, sniffing and licking his teeth hungrily. His mouth opened wide and swallowed Jolteon's limp body. Like a snake, the jaw unhinged, and cleanly she was swallowed, soon only her paw sticking out from his mouth.

Butterfree hovered in the air, almost completely still, shocked. Regaining her senses, she dove, assaulting the creature's mind. A shot of electricity arched and struck her, and she tumbled, hitting the hard ground. Blood spilled, her own blood, on a crumpled wing. Sitting up shakily, she rose before a fist crunched the ground before her, dust and leaves smashing in to the air.

"Sleep." She commanded, flying over him. Droopily, its eyes closed. It shook its head twice, and stumbled forward, swallowing Jolteon's tail cleanly.

Butterfree swooped again and again, coating him in a fine mist of powder as the rain repeatedly tried to wash it away. Sparks shot out from its body, striking Butterfree. Paralyzed, she fell, crashing once more. Sato-Chu was safe, at least, she knew.

Snarling, it tumbled forward, shaking itself. Eyes from the forest shone, light glinting off them.
The beast hesitated.

It was full, and tired enough… Such was enough battling, today. It slunk, unforgotten, into the growth.

Butterfree wearily paused. Surely not something more dangerous had scared it off…--

A net flung over her, and all went black.

- - -

"How long, Andy?"

"Almost there, I promise."

"Wadda ya think of the blackish one?"

"A shiny for sure. And rather big for a Pikachu. Has the freakiest eyes, though. Looks like someone mixed and matched 'em with human eyes, or something. And his hands, they almost look like they got thumbs. Think he'll sell?"

"A breeder will want 'em, to be sure."

"And the Butterfree?"

"Hard to say. A fighter, but not many big-timers want Butterfree, you know? Wings can be too fragile compared to other trained pokemon, and their type ain't the strongest or rarest. Common 'un, that it is, but we can always lie, right Erica?"

"O' course."

He felt cold. Everything was black, and moving. He could hear voices, human ones. Fuzzily, he wanted to speak. He'd had the strangest dreams involving being treated like property…
Wait.

His eyes fluttered open. Sato-Chu was in a cage, beside several others, in a moving, dark truck. A single window in to the front showed two mops of blonde and brown hair were driving at the front, but he couldn't see the human's faces. One wore short pigtails, the other had long, unkempt hair.

So this is what it was like to be captured. Except, he wasn't in a pokeball. Probably wouldn't have gone in anyway. Caution told him not to speak so the humans-- or, well, the two people, could understand him. He felt odd trying to refer to them as humans, although at the same time it came naturally to him. "Butterfree? Butterfree, are you awake?"

"I'm here." Another pokemon moved in a different cage, faintly, from the light, he could see the wings belonged to her. "I was worried. You were out for some time, and they didn't take us to a pokemon center. I think they know that we, I mean, that is, I and you, travel with a trainer, even though they don't know you are him." She shifted nervously in the dark.

"And Magikarp?"

"Left behind. They didn't find him. I hope he doesn't get eaten. Although with biscuits would be tasty." Butterfree stood still, expecting an answer.

He shifted, trying to get a better look at her. He was much more confident in his movements now, and switching back and forth. It worried him, but for now, that was an improvement. He growled. "They're going to sell us off. They don't smell like rockets, but they sure aren't trainers…. Though, I do smell the metal of Pokeballs with them. I wonder what kind of pokemon they have working with them? We've got to escape."

Another, one with a white, glistening coat, shifted in the dark. "That much is obvious." It came out like a strange, animal laugh.

"Who are you?" He growled, narrowing his eyes.

Another shifted, one who was green. "We're like you… Mostly. Don't know kind of Pokemon you be, or why you stink so much human, but I want out here. Stench-Fang does too. I'm Sky-Skirmish."

"Is it true you fought a Legend?" Muttered Stench-Fang.

"Idiot. That no Legend. Just over-grown Electrabuzz." Stated Sky-Skirmish. "Much stronger pokemon there out." From their voices and sounds, he could tell Stench-Fang and Sky-Skirmish were a Primeape and a Scyther. Rather formidable opponents on their own, he wondered who exactly could take them down together. And if there were even stronger pokemon out there than that, then what did it say about him, when he had nearly died just from a few hits?

"Keep it down, you animals!"

"It's almost like they're plotting against us or something, isn't it?"

"Don't be stupid. They aren't that smart."

He ruffled his fur, cleaning his wounds. They had partially healed already. Pokemon could heal much faster than humans, but he still must have had some tending to, and some time to have healed. How long had he been out? His leg still hurt, but bones take the longest to heal, he knew, although in a pokemon center they could heal very quickly by usual standards. Without it, it could easily take months, he knew.

"Is anyone injured?" He spoke.

"I used to be, but no longer." Spoke Butterfree, quietly. "They sprayed something on me and you."

"Scyther, scythe. I fine. They… jumped I sleeping." He muttered in shame.

"And I was taken while in pokeball." Spoke Primeape. "I later broke it in my rage." His respect for them rose a few notches. Being able to break a pokeball was no easy task, he knew. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed as he remember precisely why he knew that. Oh, yes, he had been the thief at Pewter who caused all the trouble, hadn't he? And he'd been oblivious all this time to just how much mischief Pikachu/himself got into… Well, it figured.

The truck hit a bump in the road, and the cages shook. Sato-Chu banged himself against the bars as he lost his balance.

"I hate it when that happens. So, what's the plan for escape?" Primeape spoke. He had a sort of gentlemanly air about him that was quite unexpected for his kind, a polite softness that belied how horribly strong his rage could be. Through the darkness, one could see a large, roundish form and a pugged nose, and little curved ears atop a huge, upright figure.

"Well-" He coughed to cover up his mistake. "Well, they must stop sometime. And presumably, they must take us out of our cages at some point, or open them, perhaps to feed us?"

"No work. I try; they slip food by in the metal strips." Shining white blades glinted against the chitinous arms, barely visible in the gloom. They were not true metal blades, but quite sharp all on their own.

"He means they slip the food through the bars. They might not open the cages all at once, ever. They are too clever to risk all of us escaping."

Despite all his human knowledge, living in society himself most of the time, (or at least one half of him) he was really quite clueless as to what they would do. The closest thing that he knew of to this were stories of bounty hunters or poachers, and thieves, but he was not certain exactly how it was that they were going to be sold. It didn't sound like those people had been hired by anyone to do this.

Quietly, he tried to squeeze through the bars. If he could just get his head through, he knew he could get the rest of him out. There was one advantage to being more or less a rat. Suddenly, something on his tail glowed blue and beeped, flashing. Some sort of chip? Quietly, he worked to try to get it out.

"Aye, aye, cut it out, whateveh' it is you monsters is doing." Spoke the one identified as Erica.

"Andy, we're about there, aren't we? Slow down, you goon. We keep hitting bumps. Don't want to rip a tire."

He pushed his head quickly out, in case they actually checked.

"Don't you? Mind, I'M the one who'd have to replace it!"

His cheeks flared, sparking out from the bars, only to falter as they hit the rubber edges of the cages.

"Well, much as I don't mind seeing you sweatin', it comes out of my pockets, it does. Now slow the damn vehicle."

A greenish folded arm touched him gently from another cage. "They squabble to all, they even. Perhaps advantage of us?"

"Yes, that'll be a good advantage, I think." He muttered.

The other pokemon went still.

"I have never, in all my fine years--… Pardon my manners, but, you can talk like them! How in the world? You can speak that way? Really?" Spoke the Primeape excitedly.

"Is trick." Accused Sky-Skirmish. "Knew too good. Too good for truth. You human."

"Only half-human, actually. No trick… And I need to turn back into my other forms soon. It' s becoming harder and harder for me to tell which action is whose." He muttered. He didn't tell them it could possibly become permanent.

"Hah hah! Enjoying it far so?"

"No, he isn't really. Mind you, I am." Commented Butterfree, who had been rather quiet until then.

"Gee, thanks. You don't have to experience it. Image being stuck to, say, that Erica person in front there who caught us." He muttered.

"Are you implying you are as bad as Erica?" She stated, curious and somewhat oblivious to his discomfort.

"Err, well, no, but--" He hastily tried to rephrase. Besides, only half of him would have been as bad as Erica--

"Well, the egg has hatched, then. Now, have you noticed? There are other cars outside." Butterfree interrupted, as serious as she has ever been. No… To be truthful, he had seen her look more serious just once, when battling.

They all paused in their conversation, and did indeed here the low rumble of another engine, the scraping of tires against the ground, and even conversation between individuals they did not know. Narrowing his eyes as the car suddenly stopped, he whirled and tried to squeeze through the bars as the odd couple were distracted.

The back of the truck suddenly opened, and blinding light scattered the shadows. Almost hissing, Sato-Chu threw a paw in front of his face as his eyes adjusted. A blurry figure walked in front of the door, holding it open.

"Well, they look quite fine to me, quite fine. That Primeape is a stupid, brutish looking fellow. Try putting him in the ring and then selling him."

"Excuse me? I am HARDLY brutish and, as you say so nicely, stupid!" Despite their protests, they were all ignored. Their cages were lifted high as men and women climbed in to the truck, and carried out in to the sunny day. Enough time had passed, apparently, that there was little sign of mud on the ground. Either that or they were very far away.

As his eyes adjusted, he could see numerous cages, nets, and chains. Some cages were glass. Others were metal, or plastic. Some were empty, but the vast majority held pokemon inside. Many had price tags on their bars. Some pokemon, obedient or broken, had little more than collars or ropes around them. There was a fair crowd of people milling around, including, surprisingly, a few children. A small ring lay in a field not too far off that seemed to attract a lot of commotion. What sort of event was this? He craned his head to get a better look at things. It seemed to be well-hidden, only a dirt-path road leading to it, and even that was hard to make out.

His cage was placed down next to the others. Nervously, he paced.

Stench-Fang (Such an undeserved name, he felt.) had chains placed around his neck, and was led out. Pika-Red's eyes narrowed, and he reflected back on what they said.

"Everyone, act vicious."

"What?" Stated Scyther, confused.

"Oh, I get it! Then they'll take us to this 'Ring'?" Butterfree spoke up. "I shall try very hard. Grr, and all that." She looked at a red-headed child walked by. "You, grr, I will, uh, eat you!"

"Butterfree, please be serious."

"Umm… Wasn't I?"

He sighed. Narrowing his eyes, he backed up, and shot off sparks, snarling and bending his spine, tail posed dramatically. "Like this. Or, well, I dunno, try spitting at people. At least you won't be sold."

"I can't spit. I can vomit, though!" Butterfree exclaimed happily.

"That's… Precious. I don't really care, just do it." He sarcastically stated, and slapped his face. Someone paused to hover at their cages. Quickly, he shot forward, little claws extended, and scratched them upon the arm.

People soon decided to avoid them, glancing and giving a wide berth and even pointing.

"I not certain of plan." Muttered Sky-Skirmish.

He spotted Andy's face among the crowd. Knowing nobody was looking at him, he shouted. "HEY ANDY! YOU FORGOT TO PUT A PRICE TAG ON THE STUPID POKEMON!" He then immediately shut up. Several people glanced about in confusion, including Andy, but, since the man looked so used to being ordered around, he came over.

"Oh, right." He scratched his head oafishly. The man sighed. "I'll go get them outta de truck."
Before he got a chance to, however, a large sputtering piece of vomit landed on his head. "What the heck?" He glanced upward.

As he did, a young lady came over.

Pikachu-Satoshi snarled, and banged against the bars. Scyther hissed. "Are these yours? I'll have you know that one spat on my head, another bite me, and another I swear tried to chop my little Ekans in half!" The woman patted a pokeball on her side.

"Erm…" Andy scratched his head, unsure of what to say. "Want do you want?"

She glanced at him, scowling. "I'm saying they need to be locked up!"

"They already are, lady."

"More than that!"

Andy sighed. "If you aren't going to make a purchase, I'm afraid you'll have to move." He stated finally. With a sniff, she left. "I need to talk to Erica." He muttered. Glaring, he looked at Butterfree and the others. "I don't know which of you is the main offender, but I'm watchin' you." Now's my chance.

He leapt against the bars, shaking the cage, attempting to knock it over. Again, he struck; it tilted and toppled downward, striking the man on the chest just as much by chance as by calculation. He lost his footing and tumbled along inside the cage, landing quite painfully on the barred side of it.

"YOUCH!" Andy stumbled backward. "Why you little rat!" He sneered, placing robber gloves upon himself, and taking out several ropes. Reaching inside the cage, the hand quickly found itself bitten. Persistently, holding down a yelp, he tied it around the supposed shiny 'Pikachu'. Dragged out, the half-pokemon gave a wink to Butterfree before going on.

He was taken forward toward the ring, looking about carefully, noting all of his surrounding. Fans sat at the edge of their seats excitedly, as below two Pokemon ripped each other apart, fur flying. A Clefable and a Nidorino fought, the Clefable was on it's last legs of effort. Finally, it collapsed.
Someone shouted for the next battle to start. Notably, the woman who had captured them stepped out, Primeape at her side. A Golduck stepped out.

Stench-Fang glanced up in surprise, and he noticed there was a collar attached to Stench-Fang's neck. Presumably, it prevented him from escaping the fight, for their was another on Golduck.
Satoshi-Pikachu yanked sharply, and the rope almost came loose. The man tugged back, and he fought against it, even as it choked him. He grabbed a chair and the man violently tugged to try to get him loose. The world went blurry, and suddenly he let go, going limp. The blonde man staggered backward, toppling over while keeping his grip, and in a second, Pika-Red leapt upon him, biting his hand repeatedly. To think electricity was his only defense was their mistake.

He was primal. He was wild. He was free.

And no human would control him. As the hand let the rope loose, he whirled, leaping down into the field.

"Primeape! If she's unconscious, she can't hurt you, obviously."

"Knock a human out? But, everyone in the ring will see--"

"Just do it!" He stated hotly as he bounded toward them. People hastily backed away from the 'feral, loose' pokemon.

Golduck, although they had not spoken or met, reacted to this, suddenly whirling on their 'trainer' and whirling off a powerful gush of water and bubbles. Primeape, strangely reluctantly, struck Erica on the head, knocking her to the ground. She did not fall unconscious, however, she did moan. Quickly, he knocked anything she might use against them away from her, including a pokeball. Stench-Fang and the Golduck then ran off, distracting the crowd who were quickly calling for help.

He hesitated. He could not, in good conscious, let another possibly stolen pokemon remain stolen.
He tapped the pokeball that had been on her belt.

It sprang open wide, and glittering, shining eyes stared at him, a silver, regal snake, a rare king among Arbok. Long, hollow fangs stood impressively, dripping with venom.

Not giving the Arbok the chance to decide he had been released just to attack, he spoke. "Are you coming with us, too?"

Arbok reared back in surprise, and paused to consider, flattening his hood. "You have defeated the mastersss?" It hissed.

"More or less. Come on, before they pursue us." He turned and leapt.

"You mussst ssstay." He hissed. "I am normally alone. I work for the hunt, and other pokemon are my prey… Ssstay, and I will ssspare you for the Mastersss ussesss." He spoke like as if he had a lisp.

Great. He turned around. "Sorry, don't think so." He tapped the pokeball. Arbok's shocked face was the last thing he saw of him before the pokemon disappeared into the ball. He ran over to the trashcan and deposited the pokeball inside. "I won't miss you." Sato-Chu cheerfully bounced away.
Humans were amassing a return effort. Unfortunately, it seemed there were more loyal and trained pokemon about. It figured. Some, however, forwent pokemon entirely, deciding them unreliable, and simply took… Guns.

Scyther and Butterfree were now loose, he could see, alongside Golduck and Primeape. He bounded toward them.

"Who he?" Scyther spoke, suspicious of Golduck.

"No idea. Come on, we have the advantage in the woods, they can't follow us easily by car there. Butterfree, fly up and try to spot the surrounding landmarks, and tell us if there are any towns." The words spun easily out from his mouth. "I'll lead the distraction; you all have different places you need to go, but we should keep in contact for a while just in case." He glanced at Butterfree. "It's time for the return of The Pokemon Bandit."

"I see." Butterfree's antennae rose in surprise. Or perhaps she was merely smelling something. He really couldn't tell sometimes. Batting her wings, she flew in to the sky, catching strong winds and then soaring.

"What should we do?" Stated the Golduck.

He glanced sharply at him. "You have a brain and a good pair of shoulders. You don't need me to command you. But, you can help me find a gray blanket and maybe a black mask, a bandanna or something."

Golduck looked somewhat confused, but nodded in agreement. There was a vague planning behind the added theatrics; to cause confusion and give himself extra options of 'attack', of course. Darting into the picnic area, couples scattered in fear although a few brave trainers stayed behind, their hands on their pokeballs. Barring his teeth at them and sending a rippling shock at their hands quickly dissuaded them from this, and Golduck made a game of chasing people around, preferring that to actually helping search.

He managed to pull out an actual gray cloak that someone had left behind, but couldn't find anything to cover his face with except, once again, striped handkerchiefs that clashed horribly. He sighed, and resolved to keep his face down and shadowed if at all possible, but in the daylight that would be incredibly hard.

Sneaking quietly, he overheard Erika organizing a group of trainers to spread out into several groups and go across several areas. Pokemon particularly loyal to them would be at their side, but, some possessed guns, and preferred to use those. This was going to be dangerous.

Sneaking past in plain sight, one glanced at him, took one glance at his clothing masking his features, and dismissed him immediately as being anything of concern, assuming him to be a child. Walking on two legs, he carefully wobbled over to the cages where many pokemon were still inside, scared.

"Oh my, hear that, Brem? There's loose, dangerous pokemon! I'm scared!" Cried an obviously human-raised green Chansey.

Sato-chu gave a noise of disgust. "Are-- Are you fellows ready?" He decided, hastily, to pretend to be a human to them too. He pointed his nose down.

"Who's there?" A slightly blind Pidgeotto spoke up, paranoid and fierce.

"I am the pokemon bandit; I am now releasing you. Many of you are being sold unfairly; those of you who wish to stay, I ask only that you cause confusion to let the others go free." He darkened his voice imposingly, but kept it low as to not be overheard. "Where are the rest, the ones in Pokeballs?"

Not believing him able to understand what they say, the green Chansey pointed off to where the humans were. Wonderful. They were all with the humans, then. Carefully, with no time to lose, he fiddled with the locks on the cages. Many of them opened easily from the outside; others required a key and more hankering with. Ultimately, some he could not open, but their companions were willing enough to fiddle with the cages.

Freeing one, he moved on, and after that one, another. Finally, when all were freed, not pausing to say a word, he darted off. Creeping underneath cars and beside tables and crates, he watched men pass by, with sniffing dogs, bears and felines at their heels, and then, a moment later, exclamations of shock as a wave of pokemon ran past them, causing havoc.

Indecision gnawed at him slightly. Why were they captured? Did he do the right thing just now? He had nothing to do with any of those pokemon, yet, he couldn't let it go on. Creeping closer to one distracted person, he tapped their Pokeballs, and seeped back into the shade. He spotted Butterfree in the sky, and tapped another pokeball before hastily retreating. Horrible yells and screeches filled the air.

Moving momentarily across open ground, suddenly, a shot rang out, and he rolled in surprise.
But it wasn't aimed at him.

Primeape collapsed to the ground, bleeding horribly upon the feet of his human captors.

"Crazy, he went real crazy. I swear, I had to." One shook his head. "He was running straight at me!"

"I know." One of the other humans muttered sympathetically, nudging the dying ape with their foot. They were both teenagers.

"I must… Apologize… For bleeding on your foot… I think I lost for a moment there… My temper…" Stated Stench-fang, the features of his fury fading quickly from his face. Pika-Red stared, frozen, images flashing between his eyes momentarily, but he shook them off. Again… Why did he feel like that was an apt word? Again?

He couldn't move, staring there. A sick fascination spoke in his mind. So this is what happens to Pokemon who disobey their trainers, who are mistaken as rabid and unmanageable. Put down… Put down, just like little animals…

Snap out of it.

No, I don't want to.

Are you listening to yourself? He's dying, not dead, DO SOMETHING! Startled, he finally moved,
uncertain of what exactly to do but still moving anyway. Quickly, he clambered up a tall tree, and leapt upon a building. "Butterfree, here! When I give the signal, you grab me, okay?" Somehow, he needed to convince them to call the authorities.

Leaping and standing up straight,holding his cloak well around him, he boomed out his voice. Electricity shot out from his body dramatically, sizzling the air around him, illuminating and hiding him at the same time. "These are no wild, loose pokemon! You ponder how this tragedy has been caused, these pokemon, all released? It is I! The Gray Pokemon Bandit! Soon, these pokemon will belong to me, already they begin to work underneath my control! Leave, and no harm shall come to you!"

People glanced upward in surprise and disbelief, and for a moment, he felt absolutely silly. What sort of thief announced their presence? Yet… Stillness struck the crowd below, before a throng of madness. Shouts erupted, and badly aimed shots struck out near his feet.

"Call the cops!"

"Are you mad? The coppers? But--"

"I heard about this guy in Pewter, I think. Real deal!"

"Maybe he's really a woman under there." Mused someone.

"Get him! Off the damn *****!"

"Now." He stated, perhaps a little bit nervously, as people rushed forward, some scaling upward in an attempt to reach him. Butterfree swooped down and picked him up by the arms, gliding off wobbily and dropping him into the safety of the dark trees among outraged cries.

He landed softly upon the leaf litter, and tore off his cloak hastily. She spoke up, softly. "The other pokemon, most of them have escaped already. Scyther, I mean, Sky-Skirmish led them out, something about not caring about waiting for you to show up, and said some things that made them angry and hurt some people." He narrowed his eyes. It figured. But this just made things easier, if the pokemons' escape coincidentally happened at the same time of the bandit's.

"You can go on. But I need to watch for a bit longer, just in case. I need to make sure one of the pokemon remaining is cared for like I think he will." Something dug at him, and told him, told him he was much too naïve.

What was that supposed to mean?

Poking his head out from a bush, he held quietly still, like a good mouse. Primeape was still holding on to consciousness, not being human and of much stronger constitution. Sirens sounded after who knew how much time, and happily his ears pricked at the sound of people scurrying about. Policemen and the Officer Jenny of the area appeared in his sight, and someone noticed Stench-fang. Conversation curled around him, and a ball of light encircled the poor gentleman.

"We'll have to contact his trainer… And ask him how'd he would like to put his pokemon down. We'll have to verify though whether it really was under the command of this bandit figure though."
He paused, a part of him unsurprised, yet hesitant, knowing that he himself had no way of treating the monkey.

"I think I've seen enough." The pokemon-human whispered at a mumble, turning around. "Let's go." A tired voice rang from him.

Butterfree turned, and led the way, having seen from above where to go. Silence reigned for many minutes between them, broken only by soft chirping sounds of the forest. It amazed him, the bravery of the wild pokemon, to continue on foraging after such an event, but he supposed there had always been boundaries between human land and wilderness, and this was clearly wilderness, not interrupted by any roads.

A part of him softly wondered at the difference between the wilderness and civilization, the tame pokemon and the wild pokemon. Were there any, except for the presence of man affecting both differently? Or… Was it a change in attitude, not just a new way of living, but of thinking?

More importantly, was he 'civilized' or 'wild'? Both of him, err, them, this applied. Although he wasn't, people seemed to interpret him as a full pokemon at the moment. What sort of pokemon did they view him as? There was a startling, yet easy to understand desire to view any pokemon not bound by pokeball as wild, yet a blurring of the boundaries by the simple presence of a human, namely, one half of himself. Should humans themselves be viewed as tame, or wild? Clearly, they viewed themselves, he viewed himself, as something different, yet the arrogance of this astounded him.

To accept Pokemon as equals led to a number of uncomfortable questions, none the least if humans were not above them, not 'something else' worthy of ruling over them, then could humans milling about in cities be viewed as little more, or equal to, say, tame mareep? But then who tamed them? Themselves? That seemed absurd.

And if they were wild, then that would imply that cities were a type of wilderness all in their own. But nobody viewed them that way, and they were clearly different from normal wilderness… In a way, they were much more dangerous, at least if you were on the bottom of the 'food chain'.
And, as to the question of whether a pokemon who was not bound by pokeball could always be counted as wild, what difference did it make if one had a pokeball or not if they acted exactly the same? Could the wild and tame coexist together?

Or, when they came together, did it only end in a fight for supremacy, bloodshed, and dominance? Certainly they had fought each other over the issue of who was boss before, though it had ended peaceably enough. But here, in the place they were now living behind, a battle had been fought. To the human eye, it was about savage monsters and thieves, breakers of the law who deserved to be put down in their rightful place. They would perhaps later decide to foist it almost all the blame upon the 'human' Bandit and consider one or two of the pokemon unfortunately insane. For the pokemon viewpoint, it was all about the pokemon attempting to escape, and mostly succeeding, against the humans and other pokemon. Many would find themselves in trainer's hands once more, but by the human and some pokemons' viewpoint, it would be more 'legitimate' holding. For others, they simply went back to the wild, all this being nothing more than trading hands and finally becoming free.

The forest broke up, slowly, turning into plains.

A spark of sudden understanding hit him, the reason why captured pokemon would listen to Rockets. For most, being under Rocket control was little different than if their trainer had decided to trade them. What difference did it make who took them against their wishes, except that both the Rockets and the Trainers get offended when pokemon are taken from them to be given to the other side?

Yet, Pokemon did not all hold the viewpoint that it was bad to be owned by a trainer, or that they should attempt to flee a trainer by all costs. It became understandable, as well, why stories of loyal pokemon escaping criminals to rejoin their masters were even born. Still, that such reasoning of why a pokemon would, in his mindset, further degrade themselves by helping rockets by reasoning that was so incredibly close to his own, or at least Pikachu's, was nothing less than disturbing.

The vague image of a stream ahead was spotted. Streams usually either led to the ocean, or to humans. As odd as it seemed, since they had just tried to escape them, that they would now be trying to find them. But, it was simple, really. Not all humans were the same. Not all pokemon were the same. If a pokemon fled from another pokemon, it would not then seek to avoid all pokemon for the rest of it's life.

A part of him was still human, or at least he hoped so. As much as some of him amusingly wished to, he could not avoid mankind for the rest of his life. Besides, what about Professor Oak and his mot-- half-mother? What of his goals in life?

Finally, plodding along the stream, they spotted something splashing in the water, bright orange.

"Hi hi hi hi hi hi!" Repeated Magikarp over and over, splashing about. "Did it!" He proudly swam, not once turning upside down as if he was dead. "Food? Food? Food--?" He was cut off very quickly. As much as he was amused to see him, Magikarp very quickly got irritating if allowed to speak too much.

"Okay, food. You want some? Then wait until we arrive at the, err, food place." Surprise riveted Pika-Red, who hadn't slipped in his method of talking for a while. Thinking and reflecting so much must have caused his differences to pop up again, though not to the degree of before. It was kind of a relief… It meant it wasn't permanent… Yet.

"Say Butterfree? Why don't you and Magikarp discuss the kind of foods you'd like to eat?" He stated it in such a manner hinting at disembowelment if someone didn't manage to entertain the fish for a while, but it was marred by a genuinely friendly side that meant it as optional. It was weird, because his tone of voice would change every few words.

Butterfree had a little difficulty hearing him as she was soaring above, but she lowered herself down slightly on seeing Magikarp. "Say, Satoshi and Pikachu, you guys sound a little weird again. Are you okay?" Her round, faceted red eyes stared at him, and he couldn't help but imagine a flicker of concern there.

"Splash! Hungry? Food?" Magikarp interrupted, mostly ignored.

"Fine." Satoshi had always been embarrassed by motherly actions, and his ears blushed, though Pikachu probably could have cared less, more agitated by the fact she noticed something when he held such a low opinion of her and hadn't thought she'd comment. For a moment, he could tell distinctly what thoughts and actions came from where, before it blurred slightly again. It was hard to tell, sometimes.

"Splash splash?"

Butterfree and Magikarp talked. By midday they had arrived in Cerulean once more. It wasn't just luck. Magikarp couldn't have found them if his stream hadn't led to somewhere close by the city. In order to keep company with Magikarp they had to take to the edges of the town, the long-way around, but it was no problem, it gave them time to get to know each other better. Satoshi had known truthfully next to nothing about his companions, not evening knowing before what sort of comments they made. But Pikachu, beyond that, had never bothered to ask them about themselves much.

It was hard to get details from Magikarp, with his small vocabulary. He had lived with other 'splashes', whatever that meant, and food, food, food. Never hungry. Splashes were 'gone' and then 'there', and then all splashes were 'gone' and not 'go there' again, and then he was hungry, very hungry. Then 'Sabobshy' and 'Bibaphu' made him 'no hungry'.

Butterfree had probably the most boring, but much easier to understand, story. She described hatching, and eating the remains of her egg case along with tugging with hundreds of her other siblings in a mad frenzy to eat the immediate surrounding food around them. She described them eating it all in one day and predators having a mad feast on her sibling's stuffed and unable to wiggle bodies, and naïve individuals who simply didn't understand what predators did at first. Somehow, by sheer luck, she wiggled off in search of more food and avoided their fates, remembering two simple rules. Avoid being eaten, and eat but not too much. As caterpie went, she was fairly intelligent, she told them, as many of the others who survived by luck and not wits proceeded to be eaten not long after they dispersed.

Time passed, and she grew in size, coming to recognize the different predators slightly and gaining a slight ability to attack back, though it was poor, and starting to pick up on some basic language skills by arguing occasionally with Weedle over food and alerting them to predators. Her life at that point had been so short that she had seen and heard of humans few times, mistaking them for predators for she didn't know how else to describe them, and, upon meeting Satoshi and finding out he wasn't going to eat her, she had merely decided to follow him around because she had been getting really full at the time and needed a place to cocoon, plain and simple. But being a metapod did something to her mind as well as her body.

Listening and babbling back frequently in the safety of her shell, she rapidly gained a much better understanding of the world around her, gaining a vague understanding that besides eating she could battle and have 'friends', and that, from Satoshi and Pikachu, people could capture and battle her kind. The battle against Brock had been exciting, for she had never been able to do so many things before and she liked it very much, flying about and knowing she wasn't going to be eaten and that she was going to be fed later.

They crossed the familiar bridge, avoiding the five 'nugget bridge' trainers there, and finally, it was time.

It was time to change back.

- - -

"I went through the trouble of ordering a new back-up power battery and it turns out I didn't even need it!" Muttered Bill, shaking his head, actually sounding disappointed. "The storm over the power plant cleared up. I suppose you had something to do with it?"

Satoshi shrugged.

Five minutes ago, Bill had been happily reading the newspaper… More or less. The young man had been worried about the young duo, but one minute later, they'd crashed on his doorstep, tired and exhausted and bearing old scratches in several places that had already somewhat healed. Quizzing them, Bill had noted that they still spoke occasionally switching back and forth between languages.

When they told him that at some point they'd mostly stopped doing that for awhile, they were startled by the look of worry on Bill's face. Briefly, he had told them to think for a moment of what exactly a person does when they have decent control over themselves and their thoughts but still have to deal with two different viewpoints that they can't decide which one they favor the most. In general, they prod the uncertainties and come to compromises or explanations for them… And eventually discard bits and pieces that don't fit.

Quickly, without another word, he had plucked them back in to the now working machine, hoping it would work.

And, perhaps not surprisingly, it did.

Satoshi and Pikachu now stood on opposite sides of the room, both looked relieved and uncomfortable at the same time, not speaking just yet.

Bill prodded on. "So, to cap, you went there, you both utterly disappeared for a couple days, stayed disappeared even after the weather cleared up--… Why, exactly?" Curiosity showed plainly on Bill's features.

"Well," Began Pikachu. "some idiotic humans caused us some trouble after an idiotic Electrabuzz chased us around and nearly murdered us. But don't worry, nothing of importance actually happened whatsoever." Pikachu scratched his ear. "It wasn't like we staged a robbery or something, or, you know, were beaten to such a bloody pulp we couldn't make your due-date. In short, it's really all our faults, we're so lazy, really, we should be shot for being, what, a few days late?"

Bill stared, and then rubbed his eyes.

Satoshi nodded at this, but then stopped, alarmed. "Pika, pika pi pi chu!" He stated, then, realizing what he was stating, scowled. "Pachu ichapi cup uchu pap ichhhh."

Bill rubbed his eyes again. "And the sky shined from the fire burning on Moltres's bum, and we all sang praise until it piddled on us." He muttered.

Satoshi merely sighed and rubbed his head. "Pika pikachu pi-ot like it's the end of the world, I suppose." He blinked. "Hey. It wore off."

"Damn." Pikachu muttered, in his normal voice, high-pitch tones. "I was hoping to sa- Pi pika chu."

Bill sat down in relief. "No side affects, then, just temporary affects that should wear off."

Pikachu looked grumpy. Satoshi looked joyful.

"Oh, cool. Truthfully, that was really weird. I remember being Pikachu and being Sato-- I mean myself at the same time. And I remember remembering memories that weren't mine, too." He scratched his head. "I remember knowing how to do things that I don't know how to do anymore, if that makes sense. Or I remember remembering things that I can't remember anymore, because they weren't mine." He yawned. "I'm really tired, just wrapping my head around it."

"Pichuka, chu chu." Pikachu walked toward the door.

"We only got here a little bit ago but I guess it's time to go…" He paused, his eyes catching something, a headline. "Can I have that newspaper?"

The young adult glanced toward it, and reluctantly nodded, not really being able to think of an excuse why not. "Why do you want it?"

Pikachu opened the door, and Satoshi walked out, holding it open, grinning.

"I guess you could say I want to read about our new infamous reputation."

The door closed.

Satoshi immediately frowned, and looked down at the paper declaring the return of the bandit who had struck Pewter, his mind not really on it. Pikachu looked at it in interest, and he read it aloud, watching the pokemon as he did so, paying more attention to Pikachu then he did what he was reading.

Pikachu… You had kids?

You were… a…

A father?

--/End


Credits roll. Pokemon belongs to the Pokemon Company.

(A/N:

Don't worry about me updating. I'm rather sporadic but I have a lot written.)

 

[pokeball55]

I noticed that you had more chapters on your fanfiction page. Until it was removed. Are you still continuing this story? Even if you're not, can you post those final chapters? It's a great story.

 

[Astinus]

I personally noticed that Satoshi_Red has not been on the forums in almost a year.

I also noticed that you bumped this thread, which is a big no-no (*rimshot*) on PC.

Thread closed.