[Pokémon] The Trial of Juno Saga (PG-13)

[Neo Pikachu]

Originally started on PokémonElite2000 back in October 2003, The Trial of Juno has been an ongoing saga of climatic Pokémon fan fictions featuring a Pikachu by the name of Juno. This saga is about how Juno, born from dreams, takes part in a series of wars that escalate to the point of involving not only the world of humans, but also two worlds of Pokémon named Kivistal and Egatept, along with the Pokémon afterlife realms of Utopia (Pokémon version of Heaven) and the Abyss (Pokémon version of Hell). Along the way, Juno encounters many faithful allies and many wicked enemies, all in his hopes to pave the way to a brighter future despite the horrors he must embrace.

As a heads up warning, Trial of Juno has a PG-13 rating for violence, blood and gore, and strong language.

There have been a few spin-off fan fictions of The Trial of Juno on PokémonElite2000 by fans of the saga, as well as several role plays based on the storyline. Needless to say, the saga has been well-received and appreciated at PE2K, and I hope it will have the same success here.

So please, sit back and enjoy the story. The journey goes deep…

Chapter Directory​

THE TRIAL OF JUNO I: THE DAWN OF HOPE

PART I – THE GRAY BATTLEGROUNDS
Chapter 1: Enemy of the School
Chapter 2: Out of Nowhere
Chapter 3: The Unexpected Challenge
Chapter 4: The Scare
Chapter 5: Foreign Encounters
Chapter 6: Grim Reunion
Chapter 7: Against Odds
Chapter 8: Turning Back
Chapter 9: The Separation
Chapter 10: The New Dawn
Chapter 11: The Alter Ego
Chapter 12: The Arrival
Chapter 13: A Sickening Turn
Chapter 14: Into the Breech
Chapter 15: Restless

PART II – THE TWISTED FIELDS
Chapter 16: Odd Reoccurance
Chapter 17: The Meeting
Chapter 18: The Only Solution
Chapter 19: The Midnight Struggle
Chapter 20: The Hostile Conflict
Chapter 21: Crossing the Threshold
Chapter 22: The City of Symarix
Chapter 23: The Last Prison
Chapter 24: Boot Camp
Chapter 25: The Last Call
Chapter 26: A Whisper in the Dark
Chapter 27: Cold Underground
Chapter 28: Eyes of the Enemy
Chapter 29: Loss of Security
Chapter 30: The Jade Sword
Chapter 31: Time Crisis
Chapter 32: The Passage Home
Chapter 33: Allies and Enemies

PART III – THE BLAZING SKIES
Chapter 34: The Binding
Chapter 35: Breaking the Threshold
Chapter 36: Tattered Trust
Chapter 37: Reconstruction
Chapter 38: Unexpected
Chapter 39: A Call to Arms
Chapter 40: Defiant Stand
Chapter 41: The Longest Walk
Chapter 42: No Answer
Chapter 43: Beyond the Shadow of the Nightmare
Chapter 44: The Unknown Blessing
Chapter 45: A Change in Direction
Chapter 46: The Clairvoyance
Chapter 47: The Journey's End

THE TRIAL OF JUNO II: THE SECOND PROMISE

PART I – THE LAST REQUIEM
Prologue
Chapter 1: The Lost Message
Chapter 2: The Passing
Chapter 3: The New Homecoming
Chapter 4: The Second Departure
Chapter 5: Dark Surroundings
Chapter 6: Harsh Misery
Chapter 7: The Flight of Shame
Chapter 8: A Voice From the Outside
Chapter 9: The Unexpected Act
Chapter 10: Inner City Pursuit
Chapter 11: The Gray Hour
Chapter 12: A Solemn Path
Chapter 13: The Bleeding Shadows

PART II – THE SHADOW THAT WALKS
Chapter 14: The Call of the Night
Chapter 15: The Search in the Depths
Chapter 16: The Path Revealed
Chapter 17: Shadows of Memory
Chapter 18: Diving Underground
Chapter 19: The Bleeding Depths
Chapter 20: The City of Shattered Souls
Chapter 21: Under the Veil

PART III – THE BLADE OF RETRIBUTION

THE TRIAL OF JUNO III: THE CRY OF EGATEPT

PART I – THE HOLOCAUST OF THE DAMNED

PART II – DARK ALLIES, DARKER ENEMIES

PART III – THE RADIANT DAWNBRINGER

THE TRIAL OF JUNO IV: WHISPERS OF THE FORGOTTEN ANGELS

PART I – MECHANICAL CONTINGENCY

PART II – EVICERATED FAITH

PART III – HOPE'S LAST RESOLVE

 

[Neo Pikachu]

PART I – THE GRAY BATTLEGROUNDS

Chapter 1
Enemy of the School​

Randy was a loser. Not just any ordinary loser, but Randy must have been the king of losers. Plus he was the only reason why I found interest at school. Whenever I got angry or frustrated, all I had to do was find Randy Ferguson and release my stress upon him. It always made my day.

And Randy's Pokémon were also losers, and they'd always be that way since they always got beat up badly every time he battled. I must have made Randy's Pidgey and Nidoran kiss dirt at least twenty times, but I've lost track of how many times I've really beaten him. Randy also had a Growlithe and a Caterpie, and I've knocked their lights out plenty of times. Obviously, Randy was too stupid to know how to really battle.

Alex and David, two of my best friends also hated Randy's guts. While I liked to slowly torture Randy's Pokémon in a battle, Alex wiped out Randy's Pokémon so fast it was hilarious. David on the other hand liked to just outright pound the stuffing out of Randy's Pokémon with his Rhydon and his Tyranitar until there was barely anything left to identify them. Randy said he's been a trainer for nearly two years. To me, he was practically on the same level as a beginner who only just started yesterday. If that's not pathetic, then I don't know what is.

We only got caught once picking on Randy, and it was in the hallway between classes. But all the other times, Randy pointed blame at us but just had nothing to prove it. One day, Alex put a stink-bomb in Randy's desk while he was away, and when Randy came back and threw his books in, he broke the glass and the whole classroom smelled like something died in there for the entire day. Of course, we only did it once, just like everything else we did to him. Otherwise he'd begin to catch on, and honestly, I preferred being original.

Another amusement came from my birthday. Normally, whenever someone's birthday comes up, their mom makes cupcakes for everyone in the class. My mom did the same thing, and I sprinkled them all sorts of colors, red, yellow, blue, and purple. Each cupcake was its own color, but for Randy, I sprinkled his green to indicate to me which one I would hand to him. After I made sure mom wasn't looking, I slipped a laxative tablet into the green-sprinkled cupcake. When I handed it to Randy the next day, he ate it so fast and it was a struggle not to burst out laughing. After a hilarious series of events, Randy's new nickname was "potty-pants" for the rest of the school year. Still, he didn't have an ounce of proof that I had anything to do with it. Again, it was pure genius.

Since my allowance was small, I needed to rely on Randy's lunch money as a considerable income. I never felt guilty about taking it either. Heck, I figured that if Randy had the school lunch everyday, he'd become just as fat as Frank Meyers, who we'd always call "shirt-burster" on a regular basis. I was doing Randy a favor by making sure he wouldn't eat such crappy food that day. I then considered that his lunch money was income for my services. It wasn't much, but a dollar a day ended up being thirty bucks a month. Then count that all up for each day of the school year… hell, I was making out well.

We got a big surprise May 14th. Well, it wasn't during school like most of our pranks took place, it was after. And it didn't start with Randy this time…

Alex, David and I had been walking down the stairs out of the back entrance of Scottville Middle School and then we saw it. There he was, Frank Meyers lying down in the mud. His short, blonde hair and his pudgy face were soiled with liquid dirt and his shirt (or what was left of it!) was completely soaked with mud. We didn't even need to do anything to begin laughing hysterically.

"Hey Frank!" David shouted out over a hard laugh, "What happened to ya!?"

"Chill man." I told David, "The pig just wanted to cool himself down."

Frank was in a cross between crying and becoming furious. We laughed even further. Someone who's in the seventh grade really should've learned to stop crying like an infant long ago.

Alex then made the situation more hilarious. He found the backpack that Frank had dropped and opened it up. Alex then threw out Frank's folders and his books and each of them landed in the mud, effectively soaking the pages full of sludge. Frank was getting even worse. Then I saw something that made me laugh even further. Frank had Pokéballs in his backpack that also landed in the mud after Alex threw them out. I really just couldn't picture a fat, worthless piece of flesh like Frank being a worthwhile Pokémon trainer…

Then, as if it couldn't even get better, out of nowhere came Randy Ferguson. He was standing before us like he was all high and mighty, with his frizzy orange hair blowing in the wind. He was wearing a t-shirt and jeans in a hopeless attempt to fit in with everyone else at the school. Alex had dumped everything that was in Frank's backpack before turning around and seeing our special victim.

"Well, if it isn't potty-pants himself in living color." Alex smiled at Randy, giving him that special glare, "If you're looking for the bathroom, it's inside, stupid."

"The three of you are going to pay for picking on Frank." Randy told us, trying to sound tough and totally ignoring Alex's comment.

The three of us laughed even further. Here was Randy, acting like a big hero for shirt-burster. That idiot had no clue what he was getting into.

"Randy," David told him honestly, "Even you should be aware that Frank isn't worth the dirt he's laying in."

"You're wrong!" Randy wailed, again trying to play the hero here, "And I'll prove it to you."

Then, Randy reached for his belt and pulled out one of his Pokéballs. I could see where this was going…

Did that idiot really expect to win a battle against us? I couldn't believe it. All this time, Frank seemed to become more hopeful now that Randy was here to defend him. Frank was just about to learn that his guardian angel wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed.

"Go Nidoran!" Randy shouted, tossing his Pokéball forward.

The Pokéball landed on the asphalt of the parking lot, and a moment later, Randy's worthless Nidoran emerged from its Pokéball. The three of us looked at each other to decide how we wanted to beat the stuffing out of Randy's Pokémon. It was then decided that I should be the one to do it. To us, time plus torture equaled amusement.

I then removed one of my own Pokéballs and threw it on to the asphalt as well. Out came my fantastic Raichu. After Raichu set his gaze upon his opponent, he realized it was the same worthless Nidoran he had crushed so many times before. Even Raichu looked like he was tried of Randy's brainless attempts to beat us.

"Raichu!" I shouted, "Use your Thunder Wave against Nidoran!"

It was getting to the point where Raichu didn't even need commands to kick the stuffing out of Nidoran. It had become so systematic that Raichu could fight almost completely on his own like this had been something he had been trained to do.

Raichu then sent out his Thunder Wave, and when the bright pulses of electricity hit Randy's Nidoran, he was rendered helpless, completely paralyzed from the shock. All that Nidoran could do now was quiver on his back as sparks of electricity surrounded his body.

"Slam that Nidoran with a Brick-break attack, Raichu." I told him, knowing this would finish the job with no problem at all.

Raichu then charged at Randy's Nidoran, and all Nidoran could do was just watch as Raichu rushed up to punish it. When Raichu reached his target, he threw a bone-cracking punch right into his side, sending Nidoran tumbling out of control. Alex and David were laughing again as Randy was losing like he always was.

"Nidoran, return." Randy moaned in frustration as a red beam shot out from his Pokéball and landed on Nidoran. The pathetic Pokémon was then returned to Randy's Pokéball.

He then threw out a second Pokéball, and it also landed on the parking lot. Then, out came Randy's Pidgey. Randy didn't even need to lose yet and we already began laughing.

"Randy," David told him, trying to fight the hard laughter for a moment, "Don't you know anything about type-alignments? Flying types don't do very well against electric types like Raichu…"

"I don't care." Randy responded, "My Pidgey is faster than Jake's Raichu."

You wish. Raichu's signature attribute was his speed, and it was ten times faster than Pidgey's. This time I showed no mercy.

"Raichu, use your Thunderbolt." I smiled to Raichu, knowing it would be more than enough to send Randy's little Pidgey screaming into the oblivion.

And to help Raichu even further, Pidgey took flight. Raichu's cheeks flared up with electricity and just as Pidgey realized what was happening, a massive fork of lightning emerged from the shining Raichu and struck Pidgey dead-on, blasting him with a bright flash. Pidgey was thoroughly cooked for ten seconds before Raichu released his power, and let the hopeless Pidgey fall from the sky just before the nice, hard and firm asphalt broke his fall. The only smart move Randy made after that was giving up.

"Fine Jake." Randy said with frustration, "I give up. But some day, I'll become so strong that the three of you combined won't even beat me!"

"Randy…" Alex said, nearly laughing, "In your dreams. There's no way you'll ever become strong enough to beat us. You can try all you like, but you'll never do it."

That normally would have been a very typical day that the three of us tortured Randy. But something else happened that day that we won't long forget about…

 

[Neo Pikachu]

Chapter 2
Out of Nowhere​

Out from behind the hill came none other that Jeff Huntington. I barely knew who he was, other than the fact he was a sports jock. He seemed to have been watching the whole thing from the distance. He looked like he was just about to go to a lacrosse practice, until he decided to hang around here instead.

"The three of you have some nerve." Jeff told us, giving us an annoyed glare, "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

"Jeff," Alex said to him, "Why don't you mind your own business? If you hung around Randy for even just five minutes, you'd realize just how worthless he really is."

"If you want a challenge, then try fighting me!" Jeff shouted to the three of us, "I'll make this a two on two battle. If I beat you, then you have to promise to leave Randy alone."

"But if we win…?" David asked Jeff, expecting a response.

"Then you won't hear from me again, understand?" Jeff told David, feeling confident that wouldn't happen.

Some bargain. The only reward we would be getting out of beating Jeff's Pokémon is Jeff's humiliation, which usually came free with every successful battle. But, even if we did lose, we had no intention of backing down.

"Jake," Alex said to me, looking at me from the corner of his eye, "Let me take care of this idiot."

"Sure thing." I said to him, returning my Raichu to his Pokéball.

Alex was quick as lightning when it came to beating Randy's Pokémon up. Fighting Jeff was going to be even more interesting. Jeff had pulled out two of his Pokéballs and threw them forward.

"Go, Ampharos and Espeon!" Jeff shouted as he threw forward the two Pokéballs.

And, just like Jeff said, out of their Pokéballs came an Ampharos and an Espeon. For once, we were going to see what a real battle looked like rather than the shameful excuses that Randy kept handing to us. And at that moment, Jeff was just about to see what his adversary was capable of.

"Go, Houndoom and Mightyena!" Alex shouted as he let loose two of his Pokéballs.

Obviously, Alex had picked his nastiest Pokémon for the job. I couldn't wait to see Jeff get wasted.

"Ampharos, use your Thunder Wave attack on Mightyena!" Jeff commanded, "Espeon, use your Light Screen."

Clever boy. Unlike Randy, he actually had a strategy going. But Alex wasn't through yet.

Ampharos let loose a pulsing Thunder Wave that unfortunately Mightyena had no way of avoiding. Meanwhile, Espeon coated himself with a shield of light. That wasn't about to stop Alex's Pokémon.

"Houndoom, use your Crunch attack on Espeon!" Alex commanded, "Mightyena, use your Howl!"

For now, it looked like Mightyena could fight off the paralyzing effects of Ampharos's attack. He had let loose a loud howl, filling his body with ripe energy and anger. Now he looked ready to dish out some serious pain.

In the meantime, Houndoom charged right after Espeon, and rendered his sharp teeth to bite down on Espeon. After a harsh bite down from Houndoom, Espeon was knocked back, trying to stay on his feet. His light screen fended off some of the damage, but not all. Alex needed to find a way to get past that Light Screen, and soon…

While Espeon wasn't looking too great from the Crunch attack, Mightyena looked like the Thunder Wave was starting to get to him, and he found it hard to even move. Alex had to give Mightyena a moment to recover. Meanwhile, he was making sure he was getting the maximum he could out of his type advantage over Espeon.

Jeff commanded his Ampharos to attack Mightyena with a Thunder attack. I was crossing my fingers hoping it wouldn't hit, but Jeff got lucky this time. Mightyena was barraged with another harsh amount of electricity that slammed right on him like a sledgehammer. Still, he wasn't down and out yet…

Meanwhile, Jeff ordered Espeon to use his Morning Sun. To our dismay, Espeon was coated with light for a brief second, and every bit of pain Houndoom had dealt to Espeon had been recovered. But Alex knew that Espeon wasn't too much of a threat because both Houndoom and Mightyena were dark types. While Mightyena needed a brief moment to recover, Alex decided on a new target for Houndoom.

"Houndoom, use your Flamethrower on Ampharos!" Alex shouted.

Houndoom put his front paws forward, arched back his head and then let loose a red-hot stream of flames upon the unsuspecting Ampharos. Jeff's Ampharos twitched painfully as he was slowly barbecued. Then, to our surprise, when the flames cleared, Ampharos had been inflicted with a harsh burn on his side.

Then, Jeff commanded his Ampharos to also put a Light Screen shield on himself. Ampharos was also coated by the shield, which was going to make things harder for Alex. But, he still had a plan. For now, Mightyena was back in action.

"Mightyena, use your Headbutt attack on Ampharos." Alex commanded.

Mightyena then charged toward Ampharos, thirsty for revenge. Mightyena then put his head down, and then slammed forcefully into Ampharos, completely ignoring the effects of the Light Screen shield. Ampharos was knocked into a back flip before landing face first on the hard asphalt. Too bad for Jeff, because at that moment, Ampharos didn't look like it could handle any more.

"Ampharos, return." Jeff commanded as he summoned Ampharos back to his Pokéball.

Taking down Espeon was Alex's next objective. Mightyena needed another moment to rest, so Houndoom was up for the fight. Still, Jeff's Espeon was going to get the first strike.

"Espeon, use your Quick Attack!" Jeff shouted to Espeon.

Espeon then burst into a blur, and slammed right into Houndoom in a flash of fury. However, it was more of a surprise than a really painful attack. Houndoom growled off the pain, and then focused on his target.

"Headbutt attack." Alex commanded, knowing that too would cut right through the Light Screen.

Houndoom lowered his head, and then charged right into Espeon, again ignoring the effects of the Light Screen. Espeon was hit hard, having very little protection against it. And best of all, Espeon flinched from the attack, hopelessly trying to shield himself with his front paws while wincing from the fury of the attack. And now, Alex was more than ready to attack again while Espeon was in a hopeless trance of trying to fight off the terror.

"One more time, Houndoom." Alex said with a smile on his face.

Espeon was slammed again, and after rolling over a few times and laying still on his side, he didn't get back up. Jeff had been defeated, and he looked far more miserable as he returned Espeon to his Pokéball. After that, Alex returned Houndoom and Mightyena to their respective Pokéballs.

"As long as you bother Frank and Randy every day, you'll have to deal with me." Jeff warned, "Mark my words."

"I thought you said you'd stay out of our way if you lost!" David shouted back, annoyed that even puny little Jeff Huntington couldn't even keep his own deal, "And right now, Alex just beat the pants off of your pathetic Pokémon!"

"Well," Jeff remarked, crossing his arms, "I changed my mind, just like you three would have done if you lost!"

I was getting sick of this. Why on earth would Jeff want to defend Randy so much anyway? No one seemed to really care except him. Even the many people that were walking around didn't seem to care at all.

"Fine, Jeff." I told him, staring right back at him in the face, "If you really want to lose to us each and every day of the school year, you can go ahead and be my guest."

"It won't be that way for long." Jeff warned us, "The three of you bullies are going down, and very soon."

Pathetic moron. He had no idea what he was dealing with. And to even further our amusement, Jeff, Randy, and worthless shirt-burster became friends after that. If that doesn't make you laugh, I don't know what will…

While we never really bothered Frank and Jeff as much as we did Randy, everything had changed that next day. Worthless Frank and Jeff were going to suffer just as much as Randy was. And my patience was ending. Why the heck did Jeff come from nowhere and fight us? I just didn't understand it.

Now that those three clowns were watching each other's back, it was going to be harder for us to get them one by one. But, all it took was just twenty-four hours and Randy would make the biggest mistake in his life. I just couldn't believe it until it actually happened.

Right after school, Alex, David and I headed out the back like we usually do, and there they were, Frank, Randy and Jeff just waiting for us. Randy was looking incredibly confident of himself, as if he was packing a pistol and ready to just gun down the three of us.

"Well, if it isn't the three losers." Frank giggled like a hog, thinking he had already won.

"Losers?" I asked in some surprise, "Guess what you stupid idiot!? It was Randy and Jeff that lost yesterday, so why don't you just shut your worthless trap!?"

Jeff seemed to grow more impatient. He looked at the three of us, especially Alex, and seemed to wear a very dark expression.

"Randy is going to become more powerful than any other trainer." Jeff told us with some kind of idiotic smile, "In a matter of moments, he will become more powerful than you can ever imagine…"

We started laughing hysterically. Obviously Jeff had been hanging around Randy's brain cell killing aura for just too long. If Randy really wanted to lose again, I would gladly make his wish come true, but there was no way Randy could become better than us in just a matter of seconds.

Then, out of the blue, Randy pulled out of his pocket what appeared to be a blue and black beaded necklace with a large, red crystal as its pendant. He held it with confidence like it was a detonator to blow up the whole planet.

"Ah, so Randy's into jewelry." David snickered, "Big deal. How is some ordinary piece of junk like that going to help Randy become a better Pokémon trainer?"

"This is no ordinary piece of jewelry, David Miller." Jeff told him, "This is a necklace that was worn by Quista, an ancient and powerful sorcerer who imbued it with many powers."

"Say what!?" Alex asked in surprise, "What the heck are you talking about?"

It was really sad to see Jeff go this far into threatening us. To me, that necklace looked like a fake. Plus I didn't believe in magic powers or whatever. Jeff and Randy couldn't win at Pokémon to save their lives, and this was their way of trying to bluff us out. What a joke.

"Jeff," I told him, "Get a life. You don't really expect us to believe that, do you? Just where did Randy even get that piece of garbage?"

"I gave it to him." Jeff told us, "My father is an archeologist, and he found this in an Kavaskian tomb three years ago. He was supposed to sell it to a museum, but he decided not to. You're not going to believe what kind of power it has."

"You're right, Jeff." I remarked, "I don't believe whatever you're saying whatsoever."

At that moment, Randy took the necklace, and strung it around his neck. He then held the red jewel in his hand while the necklace was around his neck. At that moment, the red jewel began to pulse with light.

"That's some neat trick you got there." Alex said sarcastically, "Now why don't you three lost boys just get the hell out of our way?"

Suddenly, we were instantly blinded by a harsh, ruby light. I shut my eyes tight, thinking the whole thing must have been some stupid electronic device or something like that. Then, with my eyes shut, I felt a harsh wind blow around us, whipping the cloth of my t-shirt and jeans like I was standing in the middle of a windstorm. I then knew that necklace wasn't some electronic toy like I thought it was…

 

[Neo Pikachu]

Chapter 3
The Unexpected Challenge​

After a sick feeling of what seemed to be falling, we landed in what seemed to be a dark forest. I thought that little creep might have caused me to break something, but for his own sake, I was fine. First thing I noticed upon getting off my butt was the sky. It was a freakish mix of light and dark gray clouds, and the trees were all dead and twisted. When I looked around, Jeff, Frank and Randy were completely gone, just like that. Alex and David got up off the ground and looked around.

Maybe Jeff was right. Maybe Randy felt he could become a better Pokémon trainer by running away from us. I would have laughed at that thought, but reality told me I still had absolutely no idea where we were, and that certainly wasn't anything to laugh about.

"What the hell is this place?" David asked, looking around and not recognizing anything.

I took a closer look around, and it seemed somewhat familiar, but not completely. I then guessed it was most likely the same place. I was willing to chance it.

"It looks somewhat like the Hollow." I told the two of them, "It's only about three miles away from the school."

"Think again." Alex told me, looking up at the sky "Then why does it look like it's about to rain?"

Alex was right. It didn't completely look like the Hollow, and the sunny weather we were experiencing just three seconds seemed to have quickly vanished for some weird reason.

"Look," I told Alex and David, knowing hanging around here was a waste of our time, "Let's just try to get the hell out of here. Even if we're all the way in Celadon or something, there has to be some way of getting back."

"How would Randy's stupid Egyptian necklace bring us all the way to Celadon?" David asked realistically, "We could be anywhere right now."

"Just forget about it, David." Alex told him, putting it past him, "Let's just try to find some way out of here. Screw the details."

We then began walking through that dark forest for some time, and the more I looked at it, the more reality kept telling me this sure wasn't the Hallow like I thought it was. I was sure we had walked at least two miles and nothing had changed. After nearly an hour of walking, the weird and twisted forest had suddenly ended and we came across a large valley along with a cabin down a long beaten path snaking its way through the valley. We decided to check out the cabin and hopefully get some directions back to Scottville Middle School, or at least back to our home town of Viridian. Right now, I was guessing we were someplace out east, but my guess was with a whole lot of doubt…

When we arrived at the cabin, we saw there wasn't a single window. It was made of wooden logs and only had one door. We just shrugged it off and opened the door. It was pitch black inside, and just as the three of us entered, the door slammed closed completely by itself, and suddenly, the room was filled with light. Out of shock, I quickly looked around and saw the room was completely empty. And oddly enough, I found no reasonable light source anywhere. I then quickly turned around and tried to open the door but it was stuck. We then heard what seemed to be a female giggling, and already I was cursing under my breath.

"If you think it's going to be that easy, you'd better think again…"

"What the hell!?" David shouted, looking around.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, we saw a cloud of pink dust appear in the corner of the room. After some time, the dust began to form into a smiling fairy with a bright pink dress. When we saw that, we realized we were likely no where even close to Viridian City. This had to be Hell.

"Just who the hell are you!?" David asked the fairy, wondering if it was even real for sanity's sake.

"My name is Caska." She replied smiling and staring right at David, "And I know who you three are. You're none other than David Miller, Jake Kossak, and Alex Davidson. You are the three villains who oppose the king!"

"What?" I asked in surprise, "Who the hell is this king you're talking about!?"

"Randy Ferguson." She told us in one quick statement.

We immediately burst out laughing. There was no freaking way on earth Randy would ever be respected by anyone besides some idiot like Jeff or Frank. Nothing was making sense. King? Someone should have been laying off the sauce…

"Randy created this world out of his desperateness." Caska told us, losing that weird smile of her's, "This is his world, created by everything he loves and hates, and from his happiness and his anger. He is the supreme ruler here, and the three of you are his worst enemies."

"You have got to be kidding me." Alex snickered, "We're living in Randy's mind? If that's the case, then we're all about to become brain-dead really soon."

"He created you?" I asked Caska, nearly laughing, "Since when was Randy into fairies and fantasy tales?"

She seemed somewhat insulted by that comment. I was glad at that moment, since if my sanity was really failing me and she was really telling the truth, then everything I would come across had to be considered a threat. Still, as weird as everything seemed right now, I refused to believe any of this rot.

"I represent a part of Randy's childhood." She told us, glaring at the three of us, "One of the happier moments of his life. And right now, the two of us are enemies. There is only one way to settle this."

"You want to fight me?" David asked, turning his hands into fists, "Let's go."

"No, Miller," she said to David, growing in confidence, "I want to battle your Pokémon."

"Even better." David challenged.

I couldn't wait to see David lay waste to a happy moment in Randy's childhood, if that's what it even was. Still, the thought of we defeating her and then Randy feeling even more miserable in ways that we would never dream possible was just too damn good to ignore. David had this match in the bag.

"We'll both use two Pokémon." Caska told him in a firm tone, "If you win, then you get to make Randy feel even worse and more depressed, which I know is what you want the most."

"You'd better believe it." David said with a confident grin.

"But if you lose…" Caska replied, giving him that dark evil fairy stare again, "Then you'll be the one feeling the depression and humiliation."

Whatever. As far as I knew, there was nothing that could stop David or make him feel depressed. Caska then pulled out a pink and white Pokéball, and threw it towards the center of the cabin. I had no idea what a fairy would use as a Pokémon, but then it became quite clear.

"Go Blissey!" Caska shouted just before her Pokéball hit the floor.

And out of her Pokéball emerged a Blissey, and the three of us slightly cringed just staring at it. We couldn't stand such a moronic and cutesy looking Pokémon.

"Go Tyranitar!" David shouted as he threw his Pokéball, ready to release raw carnage.

And just a second later after the Pokéball struck the cabin floor, out came David's beastly and nasty Tyranitar with a tremendous roar. He looked ready to crush Caska's worthless Blissey into a pulp.

"Blissey, use your Minimize!" Caska commanded, beginning that annoying smiling spree again.

Blissey suddenly then began to decrease in size, making it harder for Tyranitar to even hit it. However, David certainly wasn't going to give up that early.

"Tyranitar, Earthquake attack." David said coldly, ready to terrorize the smaller Blissey.

Tyranitar gladly accepted, and slammed his heavy foot into the floor which sent a violent tremor through the ground that shook the entire cabin. However, it completely missed Caska's Blissey. There was nothing to explain it but just a case of really crappy luck.

"Minimize again!" Caska shouted, making things even worse.

"This is getting cheap." David growled, truly despising this type of strategy.

Blissey grew even smaller, still wearing that stupid smile of hers. Our expressions began to grow grim as this just kept getting worse and worse.

"Rock Slide!" David commanded Tyranitar.

But that missed as well, instead making Tyranitar's summoned rocks tear a hole in the cabin to reveal the outside. David was becoming quickly frustrated. Again, Caska told Blissey to Minimize again and again, and David missed each and every time. But then, it got even worse was Blissey was nearly smaller than a Caterpie...

"Use your Sing attack Blissey!" Caska shouted with glee.

Blissey then began to sing peacefully, and Tyranitar was beginning to lose it. After stumbling around to try and stay awake, Tyranitar crashed to the ground fast asleep, again making us lose even more hope.

"Blissey, use your Metronome." Caska commanded, happy that she had one hell of an advantage.

Blissey then seemed to dance for a short while, and then all of a sudden, it lunged toward the sleeping Tyranitar, and performed a wicked Cross-chop attack, the worst attack that Tyranitar could've been hit by. Tyranitar took a serious beating in an extremely short amount of time. Then, to David's dismay, he realized Tyranitar was no longer asleep. He had fainted…

"What!?" David protested, "What the hell are the chances of that!?"

"Bring out your next Pokémon, Miller." Caska told David in a cold voice.

For once, I was somewhat glad not to be in David's shoes. I seriously didn't like where this was going. David returned Tyranitar to his respective Pokéball, and chose his next best Pokémon.

"Go Rhydon!" David shouted, getting angry this time, "Make mincemeat of that Blissey!"

Rhydon had emerged, ready for onslaught. We were crossing our fingers in hope that Rhydon would be able to handle an already grim looking situation.

"Rhydon, Stomp attack!" David shouted.

Genius. Rhydon squashed the already shrunken Blissey like a bug with his hard, rock foot. Blissey took a beating, but she wasn't out yet.

"Sing attack." Caska commanded.

Again, Blissey sang a peaceful song and Rhydon stumbled around just like Tyranitar, and he hit the ground fast asleep. David wasn't looking too pleased at that moment.

"Metronome, Blissey." Caska said coldly to her Blissey.

Blissey danced for a moment, and then we watched in horror as Blissey coated herself with a Reflect shield, which was going to be a pain to get past for Rhydon. Fortunately, Rhydon got up from his slumber quickly, but he was going to have a lot to deal with…

 

[Giratina ♀]

Well.
I don't think I need to sing any more praises for this fic - I've already done that back on PE2K - but I should note that while this fanfic has aged gracefully for the most part, it would be a good idea to go over every chapter to do a quick grammar check. Doing that, you could clear up some funny wording and pass by such common grammar pitfalls as these:

"No, Miller," she said to David, growing in confidence. "I want to battle your Pokémon."

"Fine, Jeff."

and so on and so forth. Small things, yes, but they're very noticeable.

 

[Neo Pikachu]

Well.
I don't think I need to sing any more praises for this fic - I've already done that back on PE2K - but I should note that while this fanfic has aged gracefully for the most part, it would be a good idea to go over every chapter to do a quick grammar check. Doing that, you could clear up some funny wording and pass by such common grammar pitfalls as these:

Yeah, I'll do that. I've gotten much better since the days I started this off, but you're right about giving it a little modern day skill treatment.

But thanks for all your support, I appreciate it.

 

[Neo Pikachu]

Chapter 4
The Scare​

Rhydon was going to have to take down Blissey, and now. Only then would it have at least some chance of defeating Caska's next annoying Pokémon. Still, I couldn't help but think this was going to go to hell real fast.

"Stomp attack, Rhydon." David declared with a sick feeling in his throat.

Normally, that attack would have punished Blissey like last time, but the Reflect shield fended off most of the damage. Then, things went into a sickening turn.

"Softboiled Attack, Blissey." Caska commanded.

Blissey then surrounded herself with three glowing eggs that had suddenly become a pulse of white energy. Suddenly, Blissey has absorbed the energy, and began to recover a large portion of her health, with David looking like he was ready to vomit. Caska's Blissey had nearly become invincible…

"Focus Energy, Rhydon." David said nervously.

That was the best move David could have decided on. Rhydon was steaming with fury and rage, ready to tear Blissey to ribbons. He had this one chance to stop Blissey, and he had to get it just right.

"Metronome, Blissey." Caska told her Blissey.

Blissey began to dance again, and suddenly, a tremendous jet of water had fired from Blissey's mouth and slammed into Rhydon, dealing a terrible amount of damage as the massive hulking Pokémon was blown back. Rhydon fell to the floor, completely worn out in ways that shouldn't have been possible. When Rhydon refused to budge off the floor, we couldn't believe it. David had just lost to a worthless little Blissey…

"Damn it…" David gasped, "I don't believe it!"

Caska then began clapping sarcastically for David's miserable performance. Right at that moment, I had no idea what Caska was about to do to David next, and I really didn't want to know.

"Ready to receive your punishment for losing, Miller?" Caska asked sweetly, looking like she was already enjoying David's misery.

"You cheat!" David shouted, "How the hell could you get so lucky with Metronome!?"

"That's just the way things go, Miller." Caska smiled to David, "Now its time for you to feel some misery, justice for what you've done to King Randy."

"You better not, you stupid...!" David shouted, but never finished.

At that sick moment, Caska had looked toward the shouting David, and she snapped her fingers. She became a cloud of pink dust, and seemed to have disappeared, leaving David wondering what just happened. We were hoping by some miraculous chance that she just left us alone, but then, Alex and I looked at David, and David had swallowed hard.

Alex and I watched in freakish horror as David slowly began to change into a shiny and ridiculous-looking fairy just like Caska. His blue jeans suddenly became a sparking bright pink dress, and two fairy wings had emerged right out his back. It was a pretty sick thing to do to a guy in the seventh grade.

"What the hell is this!?" David said as he looked at himself, softly fluttering his wings, "What did she just do to me!?"

We couldn't help but turn away at that moment. David tried to yank off the dress and the wings, only they seemed to be super-glued to his body. Of course, only then did we hear the door unlock. Still, I didn't care about anything else. I just wanted to get the hell out of there. As I threw the door open, Alex and David just followed, and again we were outside…

"That does it!" David shouted as we walked out of that nightmare cabin, "If this really is Randy's world, then we can't trust a single freakin' person while we're here."

Better late than never, I suppose. Right now, if Randy could see David, he would be laughing hysterically, probably setting this whole charade up intentionally. The last thing I wanted was for the three of us to fight Randy while David ended up looking like a giant Tinkerbell. That would only make matters fifty times worse. I didn't want to see Jeff acting all high and mighty again and Frank snorting while he had his finger way up his nose. It was enough to make me go ballistic and wish I had taken a sawn-off shotgun before coming here.

"How the hell do we get out of stupid, moronic world for crying out loud!?" Alex demanded.

"We probably need to tear apart Randy, but first we need to find him." I told Alex, knowing he had to be the source of all this idiocy.

Frustrated, we just continued our way down the path, and day quickly turned to night, and everything went pitch black incredibly quickly. We had nothing to sleep on except the grass. All I could hope for was that maybe this whole thing was a dream, but it seemed far too real for that to be true. Still, I wasn't going to dwell on it. We then quickly went to sleep, hoping we would be getting out of here soon.

When morning came, we headed down the path through the valley again. Then, for some strange reason, the grass slowly turned brighter in color. And just like that, ahead of us was another forest, except this one seemed to be more of a tropical one instead. This couldn't be real. The more I saw it, the more insane I knew it all was. How the hell did we end up with this idiocy to deal with?

"We don't have much of a choice except to continue." David said grimly, "Hopefully this forest isn't too big."

We then continued our way through the dense foliage without a single path to go by, as if this couldn't possibly get any worse. This was just making me sick. All we could do was push forward into nowhere, and then suddenly, we came to a clearing. When we emerged from the forest, we saw what seemed to be some sort of gathering. There were several humans running about, dressed in tie-dye shirts and other colorful clothing, like a bunch of hippies. Nearby were two muscle cars I swear were taken right from the 60's. Then, in the distance, we saw a large, brown, sac-like object hanging from a post. Normally, I usually find crap like this hilarious and stupid, but the fact it was really before my eyes made me question the mental capacity of the one who created it all…

"Figures." Alex said, nearly laughing, "Now I've seen everything…"

"Hey man!" One of them shouted, pointing at Alex, "You must be the one!"

I rolled my eyes. This, without a doubt, had to have been the brain-dead part of Randy's mind. What else could it have been? I didn't know what these insane hippies wanted with Alex, and I wasn't really itching to find out.

"I bet you want to battle, don't you?" Alex asked, looking like he was honestly hoping the answer was no after what had happened to David.

But they didn't say anything. Instead, the group of them jumped us, and pinned us to the ground. The guy on top of me had overgrown blonde hair, a rainbow tie-dye shirt with a skeleton on it, while his necklace with a metal symbol for peace was dangling over my face. I struggled to break free and smack him square in the face with my fist, and then I realized it wasn't me they wanted, it was Alex. But what the hell for?

"Let me go, you stupid maggots!" Alex shouted as he was being pulled away from us.

I struggled with the hippie that was on top of me, hoping to get up and help Alex escape, but for some reason, he seemed so much stronger than me even though he was a scrawny little freak. I then saw Alex being dragged closer and closer to the hanging brown sac by three other hippies. I was crossing my fingers hoping that sac thing wasn't actually some living creature ready to devour Alex, but I could only barely just get my head off the ground to see what was happening.

"Get your hands off of me you deranged psychos!" Alex shouted as he struggled to break free before reaching the sac, "I don't have anything you freaks want!"

They had inevitably arrived at the sac, the last thing Alex wanted to find out what it was. Seconds later, they lifted the screaming Alex upward, and dumped him right in like a piece of trash being thrown into a dumpster. Suddenly, the open sac closed up with Alex still inside, and immediately trapped him. After they started laughing, I saw Alex trying to struggle to get out, but there was no escape. And then, after some time, my fear began to escalate.

Alex had completely stopped moving…

David and I both thought that Alex could have suddenly died at that moment. But then again, I thought better. I then realized that Randy didn't necessarily want us to croak while we were here, he wanted us to suffer in humiliation. He made David suffer, and now he was going to make Alex suffer. And then to make matters worse, he was probably going to make me suffer somewhere along the line.

"What the hell are you doing to him!?" David demanded, "Let him out of there!"

"Ah, he'll be comin' out soon enough." One of the hippies responded casually.

I stopped struggling after some time, since I was getting exhausted and wasn't getting anywhere. I only wish I had a handgun to blast open the heads of all these maniacs, but there wasn't crap I could do about it. I continued to look at the sac, and then I suddenly realized what the hell it was. It was some sort of weird cocoon. I needed to get Alex out of there as soon as possible.

I had only one choice. I struggled to reach for one of my Pokéballs while the freak was still on top of me. Then, I managed to grab one, and I hurled it into the air. When it landed, I saw I had released my Ariados. Now was my chance.

"Ariados, use your Poison Sting to get this guy off of me!" I shouted.

The hippie turned around in shock just to be greeted with a barrage of sharp, poison spikes. He immediately let go of me, and I got up off the ground. I then looked at the cocoon and saw the group of hippies that had dragged Alex guarding it.

"Ariados, Sludge Bomb attack on those hippies." I commanded Ariados.

Ariados then blasted the running hippies with a hearty helping of sludge, sending them running in all directions. They ran right for the two cars, and once they all got in, they immediately shut the doors, turned on the ignition, and sped off in the distance. I quickly ran to the cocoon and tried to open it up with my hands, but it seemed impossible. And Alex didn't seem to be moving at all.

"See if you can use your pincers to rip that thing open, Ariados." I quickly commanded the spider Pokémon, hoping he'd be able to tear it open before something stupid happened.

Ariados approached the sac, and tried to tear away at the cocoon, but it seemed like rubber. After several minutes of trying to tear it open, it seemed hopeless. I then had only one tool left that could possibly help Alex.

I had a small Swiss Army knife that I usually kept in my pocket. I pulled it out, flipped out its sharpest blade, and tried to cut the sac open. I couldn't believe it. It was like trying to cut through thick rubber with a wooden stick. If that knife couldn't rip that thing open, then what could? I was beginning to grow frantic.

And then, another horrifying moment arose. Suddenly, I saw the cocoon begin to crack open from the middle, but it wasn't from anything we did. All I could do was back away and just look away. I didn't even want to watch what was to come out of the second round of idiocy we had to deal with, and it was a good thing I didn't. However, David had been watching in horror while I grimaced and looked away.

"Oh no…" David moaned with utter depression.

"Don't tell me…" I warned David, "I don't want to hear it."

And then, David slapped his right hand against his eyes. I bet at that moment he had regretted watching the whole thing.

"Jake, don't look." David warned me, "Don't look, whatever you do."

"I guess you might as well tell me, David." I told him honestly, knowing there was no point in delaying this any further, "Just tell me in words what happened."

I could tell there was some hesitation in David's speech. And then, he let it loose.

"Those sick maniacs just turned Alex into a human butterfly…" David said softly in dismay.

 

[Neo Pikachu]

Chapter 5
Foreign Encounters​

Only then did I look at Alex, and then I really wished I hadn't been so fast in doing so. His body from head to toe had been completely black like he landed in an oil slick. On his head were two long antennae with bulbs on the ends. And to make matters even worse, on his back were two enormous butterfly wings splashed with a rainbow of colors. Damn, if I had been in Alex's place at that moment, I swear I would have gone postal. As sad and pathetic as David's sad and humiliating fate had been, it wasn't nearly as bad as this.

"THAT LITTLE FREAK RANDY FERGUSON IS GOING TO DIE!!!!!!," Alex shouted loudly, sending his screaming echo throughout the clearing.

"You said it, amigo." I supported Alex, trying to calm his rage by agreeing to everything he said, "All three of us are going to slaughter those little freaks. I'll even let you be the one who whacks Randy's head as I pin him down."

"Jake…" Alex said softly, trying to calm down all of a sudden.

"What?" I asked him, looking up into his eyes.

There was silence for a dark moment.

"Just shut up." Alex told me with a bit of frustration in his eyes.

Fine. I was going to let Alex have his way for now, just like David. Since I too, would have been infuriated to the extreme if I was in their position, so I could understand why they'd both be moody all of a sudden. One way or another, Randy was going to make sure we were humiliated and depressed even before we battled his Pokémon. And since this was his freakish world, we had to expect anything.

But, before we had the chance to do anything, we saw what seemed to be a dark figure emerge from behind us. As we turned around and he got closer, we realized he was wearing a black fedora and trench coat, looking like a mafia gangster pulled right out of the Italian mob. When he approached us, he shook his head in disgust.

"Ya three didn't deserve this kinda misery." The gangster told us.

"And who the hell are you?" I asked him, still with justified paranoia creeping all over me.

"Name's Black." He told us, "I'm Randy's frustration. I owe ya one."

We were surprised for a moment to think that this guy actually existed. But then again, could we really even trust this guy? I figured I'd at least hear him out.

"Ya three made me strong by makin' Randy feel weak." Black told us with a bit of a sinister smile, "I'll let ya in on some of Randy's darkest secrets."

"And what's this?" David asked Black, still on his guard.

"Believe it or not, Randy's world is actually a hundred times bigger than the world as you know it." Black told us, "An' the funniest part is Randy warped around the entire planet jus' because he sucked at Pokémon trainin'. Talk about frustration. There was nothin' more he wanted than to beat the three of ya."

I couldn't understand why worthless little Randy would go through so much trouble to beat us. Couldn't he just accept the fact he was a natural loser at Pokémon and there was no hope for him in the world?

"But, if ya try ta battle him now, ya'll most surely lose." Black warned us, "That necklace gives him enough power ta give him any Pokémon he wants, as well as use any attack, even ones that don't even exist."

"Are you kidding!?" David shouted in shock.

"In Randy's world, if he can think it, it becomes real." Black informed us, still trying to keep a low profile, "His new, super-powered Pokémon are nearly invincible. It's a good thing I found ya three, because if I didn't, there's no way ya would've won…"

I had a feeling this might just be one person in all of Randy's world that we could trust. What he said was certainly making sense. The last time we saw Randy, he seemed ready to do anything, even something like this. We pushed him too far, but even then we didn't regret it…

"How do we stop Randy and get out of here?" Alex asked Black.

"Ya need ta defeat Randy, and well as Jeff an' Frank." Black said to the three of us, "Ya have ta make Randy feel defeated enough to the point where even in his dreams, he still can't beat ya. Only then will that lil' twit give up this pointless crusade of his. And thankfully, when its over, you'll be the only ones that remember anything about this."

Heh, that was worth chuckling for. Randy would NEVER be able to say he was better than us, because it would be a cold-blooded lie. It then became clear what we had to do.

In order to get out of this place, we had to find Randy as well as those little morons Jeff and Frank and kick their butts. I certainly didn't want to stay here any longer, after seeing what had happened to Alex and David. I had to be extra careful to make sure I didn't end up like them, which was exactly what Randy wanted to happen…

"There's only one way ta at least put yaself on the same level as Randy." Black told us, "Ya need these."

Then, out of his coat, he pulled out three golden chain necklaces. He handed one to each of us, and we wore them around our necks.

"While those are nothin' compared ta the Quista Necklace Randy has, they have a similar power while ya use 'em here." Black said to us, "Heck, I should know. I know everythin' that jus' presses that lil' boy's buttons.

And then, he reached back into his trench coat. It seemed he had one more thing to give to us.

"Here." Black said, also handing a Pokéball to each of us, "These Pokémon will at least put ya on the same level as Randy, since they're also made from that lil' boy's dreams. Once he throws his Pokéballs and his desired Pokémon comes out, he has no way of changin' it. But be careful. Make sure he's the one to send out his Pokémon first, or he'll always have a type advantage over ya, usually in the worst kind of way."

"Thanks Black." I said to him.

"It's the least I can do for the three of ya." Black responded, "See ya around."

And then he turned around and left. I looked over the Pokéball that Black had handed me, just wondering what was inside. Still, now wasn't the time to play guessing games. I was going to save this for a moment I really needed it. Last thing I wanted was for Randy to find out we acquired secret weapons against him.

After that, we headed back into the tropical forest, hoping we would find Randy soon and get out of Randy's retarded dream world as soon as possible. I was already beginning to hate it here, and I was sure Alex and David were too.

Again, we made our way through the dense foliage, this time I was in the front. I constantly had to lift my feet and swing them over the dense shrubs on the ground, and it was wet everywhere. My jeans were soaked and my t-shirt was damp from the dew and the humidity everywhere. I picked up the pace, just wanting to get out of this miserable forest as soon as possible. After some time, I turned around to see how Alex and David were doing.

And then I realized they weren't there…

I looked back frantically, but I didn't see them anywhere. Where the hell did they go? I shouted out several times, calling their names and hoping they were nearby, but there was no sight of them at all and no response. Things were just getting better and better. And I top of that, I felt like I was starving. I hadn't eaten in nearly a day and a half. But like hell I was going to trust eating or drinking anything while I was here.

All I could do was keep moving, but after some time, it became night again and I couldn't even see the path ahead. I had no choice but to wait until dark. Stupid Randy and his imaginary world. Just who the hell did he think he was anyway? By now, I had no idea where Alex and David were, and this was just making everything fifty times worse.

Surprisingly, I fell asleep and when I awoke, I could see again. I got up and kept moving, hoping to leave this stupid forest, but it seemed to keep going on forever. After just a few hours, I heard a noise to my right. I thought by some miraculous chance it might have been Alex or David, so I decided to track it down. And then I came across an interesting sight. I came across a small fountain spring, and there were tiny little pixies surrounding it. They all seemed to look at me in shock for one moment, and then they calmed down.

"Oh, it's only you." One of them said in relief, speaking with a calm and quiet voice, "For a minute you had us scared."

"Who are you?" I asked them, wondering who they were.

"We're Randy's mischievous side." A different pixie told me, "But, unfortunately, Randy doesn't get into mischief very often, so we're always put on the back burner."

Didn't seem very fair to me, but then again, Randy never struck me as someone who would ever be maliciously scheming in the first place. Still, what was the point of creativity if it wasn't put to good use? Randy disappointed me again. Of course, this was obvious to me already.

"Well, I plan on taking Randy out." I told them, "Just like I always have."

"Heh, yeah, go figure." One of them replied sarcastically, "We knew you would. Plus I don't know how you're able to tolerate it being in the mind of the one person you despise."

I didn't know either, and my patience was growing short because of that. Hell, she was right about that one. After some of them got up and flew away, only about three of them remained. After they flew to a nearby branch, I suddenly felt my hunger arise again. I couldn't help but ask if they had anything to eat. It became the only thing I was really thinking about.

"I'm starving." I told the three of them, "You… wouldn't have anything around here to eat, would you?

They suddenly became surprised, and looked at me like I was crazy. One of them giggled a bit, whispered something to the others, and then they looked at me.

"You… still need to eat?" One of them asked, "That's silly. Obviously you've never heard of Sun Water before, have you?"

"Not a chance." I told them.

"It comes from that spring." The pixie told me, pointing to the fountain, "If you drink a few cups of Sun Water, you'll never need to eat again. Drink, once in a while yes, but eat, never again."

That sounded ridiculous. But then again, after I stole Randy's lunch money a countless number of times, maybe this was an element of him that had put up with never having lunch again. Who knows, because in Randy's world, it seemed like anything was fair game. I wasn't about to give a damn where that came from though.

I walked over to the fountain and bent down. Honestly, the water didn't appear to be any different that normal water, so I just shrugged it off. And since these pixies seemed to be another part of Randy's naughty side, maybe I could trust them. Black already helped us out, so I figured they could be the same. They already looked like they trusted me. Hell, it was like we had already met for crying out loud.

And as my hunger grew stronger, I wasn't about to argue or start asking stupid questions. I found a pewter cup nearby, and I dipped it into the fountain. I then gathered some water in the cup, held it to my lips, and then decided to drink it. While it looked like water, it tasted super-sweet like sugar. It tasted great, and after I drank down the first cup, I decided to go for seconds.

My hunger melted away immediately, but the Sun Water was so tasty I couldn't help but keep drinking it. It was addicting as hell. I must have had twelve cups of the stuff before I felt like I had enough of it. There was no soft drink on Earth that had a better taste than Sun Water.

And then, I heard a slight giggling in the distance. I turned around and saw it had come from one of the pixies. I looked up at one of them and she looked at me.

"Boy, you're going to look awfully cute…" She said before flying away with the other two.

 

[Neo Pikachu]

Chapter 6
Grim Reunion​

No. No. No. I couldn't believe what I just did. Randy was going to have me just where he wanted me. I was right, boy was I right. I couldn't understand why the hell I had just done that. He was going to screw all three of us, and I just walked into one of his sick traps. He just turned David into a fairy and Alex into a butterfly. Now what the hell was going to happen to me?

Those blasted little pixies were gone. Right now I wanted to wring their little necks and twist their little heads off, but I couldn't do anything. I even said myself we couldn't trust anyone while we were here. What the hell was I just doing!?

I dropped the pewter cup, and watched it as it fell on the ground. And then I saw my hand. I brought it up it front of me, and saw it had turned a soft light green color, along with the rest of my arm. All of my skin turned a soft green color and completely lost texture, and then my fingernails vanished. I swore under my breath. God damn Randy and his stupid dream world.

And then, in less than a single second, my jeans were torn to shreds as a gigantic dress of rainbow-colored flower petals surrounded my waist and reached down to ground, all in the shape of a giant bell. And then a belt of bright and colorful lily flowers blossomed around my waist. I shook my head and must have cursed a dozen times…

"Randy Ferguson, I'm going to make you cry blood…" I growled angrily.

But it certainly didn't end there. I felt the back of my t-shirt tear open as another giant lily suddenly emerged from my back, and when it bloomed, it become a giant, rainbow eighteen-petal lily that covered my entire back. My t-shirt was instantly reduced to ribbons, and lowly fell to the ground. Out of feral instinct I tried to put my hands on my back, only to feel the massive lily flower itself. The thing was a freaking monster…

And then to further my misery, a headband of colorful lily flowers circled around my head. And only seconds later, it felt like someone had just opened up an umbrella over my head, only instead it was another sickening giant lily flower. I nearly screamed.

And then to finish it all off, small bracelets of lily flowers blossomed on my arms, right near my wrists. After that had happened, I stood there for nearly five minutes just hoping it was all over with.

"Oh, somebody please tell me this isn't real…" I said to myself, looking over the giant flowers that were coming out of my body.

But it was hopeless. My jeans lay completely ruined on the ground, and I was wearing nothing except this stupid flower petal dress. Like David, trying to rip any of this off resulted in utter failure, so when it failed at first, I wasn't going to try it again. All that I could do was take the belt with my Pokéballs on it, attach the wallet that was in my pocket to it, and put it on. Now all I had to do was find David and Alex to show and tell them what happened. I was freaking furious in ways I never thought were possible. Now Jeff, Frank and that little freak Randy were going to have a laugh and a half just looking at us. I was certain as hell that it couldn't possibly get even worse than this.

I only needed to walk for fifteen minutes before leaving that tropical forest of nightmares. Then, I saw them. I didn't expect to encounter them so soon, but I figured this had been planned from the start. They had already left the forest, and were waiting for me.

"That…" Alex said softly with sad compassion, "That isn't you, Jake, is it?"

"Randy Ferguson's going to have a hard time laughing once I punch his face so hard that his brain ends up in his throat." I told them both with my feral rage,

Then they knew it was me. Alex looked miserable, and David looked even worse.

"Oh man, Jake." Alex said with complete depression, "You look like an overgrown Bellossom."

I certainly didn't need to hear that. I felt like a complete idiot, and it was growing even worse by the moment. I felt ready to crush Randy's skull with my own hands, that's how angry I was. Randy should have been praising the skies above there weren't any nuclear weapons of mass destruction in his world, because if there were, Randy was going to need a whole lot more than Pokémon to stop my incredible rage.

"I've never hated Randy as much as I do now." I told Alex and David, "Never before."

"Neither have we..." Alex responded, shaking his head in shame.

Part of me felt like staying away from Randy and his two stupid, moronic friends as much as possible. There was still this small bit of hope in me that Randy didn't actually know what happened to us yet. And then again, there was this small bit of reality telling me that if we didn't fight Randy for better or for worse, we might just be spending the rest of our lives here.

Regardless, Alex and David wanted to get the hell out of Randy's world as soon as possible, and I certainly couldn't blame them. We had already stayed here longer than we should have.

And on top of it all, I didn't know who to believe anymore. Black seemed like he was trustworthy, and he seemed to have helped us big time. And then again, I thought I could trust those blasted little pixies, and they completely screwed me over. I certainly didn't want to walk into a trap like that again, but I didn't want to turn down someone who was only trying to bring us one step closer to defeating Randy.

As we kept walking through that valley, hoping we'd find Randy or at least someone worthy enough to bring us to him, I could only think of one thing. Exactly how were we going to stop Randy? And even if we really did beat him, would we wake up in the real world again? I was certainly hoping this hideous and humiliating transformation wasn't permanent, because I was quickly getting sick of it.

And after nearly an hour, we encountered another shady figure. When he drew closer, we saw he was wearing a gray cloak with a hood over his head. He moved toward us very quickly, almost running. When he reached us, he stopped, and stood still. I couldn't even see his face from the shadow of his hood, despite how bright and how close we were to him. He kind of looked and sounded like the Grim Reaper, just not as dark as usual.

"He… didn't…." The figure groaned.

"And who the hell are you?" Alex asked in paranoia, looking at the hooded figure strangely.

He stopped, and then slowly turned toward Alex. This guy was really freaking me out.

"Depression." He mumbled, "That's right, I'm King Randy's depression. His worst nightmare. He fears me."

"Great." I told him, still unsure about this guy considering the last episode I had, "We're trying to find him so we can make him feel even more depressed. Do you know how we might find him?"

Depression then started laughing hysterically. He quickly threw off his hood to reveal a gaunt, scarred face with frizzy, gray hair. We were instantly shocked.

"Oh yes." Depression smiled, still snickering, "Now I know who you three are. I didn't recognize you at first. Obviously King Randy has gotten to you first, but there's still time. Yes, time to do lots and lots of damage to King Randy…"

"Where do we find him?" I asked again, hoping he could help us get out of this hideous mess.

He mumbled a bit, and then looked up again.

"He… likes to spend his time in Victory City Stadium." Depression told us, "It almost seems like… he's waiting for you…"

"Can you take us there?" David asked, hoping to speed up the process, "We want to make him lose."

Depression stopped moving, and then he looked at David.

"I can bring you to the city in no time at all." He told David, "But be warned. He's knows more about Pokémon and battling than anyone else now. No one has ever beaten him. If you really plan on battling him, you should take these, for the protection of you and your Pokémon…"

He then took his shriveled hand and reached into the pocket of his cloak. Then, he handed us three ordinary-looking silver rings. We slipped them on, and then looked back to Depression.

"I will take you there now." He said, slightly grinning, "Make him lose miserably. Make me happy…"

Depression snapped his fingers, and instantly we saw everything around us swirl into a blur. Not even three seconds later, we found ourselves standing amongst a gigantic city, with buildings towering hundreds of stories above us. The streets were like any ordinary city. But, there was only one difference…

There wasn't a single person around. We didn't even see Depression anymore, it was just the three of us in a ghost town metropolis. In a place that should have been brimming with people, there was nothing. Far in the distance, we saw a massive stadium. That was where we had to go. I had a feeling that was where we would find Randy and hopefully what we needed to end this stupid charade already.

And this time, he wasn't going to cheat. Black and Depression had at least given us some sort of power and protection against Randy's Quista necklace. At least we would have some sort of fighting chance against him.

Closer and closer we drew toward the stadium, and there still wasn't anyone around. There were no lights on in the buildings, no nothing as if everyone just got up and left only an hour ago. Behind the stadium, the sun had begun to set, and by the time we had arrived at the stadium, it was night and the stars were out.

The silver stadium was huge. When we entered the field, there were probably enough chairs to seat a million people, and there's no exaggeration about that. In the center of it all was a gray battle area for Pokémon with the white outline of a Pokéball as the playing field. And then, we saw him. We had suddenly laid eyes on Randy, who was seated on a metal throne on a platform at least fifteen feet high, and he was still wearing his stupid necklace. Besides him were Jeff and Frank, seated on similar thrones on platforms ten feet in the air. And to even further our anger, they were all dressed in black leather and wearing shades, as if they thought they were actually cool. When we approached them in the big, empty stadium, I could hear the snickering. I could feel that feral rage coming right back again.

"Well, hello ladies." Randy snickered.

"Listen here, you schmuck!" Alex shouted to Randy, "I don't know what your problem is, but if you don't unplug this stupid world of yours right now and get us the hell out of here, you're going to have a hell of a lot of crap coming your way!"

Then, Randy took off his shades, and looked at us cynically. After that, he crossed his arms. Now he was starting to act pompous and arrogant, and I swear I was ready to murder him.

"Well, how does it feel?" Randy asked with a sick smile, "Has the utter shame begun to set in alright for you? Let me just tell you this. If you're here to battle me with your pathetic Pokémon, you're about to experience a new revelation in losing. It is impossible to beat me."

"That's what you think." I told Randy, "Two can play at your game, Randy Ferguson."

"Oh really?" He asked, almost laughing.

Suddenly, I heard a snap, and I heard what sounded like metal links hitting the ground. When I looked down, I saw the gold necklace Black had given us, only it was in pieces. Alongside it was Depression's ring, reduced to a twisted lump. When I looked to my left, I saw Alex and David were without protection either.

"Not good." Alex said coldly as he looked down at the shattered necklace, "Not good at all…"

"You might as well get used to living here." Randy said, sitting back in relaxation, "You can spend the rest of eternity in my world, and you'll always be under my power, under my rules, and don't forget, you'll always be weaker than me."

"Rest of eternity, Randy?" Alex asked, nearly laughing, "I don't think so. No one lives forever, remember?"

"Well everything is different here." Randy said with another smile, "In my world, time doesn't weaken the body. It's the perfect place… for me anyway."

I was getting more furious by the moment. I didn't want to lose to an overconfident jerk like Randy. Then I saw Frank, who just kept giggling constantly by looking at us. I was ready to slaughter him like the swine he was. And there was Jeff, just sitting there like he was a freaking celebrity. It was making me sick.

"Frank," Randy said, looking to his right to face Frank, "I would really enjoy watching you beat the stuffing out of Jake's Pokémon after what he did to me back in the parking lot. Could you do that for me? Thanks."

And then, Frank's metal platform was lowered, and when it reached the bottom, he approached me. I couldn't stand his fat face with his stupid shades on.

"Hell…o Jake K-o-s-s-a-k." Frank giggled, "Ready to lose right now, or would you like to do a little curtsy first?"

"Go to Hell, Frank." I told him, pulling out one of my Pokéballs.

 

[Neo Pikachu]

Chapter 7
Against Odds​

Frank was a fat pig freak, and there was no way I was going to lose to him. I had much better Pokémon than he did. Randy could brag all he wanted to, it wasn't going to help Frank's situation. Losing was habitual for Frank, so this should have been a walk in the park.

"I want this to be a two-on-two match." Randy told us both, "It should be rather interesting…"

"It most certainly shall." Frank agreed with a giggle.

I knew exactly who to send out. I already had my fingers on the Pokéballs I was going to use. There would be no chance little Franky would stand a chance against my Ninetales and Jolteon. They might not have fought Frank's Pokémon before, but they've annihilated Randy's time and time again and I figured with Frank, the situation wouldn't change a bit. I grasped both of their Pokéballs firmly, and tossed them into the field.

And when their Pokéballs hit the ground and opened up, I already got an extremely sickening taste of what Randy could do with his stupid necklace. He made two completely different Pokémon come out, a Bellossom and a Roselia. Not only was he putting me at a disadvantage, but he was mocking me in a really nasty way.

"What the hell!?" I shouted in disbelief, "What happened to my Jolteon and Ninetales!?"

Frank began snorting in humor uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry, Jake." Randy said casually, looking away for a moment, "Were you saying something?"

That freaking maggot. I had never raised a grass-type Pokémon in my life, and now I was going to have to handle two of them while fighting one of my worst enemies. Frank just sat there and laughed.

"Prepare to suffer, flower boy." Frank laughed, as he threw his two Pokéballs, "Go, Moltres and Articuno!"

And there they were. After Frank launched both of his Pokéballs and they both struck the ground and opened with a flash of light, I lay eyes on the legendary birds of fire and ice. Moltres was literally a blazing fire in the shape of a bird while Articuno was a light blue colored bird that glimmered like ice. I was ready to kill myself, knowing I was probably at the greatest type disadvantage of all time and all this would just lead to more humiliation. Frank could slaughter me in no time with this kind of power. All he had to do now was decide how he was going to do it. I had no idea how I was going to handle this. I already knew grass-type attacks were going to do nothing.

"Heh, heh, heh." Randy snickered, "Let the battle begin!"

I knew at the moment the only way I was going to win was to take out them out one by one. I was starting to get a faint idea of one small, yet possible way to at least get my foot in the door on this battle. Still, this was going to be incredibly hard.

"Moltres, protect yourself and Articuno with Light Screen," Frank commanded, "Articuno, attack Roselia with your Ice Beam!"

I don't know how Moltres was able to use Light Screen on both himself and Articuno, but it certainly worked. Grass moves were going to do absolutely nothing now, as if this situation couldn't possibly get any worse. In the meantime, I grimaced as I watched helpless Roselia get barraged by a wickedly cold Ice Beam. I could feel the chill myself, and I was twenty feet away.

"Man, this is going to be a piece of cake." Frank smiled, thinking he had it in the bag.

"This isn't over yet, you idiot." I shouted back at Frank.

And then, an incredibly brilliant idea came to my mind. I had to do it now, or there was no way I was going to win…

Roselia had been badly hit, but she wasn't about to call it quits right now. And now that Moltres and Articuno were protected by Light Screen, Special attacks were completely out of the question. At that moment, I had come up with an idea, and I was going to need to take out Moltres first if I wanted it to work right…

"Bellossom, use your Sleep Powder attack!" I declared.

Bellossom then immediately sprayed both of Frank's Pokémon with a cloud of pink-colored Sleep Powder. Frank's face changed from excited to panicky the moment both Moltres and Articuno landed on the gray battlefield fast asleep. I knew it wasn't going to last forever, so I had to act quickly. This was a moment I was going to need to take advantage of to its maximum potential.

"Roselia, Sludge Bomb attack on Moltres, now!" I shouted.

And a moment later, Roselia looked to Moltres and blasted him with a helping of thick, poisonous sludge. Moltres's type-alignments and Light Screen weren't going to help him here.

"Come on you fools, wake up!" Frank shouted, "We don't have time for this!"

I needed to have Moltres taken out, and now. I wasn't going to wait any longer…

"Bellossom, use your Hyper Beam on Moltres, Roselia, use Sunny Day." I commanded the both of them.

Suddenly, the night sky that was above us quickly faded, and almost a second later, it looked like it was in the middle of the afternoon. The bright sun had returned, and its light poured into the stadium. Meanwhile, Bellossom focused her attention on Moltres, and a moment later, Moltres was hit directly with a devastating Hyper Beam. When the massive, glowing beam had made contact, it exploded violently, and Moltres took a serious beating. But to my dismay, he wasn't out yet…

"Sunny Day?" Frank laughed, "What, do you want Moltres to roast your Pokémon even faster now!?"

True, Sunny Day was going to make Moltres's fire attacks even worse, but that wasn't going to help Frank with Moltres still sleeping. However, things were about to change. While Moltres was still sleeping, Articuno had woken up. Frank wanted to make sure he wasn't going to screw up with this opportunity at his fingertips.

"Articuno, Arial Ace attack on Roselia." Frank commanded and pointed at his target with a smile on his face.

And Articuno didn't even need to blink before taking flight and blasting at Roselia at mach speed. I heard a very nasty slash sound, and only a second later, Articuno had returned to his position. Roselia was hanging on a string.

"Roselia, use another Sludge Bomb attack against Moltres!" I shouted, clenching my hand in anticipation.

While Bellossom was trying to recover from the Hyper Beam attack, Roselia was using her last bit of strength to attack Moltres with another Sludge Bomb attack. The already beat up Moltres had received another helping of sludge, and then, it was all over for Moltres. He had fainted, totally out of it. Two Sludge Bombs and one Hyper Beam later, Moltres just couldn't handled. Figured Frank would lose even with legendary Pokémon.

"WHAT!?" Frank shouted in fury, "I DON'T BELIEVE THIS!!!"

"Now that's an epic fail." I told him, "What have we learned today, Frank?"

Frank returned Moltres to his Pokéball, and Frank was in an intense rage. I thought he was going to explode, which actually would have been kind of funny if he did.

"Blizzard attack, Articuno." Frank growled, his face turning a furious red, "NOW!!!"

And not a second too soon, the entire stadium was frost-blasted with icy, chilling snow. Even I had felt the barrage of icy snow and wind, but I quickly shook it off. However, both Bellossom and Roselia took a serious beating. After the harsh blizzard had passed away, Roselia had dropped on the ground, beaten to a pulp. However, Bellossom still managed to hang in there. I couldn't have expected Roselia to last through that attack, that was no surprise. Frank began to snicker now that Roselia had been taken out. Without getting angry, I simply returned Roselia to her Pokéball, knowing I hadn't lost yet.

"You are so going to suffer." Frank sneered, "If you think your pathetic Bellossom is going to win against an Articuno, you're so dead wrong."

"Believe whatever you want." I told him, "I have no intention of losing to you."

I needed more time. Another attack like that and Bellossom wasn't going to make it. And if I lost to Franky, he was never going to let it shut up.

"Sleep Powder on Articuno, now, Bellossom!" I shouted.

Articuno was sprayed with another helping of Sleep Powder, but to my dismay, it didn't work this time. Somehow, he managed to resist the attack, and I cursed under my breath.

"Let's finish this Articuno." Frank said with glee after my attack had missed, "Aerial Ace on Bellossom for the win…"

Before I could say another word, Bellossom was slashed with Articuno's Arial Ace attack. I shut my eyes, thinking Bellossom wasn't going to make it. But, to my surprise, Bellossom managed to survive, but she just barely had enough energy to continue the fight, just barely able to get off the ground. And worst of all, I hadn't even manage to inflict one attack on Articuno yet. But, I still had on resource left I could rely on.

"Use your Moonlight, Bellossom." I told her, "We aren't about to lose now."

And then, Bellossom summoned the moon in the sky, and the light from both the moon and the sun completely restored her energy, as if Articuno hadn't done a thing to her. Bellossom was back in action for now.

"You're only delaying the inevitable, Jake." Frank sneered, "There is no way for you to win! Don't you realize that by now!?"

"Man, shut up, Frank." I told him, "One of these days you need to realize that whining isn't a strategy."

Frank was now going for an all or nothing attack. He looked at Articuno, and begun to smile.

"Let's crush Jake's pathetic Pokémon with another Blizzard attack!" Frank shouted, "Turn that Bellossom into a popsicle!"

And again, Articuno let loose a devastating Blizzard attack, and I was blinded by the snow for a short time. But when I looked back up, Frank's reckless attack had actually completely missed Bellossom, somehow able to evade the full brunt of the attack. Frank wasn't too happy about that. But right now, I had to give Sleep Powder one more try.

"Sleep Powder attack, Bellossom!" I shouted, still testing my luck.

And this time, when Articuno was engulfed by the powder, he immediately fell asleep. It was about freaking time. Now was my chance to do some serious damage.

"Sludge Bomb attack on Articuno!" I commanded Bellossom.

And then, Articuno was blasted by a vicious helping of poisonous sludge. Articuno couldn't stop the attack, but unfortunately, the attack had woken him up. Articuno was back in action.

"Ice Beam, Articuno!" Frank commanded, pointing right at Bellossom.

And at that moment, Bellossom took the nastiest Ice Beam ever, right in her weak spot. Bellossom tumbled on her side, but she still managed to survive it. By now, the sunlight from the Sunny Day had worn off, and Moonlight alone wasn't going to heal Bellossom enough. I had almost run out of choices for one last final attack, but then, worthless little Randy interrupted my concentration.

"You know Jake, Bellossom has only one chance left to attack." Randy sneered, "And Articuno still has plenty of health left. Your Sleep Powder isn't going to work anymore. Articuno's already gotten used to it."

"Shut up, Randy." I growled at him, "I haven't lost yet."

"But you're about to." Randy continued with a sneer, "But I hope when you finally lose, you won't have any hard feelings. I hope you'll just see the truth and realize that you just naturally suck at Pokémon training."

Now I was getting pissed. How could Randy feel I had already lost? And worst of all, how could he possibly think I suck at Pokémon training when he had to go through all this trouble just to finally beat us? Still, on the other hand, it was getting desperate. Another Sludge Bomb wasn't going to do enough damage.

"And after you lose," Randy said to me with a snicker, "You'll see that there will be no escape from my world. There will be no hope for you to return to normal, but that's alright. Bellossom still really loves you anyway. You're… let's say… perfect for each other."

And Frank started snickering uncontrollably. He thought it was actually seriously funny that Bellossom and I actually looked somewhat alike.

"Well you know what, Randy…" I told him, now finding a way to finish this, "As much as I hate your guts, I certainly hope you're right."

I then looked to Bellossom, who had this one chance to finish off Articuno.

"Return attack, Bellossom!" I shouted.

And at that last moment, Bellossom got up and charged right after Articuno. Frank looked in horror as Bellossom violently slammed into Articuno, dealing a serious amount of damage, way more than he had expected. When the dust had cleared, Articuno was on the gray battleground with its wings spread out and face planted in the ground. He had been defeated…

 

[Neo Pikachu]

Chapter 8
Turning Back​

Frank looked at Articuno like the whole thing hadn't happened. He shook his head in disbelief, still unable to figure out why he lost.

"NOOOO!!!!" Frank shouted in horrible anger, "This isn't possible!!! Come on, get up you worthless birdbrain!"

"Man, do you suck, Frank." I told him, nearly laughing, "You couldn't even beat me while you were cheating. You couldn't even beat me when you had the greatest advantage possible. How pathetic is that!?"

Frank's face turned bright red. He looked ready to explode.

"I hate you!" Frank shouted loudly, "You should have lost!"

"Should have?" I asked Frank, nearly laughing, "Man, you just get more amusing by the minute. You really are a sad sack of crap, Frank."

"Nobody wants to hear stupid comments from your face, Jake!" Frank squealed.

And then, Randy stood up like he thought he was a hero. He looked down at the two of us like we were his subjects. Just the look at his face with his phony shades was driving me insane.

"Shut up, both of you!" Randy shouted menacingly, "Frank, you highly disappoint me. In fact, I'd go as far as saying you couldn't get much worse when it comes to training Pokémon."

"WHAT!?" Frank shouted in disbelief, "I thought we were friends, Randy!"

"And I thought you could handle the responsibility of authority, Frank." Randy said with a cold voice, "But for now, farewell Frank, and I hope we don't meet again."

And then, Frank watched in horror as Randy waved his hand, and the image of Frank suddenly vaporized. I didn't know what happened to Frank, and I certainly didn't want to find out.

"Well, that's perfectly fine with me." Jeff said, breaking his silence, "After all, I didn't have much respect for him anyway."

Nice guy. What better way to treat your friends than to utterly betray them? But then again, maybe it took sheer discovery for Randy to realize that Frank was just a piece of dirt anyway. Maybe there was hope for him after all.

"Enough Jeff," Randy demanded, "Right now, I want to see our best friend Alex in complete shame. And I know you have a least half a brain to make it possible Jeff. I want to see their shame, and NOW!"

"Don't worry Randy." Jeff responded with confidence, "We're taking Alex out for good."

"That's what you think." Alex responded, "I've only just begun to fight!"

And then, on that gray field, the two of them stood ready for the very nasty battle that was about to unfold. I was hoping Alex was already prepared to deal with Randy's nasty and unexpected cheating. I only managed to beat Frank by a miracle's chance…

It was on those gray battlegrounds that Alex and Jeff had exchanged stares. Alex had beaten Jeff before, and now the only thing Jeff wanted was to win and seek revenge. Even with all that had happened to us, Alex wasn't about to lose because of humiliation. It wasn't like Alex to feel humiliated, even as a giant butterfly. I could even bet that Alex could lose to Jeff, and he still wouldn't care. After all, Randy certainly wasn't playing according to the rules.

"I will be savoring the moment you finally lose, Alex." Jeff told him, "Jake might have gotten past Frank, but then again, how much of an accomplishment is that!?"

"That doesn't matter to me, Jeff." Alex told him, "This is between you and me, and you and me only. Hear that Randy?"

But Randy looked away like he didn't hear anything. I could just smell another trick in the air, and it was making me sick.

"Get ready for your worst nightmare, Alex." Jeff said, pulling out two of his Pokéballs, "Go, Ho-oh and Entei!"

Ugh. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Ho-oh, the rainbow bird of complete fiery destruction and Entei, the lion-like legendary Pokémon of fire. They both glared menacingly at Alex, but Alex wasn't going to let a scary face stop him.

But then again, when he pulled out two of his Pokéballs, I could already see the hesitation. Alex's Pokémon were going to have no defense under the power Randy's Quista necklace. Now, it was up to Randy to decide what Pokémon were going to come out of Alex's Pokéballs. And as sad as it sounded, I could already guess which two…

Alex threw his two Pokéballs, not even declaring who he had selected, not like it would have even mattered. And then to his disgust and Jeff's delight, once the two Pokéballs struck the ground and opened with a flash of light, the two Pokémon Alex was going to be stuck using were a Butterfree and a Beautifly. Still, I could have seen that coming from a million miles away. As if the situation I had just experienced couldn't get any worse, Alex's example clearly showed it could.

"What the hell is the matter with you, Randy!?" Alex shouted back to him, knowing he was the one responsible, "Can't you keep out of this for once!?"

"Keep going, Alex." Randy laughed, "I love to watch you squirm."

The three of us were furious. How could Jeff even see this as a true Pokémon battle? Butterfree and Beautifly were NOT Alex's Pokémon, and I knew for sure he wouldn't use either of them in a million years. But now he had no choice. It was either going to be a severe struggle to win fighting with the two of them, or just plain losing altogether. This truly was Pokémon battling at its worst.

"As always…" Randy said, nearly laughing as he brushed his hair, "Let the mayhem begin…"

"Thank you, your highness." Jeff remarked, "This is for Ampharos and Espeon. Ho-oh, Sacred Fire attack on Butterfree. Entei, burn Beautifly to a crisp with your Flamethrower attack!"

Merciless little freak. He was going to go as far as seeing that Alex wouldn't even get a single turn before it was all over with. Butterfree could only wait as an enormous rush of flames nearly consumed it alive, leaving it with only a fragment of energy left. Beautifly took a similar beating, even though it still was in better condition than his half-barbecued Butterfree. Now, Alex was reduced to all or nothing attacks even on his first round.

"The two of you are cowards." Alex told them both, "You can't even battle for real, that's how pathetic you are!"

"Alex," Randy said, snickering again, "This IS for real. My world is real now, and you have to accept it or you have to accept losing. There is no other way around."

There was nothing Alex could do but continue. If he really was going to lose, at least he would lose honorably. To the three of us, none of this was real. And the only thing that needed to be done to return Randy to the worthless little punk he was before was to swipe that necklace right off his neck. Unfortunately, we couldn't even get near it.

Alex's two butterfly Pokémon were badly bruised, but they didn't give up yet, and neither did Alex. The last thing Alex wanted to do was give Jeff the satisfaction of winning when he clearly didn't deserve it. However, he was going to need a little luck.

"Butterfree, use your Stun Spore attack," Alex said firmly, "Beautifly, use Sleep Powder."

Alex left no holes in the system. Both of them were going to be inflicted with at least something to slow them down. Ho-oh had fallen asleep and Entei was paralyzed. Now was Alex's chance. Entei's speed had drastically decreased, and Ho-oh was left snoozing.

Then, Alex ordered both of his Pokémon to use Morning Sun to recover the damage that had been done. Ho-oh was still asleep, but Entei was going to get another chance to strike.

"Flamethrower on Butterfree!" Jeff shouted loudly.

And after a violent rush of flames had blown from Entei's mouth and smothered Butterfree, the damage had gotten worse. I would have hated to say it, but Alex was going to have to go kamikaze if he wanted a chance to win. He was just going to have to forget about the damage that had been done.

"Butterfree, Psychic attack on Entei!" Alex shouted.

Entei was hit dead on as a blue and white flash had covered his body and attempted to crush and warp it from all directions. However, it certainly wasn't enough to slow him down at all. Butterfree wasn't even a psychic Pokémon, so that could only do so much.

And then, Ho-oh had woken up, and Jeff couldn't have been happier. After rubbing his hands and snickering, he prepared to strike.

"Ho-oh, Sacred Fire on Butterfree." Jeff ordered, "Entei, use Fire Blast on Beautifly."

And then, the unimaginable happened. Butterfree had been stormed with flames, and I just couldn't watch. Butterfree had been burned to oblivion, and it couldn't handle anymore. Meanwhile, Beautifly had been struck with the flaming asterisk symbol, and embers were thrown in all directions upon the explosive impact. When the fire had cleared, both of Alex's Pokémon had been eliminated. He didn't have a chance…

As bad as it was, I wasn't surprised. Alex had an even worse disadvantage than I did. Butterfree and Beautifly just didn't compare to the power of Ho-oh and Entei. I don't think he could have possibly won that disgusting and dishonorable match no matter how many times he could have tried.

"Well, that certainly was fun." Jeff smiled, "Now get out of here. We don't have patience for losers like you."

"There's no way anyone could have won that!" Alex shouted at Jeff, "That wasn't a real match!"

But, then a wave of silence had kept them both quiet. Randy had stood up and looked at the three of us. I was really getting tired of these antics.

"That certainly was a real match." Randy told Alex, acting like he knew everything on the planet, "And you lost."

"Randy, I'm tired as hell of this stupid world of yours!" Alex shouted angrily, "I'm tried of you and your pathetic cheating. Is this the only possible way you can win a Pokémon match!? How incredibly pitiful is that!?"

Randy found that rather insulting. He looked at Alex, and couldn't even feel pity for him.

"Jeff, thank you for your time." Randy told him, "But now I'd like you to move aside."

"Are you kidding?" Jeff asked in shock, "The rules are that if they don't win against me, they have to turn around and get out of here. Losers don't belong here."

"I want to battle the three of them myself." Randy told Jeff, "I've been waiting to beat them for a long time…"

I was getting sick of this trash. How could Randy feel like he was a hero when the only thing that was keeping us bound here and keeping Randy in power was a single, stupid necklace? Plus on top of everything else, I hated being tossed around like a piece of dirt when it was really us who were more powerful than Randy.

"I want to crush you." Randy said with a smile, "Your efforts will be so hopeless here."

And out of all the sickness I was feeling, I couldn't help but protest against it.

"You know what Randy?" I asked him, "You're probably right. We don't stand a chance against your necklace."

"It's me who you're going to lose against Kossak." Randy smiled.

"No." I told Randy firmly, "It's your necklace. If we fail to beat your Pokémon, then we lose to your necklace, but not to you."

Randy was getting furious, but the truth was getting to him. I didn't want him to start a battle thinking it was through his own power that he was going to win against us. I was on a roll, and it was really pissing him off.

"Battle me, you fools!" Randy shouted.

"No Randy, I don't feel like losing to Quista today." I told him, "Can't you see you're just a hopeless case without your stupid necklace!?"

He looked at me with a dark stare. He knew the truth, he just didn't want to accept it. But one thing was for sure, he wasn't going to take it off. That was the last thing he was going to do.

"If you're not going to fight me, then I want you out of my face." Randy told us, quickly growing angry.

Even though we had come here with a strong urge to defeat Randy and get out of here, I was getting a feeling that unless we found someway to block Randy's power, there was no way we were going to win. He already screwed up my Ninetales and my Jolteon. I didn't feel like making the damage any worse.

"Fine Randy." I said to him, turned away, "Then we're leaving."

Immediately, Alex and David looked at me like I had lost it. They didn't see that we didn't stand a chance against Randy at the moment.

"Jake, are you nuts?" Alex asked me, "We have to beat him so we can get out of here!"

"Remember what Black and Depression told us?" I whispered to him, "There's no way we can beat him. And it's better if we turn down his offer than lose to him. If we lose to him, then he'll want to stay here forever."

"Ugh, I didn't think of that." David said with disgust.

Alex was annoyed, thinking we would only need to stay here for only a few more moments. In truth, so was I, but I didn't want to risk losing to Randy. We would have to find a way to block his power so he couldn't cheat against us. It was the only way.

And as much as it pained us, we then turned around and began to walk out of that giant stadium. Randy was truly furious, but we couldn't afford for him to be in absolute glee. We would lose everything and I didn't want to blow the only chance we had.

 

[Neo Pikachu]

Chapter 9
The Separation​

It was a long walk to get out of that giant stadium. Longer than it should have been. I had no idea how long we were going to have to wait now until we could fight him on his level, but it already began to feel like ages. We were all losing our patience. Some of us more than others…

"Well, that went swell." David said sarcastically, looking at me with annoyance, "Just what do you expect to do now, Jake?"

I was silent. I really didn't know. I wanted a solution as much as David did but there wasn't one to be found. Still, David was looking at me like I made the worst choice possible.

"Look, maybe we'll come across a solution." I told him, "Randy can't be invincible, not even in his own world. What Black and Depression gave us didn't work, but there has to be something out there that can."

"Well, hotshot," David said to me, looking at me with a cold stare, "Why didn't we battle him? At least we could have given a try you know."

"David," I said honestly to him, "If we lost to Randy, we might just be suffering a blow we might never recover from, understand? It could mean being stuck here forever. You saw what he did to our Pokémon! How the hell are we supposed to deal with that!?"

David still looked at me like I was crazy. He just wasn't understanding anything about this. He was letting his desire to get out of here blind him, and I knew for sure that was going to ruin us.

"Maybe not." David said in a hopeful tone, "Look, it's not for certain Randy would want to stay here even if we do lose to him. Sooner or later he's going to get sick of his own world."

"Yeah, David," Alex said to him, "Not soon enough for me. Randy won't ever want to leave this place. If he gets bored with it, all he has to do is change the scenery to fit his desires. I really don't feel like living to what Randy desires."

David still didn't care. Obviously he wasn't heeding the warnings that Black and Depression had given to him. Still, he felt there was some hope. I wanted to believe there was something I could do about it myself, but there was nothing. He just couldn't see the reality of the situation…

"I'm not going to sit here hoping we just happen to bump into a solution." David said with annoyance, "I'll battle Randy right now, and I don't care if it's all or nothing."

"Go ahead then, David." Alex told him, "We'll see you later."

And not a second later, David turned right back around and headed back into the stadium. I knew there was no way he could win. If he couldn't beat Caska, he sure wasn't going to beat Randy. I didn't want to stick around to find out he lost.

"Come on." I told Alex, "Let's get out of here."

"Where?" Alex asked me, getting annoyed himself, "You sure don't seem to have a plan here, Jake. We're not going to find a way out of here by wandering around mindlessly."

"Yeah," I told Alex seriously, "But we're not going to find anything by staying around here either. There's nothing for us here."

Alex really didn't seem to agree. He just looked away and turned back at the stadium.

"Look," Alex told me, "I know you're right about us not being able to win against Randy and all, but I think we could sure do better than just walking around. Maybe we can find something here instead. We can just…"

"Fine, Alex." I told him, "You can stay here and see what you can find, but I think our solution lies elsewhere. To me, this place seems like nothing but emptiness."

And that was where we split up. I didn't feel right by leaving Alex and David behind, but I didn't feel right about staying in this deserted city. After I said goodbye to Alex, I left them all behind, still having a sliver of hope in me that I would at least draw closer to finding the solution to all our problems.

I had hoped to find a way out of this forsaken place, even while I was walking away from the very source that could bring me back home. But even then, maybe Alex and David were right. How was I supposed to find the key to our escape by aimless walking? Where would I be going after all?

I felt like I was slowing going insane. After heading out of Victory City and going out into the wilderness, I was left alone with my thoughts as I tried to think all of options and alternatives over. I had been walking for nearly three days now, which seemed so much longer when I was constantly burdened by these same, endless thoughts. Not only that, but the only thing I could consume was water. What a nightmare. I wasn't even human anymore…

Those endless plains seemed like a desert. By now I was too far away to turn back, and even if I could, what was the point? Could I possibly hope to accomplish the impossible? Nothing would have changed from before, only my morale would be diminished. At the moment, it seemed like nothing could be done about it, and this is how it was all supposed to end…

But on the evening of the third day, everything had changed.

Long and behold, I had come across a two-story brick building within the shadow of a nearby, grassy hill. I didn't care if death itself was inside, I was ready to cope with anything right now, even that. I approached the small brick building, opened the door, and stepped inside the dimly lit room. At this point, I had nothing to lose, so I figured even if there was nothing in here, well, at least I freaking tried.

Inside seemed to be what appeared to be a small office, with a large desk, shelves with books and a carpeted floor. I shut the door and the lights became brighter, revealing a middle-aged man in a business suit sitting in the squishy wheeled chair behind the desk. He looked up at me and crossed his arms. He had a serious look on his face and dark black hair.

"I've been expecting you, Jake Kossak." He told me, looking at me like this was some kind of job interview.

"How do you know me?" I asked him, wondering who this guy really was.

He crossed his legs and sat back in his chair as he fiddled with a pen in his hand. I can already tell he knew exactly who I was.

"I'm Randy's hatred, Jake." He had told me, "The name is Coldblood. I am one of the strongest forces of Randy's mind. Because of me, his anger, sorrow, and depression exist in their fullest form. And you, Jake Kossak, are my most valuable ally."

I was silent. I sure didn't feel like it at the time. I felt more like a loser that was a waste of space.

"Don't feel that way." He told me, reading my expression, "I know how you feel. For the last few days you have been feeling nothing but misery. I can easily take that away."

"How?" I asked him.

But, he never answered my question, and I never figured it out on my own. He snapped his fingers, and then I felt amazing relief spread all over me like comforting water. When I looked down, the flowers were gone. Everything was gone, and I was back in my normal clothing again as a human, something I suddenly appreciated more than I had ever before. But before I could even thank him, he spoke again.

"Jake, someone needs to take Randy out of business, and that someone is you." Coldblood said to me firmly.

"Not while he still has his stupid necklace." I told him, hoping I didn't sound like a whiner.

"That's all about to change…" He said to me.

I had heard this before, and it didn't work in the past. Black and Depression had attempted to help us before, and it still didn't work. What could Coldblood do that they couldn't?

"Coldblood, Randy destroyed our protection, and he changed my Jolteon and my Ninetales into a Bellossom and a Roselia." I informed him, "What the hell am I supposed to do about that?"

Coldblood was silent. It almost seemed like… he had been waiting for me to bring this up.

"Give me your Pokémon." He told me, not giving me a clue as to what he was going to do with them.

What could I have done? I had nothing to lose anymore. I had no choice now but to trust him, even if it was dealing with a very dark side of Randy.

He laid out my Pokéballs on the desk, one by one. He placed his hand on one of them, and the whole Pokéball began to glow white. When the white glow died down, he moved to the next. He had done it to all of them, and I just stood there just wondering what he was doing to my Pokémon. All of them, even the mysterious, unknown Pokémon that Black have given to me, had been blessed with something…

"What did you just do to them?" I asked Coldblood.

"There." He told me, "Now they're the same level as Randy's, the highest level possible. Your Jolteon and Ninetales are completely back to normal."

While that certainly made things easier, I had remembered Black telling me Randy's Quista necklace would allow him to use any attack Randy's whacked imagination could come up with. And I knew the necklace Black had given us had done nothing.

"What I'm about to offer you is something completely different." Coldblood told me.

I could swear this guy was reading my mind…

"How so?" I asked him.

"Randy can't destroy something he can't see." He said to me, "You need to have an innate power that Randy can't touch. I'm just the person who can give you that, so you can attack Randy's Pokémon with whatever you can think of. Only then will you be put on the same level as him."

I was sure hoping this wasn't anything like intensive surgery. But even if it was, I had no other choice. I didn't want to lose to Randy now.

"It only takes about a day." Coldblood told me, "You go to sleep, and a day later, you'll have all the power you'll need to fight Randy. But be warned, it isn't half as powerful as Randy's necklace, which can do much more than make Randy's imagined attacks a reality. There are some powers that the necklace has that Randy doesn't even know of yet."

And so, he took me to a back room where the only thing in the blank, white room was a single, plain bed. He told me to simply go to sleep, and everything would be done as soon as I woke up. I just quickly went to bed, and I knew at that moment I was ready to do anything.

 

[Neo Pikachu]

Chapter 10
The New Dawn​

Contrary to my first belief, I woke up feeling absolutely no different from before. At that moment, I had already begun to believe that perhaps Coldblood had decided not to go through with this. It was possible. Maybe he had decided he liked his new physical form and by giving me the power to fight Randy evenly might result in his dissatisfaction.

"Very painless, wasn't it?" He asked me as he stepped into the room.

"I don't even feel anything." I told him.

"That's good, because you shouldn't be." Coldblood told me, "If you did, then something would have been wrong."

Outstanding. Now all he needed to do was tell me how I needed to get it to work. At first, I could visualize just thinking up an attack, ordering which Pokémon to attack with, and that would be it. But, it wasn't as easy as I thought.

"First off," Coldblood told me, "Randy makes it look easy. He comes up with an attack in his head, sends it to one of his Pokémon in a psychic decoded message, and because he wants to, the Pokémon he sends it to understands it, and immediately attacks with Randy's desired move."

"It can't be that easy…" I remarked in disbelief.

"But it is." Coldblood said firmly, "Or to him, at least. You'll definitely need to focus more on what your Pokémon are thinking. You need to make them realize that in Randy's world, your imagination is probably the most powerful weapon you can wield, and as long as they can listen to you, you and they can make it possible."

This was crazy. I couldn't believe Randy had even come up with such a thing. Making up your own Pokémon attacks seemed like a pretty difficult task, and I didn't even know where to get started. It seemed like the biggest cheating tool of all time in the history of Pokémon battling, as if what he was doing already wasn't bad enough already.

And I was already certain that Randy had done this numerous times. Right now, his simple imagination had become a god-like power. No wonder he was so keen into wanting to battle us. He would wipe the floor with us in no time. It was probably what he was itching to do all this time. All he had to do was see my face, and he would let out his absolute worst. He must have slaughtered David if he really battled him…

Obviously, he was expecting me to show up again to battle him. He would probably be enraged that I was no longer the flower princess precious that he expected me to be. I was thinking it would probably be a far better idea to go in disguise than show my face to his. He wanted to crush me more than anything else, but I had to try and fight him looking like someone or something else…

"Absolutely." Coldblood told me, reading my mind again, "And I already have something in mind."

Coldblood had already helped me out immensely. Right now, I was all ears for another good idea of his. I had a feeling it would be something completely perfect. I couldn't wait to see what Coldblood had come up with.

"I had seen what Randy had done to you." Coldblood said, "He wanted you to feel demoralized and pathetic the moment you stepped up to battle him."

Definitely sounded familiar. I felt embarrassed as hell when I was in that stadium, and I'm sure that wouldn't have changed one bit if I were to do it again. I had a feeling Coldblood knew exactly how to turn the tables around in my favor.

"I know of a way you can make Randy feel demoralized, effectively disguise yourself, and encode your commands to your Pokémon, and Randy won't have a single idea what you just said." Coldblood said with a hint of delight in his tone.

PERFECT!!! I loved that idea! As if Randy didn't have enough to worry about now, he was just about to see something that was going to wet his pants even more. If Randy couldn't understand the commands I was giving to my Pokémon, and they were going to be made-up attacks just like his, he was going to be in deep trouble.

"So what is it already!?" I shouted, eagerly waiting for Coldblood to reveal his outstanding plan.

"I want you to disguise yourself as the one Pokémon Randy has hungrily thirsted for all the years of his life, but has been unable to capture. Seeing this Pokémon will surely bring back some rather bitter memories that Randy will not want to be reminded of. On top of that, Randy will not know it's really you. And third, your Pokémon will understand your commands as you talk to them in their own language, but Randy will have no clue as to what you have told them."

Well, that certainly fit the criteria but it certainly wasn't what I expected. I had never once remembered Randy so desperately wanting a single Pokémon that he couldn't get. I tried to imagine what Pokémon it would be, but nothing came to mind.

And then, I knew that Coldblood had figured out what I was thinking. He was just about to tell me everything…

It was then that Coldblood had told me about Randy's childhood, and how even as a little kid there was nothing more he wanted than this one Pokémon. Coldblood told me he asked for it every single birthday and Christmas of his entire life but was left disappointed every time. He also told me how he had failed to capture it three times. At that point, I think I would have been pretty frustrated myself.

"For the longest time, Randy had desperately desired a Pikachu above all other Pokémon. Even at this time, deep inside, Randy still wants a Pikachu, but his mind is possessed by power and his own idea of what his personal image should be, and therefore he only has the best Pokémon possible rather than having the one Pokémon he really wants."

Fantastic. Now Coldblood wanted me to square off against Randy as a Pikachu? Things were really starting to get looney now. I had only been normal for a few hours. Couldn't I at least have a few moments to spend as myself?

"Randy always loved giving his Pokémon nicknames." Coldblood recalled, "He called his Growlithe 'Striker,' his Nidoran 'Spike,' his Pidgey 'Storm Wind' and his Caterpie 'Enigma'. He never called his Pokémon by their nicknames while you three were around because he was afraid you would make fun of them."

Yeah, we probably would, even though for once I personally didn't feel they were that bad, though his Pokémon were truly weak and probably undeserving of such names.

"If he had caught a Pikachu, he would have named him 'Juno.'" Coldblood told me, informing me of this mysterious Pikachu, "Of course in Randy's world, there is such a Pikachu already in existence, but he lives too far underground and too far away in the caverns of what is forgotten to make any use of. Instead, you will inherit Juno's place and confront Randy. You will become the one Pokémon that Randy craves so desperately, born from Randy's imagination and fondest dreams."

It was a bold move to fight Randy as something he truly wanted and desired. Randy would surely hold back some of his power, but I certainly wouldn't. It would certainly make my day if Randy lost to me just because he didn't want to hurt the feelings of a Pikachu he really wanted. I loved Coldblood's whole plan. It was cleverly delicious and sinister, just the way I liked things.

"Very well then, Coldblood." I told him, "I'll take Juno's position and confront Randy."

"It isn't that easy." Coldblood warned me, "Once you become Juno, the real Juno will disappear and become a part of you, and you'll be stuck as him until you find a way to restore the world back to normal again. Unless Randy forgets about Juno, you'll have to take his role from here on in, and don't expect Randy to just completely forget about something he's been desiring his entire life once he sees you finally exist."

Good point, but I really didn't care. The plan was too good to let go, and I had to act upon it. It was definitely worth the risk, even if it meant staying as a Pikachu for the rest of my life. I wanted to be free of Randy's mind, and I wanted it at any cost.

"Let's go then." I told Coldblood firmly, "I've made up my mind."

"Very well." Coldblood said as he snapped his fingers.

At first, nothing seemed to happen, but I felt something was being drawn to me. Slowly, I was enveloped with a glow that was white, and I suddenly began to change. Instantly, I felt like I was falling but I never hit the ground. Everything in the room became huge, as if I was lying on the floor. Meanwhile, the energy around me was affecting me in ways that I never thought it would. There was something far more powerful behind this than becoming a simple Pikachu. Juno… without a doubt… was definitely born from dreams, and there was something about him that was even affecting me deep inside.

Even after I had totally become this Pikachu named Juno that Coldblood had described, I clenched my chest with my now tiny, yellow paws, feeling some kind of light and warmth that was so strong that it felt like it was connecting with my soul. I even began to tremble as the connection was made, and then suddenly, what was a simple unity at first was turned into a full assimilation, made just as a bright, blinding white light came over me. When it finally settled down, I was left with a feeling of being overwhelmed for a moment… suddenly as if I became more of Juno than I thought I did…

"You okay?" Coldblood asked me, looking at my overwhelmed expression, "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I'm… alright, I guess…" I told him with my new slightly lighter Pikachu voice as I slowly got up off the floor, "But what… was that? That was a really weird feeling."

"Ah, you'll be fine." Coldblood assured me, "Now come on, you've got a king to slay."

Then, Coldblood handed me the belt with my Pokéballs, only now they were huge. It was like using a bungee cord to tie basketballs around my waist. And I couldn't help but think that when I pressed the button the prep the Pokéball for use, it would grow to the size of a giant beach ball. I quickly realized why Pokémon trainers that were Pokémon themselves were extremely few in number…

"You must be careful." Coldblood warned me, "Anyone that loses to Randy immediately becomes his servant. That's exactly why happened to Alex and David. David had lost badly against Randy, and after Alex heard the news, he immediately challenged Randy only to fail. If you lose as well, there will be nothing to help bring the three of you back to the real world. Most likely, if you lose to Randy, you'll be stuck as his favorite Pokémon to train and care for. I'm sure that's not what you want."

Hell no. In fact that was probably the last thing I wanted. This was truly all or nothing, and there was no other way about it. I had to win, I had no choice. It hurt to know that now, David and Alex were Randy's slaves, the one thing in the world they didn't want.

"Normally, you can't fight Randy whenever you want to." Coldblood told me, "There will be a tournament held in only a few days, and the winner of the final round will challenge Randy with the promise of a large cash prize if they win. If you were still were Jake Kossak, you could challenge Randy whenever you wanted to because there's nothing he wants more than to beat you, but now is different. You don't want to give Randy any hint that you're Jake in disguise."

Of course I didn't care about the cash. I just wanted to get out of here.

"Of course, no one has ever won this tournament other than Randy." Coldblood said, "That's why Randy now has at least fifty slaves. You have to be the one to fight Randy in the final round, and you have to be the one who wins. I can only wish you the best of luck from here on in."

There was only one thing I could think of as I walked out that door and bid him farewell. Thank God for Coldblood. I have no idea what I would have done without him. But in the meantime, I was still feeling that strange feeling from being Juno deep inside…

 

[Neo Pikachu]

Chapter 11
The Alter Ego​

It was a long march back to Victory City, but it was far more hopeful than when I had left. The three day trek felt like nothing now, even though the distance felt greater now that I was much smaller. I felt like I could march even in the middle of the night, but I didn't want to exhaust myself. Surprisingly, when I had arrived back in Victory City, the place was jumping. I didn't understand why the place seemed so empty before, and now it seemed like an oasis of excitement in this desert of pure boredom.

The strange feelings that had hit me when I became Juno were suddenly starting to feel completely natural now. It made me begin to wonder how much thought Randy put into this one Pikachu that I had become. On the outside, not too much seemed to have changed, but in the inside… something had to be going on.

It wasn't hard to find the stadium again, since it loomed over the rest of the city and easily became a permanent part of the city's skyline. All I could do was just keep walking toward the giant stadium. As the streets were filled with cars and people, all I kept wondering was why they were here now, and not before. Despite that, I passed the wonder aside and kept moving.

Once I had arrived at the stadium, all I had to do was register at a small desk, but it was quite a shock. Only a tiny handful of names had been on the list, which made me immediately think of hesitation. But nonetheless, I registered my name as "Juno" on the list. The young blond-haired, blue-eyed lady there just looked at me in wonder, blinked twice, and just shrugged. I figured this must have been the first time a Pikachu signed up for this thing.

"It begins tomorrow at 6." She told me, "You'll be against Sigon in the Quarter-finals. Remember, you have to be here at 6 or you're disqualified. Got it?"

She was acting like I was already not going to show up. Clueless. I wanted to get out of here, and now, and if doing all this was the only way, then so be it.

I simply walked away and spent the rest of my day preparing. Other than everything else that was going on, the only trouble I had was finding a place to sleep.

I couldn't believe I would already be in the quarter-finals. On the other hand, Randy had creamed so many people that probably no one wanted to join. I figured it would only be a matter of time before Randy created his own doomed contestants just to lose against him. Nonetheless, I told myself not to use any imaginary attacks until I got to Randy. I didn't want to cause suspicion or create some conspiracy theory.

But even then, it was still easy. That next day at 6, Sigon, a deadbeat hobo-looking guy who probably had high hopes, just couldn't deal with me. The battles were all two Pokémon each, and he did pretty poorly. He seemed pretty surprised to be battling with a Pikachu named Juno, but it wasn't the surprise that made him lose, it was my sheer power. And we didn't battle inside the stadium like I thought we would. Instead, it looked just like some run of the mill training room with a wooden floor and glass mirrors on the walls. However, I made short work of all his Pokémon. It honestly seemed like a cheap practice round.

"I don't know who you are, but you've made me angry!" Was the last thing Sigon had said to me. I just didn't understand him. I was probably doing him a favor by not letting him become Randy's slave, if he'd even make it that far.

And when he was beaten, that was that. The referee just told me to come back at 7 and that's when I would be fighting some person by the name of Storm. I just shrugged and walked away. It just seemed like no one really cared about these battles, they only wanted to see Randy whip people's butts in the final rounds.

The next battle was no different. Storm ended up being a tough, punk female trainer with a pink Mohawk haircut who had actually bothered to raise her Pokémon diligently, but not enough. She ended up whipping out a Clefable that looked like it had been in a bad bar fight and a Hitmonchan from the inner city slums. I was glad that was over when it was. Still, I said nothing and she walked away.

"Your final match will take place at 10 in the evening tomorrow." The referee told me, "There you will be fighting against the one they call 'The Immortal Stuyvesant.'"

Man, what a name. But of course, to me it sounded like a lot more bark than bite. Already, I had faced people who clearly didn't have a dying chance against Randy, and I was already thinking this guy really didn't have a chance either.

And when we finally meet that next day, I got a whole lot of surprise. The guy looked like he stepped out a really bad child's dream, but then again I thought, "Hey, I really am in a person's dream after all, living as a Pikachu that was created by dreams!" I never figured out where Stuyvesant was from, but he looked like a walking nightmare. He was clad in a dark black outfit with a cape on his back, and his skin was a dark, pale blue. His eyes were a furious red and his hair was slick and black like oil. Meanwhile, his face was extremely menacing and looked like he had only pure evil intent. I would have never expected this guy to be a Pokémon trainer, I expected him to be more of a murderer.

And here I was, just a lone Pikachu. He must have been the one laughing when he saw me, and probably figured I was the most worthless opponent he could have run into. I was just about to prove to him he was dead wrong.

He wanted to begin right away. He was blood-thirsty for a win and he wanted it now. Of course, there was no way I was ever going to give it to him. Not at all. I was sick of being here and I wasn't about to let a walking freak show get in my way.

"Go Absol!" Stuyvesant shouted as he furiously threw a black Pokéball into the field. Man was his voice was cold and harsh. Where the hell did Randy ever think up this guy?

And out of the black Pokéball came a vicious Absol with the worst attitude ever rubbed off on a Pokémon. I was just hoping he didn't think I was his opponent.

I didn't have any fighting Pokémon, so I grabbed the next best thing. I looked over to my left side, grabbed Raichu's giant Pokéball, and hurled it into the arena.

"Go Raichu!" I shouted, using both paws to launch his Pokéball into the arena like I was shooting for a 3-pointer in basketball.

But of course, Stuyvesant didn't understand a word I said, and he really didn't know what Pokémon I was bringing out. It almost made me laugh knowing all he could hear was "Pi-Pikachu." I tried to hold in the laughter. This was just beyond hilarious.

When Raichu came out of his Pokéball, he felt something felt oddly strange and he looked behind to see me.

"What the heck happened?" Raichu asked me, "Where's Jake?"

"It's me in disguise!" I told him, "But don't go telling anyone."

"How the…?" Raichu asked, still wondering how it was even possible.

It was funny how here I was actually speaking to one of my favorite Pokémon, and he had absolutely no idea what was going on. Despite that, I had a battle to win.

"Use a Brick-Break attack on that Absol." I told Raichu, "It's one of his top weaknesses."

"You don't think I know that by now, Jake?" Raichu asked, looking at me with a bit of humor.

"Call me Juno." I told him, "I have to keep it a secret."

And then, Raichu turned around and had advanced on Absol, and Stuyvesant had no idea what attack I had just declared. He watched Raichu carefully, and by the time he realized what was happening, it was too late. Absol was hit with a bone-cracking punch, and this time it did double the damage. Despite that attack, Absol got back on its feet and prepared to strike.

"Bite attack, Absol." Stuyvesant declared in his hard voice.

"Dodge it!" I shouted to Raichu.

And this is where things really got funny. Stuyvesant thought I had declared another attack using the language of Pokémon. Absol rushed toward Raichu, and Raichu barely jumped out of the way from Absol's vicious bite. Absol's teeth clamped down, meanwhile Raichu landed back on his feet.

"Use your Thunderbolt!" I shouted to Raichu.

"Heh, you got it." Raichu agreed.

The tip of Raichu's tail had struck the ground, he clenched his fists, and he had charged up an intense Thunderbolt. Just when Absol turned around, he saw a massive wave of electricity rip and tear its way to him. Absol was struck painfully, and he cried loudly. Absol fell to the ground, moaning from the exhaustion.

"I can't… take it anymore…" Absol moaned in pain.

It was so weird understanding everything they were saying. I would never look at Pokémon battling the same way again. Despite that, Stuyvesant wasn't very happy learning my Raichu had Brick Break and he didn't expect it. He only had one more Pokémon to use, and he wanted to make sure he wasn't the one to lose here. Nonetheless, I was ready for anything.

Stuyvesant had already realized he didn't know what attack his Pokémon were going to get struck by until it was already too late. I could already imagine the same thing would happen with Randy.

Despite that, Stuyvesant prepared his next Pokémon to enter the battle. He wasn't looking very pleased anymore…

Stuyvesant launched his next night-black Pokéball into the arena. Now he was gritting his teeth, and clearly had enough of the games. I didn't care. He should have been more prepared.

"Go Nidoking!" Stuyvesant shouted as he threw the Pokéball into the arena.

The black Pokéball stuck the ground fiercely, and moments later and after a flash of light, Stuyvesant's Nidoking had emerged ready for combat. He looked at the two of us and gave us a dark stare.

"Which one of you two will be my next victim?" He growled in a low tone, bearing rows and rows of shark-like teeth.

Raichu looked to me, and he really didn't look too happy.

"Maybe YOU should try fighting this guy for once." Raichu complained, "You'll get a first hand experience seeing how hard it is."

"Hey, man," I told him honestly, "I never once said this was easy, okay? Just give it your best shot."

Well, that certainly wasn't the answer he wanted to hear. "Just give it your best shot" meant he had the odds against him and he was going to feel pain because of it. Of course, I never really thought he would complain to me about it.

"Go on." Raichu urged me, "How about you give it a try? Maybe for once you'll see what it's really like. Who knows, you might like it!"

And then, Raichu moved far aside leaving me and this burly Nidoking alone on the field. The ultra violent Nidoking just looked at me with a dark snicker, and then made his advancement. As much as I hated to say it, I was going to have to finish this myself.

"Earthquake on that worthless Pikachu…" Stuyvesant declared.

This was certainly a rare instance where the trainer himself had become the Pokémon he would fight with. As Nidoking lifted up its foot to rip apart the floor, I just had to embrace the hard reality that it was me who was going to fight this guy.

Nidoking's foot came thrashing down, and the floor began to crack open. All I could think of at the moment was to jump, and jump high. I sprung off the ground, and for a strange moment, I felt like I was flying, and everything suddenly went into slow motion. The arena was slashed apart into pieces, and I remained above the chaos untouched. Strangely enough, I had just done something I've never seen a Pikachu pull off.

I then focused my energy and burst into flames, literally. I then flew toward Nidoking at mach speed, but it was actually much faster since it felt like we were fighting underwater. I slammed into Nidoking, and embers were thrown everywhere, and I landed back on the ground. I saw for an instant Nidoking was slowly stumbling, trying to get back on its feet. I then began to move much faster, while Nidoking was moving slow like molasses. I must have appeared to be a blur to the others, unable to be seen. I jumped off the ground, advanced toward Nidoking, jumped right above him, and targeted his head. He was still letting loose a loud howl from the last attack, which honestly felt like it was half a minute ago.

I must have been breaking every law of physics I could think of. Obviously Coldblood's power was working, but I never thought it would be to this extreme degree. I could dance around Nidoking at this speed and he wouldn't even know I was there. But then I began to wonder… was this really Coldblood's power…

…or really Juno's own innate potential…?

I stood there suspended in the air just watching Nidoking get his butt whipped by me. I put my foot forward, and I flew down toward his head, and slammed down with a thunderous force. Nidoking took a vicious blow to the head, and felt a shock now being thrown in two completely different directions in split seconds. Once I landed on the broken ground, Nidoking was falling, but I had gone over to his tail, grabbed on, and threw him in the air, just like he was a plain old paper ball. Nidoking was now suspended in the air, and I looked up, just seeing him above me like it was a freeze frame.

I then gathered all the electrical power I could, and I could feel an intense energy gather, and a storm of electricity flared from my cheeks, and I looked up and directed the intense electrical carnage at the hopeless Nidoking that was seemingly floating in the air. The blazing thunder struck him violently in ways I had never seen before. At first it didn't do anything because of his ground type attribute, but only half a second later the power was too intense for that to even matter. Nidoking was roasted thoroughly, and as he slowly came and fell back toward the ground, I simply back flipped out of the way. Nidoking had crashed down, never expecting to get so wasted in so little time. Only then did everything come back to normal speed. Stuyvesant looked like he was ready to lose it.

"How the heck did you do that!?" Raichu shouted in complete shock, looking at me strangely.

"I can show you how…" I told him, looking at the defeated Nidoking.

 

[Neo Pikachu]

Chapter 12
The Arrival​

It was all over with. Stuyvesant had recalled Nidoking back into his Pokéball, and the battle was finished. We had won, but this victory would only be short lived. The real battle was coming up, the one that would determine whether the three of us would finally reach home, or we would be doomed to stay in Randy's world forever.

Imagination. That was the ultimate force in Randy's world. It would be the weapon of choice on the gray battlegrounds of Victory City Stadium. It would come down to one final test, one that meant everything. Someone was going to have to lose everything. Either Randy would lose the chance to live in his own world, or the three of us would lose our freedom and be under Randy for the rest of our lives. And it made me cold to think that Randy could be right, and that our lives would never expire in this bizarre realm of his. I absolutely didn't want to live here forever.

The days that we fought Randy in the parking lot now seemed like a lifetime ago, even though it was little more than a week since those events had happened. Randy wasn't thinking logically anymore. We didn't belong here. None of this should have ever happened.

We were told by the referee to come back to the stadium tomorrow at 10 again. It was then he told us that we would be confronting Randy in the stadium. I really hated this guy's attitude. He almost made it seem like the real honor was losing to Randy and serving him for the rest of time. He looked at us like we didn't have a chance in the world. Obviously, he really hadn't been paying attention.

I could barely sleep that night with the anxiety that was surrounding me. I hated Randy and his stupid world. Randy had no real power, and we all knew it. This was all just an illusion. But as much as I wished it would all go away, it didn't. There was one thing I needed to do before it would.

Slowly, dawn had come. All this time, I had been sleeping in a cardboard box in an alleyway, which felt very miserable. That whole morning I spent preparing my Pokémon for that final battle. I was able to speak to them, telling them who I really was, and I told them that we were in Randy's world. The only one I didn't touch was the Pokéball I still had from Black. Something deep inside just told me to wait it out…

The others didn't believe me at first, but I told them they would certainly believe it once they saw how powerful Randy had become. I told them that if I lost to Randy, they would most likely end up in his possession. They really didn't like to hear that, but from the look of things, they were ready to believe that this last battle meant everything.

I had only gotten my rest during that afternoon. When I had awoken, the hours were counting down. I made my way to the stadium, and as I saw the many people gather to see this one last final battle, I learned of one sickening thing. They were only here to watch Randy. They only wanted to see Randy nail every trainer who confronted him in the most nastiest, merciless, and unfair ways of all time. Not a single soul in that crowd would be supporting me.

When I entered the stadium, they put me in a closed room behind a metal door. Just outside was the final arena. Another mirthless referee just told me to wait for an official. And then he left me alone.

I stood there for a solid five minutes before someone had actually come. And then I got a sick jump start when I realized the official he was talking about was Alex. While he no longer looked like a butterfly and was back to normal, he looked downright miserable. He just walked up next to me, looked down, and faced the metal door.

"You will be using four Pokémon in a two-on-two match." Alex told me, not even realizing it was his best friend he was talking to, "Once one of your Pokémon goes down, you are to replace one of them as soon as possible. The battle ends once all four of one person's Pokémon can no longer fight. Understood?"

But I said nothing, not that he would have understood what I was saying anyway. I could hear a loud cheering through the metal door, meaning Randy must have arrived, thinking he was going to get one more slave today.

And then, suddenly the metal doors opened, and Alex urged me to go out and meet Randy in the center of the stadium. I walked out, and the sight was sickeningly familiar, only now there were a million people watching us. I could swear this was all madness.

"Welcome into the stadium," An announcer's voice shouted loud and clearly, "Juno the Pikachu, Randy's challenger!"

It was followed by a round of sarcastic clapping, everyone thinking I didn't stand a chance. By now, I could guess Randy was shocked and now sweating to the point of dehydration. I guess he didn't expect he would be squaring off against his favorite Pokémon.

And when I got closer to Randy, he was still wearing his annoying black leather jacket and his tasteless shades. He stood there at his respective side of the stadium thinking he was the world's best hero. Still around his neck was the Quista necklace, the whole reason this misery had begun in the first place. Randy now depended on it, just like it was his lungs or his heart…

We had faced each other. Already, Randy was looking at me very strangely. He obviously didn't expect me here, and he was becoming tense. Still, he had that impression on his face looking like he had already won. He definitely didn't look as confident as he usually did when I was before him as Jake Kossak.

In only a few moments, we would be engaged in the most outlandish Pokémon battle ever. There practically were no rules now, no limits, no nothing to stop the two of us from spawning ultimate chaos.

And as luck would have it, I found out Jeff was going to be our referee. Great. Randy's Pokémon were going to have to on the verge of dying before Jeff would even consider taking them out of the battle. I could already predict there were going to be plenty of false calls. How was anyone supposed to win against Randy?

Regardless, Jeff stood between the two of us. Randy already had his Pokéballs ready, but I was going to wait to see which Pokémon Randy was going to chose before releasing my own.

"This is a match between King Randy and Juno, the challenger!" Jeff's voice boomed all over the stadium, "This is a two-on-two battle, and each combatant is allowed to use only up to four Pokémon."

The tension was making me sick. I couldn't lose this battle no matter what, and I already knew Randy was going to play more tricks to try and win, just like he did last time. And then, at that moment, Jeff prepared for his last responsibility…

"Let the battle begin!!" Jeff shouted loudly, his voice blasting all over the stadium.

Randy hadn't waited a second longer, and tossed two of his Pokéballs into the air. With a smirk on his face, he looked on appreciatively as the two Pokéballs hit the ground and flared brightly with a blast of light. And then, his two Pokémon came out…

And I began to grow cold and tense when I realized the Pokémon he had chosen were Mewtwo and Celebi. Indeed, they were all right. Randy had access to any Pokémon that existed, and any Pokémon he wanted was his to own…

"King Randy has chosen Mewtwo and Celebi!" Jeff announced to the crowd. A loud applause had rung out.

It was a crying shame I couldn't use the Mightyena and Houndoom that Alex once had. I would have given a fortune if I had them in my hands. Instead, I had to choose wisely. I didn't have legendaries like Randy had now. That was already going to be my first disadvantage…

At that moment, I chose to rely on Jolteon and Ninetales. They have always been extremely loyal to me, and have helped me pull through all this misery. Now, I needed them more than ever.

"There's no way you can win…" I thought I heard Randy whisper to me.

I prepared my two Pokéballs, and then hurled them far into the air, again, throwing them one by one like basketballs. And then, something really strange happened…

Both Pokéballs burst into flames, and looked like flaming fireballs. Forks of electricity were encircling them, and I winced as I thought they were going to explode. However, to my relief, when the Pokéballs hit the ground, there were my Jolteon and Ninetales, completely untouched.

Jeff and Randy just looked at them in disbelief. Jeff was shaking his head, as if something had gone wrong. Meanwhile, Randy was looking at the two Pokémon like he had already suffered a defeat. I couldn't tell what their problem was.

And then I realized what the fire and electricity were about. Randy had tried once again to change my Pokémon, but this time he had failed. I could have laughed, but I didn't to keep it all a secret, keeping a very strict poker face. But in the end, Randy was going to have to expect way more surprises than that…

It wasn't long before Randy had snapped out of his brief trance. He looked at his two Pokémon, and prepared to give his first commands. Now was the time I needed to be more prepared than ever. Right now, I had no idea what their weakness was besides being both psychic…

"Mewtwo, use Silver Guard!" Randy commanded, "Celebi, use Shining Protection!"

And then, both of Randy's Pokémon were covered by two extremely powerful shields, raising their defenses extensively. Now, Mewtwo and Celebi had a translucent gold and silver wall in front of them. Any damaging attack I used against them would end up doing nothing for damage.

"Try getting through that." Randy whispered to me again.

That would have been a problem if I wasn't creative. If Randy thought this was going to stop me, he was just about to enter into a world of hurt.

"Jolteon, use your Thunder Bind attack!" I shouted, "Ninetales, use your Reign of Chaos!"

But Randy understood nothing of what I said. The look on his face was priceless when all he could hear from my mouth was "Pi, Pika, Pikachu." Still, he wasn't at all worried. But I could see in his eyes that he had never dealt with anything like this before…

"Yeah, baby." Jolteon snickered, "Give me a piece of these punks."

Jolteon thrust his front paws into the ground, put his head down, and released a tremendous bolt of thunder and lightning, right at Mewtwo and Celebi. They didn't know what attack it was either. I had only just created it.

And to their surprise, both of them were inflicted with paralysis and tore their attack to pieces, as well as naturally murdering their speed.

Meanwhile, Ninetales had just stood still silently, and the world around us had become pitch black. Then, all I could see was a suddenly flash of light burst from where Mewtwo and Celebi were standing in the dark. Once the pulsing flash had died down, Mewtwo and Celebi were badly confused, and this time it wasn't going to go away. It was really too bad for Randy that a simple move like Safeguard could have saved him from so much misery.

"What the hell just happened!?" Randy shouted out in disbelief.

"How… could… they…?" Mewtwo moaned, his head and body throbbing with agony and torment.

The audience was in complete shock. They truly had never seen a battle of this magnitude before. But this was only the beginning. They had seen nothing yet.

"Nice job you guys." I said to both of them.

"This is so awesome!" Jolteon said in awe, looking at the devastation he had just caused.

Randy sure wasn't happy after that. However, now he was the one with the disadvantage. And since his poor Pokémon with twitching with pain, it was us who were going to get the first strike this time.

"Jolteon, use your Diamond Break attack on Mewtwo." I commanded, "Ninetales, once the barriers are down, use your Destructive Inferno attack."

Jolteon then rushed up to the gold and silver walls that surrounded Randy's two Pokémon. It was just like an upgraded version of Brick Break, only much stronger. Jolteon tore his way through the shielding, and it shattered like glass. Then, he put his paws forward and slammed right into Mewtwo. The attack itself didn't do too much damage, but their two barriers were down, and their defenses were set to normal. Then, Ninetales prepared an all-out barbecue attack on Mewtwo and Celebi.

Ninetales gave them both a harsh, cold stare. She arched back her head a bit, and then blew forward a tidal wave of biting, all-consuming flames. For a solid twenty seconds, Mewtwo and Celebi were roasted alive. Randy's face turned pale, and I tried hard to hold back the laughter. When the flames cleared, Mewtwo was throbbing and ready to drop, but he still could hold on.

Meanwhile, Celebi hadn't been able to bear it so well…

 

[JX Valentine]

As a note, you may want to slow down with posting chapters. In the past three days, you've gotten twelve chapters up, and they're all decently sized. The problem with this is that that's a lot of material to cover. If someone hasn't read your work yet, that means we don't have time to absorb what you're telling us before you throw another chapter our way. I'd say wait a couple of days between chapters to give us time to stop, read what you've done so far, and give you feedback. Otherwise, you may inadvertently intimidate us into not saying anything. (Note that your only commenter so far was someone who's already read this.)

That said, I'd like to read your work, but unfortunately, I don't really have time to sit down and go through twelve chapters at once. (I get the feeling it might've been thirteen, fourteen, whatever if I didn't stop to say something, and it might be if you decide to post at the same pace anyway.) It looks good from what I've seen on a skim-by, but like I said, you're not really giving me much time to appreciate it.

 

[Neo Pikachu]

As a note, you may want to slow down with posting chapters. In the past three days, you've gotten twelve chapters up, and they're all decently sized. The problem with this is that that's a lot of material to cover. If someone hasn't read your work yet, that means we don't have time to absorb what you're telling us before you throw another chapter our way. I'd say wait a couple of days between chapters to give us time to stop, read what you've done so far, and give you feedback. Otherwise, you may inadvertently intimidate us into not saying anything. (Note that your only commenter so far was someone who's already read this.)

That said, I'd like to read your work, but unfortunately, I don't really have time to sit down and go through twelve chapters at once. (I get the feeling it might've been thirteen, fourteen, whatever if I didn't stop to say something, and it might be if you decide to post at the same pace anyway.) It looks good from what I've seen on a skim-by, but like I said, you're not really giving me much time to appreciate it.

Its totally alright if you don't want to read that many chapters at once. I'm not expecting anyone to do that, its just I think it would be nice to have this story up on PokeCommunity for anyone to read at their own pace.

Each part of the saga has about 50 chapters. If I post only one every couple of days, its going to be over two years before I finally catch up with where I am now in ToJ IV. Sometime along the line I could completely forget to update this. I'd rather post more a little sooner and just allow people to read it at their own pace, kind of like having the whole book at once rather than a small daily update like a newspaper.

So yeah, feel free to read it when you can, I'm not going to be shocked if no one leaves a review because they haven't caught up yet.

 

[Neo Pikachu]

Chapter 13
A Sickening Turn​

Celebi lay dazed and confused on the ground, not looking like she could handle any more. However, Randy didn't look too pleased. And Jeff just stood there, and refused to acknowledge Celebi was out and unable to battle. I couldn't stand this. Meanwhile, the audience was just looking on, some of them not really believing one of Randy's Pokémon actually fainted. Randy and Jeff certainly didn't believe it.

This was ridiculous. As if Randy hadn't gone overboard enough with his absurd Pokémon team, he was unwilling to admit defeat. He just stood there in disbelief, not knowing whether to recall Celebi or not.

"She's gone, man." Jeff told Randy softly, "Look, just recall her and bring out your third Pokémon. We'll just forget this ever happened. I'm sure it was just an accident."

"I don't know what Juno is doing to the point where he has the same powers I do." Randy looked at him with disbelief.

Then, Jeff looked curiously at Randy. Something seemed to be picking at his mind…

"Do you… know this Pikachu?" Jeff asked curiously, looking at Randy with an odd look in his eyes.

"No…" Randy muttered calmly right back to Jeff, "Never saw him before…"

I figured he couldn't help but lie in this situation. Randy was just acting like he didn't know me. Regardless, Randy decided not to squeeze blood from a stone. He pulled out Celebi's Pokéball, aimed the red beam at the unconscious Celebi and returned her to her Pokéball. The audience had realized what had happened, and they had gasped. It was obvious Randy never had a Pokémon faint on him before, or at least in his world he hadn't…

Instead, he went back to his belt holding his Pokéballs, underneath his black leather jacket. He fingered through his Pokéballs, pulled out the one he desired, and held in tightly in his hand. The battle wasn't over yet. It was only just about to get worse. This manic was going to unleash another legendary, as if the two he had already sent out weren't bad enough. He was on the verge of being insane.

"I'm not going to lose to you." Randy whispered to me, "I created you. I am your master!"

Like hell you are. I couldn't believe this guy. Now he was just plain losing it.

"Go, Groudon!" Randy shouted as he forcefully clutched his Pokéball and furiously tossed it into the arena.

Randy's Pokéball struck the ground hard, and a moment later and after an intense flash of light, a great shadow appeared over the three of us. As a little Pikachu, looking up at a Groudon, a giant red and black colossus juggernaut, is like looking up at a skyscraper. Groudon looked like a walking wall of destruction. We nearly fainted just looking at him.

"Oh man…" Jolteon remarked in hesitation, "This is going to get ugly real fast."

"How are we supposed to conquer that thing!?" Ninetales asked in shock.

"Randy may have powerful Pokémon," I told them both, "But it's not over yet. We still have a chance at winning this. A good chance if we stick together."

But Randy wanted to have fun. And to him, having a Pokémon faint on him was exactly what he didn't want. He wanted to win, and he felt like he was entitled to it just because he was the one wearing the Quista necklace. I couldn't believe him…

"Go Groudon!" Randy screamed loudly, "Use your Storm Chasm attack! Crush them both, and make them suffer!!"

Groudon let out a low growl, slowly took his foot off the ground, and slammed it into the ground. I instantly lost my balance and fell to the ground as everything around me shook violently and forcefully. I shut my eyes, not even wanting to watch the outcome. After a long phase and violent trembling, slowly, the terrible shaking decreased in magnitude, and everything became normal.

As if the attack Earthquake wasn't bad enough, Randy had created the next worst thing, a ruthless and merciless ground attack named Storm Chasm. And the worst part was Jolteon and Ninetales had a weakness to it. As I slowly put my hands on the floor and lifted myself off the ground and stood back up again, Jeff was laughing hysterically.

"Jolteon is unable to battle, the victory goes to Groudon!!" Jeff laughed, announcing it to the whole stadium.

As soon as I heard that, I quickly turned to see Jolteon, on the ground, who had gotten hurt badly and had collapsed. Ninetales was hurt very badly too, but she looked like she could still go on, even after a terrible attack like that. But Jolteon…

He had turned to me, with the last bit of strength he had left. He wasn't looking great at all, his body covered with dirt, cuts and bruises. I grimaced at the sight.

"I'm sorry…" Jolteon gasped to me, looking terribly exhausted, "I wanted to go further, further than this. I wanted… to win together, with you."

"No, don't worry about it." I told him quickly, telling him he shouldn't fear, "There will be other days. You did an outstanding job, Jolteon. I couldn't have done it without you."

Jolteon was silent for a moment. He seemed really distressed…

"Thank you…" He said to me.

I then pulled out his Pokéball, held it with both hands, aimed the beam at him and returned him to his Pokéball.

Ninetales was going to need a supporting companion, and soon. I needed to think of a new strategy, because Randy was going to think I would use the same one again. He was going to try and do all he could to stop me. It was obvious he wasn't going to hold back now.

But I refused to lose, I refused. Not after all I had gone through…

They were all waiting for my next choice, the next Pokémon I would decide on to continue this tribulation. I took a glance at Randy's Pokémon, his Mewtwo still holding his chest, trying to grasp away the pain while his Groudon gave me a cold stare. I had then turned to Ninetales, who had taken the last attack very badly.

I turned back to the Pokéballs on my belt, and went through them one by one. I couldn't use Raichu, since he was the electric type and Groudon would just knock the stuffing out of him, just like Jolteon. Ariados was poison and Mewtwo could just punish him with a simple Psychic attack, or something even worse…

And then, I came across one Pokéball too long neglected. It was the Pokémon Black had given me, untouched and reserved for the moment I really needed it. I didn't even know what Pokémon was inside, and now I was going to face the choice of letting out a Pokémon I was unsure would survive the next attack, or decide to trust Black, and hope his Pokémon would come through for me.

I made up my mind. I took the Pokéball, released it from the leather strap, and prepared to launch it into the arena. I could only hope it was a Pokémon that would be able to help me through this nightmare. I put both of my hands firmly on the Pokéball, and then threw it forward.

They had all watched carefully, all of them, the audience, Jeff, and Randy. There was complete silence as the Pokéball flew gracefully through the air, and then began to fall toward the ground. Jeff and Randy watched it carefully and anxiously, as if it were a grenade about to explode into pieces. When the Pokéball struck the ground firmly, it opened with a flash of light. At that moment, I had summoned another ally to help me win the war against my greatest enemy of all time.

When the blinding flash had died down, I realized who Black had sent to me as a helper, a protector for all of us. It was none other than the powerful dragon and psychic Pokémon Latias. She stood before Groudon and Mewtwo, with a vigorous stare of confidence and trust. She was not going to be an easy picking for both of them.

"Nice choice…" Jeff remarked, unable to hold back the admiration…

"Shut up, Jeff." Randy growled bitterly at him.

She had turned to me, and was a bit surprised I was the one who was her trainer. But it had not taken her long to realize I needed help more than ever. For a moment, I could tell… unlike Jolteon and Ninetales, she too… was born from Randy's dreams, just like Juno was…

"I am poised to strike." She told me, "Give me your command."

"Thunder Dragon Slash attack." I told her, "Go for Mewtwo, he's already taking a serious hit, and now just needs to be struck in the face…"

And then, at that critical second, she realized I certainly was no ordinary Pikachu. She had felt new power, and I was the source of it.

Then, she leapt off the ground, and flew at a lightning speed toward Mewtwo, letting loose a loud screech from the wind that was blazing past her. All Mewtwo could do was look up, dazed and confused and unable to move. Latias stormed her way to meet her target, and in a split second, the air itself was sliced violently with a loud and furious screaming sound, and Latias had hit her mark with flawless accuracy. The slash sounded like a sharp rake tearing into thick metal. It sounded terribly painful.

"Ouch…" Jeff grimaced as Mewtwo took a nasty blow.

And in no time at all, Latias had returned to my side. I had just looked at Mewtwo, who just completely forgot about the pain in his chest and grasped his face. After he had staggered to stay up, he had fallen, and lost the will to fight. No one could believe what had just happened.

"This cannot be happening…" Randy growled angrily, "No, I will not accept this misery!!"

"Mewtwo is unable to battle…" Jeff said calmly, "The victory goes to…"

"Shut your rotten mouth, Jeff!!" Randy furiously shouted at him, "I can't lose, remember!? Just who do you think will be getting this victory, huh!? I'm not going to lose to a pathetic… little… Pikachu…"

There was complete silence as Randy recalled Mewtwo, not even thanking him or telling him he did a job well done. I felt a very cold aura of anger and darkness as Randy decided on his final Pokémon. What freaked me out the most was he chose it very quickly. He yanked one last Pokéball from his belt, and held it with a tightening fist, almost to the point of crushing it. Randy was brimming with fury.

"Now you're dead." Randy snickered with dark fury in his eyes, "You, him, everybody. All of you are gone! You won't exist anymore!!"

Randy then grasped his Pokéball, and then angrily threw it into the area. The shiny Pokéball struck the ground hard, and after a brilliant flash, we lay eyes on yet another, towering titan. The three of us looked up in shock and bewilderment as we saw seventeen feet above us was one of the most powerful legendary Pokémon of all time, Lugia. The massive silver and blue aquatic bird looked down at us, using his long neck to glare at us with his sharp, blue-pronged eyes.

"This is not going to be easy…" Latias remarked, "I've never fought anything like this before…"

"There's a first time for everything." I reminded her, "We still have a good chance at winning this."

Lugia had looked down at the two of us. I couldn't stand the way his dark, menacing eyes glared at us.

"You really think so?" Lugia taunted, "I'm about to show you a whole new revelation in suffering and pain. I've never fallen to anyone before."

Merciless Randy hadn't been paying attention to us. Only seconds after Lugia had been let out, he turned to Ninetales, who was barely hanging on.

"Go Lugia!" Randy shouted loudly, "Destroy that Ninetales with an Ultra Nova Blast!"

Lugia just turned his back to us, looked at the suffering Ninetales, and just looked curiously at her.

"Well," Lugia remarked, "This doesn't look like much of a challenge…"

Lugia opened his mouth, and a brilliant, white sphere of power and energy took form in his mouth. As the sphere accumulated more energy, it become larger and larger until Lugia released his power, and fired a tremendous white beam at Ninetales.

"NO!" I shouted as I hopelessly watched the massive beam slam into Ninetales.

Ninetales shrieked in pain, just before the massive and deafening explosion silenced everything. Torrents of white energy created a shockwave and rocked the entire stadium. I couldn't even see Ninetales anymore, buried somewhere in that explosive chaos. When the explosion died down, I looked everywhere for Ninetales. And then, I saw her, on the ground and completely motionless. Randy had just pulverized my second Pokémon. Even after all this effort, we were only even now.

I pulled out her Pokéball and returned Ninetales to her Pokéball. She had done the best she could, and that was all. Now, she needed time to rest more than ever. I secured the Pokéball in the leather loop and then decided on my next Pokémon, the last one I could use.

And then I made a choice I won't long forget. I couldn't grab the courage to send either Ariados or Raichu into a battle they could easily get clobbered in, but I couldn't let Latias fight alone. She needed someone to help her…

I decided that if in the end I was going to lose to Randy, I wanted to know that I couldn't have done it any other way. I reached for the buckle that held the leather straps of my belt together, and separated the straps. I then grasped the belt with my Pokéballs, and threw it aside. I knew what I had to do…

 

[Neo Pikachu]

Chapter 14
Into the Breech​

Randy and Jeff looked at me with a bizarre look in their eyes, wondering what I was doing. Then, Jeff had suddenly realized what I was doing.

"Juno wants to fight the battle himself…" Randy said in disbelief, "I've never seen anything like this before."

"Well, if he really wants to suffer too, that's fine with me." Randy growled.

Then, Latias had looked at me, with an odd look in her eyes.

"You're crazy!" She told me, "You can't enter this battle yourself!"

"Yes, I can." I told her, "Its better we both go down at the same time then letting him crush us one by one. He's already obliterated my Ninetales! You saw what he did!"

"But this is extremely dangerous." Latias warned me, "You must be sure this is really what you want to do."

"I've made up my mind already." I told her seriously, "The two of us working together is the only chance we have at winning this battle. I can't afford to lose this battle, but if I do, I want to know that I tried the best I could, the best we could…"

Then, Latias looked forward. It was going to take both of our greatest efforts to take down two of the nastiest Pokémon of all time, two of the strongest legendary Pokémon I've ever encountered.

"Boy, is this going to be fun." Randy said with admiration, "Groudon, let's show Juno how painful a Storm Chasm attack is!"

"With pleasure, my master." Groudon spoke in a low growl.

I began to look frantically for a way out, but I saw none. Then, Latias frantically leapt off the ground, and flew toward me.

"Get on my back, or you're finished!" Latias shouted to me.

I then quickly jumped off the ground, and landed on Latias's back, and held on tight. We then flew off the ground and went up into the air. Groudon slammed his foot onto the ground, shaking the ground tremendously, but we were totally untouched with the two of us now airborne. We circled around Groudon until we were able to see his back.

"Go for his head." I told Latias as we flew at an intense pace, "Hit the back of his head with a Cyber Dragon Slash attack!"

And then, Latias flew at Groudon, and everything became a blur. After I focused through the blur, everything around us began to move slowly again while we kept flying at normal speed, just like when I fought Nidoking. It seemed like Groudon couldn't even move, and then Latias moved in for the strike. For a split second, I heard an ear-splitting shriek as Latias's claws sunk into Groudon's rocky armor, and tore into it effectively.

Groudon attempted to try and hit us by wildly swinging his arm. Latias dodged with finesse as he encircled around Groudon again.

"Lugia, get after those two!" Randy shouted furiously, "Destroy them both!!"

Then, Lugia spread his giant, silver wings, jumped off the ground and flew into the air, vigorously flapping his wings to stay afloat, blowing dust in all directions from the furious wind gusts. It didn't take Lugia very long before he was on our tail. Latias had looked behind her for a moment, and saw we had serious trouble right behind us.

"You're going to have to get rid of Lugia." Latias told me with anxiety, "You're the only one who can."

And then, we attempted to move at blitz speed again, only Lugia had been catching on and easily kept up the pace. I didn't think he would be able to follow us at this tremendous speed. It felt like we were going to need a miracle to win this one…

Lugia was now attacking on his own free will. He had been blessed with Randy's intensive Ultra Nova Blast, and he was already preparing to unleash another beam of destruction on us. He had an extremely aggressive look in his narrow eyes, and he almost seemed to smile while the extreme onslaught he was about to let loose upon us was only growing more powerful and intense by the second. Then, I saw he was about to fire another devastating beam. And it was aimed right for us…

"Pull up!" I shouted to Latias frantically.

We ascended just in time, as a giant torrent of white, blazing energy blasted below us at a thunderous pace. A moment later, there was an intense explosion under us, sending dirt and debris scattering everywhere.

Again and again we circled around the stadium at a feverish pace. If I wanted to get Lugia off our tail, I was going to have to return fire, and now. But how was I going to do it when I needed to hold on?

I slowly turned around, holding onto Latias's wings tightly with my hands, now facing Lugia straight in the face. I knew that if we got struck by just one of those beams, that was going to be the end of everything real fast. Already, Lugia was fully charged with another shot.

"Bear right!" I shouted to Latias.

She did just that, and just in time. Just only five feet away from us was a torrent of absolute carnage. We made it just in time.

"You're going to have to make these calls sooner!" Latias complained, still flying around the stadium furiously.

I then looked at Lugia, trying to think of an idea. The only way we were going to get Lugia off our back was if I kept attacking him. I gritted my teeth, held on tighter, and my cheeks began to flare up with intense electrical power. Then, I looked toward Lugia, and aimed for the area between the eyes. I then let loose a powerful Thunder Strike that forked its way violently toward Lugia, and struck him right on target. It stunned him for a moment, but he was able to get back on target very easily.

I prepared to strike again, this time aiming for Lugia's abdomen, hoping it would hurt him more if I hit him there. At the same time, Lugia was preparing another Ultra Nova Blast. It was going to all come down to who hit first…

I let loose my attack, and the blazing thunder struck Lugia furiously. I thought he was going to go down for sure but he just fought off the pain. And then, he fired his beam of destruction, and I didn't even have half a second to warn Latias…

It blasted its way right under us, and for a sickening moment it felt like we were riding on top of it. I could feel the intense heat even stronger now. And then, Latias's had started to lose control of her flying, and all I could think was that she just got hit by the beam. We had done a barrel roll almost three times, and I looked ahead to see we were about to crash right into the ground.

"Latias! Are you okay!?" I shouted frantically, "Pull up, or we're going to crash!"

But there was no response. I tried to get her attention, but she didn't say anything. All I could do was just watch the ground get closer and closer to us.

"LATIAS!!!" I screamed loudly…

I couldn't believe this was how it was all going to end. It was going to be so quick and furious, even when we had been doing so well. We blazed faster and faster toward the ground, and I could tell the impact was going to be extremely painful for Latias, as well as myself when I was going to go flying right off of her.

But then, at that last critical second, Latias slowly began to arc upward, but I realized it might just be too late. Just as she regained control of her flight, we made contact with the ground, and I heard a loud scrape. Latias shut her topaz yellow eyes and winced with pain. At that moment, we started to head upward again. But I could tell Latias was hurt.

"Latias…" I said in dismay, hoping she wasn't injured too badly.

"I'm fine," She told me, "But we're going to have to keep moving if we want to win."

Thank the heavens above Latias was alright. I saw my life flashing right before my eyes at that moment. I turned back to face Lugia, who hadn't given up the fight at all. I was furious at that moment. Any ally of Randy was my worst enemy, and right now Lugia was my worst enemy, trying to take away all of our freedom and trying to keep us bound in this forsaken world. I was not going to let him do that to us, not after all we had done to try and get out of here…

Now was my chance for revenge. As we flew at a furious pace, I kept my eyes steadfast on my target, and Lugia had no chance for my forgiveness. It was time for him to be punished…

Lugia then began charging up one more Ultra Nova Blast, trying to make it as huge as possible. I waited patiently for the moment to arise. Then, as the white, glowing sphere of energy was large and filled with a tremendous amount of glowing, white power, I focused hard on my own energy, and my cheeks flared up with more electricity than ever before, and I could feel the intense power surge throughout me. Lugia was within moments of firing off a beam that was so giant that we had no chance to avoid it. It was now or never. I released the most powerful Thunder Strike attack I could, and aimed for the one spot that was going to change everything. I aimed right for Lugia's mouth. When the intense thunder and lightning clashed with the charging energy Lugia was storing for his attack, there was a massive explosion, starting from Lugia's mouth.

The white explosion was so massive that Lugia's entire body looked like it had exploded, and the wave of white energy slowly crept toward us as we tried to race away from it. Moments later, the explosion died down, and Lugia recklessly slammed right into the ground, violently tumbling over and over several times as white fire blazed all over his body. When Lugia stopped tumbling, we saw he lay unconscious, never suspecting his own intense power would be turned against him. He absolutely refused to move, and Randy had no choice but to recall him.

"Nice shot!" Latias congratulated me.

I turned around and then faced the same direction Latias's was facing. And then, seemingly out of nowhere, a giant, spiked pillar made of chrome metal with razors on its end suddenly threw its way upward, and forcefully slammed right into us. Latias was struck in the head extremely hard, and I was immediately thrown off of her, and then I crashed into the pillar head first, which hurt tremendously.

I shut my eyes from the pain, and all I could feel was a soft wind blow from underneath me as I kept falling and falling. Then, moments later, I slammed right into the ground hard, and I was pulsing with hot, burning pain all over my body. I rolled over a few times, and lay on my back. I opened up my eyes slowly, and gazed up at the stars in the black sky as hot pain continued to cripple my body. I couldn't move it was so bad. Then, seconds later I heard Latias cry out in pain as she hit the ground and tumbled close by. Then, I heard the tumbling get closer, and she stopped only a few feet away from me. I could hear her moan in pain.

When I slowly turned my head, I saw it was Groudon who was responsible for hitting us. He had hit us with his tail, right at the point when he has used a similar attack to Iron Tail, only it felt like we crashed into something far more durable and stronger than even that. I was breathing hard, hoping I could get back up and try fighting again, only it seemed so distant. Jeff had just looked at the two of us fallen on the ground, and he just smiled.

"Juno and Latias are unable to battle!" Jeff shouted out with hideous glee, "The victory goes to Groudon, making Randy the winner!"

After I heard those sick words, there wasn't any sting of pain that was going to stop me from getting back up and continuing this. I slowly rolled over onto my chest, thrust my hands firmly into the ground, and pushed myself off the dusty floor, and stood right back up again. I was going to enter the fray once more…

 

[Neo Pikachu]

Chapter 15
Restless​

I was hurting all over, the bitter sting of pain surrounded me, but it wasn't strong enough to stop my determination. If I was going to lose here, then I was going to lose everything, and I just couldn't accept that. While we were on the verge of losing, we were on the verge of winning as well. I had decided at the moment that I didn't care anymore. I would rather bleed to death on this gray battlefield than find myself in Randy's possession until the end of time.

"It appears…" Jeff said in a calm tone, "Juno hasn't given up. He still thinks he can fight."

"Really!?" Randy asked in gleeful amazement, "My, he mustn't be too smart then. Groudon, let's prove to this little wimp that he didn't stand a chance in the first place. Silver Claw Slash, now Groudon!"

The audience was amazed I was still standing. However, I couldn't bring myself to move. I could barely walk, and only moments later, Groudon came stomping forward, approached me, slashed me furiously across the chest, and in a split second I found myself thrown off the ground and flying into the air. I must have flown fifty feet before hitting the ground again, and rolling around and around until I hit the back wall. I felt weaker than ever before from the intense pain.

Meanwhile, the audience was rendered silent as they watched me get thrown across the stadium. It had all seemed hopeless now. I had turned to Latias, who was very far away from me. She had fainted, unable to help me now. I was alone, completely by myself. And right now, I didn't see any hope for me to make it out of this alive. Then, even as I was lying on the floor, trying get back up, Randy decided to strike at me again. I told myself I had to move, or it might just be all over with.

But it was too late. Groudon had stood above me, bent down and grasped my body, and I screamed for him to let me go. But instead, I suddenly felt a great blast of wind rush past me as I was thrown again, flying out of Groudon's grasp, and flying through the air before hitting the ground once again and rolling over and over again before stopping again. I didn't want to die like this. Not like this…

And then, I must have let all the hate and anger I had out. Randy could never be forgiven for this. I pulled myself off the ground once again, refusing to lose to my worst enemy, yet again. I looked at Groudon like he was the devil himself.

"You haven't had enough!?" Groudon growled humorously, "How much more pain do you want!?"

"There is no attack Juno has that can stop Groudon." Randy remarked firmly, "That hope ended when he lost Latias."

And as much as I didn't want to believe it, he was right. No electrical attack was ever going to hurt Groudon no matter how much effort and energy I put into it. I was so scared at that moment. The only thing I could do now was just stand here and lose. Perhaps Randy had grown far too strong to handle. Maybe there really was no way to truly defeat him.

But, I could have smacked myself for thinking like that. I had turned to Latias, and I realized she hadn't given up after she hit the ground. She worked as hard as she could so we would still have a chance at winning. The two of us had worked so hard to get so far together. The last thing I wanted was for her to wake up and find out we lost, and it was all for nothing. All the hell that David, Alex, and all of my Pokémon had done for all of us was going to be for nothing.

All for nothing… Those sick words made me more furious than ever before. I wasn't going to stand here hopelessly and wait for Randy to win a battle when he didn't deserve the victory. I had rushed toward Groudon, trying to think of some, even small, possible way of stopping him. There had to be something. I had a strong feeling it wasn't meant to end like this.

And then, the perfect solution had come to mind…

Groudon had attempted to stomp on me several times as I made my way around his feet, trying to grab onto his back. He kept turning around and around, but I was far too fast for him to keep up. I didn't care what pain tried to drag me down, I wasn't going to accept it. I leapt toward Groudon's back, and latched on as hard as I could.

"Get him off of you!" Randy shouted furiously.

Groudon had attempted to hit me with his tail, but struggled to avoid it. I slowly and carefully used the black grooves on his back to make my way upward. As I drew closer to the top, Groudon had struck me successfully, and it made the pain even more agonizing. I had to go slower then, struggling and twitching to try and reach my target as I climbed higher and higher.

And finally, at last I had reached the point where Groudon could no longer hit me, or be able to reach for me. Then, I had come across the one way I could have a chance at winning this battle. I had found the area where Latias had struck Groudon in the back of the head, and the claw slashes had gone deep. I then approached the cuts in the back of Groudon's head, and realized in one small area, his rock armor had been cut away to reveal the softer skin area behind it. I placed my hands on the soft skin, and then focused my energy.

My cheeks had once again flared up with incredible electric power, and I sent the harsh amount of electricity right into the exposed area where my hands were. The powerful electric attack had bypassed Groudon's armor and had begun to electrocute him within his own rocky skin. He had tried to shake me off, but I held on as tight as I could. I wanted my revenge for what he had done to us. I continuously poured in as much electrical power as I could into the open cut, not even once caring about Groudon's pleas to make me stop.

The onslaught had lasted almost two minutes, and by the time I had finally stopped, Groudon had begun to collapse. Just before he slammed face-first into the ground, I quickly jumped off, and landed back on my feet. Behind me, Groudon had fallen, no longer able to fight, and I had turned around to face my fallen enemy. Randy didn't want to believe what had just happened.

"Groudon, get up." Randy shouted, "Get up!"

I stood there, silently and prepared to enjoy as much as I could of this.

"Randy…" Jeff told him, "There isn't anything he can do anymore…"

"Jeff," Randy told him, "Groudon will be getting up, I know it."

But Jeff shook his head, not believing the totally unpredictable result either, but still acknowledging the fact that Groudon had been finished. There was nothing that could help him.

"I'm sorry Randy…" Jeff said calmly.

"No!" Randy shouted, "NO!! This is not supposed to happen to me! Never! This should not be happening!!"

And then, Randy let loose a hideous scream of agony and frustration. It seemed to get louder and louder, and then seemed so loud it was unreal. Then, everything when instantly black, and I heard a tremendous shattering sound, as if a million panes of glass had been broken. When the awful sounds had ended, there was only the silence of darkness…

I had woken up to find I was no longer Juno the Pikachu, but as my own identity, Jake Kossak. I had my normal clothes on, as well as my belt with my Pokéballs, all five of them. I looked around me and saw I was on the gray asphalt of the school parking lot. I checked my watch and saw it was still 2:18, only a minute after we had met them on that last day of school before the incident. Alex and David had gotten up, and were right besides me.

"Man, what the hell happened?" Alex asked, "For a moment, I heard this hideous scream and then it felt like…"

"It's over with." I told them both, "I never want to go through anything like that ever again."

I had seen Frank, Jeff, and Randy only a short distance away. When I looked at them, they only began to walk away even faster. They said nothing, and Alex and David didn't want to pursue them, and neither did I. Alex and David had simply turned around, and began to head home, still overcome with a million different thoughts. Meanwhile, I stood there for a few seconds, just content to see the normal world again. The air had never smelled so good.

And then, tiny red glints from the asphalt had caught my eye, and I realized it was the Quista necklace, only now it was in pieces. As I continued to stare at it, it slowly crumbled even further, and turned into dust that was gone with the wind. I was glad that hideous torture device was finally out of my life. I then turned around, and headed home.

It had seemed like months had passed by, when only it had all happened in a minute of real time. The three of us had run into Randy, as well as Jeff and Frank on other school days, but we no longer said or did anything to them. We no longer played the same tricks we used to. And I never did tell Randy that it was really me who was actually Juno. I could have, but it would have gone too far. None of us have ever said anything to anyone. No one but us would ever know all that actually happened.

In essence, it felt like a part of me had completely changed from that day on, as if I took something out of that strange realm Randy had created. I wasn't the same bully I used to be, and I never was one again. I felt far more comfort in what I found familiar, my family, my friends, and my Pokémon. There was a piece of me that had been changed, and I realized how precious it is to belong to something, and to be a part of it, and to contribute to it as much as you can. I began to see it in everything, as a family, a community, and a brotherhood.

I had arrived home, and my belonging to my family seemed to be more real than ever before. I had lost them for some time, but in the end I had gained them back, as well as something new and different that I had realized was there all this time…

My own room seemed like something that had been a part of me that had been taken away. I had approached the doorknob, grasped it firmly, and opened the door to reveal the one place where I could be myself and not feel ashamed. I had looked around, seeing my bed, dresser, and my desk, as well as all the other things that were a part of me, and I was glad I could be in my own world now.

I've been away for a long time…