Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Rakki, Rakki ❯ Chapters 4 & 5 ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

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Chapter 4: "Of Mice and Men"
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"P-Pikachu?"

The new creature squeaks its familiar phrase, but even this sounds odd coming from its human mouth. Pikachu, like Nyase, has become a more humanized version of his pokemon self. He stands maybe a head shorter than the other though his body is more full and muscular than that of the cat pokemon. His arms and legs are short, but fully human; each is ended in either a normal hand or foot, as appropriate. His golden hair falls in a neat cascade to his shoulders and topples easily over the paleness of his forehead. At either side of his head stands a slightly tapered golden ear tipped in jet black. His face is fully human, as well, containing a set of large pearl black eyes, a slightly large nose, and a full lipped mouth.

"Is that all you can say for yourself?" The professor grins and crosses his arms over the front of his lab coat. "I would have expected a more joyous reaction.."

"Pikachu!" The humanized mouse pokemon repeats uncertainly. "P-pikachu?"

"No way..." The professor, shucking the coat and glasses, takes a slow walk around the creature before bending in order to peer more closely into its face. "Don't tell me that you can't talk! Stupid mouse pokemon..."

"Pika!" Pikachu exclaims angrily. As he does so, an electric glow seems to burst forward from his chipmunk cheeks. "Pikachu!"

"Okay, okay!" Nyase, knowing well what could be coming, takes a quick step back and attempts his most disarming grin; Pikachu doesn't seem entirely swayed. "Well, at least I know it works, even if you can't talk."

"Pikachu!" The blond glares at Nyase for a moment or two before heading for the door. If anyone would know what to do, it'd probably be Satoshi...or one of the others. It's not like he has any right to stay as a human, or any desire to do so. He's a mouse pokemon and that's what he should be. The humanized pokemon pauses briefly when he notices the other's hand on his shoulder, but refuses to turn. "Pika?"

"C'mon. I know we've had disagreements in the past, Pikachu, but things are different now." Grinning, Nyase turns the blond so that they are face to face. "Why go back to those humans? Loyalty? Feh, it's not like Satoshi wants you for anything besides the glory you supply upon winning battles. You mean even less to those two others. Face it, kid, no one cares for you, especially not those brats that you follow around." With an exaggerated sigh, Nyase releases his grip on the blond's shoulders and walks across the room. "Go back to them, if you want, but you should know that this is going to change everything. I'm sure they're just going to see you as a freak now. They'll probably abandon you somewhere along the line. You'll end up alone in the middle of nowhere. You'll probably die cold and alone in the wilderness. Sounds fun, eh?"

"Pika?" The former mouse pokemon slowly blinks his dark eyes. He knows what the other is saying can't be true; Satoshi's his best friend and honestly cares for him, no matter what form he may take. Nyase's doubtlessly lying for his own ends. After all, doesn't Satoshi constantly try to keep him out of Roketto Dan's hands? He wouldn't do that if Pikachu means nothing more than a useless weapon. He wouldn't. He wouldn't.

"Hey, no need to look so upset." Nyase, trying to fight down the grin rising to his lips, once more crosses to the uncertain blond and drapes his long arm around the other's shoulders. "I felt the same way when I first thought it through. Look on the bright side, kid. You really aren't alone. I'm in the same boat as you are. Why don't we band together, for now?"

"Pikachu..." Pikachu glances sidelong at his long-time enemy. A thousand conflicting thoughts run through his small, mousey brain, but, somehow, the other's words seem to make the utmost sense. Thrown into a new situation, it would be best to have someone in a similar mess. But he can't trust Nyase! But he can't trust Satoshi and the others. How would they react to this new turn of events? Would they really abandon him? No, Satoshi wouldn't allow that. He wouldn't.

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"Hey, Musashi." Kojiro lifts his head from the cradle of his arms and glances at the redhead sitting opposite him. "How long do you think Nyase's going to be in there?"

"How should I know?" Musashi lifts a single thin shoulder in a half shrug as she turns her pretty dark blue eyes to the door. "I hope it's soon, though. Those brats'll probably come looking for their lost pokemon before too much longer." As if on cue, the group of three bursts through the door and storms over to the pair sitting at the table. With minimum interest, the redhead glances at the group. "What do you guys want?"

"I want my Pikachu back." Satoshi answers. "Even if he's sick, I want him back. Maybe I can help him."

"I doubt it." The redhead answers with a faint shake of her head. "The professor was very specific about it. No one's to go in until he's finished running his tests."

"Hey, Musashi." Kojiro once more glances at the girl. "Maybe we should let them in to see him. It's been quite a long time and you'd think that he'd tell us what's going on, right?"

"Kojiro!" The girl glares at the boy and shakes her head. Sometimes he just seems as dull as a worn butter knife, but what can she do? Quickly, she gets to her feet and rounds on the group of children. To her complete suprise, they don't seem affected by the blue-haired lad's revelation.

"So?" The black haired boy blinks his eyes at her. "Can we go in, then, or what?"

As Musashi scrambles for an answer, she notices the sharp sound of breaking glass coming from the examination room and, before she can react, the three children run past her. Upon entering the room, the red-head stops short and stares in silent suprise at the broken window.

"Hey, where are they?" Kasumi mutters angrily as she rounds on the two adults. "I thought you said that they'd be in here."

"Yea." Kojiro nods and crosses to the broken window. "We thought that they would be. I guess they went out through the window."

"What's going on?!" Kasumi demands angrily. "What are you two up to now?"

"Hey!" Kojiro rounds on the girl and holds up his hands. "We have no idea, either. We just thought that Nyase would give Pikachu the serum then come and get us. I guess we were wrong."

"So this was just a plot to get Pikachu?" Satoshi blinks in confusion and looks to any of the group in hopes that they would explain. "Is that what you're trying to say?"

"Well, originally, it was." Musashi nods slowly. "I guess Nyase had plans of his own, though."

"Right." Kasumi nods skeptically. "And neither of you know what's going on. Give me a break. How stupid do you think we are?"

"Do you want the real answer to that?" The mauve-haired Roketto Dan member questions the girl.

"Just try it." Kasumi grins and draws a Pokeball from her pocket. "I wouldn't mind beating you for the millionth time."

"Oh yea?" Musashi returns the redhead's grin as she draws her own Pokeball. "I wouldn't mind taking you down a few notches. It could be really fun."

"C'mon, Kasumi..." Takeshi positions himself between the two girls and takes the redhead by her shoulders. "Now's not the time to fight. We have to find Pikachu."

"And we have to find Nyase." Kojiro reminds his partner. "So, let's just leave the brats go and start looking for him."

"Wait a minute." Satoshi, finally starting from his long lapse of silence, glances at the others. "So Pikachu wasn't really sick?"

"No." Musashi shakes her head. "He wasn't sick at all. We just told you that so that you'd leave him with us."

"Ah." The confused lad, a pleased look crossing his features, nods. "Good. So where is he, then?"

"Ugh." Musashi groans as she half-collapses against a handy wall. "I can't believe he's really that stupid. Listen, kid, Nyase took your beloved Pokemon, fed him a serum, then ran off to gods-know-where. Did any of that get through your thick skull?"

"So...Pikachu isn't here?" Satoshi comments slowly. "Then where is he?"

"We don't know." The mauve-haired woman comments through clenched teeth. "That's why I said that he ran off to gods-know-where and not Musashi-knows-where."

"Wait a minute." Kasumi once more glances at the woman. "What is this serum your Nyase gave to Pikachu?"

"Why should we tell you that?" Musashi grins and crosses her arms. "It's more amusing if you don't know."

"Hey, I have an idea." Kojiro speaks after a long period of tense silence. "Why don't we work together?"

"What a stupid idea!" Kasumi exclaims. "Why would we want to do that?"

"Well, think about it." The blue-haired lad crosses his arms over his chest and sits in the window sill. "We're both looking for our Pokemon and, chances are, the two are together. We know what the serum does while you all do not. Together we might be able to find them, but if we each go on our own the chances are really slim. So, what do you say?"

"I really don't like it." Kasumi grumbles and turns her back to the boy. "I don't see how we can trust either of you."

"Fine then." Musashi shrugs and walks to the window. "Have fun searching. I doubt if you'll ever see your beloved Pikachu again."

"Wait!" Satoshi cries. "If you can lead us to Pikachu then we'll go with you! Please?"




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Chapter 5: "Another Roller in the Night"
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In the alley adjacent to the building in which the humans argue, Nyase slowly clambers to his feet and belatedly questions the wiseness of leaping from a third story window.

'Well,' He thinks with a slight grin as he checks himself for injury. 'At least I wasn't hurt. Things could be worse.'

"Pika." The golden haired lad still sprawled on the ground groans. Unfortunately, he had been the one to break the window and thus took the brunt of the damage from the fall. He slowly opens his dark eyes only to see a pool of crimson spreading around him. Concern outweighing pain, Pikachu bolts upright and glances at the blood-splattered ground then at his own body.

From what Pikachu can see, he doesn't seem that badly injured. His bare torso and arms are badly scored with scratches and stained lightly with his blood. His lower stomach and legs are only lightly scratched and bruised. Feeling at his face, he notices a few small gashes; nothing life-threatening, at least.

"Hey, you look pretty beat up." Nyase chuckles. "Maybe you should have thought twice before diving through that window."

"Pika." The blond nods ruefully before glancing down at himself, blinking, then glancing back at his companion. "Pika. Pika-Pikachu?"

"Hmm?" The cream-haired boy's grin seems to spread into one set to rival that of the Cheshire Cat. "What's wrong, Pikachu? Timmy fall in a well? We all out of milk? You want to go out for walksies?"

"Pika!" Pikachu glares at the other for a moment then repeats what he had just said, this time making meaningful gestures to his unclothed body. "Pikachu."

"Ah, I see." Nyase nods. "You want some clothes. I think I can handle that. Why don't you stay here while I go find you some?"

"Pika." Pikachu answers unhappily as he watches the other wander out of the alley and out into the street.

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Nyasu and the now-clothed Pikachu step out into the busy street and begin to amble slowly down the walk. Despite the fact that neither of them have been human for more than a few hours, each seems to be able to cope in his own way.

Nyase smiles at the humans that pass him. He enjoys the fact that not a one of them gives him a second glance. To them, he's nothing more than a teen out for a little walk with his friend. He can't help but wonder, though, what would happen should he remove the baseball cap perched atop his head and reveal his cat ears to any who would care to see. Would they scream? Would they run away? Would they just give him an odd look and hurry on their way? Would that little girl holding so tightly to her father's hand stare at him with fright in her wide emerald eyes or would there be delight there, instead?

Pikachu, on the other hand, glances at all around him with waning hope. He had thought, initially, that going with Nyase could lead him to some sort of solution, a way out of this mess. Now, as he glances sidelong at his companion, he can see that the former cat pokemon has no real idea of what to do nor does it seem that he's in any sort of hurry to solve this new situation. Maybe he should have just stayed back at the lab....

"Hey, Pikachu." Nyase pauses before a rather beat up car and turns back to the blond. "Think we should take a car? It might make our trip a little easier."

"Pika." The blond quickly shakes his head and gives the car a mistrustful glare. "Pika-pika-Pikachu."

"Oh fine." The cream-haired boy sighs. He would have argued it further had he not noticed the odd stares some of the passersby were giving his blond companion. Making a point to appear put out, Nyase trudges away from the car. "We'll just walk if that's how you want it."

"Pika." Pikachu, happy at his victory, nods and falls into step beside the other. After a moment of silence, he glances at Nyase. "Pika? Pika-pika-Pikachu. Pikachu."

"Don't know." Nyase shrugs in response to the the blond's question. "I guess we could head back to Headquarters, though I doubt that you'd be too fond of that course of action."

"Pika." The blond answered sternly. "Pika-pikachu."

"Thought so." Nyase responds with a half-grin. "Well, then let's just continue to walk. We'll know what we should do when we get where we need to be."

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< br> "I guess he was right." Nyase murmurs. His wide blue eyes are fixed upon the form curled up on the other side of the fire. Despite the unsteady light, the former cat pokemon can easily see the pain etched upon Pikachu's features. Forrester had been right. The serum is dangerous and he should have never drunk it. How long will it be before he, too, falls ill?

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A soft groan rips from Pikachu's ragged throat and calls Nyase back from the dreams that had befallen him. Annoyed, he glares at the man. The blond has hugged his legs to his chest and wrapped his arms around these. His head is bowed so that his cheek lies against his upraised knees. His hair hangs in a sweated clump against his flushed face, but does nothing to obscure the pained expression so clear on the lad's features.

"Oh, just quit it." Nyase grumbles as he once more lies down and tugs the ragged cover over his body. "You're just trying to make me feel bad and it won't work. You're probably just sick from all the food you ate."

Though his tone is confident, the cream-haired boy knows only too well that it couldn't possibly be that. They had gathered some fruit for dinner, but Pikachu had barely eaten more than a mouthful. Nyase, on the verge of starving, had happily eaten all that the blond had left without a second thought. It hadn't meant anything to him at the time, but now he could see that as the first sign that something was going wrong.

"Oh, forget it." Nyase scolds himself as he forces his eyes to close. "He'll surely feel better by morning."

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Nyase didn't have to wait until the following morning, though, to see that Pikachu is far from being better.

As night nears dawn, the man is once more awoken by his companion's cries. He stumbles groggily to a sitting position and is about to gripe when his eyes fall upon the sickened blond. Pikachu hasn't moved a muscle since last Nyase bothered to look at him, but one feature has changed; Pikachu's eyes are now open and, like lumps of coal set in a furnace, burn brightly in his sick-pale face. They are fixed on Nyase's features, but don't seem as if they are taking in anything before him. No, they'd be too lost in his fever dreams and hallucinations.

"Pikachu?" The cream-haired boy murmurs as he crawls over to the blond. Even when he places a tentative hand to Pikachu's forehead, Nyase notes no change in the countenance of the other. He frowns deeply. "Okay, kid. This isn't funny anymore. Big joke. C'mon sit up and quit it with the dramatics."

"Pika?" The blond manages in a very dry and raspy voice. His fever-bright eyes turn slowly to glance at the suspected source of the voice, but don't seem to take in the fact that there is a face there. Instead, they seem to stare right through the cream-haired man. "Pika..."

"Damnit, Pikachu, this isn't funny!" Nyase grumbles as he grabs the blond by the front of his sweat soaked shirt; Pikachu's head rolls limply at the end of his neck and his eyes stare sightlessly into the star studded sky. With a frustrated sigh, the former cat pokemon releases the sick man and glares down at his limp form. "So what now? I can't take him back like this. I can't continue on. Maybe I should just go back and see if Forrestor knows anything that can be done."

"Pika!" The sick man exclaims in a voice filled with complete and mortal terror. His hands fumble out then latch onto Nyase's arms. His grip is like that of a drowning man clasping with the last of his strength at a crumbling raft. "Pika! Pika! Pikachu!"

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"Are we there yet?" Kojiro whines as he trudges heavily behind the rest of the group. "It feels like we've been walking for days. I'm tired and sore. Can we rest now?"

"Will you stop it?" Kasumi mutters. "We've only been walking for an hour. I thought you Roketto Dan people were supposed to be tough."

"We are tough." Musashi answers sternly. "Kojiro's just a big wuss. Just ignore him and he'll stop."

"So much for company loyalty." The blue-haired teen mumbles. "First Nyase and now her. What's ne--" The lad stops short upon hearing a loud rustling in a nearby clump of brush. Clamping onto the arm of the person closest to him, he ignores Kasumi's annoyed glance and points into the now faintly swaying foliage. "Something's in there!"

"So?" The redhead shrugs her shoulders and does her best to untangle herself from Kojiro's grip. "It's probably just some small fuzzy woodland creature. Nothing to be worried over."

"Who you calling a small fuzzy woodland creature?" A thin boy with cream-colored hair mutters as he steps out of the thick underbrush. "Besides that, what took you so long?"

"Nyase!" The two Roketto Dan memebers exclaim upon recognizing the creature. Kojiro's expression registers a mixture of suprise and pleasure while Musashi just seems annoyed. She's the next one to speak. "What do you think you're doing? Why'd you leave like that?"

"Nyase?" Satoshi blinks at the teen then quickly shakes his head. "What did you do with Pikachu? Where is he?"

"Pikachu?" The former cat Pokemon widens his eyes then quickly turns his face aside in order to disguise his guilty expression. "Er, he's back at camp. I'm not so sure if you guys should go see him, th--"

"Pikachu's back at your camp?" Satoshi's eyes widen and fill with happiness at the thought of reuniting with his friend. "Then, take us there!"

"Er, I don't know...." Nyase stalls. "He's...."

"You heard him." Kasumi scolds. "So, take us to your camp."

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"Pikachu?" Satoshi murmurs softly upon setting eyes upon the blond man curled close to the remains of last night's fire. His eyes wide and full of disbelief, he turns to Nyase. "Is that really....Pikachu?"

"Yea." The former cat pokemon nods. "That's him."

The boy nods quietly and, with a great deal of uncertainty, crosses to the obviously unwell form. Dropping to his knees, he brushes a bit of the wet hair from the blond's face then allows his hand to fall limp to his lap. So many thoughts crossing his mind. Pikachu as a human, so that's what the serum did. But what did Nyase do to put Pikachu in this state? Why did Pikachu go along with Nyase? Is it because he had no choice? Is it really Pikachu?

"Pika..." The blond murmurs weakly as he slowly opens his sickly pearl black eyes. Upon focusing on the face hovering just over him, his features show happiness distilled. A smile pulling at the corner of his dry and cracked lips, Pikachu's hand gropes upward in search of that of his friend. Faint worry in his eyes until Satoshi reaches across and takes the clammy offering in his hand. The blond's tentative smile grows. "Pikachu..."

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"What did you do to him?" Kasumi demands as she stares into Nyase's wide sapphire eyes. "How did you make him so sick?"

"I didn't do anything!" The lad responds stridently. "It's that stupid serum. The doctor said that we shouldn't use it. I guess he knew what he was talking about, after all."

"So, that's what happens, eh?" Musashi murmurs to herself. "What a price to pay."

"The doctor?" The redhead blinks. "You mean Professor Forrester? He told you not to use it yet you went ahead and gave it to Pikachu, regardless?"

"Yea." Nyase nods. "But I really didn't think anything like this would happen. I thought he was just trying to scare us, you know?"

"Well, I guess you were wrong." Kasumi answers shortly as she turns to glance at her friend and his Pokemon. It's hard to see Satoshi's features as his back is turned to her, but she can easily see the pain and weakness on the face of Pikachu. After a moment, she turns back to Nyase. "Fine. We're going back to Forrester's lab and we're going to get the professor to tell us what to do."

"There's no point in doing that." Satoshi whispers tearfully as he slowly gets to his feet. "Pikachu's dead."