Chapter Text
Chapter 1
”The early bird gets the worm, or in this case, the Pokémon.” Professor Oak said calmly, the ghost of a smile gracing his face. His hands placed neatly behind his back as he looked down at the young boy.
Ash stared dejectedly at the open ball in his hand. His one chance at a journey, gone, all because he couldn’t keep to a schedule. With a sigh, he placed the ball back in its place on the table. Shifting his gaze upwards, his eyes met those of the professors. Pleadingly he asked. “Please Professor, don’t you have any more? You know it’s been my dream, ever since my dad…”
Professor Oak frowned in thought. He had known Ash’s father personally, and how much he meant for little Ash. “I suppose I do have one, but I must warn you it is a little… Difficult.” He spoke, searching for a good description.
“I’ll take them!” Ash promptly replied, determination burning in his voice.
With a sigh, Professor Oak turned away from Ash. Walking over to the other side of the table, a faint smile reappeared on the old man’s face. Pressing a button on the side of the table, Oak turned around, any traces of his hidden smile gone.
As the button was pressed a fourth slot opened in the middle of the other three balls. Rising with a whirr, a fourth ball came into view, this one with a small electric bolt printed in the middle. The professor reached over and grasped the ball in a firm grip. Clicking the white button in the middle, the ball opened with a flash of white light.
“This is Pikachu.” Professor Oak started as he quickly backed up a few steps. As the Pokémon finished materializing Oak continued. “Your partner.”
As the white light faded, in its place was a small yellow mouse. Long ears ending in black pointed tips. Bright red electricity sacks sat on their cheeks. Two large brown stripes went down the Pokémon’s back leading to zigzag tail reminiscent of a lightning bolt.
“Pika?” They questioned, blinking their eyes to get reaccustomed to the harsh lighting of the laboratory. Scanning the area, their eyes landed on the two humans in the room, and their mood immediately soured.
Ash, either ignoring or not noticing the mouse’s sudden mood change, slowly approached the Pokémon. Crouching down to the level of the mouse, his previously neutral expression morphed into a large smile. Scooping up the unprepared mouse in a hug, he exclaimed. “He’s perfect! Look how cute he is, just like dad’s old partner!”
“Ash, perhaps you should put it down, it has a habit of-“ Professor Oak started, but it was too late. Pikachu had recovered from the unprompted cradling and promptly pumped Ash full of electricity. “Shocking people…” The scientist finished with a sigh, looking down at the charred and twitching boy on the ground.
But Ash didn’t stay down for long, jumping to his feet he dusted off as much soot as possible before facing the mouse on the floor. “What was that for!” He asked the nonchalant Pikachu in irritation. The rodent in question didn’t react to his question, just turning his chin away from him with a dismissing. “Ka.”
Breaking up the fight before it had time to brew was a clearing of the throat coming from the Professor. “I understand you're trying to bond with Pikachu Ash, but perhaps you can do it somewhere away from my sensitive lab equipment?” He spoke up, walking over to the boy.
Looking away from the Pikachu currently giving him the cold shoulder, he turned to Oak with a sheepish look on his face. “Sorry Professor, guess I got a bit excited.” He apologized.
“That’s quite alright, thankfully nothing got hit by it’s lightning, and you yourself seem to have come out unscathed.” He started before holding out his hands for the boy. In his hands was a red rectangular device as well as 5 red and white balls. “Now, I'm sure you know what pokeballs are, but the device in my left hand you may not. It is known as a pokedex, an encyclopedia compiling the knowledge we have of all Pokémon. Be careful with it, its quite expensive.” He explained, handing over the objects.
“Thanks!” Ash said, taking the objects and putting them in the pockets of his pyjamas.
Professor Oak gave the boy a smile before saying. “Now, be on your way. I'm sure you don’t want this old man to hold you from your journey.”
Ash nodded happily before turning to Pikachu, urging the mouse to follow him outside. Pikachu, as expected, refused. Seeing the rodent’s refusal, Ash asked again, even getting down on his hands and knees as he pleaded with the mouse. This somehow got the electric-type to agree to follow him outside, although begrudgingly.
Looking at the boy and mouse running out of his door down the slope that led to Pallet town, Professor Oak broke out in a genuine smile. He reminded him so much of his father, a shame he isn’t here anymore… He just had to challenge them he couldn’t have left well enough alone.
Shaking his head to rid himself of useless thoughts, the Professor followed Ash toward the town.
Running down the stairs with an annoyed mouse by his side, Ash spotted a large crowd of people had gathered outside the gates to the laboratory. Scanning the crowd, he saw the people of Pallet had all come together to bid the new trainers farewell on their journeys.
Passing by his teacher, he spotted his mom, Delia Ketchum, standing at the front of the crowd, his bag in hand and a worried expression on her face. As she spotted him her nervousness visibly melted away. “Ash, there you are!” She started as she approached the boy. “You left in such a hurry you forgot your bag at home. I was worried you had already left; you need to be more careful!” She scolded.
“Sorry mom.” Ash replied, a small blush starting to color his cheeks.
Delia smiled at her blushing son before her eyes passed over him and down to his feet. Crouching down she addressed the small mouse who looked like they wanted to be anywhere else but here. “Now who’s this cutie, are you going to help my little Ashy?” She said, reaching out to pet the rodent. But Pikachu was having none of it, glaring at the woman, he sparked his cheeks at her in a warning gesture.
Pulling back her hand quickly, she rose to her feet. Turning to Ash with a frown on her face, she asked. “Feisty huh, are you sure you're going to be alright? Why isn’t he in a pokeball for one?"
At her question, Ash pulled out the pokeball with a lightning bolt sticker plastered on the front. Turning to Pikachu, he lightly tossed the ball at the mouse, intending to return him. But the rodent swatted the ball back with his tail, glaring at the young boy with a look that promised a world of pain if he tried again. Ash, quickly getting the message, turned back to his mom. “H-he doesn’t like to be in it.” He answered, swallowing his fear.
“If you say so, you always did have a special connection with Pokémon.” She said with a smile. Seemingly remembering the bag at her feet, Delia quickly reached down to grab it before thrusting it at the unprepared boy. “Now I'm sure you remember, but there’s a tarp in there as well as a sleeping pad and bag. A clothesline to wash your clothes, rubber gloves for washing your dishes. Enough changes of clothing to last you 4 days before washing, as well as enough underw-“ Delia ranted to the boy, who was steadily getting redder.
“Mom! I know.” Ash interrupted, his face now red as a tomato.
“I’m just worried about you, you know that.” Delia said with a smile before pulling the boy into a hug. She held the squirming boy in her grasp, refusing to let go. Eventually his embarrassed cries won and she released her son. “I won’t keep you any longer, but do be careful alright? And call often!” She said, having freed him from her motherly grasp.
“I will mom, I promise.” He said as he shouldered his pack. Moving over to Pikachu he heard his mom say one more thing. “Oh, and remember to change your underwear every day!”
Hastily picking up the mouse, he started pushing his way through the crowd, eager to get away from his mother’s attempt at embarrassing him. Hurriedly shouting back in a tone of voice that barely hid his embarrassment, he said. “Bye mom, promise I’ll call in Viridian!”
Before he managed to get out of the crowd, he felt something shift in his arms. Looking down, he was met by the annoyed eyes of Pikachu, a tick mark forming on his forehead. A miscalculation on his part, he had forgotten the mouse’s dislike of humans, forcing him off the ground wasn’t his best idea. “Crap.” Ash said simply before he, and the rest of the residents of Pallet town were hit by the full might of the electric mouse.
“Perhaps those rubber gloves will come in handy.” Professor Oak remarked from outside the strike range, a bit of humor creeping into his voice.
30 minutes later found Ash dragging the irate Pikachu down the dirt road leading to Viridian City. At first, he had tried asking the mouse nicely to follow him, which ended with him getting shocked. Afterwards, he tried to carry the mouse, hoping the advantage of not walking would win him over, this ended with him getting shocked. Then he followed Professor Oaks advice and put on the rubber gloves. Holding the mouse at arm’s length quickly got tiring and ended with him, you guessed it, getting shocked.
After the third time getting shocked, Ash pulled out the clothesline. He had tied it around the waist of the mouse and dragged him along the road while wearing the rubber gloves. He looked back at the irritated mouse and saw them giving him an angry glare.
Ash saw the glare, and finally realized, this wasn’t going to work. He wanted Pikachu to like him, not loathe him. Thinking it over, he eventually decided on how to proceed. With a sigh, he dropped the clothesline before walking over to the mouse and swiftly untying it.
The mouse regarded him with a puzzled expression, but an underlying irritation was still clearly present. Staying crouched, Ash addressed the mouse’s unasked question. “Look, this is clearly not going to work. So, how about this. No more clothesline, no more gloves and in exchange, you don’t shock me anymore and follow me to Viridian City at least. If you still don’t like me by then, I’ll release you into the wild.” Pausing to remove his glove, he held out an ungloved finger for the mouse to grasp. “Do we have a deal?”
Pikachu put on a thoughtful expression, he scratched his furry chin with one of his forepaws before finally grabbing and shaking the finger. “Chuka.” The mouse announced as he shook the finger.
Lighting up with happiness, Ash quickly pulled off the gloves. Stuffing the gloves and the clothesline down his pack, he could have sworn he saw something yellow darting past him in the corner of his eye. Turning back around to where the mouse was, he found… Nothing.
As his earlier happy mood quickly disintegrated, he heard a chirpy laughter coming from behind. Turning around, he saw the mouse in question lazing around at the top of a tree, mockingly laughing at his crushed expression.
“You really don’t like me, do you?” Ash asked, shoulders slumping in defeat.
“Pi.” The mouse confirmed simply with a nod of his head.
“Why? What could I possibly have done to make you hate me so?” He shot back, irritation building in his voice. In response, Pikachu looked at him with an unreadable gaze. “Why are you so quiet? Cmon, open your mouth! Say something!” He continued, agitation boiling in his voice.
The mouse’s blank stare shifted into something more mocking. Looking thoughtful for a moment, the rodent turned back to Ash, opening his mouth as far as it went. “Very funny…” Ash answered dryly, his agitation being replaced by a feeling of defeat. Looking at the Pikachu, Ash saw him practically beaming, he must have been very proud of his joke.
Rustling from a nearby bush broke him out of his defeated sulking. Looking over at the source of the sound he saw a small brown bird peaking their head out. A Pidgey, that’s perfect! Deciding to try out the pokedex Professor Oak gave him, Ash scanned the bird.
Pointing the device at the bird it beeped once before spewing out information.
‘Pidgey, the tiny bird Pokémon. A common sight in forests and fields. It kicks up blinding sand at ground level to disorient opponents. Due to it being an easy catch, it is often found on many beginner trainer’s teams.’
Pocketing the pokedex, he once more turned back to Pikachu. He gave the mouse a pleading look, nodding toward the bird hoping the electric-type would understand his intent. The lazing rodent looked over at the boy, then at the bird before shifting his gaze back to the boy. Pikachu looked thoughtful for a moment, the ghost of an evil smile passed over his face before he eagerly nodded his agreement to Ash.
The boy in question must have missed the evil smile as he immediately lit up in excitement. “Alright! I knew you’d warm up to me! Pikachu, use thundershock!” He ordered, pointing at the now aware Pidgey. But instead of a small crack of thunder, he was met by silence.
Fearing the worst, he slowly turned around and saw the mouse barely holding in a laugh. As he fully turned to face the Pikachu, he couldn’t hold himself any longer. The rodent burst out in a chirpy laugh, nearly falling off the branch he lay upon.
“I don’t need you anyway, I can catch this Pidgey on my own!” He shouted at the laughing mouse, his face red with embarrassment. Plucking a ball from his belt, he quickly chucked it at the bird before they had time to react. Nailing the bird right on the head, they were promptly sucked inside with a red light.
Ash stared in breathless silence as the ball shook once, twice and thrice. But just as the boy thought he would succeed, the ball burst open, releasing the Pidgey and breaking the ball in two. The bird gave him a pitying look before promptly flying away,
Ash looked at the departing bird in silence. He expected many things, anger or maybe annoyance at least. He didn’t expect the Pidgey to pity him out of all things. Hearing the mouse cackling behind him, he quickly understood why.
Shooting the Pikachu a swift glare, he scanned the area for another potential Pokémon to add to his team. Spotting another Pidgey hopping through the grass a few meters away, Ash was about to throw another ball before an idea popped into his head.
Sneakily taking off his bag, he pulled out his dirty pajama shirt from this morning. Leaning his bag on the trunk of Pikachu’s tree, he started tiptoeing over to the blissfully unaware Pidgey.
When he was but a meter away, he readied the shirt before hurling himself at his unsuspecting prey. Catching the bird in the green shirt, Ash struggled to keep them there. Ignoring the several warning squawks coming from inside his entrapment, Ash struggled on hoping the bird would give up before he did.
Eventually, an extra loud cry came from inside the shirt, and immediately after, the garment started to violently balloon up. Mere seconds after, the shirt exploded in a vortex of dirt and debris, freeing the bird from their textile prison.
Flying up through the twister, the Pidgey flew down to Ash, giving him two hard pecks on the forehead, eliciting a well deserved “Ow!” from the boy. Rubbing the two welts on his forehead, Ash watched the brown bird flying away into the horizon.
As the bird finally disappeared over the tree line, Ash couldn’t ignore the loud cackling coming from behind him any longer. Whipping around, he addressed the mouse reveling in his misfortune. “Zip it will you!” He shouted.
And mercifully, it seems he listened. The mouse stopped laughing for a second, giving the boy an innocent expression before beginning again, louder than before even.
Glaring at the Pikachu as he heaved himself up from the ground, Ash decided not to dignify the rodent’s mocking with a response. Walking over to Pikachu’s tree, he moved his bag in front of him as he sat down and leaned into the trunk of the tree.
Opening his bag, he pulled out the sandwich his mom had prepared for him. ‘Good luck on your journey:) -Mom’ A little note taped to the sandwich read. Smiling as he read the note, he put the sandwich on the ground next to him before pulling out a bag of Pokémon food and a bowl.
Placing the bowl on the ground, he started filling it with the Pokémon food his mother had provided. As he poured, he spotted the mouse looking down at him with an inquisitive look in his eyes. Finishing his filling of the bowl, he sat down once more before addressing the curious mouse.
“Look, maybe we got off on the wrong foot, paw? Clearly, you don’t like me, but I like you, I want to be your friend. Wont you at least come down and eat?” He asked hopefully.
Looking up at the rodent peering down over the branch, Ash spotted something changing in Pikachu’s gaze for but a moment, before it froze over with the same contempt it had held for the whole day.
With a sigh, he looked away from the mouse, deciding to focus on his sandwich instead. Taking a bite of the food, he leaned back and closed his eyes. Leaning back onto the tree trunk he felt the summer sun’s rays warming his face. The soft rustle of trees graced his ears along with the chorus of distant Pidgey song.
Finishing his sandwich, he closed his eyes once again, content with enjoying the peaceful environment for a while. Having sat in silence for a couple of minutes, he heard crunching coming from the left. Cracking an eye open, he saw the source of the sound.
Pikachu was crouched over the bowl, happily munching on his mom’s Pokémon food. Waiting for the mouse to finish eating, he spoke up, startling the Pikachu who probably thought he had fallen asleep. “Tasty right? Thank my mom next time you see her, she puts a lot of effort into that food.”
Pikachu, recovering from being startled, sparked his cheeks in irritation before swiftly darting up the tree again. Looking at the departing mouse, Ash gave another sigh. Of course it wouldn’t be that easy. Unbeknownst to the boy, as the rodent had once more got comfortable on the branch, his expression shifted to one of guilt.
Shoving the bowl down into the pack, Ash sat back one last time, wanting to savor this beautiful day for as long as possible. But he didn’t have time to relax for very long, a fluttering of wings sounded nearby. Flicking his head in the direction of the sound, Ash spotted a group of Pidgey had landed in a nearby spot of grass.
Looking at the birds, Ash furrowed his brows in thought, trying his hardest to figure out a way to capture one of the birds. Eventually, he lit up with an idea, an incredibly stupid idea borne of desperation, but an idea, nonetheless.
Slowly rising from his seat by the tree, he started gathering rocks of different sizes. Having gathered a decent amount, he slowly moved closer to the pecking birds. When he was reasonably close, he started throwing.
The first rock hit its mark, the second missed and alerted the others, by the third they had already started leaving. Rapidly throwing the rest of the rocks in an act of desperation, he had the misfortune of hitting a different species of bird that was hiding behind the flock of Pidgey.
The bird slowly turned around, their expression best described as an angry scowl. Ash tried in vain to apologize, he didn’t have time to utter even a single word before the bird was upon him. Using his arms to protect his scalp and neck from the bird’s angry pecks was about all Ash could do as he hopped around hoping the flying-type would eventually grow bored.
During his dance, his pokedex fell out of his pocket and managed to scan the irate flyer during the commotion.
’Spearow, the tiny bird Pokémon. Due to its short wings, it’s inept at flying long distances. It moves about hurriedly, pecking at bug-types in the tall grass. When threatened, Spearow let out a high-pitched cry to alert their flock of danger.’
Pikachu, safe from danger upon his perch in the tree, looked down at the misfortunate boy. Normally he would laugh at the stupid human being pecked by the angry bird, but a small part of him felt guilty for how he treated the human. And somehow, a feeling of recognition stemmed from the boy, a feeling Pikachu couldn’t figure out the source of.
Staying silent, the mouse deliberated on that feeling of recognition. Stuck in his thoughts, he didn’t notice the Spearow switching targets. Only being broken out of his thoughts by the frantic shout from Ash. “Pikachu, watch out!”
Whipping his head in the direction of the voice, Pikachu saw 2 kilos of irate bird mere centimeters away from him. Not managing to dodge the bird, Pikachu readied himself for the strike. Giving a squeak of pain, he fell off the tree as the bird finally hit, but they weren’t getting away with it scot-free. Immediately countering with a thundershock of his own. The bird, hit by the super-effective attack, fell into an uncontrolled dive toward the ground. Pikachu watched the Spearow crash into the dirt in a cloud of dust before he allowed himself to relax.
Ash looked at the crash-site of the bird for a moment, readying himself for the Spearow to get up. When the bird didn’t, he turned to Pikachu, a smug smile playing on his lips. “Thanks, I knew you’d warm up to me.” He said in a teasing tone of voice.
Pikachu, appalled by the very notion of warming up to the boy, gave him a small shock of electricity to put him in his place. The shock, not strong enough to truly hurt, was enough to stun the boy for a moment. Recovering from his short paralysis, Ash geared up for an argument with electric mouse.
But before any argumentation could take place, a shrill cry sounded from the nearby grass. Looking over at the source of the sound, they saw the same Spearow from earlier glaring at the two. The bird plucked out a few charred feathers before flying up into the sky, toward a large oak on the other side of grassy field.
“Pikachu, didn’t the pokedex say something about Spearow calling their flock?” Ash asked the mouse.
“Pi.” They replied with a nod.
“And that Spearow just did a pretty loud cry.” He continued, worry starting to creep into his voice.
“Pi…” Pikachu answered, slowly nodding.
“Does that mean a very large, very angry flock of birds are on their way here?” He finished, creeping toward his bag.
“Pi.” Pikachu responded fearfully.
Just then, the large oak rustled violently, and from the leaves came hundreds of angry Spearow. Standing frozen in fear, Ash stared at the birds barreling toward him for but a moment before adrenaline managed to snap him out of his funk.
Leaning down to pick up the dropped pokedex, he tossed it into the bag before zipping it shut and throwing it on. Turning around, he saw Pikachu already several meters ahead, barreling down the dirt road.
Following the mouse, he did his best to catch up, but the mouse was just too fast. But being first was a poor choice. The Spearow started targeting the small rodent, peppering him with pecks. The repeated attacks taking a toll on the mouse, slowing his pace.
Ash, seeing his partner getting hurt shouted in a rage filled voice. “Hey! Leave him alone!” Pushing his legs to their limits, he managed to catch up to the mouse and quickly scooped him up in his arms. Cradling the rodent, he kept running in hopes that the birds would eventually give up.
Leaning over the Pikachu in his arms, Ash did his best to protect them from the Spearows relentless attacks. Looking down at the mon in his arms, Ash ignored his pain to flash him a confident grin. “Don’t worry Pikachu, I won’t let them hurt you.”
Ignoring the burning in his legs, he kept running down the path. But the birds were relentless, they wouldn’t give up until they were dead! With this realization, Ash started to get desperate, frantically searching for a way out of their predicament.
The sound of rushing water seemed to be his salvation. Locating the source of the sound he abruptly turned on his heel and ran for the stream. But when he arrived, it wasn’t a stream at all, it was instead a large river, full of violent rapids.
Seeing no way out of his current situation, Ash took a leap of faith and dove into the river. The rapids quickly carried him downstream, and he had to fight to keep his hold on Pikachu. Eventually, the feeling of weightlessness took over, and Ash realized in horror, that they had fallen down a waterfall.
Bracing for the impact of the water, Ash eventually felt it. Landing on his back, the surface tension caused the water to act nearly like concrete. The force of the hit caused a groan of pain out of the boy, and a mouthful of river water down his throat.
Mercifully, the rapids had waned to a peaceful stillness after the waterfall, and Ash managed to frantically swim to the surface. Breaking the surface, he wildly swam to a nearby ridge. Heaving himself onto dry land, he deposited the mouse down onto the dry grass before aggressively coughing out the water that had made its way down his lungs.
Coughing out the last of the water, he collapsed into the grass next to Pikachu, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself and regain some semblance of energy. Lying in the grass fully engrossed in his breathing, he nearly didn’t notice the person who had approached them.
“Are you alright?” They said in a worried voice, forcing Ash out of his meditative breathing.
Ash forced open his eyes to regard the newcomer. Looking up, he saw worried blue eyes looking down at him. A soft feminine face framed the blue orbs and unruly orange hair sat atop her head, held together in a single ponytail by a black hair tie.
“Yeah, we’re alright. We got attacked by a flock of Spea-“ Ash started haggardly, but he wasn’t allowed to finish before the girl interrupted.
“Not you! Pikachu, how bad a trainer can you be? I bet you forced it to train beyond its capabilities!” She accused angrily.
The tone of the girl shocked Ash into a dumbfounded silence. But after a moment, his anger at the accusations broke him free of his frozen shock. “What do you know! Did you not see us fall down the waterfall; you think I would hurt Pikachu like this? It wasn’t me; it was-“ He retorted with an adrenaline-fueled scowl, voice filled with fury. But once again, he wasn’t allowed to finish. A shrill cry interrupted his rant, turning away from the girl, he spotted a crowd of brown birds steadily approaching in the distance.
Adrenaline once more coursing through his body, he scanned the area for somewhere to hide. Instead, he spotted an orange bike parked a bit up the way along the dirt road. Heaving himself up from the ground, he picked up Pikachu before moving for the bike.
Softly placing the mouse in the basket of the bike, he turned to the girl and spoke. “I'm borrowing this, I’ll leave it at the Viridian City Pokémon center. But hide quickly, before the Spearow get here!”
Not waiting for the girl to answer, she would probably shout at him. He started pedaling down the path at full speed. He managed to get a bit of the way toward Viridian before the shadow of the flock covered him. Not daring to look back, he did all he could to distance himself from the steadily approaching Spearow.
As he pedaled, dark clouds started rolling overhead, causing the sunny weather from before to seem like a distant memory. Fully focused on keeping his distance from the angry birds, Ash didn’t notice Pikachu tiredly regarding him with a puzzled expression from inside the basket. The mouse couldn’t understand why a human would go through all the trouble to help him, especially after how he had treated them.
Eventually, the ominous clouds decided to reveal why they had darkened the sky. Torrential rain poured down from the black clouds, causing the dirt path to become muddy. Ash struggled to control the bike on the slippery road, the wheels sliding uncontrollably on the muddy path.
Arriving at a steep slope, Ash finally lost control of vehicle. Veering to the side of the path, a large root jutted out of the ground. Hitting the root head on, the bicycle flipped and threw Ash and Pikachu into the ground several meters ahead, his backpack and cap flying even farther.
Landing on the ground with a grunt of pain, Ash looked at the approaching Spearow with an exhausted look in his eyes. Turning to Pikachu, he saw the mouse looking at him, a tired puzzled expression clear on his face.
Forcing himself to smile, he knew there was only one way for the mouse to live. Reaching down to his belt, he pulled out Pikachu’s pokeball. Placing the ball in front of the mouse, he spoke. “Pikachu, I know you hate it, but it’s the only way for you to survive. Please?”
Not waiting for a response, Ash forced himself onto tired legs, turning to face the oncoming flock. As lightning began to strike violently around the forest, he spread his arms wide in a defiant gesture. “MY NAME IS ASH KETCHUM OF PALLET TOWN. TODAY IS THE START Of MY JOURNEY, AND I REFUSE TO BE BEATEN BY THE LIKES OF YOU!” He shouted with determination toward the bloodthirsty birds.
Pikachu lying still in the muddy road looked at the boy protecting him with his life. He gave a single glance toward the ball at his side before shifting his focus back to the boy. Resolve hardening, he forced himself up on shaky legs before pulling on every ounce of energy that still remained in his small body.
Determination being the only thing still keeping him standing, Ash saw the Spearow begin diving toward him. Just as he was about to accept his fate, he felt a weight shift on his shoulder. Following the source of the weight, he saw a small yellow shape leaping off him, right into the middle of the group of angry birds.
Pikachu, Ash realized. A worried squeak was all he managed to get out before a feeling of static charge along with a pungent smell attacked his senses. Ash saw the mouse curling in on himself, readying an electric attack. Just before the Pikachu was about to unleash his attack, a large thunderbolt shot down from the heavens, hitting the rodent head on.
The lightning bolt supercharged the mouse, and with a bellowing “Chu!” he let loose the stored electricity. The thunder charged attack fried the Spearow with a power Ash had never seen before, it was almost legendary.
As the final bird fell, so did Pikachu. Somehow managing to catch the mouse despite his own exhaustion, Ash stumbled back several steps before collapsing into the muddy ground.
Lying side by side in the rain, Ash and Pikachu panted as they stared up into the gray sky. They lay there for what felt like hours, simply trying to catch their breath. Eventually even the dark clouds started dispersing, lighting up the road with evening light. The setting sun shone with a golden glow, causing the wet leaves of the trees to reflect the light in a mosaic of colors.
“Wow.” Ash said simply, the beautiful scene energizing him a small bit.
“Picha.” Pikachu agreed tiredly.
As they lay there, taking in the wonder of nature. A sound like the clanging of bells was heard overhead. Forcing their focus away from the painting nature had created, the pair spotted a large bird flying through the air. The bird was brown, with tail feathers every color of the rainbow.
No words were needed; they knew seeing that bird was special, special beyond belief. Mesmerized by the large avian, the pair didn’t notice the sprinkling of ash which covered them, mending their wounds. As the bird disappeared beyond the horizon, a lone feather drifted down from the sky, landing lightly on Pikachu’s nose.
The feather caused the mon to sneeze, gaining a small chuckle out of Ash. Plucking the feather away from the mouse, Ash held it up against the golden sun. As the light hit it, it seemed to shine in a kaleidoscope of colors depending on which angle he held it.
Pocketing the feather, he laid down once again, contemplating his next move. Turning to face Pikachu, he saw the mouse doing the same toward him.
“We did it.” He spoke up tiredly.
“Pi.” Pikachu agreed, just as tiredly.
A smirk crept its way onto Ash’s lips. “And you saved me; I knew I’d finally get you to warm up to me~” He teased.
Pikachu rolled away from the smirking boy, trying to hide his embarrassment. “Pi, chuka pikachu.” He said, the phrasing sounding much like a half-assed denial.
Ash laughed softly before rolling over onto his back.
“…”
“…”
“I really didn’t want to bring it up, but I think we have to move.” Ash finally said, punctuating the sentence with a reluctant sigh.
“Chuuu…” The mouse protested in exhaustion.
Forcing himself up on shaky legs, he gestured for the mouse to do the same. When he was instead met by silence, he sighed before turning around. As expected, the rodent was still lying in the muddy road, refusing to move.
Deciding the Pikachu deserved his rest, Ash moved over to pick him up. Cradling the mouse in his arms, he slowly started to make his way to the edge of the forest, his bag and cap lying forgotten in the mud.
Reaching the edge of the forest, he was just about to start walking aimlessly when he remembered the mouse in his arms. “You wouldn’t happen to know a good place to camp around here?”
Pikachu tiredly lifted his head to scan the surrounding area. Recognition shone behind the rodent’s eyes, and he tiredly nodded. “That’s great, can you point the way?” Ash replied.
The mouse pointed with a shaky paw toward the trees, and Ash promptly followed. Following Pikachu’s directions, they eventually left the dense trees, coming out into a beautiful clearing. Green grass covered the ground, and a small creak snaked its way across the glade. The grassy area abruptly ended in a steep cliff at the other end of the clearing.
Whistling appreciatively, Ash spoke up. “You really did know a good place; how did you find this?”
A proud smile spread across the mouse’s face, just as he was about to explain the sound of a metal door slamming alerted the pair. Whipping their heads toward the source of the sound, they saw an older man walking out of what seemed to be a regular tree.
The man stretched his arms out tiredly, revealing a big red R emblazoned on his black jumpsuit. Turning his head, the man noticed the pair quietly staring at him. The black cap on his head obscured, but didn’t hide his annoyed expression. With a sigh, the man grasped a ball from his belt as he spoke up. “Really not your day kid, wish I could do something else, I really do. But I gotta stick to protocol.”
Ash recognized that emblem, he didn’t know from where, but something in his mind was screaming at him to run. But before he could, the man tossed the ball, releasing a yellow humanoid Pokémon holding a spoon, a Kadabra. Before Ash or Pikachu had time to react, the man ordered the psychic-type. “Kadabra, throw the kid and his rat off the cliff.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Ash felt a tight grip grasp him. Within moments, he was flying toward the cliff bordering the clearing, and as he fell he remembered.
Remembered the R which had ruined him. He remembered his dad disappearing that night. He remembered the officer comforting his bawling mother. He remembered the crumpled cap she had held onto like a lifeline. He remembered the blank expression on his mother’s face. Remembered the dusty trophies on the nightstand. Remembered, the photos on the wall, a reminder of what was gone.
He remembered Team Rocket killing his father. And now, they were back, to take him, to finish the job. He had finally gotten over his grief, finally managed to move on. And on the day that was meant to be a new start, the best day of his life.
They were back, to ruin it again.
As he fell, emotions swirled in his head. Fear, for the inevitable end to the fall. Sadness, knowing he would never hug his mom or smell her food ever again. And hate, festering hate at the organization that exists solely for taking and taking and taking. And hate breeds malice, and malice resentment.
And Ash had never resented anything more than Team Rocket.
Pikachu tried his hardest to get Ash’s attention, hoping, praying that he would snap out of it and manage to break his fall. But he knew it was useless, that blank expression said a million words. He would hit the ground, and the first human Pikachu had trusted would die.
Bracing for impact, Pikachu rolled with the fall. The force of the landing causing the mouse to roll wildly into the nearby brush. Shaking off a stray leaf, he quickly ran toward where he heard his trainer land.
“Ash!” He shouted hysterically as he spotted the limp body of his trainer lying unmoving in the grass. Rushing over, he hopped up on the chest of his friend, seeing the color swiftly draining from his face.
“N-no, you're not allowed to die, you can’t! I just started trusting you, you didn’t even give me a chance to get to know you! You can’t leave me!” He shouted haggardly, tears falling from his beady eyes. “You didn’t care how awful I was to you. You protected me and didn’t ask for anything in return, so why didn’t you let me protect you! W-why did you have to leave me…”
The mouse started pounding on Ash’s lifeless chest, shouting for him to wake up. But it was too late, Pikachu had realized that somewhere deep inside. After what seemed like hours, Pikachu’s voice had become hoarse with shouting. Ceasing his pounding, Pikachu gave into his exhaustion. Curling up on the boy’s cold chest, the only sound that reverberated through the dark forest were the stifled sobs of the mouse.
But suddenly, a blinding light began emitting from the boy’s pocket. Wearily opening puffy eyes, Pikachu noticed the light spreading from the pocket, swiftly covering the entirety of the boy.
Jumping off his chest, Pikachu looked in wary silence as the light engulfed Ash, shifting through a multitude of colors. Eventually, the light began dying down, revealing… an empty shirt and pants?
Pikachu looked at the articles in confusion. Warily creeping forward, he gave the shirt a hesitant sniff. As he sniffed, something inside the shirt stirred. Jumping back startled, Pikachu looked on in silence as the lump tried finding its way out of the article.
Eventually, after much struggling, the lump managed to find its way out. Popping its head out, it revealed a fox's head, covered with grayish-white fur. The fox had a tuft of fur growing from the top of its head. The tuft was comprised of fluffy snow-white fur, shifting to a blood-red at the tip. Around its neck was similarly fluffy scarf like fur that snaked its way around the neck of the fox, ending similarly in a red tip.
“Ugh, what happened? Did someone put my head through a wringer or something?” The fox finally spoke up, its voice sounding eerily familiar.
Pikachu recognized the voice; he couldn’t believe his ears. He could feel tears burning behind his eyes, but his tears had run dry long ago. So with a voice that was nothing more than hoarse whisper, he asked one hopeful question.
“Ash?”