!Disclaimer!

Pokemon is the property of Nintendo.

Dedicated to the Archer of my heart.

A/N: This is my first stab at a Pokemon fanfic. I was mostly wanting to do a comic for this story but I figured it would be easier if I actually wrote it out first and then tried to illustrate it later. Please read and review! Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm kind of flying by the seat of my pants with this one because I don't have the entire plot lined out yet. Enjoy! I'm marking this as M just to be safe for later chapters. - Ni

'How long...?'

"Chu... chu... pi..." she panted, unable to form words from exhaustion, weakly groaning her name as she hobbled on. The pain in her belly was intense, her head throbbing; her eyes nearly swollen shut from blood and tears. Her tiny yellow body shook as she took short, clumsy steps through the gnarled green-and-brown-and-black undergrowth. She couldn't walk on all fours, for she was unable to move her left arm, and when she tried she felt a splintering, like pins and needles awakening and shooting themselves in all directions. She could think of nothing else but to move on, to get away. She couldn't concentrate on the pain or she may stop where she was. Her trainer was beyond her help now. She couldn't go back. She had failed.

'Where am I...?'

She was lost in an unfamiliar region, sure to become the dinner of a wild Pokémon. Vaguely, she was aware that it was strange to have gone so far as she had from her starting point without seeing another. And she still did not know why the Mightyenas had let her live. Was it because she too was a Pokémon? She didn't think that they would have that sort of code of honor. She had heard wild Pokémon hated trainers. However, she knew not what living in the wild meant to her kind. She was born at a Daycare Center. A gift to a little pigtailed girl who loved her from the moment she hatched as a Pichu. She sobbed, and a searing pain lanced through her chest, fire over her heart and lungs. 'Broken rib...'

'Why didn't they just kill me...?'

How could they have let her live knowing her trainer was dead? Now she was all alone in the wilderness, and she would die, slowly and painfully. Unless she could be lucky enough to come across another hungry pack of wild Pokémon, that is. And where was Alice? She didn't want to think about it, but the hyena Pokémon were surely enjoying a meal of her. So lost in her own thoughts, she was barely aware it had begun to rain, as it was so dark in this part of the forest already; the only sign was a sudden dampening of her fur. Could she just die now? Why in the name of Arceus was she still alive?

Her small foot caught on a root sticking wickedly from the ground in her path and she tumbled to the ground, landing on her already broken arm. "Kaaaaa," she whined as she struggled to roll on to her back, thinking to herself that particular root was there just to mock her continued existence. This was it. She couldn't get up now, and she would not try. She had thought she would have run out of tears by now, but there they were again, rolling down her face in heavy rivulets. She managed to prop herself against a rock, and she would go no further. This rock would make a suitable marker for her grave. The grave of a pathetic excuse for a Pokémon who had run from her trainer when there was no longer hope of saving her. 'I was a coward.'

She closed her eyes and remembered the girl who was her trainer. Such a sweet girl she was. She spoiled her Pichu, loved her, and made her so happy she evolved into a Pikachu without ever seeing battle. That day, Alice had given her a scarf that she knit herself; the scarf that now hung in ribbons, soiled and ruined, from her neck. She silently cursed the girl's mother for allowing her to leave home at ten years old with just a pet to protect her. That was all Pikachu was; a pet. Not a Pokémon, a pet to be played and snuggled with. Sure, she could battle, but she knew nothing of the world, nothing of the cruelty of wild Pokémon. She had no idea she would be fighting for the life of the girl who hatched her. Or that she could lose.

'Alice, I'm sorry.'

Her ears pricked up at a sound of rustling. She opened her eyes slowly, her vision blurred by tears. Red, the color of rust, and a flickering light. It was another wild Pokémon. The sight infuriated her. A Charmeleon, in the rain, found her. He must be hungry to risk putting out the fire on his tail. She felt her cheek pouches crackle with static. The Charmeleon knelt before her, and reached out as if to touch her.

"Chuuuu!" She growled, electricity leaping from her body and zapping the fire Pokémon that was about to touch her. The Charmeleon winced but his claws made contact with her cheek and he cupped her small, furry face. She tried to flinch away, but his claws stayed in place.

"Shhhh," he cooed to her. She couldn't understand it. Would he torture her too? How dare he play with his food like that? "CHUUU!" She unleashed a bolt of lightning that should have harmed them both, but she was increasingly weak, and again he merely flinched. He tilted her head up and looked into her eyes. He looked surprised by what he saw, his expression readable through the widening of his own deep brown eyes. She prepared to release more electricity but he cupped her face with his other hand as her cheeks flashed.

"Hush now; you'll only hurt yourself worse. If you lose all your energy now I won't be able to help you." She didn't get it. "Pi-pi-" He shook his head and frowned. "I said 'hush'. You will die. Do you understand?" She managed a nod, and he looked around. They were around the same size; he appeared to be small for a Charmeleon. She didn't know how he was going to help her, and as it turned out, neither did he.

Charmeleon was far from home as well, and Pikachu was fading fast. He had to do something for her. He couldn't carry her without hurting her worse, and he wouldn't make it far on foot. She noticed he seemed to be looking for something, and she again ignored his warning. It took nearly all she had to get out these words:

"It's... It's okay-r-really... You-you will die too, y-you know, if you st-stay..." She gulped and managed a small smile. "I'm t-too heavy... for you to carry..."

He seemed furious with her, or perhaps with himself at her words. He looked down at his hands, frowning at his own smallness. He was useless; he couldn't help her. In his own way, he too had failed. He looked at Pikachu again, and saw the sorrow in her unusually green eyes. And that was when it happened.

The Charmeleon's body was completely engulfed in a brilliant light, and his form began to change shape and elongate. Pikachu forced her eyes shut against the brightness, but she could see it burning through her swollen eyelids. The light dissipated and her eyes fluttered open.

Before she had a chance to get a look at him, Charizard gingerly lifted her small, furry body. She felt a momentary increase in pain, and let out a weak protest. Once settled in his arms, she felt warm and protected, despite her wounds. There was a mighty whooshing sound and she felt them leave the ground. Her vision went black.

She dreamed she was soaring across the sky.

'Look, Alice. I can fly.'

A/N: So the continuation of this story will probably depend on the reviews. I'm planning chapter 2 out right now, and I will be posting at least that. Thanks everyone. - Ni