Joy, Sadness and a Punch of Pika Power
By: Bryce Daniel (copyright 2013)
Paul stood at the top of a large hill overlooking a thick wooded valley. Suddenly, he sees a column of what looked to be an extremely powerful Thunderbolt shooting up from the ground. He thought he heard a weakened "Pikachu" from below, but he was too transfixed on the light show to really notice.
"What is HE doing here?" Paul said distantly.
"Well, whatever, I'm sure – aaagh," he said as the rock behind him nudged him in the butt.
"Tor-terra!"
"Okay, fine," he said recalling his continent pokémon. "I'll check it out. Don't be so pushy."
He gets to the bottom of the hill, and he can see an injured Pikachu with scuffed up fur and a slightly "off" call (which Paul took as being a result of exhaustion) being chased by a flock of wild Skarmory. Paul releases his Magmorter, but it stops him from ordering anything and pushes him behind a large rock as Skarmory's Air Cuter makes a direct hit on the weakened rodent.
Paul was about to scold him when Pikachu's eyes grew red and it unleashed a torrent of electricity scorching everything in a 50-foot radius. As one of the armored birds swooped down, Pikachu raced behind it with Quick Attack before gathering energy into its tail – the kind of strategy Paul had definitely seen before.
"That's Electroball," Paul said peering over the rock cautiously not bothering to hide how impressed he was with its power.
It shoots the energy off, but it misses causing it to collapse in exhaustion but not before looking the purple haired trainer directly in the eyes almost as if trying to use Baton Pass.
Paul springs up from behind his rock, "Magmortar, use Flamethrower!"
It didn't knock them out, but it did scare them away.
Paul approached the Pikachu which still hadn't picked itself up. He tried giving it an Oran berry from his bag, but it was still too weak to eat it.
"This is worse than I thought…" he said picking the ailing pokémon off the ground. "But there's no Pokémon Center for miles."
"Mag-mor"
He had no idea what his fire-type had said, but he went through the pokémon he had with him. Torterra? Too slow. Magmortar? No. Drapinion? No. Electivire? Probably, but...
"Honchcrow! Come out, NOW!"
"Honchcrow!"
"I need you to get us to the nearest Pokémon Center – immediately. It doesn't have much time. Can you Fly us there?"
It nods.
He transfers the now unconscious rodent to his backpack before climbing onto the big boss pokémon's back.
"Do you see one?"
"Honch-crow," it said affirmatively banking its wings slightly to the left.
"Good, now hurry."
They land in front of a Pokémon Center in a tiny town somewhere in Johto. Paul jumps down, recalls his bird and pulls the weakened Pikachu out of his bag. It opens its eyes for a second, smiles weakly and they close again as it mumbles something akin to "pig-a-jew."
"NURSE JOY! It's an emergency!"
"Slow down," she said. "And just tell me what happened."
"This Pikachu was attacked by a flock of Skarmory. I chased them away, but it's badly injured. It wouldn't even take my Oran berry. You have to help it, PLEASE!"
"That sounds bad," she said taking it from his hands and running with her Chansey to the treatment room.
He takes a seat in the empty waiting, and looks up to see Ash standing in front of him. "You did the right thing – that's all that counts."
"Thanks," he said barely managing a smile.
His former rival smiles back and disappears.
Paul looks around the room. He was hungry, but knew he couldn't eat anything until Pikachu recovered. He tried reading a book from his bag, but it was no good – he couldn't focus. Finally, he got up and walked over to the video phone in the corner.
He presses a few numbers on the keypad and a friendly face appears on the screen.
"Something's wrong, isn't it?" Reggie said somberly. "Whatever, it is it must be REALLY bad. I haven't seen you like this in ages. Trust me, I'm your brother. You can tell me."
He tells him.
"He's right," Reggie said. "That was the 'right thing to do,' even if it is somewhat 'out of character' for you. Sorry, it's just I'm proud of much you've matured over your journey. If it is too late-"
"Don't say that," Paul snapped. "It WILL get better!"
"Now, that's the brother I know: Stubborn, tenacious and beneath it all just a big ol' softie."
"STOP IT!"
"Fine," he said with a laugh. "Anything else you need?"
"I might send my Electivire over later."
"Let me know when you decide. I'll be here," and the call ends.
He turns around and once again sees Ash standing there.
"For the record, I'M proud of you too."
He blushes and tries to stammer an anxious 'thank you,' but once again his former rival was gone.
Finally, Nurse Joy comes around the corner. "It's stabilized, but it could take a while before it's fully recovered. If you want, I can make you something to eat while you wait."
"Thanks… but I couldn't."
"Please, you've been here for hours. It won't take long to prepare, and I can even let you eat it in the recovery room if it makes you feel better."
"Okay…" he said reluctantly.
He heads back to the room the scruffy haired Pikachu was in, and found that Nurse Joy had in fact set up a small table and chair with a plate of food for him. He ate somewhat quickly, never taking his eyes off the sleeping rodent in the Plexiglas healing tube.
Sometime later, Nurse Joy came around to pick up Paul's plate.
"You know, we have rooms upstairs if you'd be more comfortable there."
He goes to dismiss her, but he sees his rival watching over the tube who then turns around and gestures at him reassuringly before turning back towards the ailing pokémon.
"Okay… but I'm coming down first thing in the morning to check on it."
She hands him a keycard, and he walks drowsily down the wide corridor toward the staircase. He finds his room rather easily (as it was the first one at the top of the steps) and falls immediately to sleep.
He woke up the next morning with the sun shining brightly in his eyes. He looked over at the clock on the nightstand. It was later than he usually slept, but he could still make the breakfast buffet if he REALLY wanted to…but first he had a sick Pikachu to check on.
"Good afternoon," Nurse Joy chimed as Paul entered the lobby.
"It's only 10am," he said gruffly. "Now, where's Pikachu? Is it better…worse…stayed the same?"
"I'll let you be the judge of that," she said placing the electric rodent on a plastic tray and handing it over to him. "See, your Pikachu seems happy enough to see you, but I'm afraid there's nothing we can do about its speech. Sorry."
"Chansey," she said apologetically.
"Technically, it's not MY Pikachu...," he pauses and turns towards the recovered rodent. "But if you want to come with me, you can. I can use a powerful battler like you on my team."
He pulls out a pokéball and Pikachutwo was captured…just to immediately let itself out. Paul recalls it, but it refused. He tried again, but once again it refused. He tries a THIRD time, but once again it refused.
"Well, aren't we the stubborn one."
"Yes, well," Nurse Joy said trying to sound helpful. "Some pokémon don't like traveling around in pokéballs. But, that doesn't mean you can't travel with them."
"Piga-jew," he nodded jumping up on his new trainer's right shoulder, a move that made Ash smile approvingly.
He goes to leave, but he's stopped by a cocky boy near the entrance. "Why would you want THAT Pikachu? It sounds retarded."
Pikachutwo gets ready to attack, when Paul said: "Why don't we answer that outside?"
Two minutes later, that same boy came in holding a fainted pokémon and noticeably less swagger. It was the first of many fainted, paralyzed or otherwise fried pokémon Nurse Joy - and her sisters - would face due to this indomitable pairing.