The forest felt oddly different. Though the leaves still swayed in the summer breeze and the atmosphere was as serene as it had always been, it was not the same home Wolf had grown accustomed to. What made it worse was that Kiara had been asleep for a long time now. He wouldn't have been worried if she had only been asleep for a day at most, but it had been much longer than that. A total of three days had passed so far since she had settled down amongst her make-shift nest to sleep off her grief.
After the first day, Wolf had decided to let the girl sleep in a bit later. After all, who knew what kind of mood she would wake up in? However, he had decided he should try to wake her once she no longer looked peaceful in her slumber. She had been tossing and turning in her sleep, carrying looks of pain and fear on her face in the process. However, when he violently shook her, she wouldn't even give the slightest response to it. It was almost as if she were trapped in her slumber. Wolf had even gone as far as pouring a cup of water onto her head, but she didn't react in the slightest to that either.
At this point Wolf was truly afraid for his friend. His anxieties grew when mumbling in her sleep had been added to the list of things she did. He would hear her say things like "Stop!" or "Help me!" or "Garry!" It made Wolf wonder what was going on in her head. There was even a moment when he heard her crying in her sleep. It was then he knew he had to find an old friend to help.
Wolf now was slinking through the forest, his eyes scanning the area for a familiar orange body. He had left Vulpix with Kiara so he could report anything if she did happen to wake up, though he highly doubted it. His eyes flashed to the right as he heard a rustle in the bushes. He let out a hopefully gasp as he saw a long, thin black tail with a yellow lightning bolt shape at the end poking out of the undergrowth. "Hey Raichu!" he called out.
The tendril-like tail twitched at the call and suddenly a large, orange mouse head popped out of the bushes with a confused gaze. However its eyes brightened upon seeing Wolf. "Rai rai!" he greeted as he stomped out of the undergrowth to meet the boy.
Wolf smiled warmly at the mouse Pokémon. Memories of when this Raichu played with Kiara as a Pichu back in Kangaskhan's den flashed in his head. However, he quickly pushed the happy thoughts away. There were more important matters to attend to. "It's good to see you too. But I really need your help. Kiara's in trouble," he explained quickly in a serious tone.
Raichu's eyes widened at hearing that something was wrong with his old friend. "Raichu!" he exclaimed as he took a step back and nodded to Wolf, as if signaling for him to lead the way.
Wolf blinked at him gratefully and turned away without hesitation back to where he had left Vulpix and Kiara. He was glad that he had learned the territory of the forest very well over the years of living here; otherwise he would feel just as lost as he had been the first night he and Kiara had left the orphanage. It didn't take long until he arrived at the small clearing with Raichu at his heels. I hope this works…
Vulpix turned his head to face Wolf once he had entered the clearing, his eyes full of concern and sorrow. He quickly turned his gaze back to the girl who continued to writhe in her sleep.
Wolf flinched upon seeing Kiara, even though it shouldn't have been a surprise to him at this point. She was still mumbling now, thought it was more just gibberish than actual words at the moment. He sighed before turning to face Raichu. "Alright, as you can see, Kiara's sleeping. She's been asleep for a very long time but nothing I do will wake her. It's like she's trapped in a nightmare or something…So that's why I've come to you. I was hoping that maybe if you shock her, just a little…It might be enough to awaken her," the boy explained.
The mouse Pokémon stared at the writhing girl as Wolf explained the situation, his eyes wide with shock and grief. Once he had finished, he stared at Kiara for a moment longer before turning to face the boy and giving him a nod of determination. "Rai Raichu!" he promised. With that, Raichu gently reached his tail towards Kiara and placed the tip on her arm. Taking a deep breath, the mouse Pokémon clenched his paws and shut his eyes, summoning his electric power to his aid.
Wolf saw Raichu's yellow cheek pouches flash with sparks for a brief moment until it was followed by a sudden, but light, charge onto the girl's arm. With that, the mouse Pokémon opened his eyes and relaxed, bringing his tail back to him as the three now watched silently, hoping for some sort of change in Kiara's condition.
A flicker of hope flashed inside Wolf as Kiara suddenly jerked in her slumber, but it soon faded as he realized it probably had nothing to do with what Raichu had done to her. Fear was apparent in her face as she suddenly let out a wail. "No! Stay away from me!"
Wolf and the two Pokémon all looked taken aback. The boy proceeded to look defeated, as if he really had no other bright ideas to solve this problem. Perhaps there was nothing he could do, and whatever was causing this was like a virus. Maybe it just had to run its course and it would go away eventually. He sure hoped that was the case. What if Kiara never woke up again? Would he end up losing another person he cared about? As he watched Raichu settle himself next to Kiara in her nest and curl his tail around her, Wolf sent off a silent prayer to his father. Please Dad, help Kiara come back to us safely!