I think I've put off updating this thing for long enough. Procrastination does not a good author make, after all...

Anyway, there's been a slight change in my plans. This chapter will not be the last one. I have one more chapter planned for this fanfiction. Don't worry, it won't take almost a month to get Chapter 3 done. I promise.

I think I've spoken enough, so I'll let you read the second chapter. This one's a bit heavy on dialogue in comparison to Chapter 1, but I believe you'll enjoy it regardless.

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After roughly ten more minutes of running, Thunderfoot finally stopped somewhere deep within the woods that surrounded Route 117. He released the bag he was carrying from his jaws and began to catch his breath, finally feeling safe from the gangly human that was chasing him. He soon began looking around to confirm his suspicions, keeping his ears perked for any signs of noise.

After finally assuming that there was no one following him, he sat himself down against a tree to rest. He set the bag of berries at his side, making sure none of the local Pokémon would steal his spoils. Thunderfoot allowed himself to relax, and sighed.

"How does my brother always talk me in to these things?" he asked aloud, not expecting an answer.

"Because you're just that gullible, I guess."

Thunderfoot quickly turned his head to the source of the response. A lone Pikachu sat on the other side of the berry bag, nonchalantly removing various berries and examining them.

"You did pretty good, bro. This thing's almost filled to the brim with berries."

Thunderfoot rolled his eyes at his brother. "Next time, Sparkmind, I get to be the distraction. I'm always the one snatching things, you know?"

"Aw, but you're so good at escaping humans," replied the other Pikachu. "You managed to get away from that human kid pretty easily. I had trouble getting away from the big one."

"Right," Thunderfoot said, diverting his attention to the spoils of the successful theft. "But you know that saying, 'practice makes perfect.'"

Sparkmind gave his brother a dry look. "That is probably one of the corniest bits of advice anyone has ever given me."

"Well, it had to have worked for someone if it's still being used, right?"

"I guess…" Sparkmind simply returned to examining the berry stash.

Thunderfoot, on the other hand, began to examine the surrounding environment. The trees in the area reminded him so much of the Safari Zone. He could practically hear all the sounds of home around him as he looked around. This place seemed so natural, compared to the city that he had just escaped from. Thinking about this began to make him homesick.

"Hey, Thunderfoot, are you awake?"

Thunderfoot was drawn out of his thoughts by his brother's question. He immediately turned to Sparkmind, who was staring at him with a confused look.

"Um, yeah, I'm awake…" Thunderfoot replied.

Sparkmind shook his head and returned to checking berries. "You really need to stop zoning out and start paying attention to the world around you. One of these days, it's going to get you into a load of trouble."

"Right…"

Thunderfoot's gaze fell to the ground, and he began to look somewhat downcast. Sparkmind, noticing this, simply patted his brother's shoulder. His brother was always being too self-conscious, taking even the slightest bit of criticism too harshly.

"Hey, quit being so hard on yourself. Everyone makes mistakes… Um, speaking of which, remember how I said that this route would take us to that city with the ferry?"

Thunderfoot turned to his brother and nodded, wondering where he was going with that statement. Then, less than a second later, realization struck him.

"We're going the wrong way, aren't we?"

Sparkmind nodded, and picked up a single piece of paper that was lying at his side. Thunderfoot was confused as to how he failed to notice it before, as it was sitting in plain view the entire time. Sparkmind picked up the bag of berries with his free hand and moved it to the other side of his body, giving him room to lay down what appeared to be a map.

"I managed to snatch this from a basket in front of the Pokémon center while I was running," he said, and began to point out a few locations on the map.

"We're somewhere in this area," he stated, pointing to the forest on the south edge of Route 117. He then pointed out the location of Slateport City. "This is where we were supposed to go."

"Great," Thunderfoot said gloomily, realizing the predicament. He then pointed out Mauville City on the map. "That means that we're going to have to go through here again to get to the ferry to Johto, aren't we?"

"Yup," Sparkmind responded with a toothy grin, "And I have just the plan to get us through completely intact."

"Oh no," Thunderfoot refused. "There's no way I'm going back in there. I've already gotten my workout for the next day or so."

He then began to look over the map, wishfully looking for an alternative route. After spotting a possible shortcut, he let out a short, triumphant laugh.

"I've got it," he exclaimed. "This forest connects straight to the route that leads to the ferry city. If we make our way through here, we can make it to the ferry in a shorter amount of time."

Sparkmind stared at his sibling for a few moments, before finally voicing his opinion.

"Alright then, lead the way out of the forest."

The confused look on Thunderfoot's face told him the one thing he could have already guessed. Thunderfoot didn't even know which direction to walk towards.

"Okay then," Sparkmind said, snapping his brother out of his little stupor, "we'll head back to that city and go-"

"No way," Thunderfoot interrupted. "I'm not heading back there. Those two creeps will be looking for us. I think it'll be safer going through the woods."

This began a small feud between the two Pikachu siblings, as they argued over whose plan would be the better one to take.

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Meanwhile, a short distance away, the human in the red clothing continued sneaking through the trees with the aid of his Mightyena.

He already had the plan formulated in his head. He would attack the Pikachu that knocked him down when it least expected it using his Onix. Then, with the rodent unconscious, he would capture it and force it to do his bidding.

To any other person, his plan would have seemed like too much of a hassle to go through for a simple mistake made by a wild Pokémon. However, in the Magma member's mind, it seemed too little trouble to go through. That rat would pay for its mistake.

----

After the short argument between the Pikachu brothers, Sparkmind began searching through the berry bag. "I think I have a way to choose which plan we'll use."

Thunderfoot glanced confusedly at his brother. "And that would be to…?"

A split second later, Sparkmind pulled two small red berries from the bag and showed them to his sibling. "How about we do a Cheri-eating contest? Whoever can stand the heat longest, we'll use their plan. How does that sound?"

Thunderfoot blinked in confusion. "You do remember that I'm the one with the tolerance for spiciness, don't you?"

"Well, who said that I haven't built up a tolerance to it after a while? After all, 'practice makes perfect,' right?"

Thunderfoot rolled his eyes at his brother, then took a single Cheri from him. "Fine, I guess I'll go ahead and humor you."

Sparkmind smirked, and brought the berry closer to his mouth. "Okay then, on the count of three. One-"

"Oh, and don't cheat by swallowing it whole."

Sparkmind looked at his sibling with a shocked expression. "How'd you know I was going to do that?"

Now, it was Thunderfoot's turn to smirk. "Because you just told me you were going to, you idiot."

Sparkmind's expression quickly turned into a slight scowl at his brother. "Smart-ass… Anyway, count of three. One…"

Thunderfoot smiled, and joined Sparkmind in the countdown. "Two…"

"Three!"

"Iron Tail!"

Thunderfoot barely had time to blink when the large metallic tail made an impact with his body. Sparkmind, thanks to his reflexes, managed to fall to the ground fast enough to dodge the appendage. Thunderfoot flew through the air for a short while before making an impact with the base of a thick oak tree. The collision left a small crater in the tree, within which Thunderfoot was imbedded. He felt large splinters digging into his back, as well as the pain of broken ribs in his chest.

Thunderfoot weakly opened his eyes. His vision was blurred, but he could make out the image of his brother running to his aid. He also saw the familiar form of the human he collided with in the city grasping Sparkmind by the scruff of his neck and hauling him into the air. Thunderfoot tried his best to call out to his sibling, but the words couldn't form. He could hear the human laugh will sadistic glee at his catch.

"Well, little rodent, thought you could insult me and get away with it, eh?"

Thunderfoot realized what was going on at that point. The human had mistaken Sparkmind for himself.

Thunderfoot began to pry himself from the wooden crater in an attempt to help his brother. As he pushed, he could feel blood seeping from the wounds made by the various splinters still imbedded in the tree. After a few seconds of effort, he fell to the ground with a thud.

Thunderfoot began pushing himself up and looked up at where the human was located. His vision was getting worse by the second, making the human look more like a red blob. He noticed a large grey blur turning to look at the human. That must have been the Onix that hit him.

"Do I get to 'play' with the rat now, Boss?" the grey blob asked, its tail pointing to the fallen Pikachu.

Thunderfoot felt his consciousness slipping away rapidly. His eyesight grew dark as he laid his head onto the ground. As his brother's screams for help faded from his ears, the human's command still rang clear as he drifted into unconsciousness.

"Kill it, for all I care."