Chapter One

Midmorning – Cerulean City Gym

Shrill screams pierced the air in the Cerulean Gym this morning as all the electricity suddenly shut off.

"What's the big idea?!" screamed Daisy stumbling out of her room with strands of her wet hair dripping onto the passage carpet. "Like, I'm in the middle of drying my hair here!"

Lily poked her head through the kitchen door to respond to her distressed sister. "Everything in the kitchen's off too!" Violet walked out of her room and shrugged.

"It's only us. Everything outside looks like it still works." Lily frowned. "You mean there's something broken here?" The three beautiful sisters exchanged looks before letting out a unified scream, "TRACEY!"

Young Pokémon Professor Tracey Sketchit looked up from his sketchpad and sighed. Three screams could only mean trouble for him.

"Should I go see what happened or run now?" he asked Azumarill who was swimming near his feet. "Azumarill Azu-zu!" The aqua-rabbit Pokémon just laughed at her trainer and carried on swimming joyfully. Tracey stretched before strolling out to see what the problem was. It was when he reached the Gym foyer and heard silence instead of the usual soft music, that the girls had installed to add to their theatrical atmosphere, that he realised something was wrong.

"What's wrong?" he called up the stairs. The trio stomped downstairs, Daisy furiously rubbing her hair with a towel.

"Like, what do you think?" replied Violet, "The powers gone!"

Tracey frowned and rubbed his neck. "Is it only us?" he asked looking around.

"Yah," said Lily. "Everything just shut off a few minutes ago."

Daisy, fed up with all the chatter pulled open a draw and hurled a set of keys at him. "Do something Tracey! I need my hairdryer!"

"I'm not an electrician you know," he said, "I might not be able to sort this out."

Daisy frowned at him before pointing at the door leading to the Gym basement. "What's the point of having a man around the house if he can't fix stuff? Now go."

"Thanks sweetie!" said Lily as Violet nudged him towards the door. "I'm sure you can figure it out."

"Figure what out?" said a fifth voice and they turned to see the youngest resident enter the Gym. "What's going on?" asked Misty, putting down her shopping bags.

"The power's gone," said Lily, picking up the discarded shopping, "We're sending Tracey downstairs to fix it." Tracey gave his friend a look that plainly said "Help me!"

Misty stepped forward and took the keys from him. "How can you send him down there himself? When was the last time any of you went? He wouldn't know where to find anything!"

"But Misty it's so dark and creepy!" moaned Daisy. "And we didn't want to wait for you; I need to fix my hair!"

Misty rolled her eyes and grabbed Tracey's arm, pulling him with her towards the basement door. "Come on Tracey; let's see if we can fix this." Misty unlocked the door and grabbed a torch from the shelf next to the staircase before proceeding.

"Geez, how often do you guys come down here?" asked Tracey, looking around at the piles of boxes illuminated by Misty's torchlight.

"Not often," she replied still moving the beam around. "I know there's a fuse box around here somewhere."

The duo ventured further into the dark basement before Tracey suddenly stopped. "Wait, do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"It sounds like…something sparking," he said and strained his ears to locate the source. He took the torch from Misty and shone it further left. "It's coming from over there."

The two tentatively stepped forward in the direction Tracey pointed and saw a light flickering from behind a few boxes. Misty leaned forward and gasped in surprise. There, next to a hole in the floor, was a Pikachu happily gnawing on some cables. "Cha~" it cried happily as its cheeks sizzled with extra power.

"Wow! How did she get in here?" whispered Tracey as they watched the mouse Pokémon feast. "Looks like she dug her way through," replied Misty. "What are we gonna do?"

"Well I don't know about you, but I don't have a net or anything," he whispered back, careful not to alert the Pokémon to their presence.

"We can't leave her though," frowned Misty, "Who knows when she'll be done and this can't be a regular thing."

"Hmm…Well do you have a Pokeball on you?"

Misty gave him a weird look. "You want me to catch a Pikachu?"

Tracey shrugged, "What else can you do? Plus look at her, she's so busy she won't even notice."

Misty pulled a loose Poke ball from her belt. "Never thought I would actually be catching a Pikachu with this," she mused as she crept towards the oblivious Pokémon. Misty expanded the Pokeball and knelt down before skilfully rolling the ball towards the Pikachu. The ball gently tapped the Pokémon before engulfing her in a red light. Misty and Tracey watched with bated breath as the Pokeball shook before suddenly coming to a stop. Misty stepped forward and picked up her new capture. "Alright then, let's get out of here," she said and they hastily made for the stairs. "We'll figure out what to do with you outside" she added to the Pokeball.

Lily and Violet were waiting for them in the foyer. Light music could be heard coming from the speakers on the ceiling. "Awesome!" smiled Lily. "You guys fixed the power!"

"What was the problem?" asked Violet curiously as she saw the Pokeball in Misty's hand.

"Well," began Misty, not sure how to explain. Shrugging, she decided to just show them. "It was this," she said releasing the Pokémon. Daisy, done with drying her hair, flounced downstairs just in time to see the red light materialise on the floor.

"Pi?" said the confused Pikachu looking up at Misty with big brown eyes.

"Aw hi cutie!" exclaimed Daisy as the Pikachu tilted her head. "Where did it come from?"

"This Pikachu was chewing on the mains downstairs. Seems like she dug her way through."

"What's up with its tail?" asked Violet, pointing at the v-shaped indentation on the end.

"Ah yes, that's a sign that she's a girl," explained Tracey. "Pikachu!" she nodded.

Misty bent down and held out her hand for the Pokémon to examine. "What are we going to do with her? I don't think I can just release her outside. Besides the fact that she can easily find her way back in, it just doesn't feel right," she said as she rubbed the Pikachu's electric sac on her cheek. "Cha~" she happily cried, clearly enjoying the little massage.

"Wow Misty," said Tracey, "How did you know she likes that?" Misty smiled and thought back to a time when she saw a young trainer demonstrate the very same technique in a broken elevator.

"Oh just something I saw once."

"But Misty," started Violet, crossing her arms, "This is a Water-type Gym. Wouldn't having a Pikachu here sort of be dangerous to the other Pokémon?"

Misty frowned as she realised her sister was right. While Pikachu was adorable, Misty didn't see how keeping her at the Gym would be good for her or the other Pokémon. "Pika?" she asked at Misty's thoughtful expression. Misty shook her head and smiled at the electric mouse as Daisy and Violet went back upstairs. "Don't you worry, I'm sure we'll figure out what to do."

"Pikachu!" she said happily and hopped onto Misty's shoulder. It was then that the vid-phone at the front desk began to ring. Lily immediately went to answer. "Hi! This is Lily of the Cerulean City Gym, how may I help you?" A familiar elderly (in Lily's opinion) face popped up. "Hello Lily, how are you? May I please speak with Misty if she's in, oh and Tracey too?"

"Hi Professor, I'm great thanks. Yeah sure they're both right here." Lily passed the receiver to Misty as she and Tracey appeared next to her. "Hi Professor Oak, how are you?" she asked. Professor Oak's eyes widened on screen and he leaned forward.

"Why Misty! Where did you get that Pikachu?" he exclaimed in surprise as Pikachu hopped onto the counter and waved at him. Misty let out a laugh, "The basement actually. We found her chewing on some wires not too long ago so I caught her." Professor Oak nodded with interest before suddenly shaking his head and resuming a serious expression.

"Right well, I'm afraid I need to discuss something with the two of you."

"Oh? What is it Professor?" asked Tracey with worry. Professor Oak shook his head before replying, "While I'd much rather discuss this in person, I have a favour to ask of the both if you. I need your help to retrieve something very important from a friend of mine. Do you think you would be able to help?"

"Yes," agreed Tracey immediately, "Speaking for myself of course, I have no problem helping out." Misty looked thoughtful for a moment. "I would love to help Professor but I may need a few days to sort things out here before leaving."

Professor Oak nodded at them, a grateful smile on his face. "Thank you both. Take all the time you need Misty. We can discuss the details when you get here." Misty looked at Pikachu who was looking around at the tanks in wonder.

"Hmm… Professor Oak?" she asked tentatively. "Yes?"

"I don't think this Gym is the best place for any electric Pokémon to be. I was wondering if maybe she could stay with you..." she trailed of.

"Of course," the Professor replied. "I would be happy to have her."

Misty smiled brightly quickly saying, "Thank you Professor! We'll see you soon!"

"Take care Professor. We'll be there in a few days." Tracey added before Professor Oak bid them farewell and ended the call. Misty looked down at Pikachu and stroked her head. "I think you'll like living at Professor Oaks' place Pikachu. There're lots of fruit and berry trees and open pastures and ponds and loads of Pokémon around. I don't think you'd be very happy in this Gym where most of the Pokémon are swimming in tanks… Unless of course you like to swim?"

"Pika Pikachu pi?" (Are you kidding me?)

Misty laughed and picked her up. "Sorry, but let's introduce you to everyone anyway." Tracey followed them into the main area and called out to his Azumarill. "Hey Misty," he began while starting to groom his Pokémon, "What are you going to do about the Gym while we're gone?"

Misty looked contemplative as she set Pikachu down to greet some of the Pokémon that wondered over. "I suppose I'll have to send an e-mail to the league letting them know I won't be accepting challenges for a while." She sat down and watched as Pikachu tried to have a conversation with Psyduck. "Where do you suppose we're going anyway?" she asked him. "And what do you make of your little vacation being cut short?"

Tracey let out a snort of laughter. "Yeah some vacation… Analysing species variation within a stable environment is definitely my idea of relaxing." He ducked as Misty's sandal flew at his head and laughed. "And who knows?" he added to answer her first question. "Professor Oak is being very secretive so I guess we're going to just have to wait and see."

Meanwhile Pikachu was getting very frustrated at the unresponsiveness of Psyduck. How was she supposed to get acquainted if he wouldn't answer a single question? Her cheeks began to spark as she her anger increased. "Pika! Pikachu?!" Again Psyduck simply tilted his head. "Duck?"

That was it. "PikaCHUUUUU!" she cried letting loose a surge of energy towards Psyduck. Just as Misty jumped down to push Psyduck out of the way, she let out a sigh of relief as Quagsire got there first and successfully nullified the bolt. Misty scooped up Pikachu and calmed her down.

"I guess you got mad at Psyduck huh?"

"Pi Pikachu!"

"Look Pikachu, Psyduck has been with me for a long time. I know he can be extremely frustrating to be around at times but he has a good heart no matter how slow he seems."

"Pika?" (Really?)

"Yes and you need to learn to control yourself as well. This entire area is full of water. If Quagsire hadn't jumped in a lot of Pokémon would have been seriously injured." Pikachu's ears fell back as she realised this.

"You can't just shock everyone that you don't immediately get along with," continued Misty. "That won't end well for anyone. Now are you ready to apologise?"

"Chu," she nodded and Misty set her down and watched as Pikachu apologised to the Psyduck, Quagsire, Marill, and everyone else she almost zapped.

"Yeah having you around a lot of water is definitely dangerous." Misty mused as the Pokémon all seemed out of danger again.

"You handled that well," Tracey remarked from his spot by the water's edge, "For a Water Master." He grinned as she threw him a nasty look.

"Just because I'm a Water Pokémon trainer doesn't mean I can't interact with other types."

"I know I'm just teasing," Tracey laughed and watched as Azumarill went to play with her offspring. "Are you sure you don't want to keep her here though?"

"I suppose I could make it work," responded Misty, stretching and tying her long red hair into a ponytail. "The decision is hers. If she doesn't want to stay at Professor Oaks then I'll keep her with me."

Tracey nodded and the two watched the Pokémon interact some more before Misty got up to contact the Pokémon League. While he sat there, he wondered some more about where exactly Professor Oak was sending them.

And in the depths of Johto, something stirred.

Thoughts are very much welcome. I'd like to know what you like, don't like, etc.

To be continued…

~DQ