2. FUGITIVE
"Maybe it's risky, but it may be my only chance..."
"One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready...PokéBall, go!"
With a wild toss of the hand, Reena sent her last shiny new PokéBall hurtling into the air, headed straight towards a Rattata who was busy stuffing its face with seeds.
"Drat!" Reena sighed exasperatedly as the Rattata scurried away into the underbrush. The PokéBall disappeared into a clump of thorny bushes even Reena was wary to go near.
"Don't tell me that was your last PokéBall," Chikai snapped in a surly voice as it ran up behind her.
"I'm sorry, Chikai!" Reena moaned, digging through her pockets helplessly. "But how else was I supposed to catch Pokémon? It's not like I can... "
The disgusted Pikachu held up a paw, which Reena was too distressed to pay any mind to.
"...catch any Pokémon otherwise! At least in the game, you get your own starter Pokémon. Chikai, you won't even help me catch any Pokémon at all! If you had just electrocuted that Rattata for me, then maybe that PokéBall wouldn't have been wasted!" Reena regretted her whiny words as soon as they burst out. Wincing, she braced herself for a well-deserved retort from Chikai.
The Pikachu, however, simply kept on walking. Swallowing quickly, Reena quickened her pace to match Chikai's brisk steps. "Chikai?" she tried tentatively. "If it doesn't bother you, may I ask exactly how I'm going to get any Pokémon before we reach Cerulean City?"
Chikai's voice came this time, cool and even. "You were responsible for those PokéBalls you wasted so recklessly, Satoshi," it informed her coldly. "Now that they're gone, you've complicated our tangled situation tenfold."
"I'm really sorry, Chikai. Honest, I am. It's just that..."
"I don't want to hear it!" the Pikachu interrupted severely, cutting off all of Reena's miserable protests. "Either you cope, or you don't. The weak will never win out here, Satoshi. You can either learn from your mistakes and become stronger, or curl up in a ball and die. How does that sound to you?"
Reena bowed her head, knowing she could expect no sympathy from her companion. The strange duo continued trudging through the forest in uncomfortable silence.
Looking curiously about, Reena was acutely aware of dozens of hidden eyes watching her every move. The wind howled its way through the forest canopy, rustling the treetops overhead in a cacophonous roar that drowned out even the steady padding of her heavy sneakers. As she walked on, fallen twigs and low branches tore at her exposed legs and face, leaving puffy red streaks to mark her skin. And when the light that filtered in through the treetops slowly dimmed, Reena tried her best to ignore the stinging blisters on the soles of her feet. She wanted badly to stop, to call out in protest to Chikai. But as it was, Reena held her rebellious tongue and limped onward, making sure never to fall more than a step behind her Pikachu companion.
Chikai thought nothing more of her than a deluded little brat, Reena knew all too well. One who had expected to spend her life playing simple games and reveling in pathetically trivial successes. If it had been Chikai who had brought her here in the first place, for whatever purpose, surely it was regretting its choice by now. But Chikai could no more change the past than Reena herself. As the Pikachu had so caustically remarked earlier, all they had was the future to work with. Which gave the determined Reena a chance to prove Chikai wrong about her, however long it might take.
Slapping at feisty insects too small for the eye to follow, Reena was instantly relieved as both she and her Pikachu companion emerged into an open meadow. Glancing back at the forest from which they had come, Reena breathed a tired sigh before turning towards the meadow.
"We're out of the forest, Chikai!" she called, collapsing into the tall grass and putting her hands behind her head. "Let's stop for the night."
Taking a seat beside her, the Pikachu's eyes narrowed into a disapproving scowl. But evidently, Chikai was just as tired as she. After giving its fur a thorough licking (much, to Reena's amazement, like her little kitten back home), Chikai curled up on its side and fell promptly asleep. Reena noted the slow rise and fall of the Pikachu's small body before turning her gaze to the dark sky high above.
A cascade of stars glittered enchantingly in the night sky, bright and sparkling like little jewels capturing the rays of some unseen sun. The stars back home, Reena mused, were always dwarfed by the bright lights of her neighbor's house or the tall streetlamps that guarded the edges of the road. And it was so quiet here, almost eerily so without the familiar rumble of passing cars or late-night voices downstairs.
Closing her eyes, just for a moment, Reena felt a sudden sharp pang of homesickness strike her directly in the stomach. The wind whisked past her face, turning the tears that had formed there frigid and all the more painful. But brushing away the tears seemed too much of an effort for Reena. Instead, she kept her eyes closed and her face turned into the wind.
It was her own fault for being here, and even if she hadn't fully understood the consequences of her actions, nothing could change the fact that she would have to go along with them. In the end, Reena's body was simply too exhausted to stay awake any longer. Lulled by the rush of the wind and the chirping of crickets, the human girl fell asleep, face still raised towards the sky.
The next morning, any of the energy or the sternness that Chikai might have lost during the weary forest hike was back in full force. Reena, herself, was somewhat subdued, and set about obtaining breakfast as Chikai had commanded her to do.
There wasn't much to eat, save for several energy bars and packages of dried fruit in Reena's backpack. The girl opened some for herself, then handed the rest to her Pikachu companion. Chikai ate voraciously, finishing its meal before Reena even had time to take another bite.
"It should take us the rest of the morning to reach the pharmacy," Chikai reported after a thorough scanning of its maps. "Have you our money, Satoshi? It should be in the back compartment of your pack...no, further back. There, that one."
Removing a thick wallet, Reena gazed open-mouthed at the wide wad of bills that protruded from the sides of the bundle. "I hope you didn't rob a bank or anything!" she joked. Chikai frowned at her remark, tail twitching spastically.
"That money's not going to last forever, Satoshi," Chikai warned Reena pointedly. "Do not make the mistake you did before."
"I know, I know," Reena nodded, tucking the wallet back into her pack. "A good trainer learns from their mistakes to become stronger. Believe me, I've heard it all before." Reena stopped herself before she had a chance to blurt out summaries for more than a dozen Pokémon episodes.
As Chikai had predicted, the duo reached their destination after the sun had traversed to well to the middle of the sky. With the relentless heat beating down upon her head, Reena was eternally grateful as soon as she spotted the small, picturesque building in the distance.
"There it is!" she shouted to Chikai, before taking off on a sprint down the path. As Reena neared the pharmacy, she realized that the pharmacy had been constructed from logs and thatch. It looked almost as ancient as the forest itself, certainly not the kind of PokéMart Reena had been led to expect.
Then again, what did she know? Not waiting for Chikai to catch up behind her, she knocked quickly on the wooden door.
"May I help you?" a polite female voice asked. Reena looked up as a teenage girl, one with dark green hair done up into messy buns, opened the door in front of her. The girl carried some sort of bowl in one hand, and a pestle the other. Reena guessed she must be in the process of mixing some kind of Pokémon medicine.
"Parasect? Para?" a small voice chirped from Reena's feet. Looking down, Reena spotted a crab-like Pokémon hunched in the doorway of the cabin, round eyes peering fearfully up at her and mushroom quivering.
"Hey, you're Cassandra!" Reena cried to the green-haired girl before she had a chance to stop herself. But the girl was not the slightest bit perturbed at Reena's mention of the corresponding anime character's name.
"I guess the fame of my pharmacy has spread to many travelers," she smiled at Reena. "Come in." Whisking back to the counter at the far end of the room, Cassandra deposited her things on its wooden surface before turning back to Reena. "So, what's your name and how can I help you?"
"Oh, I'm Re..." A small cough from the doorway made Reena glance up in surprise. Chikai was standing there, nearly out of breath from running down the path. "I'm Satoshi, a Pokémon trainer," Reena corrected firmly, bending down to escort Chikai in. "And this is my instructor, Chikai."
Cassandra glanced briefly down at the Pikachu. "A Pokémon training a human?" she said incredulously. "You have quite a sense of humor, Satoshi."
"Oh no, I'm serious," Reena protested, but was cut short by Chikai's sharp nip. "Chikai, that hurt!" Reena yelped, clutching at her arm.
Something in the Pikachu's eyes was strange, almost unsettling. Turning back to Cassandra's suspicious stare, Reena forced a sheepish laugh.
"I see," Cassandra said with an easy smile. But her eyes were still hard. Reena tried not to fidget, turning her attention, instead, to the matter at hand.
"I need to buy some supplies," she informed Cassandra quickly. With a nod, the older girl showed Reena around the room, pointing out various displays of medicines, potions, and hand-crafted PokéBalls. Reena's head was spinning with the wide array of items, and Chikai was being no help whatsoever. The Pikachu trailed after Reena's sneakers, sullenly silent.
At last, Reena decided to buy several more PokéBalls as well as a choice selection of various medicines that she recalled from her experiences playing Pokémon on the Gameboy. Feeling responsible at last, Reena carted the items over to the counter and waited for Cassandra to ring up the sale. See what Chikai thought of that! Reena thought fiercely to herself. If it ever got over this strange, sudden silent treatment, that was.
Cassandra's voice broke through Reena's thoughts, naming an impossibly high number somewhere in the hundred thousands. Making a face, Reena dug through her new wallet, emerging with a handful of bills.
"I'm sorry, Satoshi, but you don't have nearly enough money for all of this," Cassandra said, shaking her head.
"Are you sure?" Reena prodded. "I have a lot of money there, you know."
Cassandra counted out the crisp new bills, laying them in a careful stack on the counter. "You have $300," she announced finally, sliding the money under Reena's nose.
Reena was amazed. She'd never had so much money in her life. Forget that crummy old bank account her mother had made her start -this was real cash!
"You do realize, Satoshi, that Potions alone cost $300 each?"
The words hit Reena like a rock-hard snowball in the forehead. She'd never thought much about the ridiculously high prices in the Pokémon game. $300 for a single Potion? The realization instantly dissolved whatever good feelings that were left in Reena's stomach, leaving only a queasy feeling of embarrassment and despair.
"I guess..." Reena found herself saying faintly. "I guess I'll just take a Potion, please."
As Cassandra performed the exchange, the door to the cabin swung open behind Reena and Chikai, letting in a cool gust of wind along with a boy about Reena's age. As the child stepped forward towards the counter, Reena caught a good look at his profile.
Slight and small, the boy appeared to be a bit shorter than Reena herself, with unruly brown hair that framed his face in long spikes. Unlike Reena, he wore a matching baggy green shirt and pants, along with black hand-gloves.
"Oh wow!" Reena hissed excitedly to Chikai. "Do you know who that guy is?"
"I'd like to purchase some Revives," the boy said politely as he stepped up to the counter.
Cassandra shot him a tight-lipped smile. "Revives are $1200 each," she replied, holding out her hand for the money.
"I'm sorry. I don't have any money," the boy confessed, still speaking in the same courteous manner as before. "But I'd be willing to work for you in exchange for the medicine I need. One of my Pokémon fainted this morning -it was up all night flying, and I need to get it some medicine as soon as possible. "
Cassandra nodded sympathetically. "I understand," she said with a smile. "Here, why don't you take the Revive now and help your Pokémon? You can pay me back some other time." Gesturing to the back room of the pharmacy, Cassandra nodded at Reena, who was still standing curiously in the corner. "Satoshi, you know where the Revives are, don't you? Why don't you show this young gentleman where they are?"
Thanking her profusely, the boy accepted Cassandra's offer, turning to face Reena and Chikai with a smile. "So you're Satoshi?" he asked as she led them both into the back storage room. "And who's your friend?"
"My friend?" Reena looked down into Chikai's dark, scowling eyes. "Oh, you mean Chikai?"
The boy's smile widened as he knelt at the Pikachu's side. Reena gulped as he put a hand on Chikai's head and proceeded to give the Pikachu a good scratch behind the ears. Fortunately for him, Chikai didn't seem to mind.
"You wouldn't happen to have a Pikachu, too, would you?" Reena questioned, avoiding Chikai's warning glares.
Blinking his bright blue eyes, the boy eyed Reena in puzzlement and alarm. Too late, she wished she had kept her mouth shut.
The creak of an opening door sounded in the front of the building, followed by the clunking of heavy rubber boots. Instinctively, the boy beside Reena fell back into the shadows and flattened himself against the wall.
The clunking stopped shortly, and the voice of a grown man rang out commandingly. "The League is searching for the whereabouts of one fugitive Hiroshi Richardson," the voice said briskly. "Thirteen year old male, brown hair, blue eyes, has a Butterfree and a Charizard with him. He was last spotted somewhere in this area. Have you seen the fugitive?"
Somewhere in the shadows, Reena thought she could hear quickened pounding of a heart.
"He was just here a minute ago," Cassandra's voice came, sounding confused. "But what does the League want with the boy? He seemed so...kind. Not a troublemaker."
"Ma'am, the League has reason to believe the fugitive is a threat," the man replied sternly. "He has resisted capture a number of time, and will be dealt with accordingly. Now, tell me where the boy was headed..."
Cassandra's voice was indignant. "I'll do no such thing! Why, he's only a boy! A helpless child of a trainer!"
"The League does not distinguish between children and adults..."
"Will the League show no mercy!" Cassandra cried. This outburst was followed immediately by a scream, then a wild scrambling. Dashing to the front of the room, Reena caught a glimpse of Cassandra's Parasect, claws locked tightly onto the arm of a uniformed man. With a wild fling, the man threw the Pokémon from his arm, slamming it against a shelf of medicines.
Crying out in anguish and horror, Cassandra ran to her fallen Pokémon and tried to revive it with a bottle of medicine. The Parasect did not get up.
There was a flash of green at the edge of Reena's eye. The fugitive trainer was using Parasect as a diversion and making a break for freedom.
"Stop right there!" the man bellowed, pulling a PokéBall from his belt.
But the fugitive was faster. Opening his tight, gloved fist, Reena had time enough to see the shiny red PokéBall he was holding, emblazoned with a yellow star. Instantly afterwards, a firm paw came down on her knee, shoving her onto her stomach.
"Get down!" came Chikai's urgent hiss.
A thick cloud of sparkling powder was filling the air above them. Squeezing her eyes shut, Reena detected several heavy thuds on the wooden floor of the pharmacy building. Seconds later, a blinding burst of light pierced through her closed eyelids...
Inching across the floor and tumbling out the front door of the building, Reena raised her head in time to see the fugitive's retreating figure. The boy's breath came in sharp, strained pants and his baggy green pants flapped around his legs as he ran. Right behind him, delicately veined wings fluttering to an ivory blur in the breeze, was a large Butterfree.
"Hey!" Reena called, stumbling to her feet. "Stop!"
The boy didn't even pause.
Light-footed and nimble-bodied, Chikai scurried forward. With a wild lunge, the small Pikachu threw itself into the air. Grabbing hold of an overhanging tree branch, Chikai sprang into the sky once more, this time launched directly towards the Butterfree. Growling ferociously, the Pikachu knocked the flying Pokémon into the dirt, pinning it to the ground with its body.
"Happy!" the boy cried, swerving about and rushing to his Butterfree.
"Chikai!" Reena called out, stumbling over the grass and sprawling into a heap several feet away. Chikai and the Butterfree were engaged in a vicious wrestling match. Thrashing about angrily, the Butterfree managed to squirm out from under the Pikachu, clobbering it with one foot as it did. Letting out a roar that was more anger than pain, Chikai sank its teeth savagely into the Butterfree's thin wing.
"Chikai, Chikai!" Reena shouted, beating at the Pikachu with her hands. "Please, stop it! Let it go, Chikai! Let go!"
Eyes flashing, the Pikachu spat out the Butterfree's mangled wing, choking slightly on the irritating powder that now coated its tongue. Reena sank to her knees, mind swirling in a mixture of relief and revulsion at the sight she had just witnessed. "How could you do something like that, Chikai?" she whispered, barely able to keep her voice from shaking.
Lip curled in disgust, Chikai wiped a paw over its mouth, spitting at the ground by the Butterfree's body.
Reena clenched a fist at the Pikachu, not bothering to tone down the volume of her hysterical voice. "Chikai! Tell me, why did you do that to the poor Butterfree?!"
"It's okay," the boy trainer's voice came from behind Reena's back. Cradling the Butterfree in his arms, he stood to face Reena and Chikai. "Your Pikachu was just obeying your orders," the boy said, voice calm and even. "You told me to stop, and I didn't, so Chikai here had no choice but to attack my Butterfree. Besides, Happy's seen worse in battles all the time. Haven't you, Happy?"
"Free, 'ee!" the Butterfree agreed readily, flailing its uninjured wing.
Reena gulped convulsively. If all Pokémon battles were as brutal as this, she didn't know how she'd ever get used to them.
"Now if you'll excuse us," the boy said, turning away and recalling his Pokémon. "Happy's Sleep Powder will only keep them out for a bit, and reinforcements are sure to be on their way. I wouldn't hang around here if I were you either, Satoshi. The League can be pretty tough on new trainers." With a blink of his blue eyes and a bow of his head, he was slipping through a gap in a nearby grove of trees.
"Wait!" Reena called after him. With Chikai close on her heels, she dashed after the fugitive trainer. "How...how did you know I was a new trainer?" she asked the boy quickly, gasping for breath as she slowed to a walk. "Is it...that obvious?"
The boy managed a half-smile, looking over his shoulder as Chikai bounded up behind them. "Lucky guess," he shrugged, slowing his stride so Chikai had a chance to regain its breath. "If you were an experienced trainer, Satoshi, I'd think you wouldn't want to hang around me."
"Why's that?"
The boy's smile seemed to waver for an instant. "Everyone around me," he started in a quiet voice, "is in the way of the League." Quickening his pace, he shot Reena a smile. "You've got to be scared now, Satoshi," he stated lightly. "But you're still following me. Why?"
Reena froze as the boy's bright blue eyes peered inquisitively into her face. For a moment, both stood immobilized, suspended in silence. Now, Reena looked the boy over once more. From his baggy all-green attire and black hand-gloves, to his tousled brown hair and sincere smile, everything about the trainer adhered firmly with something Reena had seen long ago in her own world. She could still recall watching Ash's League Championships for the first time, distressed and disoriented after missing the first ten minutes of a particular episode. But then, she remembered, had come a new trainer, one who had befriended, then defeated, Ash in a crucial Pokémon battle.
Now she was seeing that trainer again.
"You're Richie!" she burst out, forgetting all of Chikai's stern warnings and scowling glares. "From the Pokémon League! And I thought you were just..."
A sharp nip in the ankle from Chikai made Reena shut her mouth quickly.
The blue-eyed trainer regarded her confusedly. "My name's Richie," he told her finally, shaking off his perplexity and continuing to walk at a brisk pace. "But I'm no longer a member of the Pokémon League."
Reena could feel herself flushing in abashment as she ran to catch up with the other trainer. "Aren't all Pokémon trainers members of the Pokémon League?" she asked him, thoroughly baffled. "No, wait. What about the Orange League? And the Johto League? Oh, I don't know! Something like that?" She looked to Chikai for help, but the Pikachu was still ignoring her.
"The Pokémon League is the head authority of all the subordinate Leagues you mentioned," Richie corrected her. If he was more than mildly surprised at Reena's lack of knowledge, he hid it well. "Indigo, Orange, Johto, they all answer to the Pokémon League. And all registered Pokémon trainers are, yes, technically members of the Pokémon League. The only way to advance in rank is by winning against other, more powerful members. Gym Leaders are the first level beyond typical trainers, next comes the Elite Four. The head of the Elite Four is the Champion, the most powerful trainer in the world. It is the Champion that controls the entire conglomeration of Leagues, Pokémon, and trainers. And it's the Champion every aspiring trainer must collect League badges and defeat the Elite Four in order to challenge."
Reena swallowed, still slightly dazed by the enormity of the information Richie had just handed her. Did Chikai sincerely believe that the woefully inexperienced Reena was a trainer who could defeat the best the Pokémon world had to offer, and become the leader of it all?
"I'll need to get more Pokémon, that's for sure," she found herself mumbling. "Hear that, Chikai? Man, you never said a word about any of that! How was I supposed to know what I was going up against, Chikai? And why won't you talk to me anymore?"
The Pikachu stared sullenly back at her as it trotted along, but did not open its mouth.
Reena's head jerked around at the sound of Richie's light laughter. "Chikai can't talk, Satoshi," he said simply, pushing a willowy spray of twigs from the space before his head. "No Pokémon has ever been able to talk."
"Oh yeah?" Reena challenged, ducking as the twigs snapped back in place. "What about Meowth from Team Rocket? Or Mewtwo or..." She broke off, noting Richie's blank stares.
The boy looked at her shocked face a moment longer before shrugging his shoulders and turning away. "Maybe there have been Pokémon who could talk," he said in a soft voice. "But the League would have taken care of them right away. A Pokémon talking Human is prohibited by the Champion's laws."
"You're kidding!" Reena cried, completely taken-aback. "But...how bad can talking be?"
Richie examined the dirt below the soles of his boots, avoiding Reena's demanding stares. "A Pokémon talking Human in a Class Three felony," he recited wearily, pushing aside a clump of ferns with a gloved hand. "All Class Three felonies are punishable by death, Satoshi. And they can be pretty much anything. Disobeying a trainer's commands repeatedly, refusing to evolve against a trainer's wishes, and so on."
"I don't see why!" Reena declared boldly. "Those are all stupid rules! When I become Champion, I'll change every single one of them!"
Richie's eyes were dark with worry, but sparkled as he heard Reena's statement. "You're that determined to defeat the Champion?" he questioned, pausing a moment and letting his hand rest on a rugged tree trunk.
"You'd better believe it!" Reena retorted, blind to a rocky ledge embedded in the soil before her. She would have tripped right over it if Richie hadn't grabbed her arm and steered her gently to the side.
"I have a score to settle with the League myself," Richie informed Reena as he helped her over the ledge. "One of my Pokémon was taken from me by League officials several days ago. Since I'm no longer a registered trainer, the only way I can gain access to the League is by traveling as a coach of another trainer." A frown clouded his face again as he began his own descent. "But I'd putting you in danger if I tried," he said hastily.
"Unless," a clipped voice whispered from Reena's feet. "Unless you claim trainer's immunity."
"Did you say something, Satoshi?" Richie asked as he leapt to the ground with a thud, head swerving about in search for the strange speaker. On the ground below, Chikai ducked behind Reena's legs.
"That's right," Reena said quickly. "Trainer's immunity." A small, glossy book was pressed into the palm of her hand by a furry paw; without hesitation, Reena began sifting through the pages. "The official League handbook says so right here!" she exclaimed, brandishing it in Richie's face. "Any registered trainer, or a coach of any such trainer, is immune to seizure and arrest, if engaged in a Pokémon journey about the eight Cities of Asylum!"
Beside her, Chikai was holding its breath.
"The eight Cities of Asylum?" Reena repeated pensively to herself. Then, more loudly-"You know what those are, don't you, Richie?"
The boy nodded. "The Cities of Asylum, also known as the Kanto Gym Cities," he explained readily. "Pewter, Saffron, Celadon, Viridian, Vermillion, Cerulean..."
Reena pounced upon this last word with a cry of triumph. "Cerulean City!" she exclaimed. "That's where me and Chikai are headed!"
"Chikai and I," she could have sworn she heard the Pikachu mutter underneath its breath.
Richie was still a moment, head bowed as he considered Reena's words. "Trainer's immunity is a law almost as old as the League itself," he said at last, forehead creasing as he tried to recall what he knew. "The League itself developed it centuries ago. Back in those days, you've got to understand, not just anybody could get a Pokémon license. The League only saved that honor for their top minions, and it was those trainers that they meant to shield from the effects of the law." The smile he forced onto his face twisted his lips in a sickly manner. "Unfortunately, I'm not exactly..."
"But I'm a trainer! And if you were my coach, trainer's immunity would still stand, wouldn't it?" Reena protested. "The League wouldn't go against it, right?"
Slowly, Richie shook his head. "Maybe not when an infraction of their own pride would be so obvious. But, just about now, I don't feel like putting anything past them..."
"Come with us, Richie," Reena interrupted, staring the boy pleadingly in the eyes. "You need my help to rescue your Pokémon, and I need yours to defeat the Champion. Neither of us is gonna last very long otherwise." She winced at the last statement, but did not break eye contact. If she could not become the Champion herself, Reena knew, she would never be able to see her world again. "So is it a deal?" she prodded, extending her hand out towards Richie.
The boy was silent, and from where she stood, Reena found it impossible to read his face.
Suddenly, a gloved hand slapped into her own, startling Reena badly. She jumped before realizing it was Richie, face grim and jaw set.
The two of them shook hands, cementing Reena's proposal.
"I'm warning you, Satoshi," Richie said as the two children and Chikai set off once more through the dense forest. "Having me as your coach isn't gonna put you in a favorable light with the League."
"So?" Reena demanded, crossing her arms. "This League of yours can go and boil its stupid head for all I care!" Stopping to catch her breath, Reena managed a shaky grin. Richie was shaking his head.
"Talk like that's considered treason, Satoshi," he corrected gently. "Better to keep your mouth shut and let your Pokémon battling do the talking."
"Anything you say, Coach!" Reena saluted. She liked the sound of that, Coach. Not like the sadistic gym coach who enjoyed making everybody run laps in the rain, of course. A coach as in a new and badly-needed ally. A friend.
Reena needed all the friends she could find, that much was clear. Poor Chikai; she wasn't sure how much longer the normally admonishing Pikachu could keep quiet. More often than not, Chikai looked like it surely wished to give both children, especially Reena, a thorough chewing-out. But the Pikachu couldn't let on that it could talk, not with Richie around.
Reena smiled to herself for the next half-an-hour, despite frequent scraps and mosquito bites, reveling in this realization alone.
"Maybe it's risky, but it may be my only chance..."
-Richie, League Challenger
Notes: Cassandra is the girl who runs the medicine shop with her grandmother in the anime episode "The Problem with Paras." Richie...yeah, I'm sure most people know him. He's the "Ash clone" kid that beat Ash at the Pokémon League. I'm not sure how he's portrayed in later episodes, but he comes off as a bit...hm...Gary Stuish? I'm afraid this fic catered to that view. He needs more love, though.