Morning struck the small city where Dustin lived, the sun rising and casting its rays upon the populace waking up many and angering the rest. Birds chirped their songs outside the human's window and in response he woke up and sneezed before moving into a sitting position. Blinking his eyes he yawned lightly and waited, for what?

The voice in his head to start its insistent bantering once more…

Ever since he was a kid he ended up seeing delusions and started hearing voices in his head, everytime he woke up he heard this voice. Taunting him, angering him, sometimes suggesting things for him to do which most of the time involved property damage and killing. The medication he took helped to silence the majority of the voices, all except this one that kept coming back day after day.

It didn't matter what he tried, the ghostly whispers stayed…

Dustin waited, and waited, and waited as the wind idly blew outside and the birds ceased their songs. Several minutes passed… and not a peep was heard, "well… this is a nice surprise… maybe even ghosts have to take breaks?" He was about to get up when he felt something shift next to him, looking down he saw the small bundle of cloth and the yellow tail poking out, along with the Pokémon's head. Pikachu… was still here. Smiling slightly he laid back down before turning over and eyeing the Pokémon, his eyes drifting across Pikachu and her form.

Just yesterday he had a tiny thought in the back of his head that this was all a very detailed delusion, something his mind conjured up to mess with him big time. Looks like he was wrong, his heart told him this was real, and that was all he needed.

The shirt he put over her was his old Pikachu shirt he bought from Hot Topic, he chuckled quietly to himself. Pikachu was breathing lightly, her body slowly rising and falling with each breath, a small frown was present and her ear twitched every now and then. She seemed to be in good shape, her fur was a pristine yellow and her cheeks a rosy red color.

Reaching over he gently pulled her close, she made a soft noise but otherwise didn't make any movement to wake up. His fingers moved across her back fur, and he could feel how soft and silky it was. "She must take good care of her appearance, just like a girl." He knew he had to get up and check in at work to see if they need him, bringing his hand up to her head he began to wake her up… but he hesitated. Dustin rested his hand on her electric cheek pouch for a second before backing away and getting up, "she can sleep a little longer." He decided with a smile as he got up out of bed and stretched out his arms, hearing several pops and cracks he coughed lightly before heading into the bathroom.

On his bed Pikachu's ears twitched before her eyes opened, seeing him gone she sat up and rubbed her eyes before looking around. Hearing the shower Pikachu figured the human was bathing, she decided to wait until he got out before asking him what they were going to do today, "I think we should be trying to figure out who I am… and how to get me back home." Pikachu held her head, she hated not being able to remember anything from before she came here. All she knew was that she was from a different world, and that she was in the woods when it happened.

Now what it was confused her, she needed help solving this mystery, and maybe this Dustin can help her. Sure she only knew him for what, two days? He seemed trustworthy… in a sense.

The sounds of knobs squeaking and water ceasing came from the shower made Pikachu's ears perk up. Guess he was done, she was right when he stepped out wearing a completely new attire. Instead of the dirty clothes from yesterday that made him look like a hobo, he instead donned a clean dark blue t-shirt that hung loosely off his chest, and black sweat pants. His hair was clean and didn't look all frazzled like yesterday, long dark brown curls covered most of Dustin's head and his beard looked like it was trimmed, "he looks better than before, kinda cute too."

His dark brown/hazel eyes found their way to Pikachu's and he grinned, "Morning, Pikachu," the human greeted as he walked over to the bed, "how did you sleep?"

She smiled and replied, "Pikachu," she nodded, she slept well she said. Of course wither or not he understood that was up to him, she doubted he did though.

Her smile was all he needed, "Alright then," Dustin smiled as he popped his neck, "well… I have to go call into work today, see if they need me to come in." he declared, walking out of the room as Pikachu followed close behind. The two entered the living room, and then into the kitchen where he picked up the phone and dialed the number of the store. Leaning his elbow on the counter he waited as the phone on the other side rang.

… … …

No one picked up.

"Hmm," he hummed in thought, "no one's in today? That's weird." Dustin hung up the phone and tried again, thinking he dialed the wrong number, again no answer after several minutes of waiting.

"Pika?"

Dustin huffed and hung up the phone again, "today's Friday, Steve should be in today but no one is answering." It was odd, maybe it was a holiday? A look at the calendar showed it wasn't, that was nixed. "I'm going to call Steve u-" before he could finish the phone rang loudly, he picked it up and answered, "Joe's crematorium, you kill em, we grill em."

"Oh really now~" Steve's sarcastic voice chided on the other end, "Don't mind if I do!"

Dustin cackled, "alright cut the shit dumbass, are you at the station?"

"What? No of course not, didn't you hear?"

"Hear what dude?"

"The station burned down! Last night some crazy dude threw a Molotov through the goddamn window!" he was practically yelling now, obviously pissed and scared, "motherfucker almost got me killed!"

"Whoa," the counter worker gawked, "did you get burned?"

"What? Nah, he missed me but.. but…"

Now Dustin was worried, "what?"

"The guy… he uh…" Steve's voice started cracking up, "he…"

"What?! what did he do?!"

"… he burned the Twinkie rack!" Steve cried, Dustin and Pikachu face faulted hard, "he killed the Twinkies!"

Dustin groaned loudly as he stood up, slammed his hands on the kitchen counter and bellowed, "I thought it was something serious you jackass!"

"Hehehe, it actually is dude, Twinkies are necessary for my growth, without them I'll *cough cough* slowly disintegrate into a pie of ash!"

"What are you a goddamn vampire?"

"… no… I'm a warlock, there's a difference you shit."

Sighing Dustin leaned further on the counter, "well, this just sucks. That was the only place I was able to get a job at," he pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. It was true, after an episode of his mental craze was etched into record he hadn't been able to get a job anywhere except at that particular gas station. The manager was kind enough to look past his mentality and hire him after he proved to be an efficient worker, and a joker.

Now that the place was gone… now what would he do?

"Yo Dusty, you still there?" Steve questioned his friend.

"Yeah," he replied, his eyes drooping, "so what are you up to?"

"Looking for another job, my GF's pretty upset the station burned down, and money's getting tight nowadays." Dustin could hear his breathing on the other side, and he seemed pretty concerned, "I don't know we're going to do man."

"Same here… same here."

As the two talked about random things of which proved to be pointless banter, Pikachu's eyes squeezed shut as her head started hurting... she was having a flashback.

She was in a sea of lights surrounding her. People and Pokémon, many of them were shining a bright color. She saw several Pokémon were a bright blue color, along with several humans and she felt a peace of mind coming from this. Pikachu felt they were Pure, "Aura…" The blue aura radiating from these souls was peaceful, and calming like an ocean. The way their aura moved was amazing, she felt safe with them.

Then it changed, more people and Pokémon showed up, but like the others they were blurred out. But their Aura was clear as day, instead of the calming blue theirs was a deep red, like blood. It arched out and spiked, swirls of darkness radiated from them and she felt cold, like something was reaching out to trying to corrupt her. She felt nothing but evil from these souls, pure evil from the reverse world itself!

She opened her eyes and found herself leaning against the counter, her breathing ragged as her eyesight suddenly changed. The outlines of her vision rushed to the sides like a whirlpool of water and in the middle her sight was black and white, like an old movie. She looked up at Dustin and gasped at what she saw, his aura!

His was… she didn't know any words to describe it perfectly. His aura was conflicting, Blue and Red, two colors swirled and arched out in his body and soul. Then all of a sudden the red Aura arched out and surrounded the blue, weakening it and making the color grow dim, the blue Aura retaliated attacking right back.

"That's not possible… both pure and evil reside within his body…" she couldn't believe it, that shouldn't be possible, it went against everything she knew about the essence of Aura, "what is he?"

"I'll talk to you later then dude," Steve said, "Oh, also tell our little friend I said Hi." He then hung up, ending the call.

Hanging up the phone Dustin turned to face Pikachu and said-"Steve says hi,"-before sliding down the counter and holding his head.

Pikachu shook herself away from the thoughts, jumped down onto the floor and approached him, worried, "Pika!"

"I'm fine," Dustin moaned, "nix that, I'm not fine." He bashed his head against the counter, "the place where I worked at burned down, some crazy guy tossed a Molotov through the window." Dustin grabbed his hair and pulled at it, "I'm screwed." He laughed bitterly.

Pikachu walked up to him and patted him on the leg, "Pika chu Pi."

Dustin sighed sadly, "it's always something Pikachu…" he started, "all the time, every time, there's always something trying to bring me down." he shook his head and stood up, brushing his clothes off as Pikachu hopped back onto the counter, "oh well, guess I'll have to find another job… but first, BREAKFAST BITCHES!" He bellowed as he ran headfirst into one of the cabinets and opened it up, leaving a small head sized dent in the wood.

"Arceus he's crazy," Pikachu facepalmed as Dustin pulled out some random food, a red bag labeled Doritos, another small bag that said crackers and a large plastic bottle that read Dr. Pepper. He carried the stuff over to the couch in the living room, dumping it all on the couch he bent down below his TV and opened up a small box.

"You're in for a treat Pikachu," he told the Pokémon as she walked over an eyed the small box, "I don't have any work to do obviously, and I'm not exactly keen on going outside today so~"

Pikachu waited until he pulled out a small rectangular box colored red, a picture was on front of a Pikachu! "Pika!" she gasped, gesturing wildly to the box, it was a Pikachu!

"Yep! I'm going to straight up show you Pokémon!" he obviously looked excited, his eyes lit up from reading the title, and a childish smile appeared in place of a depressed frown, "this'll cheer up anyone!" he told her as he turned on the TV and put in the video, "who knows, maybe this will give us some clues on how to get you back home."

Pikachu rubbed the back of her head before running off to get something, when she returned she was holding the notepad and pen. Putting it on the floor she wrote something on it while thinking, "I practically forgot we could talk like this. I'm such an idiot!" Dustin tilted his head while she wrote, as she seemed very skilled with the pen. The way she wrote was impressive, she held the pen with both paws and gripped it with her tiny fingers, yet she didn't seem to have any trouble maneuvering it across the paper. Some intricate swirls, a few dots and slashes, and Pikachu was done. She put the pen down and tore off the paper and handed it to him, "Pi."

He took the paper, and again he was impressed by her handiwork. The paper read, 'I don't know where home is, my memory is gone.' His eyes widened and he looked her in the eyes, "you have amnesia?"

She nodded, her ears drooping down and her head falling. "Cha."

"Oh man, I'm sorry." he said frowning, "well, maybe this show will jar your memory!" Dustin suggested, "if not, then… maybe it'll make you feel better at the very least." Placing a hand on her head and smiling, "it wouldn't hurt."

Pikachu looked up at the human, his eyes met hers and she sighed. His smile seemed genuine and he spoke like he was confident, Pikachu nodded, "pika," she smiled, guess it wouldn't hurt to watch another Pikachu in action.

With a nod Dustin picked up Pikachu and sat her on the bed as he sat in the floor, the snacks he laid their prior to putting in the tape opened up. Reaching around the couch he pulled a cooler over and opened it up before reaching in and pulling out two small aluminum cans labeled Dr. Pepper, he handed one to her and opened up his, "Aww yeaah, we about to get real up in here son~"

Pikachu eyed the can she was handed, it was small and cold to the touch. She had seen cans like this, not the same brand but the same kind. She could faintly recall a memory where a human much like Dustin opened up a can like this, and drank it down. The human pulled the tab forward, and then pushed it back. The Pokémon reached forward and pulled the tab, it took some doing but she managed to get it up and popped the can opened before pushing it back. A light fizzing sound could be heard, and she could smell the carbonated sugar within.

Dustin smirked, "well well well, Pikachu knows how to open a can of soda~" he chuckled, "awesome! Hey, did you remember anything?" He asked her, she seemed surprised and nodded, "ehehe, soda is everywhere, maybe in your world you had one just like that," he pointed to the can, "but hey, I helped you get some memory back." he pumped a fist in the air, "score one for teh Dustin!"

The Pokémon shook her head as she brought the can up to her mouth, she took a sip of the Dr. Pepper and almost threw the can away. Bubbles invaded her mouth and stung her tongue slightly forcing her to swallow the sugary substance, after the minor pain subsided a nice fuzzy feeling shot through her system, "Pika, Pikachu Pi!" she complained, pointing to her tongue.

The human giggled, "yeah it can do that, its carbonated so it tends to burn if it's your first, for me however," he brought the can up, showed it to her before guzzling it down in massive gulps.

Pikachu gasped, "whoa."

Once he was done he threw the can behind him, perfectly scoring a hit in the trash can before throwing up his hands, "SUGAR BABY!" he yelled, shaking and gyrating on the floor like he was having a seizure. He stopped after a few minutes however, sighing shakily, "sugar gets me going, whew… time for snackies~" he sung as he grabbed the Doritos bag and handed some to Pikachu on a small napkin next to her, "these are good, on my world there are mice who go nuts for the stuff. Not sure how a Pikachu feels about cheese, let alone Nacho Cheese, but this stuff is legit, amazing."

Grabbing one of the chips she inspected it much like the soda, it was a bright red/orange color. The texture was a bit rough and she could feel something rubbing off on her fingers, she let go of the Dr. Pepper and nibbled on the chip experimentally, finding the taste of nacho burn her tongue slightly made her whine like before, "Pikachu?!" she asked him, he had a lot of spicy stuff.

"Whoops, sorry, I like hot foods, but I love cold Chicken though." He said, shoving a handful of Doritos into his mouth and chewing them, "Ooohoho, the video's starting, you'll love it trust me!"

Pikachu got comfortable as the screen came on followed by some gold stuff flew across the screen and clashed together making a metallic sound as it formed into words. The coloring was old, and no doubt this was an antique. Pikachu sipped her soda, it tasting better and the burning sensation was dulled, "Mmm."

The two sat and watched as the intro for the show Pokémon started, it started out with a couple of words showing who made the video possible. Then the song started, and Dustin lost it, he started giggling like a little kid as the song kept on, he sang along with it silently to himself but Pikachu could still hear him. She couldn't help but smile, "he's like a little kid."

Eventually the show started, it started out with two Pokémon battling it out in a stadium. Seeing that brought up another memory inside of Pikachu's mind, she remembered a place like that. Standing down below, the bright lights shining down on her as a massive crowd cheered loudly, the ground shook and the people went crazy. Beside her stood a human, but his features were clouded and blurry, thus she couldn't make out anything.

She gulped as she came back to reality, her eyes on the television as she drank her soda timidly. What did these visions mean? Was this her past?

The main character popped up, speaking his opening dialogue as Dustin shot up and pumped his fist forward, "there's mah boy! Yeah yeah~" he sung before sitting back down, his face locked in childish glee, turning around he saw Pikachu sweatdrop, "eheheeh, sorry, he's a favorite character of mine, and one of the reasons I want to be a Pokémon trainer."

That seemed like a good enough answer as Pikachu nodded, the main character was a child, much younger then Dustin. He had ebony hair and donned a red/white hat, blue/white shirt and blue jeans, his eyes and stance showed he was a determined human, "My name is Ash Ketchum," he spoke, "I am going to be the world's greatest Pokémon trainer."

The two kept watching. The show's story passed by, from Ash talking to his mom, to him getting up and running out of bed wearing only pajamas to the Pokémon lab and meeting the famed Professor Oak, and Gary 'motherfucking' Oak as Dustin called him, to meeting a Pikachu which the Pokémon behind him was happy to see. Pikachu drank all of her soda and ate her snack so she hopped down onto the floor and into Dustin's lap, so she could get a closer look, Dustin was happy to oblige her.

The real Pikachu's eyes were locked on the TV Pikachu, it looked chubby and plush. Nothing like she was, she was fit and lean. She guessed whatever she did before she lost her memory got her into good shape, and she didn't hate it.

The Pokémon on TV shocked Ask, making both the human and Pikachu laugh a bit. Then it passed by to when Ash left home on his Pokémon journey, then the battle with the Pidgey and Spearow which Dustin commented on saying the Spearows were evil little shits. Pikachu mentally agreed. Then it arrived at the point where another character showed up, a girl named Misty with Red hair and light green eyes. She was pissed when Ash stole her bike, but that wasn't what made Dustin cringe, the next part did.

Ash was riding furiously down a dirt road, the injured Pokémon sitting in the bike's basket as the Spearow attacked the human relentlessly. He fought them off to no end, the bike hit a rock and the two went flying onto the ground. Ash looked the Pikachu in the eyes as Dustin brought up his hands and interlaced his fingers together in front of his mouth, his gaze stern as he watched what happened next.

The character spoke more dialogue, about how he is going to defeat the Spearow and become a Pokémon master. From both Pikachu's view it looked like Ash was intent on sacrificing his life for a Pokémon that disliked him from the moment they met, "what's going to happen?" Pikachu wondered as she eyed the TV carefully.

The Spearow attacked once again, all of them dive bombing on the human as sad music started playing. It was slow, the picture changing every so often and showing a different angle. Ash's Pikachu had enough it seemed, the Pokémon jumped up his leg and onto his shoulder before jumping into the air, Dustin gawked silently as Pikachu froze, Ash was shocked as his Pikachu soared into the air, and let out the most powerful thunder-shock it could muster up.

A bright ball of lightening exploded outward from the tiny yellow Pokémon as a beam of white shot into the sky, lightening crackled and thunder rolled as the screen went white. It seen faded into a different scene, Ash and his Pikachu were laying on the road, Misty's bike was scorched to a crisp as the two eyed one another.

"Well… we beat em."

"… Chu."

Up above a Pokémon flew overhead, Ash and Pikachu looked up as the Pokédex read it was an unknown. Then the episode ended with Ash carrying the weak Pokémon down the road, the Narrator talking about friendship, and the beginning of a journey as Pikachu licked Ash's chin, earning a smile and teary eyes from the trainer as he walked down the road… headed for the Pokémon Center.

Then it ended, the credits rolled as Pikachu wiped at her cheeks. She felt several tears had left her eyes, behind her she heard Dustin sniffle. Turning around she saw him wiping his eyes, "god I love them."

"Pika?" she asked him.

Dustin looked down at Pikachu and smiled as he wiped away another tear, "Well Pikachu… that was a true friendship being formed right before your eyes," he started as he sniffed once more, "Ash and Pikachu… they're best friends… they're bond is, well its stronger than anything I can think of." He eyed the TV as the Pokérap started playing, he lowered the volume and continued, "this show has been on for the better half of fifteen years I think, those two have been through so much together, almost dying, meeting gods and taking down gyms one after the other and making all kinds of friends."

Pikachu seemed interested as she hopped into his lap, Dustin rested a hand on her head and stroked her ears softly.

"Ever since this episode, they've formed the strongest possible friendship life has ever know, nothing can damage it… I know for a fact that Ash would die for Pikachu, and Pikachu would do the same for Ash, they're friendship I would like to think goes beyond that of any normal relationship…" he looked down into Pikachus eyes, "I wish I had what they had… I want that kind of friend who's always by your side, no matter what."

"Pika chu?"

"Steve?" Dustin asked, she nodded, "he's a best friend I won't lie, I'm grateful to have his lanky ass around." he sighed, "but he's not always there, and he sometimes gets a bit annoying and he has his girlfriend to think about. We hardly hang out anymore, yesterday I just got lucky." Dustin reached behind Pikachu and scratched her ears with a smile, she cooed, "no one wants to be my friend cause of my mental state, and they think I'll kill them or something." leaning back he stare at the ceiling, as if it held the answer to his unknown questions plaguing his mind, "I… I want a Pokémon, like a real Pokémon, but they don't exist in this world other than fiction, Anime, Manga and what I just showed you just now."

The small yellow mouse Pokémon could feel what he was feeling, sorrow, loneliness, she sighed softly, "Pi." She muttered as she hopped off of his lap and onto the couch as he turned around to face her at eye level.

"But you're real, and you're here in my world somehow…" he looked back at her, "look… I know I've been a big ass to you, Steve as well," the human brushed back some of his hair from his eyes, "but… would you… kinda sorta maybe" he looked away, a slight red tint on his cheeks, "wannabemyfriend?" he asked timidly, Dustin's voice choked slightly and he suddenly felt stupid.

Pikachu stared for a second, then she smiled before nodding, "Pikachu."

"Thank you." he said, his voice sounding genuinely happy for the first time since she met him.

She smiled as Dustin hugged her, she was happy to have made a new friend in this seemingly cold and strange world…