Chapter 9: Unwanted Shelter

A/N: Yep... no rant. Just a reminder to take a look at my homepage link if you would like to see it, as well as live status information on future updates and all that junk.

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Nothing happened. Alvin waited for a good margin of time, kicked the stone a few times, and even shot it with a few sparks. Despite all his best effort, as well as a great deal of time, he failed to make so much as glow.

David breathed a sigh of relief, smiling in spite of himself. Alvin wasn't a screaming infant... that was something, at least. The youth spat a bit of blood to one side, blinking the moisture from his eyes. When Alvin made contact with the stone, he had been caught so off guard, his teeth closed on his tongue. That wasn't a pleasant sensation.

Alvin backed away, not sure weather to laugh or cry. In his mind, this device had been his only hope; the only remote chance he had; now it was nothing. After only a few seconds, his desire to cry overcame the desire to laugh, so that was what he did, shamelessly collapsing in "tears."

How long Alvin lay there, almost completely unaware of the environment, he could not know. What could know was when David eventually interrupted him, lifting Alvin easily and placing him in that seemingly regular place upon his shoulder.

"Alvin... look!" David exclaimed, pointing with one gloved finger. He hadn't interrupted Alvin's crying for no reason, then.

The space above the stone was alight with eight symbols, bathing the forest floor in a powerful electric blue light. There was no mistaking them; or rather, there was no mistaking their origin, even for Alvin in his weakened state.

Three years prior, several treasure-hunters scavenging Mt. Moon for moonstones had stumbled upon a rather significant archeological find: A tablet, cast in stone, embedded with three different evolution stones (water, thunder, and moon), and covered in a previously unknown writing. Now that Alvin thought about it, the symbols were of the same nature as those on the stones: Unicode Cuneiform. David had read the rocks, could he read this?

"Yes, I can read it..." He answered, long before Alvin could even consider asking. Mind reading made for some awkward situations. He seemed to be almost laughing, which was frustrating to Alvin, as the situation was far from humorous. "It says... well, the closest translation would be..." He actually laughed momentarily, but quickly stifled it at the flood of negative emotions coming from the pichu at his shoulder. "It's telling us that it's... broken. Some kind of overload... and to... use some kind of... control unit... at... I think... Mt. Moon!"

Hope again flooded into Alvin, so overwhelming he nearly shocked David again. This wasn't it, then! This thing... whatever it was... wasn't the answer, but his body wasn't lost forever! There was at least one more possibly many.

It did beg the question: If there were so many dangerous tools floating around (so to speak), why hadn't someone found one before? Why weren't people disappearing left and right? To that question, he had no reply, but it didn't stop him from hoping.

"Mt. Moon? Isn't that in..." Alvin's voice was meek now, returned to its usual calm and collected nature. The words, or perhaps just the fleeting hope, that he was not lost, were enough to restore his composure and erase any anger or resentment he had held to David.

"Kanto, yeah..." David's voice was becoming more calm and collected, as though he had just resigned himself to some terrible, inevitable fate. "That's almost a thousand miles away..."

Still, despite how out of reach that goal seemed, it was not impossible in the same way breathing fire was impossible (at least for an electric type). It just seemed... difficult. Like climbing a tree was difficult.

"I don't see how I can not go there! If this thing says the answer is at Mt. Moon, I have to go look for it. If I don't, I might never be human again!" Alvin turned sideways, somehow managing to keep his hold on David's jacket, shaking the side of his face with all his strength. If David wouldn't take him, perhaps his parents would.

"I know! I'll take you, alright!" He shouted loudly, causing Alvin to step back, flail about for a moment, but then regain his balance. Yes, David knew this might be Alvin's only chance to become human again... but he also knew Mt. Moon was reputed to be nothing small. The device hadn't been specific! And even if they could find it, who was to say using it would be any easer? Then there was the possibility of it already having been found, or stolen... David didn't want to think about it. But walking home and forgetting about it wasn't an option either. They had to go. And David also knew that if anyone Alvin knew had a chance of finding and operating this thing, it was he. To say nothing of him being the only one who could communicate with him. There was no other way.

"You will?" Alvin's fear seemed to fade, as much as such things could. He was still in physical contact with a very large, and to him alien, animal. "Really?" He thought about this for a moment, bringing his mind back to dwell on his parents. Would they approve of this? No more than they approved of his becoming a pichu. If they had their way, he would never have come out here in the first place... thought Alvin wasn't exactly sure the knew. His mother had gone upstairs because he thought David and himself speaking. When she came down again, and they were gone, there would be trouble. But nothing compared to what would happen if he tried to leave. Even if this condition could only be repaired in that way... he had a feeling they wouldn't allow it.

But his parents couldn't stop David from coming, could they? He was their only link to their son, their only chance for ever getting him back. If he told them of what he and Alvin had to do, they would surely listen! Have to listen... "What about my family? What about yours? What about... that place we have to go every day to learn, or... those green sheets we need to get things?"

David was hardly phased by the strange use of words. After all, Alvin's words were nonsense. It was the pichu's thoughts that were important, and he could still think of school and money. "I... don't know... my family will understand if I leave... I've done it before... as to school, we'll just have to hope it doesn't take too long. We can make up the time with private instruction over the summer, or on weekends... as soon as we get you back to normal."

Alvin had a feeling David was lying about his family, but it was for his benefit, and that at least felt good. His words about school... well, after what he had already been though, and all the time David was about to give, they better give them a break! "So... what are we going to do now? Are we going to go back to my house now, or..."

David blinked a few times, watching as the symbols that had been floating in the air were absorbed by the stone once again, returning the small area to a relatively normal state. The young man paused, making up his mind. Alvin had been through enough today... was already going through enough. He was going to give him the rest he deserved even if he wasn't wise enough to ask for it on his own. No more waiting... only doing.

David lifted Alvin off the ground, setting him down on one of the rocks. The pichu swayed for a moment, but manage to keep his two-legged stance, less he fall a good foot (the equivalent of five feet to his human size) back to the forest floor. "David? What are we going to do?" Alvin didn't suspect a thing. Perfect.

David fumbled around in his pocked, finding the object he desired and moving that arm behind his back, properly configuring the small spherical device for operation. "You're not going to do anything... I don't know how long it will take to get this trip together... it could take days, perhaps even weeks. I won't let you sit around and do nothing for that time... I don't want you to lose what hasn't been taken already..."

Alvin knew what was coming, and also knew that he had but one chance to stop it. Doing so did not involve attacking, or running away... "Please... no. I'm fine, really! Don't..."

His words fell on def ears (Although it was more accurate to say it was his thoughts which David refused to heed). "No, you're not! Before today, I hadn't seen you cry! How long have we known each other... three years now? That isn't the worst of it... your mind..." He searched for the proper words to describe something he was obviously not used to putting into words. "It's different... so different, it scares me. You look almost like Des... I'm surprised we can even still talk! I don't know how long it will take for us to lose even that..." He turned on one heel, taking careful aim with his right arm, as though he was about to pitch a baseball.

At this point, Alvin knew it was hopeless. When David made up his mind about something, that was it. Despite weather he was really sure about it. Which meant he had two choices: Run into this heavily populated forest minuets before night by himself, or face the object he knew David to be holding. One would almost surely lead to his physical demise, while the other... he couldn't be sure. David might be right; It might just help preserve his mind; It might just speed him right down the other road, though. But if he chose the latter of the two choices, at least he was guaranteed to survive. It all came down to the question: Which was worse, Physical death or losing the essence of one's mentality? Alvin was out of time to choose. Death or... this?

He thought back to the night before. To the peace of the night, and the comfort he had felt with Des. He hadn't understood what those peculiarly glowing specks in the sky were, not liked he used to... but Alvin no longer felt such to be required. He had felt good just being there. "Don't forget Des..."

David nodded just before releasing the pokeball, it's course direct and sure. He would not miss, and the both knew it. Alvin had just enough time to make eye contact with David, his eyes watery and hurt, before the ball found its target.

The round metal object bounced off of him once, and fell to the floor, pulling Alvin down with it. David had not thrown hard, but his sense of direction was completely wrong... confused! He fought against the overwhelming, drawing, force with all the might and determination of an animal hopelessly trapped, but all was to no avail. It took only moments for the world of fading sunlight to vanish from Alvin's sight. He felt oppressed, compacted forcefully on all sides, and he fought some more.

No... it won't take me... I can't let it! He thought wildly, wriggling and squirming, moving in any way that was within possibility. His body was fading... falling away and falling apart into an overwhelming mist that seemed to permeate every fiber of his being. Just as soon as this flood of emotions and feelings came, it fled, leaving Alvin utterly alone and empty. There was no body... no mind... and within moments, he was unaware of anything.

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"-ace. We've got twenty-three more units in 'training' as we speak. If all goes well, they should be deployed within the fortnight." The voice was timid, fleeting, but reserved. The tall man clicked his rubber heals together once out of sheer nervousness, eyes fixed on some point off to the right of the man to whom he was speaking.

"You see that it does. I'm sure you know what fate awaits you, should you fail." The boss's voice was as cool and calm as that of a man who was completely secure and confident in his superiority. Perhaps it was Italian heritage, or perhaps he was just evil; for despite all the best efforts of the taller man sitting on the receiving end of the desk, he could not avoid Giovanni's eyes. The man dressed in the plain brown suit was a predator, and this other was his prey.

This office was formed in a way very different most of the other rooms in this particular outpost of Team Rocket; it lacked the plain metal walls, the raised single light of red florescent lights. Instead, its floor was of zebrawood, and the walls were of a stained oak paneling. Instead of the Spartan feeling of lighting, two elaborate brass lamps stood at either side of the desk (which was equally as fine as the rest of the room), casting a shadowy light into the rest of the room.

In this place, practicality and economics had been put aside for the more important task of giving the boss an ego-job. After all, he was the boss. If a few hundred thousand would make him feel that much better (and hence, become angry as irregularly as possible), it would be worth every penny invested.

"I kn-know, sir." He stuttered, looking away again. The personality and behavior of the man sitting in the handcrafted leather chair might not have been in doubt, but the behavior of this tall, most-bald man was different; the "I can't believe what I got myself into" kind of different. Yes, he knew what happened to those who failed in high places. Occasionally, if they had held enough favor before the crucial failure, they might be permitted to resign, taking a modest pension off to live the rest of their days and never showing their faces in any Rocket affair again. If they already lacked favor... well... things could get much uglier.

That was how Raiden Adair had come to his current position: His predecessor had found disfavor. Although Raiden greatly appreciated the new numbers on his paycheck every month, the danger of dealing with the boss directly just didn't seem worth it. How many of his predecessors had disappeared the same way Miles had?

"Good. And just how much have the existing teams accomplished so far?"

Raiden avoided his probing looks, and did his best to also avoid the probing words. He didn't have a satisfactory answer, and they both knew it. "Well Sir... They've scouted three possible sights for the beachhead- "

The boss interrupted "Our scans did that. If you're too stupid to know what I'm asking, perhaps I should use more direct language: Have they found it yet? What about the one our end... is it working?"

Raiden blushed. "Not... entirely, sir. There's just too much ground to cover! We'll find it, I know we will! My teams need more time..."

Giovanni's anger was clearly rising, but it was also clear he had been in a relatively good mood and was doing his best to keep it that way. "I've given you all the time you need. One week. If you aren't done by then, I'll find someone who is better at meeting our scheduling demands."

The scientist-turned-supervisor shuddered at the thought those words had inspired, nodded clearly, and walked from the room, careful to shut the door lightly as he left. What had he got himself into this time?

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This new awareness was hundreds of times more strange than his first few moments of pichu awareness had been. What was first complete darkness was now a pale, white light, permeating the whole of what he could observe. He had no visible body, no substance, but then, neither did anything else. An endless void of white light. Am I... dead? He asked himself, if those pronouns could be even considered proper anymore. He had been somewhere... where was it? A forest! He had been standing... on a rock... and a giant had thrown something at him, and now he was here. What had happened to him?

His body had to exist somewhere, in some form, or he would not be thinking about his own existence. Perhaps if he could bring his mind closer to that place, he would get some idea of what was going on.

It was this thought, this attempt to return to his body (which was already there in the form of energy), that caused what happened next. The void became less empty... a chest, arms, legs, slight whiskers on the end of an even slighter nose, his tail, and that little ruff of black fur along his neck. He was a pichu.

No longer was his mind floating aimlessly, however. As soon as the body was there, he was inside it. It was his body... with his body back, it took only moments for him to remember just what had happened, and where he was. He had been, and in fact, was now, inside a pokeball. Which meant his body wasn't real. If that were so, perhaps he could change it? If he had made a body for himself, just what else could he make.

Upright... humans walk upright... he thought, closing his eyes and thinking hard. With his concentration, his body changed, lengthening and shifting to a more erect, two-legged stance. As his limbs lengthened, pale yellow fur spread with them, until he looked very much like a human being... if you discounted the tail, gigantic ears, and paws rather than ordinary feet. His hand were somewhere in-between, shaped slightly like human hands, but with fur, pads, and claws.

He thought for a minute, concentrating, trying with all his might to return completely to human form. He could not. All right... I can't become human, but maybe I can get something to stand on... he thought, turning his attention to the floor. What would be easy to remember? His first thought was of his recent vacation to the orange islands, where he had learned to dive, but for some reason, he was unable to turn anything real as he was with his body. But if this is my mind, there must be another option! But what could it be? He searched his fractured brain, thinking for anything that might be used in constructing this environment. He had used a forest before...

Just as it had the first time, he skipped right over that image of the forest by his home, ignoring it as though it had not been there at all. Something was preventing him from accessing recent memories (or rather, recent human ones. He had no trouble remembering things that had happened to him as a pichu)... perhaps something less so? He thought back to the ski vacation his family had taken when he was eleven, remembering the little village up on the hill that was the starting place for the first lift. It took only a moment, and hardly any concentration, before the endless, drifting void of white solidified into that little village. The icy stone path appeared instantly beneath him, along with the street to his left (bordered on the far side by many shops), and the hotels as well as the pokemon center to his right. In the distance off to the far left, he could see the snow-covered mountain, and a long row of gondola cars being hoisted along the cable to its peak.

His paws crunched along the icy surface, but he felt no pain, and no cold. Perhaps it was the insulation of his fur... or that light pair of pants that had appeared as mysteriously as the rest of this environment. The air was crisp, clean, and completely absent of pollution (though this was a normal thing in most areas, at altitude this effect is unusually amplified). From the small carts here and there, to the piles of snow that had been scooped off to one side, everything was complete. Everything, except the people. The area was deserted, completely devoid of life.

Aside from Alvin, who, now that he realized it, felt... different. (Assuming he had even retained one form long enough to attach a regularity to it) He felt like he had when Des had shocked him... so full of energy he was ready to explode. It only took him a few moments to figure out why.

This place looked exactly as it had four years ago... exactly as it had. Four years of aging should've reduced the scale at which many of the objects appeared, but no such thing occurred. He was exactly the same size as before... combined with this feeling of great energy and little reserve, this could only mean... he was no older than he had been when he gathered these memories. If anything, being part pichu made him about two inches shorter than his human counterpart would've been, so everything was larger.

Alvin stopped at the door to the lobby of the lodge in which he had stayed, took a hold of the massive metal handle, and with difficulty, pushed the gigantic door ajar. The massive oak chamber, complete with a merrily crackling fire on the right side (surrounded by the many fancy leather and carved wood furniture pieces often found in such hotels), with the front desk to the left (as always, flush with the wall with a compartment behind it for those who worked at the hotel, made of granite, and standing far too high for him to see over). Just as before, the only thing missing from this perfect copy was the people, who should be gathered around the fire drinking coffee, manning the front desk, or waiting in line at that desk for their assorted needs.

Now both humans and pichu are very social creatures (most of the time), and it was at about this point Alvin began to feel both lonely and scared, with the first being much more prominent. What if he was stuck here forever, all alone in this huge place? What would he eat? His mental discussion with David (though for some reason he could not remember the details), had seemed to take quite some time, but in reality had only occupied a few moments. If it would take weeks for David to organize everything outside this small, isolated universe, just how long would he be trapped in here? Food became a real concern... but only until he realized the absurdity of that thought. Assuming he would even feel hunger in this state (which was unlikely, considering his body had become energy), he had made this entire place appear; surely he could bring food to go along with it! But people... could he do that? If the environment had been an exact copy of that he had seen here those years ago, would the people be as well? If that was the case... his friends who had also been along for the trip with their families... what would they think of him? What would anyone think of him? This particular body wasn't exactly commonplace!

"There's another way... I know!" His voice echoed oddly in the empty, though there was only he to hear it. Perhaps instead of summoning up the images of the three other young trainers who had been along for this trip (namely David, as well as Tanner & Tyler, who David and Alvin often spoke of as "The twins") directly from his memory, perhaps he could make them... like he was? Instead of bringing everyone here, bring only the three. That seemed easy enough thinking about, but how hard would it be to put into practice? Alvin was about to find out.

Bringing his three friends into existence had been easier than he had first anticipated, even with the modified forms they would hold. His only difficulty was in bringing David: he had wanted to combine him with a psychic pokemon, but despite all his best efforts, he seemed to only be able to change his friends in such a way that they were very similar to himself, namely, combining them with electrical rodents. David ended up being a Pikachu (at least some of the way), while Tanner and Tyler were Plusle and Minum respectively.

What interested Alvin most is that when they appeared, not a single one expressed surprised at their own appearance, or at Alvin's. As though they had never been exposed to a human being before. Nor did David react unusually when Tanner and Tyler appeared from thin air, only nodding once to Alvin with a smile and a knowing look that said quite plainly he knew exactly what was going on.

Likewise, it was Alvin's inhuman version of David who first spoke. "It's boring out here... let's get our stuff and hit the slopes!" He turned to the door on the opposite side of the room, the set of large glass double doors that would lead right to the valet, with the gondola only a few steps beyond.

The twins were the first to move, dashing hand-in-hand through the door before the other two could scarcely move. The very air around them seemed to light momentarily with sparks as they moved. David met eyes only once with Alvin before taking off too.

Though his own incarnations of their minds were not changed significantly, they were still the images of eleven year olds (or in the twin's case, two ten-year-olds), and those images were every bit as immature as the real versions had been all that time ago. The pichu stood in place for several seconds, pondering his next actions carefully. He was inside a pokeball... who knew how long it would be before David came for him. No matter how shamelessly immature he acted, there wouldn't even be simulated adults to chastise him, and there would be no real danger. If he was going to be here for days, or even weeks, he might as well enjoy it.

With one slight nod to the spot David had been only moments before, Alvin took off after his friends, through the doors, and into the valet shed.

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A/N: That's it! Although... remember I'll be looking for a few reviews before I start the next chapter...