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Chapter X

Consider Yourself Cured

Ritchie poked his head over the corner and surveyed the nearby area, Sparky looked as well, fearing there might be potential danger. Sure enough, several Undead were gathered around a freshly slain corpse. Ripping chunks off of it with their teeth and hands before feasting on the remains, creating a gory mess that a simple garden hose and a few grams of bleach wouldn't clean.

Ritchie held in his breakfast and looked away, he pulled Sparky down and the two huddled up, "Looks like this way is also blocked, Sparky." whispered Ritchie.

"Pikachu." Sparky muttered in grief.

"They're everywhere, I mean literally everywhere. Where are these things coming from?"

A simple vacation had turned deadly in an instant. Ritchie heard it all, Walking Dead, Undead, Undeath, and Living Dead. Society just collapsed overnight, even though there was still a federal government, trying to reestablish order. Regardless on how futile it was. Ritchie took a deep breath and sighed, he didn't wanna spend another night sleeping on a roof. The moans of the Undead were keeping Sparky up, keeping him up as well. These Walkers just don't stop to rest, they just keep going, and going, and going. Not stopping for anything until they get a hold of fresh meat, meat so fresh that it came straight off of the Living.

With barely two days of food and water in his backpack, Ritchie needed to find other survivors. He heard that the Carson Police Department had established a safehouse at the only Pokémon Center in town. It wasn't far now, just a few more blocks to go. Ritchie turned to Sparky and nod, "Follow me and stay close," he whispered, "Keep your ears open."

"Pika." Sparky whispered back.

Ritchie clutched his wooden baseball bat and crept across the street towards a small alley, the Undead were too focused into their meal for them to notice. Sparky quickly scampered behind, not wanting to be left alone in a dire situation like this. Ritchie reached the other end of the alley and peaked out, no Undead in sight. He quickly jogged down the sidewalk and constantly looked around, occasionally glancing over Sparky just to make sure he wasn't far behind.

Somewhere up ahead was a nearby car, Ritchie rushed up to it and peered inside. It didn't appear to have an alarm, he took the tip of his baseball bat and slammed it into the driver side window. It gave off a loud thud that sounded more like hitting plexiglass, and the window held firm. Ritchie held his breath and listened for the shuffling of footsteps, there was none. He spun the bat around and used the handle end this time, this time the window couldn't take the impact and shattered into a million fragments.

"Bingo." Ritchie thought out loud.

He reached it and pulled the trunk release lever, the trunk door clicked open and it creaked up. Richie jogged to the back and opened the trunk door wider to see what was inside. All that was inside was a camouflage duffel bag, a box of jumper cables, and a cooler-style lunch box. Ritchie opened up the lunch box and saw 6 bottles of water inside, it was the jack pot. He quickly took off his backpack and stuffed the bottled water into it, then moved on to the duffel bag.

He zipped it open and discovered it was an emergency kit, it had maps, flares, matches, a couple of radios, everything needed to get through an emergency situation in the short-term. Hopefully this was a short-term. Ritchie zipped up the duffel bag and put his backpack back on.

Just before he grabbed the duffel bag, a door flew open and an Undead burst out of the nearby building. Sparky stood there in shock, his body paralyzed in fear. He payed the price as the Undead tackled the Pikachu to the ground and sank his teeth into his skin, "Pikachu!" screamed Sparky in the most heartbreaking cry imaginable.

"Sparky!" cried Ritchie.

Ritchie raised the bat and swung it at the Undead, "Get off of him!"

The Undead was knocked back by the blow, Sparky scrambled for safety as Ritchie smashed the creature's temple with the bat. It made an awful gurgling sound as it quickly died.

Ritchie picked up Sparky and examined him, the Undead had bit him just below the left shoulder and ripped off a corner of his chest. He was bleeding badly, Sparky sobbed as the pain surged through his tiny body, "Pikachu." the Mouse Pokémon grieved.

"Hang on, Sparky." said Ritchie, trying his best to contain his own tears.

Ritchie sat Sparky in the trunk and fished out the First Aid Kit out of the duffel bag, he opened it up and wrapped gauze over the wound by looping around Sparky's shoulder and chest a few times. Finished, Ritchie taped the gauze in place and put the roll back in the First Aid Kit, then stuffed it back into the duffel bag, "Pikachu!" Sparky continued to cry.

It was hurting him so much, thought Ritchie, I think my heart's going to break.

. . .

Ritchie picked Sparky up and wrapped the duffel bag's sling over his shoulder, he slammed the trunk door shut and took off as several stragglers came walking out of the buildings. They all took notice of him and began to follow, most of which would probably lose their way, since Ritchie was running quite fast. They started limping and dragging their feet in hot pursuit, with arms stretched out and jaws dropped. Though Ritchie was long gone when they got to where he once was, the smell of Pikachu blood helped pinged where he was headed and began walking towards his direction.

. . .

Eventually everyone caught up Ash's idea to let out their Pokémon, but only their small Pokémon. They were hesitant at first, but they soon accepted the fact that they'll be here for a while. First there was one and two trainers that released their Pokémon, next there was a dozen. Misty's Psyduck was a bit hesitant, and tried to get back into his Poké ball. But was persuaded to stay out when his trainer offered him some Pokémon food.

Ash saw now that there were more Pokémon than humans, it was noisy, and less lonely. Nurse Joy tended to Dawn's Pokémon, who were still reeling from her death. Her Pachirisu couldn't stop crying, and needed extra attention just to keep it calm. Already most of the Pokémon were less thrilled and more depressed, even Snivy seemed affected. However, the only Pokémon who still retain some hint of happiness was Tesla, who acted like there wasn't really a problem at all.

Since he behaved like there was always a problem.

He kept everyone going on his stories during his trip with Irvin on his journey, all the trainers and their Pokémon sit around him in the lobby and listened as he talked up a storm. He kept everyone's moral up, even Ash. Knowing Tesla quite well, Ash try to figure out how to keep him happy. With peanut butter in short supply, this was going to be a challenge.

Ash remembered that the Pokémon Center had Pikachus wondering around, so he went looking for them. They had a special room just down the hall, he walked inside and saw a ridiculous number of Pikachus. They had small beds lined up on the wall counters, a small exercising wheel, a food pellet dispenser, and... Ash couldn't tell what the metal pipe sticking out of the floor was for. All the Pikachus were highly active, talking to each other like small chatter boxes. The noise was so loud that Ash felt his head was about to explode, all the Pikachus seemed healthy and happy, without a care of the world. Did they know what was going on?

Only some of them had experienced what was going on outside, and they stood out quite well. Pretending that nothing was wrong, going with the flow of the crowd. Since there was a small number of Pikachus who knew what was really going on, word hadn't gotten to them than the others. Ash looked around and saw one Pikachu resting in one of the tiny beds, he approached that Pikachu and the others quieted down.

Ash wondered why they all ceased conversing among each other until he got a glimpse of the sleeping Pikachu. Something was wrong, it was lethargic and its face was kinda red. The red cheeks were sparkling static. Ash knew what he was looking at, he had seen this illness several times before.

"You shouldn't be in here."

Ash turned around and saw it was Nurse Joy, standing near the doorway, "This Pikachu has Overcharge?"

"Yes," said Nurse Joy, "He'd been sick for a week."

Nurse Joy approached Ash and looked at the sick Pikachu with sad eyes, "I'm worried about him since he has a heart condition, I don't know how long he's going to make it. We haven't had a shipment of supplies since the day before all this happened."

"Do the Pikachus know what's going on?" Ash asked.

Nurse Joy placed a finger over her lips, Ash nodded and the two stepped out of the room before she answered his question, "I don't wanna worry them, I clearly told them not to go outside ever since day one and warned the Pikachus who saw it all not to say anything about it to the others. Their loyalty was unquestionable, but they're quite young, sweet, and kind. I don't know how to break the news to them."

"You can't keep it a secret from them forever." said Ash.

"No, I can't. How did your Pikachu react to all this?"

"He was nauseous, he shivers every time he sees the Undead."

Nurse Joy sighed, "I'm sorry again about Dawn and Piplup, Ash. I got a feeling there will be more people and Pokémon losing their lives as all this continues to play out."

Ash didn't respond right away, "I hope it ends soon."

Ash glanced at the sick Pikachu again, "Did you try any healing herbs?"

"I tried everything, even the Revival Herb, it worked before but-"

Cilan ran around the corner and rushed up to the two, "Hey Ash," he said, "Another survivor arrived!"

Ash quickly followed Cilan, over at the entrance the gate was left open as Wally talked to the new survivor. The survivor was worried as he held an injured Pikachu in his arms, Ash knew who it was upon first glance, "Ritchie?"

"Ash," cried Ritchie, "Oh I'm glad it's you! Please, tell him to have Sparky stay!"

Ash was confused, "What?"

"That Pikachu was bitten," warned Wally, "He's going to turn, you gotta leave him outside if you want to come in here!"

"No, he's my friend!"

"Pikachu." sobbed Sparky, he sounded weak.

"Pika!"

Ash turned and saw his Pikachu rushed up to him, he stood on his hind legs and kept his distance. He looked like he understood what was happening, the Mouse Pokémon just stood there and watch, "What are you talking about!?" Ritchie asked, starting to sound more angry than sad.

"We've seen what happens when those zombies bite you," stated Wally, "You turn into one of them! We've already seen it, how do you think these Undead are reproducing?"

"You're scaring Sparky!" cried Misty.

"Ritchie." said Professor Oak.

"Professor," he asked, "Help me here!"

Oak shook his head and sighed,"He's right, Ritchie. We've seen it happen already. I'm sorry, I wish there's another way."

Sparky leaned over and spat out a glob of black blood on the floor. Wally jumped back and drew his gun and held it up for all to see, everyone stepped back but Pikachu held his ground, "Kid," said Wally, "That Pikachu is done for, we gotta put an end to this before he comes back and try to eat you!"

"I don't understand." sobbed Ritchie, his eyes were tearing now.

"For the last time. If you get bitten, you become a member of the Living Dead within hours. When was he bitten?"

"Two hours ago."

Wally pulled the pistol's hammer back, "Put him on the ground, kid. We have to put him down!"

"He's my first Pokémon, he's my friend! Can't we just give him something that puts him to sleep, and not shoot him like he's some crazy monster!?"

That touched Ash's heart, it could had been his Pikachu being bitten. He glanced over him and saw him started to shiver like crazy, the mouse Pokémon had figured it out too. Ash felt he must do something, Wally was going berserk, Ritchie was loosing it, everyone's nerves were on edge. Ash looked back and saw his own Pokémon standing there in sporadic defensive positions, gearing up like they're going into a Pokémon battle. Yet this wasn't a Pokémon battle, those days were over.

Think of something, Ash. He thought.

"The brain has to be destroyed," said Wally, he put an index finger to his head, "It's here, nothing else would do it."

Richie shifted his weight on the other food and gulped, "Wh- Wha-"

"Ritchie," said Ash, "The world had changed on us, you've got to accept that. I've seen what was going on out there, Pokémon eating trainers, trainers eating Pokémon, trainers and Pokémon eating each other. Everybody's getting bitten and eating each other. You have to accept that, Ritchie. Everything we know about the world is gone. Did you even noticed the birds out there are now Undead?"

"Not just birds," said Ritchie, "I've also seen packs of Herdiers roaming around, they don't even look like Herdiers anymore. They look more like blood-soaked skeletons than the Loyal Dog Pokémon!"

"Oh this is not good." muttered Professor Oak.

"What's going on here?" said Luke as he strolled up.

"Kid here has a bitten Pokémon," said Wally, "But he's not letting us take care of it."

Natas drew his Desert Eagle, "Then rip his Pikachu out of his arms and take care of it. If he refuse, shoot them both!"

"Luke!" said Delia.

Ritchie crept backwards and pressed his back against the glass door of the Pokémon Center entrance, "No!"

"Boy," said Luke, "You realized your Pikachu stopped breathing?"

"NO!"

"Ritchie," said Professor Oak in a calm voice, "Put Sparky down, he's gone."

The whole room went awkwardly silent, Ritchie held Sparky in his arms who now had gone limp. Natas raised up his gun and took aim, Wally flipped off the safety on his gun but kept his finger off the trigger. The other police officers had their hands on their guns, but refused to draw them. Ritchie was in a difficult position, there was no easy way out of this. Before anyone can do anything, Tesla stepped forward and sighed, "Kid," said Tesla, "You're in denial. If you refused one more time, we're all going to gun you down. Either if we're friends or not. I've lost friends this way, I know how it's like. You do not want to go there."

Ritchie was surprised that Tesla was talking to him in human words, "But-"

"This is your Pokémon here, he is suffering. You gotta put him out of his misery, he's going to suffer a fate worse than death if you stall anymore."

Wally and Natas lowered their guns. Ritchie held his head down and petted Sparky, the Mouse Pokémon laid motionless in his arms, "Okay," he said softly, "Here."

Before Ritchie could sat Sparky down, the Pikachu opened its eyes. Revealing glowing red orbs. His trainer dropped him in shock, Sparky flopped to the floor and started moving. The Undead Pokémon quickly sprain up in all fours as he let out an alien moan.

Wally fired a round and shot Sparky in the side, giving off a puff of still red blood. The Undead mouse Pokémon didn't notice, he was locked on to Ash's own Pikachu. With no time to react, Sparky tackled Pikachu to the floor and pinned him down. The Living Pikachu grabbed Sparky by the throat and held him back with all his strength. He continued to snarl and growl like a monster. The irony was that he still sounded similar to a Pikachu, but with some mutant Undead sounds to the voice.

"Pikachu," cried Pikachu struggled to hold Sparky back, "Pikachu! Pikachu!"

"Pikachu!" cried Ash.

"Don't shoot!" cried Brock to the officers.

No one wanted to step forward and pull Sparky off of Pikachu, in fear of getting bit themselves. Ash just stood there watching helplessly as the Undead Sparky was doing its best to recruit his own Pikachu to the ranks of the Undead. Ritchie just stood there, petrified in fright from what was unfolding before him. Tesla just stood there, also in surprise. He seemed to be the only one who wasn't scared.

Quickly, Ash thought of something, "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu's cheeks sparked instantly, "PikaCHU!"

A blast of electricity erupted underneath Sparky, knocking him off of Pikachu. He didn't respond to the damage, the Undead Pikachu was still locked on to its Living counterpart. Ash's Pikachu quickly got on all fours and ran down the hall as the Undead Sparky give chase. Everyone got out of the way as Wally fired another round at Sparky, striking him in the leg. Still he wasn't fazed, he couldn't even feel pain.

"Pikachu!" cried Ash as he tried to catch up with them.

"Ash," cried Delia, "Wait!"

Ash chased after his and Ritchie's Pikachu, knowing that one of them must be put down. Hopefully, it wouldn't be the other one as well. Pikachus were ridiculously fast. Ash had a hard time catching up, even though they were just 5 meters apart. Sparky was not that far away from Pikachu, and the distances between the two Pokémon and Ash were rapidly increasing. People and other Pokémon passing down the hall got out-of-the-way, some wisely ran into random rooms to avoid crashing into either the Living or Undead Pikachu. Ash tried to pick up the pace, but he couldn't keep up.

"Pikachu," cried Pikachu, sounding like he was calling for help, "Pikachu! Pikachu! Pika P! Pika P!"

Without warning a door opened and a curious Pikachu walked out on his hind legs, Ash's Pikachu ignored him and blew past him. That Pikachu looked on wondering what was going on, then turned left. The unfortunate Pikachu realized the danger too late, he tried to jump out-of-the-way but Sparky jumped him. Ash felt several lobes of his brain explode as Sparky sunk his teeth into the Pokémon Center's Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon let out a scream that sounded literally like a 4 year old girl. It was so heartbreaking that it made Ash threw up on the spot.

He feared that his Pikachu was about to get eaten, instead he saw what could happened if Pikachu was nabbed by the Undead counterpart. To him, the pain had no difference, whenever it was his Pikachu or not. He dropped to his knees and watched the horror unfold.

"Ash," cried Brock as he and his friends came up to him, "What's wrong?"

Ash looked on motionless as Sparky ripped chunks of flesh out of the helpless Pikachu's shoulder and chest with his teeth, then swallowing them whole. Wantimg more, Sparky tore open the Pikachu's belly with a single bite and ripped out his intestines and took a bite out of that. Blood pooled around the Pikachu, it started coughing out blood which choked out its scream. It struggled to breathe, it had no strength left.

Sparky ripped up half the intestines and plunged its hand back into his prey's adominal cavity, then pulled out its liver and ate it like it was a fried bird leg. The Pokémon Center's Pikachu was quite strong, which only made his demise more painful for him. He went limp and stared at the ceiling, his life gone in an instant.

Ash's Pikachu shot around and saw what happened, he froze. His hands trembled and tears pour down his face. The rest of the Pokémon Center's Pikachus watched as the Undead Sparky continue to rip and disembowel their friend. For every single one that Ash saw, their eyes consumed with the horror they were seeing.

"Oh my gosh!" Iris shielded Axew's eyes as she shielded hers.

"This is not real," gasped Ritchie, "I must be dreaming!"

"This is no dream," said Tesla, "There's too much information for it to be one, too stable. It is real."

Luke raised his magnum pistol and double-tapped the trigger, Sparky's head burst open as one bullet went straight through his skull, then another bullet went through his prey's a millisecond later. Both Pikachu's brains burst out and splattered the floor in a spray-like manner. The momentum of the round caused Sparky to shot off his prey and thumped off the wall, he let out a gurgle and hiss as he fully "died." It was all over before the blood settled on the walls and floor.

Ash got back to his feet and rushed up to his Pikachu, he picked him up and held him tightly in his arms. Their friends remained silent as Luke approached the dead Pikachus and tapped Sparky with his foot, "They won't be coming back now." he said without remorse.

"Ugh," complained Tesla, "I've seen Pikachus eat their own before, but never had I ever seen a Pikachu killed and eaten another. So much for table manners."

Delia looked at him in disgust but said nothing, Tesla just turned his back towards her and looked away in response.

"Someone take the bodies out to the back and burn them," said Professor Oak, "This is a biohazard."

"I'm on it." said Natas.

Ritchie stared at Sparky for another second before he passed out, Brock managed to catch him in time before he could collapse on the floor, "Let's get him in a bed." said Brock.

"Grab his feet." said Iris.

Cilan stood there and watched as Nurse Joy reluctantly got Natas a trash bag and latex gloves, he put on the gloves and stuffed the two dead Pikachus into the trash bag before tying a knot in it as the other Pokémon Center's Pikachus looked on in shock, "All those things do is eat," he said, "And they eat us raw!"

"Cilan." said Delia, "Calm down."

"I gotta make a call." said Cilan as he ran to the nearby videophone.

He stuck a couple of coins into the videophone and dialed in a number, "We're sorry," said the automated voice machine of the videophone, "We cannot complete your long-distance call due to technical difficulties, please try again later."

"Oh, come on!" cried Cilan.

"And you just noticed the phone's are out," Wally asked, "Who are you trying to call?"

"My brothers!"

"Where you're from?"

"Striaton City, in the Unova region."

"Unova's gone," said Tesla, "All the cities are overruned, the Undead are crawling all over the place when I left. In some cases, quite literally."

"Tesla!" barked Iris.

"I've never lied to you or your friends, Iris! There's nothing but death and destruction there! That is the reason I'm here, because the dead had consumed everything and this f*cking island is all that I have left!"

His cheeks were sparking electrical energy from built-up anger. Still holding Pikachu in his arms, Ash rushed up to Tesla, "Tesla, calm down!"

The sparking ceased and Tesla exhaled, he turned to Ash with a tired look on his face, "What are we becoming, Ash?"

"Something else."

Tesla looked down and sighed, then looked up at Iris, "I'm sorry."

"It isn't your fault that this is happening." said Iris.

"Axew." Axew muttered.

Tesla grunt, "Then whose fault is it?"

TO BE CONTINUED...