Chapter 14: As Cold As Ice
"You wanted to see me, sir?" Chris said as he came into Peterson's office.
"Yes Johnson," Peterson said. "We have a huge situation on our hands. Apparently, there are still some remnants of Sector 7 located off the coast of Sinnoh."
"They just never stop," Chris said, sighing. "You have a plan, I'm guessing?"
"That's right," Peterson said. "We're sending in a small squad to try to route them out. We sneak in, they won't know what's coming."
"And I'm joining them as well?" Chris asked.
"Yes, it's time to put you to the test as a Spectre," Peterson said. "A lot of these men are pros, and you can definitely learn something from them. General Ortiz and I have named this Operation Orpheus..."
"I'm not liking this Chris," Pikette said in their room. "Why would Sector 7 still be operating in certain regions? I feel like they're up to something."
"There's nothing to worry about," Chris said. "We'll be back before anyone realizes we're gone. Shouldn't be too much to handle."
"Just... be careful," Pikette said.
The sounds of explosions and gunfire filled the air. "Command, do you copy!? This is Unit 316, requesting back-up! We have taken heavy casualties and are under heavy fire! Delta and Echo squads have been eliminated! I repeat Command, requesting-" Another explosion erupted, cutting off the transmission.
Chris opened his eyes and took a look around. There didn't appear to be any activity nearby. Everything was quiet. He wasn't sure what time it was, or how long he had been sleeping. He then looked over and saw Pikette right next to him, still sleeping.
He then smiled and laid his head right on her side. She, however, didn't seem to feel it. He could smell the scent of her fur going through his nose. He then reached over and gave her a kiss on the forehead before laying back down where he was, paws behind his head while staring up at the ceiling.
It was strange, in a sense. He had never thought that he would be in any sort of relationship with a Pokemon. But then again, that was when he was a human. Even though he still wasn't used to be a Pokemon, he felt nothing wrong with falling in love with Pikette.
Of course, she had only started falling in love with him after becoming a Pikachu. But, he couldn't blame her. If their roles had been reversed and Pikette had somehow became human, he may have felt the same.
He then smiled, trying to imagine what Pikette would look like as a human. He then thought of a girl with long brown hair, almost close to his height, with eyes that could pierce right through you.
Chris then shook his head, trying to make those thoughts go away. "You're over-doing it a bit there Chris," he thought to himself.
For his own amusement, he decided to move his tail, brushing it against Pikette's side, causing her to giggle a little bit as she was being tickled. He then decided to move his tail down to a certain area but before he could do that, he heard Pikette say, "Don't even think about it." She then opened one of her eyes and looked at him with a bit of a smile. "We just did it last night, and now you want more?" she asked.
"Well..." Chris said, smirking. "I wasn't asking for it, but since you brought it up-"
"No Chris," she said, giving him a quick kiss. "We won't have time. Besides, we have a mission to finish here, remember?"
"Yes, you're right," Chris said. He then laughed awkwardly. "You do realize I was kidding about all that?"
"I know," Pikette said. "Whether you were or not, I still would've said no. I don't want to end up what you humans term as a "whore."" She then gave him a wink. "But, once this is all over, we can do whatever we want. Deal?"
Chris smiled. "Deal," he said.
They then continued on the fourth floor. Strangely enough, the elevators were very spread out in this entire facility. But then again, Chris for sure didn't expect any less from it. "Pikette," Chris said. "Those Pikachu you saw before. You notice anything unusual about them?"
"Not really," Pikette said. "Why do you ask?"
"They... in a sense, were my brothers," Chris said.
"W-what!?" Pikette said. "You can't be serious?"
"Yeah, imagine my surprise," Chris said. "But yes, I'm being serious. Three years ago, when I got captured and they injected me with the nanomachines, they must've taken out some of my DNA."
"And... they're like your clones?" Pikette asked.
"Yeah... they are," Chris said.
Pikette seemed shocked by this. "Chris, I'm so sorry, I had no idea," she said. "I would've reacted the same way."
"No, it's fine," Chris said. "I just wish... that they weren't created just to be used against me. They think they can fight fire with fire with me. That's why they're doing this, Pikette. They know what I'm capable of doing, and they'll do whatever they can to stop me." He then smirked. "Guess it gives me another reason to bring this place down."
"Chris, I have to be honest with you," Pikette said then. "I don't know how you do it."
"What do you mean?" Chris asked.
"All of this," Pikette said. "With what happened before and now. I just don't know how you can deal with all of it."
"Yeah, a lot has changed since then," Chris said. "Well, I just learn to accept it. It's never easy, but I push through it, like I always do." Pikette then, unexpectedly, went up to him and gave him a hug. Chris just smiled. "I'll be okay," he said, gently rubbing her back.
They then continued on, going through the fourth floor. Soon, they got to another fork in the path with three doors to choose from. "Ugh, will this never end?" Pikette groaned.
All of a sudden, Chris could've sworn he heard something and pressed his ear against the wall. "Someone's coming."
"Human?" Pikette asked.
"Not sure," Chris said. "Quick, behind those boxes."
They quickly hid behind the boxes next to them, waiting to see who would come out. However, once the door did open, they were surprised to see that it was-
"Sadie!?" Pikette cried out.
Sadie looked over and saw Pikette. "Oh, hi Pikette," she said. "Fortunate to meet you here. Wait, where's Chris?"
"Um, I'm right here, Sadie," Chris said, coming out so she could see him.
Sadie stared at him for a couple of seconds. She then smiled and laughed slightly. "Good one Chris. Now really, where are you?" she asked, causing both Chris and Pikette to sweatdrop.
"Sadie, it really is me," Chris said. "Something kind of happened."
Surprised, Sadie went up to him and got down to his level, staring into his eyes. "Chris?" she said, a tad bit of fear in her voice.
Chris just chuckled. "Kind of unfortunate for me, isn't it?"
"But how?" Sadie asked. "How did this happen?"
"Final process of the nanomachines," Pikette explained. "Since they contain Pokemon DNA, it must've changed Chris' DNA structure completely. And as such, he is now a Pikachu."
"I'm sorry," Sadie said, bowing her head slightly.
"Don't be," Chris said. "There was nothing I could do at the time. Nothing any of us could've done at the time."
"So what do we do now?" Pikette asked.
"Everything's being jammed," Sadie said. "Now I'm not sure which door will lead me where. We may as well split up again, seeing as this place is enough of a maze."
"Alright, Pikette and I will go forward," Chris said.
"That means I'll take the right," Sadie said. She was about to leave, but stood in place, looking at Chris.
"What?" Chris asked. "Something wrong?"
"I umm..." she said awkwardly. "Is it alright... if I can... pick you up?"
Chris seemed to be caught off-guard by that. "Uh, I guess," he said, feeling awkward. She then picked him up, still staring into his eyes. All of a sudden, she started giggling. "What?" Chris then asked. "What's so funny?"
"Sorry," Sadie said. "I just can't help the fact that now you're adorably cute." She then gave him a hug. "Kind of ironic, isn't it?"
Chris, however, wasn't amused. "Sadie," he said seriously. "Put me down, or so help me God I will electrocute you."
"Oh, you're no fun," Sadie said, putting him down. "Anyway, we'll probably meet up again soon enough, so be careful you two."
"Hey, you don't have to tell us twice," Pikette said before she left. "Not like we haven't been through enough danger as is."
"Well, that went better than I expected," Chris said.
"That it did," Pikette said. "Anyway, we had better get moving then."
They went through the door in front of them and soon found themselves in a short hallway that then branched off to two different paths, left and right. "Well, once again we hit a fork in the road," Chris said.
(A/N: Wow, only one song in this chapter. Surprising, isn't it? Anyway, I have a song to play here. It's called "Ook Battle" from Twilight Princess. Although it's supposed to be a battle song, I don't have a battle here. You'll see why.)
All of a sudden, there came a loud crash and the sound of broken glass. "Oops!" a voice cried out. Chris and Pikette heard it coming from the left and went to investigate. Once they got there, they saw a huge mess of broken glass and multiple liquids on the floor. There, standing in front of it all, was an Aipom. "Oh dear, this isn't good," the Aipom said, who was female. She then looked behind and saw the two Pikachu. "Oh hi there!" she said with a smile. "Don't mind me, I'm such a klutz. I just hope none of this was important."
Chris and Pikette were surprised by this. "Um, are you a Pokemon?" Chris asked.
Aipom just gave a small giggle. "Well of course I am, silly!" she said. "Just like you are!"
"I think she might be an actual Pokemon," Pikette whispered to him.
"Right, we'll play along, pretending we're real as well. I mean, I'm real," Chris whispered. He then looked back to Aipom. "Excuse me Aipom, but would you happen to know how to get to the next elevator around here?"
"Aww, you can't stay?" Aipom said, frowning. "I've been lonely for quite some time, and I really need some time to talk to. The scientists who were here always used to play with me and were so nice. But then they left and I was all alone."
"The poor thing," Pikette said.
"Hey! I know!" Aipom said. "You said you needed to find an elevator, right? I can show you how to get there. Oh, it'll be so much fun, just like a game! Okay, then follow me." *She then started running off past them.
"Guess we better follow her then," Chris said.
Unfortunately, she was a little quick for them and had trouble staying up with her, but it appeared she was having fun with it all. "Keep up you two!" she said behind her. "That's the point of the game."
After going through more doors, hallways, etc., she finally stopped at what appeared to be the elevator. "Ah, here we are," Aipom said. She then looked to them. "Are you sure you can't stay?" she asked.
"Sorry, but we have some... stuff to take care of," Pikette said.
"Hmm," Aipom said. Her face then brightened. "Wait! I know! How about I come along with you?"
Chris and Pikette exchanged glances. "Listen Aipom," Chris said. "I'll be honest with you. Bad things are happening and it's best you get yourself to safety. You know how to get out of here?"
"I do know a way," Aipom said. "But..." All of a sudden, there came a beeping sound and Aipom looked at her one arm where some sort of device was attached to, which neither Chris nor Pikette noticed before. Aipom then gasped as it was beeping. "This is the device one of the scientists gave me, who was a friend of mine. He usually used it to call me for food or something else. That means... he's still here!" A look of joy came upon her face. "I have to go to him. It was nice meeting you two, maybe we might meet again. I'm coming!" And just like that, she ran down the hall to meet with her friend.
"Aw, she was nice," Pikette said. "I'm glad to see someone here appreciates Pokemon for who they are."
"Yeah," Chris said. "Alright, let's see what's up on this next floor." They then got into the elevator and it traveled upwards. Once the doors opened again, they were met with a very cold gust of air.
"What in the-?" Pikette said. They then looked around. This area was much different than what they've seen before. This was because the entire room was covered in ice.
(A/N: DAH DAH DAH! Hey, ice can be your worst enemy in so many ways. Trust me, I live in an area where it snows a lot. Anyway, I kind of put in Aipom for certain reasons, those which I won't explain yet. Oh yeah, I better explain something. Now, these elevators aren't your typical elevators. They're meant to only go up one floor, kind of like the ones you see in Resident Evil 4 for example. Obviously it would be stupid to go one floor at a time on your usual elevators. So, that's just to clarify, so I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I think I can say we're starting to get close to the grand finale. Well okay, maybe not yet, but soon we will.)
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