Hi everyone! A new chapter! This one is a mere connection between what's gonna happen next. Scarlet will play a important role in later in the story, that's why I give her some screentime. It's also important that she gets a bond with Maurice because... That's a secret... :)

Have fun! Next chapter will have a major surprise in it, promise. :)

OH, one more thing. Italic speak means pika-speak! And I'm looking for two original names for the pichu of Jack and Rosie!

I lay in my bed. Next to me were two small pichu, just one hour old. They were cuddled up against me. I was at home and it was 2AM. Jack and Rosie just went downstairs to get some water after Rosie had given birth and to clean up a bit. I looked at the small pichu and then at Cammy, who was in Bobby's old basket. She had been sleeping all the time. I smiled and looked down. The difference in size was huge. I wondered how she would respond to her new brother and sister when she would wake up. I changed position. Soft squeaks came from both pichu, which immediately responded to the absence of warmth. I gently got back close to them as Jack and Rosie both jumped my bed.

"Thank you..." Rosie said before grabbing her cubs and placing them next to herself. After she was done, she and Jack curled up around them and both sighed happily.

"I'm happy you could come..." Rosie said before licking my neck.

"No problem..." I said as I gently stroked her. "Don't you think Jack could help you?"

"Me? Help her with giving birth? No thanks... Remember when I almost fainted when I got that little wound...?" he said while sighing.

"That's true... You aren't really suitable for this kind of things." I said.

"I can't help it... As soon I see blood I just feel terrible..." he said.

"No worries, some humans have the exact same problem." I said softly. Rosie just giggled and purred softly as she licked Jack's face.

"No worries, I'm just happy that Maurice wanted to be here... He makes me feel safe... And I wanted my pichu to know him as soon as possible... Whenever they'll smell him they'll remember him." she said before she licked my face. Jack just smiled and also licked one of the pichu. He then stood up and curled up next to Cammy.

"Do you already have names for them?" I asked.

"Names? Why?" Rosie asked.

"Well, for the humans... To keep them apart..." I said.

"Why would you need names..." she said. "We got smell."

"Then tell me why you call him Jack and why you're called Rosie." I smiled.

"Because someone named him Jack..." she said. "And because someone named me Rose... and everyone calls me Rosie ever since. So I'm used to it by now..."

"That's true, your trainer named you Rose..." I said.

"Anyway... I'm gonna sleep... I'm tired... Cammy will probably be happy she got a brother and sister..." Rosie said.

"Yeah, I wonder how long Cammy will be asleep. She'll probably freak out..." I said.

"It still freaks ME out you can talk pikachu." Rosie said. "But I like it..."

"I'm completely used to it by now... It took me so long to master it..." I said when I heard a loud snore from Jack. He was deep asleep already. I nuzzled Rosie gently one more time. She purred and also felt asleep.

It was morning before I knew it. Cammy was standing next to my head and she was trying to wake me up.

"Good morning...!" I whispered while I stretched myself. I felt Rosie and the pichu next to me, still asleep. I gently scratched Cammy under her chin and she purred. She then wanted to snuggle under my blanket but I stopped her. Rosie wasn't awake yet and Jack (who had been sleeping next to Cammy) just jumped the bed to get Cammy back.

"Cammy... Tonight your brother and sister are born..." he said softly. "They're still asleep and we shouldn't disturb them. They're tired."

"But-chu pi! Pi-night! Pichu pi -be tired?" she asked. It took me quite an effort to understand only that, because pichu only uses two syllables instead of three. Understanding other pokémon with three syllables, like bulbasaur, was much easier for me (yet still very hard).

"Yes, they slept all night..." Jack said. "But you have to be a good pichu and listen to me. You can cuddle with Maurice instead. When they're awake you can see them." he smiled to her.

"Wait, what?!" I laughed while Cammy didn't waste any time and quickly hugged my face squeaking softly. Jack meanwhile dove under my blanket to check on Rosie and his newborns. After a while he emerged, grabbed Cammy at her scruff, looked at me with a glare that meant 'food' and took her downstairs to probably eat something. I felt that Rosie was awake. I checked on her. She looked at me with a tired face. I smiled and I decided leave her alone for a couple of hours and I followed Jack downstairs.

"I could get used to this..." I thought when I looked over to my bed. I went downstairs to find Jack and Cammy in the kitchen. It was only 6AM and I yawned long and loudly.

"The first thing I learn you when I come back here is to have a good sleep..." I said to Cammy before fetching pokéchew for Jack. Cammy looked at me with a questionable face that turned into delight when I showed her pichu-pokéchew. I filled both their feeders with food and they immediately started eating. I watched as Cammy ate her food. She had to be close to evolving. I wouldn't think it could take much longer before she turned into a pikachu.

Later that day I was watching the pichu in the bed. They were doing great and for such small pichu they were quite active. It was fun to watch them explore my bed and my blanket while Cammy was walking around them and trying to play with them. Jack and Rosie had a hard time stopping her from being too rough with them, but Cammy was just over the moon with her new playmates. I frequently just lured her towards myself just to calm the pichu down a bit. Her brother and sister found her kinda strange, but they would get used to her soon enough. They didn't have any problem with me, not as the pichu from the colony on the first meet at least. I suppose that's the advantage of pichu born in human company. Even my mother found the pichu cute (and that says something).

I went back to my own pikachu and pichu after one more night. Rosie had recovered in a amazing way, she wasn't even tired anymore. Probably because it was her third nest already. She know how things worked. She hugged me goodbye when I said I had to go back. Inside I didn't really want to leave the newborn pichu, but since Lukas and his mate were also expecting pichu... And since half the colony was expecting pichu...

I had promised them to take them back to their own nest whenever the pichu were ready for it. That would probably be in a week or five. Cammy also hugged me and Jack just rubbed his cheek against mine. I smiled at him and told him to take good care of Rosie, Cammy and the pichu. We didn't name them yet, but my mother would probably come up with some names within the next days.

"Bye daddy!" Cammy said happily when I left the door. I smiled one more time at her before mom smiled at me.

"Bye sweetie!" she said and she closed the door.

Oak looked at me as I got into the jeep. After some business in Viridian he picked me up for the drive to Pallet. I entered his car and we drove off.

"So, how things went?" he said. "I would love to see her pichu, but I simply don't have the time for it..."

"Everything went just fine." I said. "Rosie was quite tired but she's OK now. The pichu look great, they were quite active already after a couple of hours. They're male and female."

"Perfect family." Oak chuckled.

"Indeed." I said while sighing. I looked out of the window.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing. I just miss... My house... My bed... Rosie, Jack... Now they have pichu I want to stay home. And of course I miss Cammy... After all I'm her trainer now... Well, trainer... Caretaker." I said.

"Really? And what about the colony then?" he asked.

"That's the point... I miss them too." I said. "I'm currently trying to choose a side but I cannot choose."

"You shouldn't pick sides..." Oak said. "You should just try to live your life in the colony and return home when you're done with the colony."

"Done with the colony? Like when I don't like them anymore?" I said.

"Well... Yes, but also when you feel that it's enough." he said.

"Yeah... Well I love them way too much. I've seen a complete generation of pichu grow... I've raised them almost myself. That's a very strange feeling, you know that?" I said. "I'm colony leader... I can talk to them... I can understand them... I even think like them when I'm focussed on the pikachu life..."

Oak remained silent after I said this.

"Enough depression." I said. My feral part could just smell the forest... My temporary home. "I want to get back and make sure the new pichu are good."

"Alright. Remember to tell me when anything is wrong." Oak said.

"I will." I said. "How's Scarlet doing? Maybe I can say hi to her... Did you leave her outside her pokéball in the past six weeks?" I asked. Oak remained silent.

"Scarlet...?" he asked.

"Flower... That pikachu you used to test me a while back." I said.

"Oh, that pikachu! I forgot all about her..." he said.

"You didn't." I said as-a-matter-of-fact. "Did she come back to you?"

"Yes, she did." Oak said.

"How can you forget about her?"

"I have more pokémon in my lab than just Scarlet." he said. "She has to be there all the time so her trainer can get her."

"Hmmm..." I said. "That sucks for her, because she's basically jailed in her ball then."

"Yes... Yes she is." Oak said.

"Hmmm... I'll ring her trainer then. Maybe she CAN come with me. Lukas would love to meet her. I think he got attracted to her smell." I said.

"Really? Could he smell her on you?" Oak asked.

"Of course he could. Almost immediately, after three days." I chuckled. "Oh, and maybe you don't want to hear this, but she asked me to mate with her." I said.

"She did?" Oak said, a smile on his face.

"Yep. I'm happy mating season is over, it makes females do strange things." I said.

"Indeed. Do you know why she asked you?" he asked.

"Uhm... Because I was a strong pikachu, the strongest around. I told her that even if I mated her it wouldn't work out but she implied it would work out just fine..." I said.

"The strongest around?" he laughed.

"She said so... I think exactly the same as you right now I think." I smiled.

"Well we're almost there." he said. "You can ring her trainer if you like... Maybe he'll give you permission..."

"Do you know her trainer?" I asked.

"Just as I know most trainers... Just a bit." he said. "I just can't remember all trainers that come at my laboratory..." he smirked as he pulled into his own parking space just in front of the door. It was nice weather and a little spring sun was shining. We entered the laboratory and turned into the research area with the equipment... And we looked around. The place was a mess. Papers were all over the ground, some equipment was on the ground... And we could hear some noise in the pokéball room.

"What on earth..." Oak said slowly. We both looked at the pokéball storage. I walked over to the door of the storage and grabbed the handle. With a quick motion I opened it and I was immediately pushed aside by a man dressed in black. He ran away and was headed for the door. Oak tried to stop him but he was too quick. I got on my feet and followed him outside, but he was gone already. I looked left and right and even on the roof (it happens often in movies, you could never know!) but he was nowhere to be found. I headed back inside and got into the laboratory. When I entered it the pokémon storage appeared to be full of... pikachu...

"What the heck!" I asked Oak. "Who was that and what was he doing here..?"

"I seriously have no clue." he said. I looked at the different pikachu. All of them didn't look very good. They were happy that the person in there was gone now, or so it appeared. I sat down next to them. A quick check revealed that all of them were alright... I looked inside the storage room. One pikachu was still in there. I looked at it and it quickly fled under some machinery. I could just see it's tail. A female. I looked at all other pikachu. They were all male. That could only mean one thing... It was Scarlet that just fled away! Why was she trying to hide herself as soon I saw her?

"What the... Scarlet...!" I said, surprised that she fled for me. I jumped up and walking into the storage room. Oak looked at me.

"What's the problem?" he asked.

"Scarlet... It's me..." I said as I walked into the storage room. A small bonk and whine from the distance and then everything was silent. She didn't move anymore and kept herself silent. I couldn't hear anything of her. I lay on my belly and I got myself through some wires under the pokémon storage machine and tried to get under it.

"Where is she...?" I thought.

"What are you doing? Is Scarlet here?" Oak asked. He had followed me inside and stood behind me. He could probably only see my feet sticking from under his machinery until they completely disappeared as I pulled myself further under it.

"Yes, she went inside here... How big is this?" I asked from under the machine as I Looked into a dark sort of corridor where I was crawling through.

"You're currently in the maintenance tunnel." Oak replied.

"Is it a dead end or has it splits? Scarlet, where are you...?" I asked.

"It's a dead end." he replied. "I'm not sure, I didn't enter this thing in years."

I got near a turn to the left. I crawled further in and saw Scarlet. She was standing in one of the corners of the dead end and she looked at me with scared eyes. It went really dark behind the corner and my eyes needed some time to adjust to the amount of light.

"Hey...!" I said with a soft and soothing voice, one you would use against a baby. "Why are you hiding here?" I asked her gently. I stuck my hand in front of me so Scarlet could smell me and hopefully remember me. I could see a vague black shade slowly coming towards me and sniffing me before she immediately hugged my face and whimpered a bit. It felt a bit wet, tears maybe...?

"Hey sweetie, what's the problem? Why are you fleeing for me?" I asked.

"Do you got her?" Oak asked.

"Yes, I do. She's a bit... Emotional. I don't have a clue what's the problem." I said as I got her a bit more comfortable against my shoulder.

"Shhhh..." I said slowly. "It's alright..."

Scarlet looked at me with a scared look. I could barely see her face but there was some light on her. She looked around me to see if there was anyone else.

"That guy is gone." I said to her while I gently stroked her between and on her ears before she came close again and pushed herself against me with her small hands against my neck and shoulder. I wrapped my arms around her and gently rubbed my cheeks against hers.

"Shall we go back?" I asked her. "That guy is gone." Scarlet just watched me.

"I w-wanna stay here..." she said stuttering.

"But why then?" I asked her gently. "He's gone... Did he hurt you?"

"He... He..." she said but she just failed to tell me what happened before she whimpered again and wanted me to grab her again. I just pulled a worried face and gently went back from under Oak's machine. There was actually enough room in here to turn so I turned and I told Scarlet to walk in front of me while I crawled back. I got out of the little tunnel and got all the dust from me. Then I could see Scarlet a bit better. Her right eye was blue, as if she was hit by someone. She had one of her paws in a awkward position and there was some blood on her belly, which I couldn't see in the dark.

"Whoa, Scarlet, what happened?" I asked her while I examined the rather small wound.

Oak walked back into the room.

"WHOA, what did you DO?" he said.

"Huh, why that?" I asked while getting up.

"Your face is covered in blood!" he said. I placed my finger on my cheek and took it off and I noticed indeed that my right cheek and shoulder were red and that some of my clothes were red. So it weren't tears I felt, it was her blood! Oak saw Scarlet.

"What happened to her...?" he asked.

"I don't know... Scarlet couldn't really tell me." I said while I looked at her. She was shivering and she looked around restlessly. Oak kneeled next to her and felt her side not covered in blood.

"She's in shock." he said fairly soon after. "She needs medical help, some rest and some little attention." Oak said. "No food or water for the oncoming two hours at least and make sure she doesn't faint. If she does, call me." he said.

"Alright." I said as I gently picked her up. She looked around confused and she looked at me. I took her to another part of Oak's lab. One of his assistants helped me out with some of the medical stuff. After Scarled was bandaged on her belly and she appeared alright I gently picked her up and wrapped her in a small blanket and sat down with her on a couch, gently keeping her warm and gently cuddling her every now and then. She appeared very confused and she was happy to be with me.

Oak sat next to me and checked her over after about one hour. Scarlet still appeared very confused but she had stopped shaking and she wasn't restless anymore. I gently was stroking across her head and I was gently cradling her against me.

After another fifteen minutes Scarled was almost back to normal. She was still a bit confused but she appeared and acted quite normal. I gave her another big cuddle which she happily accepted.

"Pikaaaaaa..." she said softly as I held her against my shoulder.

"So, what happened to you?" I asked her while I stroked her.

"You could have asked the other pikachu." Oak said.

"Crap... I didn't think about that..." I said with a plain look.

"I don't know... That guy... He said to me that he would... He would kill me..." she said as she shivered. "It was very scary... I feared for my life..."

"He told us to tell where Cammy was... I said him I didn't know who Cammy was but he didn't understand me and he froze the pikachu and told me that I had to cooperate and show me where she was otherwise he would k-kill... me..." she said as she shivered again. "He hit me in my belly with some sharp thing... I panicked and I was afraid he would really kill me... He had cornered me and he had shot the other pikachu with some kind of... Thing... They couldn't move and shocking him wouldn't help. He just wanted to beat me when someone came in and he waited for that person to open the door which appeared to be you... But I cannot really remember it..." she said. He asked for Cammy... Could it be...

"Did he say something specific about Cammy?" I asked, fearing the worst.

"He said he was looking for a special pikachu..." she said as she looked at me. "You know Cammy?" she said as she smiled and got up. She then pulled a painful face and allowed me to put her down again and cover her up under the blanket again.

"No more moving for you for a while." I said to her in pikaspeak. "You stay right here in my lap." I smiled. Oak came in.

"Samuel, did they steal anything from you?" I asked.

"Yes, they did." Oak said.

"What were they about?" I asked.

"Uhm... Why?" Oak asked.

"Because Scarlet says the man was looking for Cammy. I think he probably mistook her for Cammy and wanted to take her." I said.

"They stole files about you and Cammy." he said.

"About me...?" I asked. I knew Oak had some files about Cammy, but me...?

"Yes, about your stay in the pikachu colony." he sighed. "Somebody now knows that you're there and that you're successful." he said.

"Crap..." I said. "I think it's better that we keep Cammy at my parents for the time being." I said.

"Why? You don't know who stole anything." Oak said.

"Did you tell anyone that you have a white pichu?" I said.

"Well, I didn't tell anyone. But when I was talking to a colleague Rosie and Jack came in with Cammy so he saw her... Then he asked and I explained. But I haven't heard anything about that ever since." he said. I got my phone out and searched the internet for something.

"Scarlet, did that guy look like this? I didn't see him properly..." I said while I showed her the picture. She looked at it and nodded violently.

"Yes, exactly like that!" she said. I showed Oak the picture.

"Oh no..." he said. "Do you think..."

"I fear so..." I said as I looked at the black suit which had a small pink R on the chest. Team Rocket was behind Cammy and me.

Yep, didn't see that coming. I hope. What, you DID see it coming?! DANG.

See you next time. ;)