Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon

Chapter 9: Zaszokowac'

Groaning, Fara settled herself into her sleeping bag gingerly. Her muscles ached horribly and the majority of her body was covered in bruises from the day's activities. Desperately she wished in vain for the pain killers to hurry up and do their job.

Fara's poor pokemon sat in the tent as close to her as they dared. Touching wasn't permitted right now, especially after a gentle nudge from Poocheyena had resulted in a yelp of pain from her. She wished she could comfort them but at the moment she didn't dare move. The whole situation made her miserable and she couldn't help but glare in the direction of Ranger McClain's tent.

He was staying another day or two because of what had happened earlier. Fara blamed him entirely too. All of this was because he pushed her into visiting the Pikachu territory. Sighing she closed her eyes as she remembered all that had transpired.

Flashback:

After an early rising and the usual morning routine had been completed Fara set out with Roan towards the Pikachu Territory. The day was beautiful and cool so the hike was fairly easy. Pidgey flew above both humans and Poocheyena stayed behind to guard the drying berries.

All in all it took them only an hour to hike the four miles. It was easy to see that they were close as well. There were fewer trees and more brush. The few scattered trees showed physical evidence of electrical damage. This was probably because of the electrical storms that cropped up time to time because of the Pikachu residency.

The excess static produced by the mouse pokemon effected the periodic rain storms and made them much more violent. It wasn't uncommon for wild fires to pop up because of the storms either. This explained the lack of trees.

Glancing up at Roan she realized he was slowing down and had his gaze directed in front of him. She could see a large clearing over the bushes. In it several yellow and black pokemon played with each other. There were a couple of older Pikachu but the rest of the pokemon were Pichu. The infant pokemon were clumsy and seemed to tumble all over the place as they played.

The Pikachu stayed close on an outcropping of rocks. Unlike the Pichu they didn't play but seemed to be keeping a keen gaze on their surroundings. In fact, one was staring at Fara and Roan. His ears were twisted in there direction and his tail was lifted slightly. While not an aggressive stance it was one that told Fara to be cautious.

Roan seemed to think the same thing because he stopped. Fara halted behind him and watched to take his cues. She had never been this close to the home territory. Her previous excursion had comprised of sitting on a tree limb with binoculars farther back.

Electric pokemon were particularly dangerous to humans. Unlike pokemon who could take electrical attacks at high voltages, human's hearts could be stopped with relatively low voltages. So caution was a must.

Roan stood for several minutes and watched the male Pikachu. As the stare down continued Fara saw a bush close to them rustle. A Pikachu with a kinked tail popped out and sniffed at them. Roan looked down at the rodent and smiled gently and crouched slowly. Fara followed suit.

The Ranger's movement was rewarded. The Pikachu leaped up on the Rangers shoulder and rubbed his check against Roan's. Fara winced at the small sparks that touched Roan. However, the Ranger didn't react and gently rubbed the pokemon's jaw with a finger and got a soft purr of approval. He looked back at Fara and spoke.

"This is Crooked Tail. I met him a few days ago and we've been pretty good buds since. He's going to be the one that gets us into the clearing. You saw the other male?"

Fara nodded and the ranger continued. "I call that guy Eagle Eye. He's very protective and not trusting of strangers. However he does seem to be close to Crooked Tail here and trusts his judgment. So we'll be able to get close.'

She swallowed but nodded in response. She was nervous with so many dangerous pokemon near by. Crooked Tail, on the other hand, was completely relaxed at Roan's gentle ministrations. He looked at Fara after a moment and cocked his ear forward. Leaping off Roan's shoulder he slowly approached the new trainer.

Tamping down on her anxiety, Fara lifted a hand out slowly for the pokemon to inspect. He sniffed at it and then put his hand under it prompting a head stroke. She complied with the silent request. The electric rodent's fur was rougher then Poocheyena's but still soft. Her hand also tingled from the pokemon's natural static. Rather then hurting as she expected it tickled and Fara couldn't help but giggle.

Crooked Tail seemed to approve and, like with Roan, leaped up onto Fara's shoulder. He rubbed his cheek against her and the sparks tickled Fara tremendously. Roan coughed softly and she turned her attention to him.

"It looks like you have his approval so how about we go to the clearing. Eagle Eye should be good now that we both received the Pikachu greeting." She frowned at him slightly.

"Pikachu greeting?"

Roan just smirked. "That cheek rub was an official greeting. Pikachu communicate through their cheeks with each other. Rubbing it against yours like that was a hello and welcome. If he didn't like us he would have shot off warning sparks instead."

Fara hummed slightly as she thought about what he said. Pokemon were amazing and she seemed to learn something new every other minute. Even now, as she walked forward with Roan to the clearing, she was learning how to interact with wild pokemon just by watching the Ranger.

Crooked Tail hung onto her shoulder with his dexterous paws firmly. He only got off as they entered the clearing. The aforementioned 'Eagle Eye' approached him and sat with him face to face. Sparks and gentle sounds of Pika were exchanged before Eagle Eye looked up and nodded at the humans. A gentle coo sounded and Fara felt her avian pokemon land on her shoulder. Fara reached up and stroked his chest.

His arrival had set off a small alarm with the small Pichu. Fara sighed but reached for her pokemon's ball.

"Pidgey, I need you to return for a while. You're making the little ones nervous." She promptly returned him and smiled at Eagle Eye in apology. "I'm sorry about him; he's just protective like you are. He doesn't trust strange people or pokemon."

The mouse stared for a moment before nodding. Up close, Fara could see a small patchwork of scar tissue on his belly. Battle scars by the look of it. The sight of them told Fara he understood more than his nod. This was a guardian.

Looking up at Roan she spoke. "Well, what are we going to do here?"

The young man grinned and pointed towards the small bunch of Pichu. "You are going to play while I watch. We'll stay for a couple of hours and maybe by the end one of the Pikachu here will want to leave with you on your Journey." He looked at the pokemon around him as he said this.

Scrunching her nose at the Ranger she started towards the infant pokemon and sat down. At first they kept their distance and just stared at her. She ignored them and looked around her. The infants would come at their own pace if at all and she was curious about their home. Pulling out her notebook she started to note the details of the clearing.

From what she could see several Pikachu popped in and out off bushes against the outcropping with food they had gathered. They ignored Fara and the Ranger. There was no food in their mouths as they left the clearing so Fara noted that there were probably burrows under the bedrock.

She couldn't see many berry bushes in the vicinity but there were several Cheri Berry trees. They were a popular paralysis cure and Fara wasn't surprised to see them close to the clearing. Like Pecha Berry bushes needed those of the Beedrill line, Cheri Berry's needed the static from pokemon like Pikachu. However, the fruit wasn't ripe, so her interest faded quickly.

Just as she was jotting these observations she felt a small weight upon her boot. Looking up she saw a Pichu with a jagged right ear staring at her. The little male had obviously already had a run in with predators. Still he had approached her and Fara lifted a hand for him to sniff. The other Pichu were closer as well and watched her interaction with the male closely. She got the impression this was the leader of the little pack. In addition his slightly darker coloring looked like Eagle Eyes fur. He was probably a close relative if not direct offspring of the protective male.

The little Pichu finished his inspection and yelled at the others. Fara was promptly bombarded with little pokemon that proceeded to use her as a jungle gym. Laughing slightly she put her pen and pad down so as to pet some of them. They were curious little guys and tried to investigate any and all pockets. They even tried to get under her clothing, something she stopped due to their sharps claws.

This investigation and entertainment lasted for and hour until the infants tired themselves out. Fara took the chance to lie on the grass with them and, to her amusement; they used her as a pillow. Her arms were supporting her head as she shut her eyes. The air was cool and sun warm so it wasn't surprising she drifted off as well. Before she realized it she was waking up to a persistent tugging at her head. Groggily opening her eyes she looked up to see a rotund female Pikachu pulling at her bandanna.

In fact, the bandanna was almost completely off Fara's head due to the Pikachu's determined effort. Sitting up and putting the sleeping Pichu aside she grabbed her bandanna firmly. Hearing laughter to her left she saw Roan grinning at her.

"Looks like someone want your bandanna for her nest" Fara snorted before gently taking the cloth from the female. She was obviously late in her pregnancy and like Roan said nesting. The Pikachu chattered at her and pointed to the grey cloth.

Fara hesitated before handing it to the female. She liked her bandanna but not enough to anger a pregnant pokemon. Plus she had a couple of spares. The female took it and ran awkwardly towards a bush. She stopped and looked at Fara and began chattering at her while pointing to the bush.

Looking at the Ranger with question she waited for translation. He rubbed at his face before looking at her.

"I think she wants you to follow her?"

"Why?"

"I don't know, they haven't done this before."

They were interrupted by the female. She had returned and now tugged at Fara's pants and started to spark ominously.

"Fara, just follow her. It seems important to her and I'd rather not deal with an angry mama."

Glaring at the man she turned towards the female Pikachu and followed her to the bush. Pushing the branches aside she could see a small cave like entrance just barely big enough for her to fit through. Grimacing she worked her way into the entrance after the electric mother.

It was less of a squeeze then she had assumed but she wasn't able to do anything but follow the Pokemon. Hopefully, there would be a spot to turn around.

The burrow was a maze like structure and after going down for a few minutes they traveled on level ground. Instead of using a flashlight like she had expected she found the tunnels had glow crystals, a common mineral that lit up in the dark. The way down was confusing as they took more turns then Fara could memorize. The static in the air got heavier the farther they went. Her hands would feel static shocks when she brushed them against her clothing and her curly hair began to frizz horribly.

Finally the tunnel opened up to a room like structure that was the size of her one man tent. Glowing crystals illuminated the entire area. Vegetation, branches, and random bits of cloth were piled into several different nests. Fara was startled to see five other pregnant and nursing females lying in these spaces. But what really scared her was the large Raichu sitting in the middle.

Despite this being a Pikachu nest she wasn't expecting the third evolution at all. Unlike the other natural evolutionary stages Pikachu needed a Thunder Stone to become Raichu. Being as rare as they were, wild Raichu were almost never found. Fara froze still at the intimidating males stare. Raichu could put off 100,000 volts of electricity and she didn't want to become a charred husk from this pokemon's attack.

The female Pikachu Fara followed stopped in front of the Raichu and began to shoot off sparks. She lifted the bandanna then pointed at Fara. The Raichu nodded at her and the female then went to the only unoccupied nest. She started to shred the bandanna and place pieces in positions that were important to her.

Raichu on the other hand looked back at Fara before pointing a paw to an empty spot away from the nests. Swallowing, Fara quietly crawled and sat where the pokemon had pointed to. She thought it best to listen to the potentially lethal pokemon.

Raichu nodded at her as she sat then went off into a tunnel close by. Fara sat quietly and just watched the female Pikachu around her. Three, including the female that had led her here, were pregnant. The other three hand a handful of pink forms nestled against them nursing. If she wasn't so terrified she would have been in awe at the opportunity she had been granted by being here.

Being in a nesting site with permission was a rare opportunity. John had always taught her to be careful around his avian pokemon who were nesting due to their high protective instincts. The only female that had let her near her eggs and newborn young had been Rhapsody, the Pidgeot, and that had only been when John accompanied her.

The longer the Raichu was away the more she relaxed and eventually she took out her pad and pen to write. Professor Oak would never forgive her if she didn't get some data. Fara even covertly took a couple of pictures with her pokedex. Thankful for the silence and flash free feature she quickly put it away. She didn't want to startle the mothers with unfamiliar objects.

Her wait was quickly over after that. Raichu returned and unlike when he left, walked on his hind legs. He approached the trainer and she could see that there was something in his paws. When he stopped close by and lifted his paws towards her she lifted her hands.

She almost had a heart attack when she saw the lumpy forms he had dropped in her hands. Tingling in her palms with excess electricity was two Thunder Stones.

"Holy shit!" Her startled exclamation made the Raichu jolt up slightly and she quieted quickly.

Licking her dry lips she looked up at the den master. "Are you sure you want me to have these?"

The pokemon nodded slowly.

"But won't the other Pikachu want to evolve?" He question received a head shake in the negative. The pokemon then pointed to him self and then drew a single line in the ground. He then pointed at himself again. Frowning she spoke her thoughts aloud.

"There can only be one Raichu at a time?"

Raichu nodded sharply. Corralling her thoughts and stifling her questions at the pokemon's stern features Fara spoke.

"Thank you, I don't think what I gave you is this important, but thank you."

Raichu nodded again and stuck out a charcoal paw towards the exit and spoke "Rai". The female from before got up and started for it. Realizing she was being told to get out Fara followed after stashing the stones in her vest pocket.

The trip back was quicker but Fara hardly noticed in her stunned state. After crawling out of the bushes she tiredly sat on an outcrop of rock. Roan approached her and she shifted his gaze to him.

"So what did the Pikachu want?" He asked.

Wordlessly she reached into her vest and pulled out the valuable stones. Opening her hand she showed the Ranger.

She chuckled when she heard his surprised curse. "She gave you Thunder Stones!"

Fara looked up at him and shook her head. "The Pikachu didn't give them to me. There was a Den Master that did."

"Den Master?"

"Oh yeah, there's a Raichu down there."

At that revelation Roan grabbed her and took several quick steps from the Burrow's entrance. Startled she looked into the man's tense features.

"You're not lying are you?" Fara shook her head.

The Ranger cursed again and Fara frowned at him. "What's wrong?"

Roan looked at her as he rubbed his face again. "Fara the fact that there are Thunder Stones and a wild Raichu here is both very important knowledge and very dangerous. I can't believe I let you go down there at all. One wrong move on your part and he would have fried you; no questions asked."

He grabbed at his hair before continuing. "You could have been killed and easily. I should have realized it wasn't just the lack of predators and competitors that led to the Pikachu increase. They have a protector and a powerful one too."

He tugged her further from the burrow to the clearings edge. "Fara tell me exactly what happened."

So she did and she showed him her picture and notes. Afterwards the man seemed to calm but wouldn't let Fara closer to the clearing despite the Pichu beckoning her. He had went silent and pulled out a device, seemingly recording Fara's information. Fara let him have his thoughts. Her own mind was racing at the adventure she just had. She had met a wild Raichu, visited a nest, and now had two Thunder Stones!

While lost in their thoughts both of the humans failed to notice the jagged eared Pichu approaching them away from the keen gaze of Eagle Eye. What neither pokemon nor human noticed was the curled up purple serpent in the bushes by Fara's feet. Glinting red eyes took in the Pichu's approach and muscles stilled and tensed all at once.

In an instant chaos erupted. A large Arbok sprang towards the Pichu. Fara, unaware of the pokemon, had stepped in between by accident when she saw the Pichu.

Fara's legs were slammed into and she fell to the ground hard. Pichu squealed at the sight of Arbok and ran towards safety. Hissing the heavy serpent sprung towards the infant while Eagle Eye's cry of alarm sounded. Within seconds Raichu was there. A huge arc of electricity surged towards the predator. The pokemon dodged but the attack hit Fara. Stunned on the ground she was unable to avoid the electrical attack.

Muscles spasm and cramped and white filled her vision. Distantly she heard the roar of Raichu and Roan's cry. Then all she saw was black.

Roan cried out as he saw the attack hit Fara. Scrambling to her he moved her to her side and stuck a cloth in between her teeth as she seized. Electricity was still coursing through the child's body. Cursing he looked up in time to see another arc hit the Arbok. A followed up Iron Tail pierced through the Cobra's throat and killed it. The Raichu crowed in victory before looking at the humans.

Roan didn't care. The girl in his arms had finally stopped twitching but, he realized in horror, so had her breathing. Rolling her onto her back and pulling out the handkerchief he started mouth to mouth. For three minutes of terror he worked to make the child breath. Finally she did.

Coughing harshly Fara looked up at the Ranger dimly. The Ranger pulled her up into his arms with a cry of relief.

"Oh thank Arceus, Fara. I thought I lost you there." Fara struggled to understand what the man was saying. She hurt so much and was so confused. What happened?

Laying the girl back down Roan pulled out his bag and rifled through it for his med kit. Finding it he hurried to get the young trainers vitals. The examination showed a higher blood pressure and low pulse ox but after five minutes and another check he found her pressure and pulse ox going back to safe levels.

Turning towards a physical check he found the girl had minor burns on her hip where the attack had hit. Next he asked her general questions to get a idea of her cognitive. Fara was still only semi conscious but started to answer questions slowly. He gave her water to help sooth her coughing as she became more aware.

The whole time he worked on her the Pikachu clan gathered behind and waited. Raichu held a solemn frown on his face and the jagged eared Pichu clung to Eagle Eye. The group was worried about the friendly visitor. The ragged ear Pichu especially felt bad. Again he had failed to stay in the safety zone. This time though it was someone else hurt instead of him.

Slowly Roan settled as it became clear Fara was out of immediate danger. Looking up he was startled by the pokemon gathering. Pichu approached when the man lifted his head. The little pokemon was worried about the nice girl human. Approaching the Ranger slowly he pointed at Fara with a questioning Chu.

Roan shook his head but smiled slightly. "She's going to be alright little guy but she's hurt. I need to take her back to the camp."

Pichu frowned and shook his head. Leaping at the human female he clung to her open vest. He looked at Eagle Eye and chued some more. Roan, usually patient was starting to become irritated. He needed to get Fara to safety. Already, he had let her into a dangerous position and then failed to protect her from a wild pokemon he should have been aware of.

Eagle Eye looked at Raichu then approached Roan. The pokemon pointed at Pichu then Fara. He then pointed in the direction of the camp. Roan sighed but nodded. If Pichu wanted to stay with Fara then he wouldn't stop him but they needed to get back now.

Kneeling down he picked up Pichu.

"If you're going to come that's fine but I need you to get on my shoulder after I pick her up ok?"

Pichu nodded and after Fara was lifted to the man's back, hopped up to the Ranger's shoulder. Patting the dazed females head he looked back and waved at his family. He'd miss them but this human had saved him even if by accident. She had also been hurt because of him and Grandpa Raichu. It was his duty to protect her now.

Fara woke up completely by the time they reached camp. She wished she wasn't awake. Everything hurt horribly. It reminded her of the time she had been burnt by Chimchar. However she stifled the urge to cry and with Roan's help sat down. The man proceeded to check her vitals again. She ignored him mostly in favor of the jagged ear Pichu that sat close to her. His presence was confusing to muddled mental state.

Poocheyena approached cautiously. Though he didn't understand what had happened he realized his trainer was hurt and he sought to comfort her. His gentle touch to her thigh was rewarded with a stifled scream. He jumped back and whined, confused.

Roan reached and gently pulled the pup away. He looked at the girl with worry. She was hunched over and he could see the involuntary muscle twitches as she shuddered in pain.

Fara ignored his gaze and the two pokemon looking at her. Tears slowly slid down her face as she suffered the effects of Raichu's electric attack.

Flashback End:

It had taken a couple of hours before she could clearly think again. Roan had given her pain meds, dressed her hip burns, and explained what had happened once it was clear she couldn't remember the attack clearly. He had later made dinner and told her he would be staying until the new Ranger came.

Afterwards the new Ranger would monitor her until medical transport could arrive. Roan told her she needed an air evacuation to the hospital due to her injuries. Her weak protests had been met with steely anger. She was going whether she liked it or not. Roan was worried about organ damage. Still it would take at least two days. A series of heavy storms surrounded the area and was preventing flight. Once they cleared she would be taken to Viridian Hospital. Professor Oak would also meet her there with her current Guardian.

Roan had also said other things but Fara's mind was fogging at that point. Exhausted and in pain all she wanted was sleep. He had helped her to the tent and left her with Poocheyena and Pichu. Fara didn't dare release him yet for fear of his retribution to Pichu or the Ranger.

Now she lay in her sleeping bag with worried pokemon staring at her. Closing her eyes she silently begged for sleep.