Chapter 4: Dreaming A Tale


Eyeing up his usual berry bush, Pikachu groaned loudly. Empty, of course. Dang it all, and it was the one that grew his favorite berries, too. The spiky purple ones that were really dry. Their name? Heck if he knew. Especially not now that he couldn't have any. Ugh, he knew he shouldn't have gone back to sleep after the first time he'd woken up…

He perked up ever so slightly. Oh well. He knew of a place he could get chesto berries instead, which were also pretty dry. Considering how quickly those things grew, too, he was sure there would be some for him when he got there.

After a short walk through his home - the small forest near some village - he poked his head out of a bush leading out of the woods. Cautiously glancing up and down the pathway that crossed by the forest, he didn't see anybody walking down it. Smiling, he stepped out onto the path and began to walk down it for a short while. This was a little risky, considering the bush was mostly out in the open with nowhere for Pikachu to escape to… but he figured it would be okay. Nobody had managed to catch him yet in all his years of living here, so he was certain today would be no different. After all, most of the trainers who came along this way were novices at best. The perks of living in such a quiet place.

Eventually coming across the chesto berry bush, he beamed. As expected, the thing was filled to the brim with one of his favorite breakfasts.

Almost licking his lips, he reached for a bunch and, plucking them off, brought them to his mouth. Seconds later, they disappeared down his throat with extreme prejudice. Ohhh, the dry, chalky taste was heavenly! Gosh, he liked these a lot more than he remembered.

… Maybe it wouldn't hurt for him to stay here for a little longer. Or maybe a lot longer.

On that thought, he gazed down at his belly. He frowned slightly when he saw it poking out a little more than the last time he'd checked.

… Oh, whatever. He could work it off later! Maybe even later tonight. Something he'd said a few days ago before completely forgetting, granted, but… this time he meant it! Maybe.

Licking in-between his teeth to free some of the leftovers, he began reaching for some more berries. Distant happy mumblings caught his ear, however, making him stop dead in place. Glancing down the path, he noticed a trainer and a couple of their pokémon slowly strolling down the path, only a few stone throws away.

Mumbling out an annoyed comment, Pikachu glanced around for somewhere to escape to. However, he was pretty screwed. His forest was a ways off, and he'd only catch their attention if he tried to run back there, anyway. Honestly, it was a miracle they hadn't seen him already...

Noticing them getting closer, he decided to gamble it by burying himself into the bushes, hiding away amongst the leaves. He waited there for a while, staying as deathly still as he possibly could as they began to slowly pass by him. A smile grew on his lips as he saw them pass by his line of vision, before disappearing. It seemed like his little plan had worked!

He began to consider how long he would wait before coming out again. However, his blood ran cold when one of them spoke. "[Hey, hon, wait a sec. Are you hungry?]" one of them asked. A female, by the sounds of things.

"[Huh? Oh, er… yeah, I guess,]" the other pokémon responded. A male, this time.

"[Then let's get some eats!]"

As they tried to catch their trainer's attention, Pikachu mentally swore. Aghh, so close…

After a short while, the mouse heard some rustling. His heart skipped many beats as it came closer and closer. Oh no, oh no… If they found him, they were sure to try catching him, and he didn't want a freaking trainer. He would lose his luxuriously lazy life, and they would make him exercise endlessly, and fight everything in sight, and… Ughh, no, screw that! No matter what, he wasn't going with any human. Even if he had to claw his way out of their stupid pokéballs!

Suddenly, something blue and oval rolled into his line of sight outside the bush, making him almost yelp. Getting a good look at it as it settled, his eyes widened. Was that…?

"[Oh, hon, the baby's moving about again!]" the female pokémon chimed, moving over to face it upwards again.

"[Heh, yeah… I guess it is,]" the male responded, moving over to the female's side. "[Won't be long until it… hatches, huh?]"

She nestled into his side. "[Yup! Then we'll get to see our beautiful child's little face for the first time~]"

"[Heh… y-yeah…]"

Pikachu couldn't stop himself from smiling gently at that, his frantically beating heart suddenly growing warmer. How cute. It wasn't often he got to see a family-to-be, so it was a charming sight. Even with the imminent danger.

He hoped they would all do well together. If nothing else, he had a feeling they would do a better job than his family. His mother had left before he'd even hatched… and his father had also left the second Pikachu had been old enough to be able to live on his own. Pikachu sighed. Lousy jerks…

… His eyes widened. Wait, why had he sighed!? Inhaling deeply, he held his breath, begging to every legendary there was that his slip up had skipped their attention.

For a few seconds, there was silence. Then he could hear the distinct sound of crunching that one could expect from chesto berries being eaten. Followed by some quiet retching sounds from the male pokémon, as if he hadn't liked the taste.

Pikachu mentally breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness…

The egg was lifted up and gently placed to the side, suddenly. Once it was settled, the female pokémon carefully gazed into Pikachu's hiding place… and, evidently, straight into his eyes.

… Drat.

The girl immediately gasped excitedly before waving her paws to grab her trainer's attention. "[Hey, hey! It's an electric-looking-type! You wanted one, right?]"

Gritting his teeth, Pikachu got down onto all fours and kicked up some dirt with his back legs. Welp, nothing for it now… If he wanted freedom, he was going to have to fight for it! Lunging forwards, he rammed into her with his head, knocking her a fair distance away.

With a half-cry, half-squeal of delight, the human ordered the male pokémon to attack Pikachu.

Getting into a battle-ready pose, the mouse braced for a retaliation. However, the other pokémon stalled, as if spacing out. Seeing this as the perfect moment to get away, Pikachu wasted no time in running for dear life.

He got a fair distance down the path until something hard hit him in his side, sending him reeling to the ground. Quickly scrambling to his feet, he barely dodged in time to avoid a big ball of water, which whizzed past him. He tried to regain his bearings, but failed when another ball of water smashed into him, sending him flying. Head spinning, he stumbled around aimlessly. What was he doing? Who was he? Which way was up? Which up was way?

Through his blurry vision, he would see a scary thing falling towards him while covered in blue liquid-y whatsits. Even though his head was all fumbled, he knew it wasn't good, so he wildly fired off lots of electricity. Eventually, the blue thing became a yellow thing because of all the zapping. He snapped to attention when a scream pierced his ears. Shaking his head, he bewilderedly looked around, his vision now clear. Had… he been confused? Good lord, that had been disorienting.

He smiled when he noticed the male pokémon lying on the floor, frizzled and dazed. Wow… thank goodness for Thunder Shock. For this guy to go down in one hit from it, though… Heh, either Pikachu was getting stronger, or this guy was more of a wuss than he looked!

His proud smile shrank when he saw another ball of water rapidly approaching. Squealing, he ducked under it. Dodging another one, he winced as it grazed his arm. What the-!?

Looking in the direction the attack had come from, he saw the female pokémon charging up another ball of water in her paws. "[Don't worry, hon! I'll avenge you!]" she cried.

Pikachu huffed. Not if he had anything to say about it. Not waiting for her to finish, he fired off several bolts of lightning. Most of them struck her, but, with gritted teeth, she just shrugged off the attack. He fired off even more, but the female simply tossed her ball of water in the air and jumped upwards, dodging his electricity. She then slammed her ball of water downwards, directly towards him.

Squealing again, he ran in the opposite direction. He cried out in pain when it caused a watery explosion, sending him tumbling forwards. Soaked to the skin, he slowly got up and faced her as she sailed through the air towards him. He stepped to the side just in time to avoid her, but the female's impact against the ground caused a shockwave of water to shoot outwards, sending Pikachu flying.

Dazed and bruised, he lay groaning on the ground for a short while before trying to get up again. However, he couldn't. He was stuck fast. He wasn't sure if it was because of his aching muscles or what, but it didn't matter either way. At this rate, he was screwed.

Barely managing to angle his head backwards, he saw something that made him scream. The female pokémon was falling down towards him like a meteor, much like the male one had done before her.

He kept on screaming. He didn't stop until excruciating pain erupted in his back.


Yelping, Pikachu jolted upwards. W-What the heck!?

Taking several deep breaths, he slowly glanced around at his surroundings. Gone were the grassy hills and the chesto berry bush, replaced with the walls of the bedroom he shared with Ash and Cilan in Cynthia's villa.

Swallowing, Pikachu gave a drawn-out exhale. Oh. Just a dream…

Calming, he lay back down against his pillow. Good lord, that'd been realistic. In fact… that'd actually happened to him in the past, hadn't it? It was the memory of the day he'd become 'trained' as it were. Though he didn't remember what had happened afterwards. The most he remembered was that he'd somehow managed to get away from that trainer, only to find himself in Oak's hands, instead. Something he appreciated, in hindsight.

Despite how stressful the dream had been, Pikachu couldn't help but smile softly. He enjoyed his occasional 'memory dreams', as he called them. He didn't have the best memory in the world, no thanks to all the adventures he got up to on a daily basis… so it was good to be reminded of his life every now and again. In fact, just a few weeks ago, he'd had a memory dream of the time he and his old friends had met the crystal onix. An onix made entirely out of crystal, which enjoyed water but was weak to fire, for some reason. None of the mouse's friends who hadn't been there had believed him when he'd told them about it, but he knew it had happened.

Yawning, he closed his eyes and snuggled back into his pillow. Maybe, if he was lucky, he'd have another dream about the past. Hopefully one that wasn't as painful…


Dragging himself along the grassy fields away from the path, Pikachu let out another groan. His fur was soaked, he ached all over, and he could barely keep his eyes open… but there was no way he could stop. He wasn't going to let himself be caught by any trainer, strong pokémon or none.

He accidentally agitated a sore spot, making him stumble to the ground. He very nearly let himself pass out there, but, with clenched teeth, he forced himself back to his four paws. No… he wasn't far. He had to hang in, there…

After another minute or so, he could see the woods he called his home a short distance away. He was far from being safe, however. He still had to crawl his way over. So, with much difficulty, he forced himself onwards.

Honestly, he had no idea how he'd made it this far. One minute, that female pokémon had smashed him into the ground… and then the next moment, she was lying on the ground, barely able to move. Something Pikachu greatly appreciated, as it had allowed him to make an escape as the trainer had fumbled around to heal his inactive pokémon.

Seriously though, what had even happened? Had his Thunder Shock secretly affected her that much? He hoped so. He was very proud of his electrical power, so it would be a nice stroke to his ego, if that had been the case. Heh…

Stumbling to the floor again, he sighed. After today, he had to make sure never to eat from that bush again. At least, not without some way of escaping. Maybe he needed to finally relent and try to learn Quick Attack, or Agility, or something. As much as he hated exercising for too long…

He tried to push himself up, but he failed. Every time he tried again afterwards was just as bad. Nope. He just didn't have it in him…

Sighing yet again, he twisted around to lay on his back. Maybe after a little rest, he'd be back up to scratch. He had to make sure he didn't sleep, though, or who knew what could happen.

As the minutes ticked on, however, he was finding it increasingly difficult to keep his eyes open. It was like that one battle had sapped almost all his strength. Dang it all…

Just as his thoughts began to grow fuzzy, he could just barely register a shadow looming nearby. He was too far gone to do anything about it, however, so he just laid there, accepting whatever fate had in store for him.

"Ohh, why did the latest shipment of starters have to escape…?" the shadow's voice said worriedly. "I'll never be able to find anything unique in time for the new trainers… and they're due to arrive in a week or so!" He sighed. "I really hope I'm not going to have to capture something like a rattata. Whoever gets it is going to feel really hard done by, and that's not going to fly." He pointed a finger towards the sky. "Easy to capture and easy to train… though for a starter, it is rather plain." There was a pause before he rapidly shook his head. "Oh, what am I doing!? I barely have time to do all the paperwork, let alone catch pokémon and do rhyming couplets!"

Despite his hazy vision, Pikachu managed to give him a weird look. The heck…?

The shadow hummed in intrigue before turning to face the mouse. As they locked gazes, the man made a sound of delight. "Oh, a pikachu! How wonderful, I didn't even know they could be found in this area! A perfect starter pokémon."

Frowning, Pikachu tried to let off some sparks. However, it was no use. He could barely manage the energy to keep his eyelids open. In fact… he couldn't even manage that much. His vision went black just as he felt a strange energy sensation tugging at him.


Pikachu slowly opened his eyes. He snapped awake when he noticed that, instead of his burrow, he was on top of a cold metal table, his head resting on something soft. What the-!? Where was he!?

"Aha, I see you're awake now! Wonderful!" a voice said all of sudden.

Yelping, Pikachu hopped to his paws and swiveled around on the spot. He saw the man from earlier. The one who had encountered him when he'd been laying all beaten up on the field.

… Wait. Oh no. Had he been… caught!?

"Sorry I couldn't find a more comfy place for you to take a nap," the man continued. Notably, he was sitting down at the same table while messing around with some stuff. He had huge stacks of paper surrounding him. "As you can see, I'm a very busy bee. Paperwork as far as the eye can see." He blinked. "… Oh no, I rhymed 'see' with 'see'. A sign I need a break." He blinked again. "… Maybe later." He got back to work on doing whatever it was he was doing.

Pikachu gave him a bemused look. "[… What…?]"

The man offered him a tired smile. "Sorry, little guy. I'll have to properly introduce myself later, once I've gotten some of this paperwork out of the way." He sighed. "The joys of being both a researcher and a starter giver."

Pikachu frowned. Oh, screw that. He didn't care about introductions or being this guy's pet pokémon, or whatever. He wanted to go back to his woods.

"Feel free to explore the building, Pikachu," the 'researcher' continued. "It's not very lively at the moment, because of a… little starter drought, but I'm sure you'll find something to do!"

The mouse grinned lightly. That was a good idea, actually. After exploring this place for a while, he was sure to find an escape route. Especially with that researcher being as busy as he was.

Hopping off the table, Pikachu left the room, hoping there was a back entrance to this place, or something. If nothing else, all of his aches and pains were gone, at least. Perhaps the researcher had healed him up a little while he'd been unconscious. Something the mouse appreciated, though not enough to stick around.

After several minutes' worth of searching, he found a door leading outside. With this, he would be able to escape, easily. In fact, it would be far easier than if that other trainer had caught him. What with his two deadly goons and their mini goon in the making. They'd have tracked him down like bloodhounds, or something. Whatever a 'bloodhound' was. Something from one of the non-pokémon regions, probably.

The mouse began to push the open and begin his escape when something came to mind. If he left now, what was to say that another trainer wouldn't try their hand at catching him? It wasn't impossible, either. He could hear a little bit of activity from the village nearby. A sure sign of more trainers.

Going back inside, he scratched his chin in thought. Well… he was likely to be caught if he left now… but if he tried escaping at night…

He nodded to himself. It was decided, then. Tonight, when that researcher was asleep, he was going to get his freedom! For now, though, he guessed he may as well see what the domesticated life was like. He'd never been inside a house before, so it was vaguely interesting, if nothing else.

In the corner of the room he was currently in, he noticed a box with a screen. His eyes brightened when he saw it. Ooh, he'd heard about those things! TVs! They apparently showed moving images when you turned them on!

Curious, he moved towards it and pressed some of the buttons on it until it came to life. After a pause, it showed some strange noisy white stuff that buzzed around the screen rapidly, straining his eyes to the point that he had to look away. Jeez, was that all? How disappointing.

Then again… apparently you could 'change the channel' too, whatever that meant. Maybe it would get rid of the white stuff? On that note, he began to fiddle around with even more buttons. Eventually, much to his delight, something showed up on-screen!

The image that showed up was blurry at first… but, eventually, it was clear as crystal.

"C'MON, PIKACHU, IT'S A SPECIAL BREAKFAST!"


Pikachu squealed and jumped out of his sleeping bag. "[Aghhh, what the frick!?]" he shouted, looking everywhere. Instead of seeing a laboratory or a TV, he was surrounded by the walls of a tent… and, more noticeably, Ash, who was directly in front of him. Wha…?

"Awesome, you're awake!" he exclaimed, kneeling down and staring at him excitedly.

"[… Huh?]" Pikachu continued, eyes drooping groggily.

"Today, Cilan's gonna give us a special breakfast!" Ash said, no less excited than before. "So c'mon, Pikachu, we can't waste another second!"

Pikachu groaned. Oh, right… just a dream… "[Dang it, Ash…]" he said, yawning, "[it can't be so special that you had to wake me up…]"

"Glad to see you're excited, too!" Ash replied, completely ignoring him. "Now let's go!"

Pikachu began to object, though he was cut short when Ash picked him up and carried him out of the tent. While being carried along, he sighed and tried to collect himself. Well, at least he'd escaped Professor Oak's lab, he guessed…

Seriously though, another memory dream? And only a few days after the last one, at that. Even now that he was in the fields a fair distance away from Cynthia's villa. A result of the team deciding to briefly travel again 'for old times' sake'.

This memory dream had been so strange, though. It had almost been like a sequel to the one he'd had a few days before, featuring that insane battle. He couldn't help but wonder if he'd have any more like that, sometime soon. Heck, maybe he'd have one based on the event which had happened soon after. The one where something had happened to tick him off into rebelling against Oak.

He tried to remember that specific incident right now, but he was too distracted by Ash's excited shudders as he ran towards the breakfast site. Plus, it didn't help that his mind was foggy with tiredness, despite him having apparently fallen asleep in his own dream, too. Tsk, oh well. Maybe later, or something.

As Ash rounded the corner into the eating area, Pikachu groaned again. Good lord, nobody else was even awake, yet, save for Cilan. Heck, the mouse wasn't even sure if breakfast had even been started. Ughh, trust Ash to only be awake early when good food was involved. Then again, using the word 'special' when describing stuff was probably the best way to get him pumped up for anything. Mostly because he was rather 'special', himself...

Pikachu smiled softly. Oh well. Even with the rough start, he found himself excited for whatever the day would bring. Somehow, he got the feeling it was set to be a fun one.


TO BE CONTINUED!


Finished: 17/12(December)/2017

Word count: 3,834

VGS2's pointless notes: A look into the past of Pikachu! his backstory was a bit different in older Game-Changer, so this is all new! Sure hope you enjoyed his little tale, as chubby as he was, once upon a time. XP

Shameless promotion: Are you ready for me to talk about MewLover54 and his fics? I sure hope so! That guy's the guy who made the Snivy x Oshawott shipping popular… and for good reason! He's good at making cute, fun stuff with funny elements. Not to mention his adventure-focused fics, which'll leave you guessing at what's gonna go down next!

He's also written quite a bit of PikaBun, too. So, naturally, I'd recommend him! :P Drop him some reviews! But not ones that go "Oi, post another chapter, ya bugger!" and nothing else. That would be rude, dude.

Fun mistakes of the day: #1: 'Barely managing to angle his head backwards, he screamed.'

(What is this, the Exorcist!? O,o)

#2: '"Blah blah blah," the man continued, sitting down on the same table while messing around with some stuff.'

(Professor Oak! Get down from there! Man, the stress must have really gotten to him…)

#3: 'With this, it would be able to escape, easily.'

(It rubs the lotion on its skin…)

#4: "So c'mon, Pikachu, we can't waist another second!"

(Wrong word, ya silly bugger. XD It's almost like a bad pun, involving Pikachu's waist. Then again, considering how fat he used to be… he might need measuring again.)

#5: 'as he ran towards the breakfast sight.'

(Ash has found a rare breakfast sighting. It's gonna be his, no doubt.)

#6: 'Like that 'special onix' incident from a few days ago. The one involving that shiny onix, who was nowhere near as special as the crystal onix had been, but hey ho.'

(I originally planned for the fic to start kicking into gear, like, a week after Dawn and the crew came in for a visit... but I changed my mind, which would've been fine, if not for this frigging line. Oyy... XD May as well shove it into here for prosperity's sake, though.)

Well, that's that! Tata for now! c:


Next up: Eating some breakfast!