Chapter 3: Giovanni's Demands


When I finally arrived back at the gate of PikaPals, I noticed Hunter and Ivy sitting on the porch, now fully awake and alert. I shoved my body against the white picket gate, and it swung open. Hunter immediately saw me and Ivy dashed towards me.

"Whoa, hey!" she had picked me up in her vines and carried me back.

"You don't look so good! What happened?" she asked in her Ivysaur language as we approached Hunter.

"Pika! Oh no!" He said as Ivy handed me to him, "We gotta get you to Kim!" we hurried into the center.

"I'm not hurt that bad!" I protested as he carried me into the pokéball storage room where Kim was checking and arranging them, a full clipboard in her hands.

"What's wrong, Hunter?" she turned and saw me, "Pika!" she dropped her clipboard and it fell hard on the floor, the pencil and papers flying about, "How did this happen?" she asked us, taking me from Hunter and proceeding towards the health room.

She placed me on the counter by the sink and dug through the glass-doored medicine closet. I sat down and turned to look in the mirror. I shrinked back when I came to face my reflection, "Ah!" Small cuts and bruises covered my small body, I looked down at my tummy and hands and saw them to be real.

Kim pulled out a box and a bottle, and began to clean and dress my wounds, "What happened to you Pika?"

"I'll bet it was that Prof. Scrub," Hunter muttered.

I turned my head away and looked into the mirror again, "It was him..."

"Are you sure," Kim looked into the mirror to face me.

"Yes," I looked down, trying to avoid her gaze, "He tried to capture me, but Matt-"

"Where is Matt?" Hunter interrupted.

"I-I don't know. We were on the way to the Center when he pulled up in his car. He brought along some grunts from Team Rocket who had strong pokémon. I barely escaped, and..." I shirked as Kim applied some Hydrogen peroxide to a cut on my tail.

"But what about Matt?" Hunter pointed out.

My memory flashed pictures of Matt and I talking, him teaching me, and then saving me from Scrub. I can't believe I had left him behind. He risked himself for me, and I just ran away, "I guess he went to the Center to get the papers... But when I got out of the park, I saw Scrub's car go past."

"Hunter," take your bike and get to the center," Kim instructed him, "Get the papers and hurry back here. I'm sure we can fill it out and return it without you going to the Center, Pika. I should have realized he would try something like that. He probably overheard our conversation and was waiting in hiding for you. You should have stayed here..."

"It was my fault, Matt and I paused to talk for a minute... I had no idea that-"

"Quit passing the blame stick, guys!" Hunter interrupted me again, "What matters is that you're safe in here, Pika... Maybe I'll run into Matt at the Center," and after having said that, he left the room, Ivy at his heels.

Kim finished wrapping my last bandage, and stood back to look at her work. I stared at my awful condition in the mirror.

"Don't worry, you'll only need the bandages for a day or two - your injuries were very minor."

"But still frightening," I turned away.

"You need to rest Pika. I have to get back to checking the pokéballs, but if you need anything, just call me, okay?" she picked me up off the counter and gently set me on the floor, "Even if it's just for a minute to listen," she added and went back to work.

* * *

I had fallen asleep in my bed, quite tired from my encounter with my old enemy, when I heard the doorbell ring.

"Coming!" Kim called, as I heard her race to the front door.

I got up and stretched, trying to become fully alert before going to see who it was.

"No!" Kim cried aloud.

I scampered into the front hall and found there to be no one at the door. What had made Kim so upset? I wondered to myself.

Hunter and Ivy stormed into the hall, "What? What's the matter?"

She turned, her face still and her eyes wide, staring at a piece of paper in her hands. It was a letter, for she dropped the envelope on the floor. I picked it up; it was addressed to PikaPals. I checked the return address. I too dropped it to the floor as if it were hot to the touch.

"Whatsa matter with you guys? What is that?" he took the letter from Kim's hands
and read it aloud, "Dear Children,-Puh!" Hunter exclaimed and then continued, "The pikachu whom you have been holding in your 'center' rightfully belongs to me. I had sent my representative with the intention of paying you a handsome sum for his return. Now you have left me no choice," Hunter's face turned redder with each sentence he read.

"Until you return what is legally mine, your friend will be staying with me... Matt?! That... grr!" He continued to skim read, "You must also bring me the complete records of the aforementioned pokémon. Do not alert the police. I assure you that I have friends in high places. Surely you do not think that you could defend your position in court. My lawyers, I'm proud to say, haven't lost a case yet - and who would be naïve enough to believe a bunch of children? You have two days to comply or..." Hunter ripped the letter to pieces, his anger boiling like a pot on the stove. Ivy rubbed her nose on his leg.

"You shouldn't have done that Hunter," Kim sighed heavily, dropping to her knees and picking up the many torn pieces scattered on the wooden floor, "Now we have no evidence against him..."

"Urgh!" He shook his fists and took a long, volumous breath and let it out, "Sorry, Kim, it's just that Giovanni guy is really starting to... tick me off."

"I'm sorry," I stared up at them, tears in my eyes, "I never should have come here, I've only made things worse, for me, and all of you..."

"Pika, no! Don't say that... since you came, our center has come alive. More people have joined our cause and our staff grew from 10 to almost 50 now. I don't think you realize the impact you've made on this center..."

"And the people in it..." Hunter added, "And I'm not going to let that glorified, stuck-up, jerk get away with this... No... I don't care if I have to break into Team Rocket Headquarters myself..."

"Hunter," Kim started.

"No. We're not going to sit here and follow his commands like puppets! I don't know about you two, but I'm gonna do something... Come on Ivy," he looked down at her, "It's almost dinner. You know how Mom hates it when I'm late setting the table. We'll meet you back here tomorrow afternoon," they then exited out the open front door into the sunsetting street. I hadn't realized how late it was.

"Hunter does have a point Pika, but we can't just barge in there... We'll make a plan," she stooped down and cradled me in her arms, "Don't worry about Matt, we'll find him... and besides now that we have the papers, we can register you."

"I know who I want for my trainer now..." I commented aloud.

"Really? That's great! Who's going to sign?" Kim set me on the front desk and pulled out the group of papers.

"They need to sign?"

"Yeah, we have to have a signature and their trainer ID, without them, we can't register you... Why do you ask?"

"I-I, I mean, it's just that..." I stuttered, not knowing how to tell Kim that I didn't pick her as my trainer. I wanted Matt to be my trainer.

"What? Who do you want?" Kim's face suddenly turned red, "Oh! Pika, I'm sorry..." she understood me.

My eyes teared up again, and my nose ran a little, "No, I'm sorry."

"No, no Pika," she stroked my fur gently, "Matt will make a great trainer..." I looked in her eyes which were a bit teary as well, "I know he will... I'll keep the papers in here, until he... gets back," she placed them in a manilla folder and put it in the metal file cabinet under the desk.

"If he gets back," I said to myself.


END of Chapter 3