Author's Notes: No chapter quote for this chapter…mainly because I couldn't find a fitting one, but also because I'm too lazy to look any longer. -_-;;

~Z~ Darkness Doesn't Cast a Shadow ~Z~

Chapter Four: Shock

A hot flush sizzled in my cheeks, burning and crackling as if fireworks were bursting forth from them. This was the sensation I had woken up to a few moments ago. I heard the vivacious drone of electricity, and soon I caught sight of what was causing this pain. Renegade sparks were popping from my cheeks, and I could smell the faint tinge of smoke in the air. The skin around my electric pouches was stinging, and as I reached a paw up to blot at it I realized the fur on and around my cheeks was smoldering with diminutive, potent electric flame.

"Chuu!" I squalled, slumping off of the couch and away from Ash. There I squatted on the Pokémon Center floor, reaching my gaze up high enough to verify that Ash was untouched by the burning sparks emerging from my body uncontrollably. I was relieved to see him still fast asleep, his quiet snores drifting across the room.

My whole face was swelling up with the pain of the endless, rough electricity, and my stomach was sharply twinging, too, from the large wound faceting it.

I glanced quickly around, struggling to my feet. I must have an electric cold again, I pondered. It's much more intense than last time, though. Soon reason hindered that wondering out, though. I had dispelled a rather large amount of electricity only that day; electric colds are most often caused by a build up of electricity in the electric sacs.

"Pikachu?" Misty whispered from her spot on the couch, blinking at me with her rather bright eyes. "What are you doing up?" Then she spotted the sparks crackling from my cheeks, and the scorched and burning fur around them. She let out a harnessed gasp. "What's the matter? Are you sick?"

"~I…don't know…~" I winced. "~It really hurts, though.~" My new, rougher voice kept surprising me.

"Do you want me to wake Nurse Joy up?" She offered, her voice dropping even quieter. "Or Ash?"

My ears drooped. "~N-no…I think…I think I need to get rid of some electricity outside. Maybe the energy of the storm in the air is causing this…~" Some voice deep inside of me ridiculed this excuse. I had been in many storms and never once responded to one like this. I internally argued that I had never been under been under these exact circumstances, but my inner voice simply sneered.

"Okay…if you say so. Those burns look pretty bad, though."

I turned my back to her and murmured darkly, "~They…might be…~"

"Are you sure you don't want any help?"

"~Thanks for offering, Misty…but…I'll wake you up if it gets any worse… What are you doing up, anyway?~"

Her eyes flicked, conspicuously enough over to where Ash was sleeping, and her face seemed to turn a little darker, even in the meager, shadowy moonlight that was filtering scantly through the windows. "I…I…J-just couldn't sleep…"

"Chuu." I said softly. Whatever you say, Misty. Whatever you say… "~I'm going outside now.~"

"Be careful." Misty gave a velvet sigh and leaned back into her pillow. She shifted slightly, then settled and sighed again.

I could tell that something was on her mind.

After struggling with my hopelessly long tail for a short while, I crept out of the Pokémon Center's glass doors, picking up a stiff lolloping gait in an attempt to reason with my sore body. The moment I stepped out from under the overhang and the rain plopped in cool ripples against my body, I felt a surge of pain and sadistic release. The lightning that had gathered in my body now sputtered and zapped at every raindrop, leaving behind only the slight tint of smoke drifting in the air. The energy gathered slowly in my sizzling body, and I braced myself for the discharge.

I gritted my teeth. "Raiii...CHUU!" I tightened my cheek muscles, trying to push the pain away. The voltage bounded out of my cheeks all at once, and the way it surged out of me like that reminded me of how a scared Rapidash bolts from an enemy. It formed a shaft of lightning in the lurching black sky, and a growl of thunder rocked and trembled beneath my feet with its sheer closeness.

I released voltage into the sky until I could feel my body melting with fatigue, and then I stopped and sunk into a tired heap on the ground. A puddle collected beneath me as I huffed at the rain-streaked air, fighting for my breath back. I could still feel static jumping from my cheeks, though, and soon I had pulled my weary body back up on all fours.

Rain dribbled in rivulets down my face and collected on my nose, where it took reckless leaps towards the ground. My head was leaden, heavy; my neck was just barely holding it up over a puddle. I still gasped at the air, which was so congested with moisture I felt as though I were underwater.

"Chuuu…" I panted. My body finally gathered enough vigor to release any electricity remaining, and some lightning twisted lethargically out of my cheeks. I crumpled back to the ground with the effort of the shocking, freeing a sigh of release. My mind was nodding closer to unconsciousness with every breath I drew, but I opened my eyes a tiny slit. A shadow, four or five feet tall and darker even than the surrounding gloom, was standing in front of me. There was a trampled blue light glowing from somewhere on its face, but by then my vision was swerving out of control and I couldn't really see any of the figure's details. I don't want it here… I remember thinking woozily. I want it to leave me alone…. Its mere presence seemed to be stifling my breathing and veiling my mind in muddled perplexity.

My body would ache and barely manage to tremble when I tried to move. Seconds later I either fell asleep or lapsed into unconsciousness.

::=*=::

My sleep mustn't have been very deep, for what I guessed to be moments later my eyelids peeled themselves away from my eyes. "Chu…Raii…" I murmured. My body was aching and my cheeks' muscles convulsively twinged, but I felt a groggy bit better than I had before. The rain had subsided by now, and the murky clouds were furrowing and preparing to leave by the looks of things. A few lonely stars gleamed hopefully from gaps in the cloud cover.

My fur was sopping, and I trembled with the cold. With much exertion, I managed to pull myself on to my reluctant legs and limp back inside the Pokémon Center, where Misty greeted me with a wide-eyed gaze. I was surprised she was still awake.

"How'd you get so wet?" She whispered, quietly groping around for her backpack, as I halfheartedly tried to shake my sodden fur dry. Soon she located it, pulling a green towel from its depths. She eased herself off of the couch and quietly walked over to me; swathing me in the towel.

I shivered and embraced the dry, warm folds gratefully. "~I…I was out in the rain the whole time…~" I explained.

"Oh! Look at the fur around your cheeks! It's totally black!" She exclaimed, still in a whisper. "I'm waking Ash up." She said resolutely as I released a shuddering sigh.

I watched intently as she stepped over to Ash, timidly shaking his shoulder as he snored in that dim way of his. "Ash, Ash! Wake up! Pikachu's hurt!" She murmured, insistence specking her tones.

Ash's brow furrowed and his face twitched before he opened his eyes. They were glassy with sleep. "Whaa?" He grumbled, peering at Misty through half-open eyes that looked rather like those of Cyndaquil.

"Pikachu's hurt!" She repeated, gesturing over to where I was standing.

"Huh?! What's wrong with him?!" Ash cried, jolting up into a sitting position. His brown eyes were suddenly very open, but still foggy with sleep.

"He was having problems controlling his electricity earlier, and now the fur and skin around his cheeks is totally burnt." Misty stated, her voice peaking with worry.

Ash pushed his sleeping bag off of himself with a whoosh, then took off wobbling sleepily over to me. He gathered me up in his arms, a scared, panicky look on his face. "Pikachu…you look terrible! Why didn't you wake me up earlier, buddy?"

My body seized up uncontrollably in his warm arms, and a tear escaped my eye as I quivered with pain. A surge of electricity welled in my cheeks, and I fought to control it, but it was to no avail. My stiff body released the reckless voltage with a buzz and a crackle. I watched painfully as the electricity snaked up Ash's arm, and I let out a whimper as he instinctively recoiled from the forceful zap. I plummeted from his arms and fell to the ground, the solidity of the floor crashing against my skull with a concrete thump. Taken by surprise, I closed my eyes as an explosion of colors hurried in front of them, and barely heard Ash's wounded cry of "Owww!"

I lay there for several long minutes, unblinking, dizzy, paining, sobbing with misery. "~I'm sorry, Ash…I didn't mean to…I didn't mean to…~" I whispered, and a burst of glimmering black danced in front of my eyes with each one of my words. "~It hurts…it hurts so much…~"

"Pikachu…" He murmured, staring at me with brown eyes glassy with pain and sadness. His burnt arm was clasped tightly to his chest, and the way he that moved towards me made me wonder if he intended to pick me up again. "You know I just want to help you…"

He reached his undamaged arm towards me, but I scooted away from it the best I could. "~Ash…don't touch me again! I don't want to hurt you any more…than I already have…~" I sniveled, pulling my unruly, battered body as far away from him as I could get before I had to rest.

Ash gazed at the floor, shook his head, then slumped down to his knees, sighing. I thought I heard him mumbling something, but it might have been my imagination. His head lowered, and he reached up to pull the brim of his hat over his face, but it was a bat at the air since he had been sleeping and therefore didn't have it on. So he tucked his head further to his chest, and a few labored breaths rippled the silence. I knew he was trying not to cry. I didn't blame him; this past day had changed his life forever, and everything seemed all wrong.

Feeling almost guilty despite the fact nothing had been my fault, I glanced over to Misty, who had tears in her eyes, but otherwise had determination written all over her face. She slipped over to the light switch and snapped it on, causing us to be as blind as Zubats in our suddenly glaring environment. Brock stirred a bit from his place on the floor as the light settled in our eyes and seemed to be gaining a little bit of his consciousness, but he was so drowsy I don't think he had the faintest clue what was going on. Soon his agitation ended, and he relaxed back into his deep snoozing.

Misty rushed off towards the room where Nurse Joy slept, by the front reception table, and began knocking fervently on the closed door. At this point I stopped watching all that was going on around me, I felt frustrated, tired, hurt… I closed my eyes with a quiet huff and tried again to convince myself that I was indeed a Raichu now, that something was wrong with me, that I didn't know what was going to happen next…but my mind didn't believe it all yet. Without realizing it, I began to listen to everything going on.

Someone (Ash, I guessed) was digging through a backpack…Misty was talking to Nurse Joy and Chansey…Brock was muttering something about Crobat in his sleep.

"Pikachu… Pikachu…?" That was Ash's voice. It was gentle and questing.

"Raichurai…" I answered, just prior to opening my eyes. Ash was kneeled right by me, close enough that I was able to see that his arm was red and swelling from the shock, and also still tensed to his chest protectively. Nurse Joy and Misty were standing to either side of him, and Chansey was tilting her head at me from behind Joy's legs.

"Nurse Joy is here, she's gonna take care of you, okay?" Ash said, reaching out a hand to pat me on the head. I had not the heart to reject him this time.

Nurse Joy just then became aware of Ash's injury, and she took on an anxious tone at seeing his arm was untended. "Ash, I really should take a look at that arm--" She started, but Ash didn't allow her to finish.

"No. Pikachu comes first." Ash said, his voice solid and insistent.

Misty, too, opened her mouth to make a move in the middle of Ash's sentence, but stopped herself as the strength in Ash's voice sunk in.

"Okay…" Nurse Joy responded, blinking. She turned to her rotund, pink nurse pokémon, "Chansey, go get a stretcher and a pair of rubber gloves, all right?"

"Chan-sey!" Chansey exclaimed cheerfully, saluting and skipping off to her task.

Joy then brought her attention back to me. "This is just as I feared…" She mumbled, almost out of earshot. My heart jumped and my blood turned to ice as I heard that.

"What!?" Ash yelled, his face blanching. Misty took a few steps back and flopped down on her couch, eyes wide and vivid with shock.

Nurse Joy's voice was tight with fret. "Evolution Radiation Syndrome," she stated. "It is very rare, and is caused by extended exposure to the radiation of an evolution stone, mainly in pokémon that are evolved when their immune system is weakened by a tough battle or sickness. It usually afflicts the pokémon's nervous system and the functions that allow the pokémon to use their elemental powers, causing them to slowly but surely lose control of their body. In the mildest cases, their body regained its control over a period of two or three years, but…but usually the power becomes too much for their body to handle. We give them anywhere from a year and a half to five years, but many trainers decide to euthanize to save their pokémon the pain…"

I sunk to the ground in defeat. It was too much…way too much… To think that about nine hours ago, I was a Pikachu. A healthy, happy Pikachu in the peak of his life, with a bright shining future ahead, and a trainer who loved him, and loyal teammates who were also his good friends… Now, now I was a Raichu, a pitiful Raichu who is terminally sick, who doesn't know how much of a future he has left, who just injured his trainer without trying to, who wonders what his teammates will think of him now…

"~Ash…~" I said breathlessly, and looked over to where my trainer was kneeling, his gaze glued to the floor. He inhaled and opened his mouth as if to say something, but then he closed it again, and his eyes turned all lifeless like they had earlier. He clenched his eyes tight shut like he intended never to open them again, his arms slacking as a tiny hiccup of a sob escaped him. Then the room went as silent as if it were empty.

I could never be sure how long we stayed like that; silent in the dark; but eventually there came the joyful chirps and hops of Chansey re-entering the room, carrying a small stretcher and a pair of pink rubber gloves. Nurse Joy procured the tools, slipped the rubber gloves over her hands and lifted me from my spot on the floor, cradling me to her body to try to comfort me. She then set me on the stretcher, where I curled up and tried to get comfortable. Ash looked up at me as Chansey and Joy carried me off into the examination room, his hair scruffy and eyes glossy, and I locked eyes with him for a moment that still lives ingrained in my memory. Just before we reached our destination, Joy paused and turned around and said quietly, "You kids should get some sleep. I'll be done with Raichu in the morning."

Ash sighed and nodded, but I believed he had no intentions of sleeping. He had a lot of thinking to do.

And as the door closed behind me, I suddenly wanted nothing but to be with Ash. To cuddle up against him and go to sleep, like we always did. I wanted just one thing to be normal, just one thing to be the same as always…

Lying on that examining table, if I listened carefully, I could hear Misty murmuring outside the shut door, I could hear her telling Ash in a gentle voice, "It's going to be okay, Ash…It's going to be okay…." After a while, she stopped, but throughout that long night, as Nurse Joy inspected me, tried to find some glimmer of hope in my decrepit body, her soft words echoed in my head, again and again.

"It's going to be okay… It's going to be okay…"

But what'll happen to us…if…it isn't?

::=*=::

Author's Notes: I liked the ending to that chapter… ^_^;; Actually, the Evolution Radiation Syndrome will not be the focus of this fanfic, but it will serve as an aid to the next revelation to be revealed. That one will most definitely make you wonder about my sanity, and will also be where this 'fic gets its Sci-fi genre. Woo, these next chapters are gonna be fun to write! As always, please review!