I'm getting out this chapter late this week, for I'm leaving to go see my brother graduate from
college on Friday, and I won't be back till late Sunday. Anyway, if you think the big secrets have
been revealed, hang out for a while, because I can assure you, this is just the beginning! As I
write this, I'm still waiting to hear ideas from my readers. Come on, don't be scared! Any idea
that you think might be a great addition to the plot, let me know. I'll give credit where it's do!
Anyway, here's Chapter 11. Enjoy!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chp.11- Enter the Followers...
Needless to say, I was still very angry, even as the sun started to come up. I still
hadn't made my way back to the city, and the sun was starting to rise. Something inside of me
knew I had to get back, but another, more powerful part of me refused to go back. I still had too
much to sort out, and I still couldn't bring myself to tell Joy what I was told.
Why hadn't my parents told me the truth when I was still at home? I would've learned to
understand. Now all this was coming out at the worst time possible. Sara's still missing,
Bulbasaurs still missing, I'm still trying to control my powers, that girl is after Vaporeon; now
I just had salt poured into an open wound.
Maybe I should lighten up on them a bit...after all, they took me in, despite my looks,
and tried to raise me like a normal child. They did the best they could, despite all the trouble
I caused. I can't believe I was such a little thief...could I really do all that? I was just a
baby at the time. Still, who knows what happened in those six months when I dissappeared?
I moaned and shook my head. This was too much to try and deal with all at once. I was
scared, angry, and worse, confused. I needed to find a spot where I could settle down and figure
this all out. Wandering around the outskirts of the city, I believed I found a place where I
could do just that.
A small wooden building was hidden away deep in the woods. It looked old, but was still
in good condition. I made my way over, noting that someone had made a clear path through all the
surrounding brambles and other junk. Probably just a grass-type using Razor Leaf to cut a way
through.
I studied the worn away picture on the door before I went in. It was painted all in red,
and was very crude. It looked like something on a cloud was throwing a bolt of lightining down at
something on the ground. I couldn't make out what was throwing the bolt, and the paint was
totally worn away where a target should've been.
I slowly stepped in, keeping my ears open for anyone or anything. No one was moving around
at all, and I couldn't see anything in the darkness. Holding out one finger, I focused all the
electricity I could to it. Soon a large spark appeared on the tip. It wasn't very big, but it cast
some light through the dark place.
The place looked like the lobby of my old church. I saw a table, a coatrack, a big holder
loaded with pamlets, a stairway and wicker basket on a shelf that looked like the one that got passed
around during offering. Looking at a painting on a wall, though, I realized this was nothing like my old
church.
"What the..." It was a painting of a person, but not any person I knew. The person...if
it was a person...looked like a normal guy, save for the fact he had the head of a Ponyta and
there was a streak of fire running down his back. He stood in a wide open plain, seeming to be just
enjoying being there. He kinda looked like a Hybrid...but all the Hybrids I'd met, including myself,
seemed to be a nice blend of both human and Poke'mon. This guy seemed to be mostly human, except
for the total Ponyta head and flame. He looked off balance compared to myself and the other Hybrids.
Before I had much of a chance to continue looking around, I heard what sounded like someone
walking around in their socks, judging by the softness of their steps. Whoever was coming was
just around a corner. Fearful of being caught, I cut my light and scrambled up the staircase. Just
as I reached the top step, the other person stopped moving. I instantly froze. A few tense seconds
past, then the other person left and went away, though I didn't move till they were out of range
of my hearing.
"Rai..." I let out a little sigh of relief. It seemed like I was in some sort of attic now.
There was a large square opening in one of the walls that looked outside. Other than that, it looked
pretty bare. There was some dust, but honestly, does anyone give a Ratatta's tail about dust?
I glanced out the hole cautiously to see what was out there. It was about a thirty foot
drop to the ground, but someone had put large mattress down on the ground. If I'd leapt down, I'd
probably be fine. Still, my acrophobia(fear of heights) kept me from doing so. It's not a real
problem on planes, just when I can actually reach out and touch the air, which means I can also
fall through it too.
I slowly backed away from the hole and looked around again. For an attic, the place was
pretty big. My guess was that it covered the whole building. Who'd want an attic that cover the
whole...
"PIDGEO!!"
"What th...OW!OW!OW!OW!" Out of nowhere, a Pidgeotto swooped down and started pecking me
in the head. It chased me around up there for a while, all the time pecking me whenever it could.
Being the brave soul I was, I ran around, yelling, "Get Rai off me! Get Rai off me!"
This kept up for about a good two minutes, before it occured to me I had a type-advantage
here. I formed my finger light again as I ran, then turned on the winged terror. When I reached
for it, it flew above me, then perched itself on a nearby rafter.
"Raichu that for?!" I yelled at it, forgetting that the person was still here, and might
overhear me.
"Pidgeo want Pidg Pidgeo." it said in a shrill voice.
"Chu want something?" It nodded. "Rai?"
"Pigedo!" It flew over to a spot in the attic and started making tight circles around it.
I followed it over to the spot, trying to see what it wanted. It looked just like the rest of the
attic, except I noticed small holes in the floor. Pidgeotto landed and looked down through one of
them, so I dropped to my hands and knees to see what it was looking at.
On the floor below us, a bunch of figures sat around in a circle, wearing cloaks and
not saying anything. They sat inside a circle of scented candles, and inside the circle that they
formed with their bodies was something painted in red on the wooden floor. There was too little
light to get a real good at it.
"What are Raichu?" I asked silently.
"Pidgeo, with Pidgeo."
"With what?"
"Pidge!"
This was going nowhere. I watched this for about ten minutes. They continued to sit in
total stillness and silence. I was starting to getting a little scared and stiff. Finally, I got
up, getting ready to leave.
CRUNCH!
My right foot crashed through the wood. Panicked, I yanked at my leg, trying to pull it
out before I was spotted. Unfortunetly, my movements only caused the hole to grow bigger. My
other foot slipped in, and about a second later, I crashed through.
"AH!" In desperation, I grabbed for something as I started to fall through. Pidgeotto
dogded my first grab and caught my hand as I started to fall. It grabbed my hand in its talons
and started flapping frantically. I still fell through, but my fall was slowed dramatically.
"Raichu the save." I thanked the Pidgeotto as we slowly fell. The figures in the circle
continued to remain still. Even after I was dropped about five feet onto a bed of flowers someone
had planted indoors, they didn't move. My next reaction changed that.
"YEOW!" I quickly scrambled out of the flowerbed, desperate to get away from the stingers.
"Chu dropped me on Raichu of roses!"
"Pidgeo..." Pidgeotto came to land on my shoulder. The once still figures now surrounded
us in a semi-circle. They wore cloaks that covered their entire bodies, hoods covering even their
heads. One of them slowly reached into one of the huge sleeves of his cloak. My mind kept screaming,
"He's got a knife! Run, you furry idiot!" but my feet refused to respond.
I drew back and closed my eyes when he pulled out the object. There were a few tense
moments, then I realized there wasn't any sharp pointy objects giving me a few extra holes. I
opened my eyes to see why. He didn't hold a knife in his hand, but...
"Rai apple?"
"Yes, Leader." the figure said in a low voice. I was sure now it was a guy. "These are
you're favorite, are they not?"
Leader? This guy was weird, but the others were even weirder. They were all down on their
knees, heads bowed forward. Were they...worshipping me?
Normally, I probably would've been taking the oppertunity to run. When I saw all these
people on their knees, facing me,...I suddenly felt like I'd gained a respect I'd never had. These
people actually appricated me for who I was. They weren't running away or screaming or calling me
a monster. They...praised me...for who I was...
I walked up and gently took the apple from the lead cloaky(I nicknamed them that, since I
didn't have any real names for them). While my favorite was really pizza, it suddenly looked so
tasty. As soon as I had a firm grip on it, he too fell to his knees. I ate it slowly, all of the
cloakies continuing to stay there, watching me eat this apple. If it hadn't been so akward, it
would've been funny.
When I was finished, holding only the core, the cloakies rose. The leader slowly approached
me and held out his hand. Not sure what else to do, I put the core in it. He took it and put it
in his cloak sleeve again. Is there anything he won't put in there?, I wondered.
"Come, Leader. You must be tired from your journey. Please, follow me."
I did as instructed, following the cloaked leader. He lead me to a luxurious bedroom, or
at least compared to sleeping out in the woods. Sheets, pillows, a mattress; I was in heaven!
"Please, stay here. We'll come for you in the morning." With that, the door was closed
behind me, leaving me and Pidgeotto alone.
"Well, this Rai certainly weird." I said as Pidgeotto flew over to one of the bedposts,
using it as a makeshift perch.
"Pidgeo, Pidge Pidge Pidgeo, downstairs!"
"Downstairs? What are Chu talking about?"
"Pidgeo! Pidge Pidge downstairs!"
"Sorry, but all Rai hear is 'downstairs'." I gave my new feathered friend a pat on the
head. "Enjoy Raichu. It's not often Raichu worship Chu."
It continued to rant on, but I tuned it out when I found a book on a small table near the
door. The front was labeled, "The Followers Worship Guide". I flipped it open, and ended up on a
page that had been looked at often, judging by the way the binding was worn in; it opened to that
page immediatly.
"...and one day, when he believes his followers are ready," the page read, "the leader shall
come down from his spot on the heavens and lead his people to victory. He shall weild the powers
of heavenly lightining with great ease..."
Heavenly lightining? These people thought I was some kind of God? I closed the book
and sat on the edge of the bed, stunned. No wonder they bowed to me. They thought I was a God...of
course I wasn't, but still, when someone calls you a God and gets down on their knees to worship
you, that's not something one easily forgets.
Pidgeotto gave up trying to talk to me and flew over to the doorknob , trying to turn it.
That didn't work, so I tried it. It was locked from the outside.
"Give it up, Pidgeotto. Raichu stuck." Geez, for people who were just down on their knees,
these guys weren't very trusting. Oh well, I thought, heading back to the bed and crawling under
the covers. Probably just some sort of test. As Pidgeotto flew over to a bedpost and started to
doze off, I figured I'd make some sort of excuse. Besides, these people loved me. What would they
do to me?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PECK!PECK!PECK!
"OW!" I waved my arms about frantically, scaring off Pidgeotto. Moaning, I rubbed my head.
"Rai do Chu keep doing that?"
"Pidgeo!" it said. I could hear knocking at the door.
"Leader? Are you awake?"
"Yeah, Rai awake..." I muttered. There was a click, and then the door opened, revealing
the lead cloaky.
"Come." He motioned for me to follow him. "We've prepared breakfast for you."
At the mention of food, I was out of bed. Pidgeotto stayed in the room. We went through
a series of halls with more of the odd paintings like the ones I'd seen in the lobby. Thinking back,
there was no religion I'd ever heard of with paintings like this.
I was expecting a giant feast when we entered what looked like a kitchen. I'd got one
alright...if you consider ten different ways of making apples a feast. There was apple pie,
carmel apples, cooked apples, and just plain apples, to name a few. I hoped this wasn't a sign of
things to come.
"Please, Leader. Won't you join us in our meditation?"
"Sure..." Even being praised still didn't change what had happened. Maybe if I could get
some time to just sit around, I could figure out what to do.
We went back to where I'd crashed through the ceiling. Many other cloakies where already
seated around where'd I'd seen them last night. I tried to join the others in their circle, but
they insisted I move into the center.
"You are of too high of stature to be with lowly people like us. Please, go into the
center."
"O.K., I'll...ah!" I started to move to it, but quickly leapt back. In the center of the
circle was a pentagram. Looking back, that was a common shape used in demon summoning. I didn't
think about that the time, but I could see that it was painted by something that looked suspiciously
like blood.
"Is Chu blood?!" I asked, now that I had the living daylights scared out of me.
"Of course. Anything less would be insufficient for this ritual. You should know that as
well as any of us."
These guys were nuts! I didn't ask whose blood it was. Chances were, the owner probably was
six feet under at this point!
"I'm sorry we couldn't use our own blood. We took many packages from donors at the hospital.
Please forgive our weakness..."
"Rai..." At least I felt a little better. Still, I was suddenly unsure I wanted to have these
guys praising me. "Excuse me...Chu is much for me to do...Rai require some rest so Rai can continue
to...hold this form."
With that, I quickly started back for my room. I was gonna grab Pidgeotto, and then we were
gonna haul tail outta here! I opened the door to the room where I'd last left Pidgeotto.
"Pidgeotto, come...Chu!" It suddenly blew past me and down the hall. I chased after it,
naturally confused. Maybe now it was going to try to show me what it wanted before.
It made several sharp turns, and twice I thought it was gonna splat against a wall.
Thankfully, it always made it, and all of the cloakies were at the ritual, so none of them saw
us moving through the halls. Pidgeotto stopped and flapped in front of a door.
"Is Raichu trying to show me here?" I asked.
"Pidgeo!" I held the padlock that held the chain latch close. Great, it take forever to
find a key. Where the heck was I gonna look, anywa...What the...
"Pidgeo?" Pidgeotto seemed confused, and with good reason. My tail had moved around so
the tip was in front of me, moving right for the lock. This was done by no thought or action on
my part. It's like my tail had a mind of its own!
I watched dumbfound as the lightining-bolt tip inserted itself in the key hole. It
contracted near the top to fit in easily, filling up where a key should've been. It moved around
in there a bit, though I wasn't exactly sure what it was doing. Soon, there was a click, a sharp
but quick pain in the part of the tail that was in the lock. The lock opened, and my tail removed itself,
returning to it's normal position; hanging just above the ground behind me.
"Whoa..." I wasn't sure exactly what just happened, other than I'd just done something I
shouldn't have been able to. Still shaken up, I removed the open lock and popped the latch open.
Going downstairs, it was hard to see anything. I started my finger light, but that didn't
provide much help. When I hit bottom, it was like I was in a crypt. It was cold, dark and creepy.
"Rai hope there's something Raichu down here." I told Pidgeotto, who was now perched on
my shoulder.
"Over here!"
A new voice called out in the darkness. I followed where the sound was coming from with
my ears.
"Hello? Where are Chu?"
"Over here!"
"Whe...ah!" I yelped, seeing the red glowing eyes suddenly staring at me from my left.
"It's alright. There a switch on the wall." That voice...it sounded familar. I carefully
felt my way around the wall, and found a light switch. I flicked it, and a single, dim lightbulb
lit up. Despite it's weak light, the bulb revealed one of the most important things I'd seen in a
while.
"Sara!"
"Pidgeo!"
Sara was the owner of those glowing eyes. She blinked a few times, and they returned to their
grey color like when I'd first seen her. She was wearing the same clothes too, but there was one thing
different about her. She was locked in a cage, barely big enough for her to stand in. She was also
soaking wet.
"You know Vul name..." She sounded confused, as she should. As far as she knew, I didn't
know her name, for I'd never seen her in Hybrid form.
"Of course Rai know Chu name. We did crash Raichu police station back in Chu town, didn't
we?"
"Vulpix didn't. That was me and Railina..." She paused for a moment, then exclaimed, "That
was Vulpix I gave a bath?!"
"Rai bubble one, at that."
"Vul...how?"
"Don't worry Raichu." I told her. "What happened?"
Sara started off on a long story, which began after she was teleported. When she came to,
all the cloakies had surrounded her. At first, they praised her too, but she was scared, and tried
to leave. They caught her on the way out, and asked her why she wanted to leave. When she told them
that she just wanted to get away from people who praised her for being a freak, someone bought out
a Horsea and hosed her. In her weakened state, they dragged her down here and locked her in here.
Since then, she hadn't eaten anything or even been let out.
"Vulpix you found my Pidgeotto."
"Chu Pidgeotto?" I suddenly remembered that Railina had mentioned that Sara also had a
Pidgeotto. Apparently, Sara was none too pleased with being locked in a cage, and was showing the
cloakies the extent of her vocabulary. Her Pidgeotto, who had been teleported with everyone else,
happened to overhear her shouts. There was a broken window which she flew through(I could see it
high up one of the walls.), and Sara asked her Poke'mon for help. Since it couldn't get the lock
open, it'd been trying to get someone else to help. It'd happened to see me in the attic, and had
been trying since to get me down here.
I suddenly felt sick with myself. I'd been up, feeling all high and mighty about being
praised, and not five hundred feet away, Sara was being treated like a demon. I'd let my own ego
get in the way of people I was trying to help. I felt like puking in disgust with myself.
"Don't worry, Raichu getting Chu out of there." I held the padlock that locked her cage.
Soon, my tail should pick the lock, and then...
"Leader? Are you down there?"
A candle-holding cloaky came down the stairs, when he saw me talking to Sara, he suddenly
ran down.
"Please, Leader, get away from her! She is a demon!"
"Demon? Rai..."
"You've had contact with her! Oh, all hope is lost!"
He continued to rant on like this, and soon, the rest of the cloakies came down and started
whining themselves. I didn't care about that, but I realized I was going to have problems getting
Sara out of here, since I was outnumbered about 35 to 1!
"We must destroy the demon before she can infect our leader!" The lead cloaky reached for
a Poke'Ball he had in his cloak. When I saw him pull it out, I tried to tackle him and wrestle it
away, but he threw it out just before I reached him, forcing me to jump back and get ready for a
fight.
"Paras!"
"Sleep Powder!"
The mushrooms on its back began to shake and emit the blue stuff. Unlike back at the police
station, though, I had plenty of room to get out of the way.
"Sara!" The remenants of the powder drifted toward Sara, trapped in her cage. She held
her breath for as long as she could, but it floated there for what seemed like forever. Finally,
she just had to breathe. Onle inhalment of the stuff and she was in a deep slumber.
Paras turned to face me, ready to attack. I wasn't too worried. After all, I was biger,
faster and smarter. Heck, I could suddenly turn into a Raichu right now and still kick its...mushrooms?
(Hey, Paras' don't have definable butts to kick! Can I help that?)
"Paras Paras." It clicked its front arms together, almost like it was challenging me.
"Chu wanna fight? Rai game!" I had this so easi...wait...is it growing? Paras seemed to be
getting noticably larger. Actually, all the cloakies did too. Everything was getting bigger.
"Raichu, Chu Rai Rai?" There was a sound like a bone snapping, and suddenly my hands were
shrinking. Actually, I was shrinking everywhere...oh no! I'm going totally Raichu!
I watched in horror as my hands slowly shrunk away into nothing, leaving me with handless
nubs for arms. My clothes were in a heap around me, but that was fine, since everything from what
was left of my waist down had changed to Raichu shape and proportions. My vision blurred for a moment
as I felt my face shifting and moving like puddy, which creeped me out big time. When my vision
returned, I scrambled out of my now gigantic clothes.
"Raichu Rai, Rai...Chu Rai Rai, Chu Raichu." I sighed. *Well, I said I could take this thing
on as a Raichu...so I guess I pretty much asked for this.*
Naturally, the cloakies were in shock. Those that didn't have their hoods up were gawking,
and the rest weren't moving at all. Even Paras seemed to be paralyzed. That helped, especially when
I charged at it and punched it right in the mouth. It stumbled back a little before it responded.
"Paras!" *I wasn't ready!*
"Raichu!" *Too bad!*
Now it charged forward on it's many legs and began Fury Swiping at me. I dodged most of
them, But I did get nicked a few times in the side, and it jabbed me once in the arm pretty good.
"Raichu!" *That hurt!* One swipe went wild, leaving me just a moment to counter. I tried
to form another bolt like I did back at Sara's house. Surely I'd do better, right?
"RAICHU!" I cried out. Electricity flowed out of my cheeks, surrounding me totally. "RAICHU!"
A small bolt shot out from the surrounding electricty, fried Paras for about a second, then returned,
and all the rest of the electricty dissappeared as well.
"Raichu..." *Well, that stunk...* Paras shook off the attack and released Stun Spore at me.
I dove to the side to avoid the yellowish mist. Scrambling to all fours, I charged and responded
with a Tackle. Much to my surprise, the Paras was knocked onto it's back, then just seemed to give
up.
"Pidgeo, Pidge Pidge Pidgeo." *That's a pretty pathetic Paras.* Pidgeotto had flown off my
shoulder when I shrunk and was now perched on top of the cage.
"Raichu." *I'll say.* The lead cloaky now fell on his knees. The others looked confused,
but they quickly followed his example.
"He defeated my mightest Poke'mon. He is truly our Leader!"
"Pidgeo? Pidge Pidgeo." *Mightest Poke'mon? I doubt it.*
"Chu, Rai Raichu?" *Have you seen his team?*
"Pidge Pidge. Pidgeo, Pidgeo Pidge Pidge." *Yeah, when I was waiting for you. Everything
else he has is way stronger than that Paras.*
That was odd. If he had way stronger Poke'mon, why send out a Paras? This guy was up to
something. The leader guy picked me up, but I decided to wait to see what he wanted before I fried
him. He told another cloaky to gather my clothes, and carried me back to the room where I'd slept
before. The lead cloaky set me down on the bed and went over to the table where'd I'd found that
book. He reached into his cloak and pulled out something, what I couldn't see.
The other cloakies came in and bowed to me for a while. One of the cloakies asked the
leader to join them. He hastily put down the book and joined them for a few seconds, then said I
should be left alone to rest. Pidgeotto flew in just as they left, with the lead cloaky grabbing a
book off the table before leaving.
"Pidgeo Pidge." *Hey, he grabbed the wrong book.*
"Raichu? Chu Rai, Rai Raichu?" *He did? Can you grab it for me?*
"Pidgeo. Pidge Pidgeo Pidgeo, Pidgeo!" *Oh no. I'm not letting you get a big head again!*
"Raichu Rai, Rai Chu Rai Rai!" *I promise, I won't get a big head again!*
"Pidge..." *Alright...* She flew over to the table, grabbed the book in her talons and
bought it over to the bed.
I slowly opened the book and looked it over. This wasn't any book of praise. Holy...this
was far from it!
"Raichu, Rai Chu Chu Raichu!" *Pidgeotto, we got to make a plan, now!*
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Pidgeotto, come Rai!"
"Pidgeo!"
Now that I'd changed back, Pidgeotto was going nuts. She probably freaked out when she saw
me change, even though I was still mostly under the covers. I'd hastily thrown on my clothes and
chased after her.
"Not upstairs!" I scrambled up the stairs in time to see her fly out the hole in the wall.
I yelled after her, but she didn't listen and flew out of sight.
I swore under my breath and went back downstairs, not in a good mood. The lead cloaky met
me at the room where I'd been staying.
"What happened, Leader?"
"Rai Pidgeotto just flew Chu coop!"
"Oh...I'm sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Raichu...Rai could use something to eat."
"Follow me." I followed him again, still annoyed at Pidgeotto. If I got my hands on her...
"Hey, Raichu we going?" This wasn't the path to the kitchen. The cloaky continued on to the
end of the hall, and I followed him down. At the end of the hallway, he opened a door, revealing a...
"Hypno, Hypnosis!"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was time.
The sun was just starting to rise as my master gave me my instructions, making sure I
understood them. I nodded, my eyes closed. Knife in hand, I proceeded up the stairs, out to the
opening in the attic.
There. I opened my eyes to see the fur covered girl. She was tied to a flagpole right above
the outside of the hole. The rope was wrapped all around her body, and a piece was tied to the
flagpole. Her legs were also bound, with a large rock hanging off those ropes. My master had said
this was nesscary so the task was done right. Where once there were mattress, there was a 15 foot
hole in the earth, filled up with water. My master explained that they just covered it up, so that
the others wouldn't see. They weren't true believers. They wouldn't be allowed to see this.
The girl cried for help. She kept saying some name, looking at me when she said it. She was
wrong. I had no name. Besides, she was my masters enemy. She had to be taken care of. I ran a finger
alongthe blade, testing its sharpness. Yes, it would do.
With one quick motion of my brown fur covered hand, I sliced the rope connected to the flagpole.
The girl screamed as she fell. I turned away and dropped the knife as instructed. When I heard the
splash of water, the silence, I was done.
I slowly went back downstairs. My task was done.
The girl would no longer be a problem for my master, or anyone for that matter.
college on Friday, and I won't be back till late Sunday. Anyway, if you think the big secrets have
been revealed, hang out for a while, because I can assure you, this is just the beginning! As I
write this, I'm still waiting to hear ideas from my readers. Come on, don't be scared! Any idea
that you think might be a great addition to the plot, let me know. I'll give credit where it's do!
Anyway, here's Chapter 11. Enjoy!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chp.11- Enter the Followers...
Needless to say, I was still very angry, even as the sun started to come up. I still
hadn't made my way back to the city, and the sun was starting to rise. Something inside of me
knew I had to get back, but another, more powerful part of me refused to go back. I still had too
much to sort out, and I still couldn't bring myself to tell Joy what I was told.
Why hadn't my parents told me the truth when I was still at home? I would've learned to
understand. Now all this was coming out at the worst time possible. Sara's still missing,
Bulbasaurs still missing, I'm still trying to control my powers, that girl is after Vaporeon; now
I just had salt poured into an open wound.
Maybe I should lighten up on them a bit...after all, they took me in, despite my looks,
and tried to raise me like a normal child. They did the best they could, despite all the trouble
I caused. I can't believe I was such a little thief...could I really do all that? I was just a
baby at the time. Still, who knows what happened in those six months when I dissappeared?
I moaned and shook my head. This was too much to try and deal with all at once. I was
scared, angry, and worse, confused. I needed to find a spot where I could settle down and figure
this all out. Wandering around the outskirts of the city, I believed I found a place where I
could do just that.
A small wooden building was hidden away deep in the woods. It looked old, but was still
in good condition. I made my way over, noting that someone had made a clear path through all the
surrounding brambles and other junk. Probably just a grass-type using Razor Leaf to cut a way
through.
I studied the worn away picture on the door before I went in. It was painted all in red,
and was very crude. It looked like something on a cloud was throwing a bolt of lightining down at
something on the ground. I couldn't make out what was throwing the bolt, and the paint was
totally worn away where a target should've been.
I slowly stepped in, keeping my ears open for anyone or anything. No one was moving around
at all, and I couldn't see anything in the darkness. Holding out one finger, I focused all the
electricity I could to it. Soon a large spark appeared on the tip. It wasn't very big, but it cast
some light through the dark place.
The place looked like the lobby of my old church. I saw a table, a coatrack, a big holder
loaded with pamlets, a stairway and wicker basket on a shelf that looked like the one that got passed
around during offering. Looking at a painting on a wall, though, I realized this was nothing like my old
church.
"What the..." It was a painting of a person, but not any person I knew. The person...if
it was a person...looked like a normal guy, save for the fact he had the head of a Ponyta and
there was a streak of fire running down his back. He stood in a wide open plain, seeming to be just
enjoying being there. He kinda looked like a Hybrid...but all the Hybrids I'd met, including myself,
seemed to be a nice blend of both human and Poke'mon. This guy seemed to be mostly human, except
for the total Ponyta head and flame. He looked off balance compared to myself and the other Hybrids.
Before I had much of a chance to continue looking around, I heard what sounded like someone
walking around in their socks, judging by the softness of their steps. Whoever was coming was
just around a corner. Fearful of being caught, I cut my light and scrambled up the staircase. Just
as I reached the top step, the other person stopped moving. I instantly froze. A few tense seconds
past, then the other person left and went away, though I didn't move till they were out of range
of my hearing.
"Rai..." I let out a little sigh of relief. It seemed like I was in some sort of attic now.
There was a large square opening in one of the walls that looked outside. Other than that, it looked
pretty bare. There was some dust, but honestly, does anyone give a Ratatta's tail about dust?
I glanced out the hole cautiously to see what was out there. It was about a thirty foot
drop to the ground, but someone had put large mattress down on the ground. If I'd leapt down, I'd
probably be fine. Still, my acrophobia(fear of heights) kept me from doing so. It's not a real
problem on planes, just when I can actually reach out and touch the air, which means I can also
fall through it too.
I slowly backed away from the hole and looked around again. For an attic, the place was
pretty big. My guess was that it covered the whole building. Who'd want an attic that cover the
whole...
"PIDGEO!!"
"What th...OW!OW!OW!OW!" Out of nowhere, a Pidgeotto swooped down and started pecking me
in the head. It chased me around up there for a while, all the time pecking me whenever it could.
Being the brave soul I was, I ran around, yelling, "Get Rai off me! Get Rai off me!"
This kept up for about a good two minutes, before it occured to me I had a type-advantage
here. I formed my finger light again as I ran, then turned on the winged terror. When I reached
for it, it flew above me, then perched itself on a nearby rafter.
"Raichu that for?!" I yelled at it, forgetting that the person was still here, and might
overhear me.
"Pidgeo want Pidg Pidgeo." it said in a shrill voice.
"Chu want something?" It nodded. "Rai?"
"Pigedo!" It flew over to a spot in the attic and started making tight circles around it.
I followed it over to the spot, trying to see what it wanted. It looked just like the rest of the
attic, except I noticed small holes in the floor. Pidgeotto landed and looked down through one of
them, so I dropped to my hands and knees to see what it was looking at.
On the floor below us, a bunch of figures sat around in a circle, wearing cloaks and
not saying anything. They sat inside a circle of scented candles, and inside the circle that they
formed with their bodies was something painted in red on the wooden floor. There was too little
light to get a real good at it.
"What are Raichu?" I asked silently.
"Pidgeo, with Pidgeo."
"With what?"
"Pidge!"
This was going nowhere. I watched this for about ten minutes. They continued to sit in
total stillness and silence. I was starting to getting a little scared and stiff. Finally, I got
up, getting ready to leave.
CRUNCH!
My right foot crashed through the wood. Panicked, I yanked at my leg, trying to pull it
out before I was spotted. Unfortunetly, my movements only caused the hole to grow bigger. My
other foot slipped in, and about a second later, I crashed through.
"AH!" In desperation, I grabbed for something as I started to fall through. Pidgeotto
dogded my first grab and caught my hand as I started to fall. It grabbed my hand in its talons
and started flapping frantically. I still fell through, but my fall was slowed dramatically.
"Raichu the save." I thanked the Pidgeotto as we slowly fell. The figures in the circle
continued to remain still. Even after I was dropped about five feet onto a bed of flowers someone
had planted indoors, they didn't move. My next reaction changed that.
"YEOW!" I quickly scrambled out of the flowerbed, desperate to get away from the stingers.
"Chu dropped me on Raichu of roses!"
"Pidgeo..." Pidgeotto came to land on my shoulder. The once still figures now surrounded
us in a semi-circle. They wore cloaks that covered their entire bodies, hoods covering even their
heads. One of them slowly reached into one of the huge sleeves of his cloak. My mind kept screaming,
"He's got a knife! Run, you furry idiot!" but my feet refused to respond.
I drew back and closed my eyes when he pulled out the object. There were a few tense
moments, then I realized there wasn't any sharp pointy objects giving me a few extra holes. I
opened my eyes to see why. He didn't hold a knife in his hand, but...
"Rai apple?"
"Yes, Leader." the figure said in a low voice. I was sure now it was a guy. "These are
you're favorite, are they not?"
Leader? This guy was weird, but the others were even weirder. They were all down on their
knees, heads bowed forward. Were they...worshipping me?
Normally, I probably would've been taking the oppertunity to run. When I saw all these
people on their knees, facing me,...I suddenly felt like I'd gained a respect I'd never had. These
people actually appricated me for who I was. They weren't running away or screaming or calling me
a monster. They...praised me...for who I was...
I walked up and gently took the apple from the lead cloaky(I nicknamed them that, since I
didn't have any real names for them). While my favorite was really pizza, it suddenly looked so
tasty. As soon as I had a firm grip on it, he too fell to his knees. I ate it slowly, all of the
cloakies continuing to stay there, watching me eat this apple. If it hadn't been so akward, it
would've been funny.
When I was finished, holding only the core, the cloakies rose. The leader slowly approached
me and held out his hand. Not sure what else to do, I put the core in it. He took it and put it
in his cloak sleeve again. Is there anything he won't put in there?, I wondered.
"Come, Leader. You must be tired from your journey. Please, follow me."
I did as instructed, following the cloaked leader. He lead me to a luxurious bedroom, or
at least compared to sleeping out in the woods. Sheets, pillows, a mattress; I was in heaven!
"Please, stay here. We'll come for you in the morning." With that, the door was closed
behind me, leaving me and Pidgeotto alone.
"Well, this Rai certainly weird." I said as Pidgeotto flew over to one of the bedposts,
using it as a makeshift perch.
"Pidgeo, Pidge Pidge Pidgeo, downstairs!"
"Downstairs? What are Chu talking about?"
"Pidgeo! Pidge Pidge downstairs!"
"Sorry, but all Rai hear is 'downstairs'." I gave my new feathered friend a pat on the
head. "Enjoy Raichu. It's not often Raichu worship Chu."
It continued to rant on, but I tuned it out when I found a book on a small table near the
door. The front was labeled, "The Followers Worship Guide". I flipped it open, and ended up on a
page that had been looked at often, judging by the way the binding was worn in; it opened to that
page immediatly.
"...and one day, when he believes his followers are ready," the page read, "the leader shall
come down from his spot on the heavens and lead his people to victory. He shall weild the powers
of heavenly lightining with great ease..."
Heavenly lightining? These people thought I was some kind of God? I closed the book
and sat on the edge of the bed, stunned. No wonder they bowed to me. They thought I was a God...of
course I wasn't, but still, when someone calls you a God and gets down on their knees to worship
you, that's not something one easily forgets.
Pidgeotto gave up trying to talk to me and flew over to the doorknob , trying to turn it.
That didn't work, so I tried it. It was locked from the outside.
"Give it up, Pidgeotto. Raichu stuck." Geez, for people who were just down on their knees,
these guys weren't very trusting. Oh well, I thought, heading back to the bed and crawling under
the covers. Probably just some sort of test. As Pidgeotto flew over to a bedpost and started to
doze off, I figured I'd make some sort of excuse. Besides, these people loved me. What would they
do to me?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PECK!PECK!PECK!
"OW!" I waved my arms about frantically, scaring off Pidgeotto. Moaning, I rubbed my head.
"Rai do Chu keep doing that?"
"Pidgeo!" it said. I could hear knocking at the door.
"Leader? Are you awake?"
"Yeah, Rai awake..." I muttered. There was a click, and then the door opened, revealing
the lead cloaky.
"Come." He motioned for me to follow him. "We've prepared breakfast for you."
At the mention of food, I was out of bed. Pidgeotto stayed in the room. We went through
a series of halls with more of the odd paintings like the ones I'd seen in the lobby. Thinking back,
there was no religion I'd ever heard of with paintings like this.
I was expecting a giant feast when we entered what looked like a kitchen. I'd got one
alright...if you consider ten different ways of making apples a feast. There was apple pie,
carmel apples, cooked apples, and just plain apples, to name a few. I hoped this wasn't a sign of
things to come.
"Please, Leader. Won't you join us in our meditation?"
"Sure..." Even being praised still didn't change what had happened. Maybe if I could get
some time to just sit around, I could figure out what to do.
We went back to where I'd crashed through the ceiling. Many other cloakies where already
seated around where'd I'd seen them last night. I tried to join the others in their circle, but
they insisted I move into the center.
"You are of too high of stature to be with lowly people like us. Please, go into the
center."
"O.K., I'll...ah!" I started to move to it, but quickly leapt back. In the center of the
circle was a pentagram. Looking back, that was a common shape used in demon summoning. I didn't
think about that the time, but I could see that it was painted by something that looked suspiciously
like blood.
"Is Chu blood?!" I asked, now that I had the living daylights scared out of me.
"Of course. Anything less would be insufficient for this ritual. You should know that as
well as any of us."
These guys were nuts! I didn't ask whose blood it was. Chances were, the owner probably was
six feet under at this point!
"I'm sorry we couldn't use our own blood. We took many packages from donors at the hospital.
Please forgive our weakness..."
"Rai..." At least I felt a little better. Still, I was suddenly unsure I wanted to have these
guys praising me. "Excuse me...Chu is much for me to do...Rai require some rest so Rai can continue
to...hold this form."
With that, I quickly started back for my room. I was gonna grab Pidgeotto, and then we were
gonna haul tail outta here! I opened the door to the room where I'd last left Pidgeotto.
"Pidgeotto, come...Chu!" It suddenly blew past me and down the hall. I chased after it,
naturally confused. Maybe now it was going to try to show me what it wanted before.
It made several sharp turns, and twice I thought it was gonna splat against a wall.
Thankfully, it always made it, and all of the cloakies were at the ritual, so none of them saw
us moving through the halls. Pidgeotto stopped and flapped in front of a door.
"Is Raichu trying to show me here?" I asked.
"Pidgeo!" I held the padlock that held the chain latch close. Great, it take forever to
find a key. Where the heck was I gonna look, anywa...What the...
"Pidgeo?" Pidgeotto seemed confused, and with good reason. My tail had moved around so
the tip was in front of me, moving right for the lock. This was done by no thought or action on
my part. It's like my tail had a mind of its own!
I watched dumbfound as the lightining-bolt tip inserted itself in the key hole. It
contracted near the top to fit in easily, filling up where a key should've been. It moved around
in there a bit, though I wasn't exactly sure what it was doing. Soon, there was a click, a sharp
but quick pain in the part of the tail that was in the lock. The lock opened, and my tail removed itself,
returning to it's normal position; hanging just above the ground behind me.
"Whoa..." I wasn't sure exactly what just happened, other than I'd just done something I
shouldn't have been able to. Still shaken up, I removed the open lock and popped the latch open.
Going downstairs, it was hard to see anything. I started my finger light, but that didn't
provide much help. When I hit bottom, it was like I was in a crypt. It was cold, dark and creepy.
"Rai hope there's something Raichu down here." I told Pidgeotto, who was now perched on
my shoulder.
"Over here!"
A new voice called out in the darkness. I followed where the sound was coming from with
my ears.
"Hello? Where are Chu?"
"Over here!"
"Whe...ah!" I yelped, seeing the red glowing eyes suddenly staring at me from my left.
"It's alright. There a switch on the wall." That voice...it sounded familar. I carefully
felt my way around the wall, and found a light switch. I flicked it, and a single, dim lightbulb
lit up. Despite it's weak light, the bulb revealed one of the most important things I'd seen in a
while.
"Sara!"
"Pidgeo!"
Sara was the owner of those glowing eyes. She blinked a few times, and they returned to their
grey color like when I'd first seen her. She was wearing the same clothes too, but there was one thing
different about her. She was locked in a cage, barely big enough for her to stand in. She was also
soaking wet.
"You know Vul name..." She sounded confused, as she should. As far as she knew, I didn't
know her name, for I'd never seen her in Hybrid form.
"Of course Rai know Chu name. We did crash Raichu police station back in Chu town, didn't
we?"
"Vulpix didn't. That was me and Railina..." She paused for a moment, then exclaimed, "That
was Vulpix I gave a bath?!"
"Rai bubble one, at that."
"Vul...how?"
"Don't worry Raichu." I told her. "What happened?"
Sara started off on a long story, which began after she was teleported. When she came to,
all the cloakies had surrounded her. At first, they praised her too, but she was scared, and tried
to leave. They caught her on the way out, and asked her why she wanted to leave. When she told them
that she just wanted to get away from people who praised her for being a freak, someone bought out
a Horsea and hosed her. In her weakened state, they dragged her down here and locked her in here.
Since then, she hadn't eaten anything or even been let out.
"Vulpix you found my Pidgeotto."
"Chu Pidgeotto?" I suddenly remembered that Railina had mentioned that Sara also had a
Pidgeotto. Apparently, Sara was none too pleased with being locked in a cage, and was showing the
cloakies the extent of her vocabulary. Her Pidgeotto, who had been teleported with everyone else,
happened to overhear her shouts. There was a broken window which she flew through(I could see it
high up one of the walls.), and Sara asked her Poke'mon for help. Since it couldn't get the lock
open, it'd been trying to get someone else to help. It'd happened to see me in the attic, and had
been trying since to get me down here.
I suddenly felt sick with myself. I'd been up, feeling all high and mighty about being
praised, and not five hundred feet away, Sara was being treated like a demon. I'd let my own ego
get in the way of people I was trying to help. I felt like puking in disgust with myself.
"Don't worry, Raichu getting Chu out of there." I held the padlock that locked her cage.
Soon, my tail should pick the lock, and then...
"Leader? Are you down there?"
A candle-holding cloaky came down the stairs, when he saw me talking to Sara, he suddenly
ran down.
"Please, Leader, get away from her! She is a demon!"
"Demon? Rai..."
"You've had contact with her! Oh, all hope is lost!"
He continued to rant on like this, and soon, the rest of the cloakies came down and started
whining themselves. I didn't care about that, but I realized I was going to have problems getting
Sara out of here, since I was outnumbered about 35 to 1!
"We must destroy the demon before she can infect our leader!" The lead cloaky reached for
a Poke'Ball he had in his cloak. When I saw him pull it out, I tried to tackle him and wrestle it
away, but he threw it out just before I reached him, forcing me to jump back and get ready for a
fight.
"Paras!"
"Sleep Powder!"
The mushrooms on its back began to shake and emit the blue stuff. Unlike back at the police
station, though, I had plenty of room to get out of the way.
"Sara!" The remenants of the powder drifted toward Sara, trapped in her cage. She held
her breath for as long as she could, but it floated there for what seemed like forever. Finally,
she just had to breathe. Onle inhalment of the stuff and she was in a deep slumber.
Paras turned to face me, ready to attack. I wasn't too worried. After all, I was biger,
faster and smarter. Heck, I could suddenly turn into a Raichu right now and still kick its...mushrooms?
(Hey, Paras' don't have definable butts to kick! Can I help that?)
"Paras Paras." It clicked its front arms together, almost like it was challenging me.
"Chu wanna fight? Rai game!" I had this so easi...wait...is it growing? Paras seemed to be
getting noticably larger. Actually, all the cloakies did too. Everything was getting bigger.
"Raichu, Chu Rai Rai?" There was a sound like a bone snapping, and suddenly my hands were
shrinking. Actually, I was shrinking everywhere...oh no! I'm going totally Raichu!
I watched in horror as my hands slowly shrunk away into nothing, leaving me with handless
nubs for arms. My clothes were in a heap around me, but that was fine, since everything from what
was left of my waist down had changed to Raichu shape and proportions. My vision blurred for a moment
as I felt my face shifting and moving like puddy, which creeped me out big time. When my vision
returned, I scrambled out of my now gigantic clothes.
"Raichu Rai, Rai...Chu Rai Rai, Chu Raichu." I sighed. *Well, I said I could take this thing
on as a Raichu...so I guess I pretty much asked for this.*
Naturally, the cloakies were in shock. Those that didn't have their hoods up were gawking,
and the rest weren't moving at all. Even Paras seemed to be paralyzed. That helped, especially when
I charged at it and punched it right in the mouth. It stumbled back a little before it responded.
"Paras!" *I wasn't ready!*
"Raichu!" *Too bad!*
Now it charged forward on it's many legs and began Fury Swiping at me. I dodged most of
them, But I did get nicked a few times in the side, and it jabbed me once in the arm pretty good.
"Raichu!" *That hurt!* One swipe went wild, leaving me just a moment to counter. I tried
to form another bolt like I did back at Sara's house. Surely I'd do better, right?
"RAICHU!" I cried out. Electricity flowed out of my cheeks, surrounding me totally. "RAICHU!"
A small bolt shot out from the surrounding electricty, fried Paras for about a second, then returned,
and all the rest of the electricty dissappeared as well.
"Raichu..." *Well, that stunk...* Paras shook off the attack and released Stun Spore at me.
I dove to the side to avoid the yellowish mist. Scrambling to all fours, I charged and responded
with a Tackle. Much to my surprise, the Paras was knocked onto it's back, then just seemed to give
up.
"Pidgeo, Pidge Pidge Pidgeo." *That's a pretty pathetic Paras.* Pidgeotto had flown off my
shoulder when I shrunk and was now perched on top of the cage.
"Raichu." *I'll say.* The lead cloaky now fell on his knees. The others looked confused,
but they quickly followed his example.
"He defeated my mightest Poke'mon. He is truly our Leader!"
"Pidgeo? Pidge Pidgeo." *Mightest Poke'mon? I doubt it.*
"Chu, Rai Raichu?" *Have you seen his team?*
"Pidge Pidge. Pidgeo, Pidgeo Pidge Pidge." *Yeah, when I was waiting for you. Everything
else he has is way stronger than that Paras.*
That was odd. If he had way stronger Poke'mon, why send out a Paras? This guy was up to
something. The leader guy picked me up, but I decided to wait to see what he wanted before I fried
him. He told another cloaky to gather my clothes, and carried me back to the room where I'd slept
before. The lead cloaky set me down on the bed and went over to the table where'd I'd found that
book. He reached into his cloak and pulled out something, what I couldn't see.
The other cloakies came in and bowed to me for a while. One of the cloakies asked the
leader to join them. He hastily put down the book and joined them for a few seconds, then said I
should be left alone to rest. Pidgeotto flew in just as they left, with the lead cloaky grabbing a
book off the table before leaving.
"Pidgeo Pidge." *Hey, he grabbed the wrong book.*
"Raichu? Chu Rai, Rai Raichu?" *He did? Can you grab it for me?*
"Pidgeo. Pidge Pidgeo Pidgeo, Pidgeo!" *Oh no. I'm not letting you get a big head again!*
"Raichu Rai, Rai Chu Rai Rai!" *I promise, I won't get a big head again!*
"Pidge..." *Alright...* She flew over to the table, grabbed the book in her talons and
bought it over to the bed.
I slowly opened the book and looked it over. This wasn't any book of praise. Holy...this
was far from it!
"Raichu, Rai Chu Chu Raichu!" *Pidgeotto, we got to make a plan, now!*
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Pidgeotto, come Rai!"
"Pidgeo!"
Now that I'd changed back, Pidgeotto was going nuts. She probably freaked out when she saw
me change, even though I was still mostly under the covers. I'd hastily thrown on my clothes and
chased after her.
"Not upstairs!" I scrambled up the stairs in time to see her fly out the hole in the wall.
I yelled after her, but she didn't listen and flew out of sight.
I swore under my breath and went back downstairs, not in a good mood. The lead cloaky met
me at the room where I'd been staying.
"What happened, Leader?"
"Rai Pidgeotto just flew Chu coop!"
"Oh...I'm sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Raichu...Rai could use something to eat."
"Follow me." I followed him again, still annoyed at Pidgeotto. If I got my hands on her...
"Hey, Raichu we going?" This wasn't the path to the kitchen. The cloaky continued on to the
end of the hall, and I followed him down. At the end of the hallway, he opened a door, revealing a...
"Hypno, Hypnosis!"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was time.
The sun was just starting to rise as my master gave me my instructions, making sure I
understood them. I nodded, my eyes closed. Knife in hand, I proceeded up the stairs, out to the
opening in the attic.
There. I opened my eyes to see the fur covered girl. She was tied to a flagpole right above
the outside of the hole. The rope was wrapped all around her body, and a piece was tied to the
flagpole. Her legs were also bound, with a large rock hanging off those ropes. My master had said
this was nesscary so the task was done right. Where once there were mattress, there was a 15 foot
hole in the earth, filled up with water. My master explained that they just covered it up, so that
the others wouldn't see. They weren't true believers. They wouldn't be allowed to see this.
The girl cried for help. She kept saying some name, looking at me when she said it. She was
wrong. I had no name. Besides, she was my masters enemy. She had to be taken care of. I ran a finger
alongthe blade, testing its sharpness. Yes, it would do.
With one quick motion of my brown fur covered hand, I sliced the rope connected to the flagpole.
The girl screamed as she fell. I turned away and dropped the knife as instructed. When I heard the
splash of water, the silence, I was done.
I slowly went back downstairs. My task was done.
The girl would no longer be a problem for my master, or anyone for that matter.