I sat on my bed and buried my head in my hands. My brother's surprise visit had now brought on a new challenge. I now had to come up with some sort of plan to get him out of my father's clutches within the next four years, and KEEP him out of them at least until he turned 19. How on EARTH was I going to do that…!
"Pika pi?"
I jumped at the voice, startled at where it had come from and having forgotten about my little friend I had taken in that afternoon. But once I saw the little yellow body I relaxed again. He must have run off and hidden while Jessee and I were preoccupied with James' visit. "Sorry little guy, you startled me. I didn't mean to forget about you like that." I tapped my knee with my forefinger. Pikachu read my intentions and jumped up onto my lap. "Are you hungry? I might be able to whip you up a little something." the pokemon's stomach growled, affirming my suspicions. I chuckled a little. "Alright then. Food it is." I picked him up and made my way downstairs. I set him gently on the floor next to me and opened the refrigerator. "Now, let's see, what do Pikachus like to eat…?" I asked, mostly to myself. Pikachu scanned the shelves with me, but then stood up on his hind legs and pointed at a small bag of apples we had sitting on the bottom shelf. "Pika."
"You like apples?"
"Pi."
"Alright then. It's settled." I replied pulling out two large juicy apples from the bag and bringing them to the sink. After I'd washed, cored and cut up the apples into perfect little slices, I picked up Pikachu and carried him and his dinner back to my room.
As Pikachu munched happily on the apple slices, I sat and pondered my predicament some more. It seemed clear to me that we'd have to get James out as soon as possible and get him as far away from town as we could in a single night, possibly even change his identity. Heck, maybe we'd even have to change all of our identities, how should I know! "Ugh…." I buried my face in my hands. I wanted to be a pokemon nurse, not a spy! Well….I actually wanted to be a trainer, but I was far too old to start on my journey now. Besides, Pokemon nurse wasn't a bad profession.
"Pika pi?" Pikachu asked, pausing his eating.
"It's nothing…" I replied. "It's just…Now I've got to save my brother like I saved you from that trap earlier. I don't know how I'm going to do that…"
"Pi?" Pikachu cocked his head.
"No, don't worry about it. It's fine." I replied. I sighed and got off my bed, turning my back toward Pikachu so I could pull my shirt off. "I'm going to go to bed. You can do anything you want, but just don't cause any trouble." I pulled my long silky nightgown over my head, then turned off the lights and crawled under my covers. I could hear Pikachu gnawing away at the apples some more for a little while longer then I felt something warm and soft jump over me and curl up inside my body. I opened my eyes and could see just the two stripes on Pikachu's back and the end of his tail as he was curled up in a tight ball against my stomach. I felt my heart jump a little. This act of trust moved me. I felt so much love for this little pokemon at this point I could hardly contain it. I pulled a hand out of the covers and stroked the pokemon's back. His fur was so soft and silky like a plush blanket. I stroked him one more time before pulling my hand back under the covers and letting myself follow him into sleep.