Chapter 3

"But you can't talk, Pokémon aren't supposed to talk! Why are you talking?"

Rattata scoffed in response before shrugging "Your guess is as good as mine, one minute all I can say is my name and then next I can speak." Ryan blinked "So, you don't remember how you got this way?" Rattata shook her head "every time I try to remember, I get nothing, just blankness."

"What about how you got hurt. Do you remember that?" Rattata shook her head no again and Ryan frowned slightly "well, that sucks," she nodded in agreement, silence enveloped them, Ryan rubbed his bicep awkwardly before releasing a light sigh "well. . . uhh I gotta go. It was umm nice talking with you Rattata." With that said, Ryan turned away and began making his way through the forest, he figured that if he kept going now, he might be able to get out of this place before nightfall, it was already late mid afternoon when he and Bulbasaur had entered the forest and with that battle side tracking them and there was the fact that they had gotten lost.

As he walked on in silence, Ryan couldn't help but notice that Rattata was following him, after all it was hard to miss a purple mouse covered in bandages, he glanced back accusingly at the rattata "Why are you following me?" she met his gaze unwavering and then murmured "well, I figured, that since your only Pokémon is out of commission and your all alone and unprotected, I thought I'd be your bodyguard."

"My bodyguard?" Ryan repeated slowly and Rattata nodded her head vigorously, the brunette opened his mouth to respond and then shook his head before sighing, having her tag along probably wouldn't hurt "whatever," Ryan then began to pick up his pace and started walking again, Rattata on the other hand glanced around nervously and allowed her ears to drop on the side of her head before following after the boy, running up to walk by his side, her foot frame was so tiny compare to his average height "So, what's your name?"

"Ryan. You got a name?"

Rattata shook her head and Ryan mumbled a simple oh "how did you find me?" The mouse tapped her nose while they walked "My nose, I'm still a Pokémon you know. I just can talk." She stated simply while glancing at Ryan who had folded his arms behind his head "this is kinda weird ya know, when I said I wished Pokémon could talk, I didn't mean literally, it's a bit awkward." He laughed lightly and glanced at Rattata from the corner of his eye. He was curious on how she gained the ability to talk, but apparently the Pokémon had some sort of amnesia and couldn't remember anything, not even how she wound up lying half dead earlier this morning and now this talking rattata was following him just so she could be his 'bodyguard' Ryan never heard of anything this odd in his life and considering the stories his father used to tell him when he was younger, he was sure that this was one of the oddest.

"Hey, you smell that?" Ryan blinked when Rattata suddenly stopped walking and stuck her nose in the air to sniff around "smell what?" Ryan slowly sniffed the air, trying to smell what the mouse smelled, but it was no use, a human's nose wasn't as sensitive as a Pokémon "it smells really sweet…" Rattata murmured closing her eyes and inhaling deeply. Suddenly her red eyes snapped open and she shot off "it's coming from over here!" Ryan only blinked as she darted into the bushes but came back out seconds later upon realizing he wasn't following "C'mon!" She motioned with a wave of her small paw and Ryan didn't know what he found more strange, the fact that he was listening to her or following her.

Rattata and Ryan were running through the forest, dashing around trees and bushes to follow the sweet smell she had picked up "it's getting stronger!" She cried after they ran past like their fifth bush and then suddenly they broke through the trees and hit a clearing and on one of the many trees that littered this expansive forest was a large spot of yellow slathered on its bark. Rattata sniffed once more at the air and moved closer to the tree "what is this stuff? It smells so sweet…" Ryan smiled slightly and walked over to Rattata, picking her up and bringing her eye level to the substance on the tree "it's Honey, you've never had Honey before?"

Ryan swiped at the sticky sweet treat with his index finger and placed the digit in his mouth "Mmm, this is really sweet" Rattata blinked while watching the boy and then bought her own paw out to swipe at the sticky stuff and tentatively licked it, the moment she tasted it, her eyes lit up and she began swiping at the Honey in rapid succession, stuffing her face "umy!" Rattata murmured, her mouth full with Honey. Ryan laughed as she began to lick at her now sticky paws "I can't believe you ate all of that. How could you have never had Honey before?" Rattata looked up at Ryan with an 'I dunno' expression, while one of her paws were jammed in her mouth. Ryan began laughing again, she looked so ridiculous with a paw stuffed in her mouth and bits of Honey dribbling out from the corner of her cheek, obviously having a bit of trouble swallowing the thick sweet treat.

"Driiii"

There was a loud angry buzzing noise and Ryan and Rattata froze before glancing upwards, a Beedrill, a large wasp like Pokémon with giant white stingers and transparent veined wings was glaring down at them, stingers pointing out threateningly "Drii! Drii Drii!" Rattata gulped thickly and her pupils shrunk, she then turned her head towards Ryan and whispered harshly "we need to get out of here…"

"Why?"

"Beedrill was collecting Honey for its hive and it's a bit annoyed that we just ate the honey it was about to collect" Ryan blanched and then glanced down at Rattata with wide eyes "We? What do you mean we, I had like a drop, you're the one who ate all of it!" Beedrill just buzzed louder "Dri Dri Drill!" Ryan looked at Rattata "what'd it say now?"

"That it's going to make us pay." Ryan laughed nervously and then glanced up at Beedrill "Hey, uh... Beedrill, we're really sorry about eating your Honey, it was a total accident!" Beedrill just buzzed angrily in response and flew forward, stingers glowing pure white "Whoa!" Ryan ducked just in time, so the bug flew over their heads, he then turned to Rattata and spoke in a commanding tone "Hey, use Shock Wave on it."

"What! Why? Are you trying to make it madder at us?"

"Don't ask! Just do it, and make it strong!" Rattata nodded and jumped out of Ryan's arms, a beam of blue light shot from her tiny body and it struck the Beedrill at full force, causing the bug to cry out and Ryan quickly pulled out a Pokéball and tossed it at the faltering Beedrill, a beam of red light sucked the giant bee into the Pokéball and it fell to the ground with a musical thud, the ball wobbled back and forth for several tense breaths before the ball stopped shaking and confirmed the capture with a soft ding. Ryan sighed in relief and moved over to pick up his recently captured Beedrill "Whew that was close…" he mumbled pulling out his Pokédex and scanning the ball.

"Beedrill, the Poison Bee Pokémon. It flies at high speed and attacks using the large venomous stingers on its forelegs and tail." Ryan scrolled down and glanced at Beedrill's moveset "Hmm, not a bad set…" there was a soft tug on his pant leg "Uh Ryan…" Blue eyes snapped down to the mouse tugging at his pants "Yea? What's up?" Ryan raise a brow curiously as the mouse's ears suddenly fell back against her head and she slowly pointed behind him, whirling around, Ryan felt his jaw drop and almost dropped his Pokédex and Beedrill's Pokéball. There were about a dozen Beedrill floating menacingly behind him, their eyes shining angrily as a loud buzzing met his ears "I think you just caught their leader or something, because they sound really angry…"

Ryan gulped audibly and then slowly pocketed his Pokédex and Pokéball, once his items were safe, he glanced out from the corner of his eye and whispered at Rattata "Hey, use Shock Wave again," she looked at him with a skeptical gaze that clearly said 'are you out of your freaking mind!' "C'mon, we aren't gonna go through this again, you did it the first time…" Rattata bared her teeth while she hissed out a reply "yeah, that's because there was one, this is like a whole lot more!" Ryan scoffed and rolled his eyes "just trust me and do it!" frowning slightly, Rattata complied nonetheless, sparks shooting from her body and flying at the Beedrill, hitting the bugs causing them to cry out in pain. Unfortunately unlike the first Beedrill, they didn't falter and fall, instead this mild shocking proceeded to anger them further, thus causing Ryan and Rattata to flee from the angry Pokémon "anymore brilliant plans genius!" Rattata exclaimed as they darted quickly through the forest, a legion of Beedrill hot on their tail.

"Yeah, shut up and keep running!"

x-X-x

"I think… hah… we lost them." Ryan panted and fell back on his behind, leaning most of his weight on his palms as he struggled to catch his breath. Rattata was draped over his knee, breathing just as heavily "all this running is going to be the death of me." She breathed and Ryan glanced down at the mouse, sure enough her new bandages had become tattered and dirty once more "here, why don't I just carry you for now," Rattata stopped breathing momentarily and then looked up at Ryan from her spot across his knee "what?" Ryan just sighed softly before picking the mouse up into his arms "you're not exactly in the best physical condition to be fighting and after all that running we did, you need to rest or you'll over exhaust yourself," Rattata stayed silent as he continued to speak "so, I guess until we make it to Pewter City, I'll carry you!" He grinned down at the purple Pokémon, who glanced up briefly before nodding "thanks."

Ryan then began walking, well more like wandering. He still had no idea how close they were to the exit and so far they haven't hit any signs that could tell them otherwise, plus so far the forest seemed to be really empty as of late, nobody was around, not even the Pokémon poked their heads out "This is really odd. . . you think something scared them off?" From her spot, tucked in the crook of his arm, Rattata shrugged, just as confused as he was "but then again, no Pokémon around means no unnecessary battles, so I guess this is a good thing, but just in case I wind up jinxing myself…" Ryan pulled out a ball from his belt "Bulbasaur, come out!" He pointed the ball at the ground and in a flash of white light, Bulbasaur materialized right in front of him "Bulbasaur." The Seed Pokémon yawned slightly before glancing up at its Trainer "Hey Bulbasaur, have a nice nap?" Bulbasaur shook its head slightly and Ryan smiled "I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Bul-basaurr," Bulbasaur glanced at Rattata in Ryan's arms and the boy began to explain "Oh yeah, I guess you guys haven't officially met, Bulbasaur, this is Rattata and Rattata, this is Bulbasaur" Rattata waved slightly at Bulbasaur and he nodded back in response "Well, c'mon let's get going. The sooner we get outta this forest, the bett— er huh?" Ryan paused and then narrowed his eyes, up ahead of them he saw a flash of something orange and yellow "What's that? . . .a girl and a Pikachu?" Moving forward a bit more, Ryan was able to make out the figures through the trees and it indeed was a girl and a Pikachu. The girl was standing a few feet away from the tree, where a Pikachu was perched in the branch, obliviously munching an apple, curious, Ryan wanted to get more closer, except he wasn't paying much attention to where he was stepping, because he stepped on a dry leaf causing it to crunch loudly and snap the Pikachu out of its daze, it noticed the girl in the distance and fled, leaping out of the tree and darting into the bushes.

"No way! I was almost finished! Who scared Pikachu away?" Angrily the girl whirled around and spotted Ryan, she pointed her pencil threateningly at him "what the heck was that for jerk!" Ryan chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly with his only free hand "Heh, sorry. I didn't mean to scare it away…" the girl just huffed and lowered her pencil; the glare she sported morphed into a sour frown "sure you didn't…"

Ryan gave a sheepish laugh before studying her. She stood roughly the same height as him, with strips of dark orange hair that framed her face; the rest of her head was covered by a large white artist beret while forest green eyes stared back at his blue, rising above the black oval shaped frames of her glasses. She was wearing sleeveless green crop top that stopped just below her chest, and underneath it she wore a long-sleeved white shirt that had oversized cuffs, almost covering her black fingerless gloves, only the tips of her fingers were visible. Her capri pants were cream colored and her shoes were an orange and white color, hanging off her shoulder was a large yellow messenger bag in the shape of a Pikachu face. "Honest, I didn't mean to! I was just curious," he murmured scratching his cheek "what were you doing anyway?" The girl looked at Ryan thoughtfully before raising the sketchbook that was in her hands, there on the sheet of paper was a half finished picture of Pikachu, she had managed to catch its profile from the side and got up to the electric types arm, before it abruptly stopped. "Whoa, that's good" Ryan, Rattata and Bulbasaur stared at the picture for a few more moments before the girl pulled her book away and stuffed it into her bag, while placing her pencil behind her ear "I coulda been finished too, if you hadn't come along!"

"Again, I'm totally sorry, but why don't you just draw something else?" The girl looked at Ryan as though someone had just slapped her once those words left his mouth "Draw something else? I can't just draw something else, I have to draw that Pikachu!" Ryan on the other hand didn't get it "I don't understand, what's the big deal? It's just a Pikachu."

"Just a Pikachu. . ." she repeated slowly before her eyes narrowed fiercely into slits "Just a Pikachu! It's not just a Pikachu! This Pikachu is my muse! I have to draw it and then I'm going to capture it! And you three are going to help me!" She stared pointedly at Ryan and his two Pokémon "What! No way, I have more important things to do than to go running around a forest with some weird girl obsessed with drawing Pikachu, I need to get Rattata here to Nurse Joy, she's seriously hurt!" He gestured to the mouse in his arms and Rattata nodded slightly in agreement, though she wasn't sure why he was trying to milk her injuries far more than they were worth. "So if you'll excuse me, we have to go. C'mon Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur nodded and began trailing after Ryan, who walked around the orange haired girl, but she quickly moved to block his path, holding her arms out "hold it! You don't need to hurry to Pewter City, because I have just what you need right here!"

Ryan stared at her in disbelief and muttered a weak, "you do?" with Rattata mumbling just as softly in disbelief "she does?" The girl nodded and rummaged through her large back, she saw that the inside was lined with yellow and it was very spacious and she had a lot of things jammed in there "tada!" After finding what she was looking for, the girl pulled it out, it was a medium sized rectangular shaped bottle filled with a green liquid "Here is a Full Restore, I was saving it for later, but I guess I'll help you out, but only because you owe me!"

"What! I don't owe you! I don't even know you!"

"You scared off Pikachu, so you're gonna help me find it, sketch it and catch it, weather you want to or not! Now hand over Rattata!" She placed her hand on her hips and glared harshly at him, causing Ryan and gulp and stand down, he knew that stance well enough from his mom to know that it meant no games and to stop arguing before he got hurt. Groaning softly, Ryan held out the injured Rattata to the girl and she began to unravel the bandages on her body and neck, spraying the potion here and there on the most visible injured areas, causing Rattata to wince "I know it stings girl, but that means it's working."

Within moments of being sprayed, Rattata was soon standing and stretching too, she arched her back and then sighed contently "wow, that spray stuff works wonders! I feel better than ever! Thank you weird girl!" Rattata looked at the orange haired girl and grinned, in response she gaped at the purple mouse for a few seconds, before glaring at her "You're welcome and my names not weird girl, its Nina! Now C'mon, we've got a Pikachu to find!" She whirled around and began to stalk off glancing around for Pikachu, but Ryan reached out and called her "Hey. Nina, wait a second, ya think I could use that on Bulbasaur. He was battling earlier and got seriously hurt." Nina rolled her eyes and then dug back into her bag and handed the used potion to the Ryan "You know what, keep it. I've got a few more in my bag, missing one isn't gonna kill me."

Ryan gripped the potion loosely and then stared at Nina briefly before running to catch up with her, Bulbasaur and Rattata at his heels. "Uhh, thanks, by the way. I'm Ryan," he pointed to himself with a slight smile, but Nina just brushed off his introduction "yeah, yeah, that's great. Look Raynerd, lets split up and meet back here in…" she rummaged through her bag and pulled out a small wrist watch "let's say 20 minutes, I'll take your Rattata and you take Bulbasaur, if you find Pikachu, holler or something." Ryan blinked and was about to correct Nina on her mistakes, one thing for sure, his name was Ryan, not Raynerd and Rattata wasn't officially his either, but before the brunette could get a word in, she grabbed Rattata and ran off, leaving a very confused Ryan and an indifferent Bulbasaur "Bulbasaur..."

"Saur?"

"Girls are weird."

"Bulba."

x-X-x

"Now, if I were a pikachu, where would I be..." parting the branches of a bush, Nina scanned the area, she was on her knees looking for the rare and elusive electric mouse Pokémon that made its home in the forest "So, why do you want to draw and catch this Pikachu so badly?" Rattata was glancing around the area herself, but not for Pikachu, she was scanning the treetops for some fruit. Sitting back on her legs, Nina answered "Because, pikachu is one of my favorite Pokémon! Plus this little guy has been evading me ever since we first locked eyes."

"Oh."

"Yeah, plus I need another picture to add to my sketchbook, see..." trailing off she dug around in her messenger bag and pulled out a large blue sketchpad and flipped it open to a random page, before pointing to the picture drawn there, Rattata blinked but looked at them curiously "this is a Poliwag in the Pond near my house, it was playing around with Bubble. I thought it was so cute, so I had to draw it!" She flipped to another page "and this is a sleeping male Nidoran," she flipped the page once more "and this is a trainer's Jigglypuff!" Nina grinned and closed her pad, sliding it back into her bag "I love drawing cute Pokémon and Pikachu is the cutest! I've always wanted one ever since I heard about this boy who lived in Pallet Town, who started off with a Pikachu and then I watched one of his battles in the Pokémon League. His Pikachu was so strong and cute too!" Her eyes sparkled with admiration and her voice took on a dreamlike tone "I don't know the guy's name, but his Pikachu inspired me, in fact I drew his Pikachu once, while it was using Iron Tail, I had to pause my screen though... it's one of my greatest works yet! Wanna see it?"

"Uhhm... sure?" Rattata didn't understand this girl one bit, or her mad love for pikachu, what's so special about them anyway? Nina dug through her bag again and pulled out a different sketchbook, this one was green and looked a lot more fancier than the plain blue one she had before "This is my special Sketchbook," she explained "I only use this to draw really special moments here but so far I've only managed to get that guy's Pikachu…" she showed Rattata the picture and her eyes widened at how realistic it looked, it was amazing! Pikachu was in the middle of the page, whirling around to use Iron Tail, the electric type looked like it was frozen in time against the blue background, unlike the other sketches, this one was filled in with color, the striking yellow of the rodent's fur clashed against the blue of its background, its normally yellow bolt shaped tail, was coated with silver and black, brown eyes narrowed deeply in concentration as it moved to hit some invisible enemy. "Wow..."

"I know right!" Nina snapped the book closed with a grin and then put that back into her bag and rose to her feet "Now c'mon, we've wasted enough time looking at my pictures, let's go find us a pikachu!" Rattata paused slightly but then snapped back and ran after Nina, who was taking long strides as she moved easily through the trees, in search of her muse, leaving poor Rattata behind "hey, wait up!"

"I know pikachu like Oran berries." thoughtfully, Nina began to glance around the area, scanning the trees for fruit "Hey! Look up there, it's an Oran Berry tree!" She pointed to the tree that was filled with the small blue berries "Hey, you think you can go up there and knock a few of them down for me?" Rattata was hesitant for a moment, but then nodded "Yeah sure," she then darted towards the tree, running up the bark easily until she reach the highest branch that was filled with berries "incoming!" Rattata knocked about 6 berries in total out of the tree and onto the ground and then plucked two for herself and stuffed them in her mouth before jumping down "so now what?" She asked, chewing and swallowing the berries, watching as Nina gathered the berries and stacked them like a pyramid, three at the bottom, two in the middle and one on top, she then grabbed Rattata and ducked behind the tree that housed the berries "now, we wait," she whispered, poking her head out slightly and waiting for the Pikachu to come and claim its prize.

"How long have we been sitting here? I'm bored and hungry."

Nina breathed deeply and rolled her eyes, this was probably the 5th time she had asked that "we've only been here for 5 minutes, and if you're hungry then climb in the tree and get some more berries, just please be quiet!" Nina turned and glared at Rattata, who gave a flat stare back while frowning and dashing up the tree, muttering to herself before disappearing into one of the higher branches, hidden behind the leaves "finally, some peace and quiet," she thought with a slight huff before turning her attention back to the pile of Oran berries, but she gasped softly at what she saw, it was Pikachu! The pikachu was here, and it was eating the berries! This was great! Digging through her bag, Nina pulled out her sketchpad and took the pencil from her ear and began to draw, all was quiet in Viridian Forest, save for the light scratching from Nina's pencil meeting her sketch paper, it was 2 minutes later, that Nina had finished her drawing and at the same time Pikachu had finished its berries, rubbing its tummy with a satisfied grin, it cooed "Chaaaa."

Nina used this moment to reveal herself, she stood up and pointed her pencil dramatically at the mouse "Pikachu, I've come to capture you!" Rattata poked her head out from her spot in the tree, watching the spectacle below "this girl sure can cause a scene…" Nina unclipped a Pokéball from her belt and tossed it at Pikachu "Pokéball go!" The red and white ball soared through the air and was heading straight towards Pikachu, who sat there and waited til the last moment to spin around and smack the ball back at the girl with its tail, it slammed into her face, leaving a noticeable ball imprint on her. Pikachu laughed loudly at her failed attempt while Nina frowned and then glanced up at the tree where Rattata was hiding "hey, get down here and help me catch this Pikachu!" Rattata glanced around and then pointed to herself "uh me?" Nina nodded "yes you, you're the only other Pokémon here aren't you? Now get down here and do something!"

Rattata rolled her eyes and then grumbled to herself before leaping down off the branch and a few feet away from Pikachu "Thanks! Now, what can you do?" The mouse in question just sighed before firing a Shock Wave attack which made a direct, hit "that's great and all Rattata, but pikachu aren't affected much by electric type attacks, what else do you have?" Rattata didn't respond, because she was too busy trying to dodge the ThunderShock attack from Pikachu "I can do this!" Rattata charged at Pikachu, a trail of yellow energy was seen behind Rattata as she rushes Pikachu, tackling the yellow mouse with great force "Pika!" Pikachu cried out as it was pushed back a bit "Pikachuuuu!" cheeks sparking, it glared at Rattata, before running at the mouse "Pikachuchuchuchuchu!" Once it managed to get in close, Pikachu whirled around and began smacking Rattata repeatedly with its tail "Whoa, it knows DoubleSlap!"

"Chuchuchuuu-Pika!" With that final 'Pika' Pikachu slammed its tail harshly into Rattata's cheek, sending the purple mouse flying, she landed on the ground with a thud at Nina's feet, causing the girl to gasp "Rattata! Are you alright?" Rattata groaned before slowly rising to her feet and rubbing at her sore slapped cheeks "you'll pay for that," she hissed and Pikachu stuck its tongue out and blew a raspberry at her. Snarling Rattata charged at Pikachu with Double-Edge again and the electric mouse leaped into the air, dodging her attack "Pikach—uu?" Pikachu froze suddenly when Rattata latched her teeth onto its tail with a Bite attack after it jumped in the air to dodge the previous Double-Edge, "Pikachu! PikaPika!" Once it landed safely on the ground, Pikachu began fiercely wagging its tail, trying to throw Rattata off, but she latched on tight "Pikachuuu!" Becoming irritated because Rattata wouldn't let go, Pikachu used ThunderShock again, but the mouse was still hanging on, even after the harsh shocking "hrry an cat it!" Rattata exclaimed somehow through her mouth full of tail, but Nina got the drift and pulled out another Pokéball "Okay, Pokéball go!"

This time the Pokéball hit Pikachu, bouncing off the mouse's head and then sucking the creature into the red and white ball, from her spot on the sidelines, Nina watched as the ball rocked back and forth several times and she crossed her fingers, hoping that the capture would be successful, so when she heard the soft ding that indicated the Pokémon had been caught successfully, she leapt for joy "Yes, I caught a Pikachu! Thanks so much Rattata." Nina turned toward the mouse, whom was lying on the ground, smoking rising from her body and her eyes were swirling. Nina sweat dropped and picked up the fainted rattata, she then began making her way back towards the area she and Ryan were supposed to meet, a wide satisfied grin splitting her face.

A/N: Here's chapter three! Thank you Anonymous and Ryuzaki Izinski for reviewing! Well, I'm a bit excited! Best Wishes airs on the 23rd!
I wonder if I'll have this finished and maybe be on my next region by the time the series ends. . . I hope so :)

Edits made on 2/3/11: Fixed obvious grammatical issues, edited some dialogue and took out the PokéArtist thing.

Edited 2/5/11: For some reason, FFN is being a dick and messed up my chapters. I'm positive when I edited this yesterday, that I replaced the right chapter, but for some reason, Chapter 1 was in Chapter 2 and Chapter 1 had been replaced with recently edited Chapter 3, and now 2 is completely missing! Meaning I have to reedit it AGAIN! Dammit FFN!