Poke-genetics: consequences
Pikachu yawned. This night had been great. He had slept like a baby and he was feeling energized.
As he opened his eyes, he realized that neither Ash nor Genno were beside him.
«Ash woke up early? That's new. »
The mouse pokemon looked around. They were nowhere to be seen…
Pikachu shrugged it off. They probably woke up before him and decided to let him sleep. Most certainly, they were having a nice breakfast somewhere on the island.
«I wish Ash hadn't thrown that fruit at me. It's just too weird not being able to rely on my nose.»
Pikachu wandered around the island, asking from times to times about his friends. All of them answered negatively.
At first, it didn't throw him off, but he had to admit that the more he heard that answer, the more worried he was getting. He was probably paranoid.
«Hey, are you fine, kiddo? » a familiar voice asked.
«Nidoking! I'm… I'm fine. I'm just looking for my friends. »
«Oh, well, I'm sorry, but I haven't heard of them this morning, which is actually surprising considering that rattata wanted to challenge that Ash pal of yours. »
«… no one has seen them? »
«As far as I know, they're not on my island. »
«… thanks Nidoking. »Pikachu said as he went away.
This was seriously getting on his nerves. What could have happened? Oh, for the love of Mew, why did he have to lose his sense of smell now?
He went to the beach and dived in the lake. He had made sure not to be careful and some water got in his nose. Hopefully, that would help him a little.
«Gah! » he exclaimed as he gasped for air.
«Let's see… » he added as he sniffed the air surrounding the lake.
It was faint, very faint, but he caught the scent of something that could be Ash. He was not quite sure, it seemed like there was something else. Pikachu had a bad feeling about it.
«Huh? ... where am I? » muttered a confused Genno.
Dizzy, he took a look at his surroundings. He was clearly in the forest, but he didn't remember trying to sleep. What had happened? Everything was blurry. He knew there had been some reason he landed here, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
Finger… not that he actually had some right now. Genno got shocked as he realized he was still a pidgey.
«I forgot about that too. Hum… that's weird; I forgot a lot of things… too many things… »
Troubled, he stretched his wings and took off.
Pikachu was furious. He was trying to find Ash, but his messed-up nose was still playing with his mind. Whenever he felt he got closer to the location of his friend, it suddenly appeared to him that he was just imagining it. It was not making any sense.
To someone observant enough, it actually did. You just had to look at the right place, over Pikachu's head, somewhere between the leaves to be precise.
Pikachu stopped running and slapped himself. That was enough. If he couldn't find him using his senses, he's try something else.
«I've been looking at this problem the wrong way. If I can't use my nose to find him, then I need to think of where he might have decided to go. Now, if I was Ash where would I go… »
The pikachu thought about it for a few minutes.
«… Nowhere… I can't think of any reason that would make Ash disappear like that… »
He couldn't go into the depth of the subject anyway. A flying pokemon fell on him.
The hit made them both roll on the ground, wincing in pain.
«Aouch! Landing was much easier as a pidgeot… » the bird complained.
«Genno, is that you? »
«Oh, Pikachu! I was not quite sure if it was you. »
«Where have you been? Is Ash with you? »
«What do you mean: «Is Ash with you? »? He's not on the island? »
«No, he's not. I've been looking for you two this morning, but no pokemon there saw either of you. Fortunately, you found me; otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to trace you. »
«You wouldn't? »
«Genno, when you morph into a different pokemon, your odor changes too. »
«What about Ash? »
«This wouldn't be too much of a problem normally, but because of that stupid fruit from yesterday, I can't smell him. »
«Maybe I should give it a try… » Genno stated.
As usual, he glowed for a second before his shape became that of a pikachu.
Genno welcomed the familiar body. Having the power of transformation was great, but that didn't mean that he was at ease in any body.
Pikachu urged him.
«Genno, can you smell anything out of the ordinary? »
He took a deep breath… and tensed. He began breathing heavily and was shaking a little.
«Huh? What… is that? » Genno asked in shock.
«What? »
«How… can you be… standing like nothing? » the ditto questioned with round eyes.
«What are you talking about? » Pikachu said, completely confused.
«I feel so… weird… it's… like… my body's reacting… to the smell of something. »
«Genno! Where is it coming from? » Pikachu asked.
«I… I don't know… I think it's… this way… »
Without letting Pikachu question him further, Genno began to run.
As he followed his friend, Pikachu was suddenly worried. Was this what happened to Ash? This behavior… it was almost like…
Pikachu hoped with all his might it wasn't what he thought.
His hopes were baffled. They ended up in a clearing… where Ash was sleeping.
«ASH! » Pikachu yelled.
Startled, said teen woke up in surprise.
«Huh? »
«What are you doing here? Did you spend the night here? »
At the mention of the night, Ash blushed like crazy. Under his yellow fur, it was impossible to notice, but the look on his face was all the explanation Pikachu needed.
«Oh… you have got to be kidding me, Ash. » Pikachu said with a desperate last hope.
Genno was acting a little calmer, but he was not exactly normal either. He had troubles thinking straight right now.
«What's the big deal, Pikachu? »
«Genno, how are you feeling right now? »
«Like there's fire in my veins. »
«Well, THAT is the effect of female pikachus' pheromone. »
Genno stopped shaking, baffled.
«… you mean… »
«Ash disappeared last night... and spent it with a nice girl. »
«HOLY MILKTANK! » Genno shouted.
Ash looked to the ground. He was miserable. He had not resisted. He fell for the temptation. He betrayed the girl he loved. How would he ever have the courage to face her now?
A rare coherent thought got out of Genno's mouth.
«Why aren't you affected, Pikachu? You're the real pokemon out of the three of us. »
«That's one of the reasons. I can control myself. You have not learned to control the impulse of the mating season. The other reason is that I can barely use my sense of smell right now. »
Genno gulped. He had heard enough to regain some self-control and he transformed.
Ash couldn't blame him for turning into his human form again. He didn't wish to anyone to lose control of himself like he had.
«Okay, now, we have one heck of a problem. » began Genno, now that he was no longer affected by the pheromones.
«Oh, you mean besides the fact that I betrayed my lover out of pokemon instinct? »
«… actually, that's exactly the problem. You shouldn't try to fight Team Blast anymore. »
«What does that have to do with anything? »
«Ash! You can't go expose yourself to their malice anymore. That'd be irresponsible! Think about who you'd leave behind. » Genno stated with a strange look of anger.
«Genno, I've thought of it before and my answer hasn't changed! »
A light flashed in Genno's eyes as he realized something. With disbelief, he looked at Pikachu.
«He doesn't know about that? »
«It was never his interest. That's more of a breeder's thing I guess. » Pikachu sighted.
«What are you guys talking about? »
«And here I thought I had fatherly issues. » his friend mumbled.
Genno took a deep breath. It was not his thing to announce things like that.
«Ash, of all pokemon registered, the ones with the highest fertility are the rodent-type pokemon. »
The message was clear enough. Ash's fur rose in horror as he was hit by the realization.
«If by a week or so, you're not the father of an adorable pichu, go buy a lottery ticket! »
He felt his throat constrict under the emotion. Him? A father? He was not ready for this! He was only sixteen!
«Ash, I know you're probably not even noticing what I'm saying, but where is the female pikachu? » his friend asked.
He obviously got no answer. First, because Ash had no idea. Second, because he was still wondering if this was real or it was just a nightmare.
He was really hoping that the nightmare option was true.
«Why do you ask that, Pikachu? »
«After the mating, the female chooses a place to lay her egg. It's always like that when the mating happened outside her nest. »
«Shouldn't we try to let Ash get over it first? »
«He won't, not before we can find her. That's the choice of a life that's been made for him. He'll need a lot of time to snap out of it. »
Genno hesitated, but finally chose to just grab Ash and follow his friend.
Ash wasn't even aware that they were moving. He had no idea what to do? Him, a father? That was just ridiculous! He couldn't be one! He was not even old enough to get inside bars!
Genno felt how tensed his friend was and he shot a worried look at Pikachu.
«You were right; he's definitely not going to get over it anytime soon. »
They searched the nearby bushes, unable to know where she could be now. The mouse's nose was not good enough for him to enable an effective research. It was more of a walk around the woods frankly.
They could have taken a lot more time if Genno hadn't been struck by inspiration.
«Pikachu, is it painful for the female? »
«Not as much as it hurts humans, but she won't especially like it. »
«Then, can't you just hear her? »
«…I could try. »
Pikachu paid more attention to his surroundings using his hearing. In the middle of the morning, there were many distracting noises.
Genno watched as the pokemon focused.
«I can hear… a pikachu… it's in pain… it sounds… feminine. » Pikachu declared as he led them through the forest.
After a few minutes, Pikachu stopped and told Genno to do the same.
From this point onward, they walked on the tip of their toes. When Pikachu turned around an enormous oak tree, they saw a scene of breathtaking beauty.
Light returned to Ash's eyes. He jumped off of Genno's arms and walked toward her.
She was sleeping, exhausted from the work, tenderly protecting her egg with her body. Ash was unable to speak; he just wanted to be there with her, to be next to their unborn child.
He touched the egg from the tip of his hand. It was warm, already filled with life. At this, he felt warmth in his chest, near his heart, and he hugged them. The female woke up. She looked tired, but she smiled softly. She even bit his right ear playfully.
In high spirits, Ash laughed at this. He tackled her just as softly and rolled on the grass with her.
«He looks much better, doesn't he? » remarked Genno.
«He sure does. » Pikachu smiled in satisfaction.
«Should we give time alone then? »
«We… »
He didn't have the chance to finish. Out of nowhere, a pokemon jumped from the cover of the oak's leaves.
«What? »
In the space of a heartbeat, it had grabbed the female pikachu by her neck.
Ash immediately launched a thunderbolt that was deflected just as quickly by the pokemon.
Fear took place in their minds. It was an alakazam.
«Let her go! » shouted Ash in fury.
«I can't. » it replied.
«I told you to let her go! » he shouted as he unleashed another powerful electric attack.
«And I told you I can't. » he answered with a psychic attack. «I must obey my mistress's orders, no matter what they are. »
«I don't care! » Ash yelled again, this time attempting to iron tail the pokemon.
It barely dodged in time.
«You are strong. You could certainly… entertain her… » the alakazam said. «Unfortunately for you, she has taken an interest in you and your friends. Even more unfortunate is that now that she likes you, you'll suffer. My orders are to bring back this pikachu and put her back in her glass box. The other one… is to bring the egg too. »
Ash lost all idea of what a coherent thought was. He jumped, with anger stronger than he had ever felt before. Just as he would reach him, the alakazam teleported away.
There were very few things scarier than his mistress. What he saw inside those strange human eyes was one of them.
Ash yelled his fury to the sky. That creature had escaped with his mate.
He looked everywhere and realized the egg was gone! NO!
He shouted again, cursing his powerlessness. He brought out his wrath in the form of thunder. The pokemon in the area swore that a legendary pokemon had come out of hiding and unleashed its fury against the woods. It was not possible otherwise.
Ash was crying in the middle of this thunderstorm. Why? Why did everything had to be taken away from him? Why was he so powerless that he could not prevent those things from happening?
A voice echoed in the middle of his rage, Pikachu's voice.
« Ash! It's with us! The alakazam didn't take your child! »
He was overwhelmed by the shock. His anger faded.
«Pikachu? »
«When we saw Janes's pokemon, Genno hid it. »
«Where is it? » he asked.
«Here. » Genno answered as he got out of the woods with the egg.
Ash ran full speed in his direction.
«How did it go? » Jonathan Avery asked.
Janes put Alakazam back in his pokeball.
«Perfect! Everything has been exactly as I planned. »
«Everything? » Jonathan wondered with a skeptical tone.
Janes shivered in pleasure.
«Oh yes! To take the kid too would have been too much. Poor boy wouldn't have the strength to take it. Instead, a series of well-aimed blow will slowly erode every bit of courage he has until I can get my hands on him. Then, I'll have a nice toy to play with. »
She licked her knife sensually.
«Oh… I can't wait for him to come here… »
«While I appreciate your enthusiasm, I would like to ask you a few questions. »
The woman grinned. She had a feeling that whatever he wanted would be end up being fun.