Chapter 3: Encounter

After we had lunch, and getting both Buneary and Pikette to calm down, we then decided to check to see if there were any events going on today. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything going on or would for at least a couple more days.

"For a large city, you would think they would have something planned each and everyday," Dawn said, sighing.

"Well, I guess we could always try finding a nearby city," Brock said, looking through the manual.

"Hey, I know," Ash said. "Since we're here, I could train for my next gym battle."

"And I could train for my next contest," Dawn said. She then turned towards me. "Chris, would it be okay if I could use Pikette in my next contest?"

"Sure," I said. "What do you say Pikette? Is that alright with you?"

"I would be delighted," Pikette said, going to Dawn's side.

"How about it Pikachu? Ready to get back into training?" Ash said. He then looked down towards him. "What's the matter, buddy?"

Pikachu looked rather uncomfortable battling against Pikette. I couldn't blame him at all really.

"I think I'm starting to notice a relationship going on here between those two," Brock said to me.

"You could say that," I said. "Between the two, Pikachu is a little more hesitant to express it to other people."

"What's the matter? Afraid to go against a girl?" Pikette said to Pikachu with a bit of a smirk.

Pikachu quickly snapped out of it and returned with a smirk of his own. "Pika pi," he said.

"Very well, I'll be the referee then," Brock said. "The battle between Pikachu and Pikette will now begin."

"Alright Pikachu, use quick attack!" Ash said. Pikachu performed it, charging straight at Pikette.

"Dodge it," Dawn said. Pikette dodged. "Now use skull bash." Pikette quickly rammed into Pikachu, knocking him to the ground.

"Pikachu, you alright?" Ash said. Pikachu got up quickly, acknowledging he was okay but surprised how quick she was. "Alright, now use iron tail!" Pikachu jumped into the air and quickly came down with an iron tail.

"Counter it with iron tail as well," Dawn said, not sure if Pikette could do the same. But to everyone's surprise, even Pikachu's, she jumped into the air and performed iron tail as well. They hit each other and were both blown back.

Pikette landed on her feet, breathing a little heavier. "I haven't had this much fun in awhile." She looked towards Dawn. "Don't worry Dawn, I got this taken care of."

"But," Dawn said, but then changed her mind. "Alright then."

"Okay Pikachu," Ash said, "It's about time we use our trump card. Use volt tackle!"

Pikachu then started sprinting while electricity engulfed his entire body. Pikette only grinned at this and ran out towards Pikachu using volt tackle herself. She both hit each other, causing an explosion. However, Pikette's seemed to have been stronger since Pikachu was thrown back, falling down on the ground and not getting up.

All of us were shocked, me especially. I had never known Pikette was that powerful.

"That... was... incredible," Dawn said, looking at Pikette.

Pikette just smiled, crossing her arms. "You'll find that I'm full of surprises." But she then went over to where Pikachu was, making sure he was okay.

Ash then picked up Pikachu, who seemed rather exhausted. "Hey, you did a great job," he said. "You earned a good rest."

"Wow Chris, I didn't realize Pikette was that strong," Brock said.

"I didn't know either," I said.

Pikachu then went over to Pikette, rather embarrassed that he had lost to her. Pikette only smiled and laid a paw on his shoulder, which made Pikachu smile in return.

Pikette then turned to Dawn. "I'm sorry that I took the battle into my own hands. I'm used to fighting on my own."

"Oh it's fine," Dawn said. "Besides, I have a feeling with some work, we can make a great team."

Pikette smiled, but wasn't quite sure if that would happen, if she ended up having to go home, back to her world.

"Well, the closest city around here is Oreburgh City," Brock said.

"Oreburgh City, huh?" Ash said. He looked to Pikachu. "That's where we got our first Sinnoh badge."

"Pika pika," Pikachu said, nodding.

So we then left Jubilife City, and headed towards Oreburgh City. The bad part was that the way we went was the way Pikachu, Pikette, and I had just gone through!

"You mean that we have to go back the same way we came through?" I said, groaning as Pikette and I hung our heads.

We then continued on into the woods. I was curious on whether that Raichu would show up once again, but I think Pikachu had left his mark. It soon started to get dark, and we decided to make camp in an open area right next to the river, the same one that we had seen before. We then had dinner, and was hoping there wouldn't be another quarrel. Fortunately, Buneary and Pikette did not do anything, although they did glare at each other for a second before starting to ignore each other.

Pikachu, however, did not eat. He only continued to stare across the river at nothing in particular. He then sighed and walked over towards the edge of the river.

"I wonder what's wrong with Pikachu?" Ash said. "He doesn't seem his usual self."

"Something must've happened to him that we don't know about," Brock said.

"I do," I said. They looked at me. I felt guilty saying it, but I didn't have much of a choice now. "While Pikachu was with me, an organization had targeted us. They call themselves Sector 7, and they're involved in extraterrestrial beings. At one point, we had been captured by them and found out their true plans. They had been conducting experiments on Pokemon, injecting them with all sort of drugs. Pikachu had to battle against a friend he knew, who had been brainwashed by them, and had died in his arms."

"That's horrible," Dawn said, who had tears in her eyes.

"The nerve people have doing those kind of things against Pokemon," Ash said angrily, "It makes me so mad."

"And ever since, Pikachu had been grieving for his friend's death," I said. "I feel horrible having Pikachu experience the cruelty of my world."

I then felt someone on my shoulder and looked to see that it was Pikachu. "Pika pi," he said, smiling.

"You sure?" I said. "I know it's not easy to lose a loved one. I would know, they had killed my parents as well."

"THEY DID WHAT!?" All three of them said.

"I can't believe anyone would go that low," Brock said, shaking his head.

Dawn put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm so sorry Chris," she said.

"Yeah, it's one thing to have someone you love pass away, but murder, that's just awful," Ash said.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," I said. "The past couple of years I haven't really gone to see my parents that much, so I guess compared to the alternative, it doesn't hurt as much." Pikachu brushed his tail against the back of my neck, making me smile.

(A/N: Okay, another music scene here. You know the drill, * marks the spot. Anyway, the song choice is another I found to go well with this but is another TP song. The song is called "Link and Illia Share a Moment," which is a sweet song, perfect for the situation. Anyway, I think I'm going to edit this, calling it "Chris and Dawn Share a Moment.")

After eating dinner, we then went to bed. Well at least Ash and Brock did. *Dawn and I sat on the ground next to each other, staring at the stars.

"You know, the stars in my world are somewhat different from the ones here. What constellations do you have?" I asked Dawn.

She only smiled and laughed. "As much as I should know, I don't quite know all of them. But if you look closely, you should see the Milotic, Gardevoir, and Pikachu constellations."

I looked and smiled, seeing the constellations. "It's a rather beautiful sight," I said.

"Yeah it is," Dawn said.

I then noticed her hand had rested upon mine, causing me to blush. "Um, Dawn? What are you doing?"

Dawn smiled, while resting her head on my shoulder. "Nothing," she said.

As weird as I felt, I couldn't help but smile. I never thought a "fictional" character would actually start liking me. I couldn't complain with that. However, I looked away and then I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. I noticed a light shining near the trees. I then got up.

"What is it?" Dawn asked. I motioned towards the ball of light and she then saw it. "What is that?" she said, as the light went into the forest, almost as if beckoning them.

"I don't know, but I'm going to check it out," I said, walking towards the light.

"Wait, I'm coming with you," Dawn said. "Who knows what could be out in the forest this time of night."

I smiled, nodding. We then followed the light further into the forest. What it was or where it was taking us, we didn't know. We had gone about fifty yards into the forest when we reached another open area in the forest. However, the ball of light had disappeared.

(A/N: I seem to do this too much. Oh well, the name of the next song is "Encountering Midna in the Cell," although I'm going to edit it, calling it "Encountering _____ (don't want to give the name away yet) in the Forest." There will also be another part with a song which I'll let you know. That scene will be using "The Spirit Eldin" from TP (yeah, I know, lots of LOZ songs), and that will end up being edited to the name of the thing they encounter.)

"Great, looks like we lost it," I said, sighing. I was about to go back when I heard a rustle in the bushes, right behind Dawn. *"Dawn," I said carefully and quietly, "You might want to get over here."

She then noticed the rustling and got to my side as something quickly jumped out of the bushes. It was a Pokemon and apparently not a friendly one, since it felt threatened and was growling. "It's a Mightyena," Dawn said.

The Mightyena moved forward and quickly flinched in pain. "It looks hurt," I said, moving towards it. Mightyena, however, growled more as I got closer to it.

"Chris, I don't think that's such a good idea," Dawn said, looking at Mightyena.

I however kept moving towards it, while it still growled. "Stop that, I want to help you," I said, glaring at it. It must've been something I did for it stopped growling and let me near it. I examined it's paw, the place where it had injured itself. "Hmm, looks like you sprained your paw," I said. I got out some sponges and bandages, wrapping up it's paw so less pressure would be put on it. I then got some tape to secure the wrapping. "There you go, all fixed up," I said. Mightyena looked up at me, the look on it's face telling me "thank you." It then ran off into the forest.

"Wow, I didn't realize you were so good at helping Pokemon," Dawn said, looking at me.

"Well, I'm not quite used to aiding Pokemon but I had to help Pikachu on a couple of occasions," I said, recalling those bad times in my head.

All of a sudden, the ball of light reappeared in front of us. *The light then grew brighter, blinding us, but I could see a form emerging from the light. Once the light disappeared, a large Pokemon stood in front of us. Dawn gasped, but I recognized the Pokemon, seeing it before.

"Children, do not be alarmed," the Pokemon said. "I mean no harm against you. Only for you to listen."

"Listen?" I said.

"Yes," the Pokemon said. "My name is Arceus, the creator of our universe and all Pokemon. I come to you because I need your help."

"Help with what?" Dawn said.

"A great battle looms in the near future," Arceus said, "I fear that my power alone will not be enough to stop it."

"But, how can we stop it?" I said. "What can we possibly do?"

"You, Chris, must figure that part on your own," Arceus said.

"You know my name?" I said.

"Yes. And Dawn, Ash, and Brock," he said, smiling. "You are all considered heroes. You Chris, must realize you were brought here for a reason. It was no accident. Your part in this tale will help save the world from certain doom."

"What are you talking about?" Dawn said.

Arceus closed its eyes. "You both know the events that took place in Alamos Town, how Palkia and Dialga had almost destroyed the town, while endangering human life as well. While they had stopped, the grudge between them still remains, and Giratina, in it's rage, has now made the situation far graver. They will now compete against each other for not just only the space and time realm, but also the Reverse World."

Dawn and I stared at each other, realizing what was about to happen. "But how will we know where they'll be?" I asked.

Arceus opened its eyes. "You must go to Michīna Town in the west," he said, looking in that direction. "There you will find all the answers you need. But beware, I sense something else that has yet to play a part. Until we meet again, take good care of yourselves." And with that, Arceus disappeared.

Dawn and I looked to where Arceus was, and then looked at each other. "We'll have to tell the others about this tomorrow," I said.

"Right," Dawn said, nodding. We then headed back to where the others were. I stopped and looked back for a moment, something on my mind. I quickly shook the thoughts of my head and kept going.

(A/N: Well, this is sure getting interesting. I apologize having to interrupt between scenes but it's probably better than stating all of it at the beginning. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this and more is coming on the way.)

FoxMcCloud7921