Chapter 24: A Self-Destructive Dream

"Pika, PIKA-CHUUU!"

As the Mouse Pokémon uttered, it released a massive jolt of electricity from the pouches on its cheeks. The attack targeted a large boulder just a few feet away, but it didn't seem to have any effect at all. The spot where it hit only grew a darker shade of charcoal black. The Pikachu stood, huffing but determined, and it tried again.

"CHUUUUU!"

Once again, the attack failed to accomplish anything. The Pikachu fell to one knee, gasping for air, and looked up at the boulder for a long time. Suddenly, it became very enraged and tried once more to make the stone crumble. This time, its cheeks only crackled with a few sparks.

"Chaa?" it managed, realizing that it was out of electricity.

It shook its head a couple times and tried again anyway. Not only did it fail to produce any electricity at all, but it immediately collapsed where it stood.

"That's right, Marshtomp, wash off all the mud," Lyla growled.

She was standing, arms crossed, and facing a building that was completely plastered with mud.

"Tomp," Marshtomp groaned, lightly hosing the wall down with Water Gun.

"Stop being so difficult and hit it with full power before someone notices what you did!" she demanded.

Marshtomp turned to her and instead, blasted her with full power. It of course knocked her flat on her ass so he threw his hands up to his mouth and snorted mischievously. As she began to pull herself back up, she was suddenly trampled by Gracie and then Charo as they rushed off towards the woods.

"Gracie!" Lyla shouted. The two halted and turned around.

"Sorry, Miss Lyla! But we have to get there before it's too late!" Gracie exclaimed, flailing her arms in a panic.

"Before what's too late?" Lyla asked, standing up as Eziray's Ralts and Charmander ran off together.

"Something really bad just happened!" was all Gracie replied.

"I'm beginning to wonder if having Psychic Pokémon around is more of a blessing or a burden," Lyla muttered. "Marshtomp, finish up here! I'm gonna go see what the hell is going on."

Lyla took off and Marshtomp stared blankly after her for a few moments.

"MY HOUSE!" a woman cried out furiously.

Marshtomp turned to find a pudgy, middle-aged woman standing with bags of groceries. He grunted and backed up slowly.

"Did you do this? I'm calling the police! No, you get back here!"

"Maaarsh!" Marshtomp exclaimed, zipping past Lyla.

"Done already?" she asked, turning her head and spotting the woman in the distance. "MARSHTOMP!"

She sped after him until they caught up with Eziray's Pokémon somewhere in the woods.

"Hey, so what's going on exactly?" she asked, catching Marshtomp in a headlock.

"I told you, something bad happened. Someone's in trouble," Gracie said as they made it to a clearing.

"What? That boulder is ginormous! It looks like its singed or something…" Lyla observed, walking up to the large boulder before them as Gracie, Charo and Marshtomp scurried over to the other side of it.

"Are you okay?" Gracie shouted.

Lyla rushed over and found the three crowded around something yellow and motionless on the ground.

"What is it?" Lyla wondered out loud.

"WHAT DOES IT MATTER? WE NEED TO GET THIS POKÉMON TO THE HOSPITAL RIGHT AWAY!" Gracie cried, flailing her arms in even more of a panic than before.

Lyla scooped up the fallen Pikachu and the four sprinted back to Mauville City.

"Where have you two been?" Eziray asked curiously as they busted into the Pokémon Center.

"Nurse Joy! This Pikachu needs help!" Gracie huffed.

"Ohh! Not again!" Nurse Joy sighed.

"Again?" Lyla echoed as she handed the unconscious Pokémon to Nurse Joy.

"Yes. This Pikachu has been in here at least three times a week for the last month. It's out there, at every possible chance, training until it collapses in exhaustion," Nurse Joy explained.

"Where's his trainer?" Eziray asked, walking over with Aiden.

"She doesn't have a trainer. This Pikachu is wild. That's why we keep letting her go every time she gets better. Er…somewhat better. She actually breaks out on her own as soon as she regains consciousness most of the time…"

"She sounds pretty aggressive. You sure it's a girl?" Aiden asked, half joking.

"Hey! Girls can be aggressive too. Just look at Lyla!" Eziray exclaimed.

"Eziray, I'm going to murder you…" Lyla muttered.

"See?" Eziray said with a giggle.

Nurse Joy had evidently gone to tend to the Pikachu because she was no longer in the room. Lyla thought about the Pikachu for a moment. She felt bad for it and somehow felt herself growing attached. She wanted to help it but she wasn't really sure how. She didn't even know why it was behaving in such a way.

"Nurse Joy?" she asked as the nurse returned to the room.

"Yes?"

"Do you know anything else about the Pikachu? Why does she train so hard?"

"For some reason, this Pikachu feels the need to become stronger and stronger. I don't understand why she keeps doing this to herself though. She's already become very strong…"

"How strong?"

"Well, when she's not out with that boulder, she's off challenging Pokémon trainers. She hasn't lost to a single one, including Wattson himself!"

"She can beat Wattson by herself?" Lyla exclaimed in complete shock.

"Yes! And the more victories she achieves, the more she works herself. It makes no sense at all."

"She's probably just trying to bring out her full potential," Eziray suggested.

"By herself?" Lyla asked. "That's what trainers are for."

"Exactly. There is nothing more she can do here. If she wants to grow stronger, she's going to need a skilled trainer to introduce her to more difficult situations. At this point, the only thing she's going to accomplish here now is lifelong damage. Then she'll never be able to accomplish her dream," Nurse Joy explained.

"She'll be handicapped…" Lyla trailed off.

The Pikachu had just barely regained consciousness. She didn't have the strength to move but she heard every word the humans in the other room were speaking. The words sunk in deep but she tried to reject them. These humans couldn't possibly understand. They hadn't a clue. She grinded her teeth together as they spoke and she thought back to the days when she was much happier, back when she actually liked humans.

"Pikachu, Pichu, it's time for breakfast!"

"Pika-pi!" a Pikachu exclaimed as she raced towards the man, her child racing along with her.

"You're getting quite fast, young'un!" the man exclaimed, throwing the mother a wink as they both knew that she had let her daughter win.

The two Electric-types chowed down, as did all the other Pokémon gathered in the fenced area. They were all being looked after by the man and his wife, also known as the 'Daycare Couple.' The two did their best to raise Pokémon until their trainers returned to pick them up. That Pikachu had been there for quite some time. During her stay, she'd laid an egg and that egg had hatched into the Pichu munching down its food before her.

"Careful now, Pichu," the Daycare Woman warned. "If you keep eating so fast, you'll get a bellyache!"

"Pi-cha!" the hatchling exclaimed as it looked up from its now empty bowl.

The Daycare Couple laughed and the Pichu's mother licked her daughter's face to clean her up a bit.

"That's a splendid idea, Pikachu! Your trainer called and told us that he would return for you today. He apologizes for being away for so long, but he's decided to take you with him to Rustboro! Isn't that great? He says he's ready to start challenging gyms and he wants you with him!" the Daycare Man exclaimed.

The Pikachu's heart sank a little. She had almost hoped not to hear from him again. He wasn't a bad trainer and the thought of being abandoned would have broken her heart. The thought of being separated from her child, however, was absolutely unbearable. She knew the kind of person her trainer was, and she knew he would have no time for a baby Pokémon. She smiled to humor the Daycare Couple, but deep down, she dreaded the very thought of his arrival.

"Pi-chu-pi!" Pichu exclaimed, snapping Mamma Pikachu out of her thoughts.

She nuzzled the infant and it raced off, so she followed and the two commenced a game of hide and seek, taking turns hiding and finding one another. This game went on for several hours until something went wrong. Pichu had been hiding under a bush for longer than usual, but her mother never came. It was strange because they could both smell each other so there was no way that her mother could have been stumped. Pichu sighed and raced out from under the bush, irritated with her mother for becoming occupied with something else.

"Speak of the devil!" the Daycare Woman exclaimed as Pichu raced into the house.

"Pichu?" the hatchling asked as her mother's face lit up and she raced to her daughter.

"Pikachu…" a young man trailed off.

His hair was smooth and a rich, deep brown. His eyes were a vibrant shade of blue that almost seemed to glimmer like a pair of sapphires. He reached out and petted the Pichu who stared timidly into his eyes, as if she were trying to determine whether or not he was a good person. He stroked her head gently and looked up to the Daycare Couple.

"I can't…" he trailed off.

"Pika?" the mother exclaimed, trying not to believe the words he was saying.

"I can't take her, I'm sorry," he said as he slipped a hand into his pocket.

"I understand," the Daycare Man said. "She's a joy to have and we certainly don't mind looking after her, so don't feel too bad, alright?"

The Pichu couldn't understand them at all. How could this boy sleep at night knowing that he was ripping her mother from her and how could these old people be perfectly fine with it? What was wrong with them? How couldn't they see that this wasn't right? Her mother tried to hold back tears as she wrapped herself around her child in an attempt to both comfort her and say goodbye. Then she disappeared right before Pichu's eyes in a red flash as the boy confined her to some sort of ball.

"Pichu!" the hatchling exclaimed, trying to follow the boy out the door.

"Come on Pichu, it's alright!" the Daycare Man said as he scooped her up before she could do so.

They both watched as the boy exited the building and the idea of never seeing her mother again flooded through Pichu's mind. The Daycare Man took her outside and set her down but she didn't budge for fear of vomiting. She felt confused, shocked, and absolutely sick to her stomach. What had just happened? Was it a dream? Could it please be a dream? Just moments ago, they had been playing together and now she was gone. There had to be a way to convince that boy to let her come along. As soon as the Daycare Man returned to the house, the Pichu zipped forward, towards the fence. None of the other Pokémon had ever tried to escape before because none of them had any reason to, but Pichu did. She climbed up the fence and plopped herself down on the ground on the other side. As she looked around, that boy was nowhere to be found.

"Chuu…" she trailed off as tears trickled down the sides of her cheeks.

"You seem upset."

"I'm just thinking," Lyla replied.

She and Aiden had gone off together while Eziray had some time alone to think about her gym rematch. There was still a lot of food left over from the snack shack on Slateport Beach, so they decided to have a picnic together. They were both sitting on a blanket in the middle of a park a few blocks away from the Pokémon Center. Lyla hadn't eaten much and she wasn't her usual, chatty self.

"Bout what?"

"I'm just worried about that Pikachu I found today. She can't stay here or she'll overexert herself until she inflicts permanent damage on herself…"

"Are you thinking we should bring her along with us?"

"I think it would be good for her. Besides, she's the cutest Electric Pokémon I've ever seen and she's strong. I need more power on my team. I've been losing contests because I'm just not strong enough…"

"But can you handle a Pokémon like that?"

"I'm not so sure about that. I don't even know what she's like."

"I wouldn't worry about her too much more!"

"Why not?"

"I don't know but you're a lot prettier when you're smiling so stop thinking about it!"

"Aiden…" Lyla replied, blushing.

She laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes as a faint smile appeared on her face. She was happy to have him around; he never failed to cheer her up. The two sat quietly together like that until Lyla shifted her head so that her chin was now resting on his shoulder. She opened her mouth to speak, as if she had something important to say, but she was cut off before she could speak a word.

"SABLE-EYEEEE!" a Sableye exclaimed as it suddenly appeared on Aiden's back. Lyla jerked away from him and screamed as the Pokémon hopped down and helped itself to their sandwiches.

"Lyla, it's okay!" Aiden said as she stood up and stumbled away. "He's just hungry."

"What in the world is that thing?" she demanded as it looked up at her with its diamond-like eyes and menacing grin.

"Sorry!"

She and Aiden turned to find Noah running up to them.

"Noah?" Lyla asked as he called the Sableye to its Pokéball.

"I caught that Sableye back on Dewford but I've been having some trouble with him. Anyways, if you two are here then I'm guessing Eziray's around too. Where is she?"

"Eziray? Uh…she's at the Pokémon Center I think," Lyla replied. "Why?"

"Well I just wanted to let her know that I just beat Wattson! I hope we're caught up now."

"Actually, you're one badge ahead of her. She lost to Wattson yesterday," Aiden said.

"But Aiden didn't!" Lyla added.

"Aiden?" Noah echoed.

"Yeah, I thought I'd challenge Wattson too," Aiden said, gathering up the food and putting it away.

"Eziray's gonna be super jealous when she hears you beat Wattson too!" Lyla exclaimed as she stood so Aiden could pick up the blanket. "So how are you? It's been a while!"

"Pretty good! I spent a lot of time training on Dewford. Brawly gave me a bit of trouble, but I think my team and I are really progressing. Uhh…was that here before?"

"What?" Lyla asked, turning to find a chunk of ice towering over her. "MARSHTOMP, IT'S NOT FUNNY ANYMORE!"

"Marshtomp?" Noah echoed cocking his head at it.

"We think he's going through an odd faze because he won't stop doing this…" Aiden trailed off.

"Doing what?"

Lyla stood, hands on her hips, as she waited for Marshtomp to blast out. He didn't though. Instead, a powerful jet of water suddenly pumped out from it and knocked Lyla into a tree. Then he blasted out and took a bow.

"Well, that's a new twist," Aiden said as he scooped Lyla off the ground and wrung out her hair.

"What did I ever do to him?" she whined as Aiden patted her on the back to comfort her.

"Tooomp!" Marshtomp exclaimed, scurrying over to hug his trainer for being such a good sport.

"I hate you…but I love you," she said as she wrapped her arms around him too.

"I feel like there'd never be a dull moment with those two around," Noah said.

"You have no idea," Aiden replied, smiling.

The three trainers set off for the Pokémon Center to meet up with Eziray and check up on the Pikachu. In spite of what Aiden had said, Lyla couldn't help but worry. As she walked in, she noticed that the Pikachu was conscious so she took a seat beside it and smiled.

"Hi, Pikachu! My name's Lyla. I'm the one who found you this morning. How are you feeling? You look like you haven't eaten in days!"

"Pika…" the Pikachu trailed off, studying her very carefully.

"Here!" she exclaimed, taking an apple from her bag and holding it out to the Mouse Pokémon. "You've got to eat something!"

"She won't take food from humans, not even me," Nurse Joy said as she walked into the room with some medicine.

"Really?" Lyla asked, turning away.

She was still holding the apple out, and to their surprise, the Pikachu reached her head out and took a bite. Nurse Joy dropped the medicine in shock.

"I can't believe it," Nurse Joy said as the Pikachu took the apple in her hands and munched it down. "I haven't been able to get her to eat…ever. Only Chansey can."

"Pika-chaaa!" the Pokémon squeaked, climbing out from the covers and crawling up Lyla's arm to her shoulder.

"Unbelievable!" Nurse Joy exclaimed as the Pikachu nuzzled Lyla's face with gratitude.

"I guess we have chemistry," Lyla said as she snatched up the Pikachu and held it out in front of her. "That's great! Maybe I can bring you along with me after all!"

"Wonderful!" Nurse Joy exclaimed, picking up the medicine from the ground. She handed the bottle to Lyla who had placed Pikachu on the ground. "Give this to her twice a day until you run out. She should be fully recovered by then."

"Thanks!" Lyla exclaimed as the Pikachu followed her out into the main room.

"Hey guys, guess what! This Pikachu–" Lyla began as the Electric-type bolted straight out the front door and off into the forest somewhere. "Was just using me to get out…"

"Darnit!" Nurse Joy cursed as she entered the room. "And here I thought she'd finally warmed up to someone…"

"I guess it just wasn't meant to be…"

Pikachu headed straight to the boulder where Lyla had found her. She stood, panting for a moment and thinking about how foolish Lyla had been. This Pikachu absolutely loathed the thought of traveling with a human. Humans were such self-centered, ignorant creatures with no respect for anything but themselves. Lyla was most likely no exception. She refused to become some tool used by a human to achieve their selfish purposes; she'd put way too much effort into bettering herself to just waste it on some stupid girl's selfish ambitions. As she thought about it, she became more and more infuriated with the human race and what they represented to her. She'd never forget that night in the wild after she'd broken free from the Daycare. She'd never forget the way that they treated her.

"Pichu…" Pichu trailed off as she wandered Route 117.

She hadn't really been sure which direction to take but she'd seen another trainer heading east so she thought that maybe she should go that way too. As she walked along, all she could think about was finding her mom. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't even notice the Poochyena that she had walked right over. It stood, growling and she turned, looking up at the wild Pokémon in terror.

"Pi-chu…" she trailed off, trying to reason with it, but it was too angry to listen.

It threw itself upon her and began to maul her as she cried out in pain. She begged and pleaded for it to stop and it finally did. The Poochyena backed off and looked over the tiny, helpless Pokémon before it. It snarled quietly and walked away. She was very grateful for the mercy it had shown, but she needed help now…she needed someone to tend to her wounds. She limped away, continuing quite some time until she found two children throwing rocks at a tree.

"Pichu-pi!" she pleaded, tugging on one of the boy's pant legs.

"What do you want? Shoo!" the boy shouted as he shoved her away with his foot.

She limped right back over and tried even harder to tell the boy that she was hurt. Eventually, he started pelting her with rocks and she cowered away, wondering why he was being so cruel for no reason. What had she done to him? He surely saw that she was injured and only needed someone to help her. He didn't seem to care though. If anything, it brought a sick gleam in his eye.

"Hey, Tyler…check out this thing!"

"Looks kinda beat up to me…"

"It probably got what it deserved. I mean look how annoying it is! It won't leave me alone. I think we should teach it a lesson…"

She watched as the two trainers schemed. She didn't quite understand what was going on, but what they did next completely blew her mind. They both sent out a Pokémon each – a Nincada and a Sandshrew. Then they both ordered the Pokémon to attack. Pichu tried to flee but the Pokémon trapped her and began slashing away at her. All she could hear was the tormenting laughs of the two boys as her mind slowly faded to black.

When she came to, they were both gone and it was morning. She sat up and looked around, remembering everything that had happened the day before. Her body ached worse than she'd ever felt, and her heart ached even more. Those boys could have helped her last night. They could have taken her into town, gotten her wounds healed up, and she might have even caught up to the boy who took her mother. All hope was gone now; there was no doubt in her mind that he was long gone.

She stood, shaking a bit, and limped as quickly as she possibly could until she reached the Mauville City limits. She raced down the streets, unsure of what else she could do. Then she happened up him: the same young man who she'd seen at the Daycare the day before, the same young man who had her mother. He was propping up his bike and getting ready to ride down the bike path to Slateport City. She threw herself onto the ground in front of him and pleaded him to take her with him.

"You…you followed me," he said as he picked her up and set her on her feet.

That was a good sign, she thought. Maybe he'd have a change of heart. He didn't even need to catch her, only let her come. That was all she wanted. That was all she needed. He couldn't even grant her that.

"Sorry, kiddo. I really don't have time to be babysitting, and to be honest, I'm not really up for putting the effort in to make something out of you. There's a reason why I put your mom in the daycare. She was almost as weak as you when I did…"

"Pichu…" Pichu trailed off, trying to make him reconsider. All he did was ride away.

She stood there staring after him for some time. There was no way for her to catch up. That was it. She couldn't believe it though. She couldn't quite grasp the thought of never seeing her mom again. Tears welled in her eyes and she ran. She didn't know where she was going, but all she wanted to do was run. Every bound sent pain shooting throughout her body, but at least it kept her mind off of the gaping hole that had suddenly been torn into her heart. She stopped once she reached a humungous boulder in the clearing of the surrounding forest. She plopped herself down in front of it and sobbed.

She remained there for quite some time, tears pouring down her face. Gradually, they slowed, and she became filled with so much rage that she had to let it all out somehow. She stood, glaring up at the large boulder before her, and gave it the biggest zap she could muster. The rock stood strong and she hit it again, concentrating every ounce of her emotion into the attack. She continued until she was too tired to try anymore and then she fell over, staring up at it with frustration. Someday, she'd shatter it. She swore it.

"CHUUUUU!" she cried as she gave the boulder everything she had.

To this day, she hadn't succeeded. Although, she had long-forgotten about that vow she had made. It was about something entirely different now. That trainer was right. She was weak back then…but she wasn't anymore, and she would never be again. She would be strong, terrifyingly strong, and she would never stop until she was satisfied with herself. She gave the boulder one last jolt and then collapsed in exhaustion.

"Let's see, what have we got here…" Lyla said as she rummaged through a basket below the TV in their hotel room.

She had to get her mind off that Pikachu somehow. It was just too depressing for her to consider the fact that it was out there somewhere, hurting itself to no end. Her fingers brushed over a series of tapes labeled 'Grand Festival' followed by a year. There wasn't a tape from the most recent Grand Festival, but there were ones documenting the three years prior. She flipped them all over to read the brief summary on the back and soon realized that the same person had won all three of them: his name was Thomas. She popped one of the tapes into the player and watched through it. She was completely awestruck by the level and capabilities of the coordinators who appealed. These coordinators were far better than Ashton, Robin, and herself. They were all more at Selena's level, maybe even better. She kept watching until Thomas took the stage.

The first thing she noticed about him was his hair. It was very unique and kind of reminded her of a dark fireball. Most of it was jet black and fell just below his ears, but the top of it was blazed with a shade of burning red. She watched as he and his Politoed completely outshined all of the other coordinators who had appealed so far. As she studied him, she began to see why he had claimed the Grand Festival Champion title three consecutive years in a row. It wasn't just their appeal that made them stand out, even though it was clearly better than anyone who had appealed thus far. Everything about him made him glow, actually. He seemed to be much more approachable than all of the other coordinators she'd seen, but maybe that was because it looked like he was just having so much fun just being on stage. She grew slightly envious of him. She really hoped that she could become a coordinator like that someday. His performance was truly inspiring to her and she knew exactly what she was going to do with Marshtomp for his preliminary appeal in their upcoming contest, and she knew that they were going to win this one.

Author Notes:

I'm not quite sure where the inspiration for Pikachu's background story came from, but maybe it was some subconscious protest against animal cruelty because I can totally see this happening to a cat or something. Anyway, I hope it wasn't too depressing (or too short). I look forward to you guys' feedback!