Chapter 6! I decided to change my writing style to a (in my eyes) better one. Please PM or review if you like / dislike it! And have fun with part 6. Hope you like it!
It was morning. I felt something on my cheek... I opened my eyes and saw the wounded pikachu from yesterday. He was tapping my cheeks and he looked at me very happily as soon I opened my eyes.
"Pika!" he said happily when I sat right up and got the sleep out of my eyes.
"Good morning... Ehm... Ehm... I don't know your name yet." I replied. He smiled at me while I got out of my sleeping bag and got my shoes on.
"So, how are we feeling today?" I asked him. He smiled again.
"Pika pikachu! Pika pikachu-pika-pi!" he said while jumping up and down a bit. Then he pointed to the colony. "Pika pikachu!"
"Yeah, I'll introduce myself shortly." I said while I looked to the colony. It was busy down there. Pikachu were getting in and out of the entrance and took stuff in and out, including berries, fruit, leaves, you name it. "Alright, come here..." I said. The pikachu moved closer as I picked it from the ground and held it in one arm while I used my other to check his bandages. He tried to sniff my fingers when I was busy.
"Your wounds look great. I think they'll heal very quickly. You just need to wear those bandages just one more day. I'll remove them tomorrow." I said while putting them back in place. He smiled at me and then rubbed his head against my hand while he released soft chu's. I laughed and stroked him behind his ears. He purred softly and rubbed against me once more, his eyes closed as he enjoyed the attention.
"If I was a pikachu, I would also enjoy that..." I said while I gently wiggled my fingers under his chin. "At least, I think. I don't know how it feels..." I said while I stopped. "I still need to know your name, don't I? It's so annoying that I have to call you "pikachu" every time." I said.
He looked smiling at me. "Pika pikachu!" he said.
"Yeah, your name is... I understand that. But your actual name I cannot understand..." I said.
"Pika..." he said while his ears dripped a bit.
"Hey, don't get sad. I'm sure I'll find out somehow. Is your name Maurice?" I asked him. He shook his head.
"Awwww, too bad!" I said laughing. He smiled.
I put him down. "Alright, can you show me around?" I asked him.
"Pikachu-pi! Pika pikachu." he said and mentioned me to follow him. He went through the bushes, into the clearing. Other pikachu could also see me now, and some of them stopped in their tracks. They watched me anxiously, when suddenly the guard from last night greeted me. He came up running from the sleeping holes where I left the pikachu and its mother yesterday.
"Pika pikachu? Pika!" he said.
"I don't know what you're saying, but yes, I slept very well...?" I said slowly.
"Pika!" he said nodding. "Pika pikachu. Pika pika." he said while mentioning me to follow. I looked at the little pikachu, which followed the guard. He looked back at me and mentioned me to hurry. He was certainly energetic and enthusiastic about me! Maybe because I saved his life, or maybe because we just liked each other.
We came at a clearing with low grass. A lot of pikachu had gathered there and the guard went straight for it. I got a little nervous. A lot of pikachu also meant a lot of chances to get shocked. And I didn't really like that, since I had to experience it twice yesterday. I stopped. I was nearby the clearing, but still out of reach of the pikachu. The small pikachu turned and saw I stopped. He came over to me to check what was wrong, and as soon he got near me he jumped my shoulder. He could feel that I was nervous. I knew he knew, because bulbasaur always noticed when I had something on my mind when I was still training him.
"Pika pikachu." he said soft and gently. He pointed at the group of pikachu. "Pika. Pikachu-pi!"
"Yeah, I'm nervous... I know... But since I got shocked twice yesterday I don't want to be in the middle... They could panic and shock me."
"Pika. Pikachu-pi." he said and shook his head.
"Really? They won't?"
He shook his head again. "Pika. Pikachu-pika." His last sentence sounded very convinced and I moved on. The pikachu looked at me. The little one jumped from my shoulder and walked before me and stopped. He said something to the group and suddenly the group was rather interested in me than scared. Some of them looked curiously at me, others still looked anxiously. The guard in the middle then said something, which made them even more interested. Then the little one continued his what-had-to-be a little story and then pointed one arm at me while saying "Pika!".
Everyone looked at me. It was just a scene from a comic movie. "Ehm... Hi?" I said to them. They all started to talk through and with each other and the little pikachu mentioned me to follow him to the center of the group. I sat down and some pikachu came close to check me out. I felt a little uncomfortable, but they were all very friendly to me. I stroked some of them, but some flinched when I attempted to. As soon they understood I wasn't hurting them they allowed me to stroke them and most of them loved it. The little pikachu also was the center of the attention, which he seemed to like. Some of the bigger pikachu were talking to him and pointing at me. He seemed to be very happy with them and jumped up and down every now and then like he was showing them something.
After a while, about all pikachu were checking me out. It feels kinda funny to have four pikachu in your lap, two on your shoulders, some at your back and some at your head checking you all over. Most of them decided I wasn't that scary and offered me their tail. Some even offered their hands at me after seeing me shaking the tails with my hands. I smiled at them.
"Oh yeah, my name's Maurice. Or did he (I pointed at the small pikachu) already tell you?"
Some nodded at me. "You guys look very nice... I hope I'm not that scary." I said with a smile. Some of them smiled at me and started to talk, but due to others talking through it I could not understand one single word of it. "And I wish I could understand you!" I quickly added. Some of them smiled at me.
They were all young pikachu. Looking at the little pikachu and their interaction, they all must be about his age. He was talking to some of them and it looked like a heavy discussion. They had forgotten me completely although the discussion was about me, looking at the amount of pointing they did at me. They didn't notice I was looking at them.
"Pika pika ...make him understand anyway?" the little pikachu said while looking at me.
"Well, he is a human. He can learn other languages. Remember that research guy we had here once? I couldn't make anything of him! He said he was from... Branch or something. When he talked normal at least."
"France?" I said without thinking, busy stroking and examining multiple pikachu that were still over me.
"Oh yeah, that was it. France. Anyway, I couldn't understand him in his own language. " the big pikachu continued. "Think about that. That's what he hears all the time." he said pointing at me. "Something like that. But if he's able to learn other languages, he also could learn ours. But that'll take time."
The little pikachu sighed. "Alright... I'll try. But don't think I can do this alone... I need to learn him everything!" he said. He smiled again and then turned to me. "Too bad you cannot understand us." he said smiling. I turned to him.
"But I can understand you per..." My voice stopped when reality suddenly hit me. But I could understand them! "...fectly..." I said completing my last sentence staring at a tree. I looked around me. All kind of daily talk surrounded me. Pikachu were discussing what they were gonna do today, that they were hungry or what I was good for.
"Maybe he can chase away those snakes!" a female said behind me.
"Like he saved Lukas!" a male said.
"Or those raichu... I don't dare to go out of the nest on my own anymore!" she continued.
"Or maybe he can take care of the pichu? He seems to handle pokémon quite well for a human." another female said.
I turned my head to the little pikachu, apparently named Lukas. "Is your name Lukas?" I quickly asked him. "He stared at me for a moment and then nodded quickly. "Yes! Yes! My name is Lukas!" he said jumping up and down. He looked happier than ever. "How'd you know?"
"I don't know how, but I can suddenly understand you!" I said. "Very, very strange..."
"Not really, I'm using telepathy on you. That's why you're able to understand them." I heard a voice saying. I looked around and saw a beautiful Espeon walking towards us.
"Oh hi Espeon!" Lukas said. "I didn't see you! How are you?"
"I'm fine, thank you!" she happily said looking at me. "I wanted to show myself earlier, but I wanted to know for sure this human was trustable." she said looking at me and walking around me. "Your face was priceless once you realised you actually were able to understand them." she said, smiling at me. "You really gave me a good laugh!"
"Um... Well, no thanks... I guess... I really was amazed when I suddenly realized I was understanding what Lukas said." I said while looking at Lukas and Espeon.
"Espeon is also part of our colony. She helps us keeping track of the raichu around here, as well as the ekans." Lukas said.
"Why?"
"Urg... That's a long story." Lukas said. "Espeon, do you have time to translate everything?" he asked.
"Sure. But what is he doing here anyway? I thought you guys didn't trust humans since that poacher almost killed some of you?" she replied.
"Poacher?" I replied shocked. "Are there poachers around here?"
"Yes." Lukas sighed. "According to mom, they started coming long before I was born, and about ten days ago, there was one wandering around our colony. We all hid within the nest, but one of our friends came back from the river. He didn't know there was danger and he started calling out for us. Then he..." tears formed in his eyes. "He was shot... There was nothing we could do..." He sobbed.
Most of the pikachu were gone by now, and I grabbed Lukas and gently pulled him into my lap. I stroked gently over his head.
"That's horrible..." I said.
"Tim was still alive when they caught him... They killed him right in front of us. It was..." he sobbed again. I gently stroked his head once more and stopped him. "You don't have to tell me..." I said.
"They even killed my bro..." he stopped, swallowed, and continued. "They even killed my brother when I was young. Irwin was caught in a trap... He was killed immediately according to dad... So he didn't have to suffer anything..." he said.
Dang. Such a little pikachu and so much misery. And he probably wasn't the only one.
"Hunting on wild pokémon is strictly prohibited. If you can catch this guy, I'll deliver him to the police. Maybe I can do anything..." I said.
"What's police?" Lukas said interested, wiping his eyes clean.
"Police is... Ehm... People that work at the police force try to catch people that do bad things." I told him in children language. "Like hunting on you guys or hurting people or pokémon."
"But you need to catch him first." said Espeon. "And that's not easy. They got guns. The first time they came here, we tried to stop them by attacking. But they just shot at us. Some of the pikachu here barely escaped that day. It was terrible."
"Jeez... And I thought being a wild pokémon would be easy." I said.
"As long you got a colony, it is." Lukas said. "If you're alone, then it's hard..."
"How do you know?" I asked.
"I once got lost and had to sleep out of the colony. Very scary when you know you could be caught any second by a hungry noctowl."
"But you survived." I smiled.
"I didn't sleep that night. I was young and scared."
"You're still young." I replied. You're only three years old!"
Lukas smiled at me. "Trust me, when you are younger, you don't feel safe without mom or dad to save you. Now I can scare them away myself, but when you're younger, you cannot control your attacks like I can now." he said. "And, when you're just evolved into a pikachu, you're still getting used to your power."
"I understand..." I said. "Now, explain me about the ekans. Does this go about that ekans I saved you from?"
"Yes..." Lukas said. "And I still owe you a thank you." he said while hugging me tight. "Thanks... You really saved my life back there."
"No thanks..." I said gently while stroking his back. He purred softly and rubbed his cheek against my belly. I smiled.
"You guys are so adorable when you do that." I said.
"I'm not adorable!" he said annoyed (Espeon chuckled).
"Yes you are." I said while I scratched behind his ears. He immediately purred loudly.
"See? Now, tell me." I said while I got myself comfortable, wondering what those ekans could possibly do against a entire colony of pikachu.
To be continued...