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VOLUME I

Life Inside the Forest

Chapter four: The pen is mightier than the Poké Ball

The sun rises from behind a vast valley known as the Kanto Mountain Range. Near the middle of this brown-colored valley lies a prison where most of its inmates are unaware that the day has even started. Inside this heavily fortified detention center, on the second floor, most of the rooms do not have windows. Thus, the prisoners don't know if its day or night because they are under custody; kept inside the same rooms ever since they have been incarcerated. Many have simply lost track of time. Worst of all, most will never see the sun rise again. I am one of those prisoners. My name is Lucas Bright and unfortunately I am having a period of mental instability.

I couldn't go back to sleep after I woke up in the dark, so I kept myself busy by restlessly checking my entire body for signs of normality every few minutes. Even if I was on any drugs, most of the effects had to have surely worn out by now, but here I was in the dark, yanking my imaginary tail and ears in self doubt. I hear a yawn next to me, which then shifts into shallow breaths, "Where…where am I!? Oh…I'm still here…I thought last night was a dream. Then that means…"

"Are you okay?" I ask the voice, or rather the Pikachu. He had a name, but I was too focused on myself to really remember what it was, "Yea…I guess so. Are you still going crazy about how you're not a Pikachu?" He retorts.

"I'm telling the truth!"

"Look, I personally don't have anything against you, but I'm not going to stay here long enough to go insane like you have."

"Now you listen here, I am not crazy. What am I saying? I'm talking to a Pikachu. Maybe you're right, I am crazy." I rub my cold nose.

"You're worse than I thought." He sighs deeply, "So, how long have you been locked up in this place: a week, a month, a year? Your whole life?" he asks.

"I don't know. I think I've been in here for a day at least."

"If…if it only takes one measly day to crack your mind, I need to get out of here!" He starts shouting frantically, "Someone! Anyone! Let me out!"

Then, as if on cue, the door opens and bright light fills the room. A dark shadow walks in and flips a switch. The lamp springs back to life, giving us enough light to see everything inside the room again. It's that woman, Bartoli I think her name is, and she's carrying several paperwork which she sets on the table. Thanks to the lamp, I am now able to see this Pikachu with perfect detail for the first time: he looks the same as any other Pikachu but he's quite short. In fact, he looks much shorter than I am, yet his voice is that of a full-grown human adult. He is jumping all over the place, trying to find a way out. He tackles the metal bars several times but finds the method to be pointless because the metal is extremely robust.

She turns to me and asks, "Is your new friend keeping you company?"

The Pikachu narrows his eyes and grabs the metal bars of the cage, "Who are you? Where's my trainer? Where is he!?"

The female scientist ignores him and takes several supplies out of her bag: pens, pencils, and wite-out. They're just your average office supplies. She murmurs to herself, "Thank goodness you have different eye color compared to the other Pikachu's or I would never be able to distinguish you from him. Now let's see, today the experiments will go in alphabetical order." She says to herself, but I am able to pick up what she is saying thanks to my ears.

I raise an eyebrow as I remember she had put a mirror inside the cage previously. I look behind me to find the large red plastic mirror sitting at the other end of the cage. My heart sinks as I examine myself: much like an ordinary Pikachu I almost have the same exact features like one. My ears are long and pointy with a black coat of fur resting at the top of each one. I have red cheeks that seem to glow faintly every once in a while. I see a triangular-shaped black nose, which is showing signs of irritation. Small stubby paws exist from where my long human fingers used to be, which means I won't be able to grasp anything that requires careful dexterity for now. I turn around and I see two lines of brown fur on my back. I also see a lightning-bolt shaped tail that moves freely without my permission. I try to control it but it's no use. Finally, what could be the most depressing feature that I now have is the new appearance of my human eyes: they are light-brown in color, just as they were when I was a human, but their shape looks just the same as the eyes of a Pikachu; moreover, because I've been awake for so many hours, there are dark bags under my eyes.

I stare at my reflection for what seems like an eternity. I just can't stop looking because no matter how much doubt I might have for my condition, I've realized that this is real. The pain from the transformation was just too genuine to be a nightmare. Every feeling that I am experiencing from my new body reacts in such a convincing way. This realization sinks in; now that I've been awake for so many hours from feeling odd. The more time I am awake the more real everything gets and as the reality sets in, the more depressed I become.

I barely feel the touch of paws on my left shoulder. I turn around: I look down to see the other smaller Pikachu looking at me.

"Please, forget about yourself for a minute and help me get out of here because she's going to start messing with us soon!"

"Please, just leave me alone…" I say softly.

"For goodness sake, she's coming for us next!"

"I said leave me alone!"

He slaps me in the face, which actually causes me to stagger back a few inches, "Snap out of it!" He shouts, but it's too late because Dr. Bartoli opens the cage and grabs the Pokémon with force. She's wearing rubber gloves and struggles to use a Poké Ball on him. The Pikachu's eyes widen as he attempts to break free. He tries to shock her, but it doesn't work, "Please! Help me! Do something before it's too late!"

I turn my head sideways, "You slapped me," This makes the mouse cry out in frustration, "You're hopeless! You're the worst Pikachu I've ever met. I hope you-"

It's too late. He transforms into red energy that goes inside the ball as his cries become a quickly fading echo. Dr. Bartoli puts a sticky note on the Poké Ball and then writes 'Cage D' on it. She closes my cage afterwards. Then, the doctor takes the ball and several others with her outside.

I am by myself again. I turn back toward the mirror and I sigh softly. Not only am I a Pikachu but no one is going to recognize me and what's worse, from what I can remember back at the laboratory, is that no one can understand me except…oh. It appears the only person I've actually talked to in this place is Orion. Thank goodness I remember his name, but he's probably never coming back again anyway. I slump down on the floor and my ears droop. Orion was right, I am hopeless. I have no hope as to fix this without a connection to somebody important; in this case, Dr. Bartoli or Orion himself. Perhaps I can try to convince her that she has to change me back. If a needle can turn me into a Pikachu, it can surely turn me back into a human.

And then I wonder: why did I hear the word 'Pikachu' as I spoke several times before the doctor brought me here? Was my mind still undergoing changes? Maybe my brain was learning Pokémon language or something. Either way I decide to wait until she returns. In the meantime, I stand up to see a blue-colored pen along with some unwritten paper on the table that she left behind. An idea forms in my head: If I can't speak to Bartoli, I'll write what I have to say to her instead.

Eventually, she does come back, but the only thing she is carrying on her is more paperwork. I swallow nervously as she opens my cage and grabs me. I try to point to the pen and paper but she instead takes out a Poké Ball from her bag. I panic at this point, so I start making noises to her in synch with my hand movements. She looks toward the table and then back at me. Her face is cheerful.

"Well, well, well! You can do my job for me any day. Unfortunately, we have some testing to do."

I close my eyes. In a few moments I'll know how it feels like to be forced into a tiny metal ball and kept inside indefinitely. Instead of hearing the familiar sound of a Poké Ball and feeling my body dissipate into pure energy, she puts me on the table and moves the office supplies toward me.

"Show me what you can do. Write out your human name." She orders to me.

I nod slightly as I struggle to hold the notably large pen. As a human this should have been a breeze, but as a 1'4 foot tall mouse, with hardly any experience with its new hands, it was difficult. I barely manage to spell my name, and it looks like a 1st grader's handwriting. The doctor/researcher soon grabs the paper from me and laughs, "Lucas? Well, it looks like you still think like a human after all. This is wonderful!"

She sets the paper down near me as she ponders what to do next. I decide to write something else. I then call for her to look. Once again she takes the paper, "Please don't put me inside the Poké Ball." she reads to herself.

She turns toward me and grins willingly, "Okay, but only if you do what I say," After I nod to her, I smile for the first time since I can remember. She presses her hands on her cheeks, "Oh my goodness, you're so adorable when you smile!"

She then puts the Poké Ball and other things away inside her bag and grabs me softly, "If you're a good Pikachu, then I promise we will be best friends."

This is exactly what I wanted from her. Now I hope I can convince her to change me back as soon as I've gained enough trust from her. Hopefully I'm not wrong about this.

"And if you're wondering if I'll ever change you back into a human Lucas, then the answer is no. I'll make you part of my team instead."

My ears perk up at this statement, "What!?"

She then takes me outside the room into the blinding light of the hallway and then she closes the door tightly.