Chapter eight: Revenge
It's the third day.
It's been three days since my human life ended. Just like the day before, Orion and I are taken from our cage and brought into the test chamber. Here, we are put into the same machine, only this time it is stronger than before. As a result, we go through twice the hurting than what we had yesterday. As I was inside this thing, trying to cope with the aches and pains, I can see Dr. Bartoli's face: this was entertainment for her. She was smiling like a child on Christmas day. This only made me angry and, as this was going on for hours, my anger only got worse.
What did I do to deserve this? Was the mistake at my job bad enough to give me this much suffering!? I hated this human! I wanted to kill her!
I was in so much pain that I couldn't think anymore and I lost consciousness.
When I woke up I am inside the cage again. I see Orion nearby. The Pikachu is covered in burn marks and has bruises everywhere just like me. He is hardly breathing, which has me worried. This mouse is my only emotional support in this place, so if he were to die then I would surely go crazy in no time.
I hear a laugh nearby as I am barely able to turn my head around. It's Bartoli and there's someone else in the room with her, it's Cy. My vision is blurry but my ears are able to perfectly pick up the conversation.
"It's only the second day of testing and they're already weakened by the more feeble moves. Perhaps the formula is useless afterall." Bartoli scatters several papers on the white table in frustration.
"Look, they're just Pikachu's. They're naturally weak Pokémon. I don't see what you'll accomplish from this. So far you've only succeeded in turning a human into one of them and that was an accident. Why don't you try it on stronger Pokémon?" Cy retorts while crossing his arms.
"You're right, I will eventually. I'll give them another day. If the results are the same then I'll have them purged." Bartoli retorts back.
He steps back in surprise, "P…purged?" He asks.
"It's a figure of speech. We drop them off somewhere far away like all the rest and then we let nature decide their fate. They will never find their way back here that's for sure. Don't worry though; they'll have plenty of time to adapt to the forest again should they fail."
"As long as you don't put them to sleep I'm fine with whatever method you use to get rid of them." Cy says.
Silence takes over for a few seconds before she slaps her hands together enthusiastically, "Well then Cy. You're officially my new assistant. Let's start by taking several other Pikachu's down at the chamber for testing. Then we can call it a day."
"Alright. Sounds good."
I hear sounds of Poké balls go off before they leave the room. Dr. Bartoli does not turn off the lights this time.
"P…purge us?" I hear Orion say faintly. I crawl to him slowly, "We can't let that happen…" I say with the same amount of weakness in my voice.
"Why not…we'll at least be out of this place and back in the wild…" Orion looks at me in pain.
"I didn't trust Dr. Bartoli when she said that…I think…I think…she really does put Pokémon to sleep if they're too weak…"
Then suddenly, Orion jumps up with a burst of energy, but because he is still in pain, he clutches his stomach.
"How can you think like that!?" He shouts.
I stand up too but now we are both identically holding our bellies in pain, "Think about it, if Team Rocket is as bad as they seem...we can't just assume it won't happen! It's obvious they don't care about Pokémon and only use them for their own gain. I think it is good enough to believe that they do it just because they don't care."
"If…if you're right, then we have to rest a lot for tomorrow." Orion suggests to me.
"Yea." I respond.
"I'll brush off the opportunity to learn how to read and write for later." Orion tells me.
It's a good thing we hid the pen and piece of paper behind the mirror. I guess Dr. Bartoli didn't care about it anymore since she has a new one with the same color from what I saw earlier.
"What about you…? Care for a quick lesson…?" He was still struggling with himself.
I shake my head, "Not a good idea…I really think we should rest." I suggest, rubbing my shoulder since it ached so bad.
"A-alright…" he nodded.
"We definitely need our strength so we don't faint easily tomorrow..." I added.
Faint? No…what I mean is lose consciousness. I'm human remember. Anyway, I guess the formula ISN'T doing it's job after all...
"Now that I think about it-"
My nose got itchy and I sneezed very hard into the coat of fur on my arm. Suddenly, I felt ill.
"Forget it, not today Orion-"
Ahhhcccooo!
"But thanks for the offer…"
"This just got awkward…" Orion says softly.
…
For the rest of the night, I feel miserable as my body becomes a hotspot for illness. Dr. Bartoli did say that I had the flu and honestly I did feel a little down at the start of the day. This was unlike any flu I've ever had. For one thing, at random times, I would feel myself give off tremendous energy in the darkness of the cage. This energy was electricity and it surprised me the first time it happened. It certainly surprised Orion in the middle of the night. Eventually we couldn't fall back asleep, so I kept close watch on my sudden bursts of lightning that was coming off from both of my cheeks while he desperately tried to fall back asleep. The odds of us getting through tomorrow weren't good.
But to be honest, this was kind of cool and frightening at the same time. How did this not hurt? How am I able to generate electricity like this? Why is it that I'm not paralyzed from the shock? Oh yea…because I'm a Pikachu…I keep forgetting. I'm human…dammit…
It must be cool to use ThunderShock and much cooler to use ThunderBolt. I was having too much fun with this despite my runny nose and headache.
Remember what I'm trying to do! Turn back into a human. I'm doing the exact opposite of what I'm supposed to be doing: convincing Dr. Bartoli to change me back!
Now that I think about it, being a Pikachu Is pretty cool.
Shut up! It's a nightmare. Have I forgotten that I have a life outside of here!? A family, friends…and Jen!? Remember her!? I have no doubt she's wondering why I haven't called her yet! She must be frantically searching for me right at this moment and I'm here thinking about how cool it is to be a rat!
"Ugh…my head hurts."
Unfortunately it did get worse as the night went on, but the good news is that I finally fell asleep.
…
It's the fourth day.
I still feel sick and it's only getting worse. The doctor decided to leave me with food and water inside the cage after eating nothing for two days while she and Cy attempted to take Orion with them. The young man grabbed him. I was barely able to see the Pikachu's face: he is angry beyond words, "I can't believe what I'm seeing right now!" Electricity began to build on his cheeks. It got to a point where I had to step back. I was holding my plastic plate away because strong sparks from Orion burned some of the food. Soon, all that electrical buildup exploded into a single lightning bolt which electrocuted the young man, "You! You're the one who took me from Rigel! You're the cause of all of my pain!" He shouts like a wild beast. Cy lets go of the mouse as the human yells with extreme pain. It's not long before he collapses on the cold metal floor. Dr. Bartoli quickly uses a Poké ball on Orion, silencing his cries of anger.
"Orion!" My voice cracks as Dr. Bartoli closes the cage before I try to help.
Cy stood up feebly and was about to take the ball and throw it into the wall to break it in pieces, "Next time, I'll give you gloves." She giggles as she stops him just in time. I'm thankful that she did so. There have been reported cases of Pokémon dying inside Poké balls if they're damaged enough. I sigh with big relief. Dr. Bartoli saved Orion's life.
"Keep him away from me…because next time I see that mouse, he's mince meat."
"Unfortunately, you're going to have to start being friends with him because he's a regular test subject now. So…play nice!" She giggles. Cy rolls his eyes as he shrugs off dirt from his black/green jacket. They take the Pikachu outside the room and close the door tightly as always.
I couldn't eat after what happened because my mind kept thinking about what they were going to do to Orion. Were they going to put him to sleep after this? No…that was a strong ThunderShock. During the skirmish, I saw Bartoli's face: she was impressed.
Too weak to think anymore, I fell asleep for the rest of the day. Later that night, Orion told me that they were going to keep us here longer despite his attack on Cy. He seems depressed now however, much like me. I understand because it's painful to not be able to do anything about your problems. He really wanted revenge on the young boy and it's good that he tried. He proved to himself of his ability to hurt people: this is exactly what Bartoli wants. Despite my condition, I decided to teach Orion more about English until the lights went out, but I was still unable to get myself to learn Pokémon moves yet. I was too sick. Perhaps tomorrow I'll try.
...
It's the seventh day. The first week has passed.
Orion is starting to show extreme anger and frustration as my condition gets worse. I'm also angry, but I'm too concerned with my sickness to even notice. I am feeling horrible right now. I have the worst Sneezing, the worst coughing and the worst sore throat that anybody could ever get. I also have the worst headache in the world. My fur is now roughly that of a dull white, so I look like a ghost at this point. At the same time, I have black-colored bags underneath my eyes and the fur above my nose is crimson-red.
Despite his anger issues, Orion has been by my side throughout the whole ordeal. He's a true friend to do such a thing. He hasn't stopped to check up on me every once in a while. Today he told me that the flu, according to Bartoli, is a side effect of the formula. I look away after he says this because I think I'm dying. He obviously blames them for my extreme illness and malnutrition. He only gets angrier when I bring up the doctor's name and especially when I say Cy. He can't accept the fact that I could stop breathing at any given moment, but I was ready…if I was to die in this small dirty cage then so be it. It would be a better way to go than to be slowly tortured to death inside that horrible machine.
…
I lost track on how many days it has been.
I've been sick for who knows how long. It's probably been weeks or…months? I didn't know because my head has been pounding for a very long time. Orion told me it's been a week and a half since I got sick, so I guess that helps to ease the pain in my thought.
Despite the life-threatening condition that I was in, I had a lot to think about. My life as a Pikachu has been solidified indefinitely, but I still cling on to the hope that Bartoli, or somebody else out there, will turn me back into a human. Unfortunately, as days go by that hope inside me slowly disappears as the realization begins to take over: I may never be human again.
…
Thankfully I recovered quickly in the days that followed, which surprised me but I nevertheless couldn't be happier. My fur returned to its naturally bright yellow color and the bags under my eyes are now gone; however, Dr. Bartoli noticed this and she soon took me back to the machine for more testing. This only caused me to get angrier.
The night after, Orion and I began our training again. I resume at teaching him how to read and write and after the lights go out, his training session begins; however, he struggles to teach me how to use ThunderShock.
"You've got to concentrate Lucas. You're just letting all that electricity go to waste. Breathe deeply and try again."
I do just like he says as electricity sparks from my cheeks, but I just can't get myself to control where I want it to go. It fades into nothingness as Orion groans but then smiles mischievously, "Okay, how about this," He lights up the room with his cheeks and points toward two objects, "Pretend that those two metal bars holding our cage is Bartoli and…Cy" He hesitates on the last name for obvious reasons, "Now imagine that they're about to hurt you really bad. You can't let that happen, so just let all of your anger out on them. Your instincts will do the rest."
I try getting angry but it's not the same, so my sparks become useless once again as Orion sits down in frustration.
"I don't get why I can't do it…" I say softly.
"Don't worry, all Pokémon in the wild start out doing the same thing you're doing. It's like learning a new language, you're bad at first but you get better as time goes by. That's if you practice of course. You'll get it eventually Lucas." He yawns.
"Thanks for the lesson. I appreciate it Orion."
"No problem. Let's get some rest. We've got another long day ahead."
…
It's been a harsh two weeks, the most difficult that I have ever experienced in my lifetime. My mind and body has lasted this long and it's all thanks to Orion. He's done so much to make sure we both make it through this okay. I'm thankful that he's kind and helpful in every way. He also has me to thank. As of yesterday, he can read and write 'Orion', 'Viridian City, 'thank you', and 'friend'. They will help a lot in communicating with others hopefully, but it's cool that he enjoys the language as much as I do. He really is interested in communicating much more with people. He told me a while back that he wants to learn English so he can know his way around the towns and also to communicate with humans that he likes. I understood his goal and I helped him get there so far.
Anyways, today is just like the day before. This has become a routine for us: wake up, get taken away to be put inside the machine, come back and learn something new about each other in the pitch-black darkness of our cage. So despite the sufferings we go through at day, we both have the opportunity to grow both as partners and as friends at night.
Only today…it was a game change for the both of us.
We were taken into the test chamber and placed on the cold steel counter where we are always placed before testing. Orion is first to go inside today. Cy is careful to press the Poké ball, with the gloves that he now wears as a precaution, and then the familiar bright light envelops the room as the Pikachu takes shape. Cy grabs him as Orion struggles to fight back, but he is placed inside the machine once more as Bartoli laughs, "He's always feisty around you. I love it."
"Well I don't." Cy crosses his arms in a bitter voice.
Dr. Bartoli checks her clipboard, "Over the past week, I have seen tremendous improvement in both of them, but our guest is still vastly superior in every way."
"Good to hear," He says sarcastically.
Suddenly, a phone rings and Cy tugs into his pocket to reach for it, "Hello? Oh hey doctor…what? Flu-like symptoms? What happened to her? I know that! I know she's recovered, but how did she get sick…I'll call you back."
He shuts the phone off and turns toward Bartoli, "You…wouldn't have anything to do with this…right?"
"With what Cy?" She moves her head sideways, "It is flu season remember? She just got it that's all. Remember that she's in a hospital and that place is filled with nasty vermin."
Cy turns away, "Okay, well I'm heading over there tomorrow to check up on her."
"That's fine with me, whatever makes you feel warm inside Cy." She teased him.
She goes to the machine and sets it to a high setting. It begins to shake slightly as the machine simulates an earthquake inside. Orion is barely able to resist the first move that Bartoli had thrown at him. I cry out to help him but it's useless because I can't use any moves on them. The doctor giggles as she looks at my attempts, "Don't worry, the worst he can do is make you giggle." She begins laughing. I narrow my eyebrows at her. She is truly a monster and has no sympathy for Pokémon at all. The only thing she has always done was to torture others and laugh at their predicament.
By the time that Orion is weakened enough by the machine, Dr. Bartoli proceeds to take him out and then uses a potion on him for later use. I'm next as Cy grabs me harshly and places me inside the claustrophobic simulator. She uses the same move on me: earthquake.
I struggle with myself to keep conscious, but this is the hardest obstacle that I've been in so far. I can hear Orion shouting on the other side of the glass like always. I then struggle to remember what he had said to me last night. I pretend that Bartoli and Cy are the metal bars. They were hurting me right now and the pain was excruciating. Anger began to build up inside of me like never before. I had enough of this. I had enough of Dr. Bartoli and her cruel experiments. I didn't care if she was my only key to becoming human again, I just wanted to be free. As the earthquake intensified inside the machine, powerful sparks of electricity escaped from my cheeks as I narrowed my eyebrows at the doctor. Like everyday, she was smiling with joy and could care less about how I felt. Today's the day we would return the favor to Bartoli and her assistant. Today's the day we exact our revenge on both of them. Today is the day all the pain stops for us and begins for them.
Cy gets nervous as the machine begins to show signs of damage. In fact, the glass begins to slowly crack, "Bartoli…?"
"I know…I'm trying to shut it off…earthquake is too strong."
"It's not that…" He reached into his belt for a Poké ball, "I think we're going to have problems with him very soon."
Inside me, all of the pain and suffering that I have gone through these past few weeks comes back out as pure electrical energy. I yell the loudest I can as large bolts of lightning escape from my body and destroy the glass that conceals me. The ThunderShock was large enough to engulf the entire room as the doctor and Cy ran for cover behind the counter. Needless to say that Orion makes a big smile as the smoke clears. I step out from the broken machine to jump down on the floor, electrical sparks still seeping from my body.
"Unbelievable…" Bartoli says before she rushes to press the button for the tentacles to restrain me. Unfortunately for Bartoli, her advance is cut short when a yellow figure appears right in front of the switch and gives her no time to react.
"Not this time." Orion says, smiling mischievously, as Bartoli takes a few steps back. Before Orion can retaliate however, he hears the sound of a Poké ball getting bigger. He turns his head toward Cy in anger.
"This is ridiculous." Cy says as he throws his Poké ball into the air, "Diglett, get them!"
Orion jumps down from the counter and narrows his eyes in anger. The bright light reveals a brown creature that destroys the metal floor as it heads toward Orion at lightning speed. The Pokémon jumps at the Pikachu but Orion sidesteps to avoid collision. Diglett hits the ground but begins to dig a hole and disappears beneath the testing chamber.
Dr. Bartoli had moved away from the skirmish and took this time to push a switch on the other side of the room, which activates the security alarm throughout the laboratory.
Orion rushes to join me by my side. The shorter Pikachu now has electrical sparks coming out of him, just like me. We're both ready for battle.
"We can do this." Orion says.
"I'm sick of all of this pain and suffering, it ends today." I say before Cy's Diglett emerges from the ground nearby. Orion falls down on all fours as I curl my paw into a small fist.
This is the same place where I transformed into a Pikachu, so since this is where it started then this is where it also ends. We both prepare for the fight of our lives as we attempt to escape from this prison, alive.
…
Hey guys. I hope you're enjoying the story so far. You guys are awesome.
