Hey guys. As always, here's another chapter to 50,000 Volts. Enjoy!
Chapter thirteen: XBRM-872 "Model 004"
It is raining hard inside the forest. The powerful wind blows many fallen leaves all around as the trees sway left and right uncontrollably. Even though it's daytime, it's almost as dark as night because of the storm. Despite the cold rain hitting the mud-spattered ground with intense force, many creatures wearing black uniforms with hats boldly march within the dark forest because they are hunting for their next set of victims. These victims included many different kind of Pokémon, who have escaped from a prison made exclusively for them. The Pokémon were all fleeing deeper into the forest. I was one of them. I didn't stop to rest because they were right behind me. The hunting party included those annoying machines…Needlebots, is what Lucas calls them, and those swift Team Rocket Grunts.
"Thank goodness Lucas isn't here with me...he would be caught easily..."
They almost caught me just after I woke up a few minutes ago. It had started to rain and I was greeted by a flying Poké ball after surveying the river looking for Lucas. I quickly began running down the stream as fast as my tiny legs could carry me. The good thing is that I wasn't the only one they were chasing. This is a mean thing to say but the reality was: the slower Pokémon gave us faster Pokémon time to escape.
Lightning and thunder dominated the dark sky: if my life wasn't in danger I would actually stand in the middle of a flat plain and use the storm to recharge myself. Instead, I narrowly dodge a syringe sent to me by one Needlebot, the only one chasing me at the moment. My eyes shrink but they quickly turn back to normal as I breathe deeply, "gotta focus..." I briefly turn around and use ThunderShock on it: the robot is destroyed easily. I turn back around and continue running for several more seconds before I make it to a cliff, a waterfall actually.
I look behind me to see many Pokémon, with countless Team Rocket henchmen right behind them, jumping down about fifty-feet without even thinking. I see a tree nearby that I can jump on to get down, so I quickly jump in the air and hit the tree trunk with force. I then slide down towards the ground as I continue to escape.
…
I open my eyes after hearing yells of roaring and crying nearby, could it be Orion nearby? I decide to crawl to the entrance, as the voices get louder, of the cave to find out what was going on. I feel strong winds almost carry me outside. I then see a bright flash of lightning which is eventually followed by the sound of thunder. I squeal with surprise as Pokémon of many shapes and sizes begin jumping from the top of the gray wall above me. Most land flawlessly on the ground and begin running deeper into the dark forest as a stampede. I am confused at first but then I begin seeing Team Rocket members attempting to jump down themselves!
"Look over there! There's one coming out of that cave!" A grunt shouts as he points his finger at me. I immediately begin to escape. Once again, I'm not used to running on all fours but at least it has gotten better…only by a little bit. It's not enough for me to run at a reasonable speed and I also fall flat on my face most of the time, so I go back to escaping on two legs, which is difficult enough. Good thing is: the grunts are having a hard time climbing down. This gives me enough time to disappear from their field of view. Regardless, I look back to make sure they're not chasing me. I turn around again but I gasp as I stop dead in my tracks to see that a Needlebot is flying straight at me. I quickly sidestep to avoid a flying syringe. My pupils quickly contract as I lose myself, my human consciousness, once again as I growl. I jump toward the robot as I aggressively release electricity from my body. The outcome is that the bolts of lightning destroy the robot. I land on two legs. I close my eyes as I shake my head several times with confusion. My eyes return to their normal size, my human consciousness quickly returns.
There…there it goes again…my instincts…fighting for me again...it happened inside the prison and now here. That voice…where is it now? I can't let it come back…if it does who knows what will happen. I blanked out for a second during that fight…what if…I blank out again and it stays that way? Never mind that! I've got to keep moving! I can't think about it…I just can't…
I shake my head again, "I've got to remain positive!" I look back at the robot one more time with a worried expression as I continue my escape into the forest.
I couldn't go back to the same place now because there were too many Needlebots attacking Pokémon by the river, so I had no choice but to leave this area and find hidden shelter fast. I hesitated for a second…this might be my only chance to find Orion by the river…but if I don't leave and find refuge soon I'll be captured and I'll never see him or the light of day again for sure! I had no choice, for there were too many of them! I began to make my way into the depths of the unforgiving forest, which has been a dangerous life-threatening gamble for many who have unfortunately crossed its trails and yet it feels much safer here…at least it does for now.
…
"Lucas! Where are you!?"
It was chaos throughout the forest: some Pokémon accidentally trample on other Pokémon as they try to escape, Needlebots inject their malicious ingredients into the skins of less agile ones and Team Rocket Grunts try their hardest to render the larger creatures immobile or unconscious through their own twisted means. The Pokémon who do fight back end up injuring the humans, but it's not after they have battled against the brainwashed Pokémon. I was, fortunately, one of the first to escape the battlefield without having to waste most of my breath. I begin to follow a trail parallel to the river as I try and find Lucas. The noise everywhere eventually fades to just hearing water from the river flow by along with the wind and the sound of rain hitting the ground. It's not quiet but it's enough for me to shout his name, "Lucas!" My voice echoes in the rain as I wait for a response.
He couldn't have been taken this far, he must be nearby…but he's not by the river…did he…drown...?
I gulp very hard from anxiousness.
"Lucas! Please! Hear me out! Where are you!?"
There's still no answer.
I continue making my way down the trail until the river finally leads me to a lake. No, it's a large pond and it's about as large as the entire area of the prison complex that we were in previously. This is the only river leading into the pond. I can see countless water lilies, lily pads, duckweeds and common reeds evenly spread out either next to the pond or floating by on it.
The rain has weakened considerably to just having light showers with some traces of thunder in the distance. I search around the entire pond for a few minutes for Lucas but there is still no sign of him anywhere. My ears droop as I sigh deeply, "Lucas…where are you…please don't tell me you've…"
Unfortunately, if he was killed or captured, there's nothing I can do. If he's dead, I obviously can't bring him back to life and if he was captured it would take a lot more than one Pokémon to rescue him. I have to accept the fact that we may not see each other again. Despite all this, I still have hope that he somehow made it out of that river alive. It's because...I can smell him. This is what I know for sure: his scent is nearby but it's faint and directionless. He is alive; he probably thought ahead and hid in a safe place during all of the chaos. I just need to find him. But, now that I think about it, the farther I go the more likely we'll be spread apart from each other by the large forest.
Then, my ears go up and twitch after I hear several bushes move nearby.
"…!"
I quickly run to hide. I find a patch of tall reeds next to the pond and conceal myself inside. I remain hidden as a tall figure walks to get water from the pond. It's a five-foot tall human wearing a black/green jacket, black hat, jeans…It's Cy! I see him take out a metallic object from his bag. From what I think it is, it's what humans call Canteens. He fills it up with fresh water from the pond and drinks some right away. Afterwards, he puts it back inside his messenger bag and closes it tightly.
This is my chance…my chance to get even with him. He's responsible for everything that has happened to me over the past two weeks: the pain, the suffering, the anxiety, everything. It has come down to this very moment and Bartoli isn't here to help him this time.
He looks toward my direction as I smile mischievously. He gets up and pulls out a Poké ball, "Go away rat, before I get mad." He says coldly which only makes me smile even more, "Wait a second…you look familiar…so…you've escaped…"
I hold my fist high in the air and I then bring it down towards me, "Lucas had the pleasure of kicking Bartoli's butt, leaving me to deal with you. I hope you're ready for this." I sway my clutched hand to the right as my cheeks spark with electricity.
"I don't understand your Pika bullshit and now you've made me mad...get ready to…"
Before he even has a chance to use his Poké ball, I rush toward him with great speed. Then, as if on cue, something large lands between me and Cy before I have a chance to hit him. I fall on my back as I see the human do the same thing. Large amounts of mud splatter everywhere as the creature rises from the crater it made.
"Oh…no…" I say softly as I feel a sense of qualm overtake me.
"An XBRM-872 and a new model? Model 004…Impressive." Cy says, "I assume you're after him and not me."
It turns to the direction of Cy and moves toward him as the boy, still lying on his back covered in mud, crawls backward away from the advancing robot, "What are you doing…I'm not your target…"
As it gets closer, Cy begins to panic, "Model 004! I am not your target! Stand down!"
It then suddenly grabs the human with one of its arms as Cy quickly throws his Poké ball into the air, "Meowth, scratch the hell out of it!" The ball releases a white form in midair as it turns into a cat-like creature that has a gold coin attached to its head. Meowth lands on its head and its claws begin to glow white as it begins to scratch the spider robot relentlessly. Model 004 uses another arm that hits the cat Pokémon with a bone-shattering blow. It falls off toward the ground but manages to recover from the attack.
"Hey! Let him go! I got to him first! I wanna be the one to squish him like a bug!" I shout as I slam into the robot's supporting bars like I did last night which causes it to fall over in the mud.
Cy raises an eyebrow but uses this opportunity to call out his Diglett, "Diglett, Dig and strike the robot from underneath its body when it retracts its arms to recover!" He shouts, his Pokémon digs a hole and travels underground toward the Spiderbot.
Instead of taking this time to run away, I decide not to run. I will when I make Cy a crippled; however, he seems to know how to destroy this thing, so I watch how he does it first before I attack. As expected, the robot withdraws its arms to bring out the tires to roll around until it sits vertically again. Unfortunately for it, the Diglett emerges just in time and causes the robot to shake uncontrollably as electricity runs throughout its metallic body. The mole Pokémon and the cat retreat to their master. Thinking the fight with the robot is over, I begin to run toward Cy with incredible speed but he manages to look at me just in time and call Meowth to intervene.
"Make it rain money Meowth!"
The gold coin on the cat's head glows as white balls of light come out and strike me. Despite feeling some pain, I quickly recover and use Quick-Attack: it causes Meowth to fall on its back in pain, but it also recovers quickly just like me.
"Meowth, Bite." Soon after, Diglett nudges the human with its body, "No, I need you to stay right next to me. If you faint, that could be a big problem for us."
Meowth jumps toward me as my ears rise up again. I quickly jump away just before the cat tries to land on me: the large spider robot has slammed into the unsuspecting Pokémon instead of its intended target: me. The result is the small cat fainting instantly from the powerful strike.
I land with style as I see Cy call back his pet. I see the robot release two of its broken legs which fall on the ground. Diglett must have damaged the inside circuits of the robot or something. Anyways, it now spreads its remaining four legs out evenly to maintain balance. Cy also calls back Diglett and begins running away.
"Hey! I'm not done with you!" I yell as I dodge the robot's attempts to grab me. I begin chasing Cy through the forest with the Spiderbot skittering right behind me. I look back momentarily and I squeak with fright as the robot gains speed. I look back in front of me to see a line of trees that, oddly enough, I can pass through despite the fact I couldn't go through several others from last night. Cy is already squeezing through them. Ignoring him for a second, I also squeeze through easily just in time to avoid the spider slamming against the trees causing several to collapse. Cy and I avoid the falling trees just in time to see the robot struggling to remain standing on its legs. It falls over on its back once again.
"Pikachu…you have to use ThunderShock as it's trying to recover. Its weakness is at its bottom area of its body."
I turn around and narrow my eyes with anger, "Maybe I should ThunderShock you instead!"
He raises his hand toward me attempting to negotiate, "Once that thing gets up again, it'll probably get us both this time."
I narrow my eyes even more. I look back at the robot and then I run towards it. I jump as it withdraws its legs once more. I release powerful bolts of lightning which travel inside the exposed internal circuits inside. It causes the machine to thrash about uncontrollably. Then, its yellow eyes disappear as it stops moving altogether: it's been destroyed…hopefully. I land on the wet ground once again and sigh deeply.
Then I realize I forgot something as I turn around to see a long trail in front of me, Cy is running away from me! He thinks he can just run away after all that!? I'm not letting him get away!
I quickly follow him down the trail as one last sound of thunder erupts from the sky. Unbeknownst to me, the yellow eyes from the robot return shortly after.
...
Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! A minor note: a poll has been made and posted on my profile by yours truly to see which character you like the most. If you're interested, just visit my page and pick your favorite, assuming you have a favorite character.
