I am very sorry for the absence, I've been very busy! Thank you very much for being patient!

Chapter seventeen: Becoming Allies Part 2

Why am I doing this? Why am I helping this Pikachu?

Am I helping him because of what happened in the rain last night?

It's possible that a ThunderShock could have killed me, but the Pikachu spared me…to an extent. And as I remember: he didn't hesitate shocking me back at the base but there was definitely a hesitation last night.

But I think the main reason why I'm helping this Pikachu is because he made me think about Km. Back at the cliff, he looked at me with the most fear-stricken eyes that I've ever seen a Pikachu make. His neck had just gotten swollen as I saw him…just like what happened to Km a few weeks ago…

Or perhaps I was helping him because I needed protection from the wildlife since I needed Diglett to help me rescue Km.

Whatever reason I had for helping him, it didn't matter anymore because I am already carrying him in my arms. I left the area of the cliff to travel deeper into the forest to search for Pecha berries: a natural remedy for curing poison. Unfortunately, it only works on Pokémon, so it's a good thing that I didn't get stung during the skirmish with the Beedrills.

Several sounds of buzzing soon echo throughout the forest: they're looking for us. I see several head for our direction, so I take a sharp turn towards the right to hide behind a tree. Three Beedrills pass by without noticing us as I sigh with relief.

After several tense minutes, the forest has gotten quiet again.

We eventually stumble upon an area inside the forest where there is a circular field with small trees which are filled with numerous pink-colored berries.

"Finally…" I say quietly.

I place the Pikachu on the floor. I then carefully search my surroundings to make sure we're alone. After double checking, I only take one Pecha berry from one of the trees. Then, I take out my survival knife to cut the skin off the berry. Finally, I walk back towards the rodent.

"It will take a while for it to take effect…don't expect me to do any more favors for you." I tell him. The mouse nods as he gently grabs the berry and bites into it. A very weak smile forms on his face after he is finished eating.

"Pi-ka…" He says softly to me.

"For the last time, I can't understand you. I thought you were smart enough to be able to learn this the first time. I guess not." I walk away to collect more berries for dinner.

After putting the last berry into my bag, I look back toward him to see that he's drawing something on the dirt; I try to focus my attention to finding the next trail, but my curiosity got the better of me. I focus my eyes again on the electric mouse: it looks like he is making letters in the dirt!

I walk towards him slowly, "Are you…writing something?" I ask.

Pikachu nods and then moves away so I can step closer. I look in astonishment because I read these exact words on the ground:

Thank you

I can barely read his messy handwriting, but his message is clear to me. I stand there for a few seconds in awe. He moves his head sideways in confusion. He places a small finger on the words and moves it along each syllable, "Pi-ka"

"This is strange. I've never seen a Pokémon write before."

I can tell he's already feeling a lot better because the Pikachu placed his hands on his hips proudly and yelled, "Pi-KA-Chu!"

Then I realize: maybe Lucas taught him how to write because Lucas isn't exactly a Pokémon…he used to be human.

"So let me take a wild guess here…Lucas somehow taught you how to write that?" He smiles in response as if to confirm this, "And…you know what it means?" He nods this time, "I see…do you know anything else?" He immediately erases the words with his arm and then begins writing again at the same spot. I narrow my eyes to see what he had written this time:

Orio

"Don't you mean Oreo…like the cookie?"

The Pikachu gasps at his mistake, he adds an N at the end of the word.

Orion

"Orion?"

He points to the word and then to himself.

"So, your name is Orion?"

"Pi"

"I'll take that as a yes. I think Oreo better suits you. I think Orion is a dumb name." He gets angry at me of course.

I shake my head, this is interesting but enough of this. In a few hours it'll be nightfall, so I better get a move on.

I begin walking away but the Pikachu calls out to me. Once again, I look back toward him: he has written yet another word on the ground:

Friend

I raise an eyebrow at this, "No, we're not friends because humans and Pokémon are partners, not friends."

He narrows his eyes at me, "Pikachu…?"

Then a thought makes me stop. I scratch my chin and then look back towards him, "As partners, we can help each other get out of this place alive." His ears twitch.

"We're about a day away from reaching Viridian City, but we're also in an area of the valley where most of the Beedrills are located. You're good at getting rid of them however, so I'll offer you the choice to provide me with protection. I'll give you a portion of my food as a reward."

Once he heard me say 'Viridian City' he was already eager to say yes. He jumps up and down with excitement.

I cough to get his attention, "As long as you stay out of my bag and stop throwing pine cones on my head…" I retort. He nods in agreement.

"Good. We're not too far from the next trail. We should get moving." I begin making my way deeper into the woods. Soon, I notice that he is walking next to me as if I was his trainer. In response I say, "No, I prefer you follow me from a distance."

He tilts his head in the opposite direction and groans softly.

Two hours pass by.

For the first time since my escape, buildings have started to appear. Many of them are showing signs of decay. There are some windows that are broken, while others have small trees growing that block our view of the inside.

It became clear to me that this wasn't a trail at all. I've been walking on dirt for so long that I almost forgot how concrete feels like under my feet. It took me a few seconds to realize that I am standing on a road and it's mostly covered with grass and small shrubs.

"Is this…Verdigris?" I ask myself.

I inspect a nearby cabin: it's infested with many Metapods, which are small green cocoon-like Pokémon. The good thing is that Metapods are much more timid compared to Kakunas. For this reason alone, I enter the cabin to look for any valuable items. Oreo, that's his nickname from now on, follows me inside.

Avoiding direct physical contact with the Metapods, I scavenge the damp rooms and dark corners. I find nothing in this place worth taking, so I leave. I decide to check the other cabins, which are also filled with more or less the same kind of bugs, for anything useful. But, there is nothing to be found: all of these buildings have already been ransacked.

So I continue walking down the road to find other buildings, with the Pikachu following right behind me. Then I see two departing streets: one leading downhill and the other uphill. I am interested on the one to the left, the one going up, because of what I read through the rusty sign: To Verdigris Police Station.

"I was right. This is Verdigris…a Ghost town…which means we're near the outpost…" I say quietly to myself. I decide to travel to the station despite the irony that I was going to scavenge an abandoned police station.

We arrive at the Police station's parking lot. We see several rusty cars surrounded by plants and tall grass as we cross through them. Finally, we make it to the entrance of the brick building. The locked doors are fragile from years of decay, so it only takes one swift slam of my body against the doors to break them apart. We enter the main hall afterwards.

The inside of this place is miserable. I see paint peeling from the walls and chunks of debris scattered around just like the cabins down the road; however, this one has numerous counters littered with broken computers and rotting paperwork.

As I examine the surrounding area I see another entrance on the other side: It was destroyed by somebody else before I got here, "Great…" I say sarcastically, "Hopefully I can still find something for me to use."

I circle around, trying to find the Pikachu. He's at the main entrance waiting for me.

"Oreo, make yourself useful and find something shiny for me."

"Pika-CHU!" He shouts, angry that I'm still calling him Oreo. He, in fact, electrocutes me but it feels more like a pinch as if to warn me, "Hey…watch where you point your cheeks…save them for when you really need them." I retort.

He walks away in the opposite direction. He then jumps on a nearby desk and starts searching. Meanwhile, I walk to the main desk which is in the middle of the main hall. I search the drawers for anything. I find a bottle filled with murky water.

"Damn…I wouldn't drink this even if I was dying of thirst." I throw it out of my hand and continue looking through the drawers.

I do find something else: double A batteries, but they're way past their expiration date. So, I just drop them. This desk is clear. I search the other desks for anything useful but there's nothing to be found.

"Keep looking, I'll check upstairs."

I decide to try and find the armory next. Hopefully, I'll find a gun or some other tool for self-defense since I dropped my spear earlier.

After pushing through debris as I went up the stairs, I come across a hallway. I enter the nearest room: luckily, I stumble upon an armory. It has a row of cages on each wall that could be filled with shotguns, pistols, rifles, anything I could take perchance that they still work after all these years.

I search the cages: in one cage I find a collapsible baton in good condition, I'm definitely taking it. I place the baton holster on my belt.

Next, I search cabinets and boxes but I only find junk. The armory has nothing else, so I leave to forage the other rooms. After I enter the hallway once again, I hear a cry from downstairs.

"Pika-Pikachu!" the Pikachu calls from the stairway. I look behind me to find him holding something made of rubber. I stoop down to meet him eye to eye. He offers the item to me as I take it, "A taser…interesting." I say after seeing it.

I take out the batteries from my flashlight and I try to insert them into the weapon. Luckily, they fit.

I press the switch and suddenly a bright flash comes out of the taser. The noise it makes startles the both of us. Taking a deep breath I say, "Good, it works."

I hear a growl next to me; the mouse's red cheeks sparkle with electricity in response. I narrow my eyes at him, "Calm down…I didn't even touch you. Don't be a coward." I place the taser in my pocket.

"Pi-pika" he gestures me to come closer, which I do with caution. He points to one of his cheeks and then to my pocket, where my taser is. I tilt my head slightly with confusion. Then a bright flash, just like the taser, comes out of his cheek and it's just as loud which causes me to fall on my back. He laughs in response, "Screw you." I stand back up.

Ignoring what just happened, I rummage around the other rooms for any more useful items. Unfortunately, there is nothing else to get.

I check the last room on the second floor, which has a balcony outside. The floor in the middle of the room has collapsed from decay. I explore the side of the room from where I am: I still find useless junk. That is, until the Pikachu calls to me and points to the other side of the room. Across from us, on the other side, there are binoculars lying on the ground.

I smile slightly at him, "Good job."

I prepare myself to jump across the huge gaping hole. One wrong step and I could end up with a bad leg. I breathe deeply as I walk to the end of the room and position myself to jump. After a few tense moments I start running and that's when I jump. A second later, I'm on the other side, relieved that I made it. I look back toward the other side, "Can you jump across?" I ask Oreo, he nods. Without preparing himself he starts running right away and makes it across, but if it wasn't for him being naturally fast and light he would have gotten himself hurt because of his inelegance.

I pick up the rubber binoculars and frown, one of the lenses is cracked. Nevertheless, after meddling with them for a while I was able to get them working again…at least to an extent. I'll just close my left eye when seeing through them.

The balcony presents a perfect opportunity to test them out since we can see the entire town below us.

I cautiously check for anything loose that may cause this whole thing to collapse but I find nothing hazardous, so I step on the balcony and survey the surrounding area.

I invite the Pikachu to come, he jumps on the railing. Then, we inspect the scenery in front of us: There are small mountains littered with several houses. Below the balcony from where we're standing is the green/red forest.

We see several Spearows, bird Pokémon, flying overhead and that's when we see an impressive building. It's tall, it's probably at least five-hundred feet tall and it's the icon of the town: the Spaceneedle. Below it is the main street of Verdigris. Most of the shops and houses are situated in that one street. All of these buildings, including the Spaceneedle, are covered with plant life.

I see a light source in the town: somebody is here.

"Looks like we're not alone, you see the smoke rising from that building?" I ask him and he nods, "Could be signs of trouble."

I shake my head, "That reminds me…my dad used to tell me stories about Verdigris."

"Pika?" The mouse turns towards me.

"This was once a popular vacation resort but it was abandoned a long time ago, just before I was born."

He looks back toward the town.

"It's a shame that a war caused all the people to leave. My dad used to tell me how this place was like an amusement park, the only resort near Viridian and Pewter at the time. Now, it's just a place where teenagers go on weekends to make graffiti or play some paintball."

I look through the binoculars. I close one of my eyes since one of the lenses is broken. I can hardly see through it; however, what I can see, through the small mountains, is a skyline.

I turn towards Orion as I lay an arm on the railing, "Check this out Oreo." I hand over the binoculars to him and he rudely takes it. Because it's lightweight he is able to hold on to the binoculars.

"You see those buildings in the horizon very far away? That's Viridian City." He smiles happily after I say this, "You may not like this…but before we get to the city, we need to go someplace else." His smile disappears as he gets angry.

"Look, I have a friend who's in trouble and I'm not leaving this forest until I rescue her. After I save her and get her to the city, we can go our separate ways. Alright?"

He tilts his head in the other direction; he's not taking this very well.

"You may not like it and quite frankly I don't care. I'll find her without you if I have to."

"Pi…chu"

I turn towards him again, "I don't care if you're still angry. I know you just want to get even with me and I can understand that, but I'm not wasting my energy on you. I'm saving it."

He continues to ignore me, "I know I did some bad stuff to you for a long time, so go ahead and let all that anger out!" I swing my arm as I shout to him. He jumps to face me and starts shouting back at me.

"Pi-Pi-Pika-Ka-Chu!"

"I know I'm a bad person, so just deal with it!"

"Pika-chu!"

"Just let all that anger out, shock me if you want to!"

"Pikachu!"

"Go ahead! I won't fight back, I won't be able to anyways!"

"PI-KA-CHU!"

"For fuck sake, just shock me already!" I bang my arm hard on the railing, which causes it to come apart. The Pikachu jumps from it just in time.

My right hand is now bleeding as I can see the entire balcony shake uncontrollably, "Back inside!" I yell but it's too late. The whole thing collapses to the ground dragging us with it.

I feel tremendous pain in my leg and head as my vision fades: I lose consciousness.

Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Once again I'm sorry for the long wait. I'll try to update regularly again as soon as I can.