A Shocking Good Time

Shadow Skill: Jump-Start. Sends an overcharged jolt of electricity into whatever it touches at the moment. Do not approach if you or your family have a history of heart problems.

To prevent an overbuild of electrical energy, Raichu regularly discharge electricity into the ground from their tail. Shadows, however, have lost that ability, and so sporadically shock themselves or who/whatever is around them.

It was a long time before Angel felt the desire to get up. How could she have frozen up like that? Her Pokémon were like family to her. Dreamer should have been summoned. And then they should have left the Clefable in relative safety to go after Maleficent. Now the two of them were probably long gone with her beloved friend, and she was unlikely to ever see them again. The only thing that she could do at this point was continue to Saffron City. With a sigh, Angel headed off.

As she crossed into the city around sunset, she suddenly realized that without Ebony, her plan to get inside the facility needed to be re-evaluated. Was it possible to come up with a new scheme before nightfall? And even if it was, did she really want to go through with this? Maleficent's words were repeating over and over in her head. Combined with her already existing doubts, if if if Team Rocket really were the bad guys, she shouldn't be doing this.

She half wanted to complete this mission before she started digging around for the truth. But what if this was one of those turning point choices? Whatever decision she made now could affect countless lives.

Informing the facility of a potential threat was an option. Actually, no. Warning was out of the question. The fact that she had knowledge of a future crime implied her involvement with the people who wanted the item. She could just not steal the item, but she was already here. Not to mention the fact that if she stole it, she could make sure it was put to good use. Not that the Silph Company had malicious intent. But because she knew that if she failed, Team Rocket would just send another Agent in after that. And that person or team might not have her morality.

Angel sighed deeply, wishing her mind wasn't so darn annoying. Why did she always have to overanalyze everything? Granted. It was better than not thinking about her actions at all. But she knew she needed to find a middle ground. Doing so would be quite a difficult task, considering her mind didn't work on the same wavelength as normal people.

Trying to focus, she let herself take in the view of the city. There was a lot of shouting and running around. Banners, sounds, and smells filled the air. Seemed Saffron was in the midst of preparations for a festival. All the greens, reds, pinks, blues, and other flowery colors made her guess it was to celebrate the arrival of spring. She groaned, wishing she could have some much-needed fun. Hopefully time was on her side.

A cute little dandelion floof of a Pokémon came up to her, and offered a flower necklace. Angel noticed they were orange blossoms, which tended to make her sneeze despite how much she actually loved the smell. Instead of turning the lei down, she bowed her head and allowed the lei to be placed around her neck. She tried to hold back a sneeze, but failed, causing the Pokémon to gasp, an offended look on its face.

It turned to leave, but Angel called it back. Once she managed to convince it she didn't mean anything by the sneeze, she reached into her bag and dug through until she found her Pokédex. Understanding flashed in its eyes as Angel faced the device's scanner thingy to the Pokémon.

"Eldegoss. The Cotton Bloom Pokémon. Evolved form of Gossifleur. Native to the Galar Region. Eldegoss occasionally sets its seeds to the wind, allowing plants and Pokémon alike to benefit from the nutrients within."

"Oh, wow! What'cha doing all the way in Kanto?" Angel held out her free hand to the cutiepie, but paused, unsure as to whether or not she should touch it. The Eldegoss made a pleased sound and leaned into her hand, allowing her to stroke its face.

"There you are, Lyla!" A Trainer about her age rushed up to them and paused a foot away. She bent down, hands on her knees, panting. After a minute, she stood and held out a hand. "Hi, there! Name's Elsa. Are you in town for the festival?"

Angel shook the offered hand. "Sadly, no. Just passing through on business, but I'm hoping to have some time before I have to leave."

"Ah, well that's too bad. People have traveled from as far as the Galarian and Alolan regions to participate in this debut event. It's a rare opportunity to see Pokémon from all over the world in one spot. If all goes well, it will return next year."

"Oh, wow! Well, I'll definitely try to finish things up real quick like. I wouldn't want to miss out on what might be the chance of a lifetime."

"You sure wouldn't! Oh, hey!" Elsa grabbed her Pokénav out of her pouch, played with it a bit, and handed it to Angel on the Contact screen. "If you do get the time, hit me up. I'd love to talk about my home region."

"Th-Thank you." After placing her info in the device, she returned it to Elsa, who, based on the Sylveon cry, had sent a quick message to Angel's Pokénav. For some reason, she couldn't help but apologize for her shyness. "Sorry. I'm trying, but interacting with new people is scary."

"No need to apologize." Elsa waved a hand to calmingly as she put her Pokénav away. "I get it. A few of my friends are like that. The more you put yourself out there, the easier it gets. The friends you make along the way to your dreams are so worth every bit of all your struggles."

Lyla cried out, and Elsa's left hand went to her mouth as she gasped. "Ah! I'm sorry! Have to run. Forgot I volunteered to help set up a part of the festivities for Galar. See you around." She waved her hand, and ran off, Lyla following her.

Angel stared after them for a few seconds before she shook her head. While she was in motion to turn down the road to the Silph Company, she froze upon seeing a woman with bright pink hair in a sailor's outfit. Could it be? She took a step towards the person, but was distracted by shouts from behind her. When she turned, she saw a crowd gathering around someone being electrocuted by a Raichu. A strange occurrence, to be honest. But what really stood out was the purplish color of the Raichu. Another Shadow? What were the odds of two in such a short time?

Without another second of thought, Angel ran towards the Raichu. Her plan was to jump in between the two, interfering with the flow of electricity. As she was a millisecond away from having hundreds of volts rushing through her body, she realized how stupid that thought was. Thankfully, the Raichu had collapsed to the ground just in time. A few sparks came from its cheeks, but it was otherwise harmless.

People had gathered by the man, who had stopped spasming. Angel hoped he was okay. With the amount of people checking on him, she knew he'd be taken care of. Her attention turned to the Raichu, who was panting and whimpering. Nobody else was paying any attention to the Pokémon, even though it looked strange. Or was she the only one who could see its color?

As she bent down, she heard a familiar female voice. "Is that your Raichu?"

She swallowed and forced herself to speak. "No. I'm just making sure it's okay."

"Why? She attacked someone for no reason. Surely she deserves whatever punishment and pain that comes her way."

Her hands clenched on her knees. There was no way the person was who she thought it was based on the pure belief in that tone. Still, she couldn't bring herself to look behind her. If it was true, she didn't want to know. Couldn't. It would break her.

"Just as with people, Pokémon make mistakes. No. They shouldn't hurt people simply because they're in pain. But you can't always control your actions. She may not be mine, but I'm not going to let her be harmed for something that is obviously not her fault." Angel didn't give the person a chance to respond. Picking up the Raichu, she took off running, wondering how she kept getting involved in things like this.

After ten minutes of running and backtracking to make sure she couldn't be followed, Angel hadn't found a decent choice. She skidded to a halt when she heard neighs, and looked around for a stable. There! Angel crossed the distance, and burst inside, startling the Mudsdale and both forms of Ponyta. Within seconds, she had them calmed down, but it felt like it had taken hours to do so.

Angel could feel static building within as the Raichu awoke. Looking into her eyes, she reached down a hand and began to stroke her face. "Ssh. Relax. You're safe now. Well. Not now now. But you will be. You just need to be brave and go inside this Pokéball for me. Can you do that?"

She made a sound as she turned her head away, shivering. Angel could now see small jolts of electricity coming from her cheek pouches. Again, the Raichu whimpered. How were both Shadows scared of pokéballs? That fear was supposed to be a rare occurrence.

Wait. If this Raichu went through the same experience as the Clefable, then it actually made sense. They would equate the pokéball to being trapped, which would remind them of what was done to them. Angel choked back a sob at how horrible that was. "Please, sweetling. You're in pain. It will be a while before I can get you help, but at least you won't be hurting any longer. Not to mention you won't be able to shock me or others."

"Please don't make me go into the darkness! I'll do anything but that."

"It's only temporary, I swear." Angel continued to stroke her face, tears welling in her own eyes. "Please. I can't bear to see you hurting."

The Raichu placed a hand on Angel's heart, and opened her mouth only to jerk in pain. Angel herself was suddenly spasming, unable to move, think, or even breathe. She was aware of falling to the straw covered floor, but the next five minutes escaped her. When she reconnected to reality, the first thing she saw was the Raichu sitting against the wall opposite to her.

Realizing she'd just had hundreds of volts of electricity flowing through her body, she looked down to her skin and clothing, but found only slight damage. She turned to the Raichu, wide-eyed, wondering how she had managed the strength to push away.

Trembling, the Raichu forced herself to her feet and walked to Angel. She didn't have to say anything. Angel knew what she wanted. "I'm sorry." That said, she pulled out another pokéball and sent the Raichu to safety.