Maybe it's just me, but I think some people have been getting tired of Dan being out all alone. Well, for those who are with me, read on, because that changes as of this chapter! Also, I'm still open to ideas from others. Let me know what you think! Chp.5-Fox Fire ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A few days out of Cerulan, I was well on my way towards Vermilion City. Again, I had to stay away from any direct routes to avoid unwanted human contact, but I'm getting used to it. Besides, I think being part Poke'mon has put me a little more in touch with nature. It's becoming a little more enjoyable to be out in the woods, and things that would bother most people at night put me at ease. As it was one night, I'd set up camp next to a fast moving stream, which, while loud, was relaxing and soothing. I slept quickly after I set up camp, waiting only long enough for dinner to be ready and eaten before falling asleep. A few minutes before midnight, I was woken by the sound of something knocking over my metal mess kit, which, as usual, I'd left out, being too lazy to clean up after myself. At first, I didn't move, in case it was a lost trainer, the last thing I wanted to deal with. Whoever, or whatever, it was then headed to the tent. I still didn't move, but did start getting little bolts running between my fingers, about five volts per bolt. It's not nearly enough to do permenant damage, especially compared to the 100,000 volts that a fully leveled Raichu can use, but many people don't realize that even five volts hurts a lot, especially when it's applyed for long periods of time. The zipper of the tent started to open, and I scrambled out of my bag, hoping I'd just scare the intruder off. The moment the zipper opened, though, something caught the attention of my nose. A new, yet familar scent was coming from this person. The zipper went up a little more, then the nosy little thing came into my tent. "Raichu?" "Raichu?" I agreed. It was in fact a Raichu, definitly suprised to see me, because to it, I was something that shouldn't exsit. The scent was coming from her. I could tell it was a girl because of the pink bow tied around her tail. That's not really a guy thing. "Sorry, but you're not Raichu type." I said, kneeling down to her. Judging by the bow, she wasn't wild. Wonder what's she's doing here, I thought. She was understandable cautious, not really sure what to make of me, though she didn't seem as surprised like most are when she walked over to me as I took a seat. "Are Chu lost?" I asked. Maybe she was released by a trainer that didn't want a Raichu. I'd kinda feel bad about doing that, but some people have no objections to it. "Rai not Rai" she said, shaking her head. "Raichu not lost? How come Chu all the Rai out here?" She started off on a long story, maybe 2% of which I actually understood. I caught the words, "Town", "Police", "Sara", and "Help", along with a few "The's" and "And's". When she saw I wasn't getting much of this, she pointed to her bow. "What Chu it?" She turned and put her tail so the bow was almost in my face. Now that it was closer, I could see a folded piece of paper tied in with the bow. I pulled it out and showed it to her. "Raichu what you're Raichu show me?" "Rai." I unfolded the paper and read it over. It was a letter of sorts, the handwriting barely readable. It looked like someone was in a hurry to write it. Thankfully, no one has worse handwritting than I do, so I'm used to it. To whoever receives this letter, Please, I beg you to help us! Our town has been taken over by a corrupt police force! My father, the mayor, has been missing for a month, and the police have taken over in his absence, leaving all around them with nothing. They arrest anyone who apposes them and take whatever they feel like taking. I've been locked in my father's home, but I can see the damage they do. They have put half the town in jail, and the other half are forced to do what the bidding of these heartless monsters, unable to leave town. I've sent Railina, my most capable Poke'mon for this task, to try and find someone who can help. Please, do not ignore our plight! Sara Maximillion. "Whoa..." I turned to Railina. "Is this true?" "Raichu." She nodded. Shoot, if she wasn't lying, this was serious! There wasn't a heck of a lot I could do on my own, but I couldn't just ignore this, either. I didn't have too much more time to ponder this, however, as I heard the footsteps of at least four people quite some distance way, but approaching fast. "We gotta find that dumb Raichu!" "Yeah, if we don't, the cheif will have our hides on a silver platter!" "Don't worry, it's just a dumb Poke'mon. How far could it have gotten?" Railina looked like she was about ready to bolt. These guys were after her! I quickly stuffed the note back into her bow and got out of the tent. "Railina, Cerulan City Raichu few miles that way," I pointed back in the general direction I'd come. "Go there. Raichu be able to Chu Raichu than me." "Rai you." She ran off, while I thought of a plan to distract the cops. After a moments thought, I released Bulbasaur. I outlined my plan quickly, then we took our positions. "I still don't see it..." one of them mumbled. They were close enough now... "Rai?" I called out. The group suddenly got very quiet, searching for the owner of the voice. I called out again, and this time, they found me in the brush. I'd hidden myself totally except for my tail, which I intentionally left out in view, and the tops of my ears, keeping my head low enough so that was all they saw. The sound of opening Poke'balls filled the air. There were a few low, "Growlithe", voices. They sniffed at the ground a little before growling steadily, ready to pounce. There were a few more footsteps, then I felt a hand suddenly grab my tail. "Growl?" Too late, the Growlithe's noticed my human scent mixed with the Raichu's. "RAICHU!" I yelled, hitting the ground flat on my stomach. Bulbasaur released the branch he was holding with his vines, knocking back the men behind me. As soon as I felt the hand leave my tail, I scrambled to my feet and ran in the direction they'd come from. The Growlithe's gave chase, forcing me to recall Bulbasaur as I ran. He didn't have the speed to outrun them, and we'd learned on the first day out of Pallet not to mess with Growlithe's unless we were sure we could handle them! If I'd been human, maybe the Growlithe's would've have caught me, but for all the bad stuff that comes with being a Hybrid, like not being able to make long public appearences and scaring off any wild Poke'mon the moment they catch wind of you, there are some benefits, depending on what kind of Hybrid you are. For myself, one of those was a speed high school sprinters would kill to have. After about five minutes of non-stop running, the Growlithe's only had their noses to help them, and the Raichu-human scent confused them like nothing else. "Chu...Chu..."I gasped, slowing down to a walk. Despite great speed, I didn't have the energy to keep it up for long. I was going to have to rest before I could run, become human, or anything that required more than a small amount of energy. Walking a little bit, I found a nice, comfortable cave to sleep in. After checking to make sure there wasn't anything already in there, I settled down quietly for some sleep. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I opened my eyes, finding myself back in my tube. I sighed, tired of this routine. Every day, they inject me, I pass out, I wake up and get, "trained", for a few hours, eat some rotten food, pass out again from the drugs in it, then repeat the process again later. I'd never touch it, but that's all I get to eat, so I have no real choice. I'm told there are others like me, but with this stupid glass, I can't see a thing. The men and women in white, the one's who feed and inject me, don't tell me this. A few voices in my head tell me that there are others like me out there, and that they too, are like me. I really don't know if I can believe voices in my head, but they keep me company sometimes, and I speak with my mind with them if they're talking to me, which is probably the only reason I'm still sane. They tell great stories, the voices. There's this one I really like to hear, about the world outside of my tube and the training room. They say that beyond this thing were in, a "building", where our tubes are, is a great world, where people are free to do almost whatever they want. I don't know if they're right, but I'd like to be free, even though I don't know what that feels like. The voices say that they're almost ready to free us all, everyone like me. I tell them that they can't, that we don't have the abilities to free ourselves. They just say that they do, even if I don't. But if you said we were all alike, then how can you free us if I can't free myself, I ask. They just say that it's too complicated for me to understand. I can see the people in white at my tube again. It looks like they're about to inject me again. I sighed again, really not wanting to do this. A metal rod shot out of the side into my arm. It hurts a lot, but I can't avoid it. Now they're going to inject me again...huh? I can't see well out the tube, but the few people I can see look really worried all of the sudden. They're scared, but why? Suddenly, the white clothed people flew backwards, out of sight, even though nothing touched them. Nothing happened for a few seconds, then the glass of my tube cracked greatly, letting some of the fluid out. I knew this voice. He called himself Mike. He was one of the voices that used to speak with me. I hesitated for a few seconds. Could this really be happening? I could be free, just by hitting the cracks? This seemed too easy...but what did I have to lose? I kicked and punched at the crack, and it slowly got bigger. Finally, with one hard kick, my foot broke through the glass, causing the pieces left to cut up my foot badly, but I didn't care. I kept kicking and punching, making the hole bigger and causing more fluid to leak out. When most of the fluid was out, I pulled off the big mask that covered my mouth. When the hole was big enough, I squeezed through, cutting myself on the glass as I did. I jumped down to the ground, blinded by the bright lighting. The instant I hit the ground, I saw... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My eyes fluttered open slowly, just in time to see a figure in a dark trenchcoat dash out of the cave. It took a few seconds to come to full awareness, but I soon realized something was wrong. "Hey, come...Ow!" I started to chase after it, but I was in such pain I could barely walk. I sat abruptly and looked myself over to see why. "No..." If I weren't in such pain, I'd have been running out of that cave for my life. All the cuts I'd gotten from hitting the glass and forcing myself through the hole were now all over my body, fresh and bleeding like they were just formed. Moving up my arm, I felt the hole that had been made by the rod. How could this happen? Dreams don't hurt anyone...unless... "Dream Eater?" That was the only way this could happen. What used it then? I didn't see any Poke'mon, and humans can't use it. I sniffed at the air, hoping maybe to catch a scent of the figure that had just been in here. There was no scent...but that's physically impossible. There's no way for anyone to cover up their scent totally. In fact, only ghosts don't really have a scent...and ghosts are pretty much the only ones who use Dream Eater... I shivered and stood up, having to lean against the cave wall just to stay upright. I limped out painfully, seeing I was obviously going to need medical attention. Unfortunetly, I doubted I'd make it back into my stuff and first-aid kit in time to start healing. Listening closely, I heard sounds, scrambled badly, but they could very well be civilzation. Let's see, potential death with civilzation...almost certain death in the woods...tough choice. Using a stick for support, I walked in the direction of the noises, which had now stopped. After what seemed like forever, (but in reality was about fifteen minutes) I found a cabin by a nice looking lake. It was probably a summer house. Hoping no one was there, I stumbled over and knocked on the door, planning to run...well, hobble...away if anyone actually answered. When no one did, I turned the knob. It was unlocked. Either I was having a great change of luck, or I was walking into a trap. Praying for luck, I opened the door and went in. It was a nice looking place. Well kept, for sure, but it looked like no one lived here in a while. Looked, but didn't smell like. There was a fresh scent, too fresh. Someone was here, hiding? Great, a burgular. If I were at full strength, then maybe I could do something, but like this, I'd be lucky to lay a finger on the theif. I was about to leave when I happened to glance at the doorway to the kitchen. There was a dark red substance seeping out onto the living room carpet. "That better Raichu juice..." I muttered. Now I kinda felt obligated to at least check it out. If it was a body...well, I didn't really think about that at the time. I moved to the door, careful not to step in the stuff, summoned up all my courage and pushed the partially open door. It was a kitchen, with more of the red stuff covering the tile floor. I followed the trail with my eyes, down the floor, up a red splattered counter top to the source... "It is Chu juice," I said, seeing the upsetted bottle, relieved and shocked at the same time. Relieved, because I wasn't going to have to deal with a corpse; shocked, because this probably meant that someone was here for sure. I looked around quickly, not seeing anyone croutching behind anything. The scent was different in here. I passed it off as the fruit juice. All of that sugar probably messed up the... "VUL!" "Wha...YEOW!" Out of nowhere, a Vulpix had lodged it's teeth into my ankle, which was hurting enough already from all the cuts I'd gotten. The bleeding had stopped too..."Raichu me go!" I kicked my foot a little, causing the little fox Poke'mon to lose it's grip. It slid on it's back across the tile and crashed head first into the wall. "Oh no!" I didn't mean to do that! I limped over to check the poor thing out. In a house like this, it was probably tame. Gingerly, I reached out to the stunned Poke'mon. It was dazed, but there seemed like there was no injuries of any sort. Turning it over, I set the Vulpix down on it's feet. It growled at me after I put it back on it's feet, but didn't attack. Even as I hobbled around the house, looking for something to start getting cleaned up with, it didn't attack, but it was very presistant in following me around and growling the moment I even moved in it's general direction. It certainly was an odd Poke'mon, following, but not attacking. In fact, the only place it didn't follow me in was the bathroom. "Aren't Chu coming?" I asked jokingly. "Vul..." it growled in response. I shrugged and closed the door. I showered, the hot water feeling nice against my wounds. Even though I had to put the same clothes back on again when I finished, at least I felt a little cleaner. After cleaning up, I bandaged up my cuts (badly) with a roll of bandages from a medicene cabinet. Finished, I opened the door and stepped over the growling Vulpix, limping back to the kitchen. Opening the refrigorator, I saw... "Nothing?!" The entire fridge had been wiped clean! All that as left was a half-empty jar of mustard and a package of blue cheese. Turning to the Vulpix, I said, "Did Chu do this?" "Vulpix..." It hung it's head, almost like it was in shame. Weird, I was just kidding... "Huh?" I heard sirens...heading here! Vulpix suddenly ran and curled up behind my foot, suddenly more worried about the sirens than me. Now it wants to be my best friend?, I thought. I sighed, scooped up the odd little Poke'mon, and walked as fast as possible to the closest hiding spot, a closet. I just closed the closet door when the main door was kicked in viciously by the police. They were yelling for everyone to search for, "the girl." The Vulpix cowered at this mention. Did it think they were looking for it... The door opened, and suddenly I was staring down the face of a pack of angry Growlithes. "FREEZE!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thought I try a cliffhanger for once. It maybe a bit short, but I think it's good. Again, please review if you want to. I'd appricate it very much.