Sorry about the shortness of the last chapter. I'd planned to put together 5 and 6 and make it one huge chapter, but it was a hectic week and my twenty-two year old brother decided to park himself on here for four hours when I was about to type up the second part of the chapter. Since I already felt bad about making my readers wait last week, so I put up what I had. No need to fear, though. I've made a solemn swear to have this part done for everyone by Wendsday. If I don't, you can send me your e-mails complaining about how slow I am, and I'll thank you for the input. Ethier way, I'm still very open for ideas. Don't be afraid if you think it sounds dumb. Heck, when I first came up with this story, I thought it was pretty bad, but here I am. It's only a bad idea if you think it is.(Unless your just some idiot who e-mails people with totally pointless ramblings just because you can. I'm sure my readers are farily intelligent, though.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chp.6- A painful job for a confused soul... Everything was a blur by the time the tranquilzers wore off. When my vision returned, I found myself...in my room? I was lying in my bed, blankets covering my body. Was it over? Had the nightmare ended? I grabbed the mirror of my nightstand, then looked at myself in disgust before thorwing it across the room. It's never going to end! I'm going to be a freak forever, a monster! I wanted to blame someone for doing this to me, but who? Some of my clothes, the one's I worn when all this first started, laid in a heap next to me. Reluctantly, I put them on, not wanted to think about the fact that this style was going to be a permenant part of my wardrobe. I reluctantly looked myself over in the full length mirror kept by my closet, still trying to figure out how this could have happened to me. Light red fur covering every part of me, three toed furry feet, six red, curled tails sticking out from the base of my spine, canine-like muzzle with a cold black nose, light grey eyes, short black hair with the front curled up like a Vulpix's and small Vulpix ears poking through it, all covering a human shaped body...this wasn't right! Desperate to get out of this room, I tried the door. Locked, and this time it was locked from the outside. I couldn't burn it away like the first time. Same went for the only window in my room. A prisoner in my own home... "Raichu?" "Vul?" Could it be...Railina! She came back! I could tell it was her by the bow on her tail, my bow. She was under my bed and had crawled out, dusting off all the dirt that was under there. (I really need to sweep under there) "They got you too..." "Rai..." she said, nodding. I sat on my bed as she climbed up on top of it. I was happy to see her again...but this probably meant the worst. "Vul you tell anyone what's Vulpix here?" I asked, trying not to think about the fact that I couldn't even talk straight anymore. "Rai!" she nodded and smiled at that. Maybe there was still hope! "Who?" "Chu..." I grabbed her little computer that we used to talk with each other before I turned into a monster. Since I'd had her since I was four, and I'm now twelve, I taught Railina English so she could read. She still had a lot of problems using the right forms of some words, but that's still pretty good for a Poke'mon. She typed slowly with her short little arms, longer than she usually did. When she finished, she turned it toward me. -I TOLD A BOY LIKE YOU- "What? Vulpix a boy like me?" I set the communicator back down to her. She typed another message. -A RAICHU HYBRID- A Hybrid? What was that? A hybrid is something that's really parts of two things...oh... I understood now. Another monster like me, just a Raichu instead of a Vulpix. "Wait, Railina, did he look like..." I described the boy who had wandered in hurt into the empty cabin I'd found. When I finished, she nodded. I couldn't believe it! The same boy who I tried to scare off...he obviously wasn't very bright. I was being really vicious before, with all that growling I'd done. He just ignored me, which made me feel worse than I already was I saw another poor victim. Even after that, he still tried to help me after I was so threating. "RAICHU!" Suddenly Railina kicked the computer, sending it flying off the bed. "Railina!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stupid computer! NOW it had to run out of batteries! I booted it angerly, which surprised Sara. She didn't expect that out of her Poke'mon. Well, I wouldn't either, but then again, I'm not really her Poke'mon. Yeah, it's me, Dan. Those must have been some tranquilzers they used. Could've stopped a Tarous dead in it's tracks with one of those...After they hustled me out of the closet, they took the Vulpix, who I didn't realize at the time was Sara, from me, then jabbed me in the arm with a neddle filled with something. In my weakened state, I wasn't really able to put up a fight. Next thing I knew, I was in here with Sara (in Hybrid form) and another Raichu, who I instantly recognized as Railina. *What the heck happened?* I muttered in Raichu terms, crawling out from inside my shirt. I looked and saw that I went totally Raichu again. *Man, I gotta learn how to control this...* *Hello?* It was an another Raichu. She looked just like me, save for the bow tied to her tail. *Raichu-boy? Are you O.K?* *Huh? Yeah, I think so...* I looked myself over again, realizing I wasn't hurt anymore. Heck, it looked like nothing ever happened! *What happened to you? They tossed you in here wrapped up in bandages with Sara.* I explained what had happened after we'd split up. When I finished, Railina explained her side of it. Apperantly, after I lost the Growlithe's, they focused on her scent, since that was the only one that didn't confuse them enough to throw them off the trail. Despite her best efforts, they caught up with her and captured her, putting her in here. *You weren't able to get to anyone else, either?* She shook her head. I sighed and hopped up to the bed, next to a sleeping Sara. *So this is why you weren't really shocked to see me...* *I was kinda used to it already.* she finished, hopping up with me. *Poor girl...she's been through so much.* *It was a little hard for me, too.* I admitted. *It still is, of course, but it's a little easier.* *Yeah, but you didn't have all this happen. First her dad, the mayor, dissappears, then the cops take over, now this.* *What attacked her?* I asked. *Huh?* *You know, what weird wild Poke'mon hurt her and made this happen?* *I'm confused. What are you talking about?* *Didn't she get hurt by a wild Poke'mon, get some weird stuff on her, and then this happened a few hours later?* Railina shook her head. *After the police locked her in here, she started getting really mad. She was so angry she started sweating. At first, when I saw it happening, I ignored it, but then she started growing fur. Then she totally changed.* Whoa! This blew what happened to Misty and myself right out of the water! We had to have outside forces directly interfere with us to make us change, but this...well, this was totally different! *Geez...* I muttered, before realizing something. *Wait, how did you get out of here last time?* *Here...* We went over into the closet. She pointed out a hole higher up in the closet, big enough for a Raichu to squeeze through. *Mouse hole...* I said with a little laugh. *Too bad we can't reach it.* *Maybe not...With a boost, one of us could make it through.* *Maybe, but then the other would have to stay here...* *You go.* Railina said. I shook my head. *You. You know the area a lot better than I do. I'll stay here and keep Sara safe for you.* *Thanks, but she won't trust you. I've been with her since I was a Pikachu and she was three. She's only trusts me and Pidgeotto.* *Where's he?* *She.* Railina corrected. *She was taken away when the police took over. They knew it would be too easy for her to fly away with a message, so they took her. They only left me after Sara begged.* *Sleazeballs...* I spat. *I've got an idea. Turn around.* She did as asked so her tail was to me. It took a little work, but I managed to undo the bow. It drifted to the floor. *O.K., now put it on me.* This took a good ten minutes for her(it's hard when you have short arms and you ain't got no fingers!). Eventually, it was on. *There. Now I look like you.* *Maybe...but you'll never be able to fake my beauty.* *Nor do I intend to.* I assured her. *Come on, let's get you up there.* Railina started to crawl up my back. *Hold still...* *I'm trying!* *You're squriming!* *Watch the tail!* *My tail is fine!* *No, mine!* *O.K., I'm almost there...* *Ow! My ear!* *Sorry!...O.K., were good!* One sore ear later, Railina was standing on my outstreched arms, which wasn't easy for me. Railina could afford to drop a few pounds,(Not that I'd ever tell her that. Free piece of advice for guys: no matter what, never tell a woman she looks fat, even if she asks for an honest answer. You'll regret it big time.) and I wasn't holding her up easily. *O.K., move forward.* *I'll try...whoa...whoa...* *Geez, hold still!* *I can't! I'm not exactly used to this!* *How hard can it be to keep your balance?!* *Hard when I have to keep it for two people!* After some griping and whining,(mostly on Railina's part) we reached the hole. I felt a great weight leave me as she climbed into the hole. *Good luck.* I called to her. *You too. Keep her safe for me.* *I will!* I assured her as she took off. I listened till she was out of range, then went back to Sara. I tried to wake her up by tugging on her arm, but she refused to respond. Soon, a man in a police uniform unlocked the door and came in. "Come on, you stu..." he was carrying a tray with bread and water. Just as I was about to make a snotty comment about this place being a prison, he muttered a comment that I can't repeat, or this wouldn't be a PG rated story! "Where the heck is the Raichu freak?!" He put the tray on a dresser and looked the room over. All he found was a supposed Railina and Sara. "Where is he?" he asked of me. "Raichu?" I shrugged. *Who?* "Stupid Poke'mon!" He grabbed a book laying on the dresser and threw it at me. I dove under the bed to avoid it. He stormed about the room, searching for anyway that someone could've gotten out of. He eventually found the hole and left the room, closing the door behind him. He came back and placed some kind of sealer over the hole before leaving again and locking the door. Soon after, Sara woke up, and here we are. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Oh, the batteries Vulpix..." I said, seeing why Railina got so mad. Sighing, I picked up Railina and set her down on my lap. "That probably didn't help Pix at all." "Rai..." She shook her head. What could we do now? I doubted the gaurd be dumb enough to just open the door so I could knock him out like last time. I broke my favorite lamp doing that, too. "Vul?" There were some more clothes laying next to my bed. That boy was wearing them before...but where was he now? Maybe he changed like I did and escaped. That insensitive fool! How dare he leave me here all alone?! I checked his pockets and found a Poke'dex. No Poke'balls; the police must have confiscated them. "Dan Gotem..." I mused, looking at his I.D. The picture was that of a human; he must have had it taken before he changed. "Rai, doing with Raichu?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Hey, what are you doing with my Poke'dex?* I yelled. She ignored me and closed it, putting it her pocket. She better not plan on keeping that!, I thought. Putting me on the bed, she walked over to the tray, sighed, and sat back down, nibbling on the bread. "Do you want some, Railina? They didn't give me anything else..." "Chu..." *Sure...* She handed me a piece of it. I gnawed on it, barely able to bite it. Hard as a rock, it had to be at least two weeks old. I watched as Sara took small, careful sips of water, like most fire-types do. They need to drink too, but not a lot. If they drink too fast, they tend to get ill, with the water lowering their body temperture. Same thing with getting cleaned up. They can usually only clean one part of the body at a time, which means that washing takes forever to do. After a few failed attempts at chewing the bread, I finally threw it on the ground. We stayed in that room for a few hours, just talking, though the converstations were pretty one-sided. An officer eventually came in and told Sara that she had to shower and go to the bathroom now, or wait till tomorrow. Sighing, Sara picked me up and took her with me. We were escorted to a bathroom, and a rather nice one at that. We were then shoved in rather rudely, then the door slammed shut behind us, the lock clicking in place. "I told Dad he shouldn't have locks on the outside of the doors..." she muttered, putting me down in the tub. She turned a few knobs and added bubble bath as the water flowed out. She stopped when it was up to my neck. "You stay here, Railina." She closed the curtain around the tub so I couldn't see out. I made the best of the situation and splashed around for a while, getting as clean as possible. I couldn't help but wonder, though, exactly what was going to happen to us if we didn't escape soon. I mean, eventually, I was going to turn back to, "normal" and the last thing I wanted to do was appear in front of Sara(or any girl, for that matter) in the full fur...I mean, beyond being in Raichu form. At least then, it wasn't bad for ethier of us. Sara came back a few minutes later and dried me off, which made all my fur puff up. Sara combed it down, then picked me up and walked around the room for a while. After a while, I was starting to wonder what the heck she was doing. Finally, she walked over to the tub, took the towel she'd used to dry me, and stuffed it into the drain, clogging the pipe. "Chu, Raichu?" *What are you doing?* She ignored me and turned on the water full blast. Soon, the tub began to overflow with water. "Railina, the water is going to start leaking out into the hall soon. When someone comes in here to see what's going on, use ThunderShock, O.K?" "Chu..." *Sure...* I wasn't sure exactly how powerful of a ThunderShock I could do. I've never even tried using electricity in this form before. Oh well, how much different could it be? Sara set me down on top of the sink and stood on top of the toilet to keep the water from damaging her. Soon enough, the garud who had escorted us in opened the door after the water had covered the entire bathroom floor. "What are you doing..." He saw Sara, then me, not quite sure what to make of this. I helped him, though. "RAICHU!" I tried to take everything I'd taught myself about using electricity and tried to make a bolt shoot out instead of just connecting it to another part of my body. It worked... kinda. The little bolt I made was about equal to a static bolt in power, and didn't even reach the floor. "Railina, this is the worst time to be sick!" "Rai..." *Heh,heh...* Luckily, the garud had flinched, giving me time to hop down and use electrcity the way I was used to using it. The electricty coursed through the floor, knocking the garud off his feet. Sara hopped down and quickly ran out of the room before the water could do much damage to her. I followed her out on all fours, which was a little tricky on the wet tile. "Come on Railina! Let's get out of here!" I followed her through some halls, down a set of stairs(Falling down them rather quickly. Never should've tried to do it on all fours...), and, after making sure nothing was broken, went to the main doors. "Hey, stop!" an officer who was garuding the doors yelled at us. What happened next was both creepy and cool at the same time. Sara opened her muzzle, and... "VUL!" well,...belched...an Ember sized fireball. Not exactly ladylike, but none the less effective as it flew toward the cop. He froze,(Was it in surprise or disgust? Your guess is as good as mine.) which made it easy for the Ember to hit him square in the face. He screamed in pain and clutched at his eyes. We ran by him and out the door, pausing only long enough so I could bite him in the ankle for good measure. "There!" She pointed over to an unoccupied police car parked outside the house. "Raichu, Chu Raichu!" *I hope you don't plan on driving that!* Unfortunetly, that was exactly her plan as she scooped me up, opened the door and put me on the passanger side front seat. Even worse, some idiot had left the keys in the ignition. This couldn't end well... "We better hope this is easier than it looks..." Sara muttered, getting in herself and closing the door. She buckled in, then put on mine. "Safety first!" Yeah right, I thought. You're gonna drive a car without a license, no experience at all, and with the entire police force after us! That's safe?! Things started out O.K. Then Sara found out the car was in park, and then all heck broke loose. The car constantly stalled, because Sara had no idea how to shift gears. Once she got a hang of that, she started O.K. Then the accelerator got stuck to the floor with honey that, don't ask me how, was spilt right under the pedal. Now the car wouldn't stop at all, save for a brick wall or some other large, solid object. When the speedometer read 55 mph, I knew we were in trouble. "Don't worry, Railina. We'll get to the police station and get everyone out. No more running away!" "RAICHU!" *Watch the road!* I was too short to see over the dashboard, but I knew the second she took her eyes off the road, we were dead. I curled up into a ball, prayed to every religious god I knew that I'd live through this, and tried not to think about what poor creature, Poke'mon or human, was running for their lives from us. I stayed curled up for a good while. Just as I thought maybe things would be O.K., I felt the car go flying into the air, a pause as we flew, which was followed by Sara screaming, an abrupt stop and the sound of shattering glass. I uncurled after a minute of waiting. Thankfully, the car seemed more or less intact, and Sara appeared O.K. now that she was calm. "I'm never... doing that... again!" Sara gasped, unbuckling my belt. "Chu, Rai Rai!" *Thank you!* I followed Sara out, noticing the officers strewn about the building. Appearently, we'd hit a ramp somewhere outside the building, went through the air, and ended up smashing through the large front window of the station, sending people diving for cover. The car itself was now half sticking out the building and half on top of someone's desk. We ran past the stunned officers to the jail cells. People were jammed into those things like tuna in a can. None of them had any room to move around. The prisoners were shocked to see the Vulpix girl, but when they saw her kick the first garud that came after her, they seemed less concerned with that and more concerned with encouraging her to help them. The police seemed prepared for such an attack, as they bought out a large amount of water Poke'mon, along with a few Rock and Ground types. They formed a large circle around us(this seemed vaguely familiar, but where?...) and attacked. Against the rock and ground Poke'mon, I had a type disadvantage, but I had another advantage; human intelligence. Many times, I was able to avoid a series of painful blows by watching and predicting attacks. Sara fought well too, but she was working with three different types, all of which had an advantage over her. Eventually, they were winning just by sheer numbers. We needed help, fast! Finally, one hard Mega Punch to the jaw bought me down. Sara was stumbling badly from all the damage she'd taken. Things were looking bad as everything started to get hazy. The station roof started looking like a cloud dotted sky...huh? "What the..." I muttered, snapping out of my daze. "How'd we Rai outside? And..." I looked myself over. Somehow,I was a Hybrid again, wearing the same clothes I had before I changed to Raichu form. "...Rai am Chu a Hybrid?" The surroundings were generally familiar, a forest with trees, dirt, mud, the usual, but it wasn't any place I'd been to before. All of my stuff was here too. Even my Poke'balls sat on top of my rolled up sleeping bag. I hadn't even left it like that... "Sara!" She was out cold on the ground next to me, soaking wet from all the water that she'd been attacked with. I knelt down and checked for her pulse. She was definitly alive, maybe not in the best of health, but definitly alive. I went to my things to get something to dry her off when I heard something coming up behind me. I spun quickly and saw... "You..." The thing that'd been running out of the cave when I'd woken up all cut and hurt was standing now not ten feet away. Oddly, all I could see was the trenchcoat. I guessed it's height to be about six feet or so, but the trench coat it wore dragged on the ground, covered the rest of the body, and the collar still managed to totally cover up it's head. "What are you doing here?" I demanded. "I saved you. You should respect me for that." it said in a cold, low voice. "Saved me? You can't Raichu have gotten us Chu there!" "I know Teleport." it said simply. "Teleport? But how? Chu aren't a Poke'mon, and Chu can't Raichu be able to use Teleport Rai you're human." "I'm nethier." "Rai...are Chu a Hybrid?" "I"M MORE THAN A MERE, 'HYBRID'!" it suddenly yelled out of nowhere. The volume was so high I had to cover my ears from the sound. "O.K., O.K.!" I yelled. "Chu aren't a Hybrid!" I slowly took my hands off my ears. Geez, talk about grumpy..."How'd Chu Teleport us? Rai never even saw..." "Something doesn't have to be seen to have an effect." "Right..." I hate it when people talk in riddles! "Why'd you save us, then?" "I owed it to you. I never meant to hurt you before, but I haven't been able to just enter a persons mind, so I had to use Dream Eater. If I'd known you were going to have that..." "Rai, Rai, Rai! Back up! What's this Raichu enter minds!?" "That's none of your concern. What your concern now is to find others like you. You should find one in Vermilion." "Wait! What Raichu Sara's town? What's Raichu happen to them?" "The remaining citizens will be inspired by your bold attack on the station. They will soon overthrow the police." "How do Rai know that's true?" "You don't." Who was this guy to tell me what to do? I was starting to get the urge to just slug this thing. Besides, for all I knew, this guy was feed me crud on what was happening in the town. Still, with everything else it's done, maybe I should believe it... "I have the feeling you don't like me." "You're Rai. I don't." "I'm sorry you feel that way." it sighed. "I assume this means you don't want to do as I say then?" I nodded, and he sighed again. "I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice." "What are Chu going to do?" "Watch." He pointed a long sleeved arm over at my Poke'balls. I blinked, and they were gone. He pointed to Sara next. I blinked again, and she was gone, too! "What'd Chu do to them?!" I demanded. "They are at random points in Vermilion City. If you want them back, I suggest you start looking before something happens to them." "You stupid..." I started to say, but I blinked again and it too, was gone. I was all alone again. "Coward! Come back here!" I yelled. Only the trees answered with the wind moving through their branches. I slowly picked up my things, not sure where exactly Vermilion City was. My stuff, however, had been conviently dropped on an old sign, which directed me north about thirty miles. I started walking, making a silent vow to myself that I'd never stop searching for answers till I dropped dead or found out everything I wanted to know. Right now, I had a lot more pressing matters to attend to. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hope you like it! Again, I know it's kinda short, but I'm planning a great chapter 7. Please read and review if you don't mind. And yes, I will tie this all together, but there's a lot more that's gotta happen first. Till next time, keep those e-mails coming! P.S. Dang, that review looked a lot neater when I first wrote it...