Chapter 10: Pikachu
Earlier...
Red was scratching his head, watching Pikachu sitting still in one spot.
'Why is she so difficult?'
The reason for this situation was quite simple—Red accidentally touched Pikachu when she wasn't paying attention.
And this was the result.
No matter how many times he tried to explain that it was unintentional, Pikachu remained the same. She didn't even bother to listen and was ready to shock him if he got too close.
Pidgey perched on a tree, watching the whole spectacle between him and Pikachu.
All these Pokémon have such mean spirits!
But he couldn't blame them; they weren't doing anything wrong.
So, Red had no choice but to sit and wait for Pikachu to calm down.
After all, he was very patient—unlike someone who would use a rope to drag their Pokémon along.
Pikachu glanced at him a few times, but when he noticed, she quickly turned away.
After a few more minutes, Pikachu sighed and had to get up.
Seeing this, Red was delighted—it was worth spending time on this!
He and Pikachu walked together on a deserted road.
The clouds began to gather, and raindrops started falling, forcing Red and Pikachu to find somewhere to shelter from the rain.
Just as they were walking, he noticed an orange-haired girl rushing on a bicycle.
It seemed she was heading toward the nearby town.
Although he wasn't sure if he had met her before, he had a feeling he could trust this person.
So, he ran at full speed to stop the girl.
Startled, she braked and looked at Red with a confused expression.
"What are you doing?! Why are you blocking my way?"
"... "
"Huh? You mean you want me to take Pikachu to the town first? Are you crazy, handing your Pokémon over to a stranger like that??"
"... "
The orange-haired girl turned to look at Pikachu, who was wet from the rain.
She preferred Water-type Pokémon, but something cute could count too.
But this guy actually trusted a stranger like her with his Pokémon—was he insane?
Seeing the girl in front of him not knowing what to say, Red had to try something else.
He approached Pikachu, explained that he would follow later, then picked her up.
Pikachu was startled, about to shock him, but Red quickly placed her in the bike's basket.
He then intentionally pushed the bike, causing the orange-haired girl to panic.
He's crazy! It's like he's giving me his Pikachu!
Pikachu thought the same, wondering if her trainer had lost it.
Suddenly, she remembered those five people and figured it out.
Maybe he's picked up some of their stupid personality?
If that were the case, it would be dangerous. Just because she might not like her trainer doesn't mean she would let him be infected by the stupidity of those people.
Being ordered around by an idiot was no different from hell!
Pikachu was about to jump down and return to Red, but she noticed something was off.
Red did too, he heard many birds chirping above him, and they were heading towards him.
Pikachu's mouth dropped open because the flock in front of her was Spearow, and there were a lot of them!
Red suddenly had a bad feeling and started running at full speed.
He ran past the orange-haired girl, leaving her confused and then terrified as she looked back.
"WHAT THE HECK IS THAT???"
She quickly pedaled with force, speeding up so much that Pikachu almost fell off if she hadn't held on.
Pikachu looked at the Spearow flock, sensing something wrong with these birds.
Their eyes were red, and a dark aura surrounded them.
A shiver ran down her spine!
Red was running at an incredible speed, so fast that the bike couldn't keep up.
"HOW ARE YOU RUNNING SO FAST?? THIS IS SO ILLOGICAL!!"
The Spearow began to speed up as well, starting to gather energy in their beaks.
The girl was startled when she saw what the Spearow were about to do.
"Shadow Ball?? But Spearow are just Normal/Flying-type Pokémon!!"
Before she could finish her sentence, they fired at her.
Red immediately slowed down, grabbed both the girl and Pikachu off the bike, and ran at full speed.
A barrage of Shadow Balls shot directly at the bicycle, blowing it to pieces.
"MY BIKE!!"
The orange-haired girl was almost in tears, but Red had no time for sympathy.
Besides, she was too heavy!!
"DID YOU JUST THINK SOMETHING ABOUT ME?!"
Even in a dangerous situation, the girl's instincts were sharp.
Suddenly, his foot slipped.
"AGH!"
Because of the rain, the ground was wet and soft, making the road extremely slippery.
Red got up, his clothes now dirty, but that didn't matter.
He saw that Pikachu was very close to being within range of the problematic Spearow.
They began using another move, their wings glowing as they flew closer to attack Pikachu.
Pikachu tried to stand up, her eyes filled with fear as she looked at the approaching Spearow.
Red saw the fear in Pikachu's eyes, and his instincts kicked all his senses into high gear.
He stood up and ran at full speed toward them.
Pikachu closed her eyes, bracing herself for the Spearow's attack.
But... nothing happened.
Confused, she opened her eyes and saw Red shielding her, taking the hits instead.
The flock of birds attacked relentlessly, tearing his clothes to shreds, and even causing a bit of blood to spill.
Red held Pikachu close and, with all his strength, threw her toward the orange-haired girl, who had just gotten up.
Startled, the girl caught Pikachu, then looked at Red, who was being ruthlessly beaten.
Pikachu looked at Red and remembered her first trainer.
She used to be a Pichu that got separated from her kind.
Thanks to friendship, she bonded with other Pokémon, which eventually led her to evolve into a Pikachu.
But, unfortunately, she was captured by a trainer.
Since being caught by that trainer, she was always forced to do whatever he said.
And every time a Raichu appeared on TV, he would always tell her that she should evolve for her own good and constantly said that a Pokémon that doesn't evolve is useless.
After many days of being tormented and forced to follow his orders, she began to hate humans.
And when he obtained a Thunder Stone, she found only one way to escape him: destroying her Pokéball.
While he was distracted, she shocked him with all her might and took the opportunity to destroy the Pokéball that imprisoned her.
After escaping, she was nearly exhausted.
At that moment, she believed that humans were the ones who had caused her so much pain.
Yet why?
Why is this person so dumb?!
He doesn't act logically at all, and that gentle, yet annoyingly concerned look in his eyes always finds her!
She didn't understand! Why are his eyes so pure? Why doesn't he take advantage of me??
Why... would he sacrifice himself for me?
The more she watched Red being tormented, the more her pain grew.
Along with her anger.
And that anger was directed at the Spearow!
Breaking free from the girl's grasp, Pikachu leaped into the flock of Spearow that were hurting her trainer.
Dark clouds began to form, filled with terrible electricity.
Even the ground began to charge with electricity.
The electric energy surrounding Pikachu's body became so intense that even the Spearow sensed something was wrong.
They turned their focus on Pikachu, changing their attack direction.
Thousands of Spearow targeted Pikachu.
"PIKA—"
Pikachu's body absorbed all the surrounding electricity.
She was preparing for the most devastating attack.
"CHUUUUUUUUUU!!!"
In an instant, all the Spearow were electrocuted, with many dropping dead on the spot.
The dark aura dissipated completely.
A large crater was left in the ground.
The charred remains of many Spearow fell to the ground.
Surprisingly, Red was safe (plot armor will never break).
Pikachu lay next to Red, both exhausted and saddened.
She felt grateful.
Grateful that, finally, she had found someone she could trust.
The traumas of the past no longer mattered.
Because from now on, this would be the trainer she would protect at all costs.
She clutched Red's sleeve, who was unconscious, as if she were a child guarding her father.
The orange-haired girl was nearly in shock as she witnessed the terrifying power of Pikachu.
She quickly approached the spot where Red and Pikachu lay together, surrounded by the bodies of Spearow.
It was quite rare for Pokémon to die since they were inherently hard to kill.
Even when struck by a much stronger Pokémon, they would usually just faint.
But this Pikachu... it had killed every single Spearow here.
'No! Someone is injured, I can't think about this anymore!'
She picked up Red along with Pikachu and headed toward a nearby cave.