Hiding Charlie

[PancaKe]

Well, I was going through my old files on my old old old computer; and came across this four chapter story that I think I might finish. It was posted years and years ago under... I think Charlie? or A Hidden Innocence? Or something. Either way, I can't remember- thats how long ago it was.

But; yeah... I guess I don't know what I was doing or am doing with this fic, so bear with me! I'll repost the chapters while I work on the next one. Ummmmm yeah. Anything else I should write? I don't know. Here's part one.

Part One

“What’s going on?” My eyes felt heavy, and it was hard to see in the darkness. My head throbbed as though I had been hit with something. Adjusting to the lack of light, I could make out various shadows moving around me. Trying to see what they were, I sat up.

Suddenly, lights flooded the area. Not expecting this, I was temporarily blind. Adjusting again, many different people with long white coats walked around me. Some held clipboards; others had their hands in the pockets. One woman wore thick glasses. They kept walking. Their mouths were moving, but I couldn’t hear any sound.

Come to think of it, I felt kind of funny. I tried to stand up, but I bumped my head hard on an invisible force. Reaching out, I felt the glass walls surrounding me, little holes in certain areas, probably to let air in. This was the first time I had began to feel scared.

Looking down at me, I discovered that the clothes I last remember being in had disappeared. Where had my pajamas gone? My favorite pajamas with the bunnies and bears weren’t there, and mum told me that clothes just don’t disappear.

I began to panic, and put my hands on my cheeks. Someone had stuck needles with tubes in my wrists, held by what looked a lot like sticky tape. The tubes were put through the glass box that I was in, and connected to different hanging bags that had different colored water in them.

Something was in my head too. I could just feel it now. I raised my hand and ran my fingers along part of my skull, and gasped as I found part of my hair missing. What was going on? There were things that felt like round band-aids, but they had wires coming out of them, and there were little tiny things that were sharp and stuck in there as well. I think they were needles.

I didn’t like being boxed up in a glass box. I didn’t know where I was, or who these people were around me. I was cold and frightened, and I felt alone. Angry, I hit the side of the box, thinking I could break it. The glass shook, and my hand stung. I nursed my hand close to my chest.

“She is making movements,” one of the people in the long coats said. The ones with the clipboards scribbled down notes, and one went over to a computer.

“Her reaction levels are high,” he called from behind the computer screen. “Attack levels are rising steadily, though not high enough to escape just as yet. Heart rate is faster than usual, but should be fine.”

“That’s good,” another one said, walking in the room. All of the people in coats turned to look at this man. He was tall, and the hair on his head was silvery gray, and wore the same clothes as everybody else.

“Oak. She has awakened,” the woman with the glasses told him.

He nodded. “Good, good,” he replied. “How long?”

“About five minutes,” the one with the clipboard answered.

What was going on? Who were they talking about?

The new man walked over to me, and bent down to be at my eye level. “Hello,” he said, in a baby voice. “Did you have a nice sleep?”

I opened my mouth to say something back, but too many questions were running through my mind. I couldn’t decide which to ask, so my mouth remained open, yet silent.

“Levels are down, everything is stable,” the person from the computer called.

“What’s the matter?” the man continued to ask, his voice becoming incredibly babyish.

“I’m not a baby,” I snapped, frowning.

“Increased heart rate, slightly.”

The man nodded again. He seemed to nod a lot. “Do you know what’s going on then?” he asked, this time normally. “Do you know where you are?”

I shook my head.

“Do you know what you are?” he asked.

What kind of question was that?

“Well then,” he said, straightening up, and facing the others, who had been furiously scribbling on their clipboards. “We will have to take the Charlie-Delta to the next level of testing, now that she is conscious.”

What was a Charlie-Delta? What did conscious mean? Whatever it was, I didn’t think it was good.






{}{}{}{}

“What’s happening?”

“She’s unstable!”

Voices were yelling everywhere. The lights were flickering, and dimming every moment. I was scared and confused. I didn’t know what was happening around me. Tears rolled down my face as I curled up, confused.

The people in coats, doctors as they had told me, ran around like crazy people. I don’t know if it was my fault or not. It probably was. They said that experiments could go wrong.

“Charlie-Delta,” the man with the gray hair called out to me. “Calm down!” He turned around from where he was standing, and approached me, holding the biggest needle I had ever seen in my life.

I shut my eyes tight and screamed, lashing out around me.

The whole room shook, and even with my eyes closed, I felt I had gone blind. The brightness that surrounded me was brighter than anything I had ever seen, and the heat that erupted from nowhere felt as if it would make me melt.

I stood up, and for the first time in my life, as I could remember it, broke out the glass crib of my own will. Opening my eyes slowly, the light had died down but flames rose high and the room filled with smoke. The doctors were running around still, this time, gathering papers and computer discs and important folders.

I turned and ran. Stopping to look back, the whole building was on fire. Too scared to do anything about it, I ran away.





{}{}{}{}

What is wrong with me?

Their eyes followed me, as I limped through their streets. The explosion had left me weak, injured, in need of help. They simply stared at me, standing back, as far away as possible. I didn’t understand what was wrong, because I had survived the incident.

The wires and tubes trailed after me as I made my way through. A few needles were still in place, in my wrist, in the sides of my head. I was used to them now, after many months, and couldn’t see what was so different about them. Didn’t lots of people get tested on?

That’s what they told me. They told me that it was perfectly normal, that everybody at some point in their life went through what I went through. They told me it was just my turn, and that others would get theirs, and others already had.

So why were they staring?

“Mummy, look at her,” a little boy cried, pointing his finger at me. I didn’t stop my pace. “She’s hurt!”

“Don’t look at her!” his mother shrieked. “Don’t go near her! She’s dangerous! She’s part of their experiment.”

I turned and looked at the small boy. His mother had her head turned away, trying to avoid my eye contact. I took a step towards the small boy, my bare feet dragging along the tar of the road. The boy stepped off the curb, one small step towards me, nervous.

I liked the striped shirt he wore. I had never seen one like it before. They always wore long white coats, and dark pants, and nothing else. His hair was lighter than any of the people’s hair I had seen in the place.

I liked his eyes the best. They were bright, chocolate brown, and they sparkled. They looked shiny and watery. I stared at them for a long time.

“You’re not wearing any clothes,” the boy told me, pointing. He was only a little bit taller than me.

“I don’t have any,” I answered, a bit embarrassed.

“Your hair is missing,” he told me, pointing to the part of my head where the needles were. “And you have pins in your head.”

“They’re needles,” I replied. “They told me they would make me stronger. That’s what they are for.”

The boy nodded.

His mother turned around and shrieked, seeing him so close to me. “Jimmy!” she screeched. She ran over and grabbed him in one arm, lifting him up. Pointing at me, she looked angry. “You.” She couldn’t seem to make her words come out properly; she kept on stopping and starting. “You, monster, you! Go! Get away from my son! Get away from me! You filthy creature, you!”

I stared up at her, confused. Was she calling me a monster? I didn’t think that was good.

“Go on! Get! Or… Or… Or I’ll call the police!” she continued screaming.

I looked at the boy. He looked worried. He moved his mouth, and I heard him whisper. “Run. The police will take you away. Run!”

I turned around, and running, left the boy and the screaming woman.





{}{}{}{}

The man known as Oak slammed his fist down on the desk. “I can’t believe this!” he cried, his face smoky and covered in ashes. “Who knows what could happen now? The whole damned country is at risk! What on earth will the bloody League say?”

“I think you’re overreacting,” the woman with the thick glasses said quietly, looking over at Oak from her seat in the corner.

Oak sank into his leather office chair, exhausted and defeated. “Ivy, dear Ivy, who knows what the League will think of this business. But if the four that are the league now, are still the league once Charlie-Delta matures, you and I will have to hide ourselves.”

Ivy sighed. “Oak, it will not be like that.” She pushed her sliding glasses up her nose. “For starters, we both know that that boy of yours, Ash, will easily defeat the league and knock out the current champion. Lance and Agatha are old and weary now; they are no threat to us. The youngest of the league is Lorelei, and for goodness sakes, that woman is almost twice my age. We do not have a young league on our hands to deal with. By the time this problem arises, we will not be dealing with the same people, but with a bunch of children who will listen to everything and anything we tell them, simply because we happen to be Professors.”

Oak laughed weakly at the thought. “True, how true,” he grinned. “But Ash is not stupid, he may not know much, but once he gets his nose into something, then he gets himself too far in. I would hate to hurt that boy.”

“You won’t have to,” Ivy replied. “After all, nobody is going to remember what has happened. By the time something flares up, you and I can just convince everybody that it’s a psychic pokemon phenomenon, or something along those lines. And what if nothing even flares up? Who knows? That could’ve been all that Charlie-Delta had in her?”

“The question is not what if something DOESN’T happen but what if something DOES,” Oak re-enforced. “We need to be prepared in case something does happen, not incase nothing does.”

“And so how do you propose we prepare for this, Mister Oak?” Ivy asked him, raising an eyebrow.

“We need to get after Charlie-Delta, obviously.” Oak sighed. “And it’s not going to be easy. With the majority of files destroyed, we have no idea of the capabilities she has. Because of this, we need to know what her capabilities are, and how to terminate them if anything arises.”

“By terminate do you mean…”

“It’s either that, or the league after us. And I don’t know which you would prefer, but if it’s the League then you can go and ‘fess up now.”








{}{}{}{}

I walked along, not looking back. Over the hills, over the streams, around towns and not through them. From what had happened in the last town, I had this vague idea that people would be scared of me, even though I didn’t think anything was wrong with me.

I followed the water. It was cool, and when I was thirsty I could drink it. And if it wasn’t too deep, I could put my feet in it when they were hot and tired. If it was too deep, I could fall in, so I had to be very careful. I didn’t know if I could swim or not, but I didn’t want to fall in.

The trees were nice and tall and dark green. I liked the way the tops of the trees moved backwards and then forwards. They looked like they would fall over. It was scary, watching them, but exciting. One minute they would be falling, straight for you, and it would look as if you would be squashed by a giant tree, and then the next minute, they would swing back in the other direction. I could stay and watch the trees all day.

My legs were sore and tired. I don’t know how long I had been walking for, but it had been a long while. I couldn’t see the city, or any cities or towns, or houses or people. I felt safer when there were no people around, staring at me, yelling at me, saying I was a monster and saying that I would be taken away by the police. I didn’t want to be taken away.

I sat down on the grass next to the water. I was tired. I sat close enough to dip my naked toes into the cool stream, but not too close. I really didn’t want to fall in.
My body was naked. I still had the needles in my arm and the things in my forehead. Should I take them out or should I leave them in?

The doctor had said to leave them in. They were helping me, they were going to make me stronger. I wanted to be stronger. The fire scared me. I thought I might die in that fire. It was so hot, and I was so little. If I was bigger and stronger, I wouldn’t have had to be scared of the fire.

I lay down on my back, and watched the trees. They were falling, falling, falling, and then off they went! Over to the other side! I giggled as I watched the dizzy trees, swaying. Watching the trees, my tiredness took over me, and I fell asleep happily.






{}{}{}{}

“Why are you naked, little girl?”

I didn’t know how long I had been asleep, but the sound of this person’s voice woke me up. I opened my eyes, and forgot where I was for a moment. Then I remembered. The stream, the trees, away from people. I didn’t know who had said those words, so I turned around to see, and stared at the little creature in front of me, speechless.

“What are you?” I finally asked, trying to sound like a grown up.

“I’m Ricochet,” the creature answered. “I’m a Caterpie. What are you?”

I stared at the little Caterpie in front of me. I had never seen something like this. It was small, and green, and if you closed your eyes a little bit, it looked like it was hiding in the grass. It had a small thing sticking up on its head, and two big round eyes that stared at me.

“What are you?” Ricochet repeated.

“I don’t know,” I answered, forgetting all about sounding grown up. I had no idea what I was. “I think I’m a little girl, but I don’t know.”

“What happened to all your clothes?” Ricochet asked, his eyes looking softer somehow.

“I don’t remember,” I replied, trying to think. I didn’t even realize I was talking. “I don’t remember what happened to them. I woke up, and I was in a box and I had no clothes and…”

“Is that where you got the wires and needles from?” Ricochet questioned, pointing with the thing on his head to my arm.

I nodded.

“I think you need some clothes,” Ricochet announced. “You’ll freeze, being out here. Don’t you have parents? Or a home?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know.”

Ricochet sighed. “We’ll get you some clothes. I guess you’ll be staying out here for a while then, is that right?” I shrugged my shoulders again. “Do you have a name, girl? You know I’m Ricochet, right?”

I nodded.

“Do you have a name?” Ricochet asked.

“I don’t remember.”

“Did they call you anything at the place where you lost your clothes?” Ricochet asked.

I frowned, trying to remember. “They called me Charlie.”

~fin~

[PancaKe]

Part Three

“So, Oak, you abandoned the Charlie-Delta Experiment?”

Oak nodded, and sighed.

“Did this have anything to do with the fire and the explosion of the lab out towards the North of New Bark?”

Oak nodded once more.

“Do you want to finish the story, or would you like me to keep on going?”

Ivy looked up at this chance to defend their work, but let Oak do the talking.

“Lance, you see, what happened was… was… something went wrong, as far as I know. Something went wrong with the Charlie-Delta. Her levels were all over the place, something to do with reactions and her own moods.”

“What ever happened to this Charlie-Delta you talk of?” Lance asked patiently.

Ivy’s feet fidgeted. Oak paused. “We do not know.”

“So there is an ‘experiment’ out there in Johto, somewhat capable of making explosions and destroying cities if it likes, and you just sit here and tell me after twelve years that you do not know,” Lance summed up, staring at them.

Oak nodded.

“Why on earth did you try to hide it?” Lance sighed, throwing his hands up in the air. “Surely you would have known that we would find out!”

“This Charlie-Delta could have easily used up all of the experimental energy she had absorbed in that one blast,” Ivy piped up. “We were not overly concerned with its well being because we had seen that the experiment was not working, and when an experiment does not work, then it is no use. Do you not agree?”

“No,” Lance replied. “I don’t. You have no certainty on that piece of information; therefore you cannot rely on it. You need to find this missing experiment, and you need to either destroy it, or remove the artificial elements from its body. Now, you know how I feel about human termination, don’t you?”

“What if we can’t remove what’s in it?” Oak asked.

“Oak, you told me this yourself years ago,” Ivy snapped. “Would you shut up?”

“You two used to be so nice,” Lance sighed. “Before we put you in charge of these labs, and gave you both promotions, instead of you running your own little Pokemon laboratories that gave out pokemon. We have people like Elm, Tracy and Birch to do that now, and in Pallet, Joy. I am actually rather sorry we promoted you two so many years ago. It has turned you into ravaging power-hungry heartless beings.”

“What about you?” Ivy asked. “Once upon a time I knew a Lance who was passionate about his dragons and cared for them with all his heart, and wasn’t wrapped up in treating the League as the government.”

“The League is the government now,” Lance replied. “And I do care for my dragons. They are my world. Whereas your world, what does it consist of? Experimenting dangerous things on humans. Not even pokemon testing?”

“How on earth could we have tested it on a pokemon? Damnit,” Oak retorted. “This is pathetic.”

“So, are you going to sit around my office all day, or are you going to start searching for Charlie-Delta?” Lance asked. “You’re quite welcome to stay here, but I’m off to go spend some time with my dragons. Good bye.”




{}{}{}{}

“Well, you handled that quite interestingly,” the Pidgey commented. “You can have my approval. I happened to like the game of tug-of-war the best. Amusing, really.”

Jupiter scowled. “How come you didn’t fly off with all the other Pidgey?” he questioned.

The Pidgey shrugged. “No idea really. I didn’t really want to, for starters. I mean, if a catcher wants to catch and train a pokemon, I wouldn’t mind having ago. I’ve been free for long enough. Besides, I think being in your position would be fun. Getting to travel the world, live in luxury compared to the free ones. So what, you have to fight? It’s like a sport, and it’s not as if you don’t have to fight when you’re free anyway. Half the time you spend fighting to stay free.”

Jupiter nodded. “I don’t really know how it is though,” he replied. “I mean, after all, I was hatched inside a breeding center or something. Raised there with a bunch of different pokemon. There was so much fighting going on, you had to make yourself stand out to be chosen. That’s why I’m so damn dramatic. It just stuck, and it’s who I am.”

“Yeah, you could easily change that though,” the Pidgey replied. “It’s not as if you have to be dramatic in every situation.”

“True,” Jupiter nodded. Silence fell over the two. Hoots were heard from the Hoot-Hoot flying above, and screeches from the Zubat soaring through the night sky. James rolled over in his sleeping bag, tossing in his sleep. Jupiter and the Pidgey looked over at him, asleep by the fire.

“Fire’s dying,” the Pidgey pointed out. Jupiter sighed and stuck his tail in the flames. The fire burnt slightly higher. “You’re going to need firewood,” the Pidgey replied.

Jupiter rolled his eyes and got to his feet. He grabbed a log from the small pile in the corner, and rolled it into the flames, and added his own tail for firepower. The small campfire began to burn brighter.

“What is your name, anyway?” Jupiter asked the Pidgey. “Seeing you’ve been around here for a few hours, at least.”

“Jasper,” she replied. “Jasper.”

“Weird name for a boy,” Jupiter shrugged.

Jasper frowned. “Would be,” she commented icily. “Considering that I am female.”

Jupiter shrugged. “Weirder name for a girl.”

“And Jupiter’s not out of the ordinary at all,” Jasper retorted.

“Nope,” Jupiter answered. He yawned loudly. “Damn, I’m so tired.”

“I thought you slept enough through dinner,” Jasper grinned.

“Yeah, but I’m so hungry as well,” Jupiter replied. “Considering somebody was allowed to take part of my portion of food.”

“Well you didn’t want me to starve, did you?”

“No, but it seems you wanted me too.”

“Get over it, I saved you some food.”

“Yeah, okay, I’m over it.”

The two pokemon sighed. Jupiter lay back, and stared up at the starry sky. Jasper flapped her wings and roosted next to Jupiter’s head. They were silent for a while, listening to the slow crackling of the campfire, and listening to James’s light breathing.

“You’re going to be really tired tomorrow,” Jasper pointed out.

“I know,” Jupiter sighed. He looked up at Jasper. “What’s going to happen to you tomorrow? Like, where are you going to go?”

Jasper shrugged. “I’ve got no idea. I’ll probably just fly around, look out for some other catchers. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get caught. Maybe I’ll just survive and wait until the rest of the Pidgey flock back.”

Jupiter nodded. “If that’s what you want to do,” he replied.

“Yeah,” Jasper replied quietly, staring up at the trees. The same trees, which had once nested her entire flock, were now empty, as they moved north away from the catchers.

“You know what would be pretty cool,” Jupiter continued, for the moment, lost in his own world. “If you tagged along with us.”

Jupiter had Jasper’s full attention.

“I mean, you’re not a bad pokemon,” Jupiter kept talking. “You could’ve helped me with the battle-”

“But you did ask me to watch the back pack,” Jasper interrupted.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Jupiter said dryly. “No, but seriously, I don’t see there to be any reason why you wouldn’t be allowed to come along. You want to battle, you want this so called ‘high-life’ then you can come and have it. James is so eager to catch pokemon I’m surprised he hasn’t asked me to battle and catch you already.”

“You wouldn’t have to,” Jasper shrugged. “When he says ‘Go Jupiter! Battle that Pidgey!’ grab a pokeball and throw it. Just as long as you actually plan on releasing me so that I can still be flying around and things like that. It’d work perfectly.”

“I could do it now!” Jupiter cried, sitting up.

“Lie back down, dingus,” Jasper told him. “You couldn’t do it now because it would be a total shock to James, and you’d be stealing half the fun off him. Wait until morning, at least.”

Jupiter lay back down. “I’m tired. Good night Jasper.”

Jasper chuckled. “Good night, Jupiter,” she replied, before burying her head beneath her wing.



{}{}{}{}

“Hey, look! A Pidgey!” James cried, pointing at Jasper.

Jupiter and Jasper rolled their eyes. Jupiter pulled a pokeball from James’s belt, and rolled it at Jasper, who jumped inside. James watched on, stunned, as Jasper allowed herself to be captured.

The ball stopped rolling and shaking, and lay still on the ground. “Charmander!” Jupiter cried, jumping up and posing.

“How did you do that…” James asked, flabbergasted.

Jupiter smiled, showing off his rather large mouth and many teeth. He posed, sticking his chest out and placing his hands on his hips. The pokeball behind them shook, and popped open, Jasper returning to the world in a flash of red.

“So, I guess you caught my first pokemon…” James commented, trailing off. He shrugged and picked up his backpack. “Oh well, dad told me this would be an interesting ride.”

“Char,” Jupiter nodded. Jasper chirped, as she flapped up into the air and flew around James’s head.

“Should we give it a name?” James asked Jupiter.

Jupiter looked at Jasper, and laughed. Jasper chuckled from in the air.

“What? What are you laughing at?” James asked, paranoid. “Is there something on my face? Is my shirt on backwards? Do I smell or something?” His voice rose with each question, as he looked back and forward between pokemon.

“Char, charmander, char, mander manderchar,” Jupiter desperately tried to explain to James.

“What?” James asked, blank.

“Charmander char,” Jupiter repeated.

“I don’t understand,” James replied.

“CHARMANDER CHAR MANDER MANDERCHAR!” Jupiter roared, closing his eyes and yelling as loud as he could.

James and Jasper were quiet for a moment. “Is there something on my face?” James asked slowly.

“Charmander!” Jupiter sighed, turning around and walking off. Jasper shrugged and flapped off after him. James couldn’t believe this, as he walked off after his pokemon. It was only his second day, and his first pokemon, what was supposed to be his partner in training, was already fighting with him and walking off with his newest captured pokemon.

How on earth was he supposed to bond with his pokemon after catching one so quickly? Maybe he should have thought harder, instead of catching a pokemon straight off the bat, and forgetting about bonding and becoming friends with his pokemon. Yeah, sure, new trainers usually caught newbie pokemon, and then bragged about how many they had after a day, but surely they bonded also? How did they do it?

“What?” James stopped, and looked down. Jupiter used a rather long stick he was holding to poke him in the side, and Jasper had taken seat on James’s shoulder. “What’s up?”

Jupiter placed the stick in the dirt, and began to make out letters. James frowned, trying to make out the word. “J…A… What’s this, Jupiter?” Jupiter pointed to Jasper with the stick, then continued his writing. “You want me to name the bird, James?” James asked, clueless. “Ow!” He rubbed his leg in pain where the stick had struck. Jupiter continued making letters.

“J…A…P…S…R…” James read slowly. Jupiter frowned and looked at what he wrote. “Japser?” James asked.

Jupiter quickly stomped on the P and the S and redrew them, this time switching them around.

“Jasper!” James exclaimed. Jupiter sighed and fell on his back, exhausted, still holding the stick. Jasper chirped in James’s ear happily.

“I’m sorry about that,” James apologized to Jasper, stepping over Jupiter and continuing down the path. “I didn’t realize you already had a name.”

Jasper shrugged and chirped. Jupiter ran after them, swinging the stick in all directions as he ran.

James looked at his watch. “We should reach Cherrygrove about lunch time today, if all goes well. That’s if we don’t get slowed down by anything.”



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“Hey! Do you have pokemon?”

James paused as a younger boy ran up to him, followed closely by a younger girl. They looked like they couldn’t have been any older than twelve, and stared up at him with large inquisitive eyes.

Jupiter cleared his throat, and leant on the stick. Jasper chuckled. What an obvious question. But he was a new trainer, and being so young, they were all expected to act this way until they reached the likes of at least Azalea.

“Yeah…” James answered slowly.

The girl jumped in. “Oh! What a cute Charmander!” She bent down to be eye level with Jupiter, who raised an eyebrow as he leant upon his stick. “You’re so gorgeous! Want to trade him for my Rattata?”

Jupiter’s eyes grew, as he lifted up his stick and mock stabbed himself in the chest. He looked up at James and shook his head, then looked at the girl, and hit her across the head with the stick.

“Jupiter!” James scolded, making a mental note to congratulate Jupiter on such a well placed hit later. “Don’t hit strangers.”

“I’m Bobby and this is Jessie,” Bobby introduced. “Say, do you want to have a pokemon battle?”

“We’ve really got to get to Cherrygrove…” James began. Jupiter whacked him around the leg with his stick. “But I’m sure we could work out a two on two if you wanted.”

“Sure!” Bobby cried. “Winner gets $15, okay?”

“We’re competing for money?” James asked. “Aren’t we supposed to do that with an official trainer with us or something?”

“If I win you give me $15,” Bobby repeated.

“No,” James said. “I need that money for food.”

“Think you’re going to lose, do you?” Jessie taunted, glaring at him and Jupiter, who she now deemed as evil, rather than cute.

“Fine, whatever,” James sighed. “Go on, Jupiter.”

Jupiter carried his stick proudly and stood in between Bobby and James. Bobby took steps backwards, creating a space for battle. “You’ll never win against… Ultimo!” The pokeball went flying through the air, and landed on the floor. With a popping, it opened up, and a Chikorita appeared.

James tried not to laugh. Jasper did not succeed, and burst out in a mixture of chirping and laughing. The Chikorita was the smallest thing that they had ever seen, and looked like it couldn’t hurt a fly.

“Ultimo!” Bobby cried. “Use Tackle attack!”

Ultimo, the tiny Chikorita began to charge at Jupiter, tiny head down, running as fast as its stumpy legs would carry it. Jupiter yawned, and stepped aside at the last minute, leaving the stick in the way. Ultimo tripped over the stick and went sliding along the path, creating a trail of dust.

“Hey! You can’t do that!” Bobby yelled.

James shrugged. “I didn’t, Jupiter did. And besides, there’s no rule that pokemon can’t hold items.” Jasper continued to laugh at the size of Ultimo.

Jessie glared at them.

“Ultimo! Use…use Growl!” Bobby commanded.

“Hey, Jupiter,” James began.

“Char charmander mander char!” Jupiter yelled back at James. James closed his mouth and stared, as Jupiter turned back around and took matters into his own hands. Ultimo opened its mouth and growled a high-pitched growl at Jupiter. Jupiter casually walked towards Ultimo, who took a step back and growled again.

Jupiter towered over the Chikorita, and looked down at it. Ultimo was absolutely puny compared to the Charmander.

“Go Jupiter!” James cheered. “Now! While you can, use scratch and finish this pokemon off!”

Jupiter drew back his claws, and watched the expression change on Ultimo’s face. It had at first been determination, and a want to fight. Now it looked petrified. It looked up at Jupiter with pleading eyes, begging Jupiter not to hurt it. Ultimo knew it had no chance of standing up against Jupiter.

Jupiter stood there, staring down at Ultimo, one hand clutching the stick, the other hand in the air, claws gleaming in the sun.

“What’s the matter, Jupiter?” James asked.

Jupiter didn’t know whether to win for James, or give Ultimo what it was asking for. He didn’t know how James would react, but he didn’t see the sense in bashing up this little pokemon when, in reality, it had never done anything to hurt him. In fact, it had never seen him before.

Lowering his hand, Jupiter turned and walked away from a surprised Ultimo.

“Now, Ultimo! While his back is turned!” Jupiter heard Bobby cry. The tiny Chikorita charged towards Jupiter, head lowered, ready to jump up and tackle.

Jupiter whipped around, his claws extended, and slashed through the air. Ultimo was knocked across the battle area, and landed on the ground, skidding through the dirt and grass.

“Charmander, char charmander,” Jupiter hissed at Ultimo.

Jasper gasped.

“Charmander,” Jupiter spat, before turning and walking off to James. He looked up at Jasper, and nodded.

Without James saying anything, Jasper flew off and landed, ready to fight. Bobby recalled Ultimo, without saying anything, and threw out his second pokeball. “Well, here we go, Rage-machine!”

Jasper raised an eyebrow as a Rattata appeared out the ball. Not much of a rage-machine. Jasper decided to get this over and done with quickly. She knew Jupiter was hungry, and they really just wanted to get to Cherrygrove.

Flying low, a cloud of dust began to blow up from the ground, into Rage-machine’s face. Coughing and spluttering, the Rattata closed its eyes, and tried to run out of the dirt and dust. He blinked a few times, and then found himself rolling in the dirt as Jasper blew him over. He got up and jumped, attempting to tackle Jasper. Jasper flew up higher than Rage-machine could reach, and then blew him away again with a gust of wind.

“This isn’t fair!” Bobby cried. “You’re cheating!”

James rolled his eyes. “If you can’t handle losing, then you shouldn’t take the challenge,” he replied simply, as Jasper created a final gust of wind that carried Rage-machine into the side of a tree. Jasper flew back to James, and rested on his shoulder.

“You are really horrible!” Jessie cried, as Bobby returned his pokemon. “Why can’t you be nice? You and your stupid Charmander here are both really horrible and mean!”

Jupiter placed a hand over his heart, and let his jaw drop down. Jessie turned around and walked off, her nose high in the air. Bobby followed, running to catch up.

“So much for my $15,” James shrugged, and continued walking.



{}{}{}{}

“Ricochet,” I began. “What happens when the sun sets? Where does it go?”

Ricochet seemed to sigh. “As I said before, it goes around to the other side of the world and gives them daytime. Then when they finish their daytime, it comes around to our side and becomes daytime for us.”

“So they have nighttime now?” I asked.

“Yes,” Ricochet nodded. “You seem to be getting it.” Ricochet passed me a berry. “Here, eat this. You need to be eating. If you don’t eat-”

“I won’t get big and strong,” I finished. “You’ve told me that so many times.”

“It’s true,” Ricochet replied.

“I know,” I sighed. “Why isn’t there better tasting food though?”

“This is all we have out here,” Ricochet answered.

I looked through the trees. “Isn’t there anything on the other side of the trees though?” I asked him. “Wouldn’t there be better berries there to eat? What if there were better berries over through the trees? Why can’t we go and look there for some?”

“Because we have to stay here. Nobody will find you here,” Ricochet replied.

“Is it because the catchers are around?” I asked.

Ricochet seemed relieved for some reason. “Yes, Charlie. It’s because if the catchers see us, they will try and catch us.”

“That’s bad because then they will make us fight and make us do things that we don’t want to do to other pokemon, right? Isn’t fighting and hurting other pokemon a bad thing to do?”

“Only if they’re going to hurt you,” Ricochet answered. “It’s only bad if you hurt them first. But if they’re going to hurt you, then sometimes the only way to stop yourself getting hurt is to hurt them back.”

“So if you were going to hurt me and I hurt you before you did that, would that be wrong?”

“If you knew I was going to hurt you. You can’t just go and hit me because you think I’m going to hurt you.”

“Oh.”

I stayed quiet, thinking about this. There was no wind today, which meant the trees were perfectly still. That was no fun, because there was nothing to watch. For years, it felt like, I had been watching those trees sway backwards and forwards.

I thought it was getting a little bit boring. For ages, it felt like I had been doing the exact same things with Ricochet. Eating, asking questions, and that kind of thing, and it had been like that for ages.

“Ricochet,” I began.

“Yes?”

“What is supposed to happen now?”

Ricochet stopped. For the first time, his eyes changed. It was different, I hadn’t seen him look like this. “What, what do you mean, Charlie?”

“What are we supposed to do now?” I repeated. “We always eat. And we always talk. Is something supposed to happen?”

“What do you mean?” Ricochet sounded… he sounded like he didn’t know. When he talked, he sounded like he knew what he was saying before. Now he didn’t.

“Am I going to grow up and stay here? What happens when we grow up?”

Ricochet sighed. “I don’t know how to answer that,” he replied. “I don’t know what you want to hear. But we can’t leave here now. I want you to promise you wont leave. Not while the catchers are around. Please.”

“I wouldn’t leave,” I answered. “Why would I? Where would I go?”

Ricochet sighed, this time a happy sigh. “Thank you.” He looked at me. “Sometimes, I get worried about you.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re so innocent, and you’re so accepting. You question why things happen, and then you’re happy with any answer. You just take things that come your way, and you’re happy with what you have.” He paused. “You never have asked about what happens next. You’ve always liked what’s happening now, and been to busy trying to understand that, before wondering what happens next.”

I nodded. What was he trying to tell me?

“Now, I’m scared for you, because now, you’re growing up. When you’re grown up, I don’t think I can protect you any more. That upsets me, Charlie.”

So Ricochet was upset with me? But what did I do wrong? I didn’t know what was happening, or what he was talking about.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I won’t do it again.”

Ricochet chuckled sadly. “It’s okay, Charlie,” he smiled. “This isn’t your fault.”

“But you’re upset with me.”

Ricochet looked up at the sky. The wind had started to blow gently, moving the trees slightly back and forward. “There are some things in life, Charlie, that upset us. These things are just things that happen in life, that we can’t stop. It’s not our fault they happen, but they make us sad. Do you understand that now?”

No.

“A little bit.”

“It’s okay, Charlie,” Ricochet told me. “What ever happens, I’ll never leave you.”

“I’ll never leave you either,” I replied. It seemed like the right thing to say.

~fin~

[Lune the Guardian]

I really like this. I'm kind of annoyed that I haven't read any of your stuff sooner. You have a really nice writing voice that makes it easy to relate to the characters.

Ricochet amazes me. A super intelligent Caterpie, hahah. Charlie's story is really sad. She doesn't know why all these bad things are being done to her, she doesn't know why she's treated like a monster, she feels upset that Ricochet is upset even though he tells her that it's nobody's fault. She doesn't really understand much even though she accepts what she's told, she's so innocent. I kind of worry about her. I also don't know what's supposed to happen if she gets "unstable" like the scientists are so worried about.

I don't necessarily like using formerly established characters, but I kind of like how old school this is Brings back memories, gosh. The way Lance tells off Oak and Ivy is great (who is Ivy by the way? I don't remember her).

Oh, and poor Jasper! Getting mistaken for a male by Jupiter. >_> You'd think he'd be a little more observant. XD

I hope you keep writing this.

[PancaKe]

Thanks so much for that Lune! I had written these chapters years ago; and then picked the story up again a few months ago and felt like writing some more. It had been a bit discoraging posting without any readers; so the fact that you read made me smile so much. I bet clients who come into the office will wonder why I'm smiling. Tee hee hee.

Ivy was actually from the Anime series, when Ash and Misty go around the Orange Islands with Tracy; Ivy is the professor on those islands.

Thanks for reading it!

I'm thinking that I shoudl really post smaller chapter sizes though... ^_^

[PancaKe]

Here's part four... I'm going to try make the parts a bit smaller now. They are actually ridiculously long.

Part Four

“I haven’t had food this good since I left home,” James informed Jupiter and Jasper. Jupiter sat beside James, his stick lying on the ground, eating with his claws. His face was covered in food. Jasper rolled her eyes at him, chirped something, and continued pecking at her food.

“Char,” Jupiter replied, mouth full of food.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” James scolded. Jupiter shrugged and continued to shovel food into his jaws. “What does it matter, I can’t even understand what you say anyway.”

Jasper chuckled, chirping.

“Are you staying the night?”

James looked up and swallowed. “If there’s a spare room, I’d love to. Thanks Joy.”

Joy smiled and walked out of the cafeteria into the lobby. Jupiter glanced up at James and then continued with his food. James sighed and poked what was left on his plate. His appetite had suddenly disappeared, as he stared out the window. The setting sun had left golden streaks through a pink sky, something he used to gaze at all the time when he was younger. His mother used to tell him he had eyes as blue as the sky, which to he would reply “But the sky is pink when the sun goes down!”

Day two, and already it was beginning to feel weird. Was training supposed to be like this? Traveling with two creatures, one an over-dramatic Charmander who wouldn’t battle, the other a laughing chirping Pidgey. Were trainers supposed to be able to understand and communicate with their pokemon? It was just so difficult for James, he didn’t have the slightest idea how to even talk to Jupiter or Jasper.

How on earth could he have a one sided conversation? He’d never done it before. Even worse, how could he have a one sided conversation with a creature that could understand every word he said and could laugh about him behind his back without him knowing? Paranoia filled James’s heart as he sat, watching the sky, thinking his choices over.

He glanced over at his two so-called companions. The companions he couldn’t even talk with. Jupiter was playing around with his stick, obviously bored with what was left of his dinner. Jasper was still pecking at her food, eating slowly, as birds tend to do.

Jasper and Jupiter got on fine. They seemed comfortable to be with each other and around each other, even when it was silent. For James, an awkward feeling rose up in his stomach when it was quiet, as if he should be talking or making contact with his creatures. By his logic, Jupiter had been separated from the other pokemon because he made them feel uncomfortable.

“It’s hopeless,” James muttered, poking at his food with his fork, not intending to finish.

Jupiter and Jasper stopped and looked up. “Char?”

“Never mind,” James replied. He pushed his bowl away and stood up. Turning around, he stopped himself just before hitting into Joy.

“Oh!” Joy exclaimed. She recomposed herself, and smoothed down her uniform from force of habit. “Here’s the key to your room,” she smiled. “It’s not very big, I’m afraid, but Cherrygrove doesn’t usually cater for many guests. If there’s anything else you need, at all, then just come and see me, okay? Ask for Joy at the help desk.”

She continued on. “Hey,” James called. “Aren’t you all called Joy?”

Joy blushed. “Sorry, I forgot,” she apologized. “Ask for Bobby then.”

James stared after her, confused. He looked down at the key in his hand, and at the numbers engraved on its side. Room 4. “Jupiter, Jasper, whenever you’re finished, just head to room 4,” James replied. “I’m going there for a while.” He walked off, leaving Jupiter and Jasper.





{}{}{}{}

“Have you contacted the cities?”

Ivy nodded. “They are keeping their eyes out for any signs. But there is no need for it to be made public as of yet. It’s no evident threat, and has not been for the past twelve years.”

“It could just be lying low,” Oak replied. “What if it’s just waiting to strike?”

“The thing was four freaking years old when we captured it,” Ivy sighed, exasperated. “Why on earth would someone with the inelegance of a four year old wait twelve years before attacking?”

“Because a four year old wouldn’t understand what was happening, and would accept everything,” Oak explained. “Why couldn’t it mature as it grows older, and put the pieces together? Work out what happened for itself?”

Ivy rolled her eyes. “Have you ever had children?”

“Have you?” Oak retorted.

“That’s not the point,” Ivy growled through clenched teeth.

“Then, dearest Ivy, what is?” Oak asked, frustrated.

Ivy took a step towards Oak, fire flashing in her eyes. The door opened suddenly, and a young lab assistant burst in. Oak and Ivy turned to the intruder. “Sorry,” he apologized quickly, gasping for air. “But they’ve just recovered a whole bunch of remains from 12 years ago. Including information on the experiment.”

Silence followed.


{}{}{}{}

“What’s been up with James?” Jupiter asked, subconsciously playing with the stick he held. “He’s just been so, weird lately.”

“Well you’ve known him for two days, and I’ve known him for one,” Jasper replied. “So, this may be who he is. How do you know he’s weird? Considering that we’ve only known him for such a little time we have no idea what he’s really like, or who he really is, so we can’t say that he’s weird because we don’t know his norm.”

Jupiter opened his mouth.

“And besides,” Jasper continued. “He might think we’re weird as well. I thought you were weird when I first saw you fighting against that Sentrent. Although that Sentrent did try and steal something. How come you didn’t fight like that against the stupid trainer we came across? It was as if you didn’t want to fight. Are you one of those pokemon that fights against cruelty to pokemon? I wasn’t sure, because you wouldn’t attack the puny Chikorita at all. You looked as if you wanted to, but then you stopped. I was sitting there, like thinking, what the heck? I was waiting for you to just attack it. I wanted to get it over and done with quickly, because they were so annoying.”

“Are you finished yet?” Jupiter asked.

“Do you want to say something?” Jasper questioned.

Jupiter rolled his eyes. “I was going to say, going back to talking about James, I was going to say that he’s strange because when we first started on this journey thingy, he seemed as if he wanted to get to know me, and be my friend. Now its just, can you feel it too?”

“Yeah,” Jasper agreed.

“It’s like, he doesn’t want to talk to us,” Jupiter continued quickly, before Jasper could rant again. “Do you get the feeling that he feels uncomfortable about being around us?”

“Maybe he’s not sure how to handle it,” Jasper suggested.

“But, he should just talk to us!” Jupiter exclaimed, waving his stick around. “It’s not that hard! You just walk up and go ‘Hi Jupiter how are you?’”

“He can’t understand us,” Jasper reminded Jupiter. “That’s why he says such weird things when we yell at him. He tries to guess what we’re saying. I think he’s a bit scared because he expected more and he’s stuck alone with us and he’s got no idea what to do.”

“He’s stupid,” Jupiter concluded. “Talking is not that hard. You do it all the time.”

“Thanks.”

“But, I think it’s stupid. Maybe we should go knock some sense into him,” Jupiter suggested, patting his palm with his stick.

“No,” Jasper answered. “Just settle down and give him time. Don’t make any brash decisions here.”

Jupiter placed the stick down. “Fine. Whatever. We’ll give him his time. Then I get to knock sense into him.”



{}{}{}{}

It wasn’t interesting any more. I felt as though I knew all I could know about this area, I felt as though I had been everywhere Ricochet allowed me to go, and I had knowledge about everything that I wanted to know about. It wasn’t interesting any more.

Ricochet wouldn’t change his mind. He was very stubborn at times, and every time I asked him to take me somewhere new, so that we could do something new, he refused to. I didn’t know why. Maybe it was because of the catchers. They could catch us.

Maybe being caught would be interesting. Maybe it would be better than living in the same grass field. Ricochet said it was horrible. Being forced to fight every day, being forced to hurt others that are being forced to hurt you. I didn’t know.

Maybe I would just stay where I knew I would be fine.

Ricochet was awfully quiet these days. Maybe he was getting old. He seemed to be talking less and spending more time sitting there in silence. The only time he talked any more was when I asked questions, but I had already asked almost all the questions I could think to ask.

“Ricochet,” I called in a sing-song voice. The caterpie looked up. “Ricochet,” I called again, smiling.

“Yeah, Charlie?” he asked.

“Why don’t you tell me a story?” I suggested, bounding over to him. “It’s been ages since you told me one!”

Ricochet laughed. “It has been a while, hasn’t it?” he replied. “Well, what do you want to hear the story of this time?”

“What about the one about the Miltank and the Tauros?” I begged. “Or the one about the ugly Psyduck?”

“But you’ve heard those so many times,” Ricochet sighed. “And I’m quite bored of them.”

”What can I do then?” I sulked. Everything seemed like such a bother. “I’m so bored.”

Ricochet smiled sadly. He did this a lot lately.



{}{}{}{}

“Do you think we should go back to the room now?” Jupiter asked. He swung his feet and swung the stick. They sat on the picnic table, outside the pokemon center, staring out to Cherrygrove city. There wasn’t much in the city really; it was only a few major shops and houses. But to Jasper and Jupiter, it was massive.

“I don’ t know,” Jasper replied.

“It’s late,” Jupiter pointed out. True, the sun had been set for quite a while, and the sky was a nice shade of midnight blue.

Jasper nodded. “Yeah, perhaps we should head inside,” she agreed. The two creatures walked into the pokemon center. Dinner was well over, only a few late arrivers sat in the cafeteria. A Joy or two were cleaning various tables and mopping floors, making sure the restaurant would look tidy for breakfast.

Jupiter’s stick was still by Jupiter’s side, not having left since earlier that day when they faced Ultimo. It swung backwards and forwards as they marched down the corridor, looking for the room.

James walked past them, heading in the opposite direction. “The room is unlocked,” he called out to them, not breaking his stride.

“See what I told you?” Jupiter exclaimed, raising the stick.

“You’re overreacting,” Jasper replied.

“He, hates, us,” Jupiter explained slowly, grasping his cheeks in frustration.

“You’re being overdramatic,” Jasper replied.

“He wouldn’t even talk to us!” Jupiter cried.

“He said that the room was unlocked,” Jasper answered.

“He doesn’t even want to see us!” Jupiter yelled.

“You’re being a baby,” Jasper commented.

“We should just pack our stuff and leave!” Jupiter declared.

“You’re making brash decisions here,” Jasper sighed. “We don’t even have stuff. Just get inside. We’ll get some sleep tonight or something, and then in the morning, we’ll start fresh. It’s the smart thing to do.”

“I prefer running away,” Jupiter sulked, entering the room.

“That’s just because it was your idea,” Jasper replied. “Can you shut the door behind me? It’s a bit hard to do with feathers.”



{}{}{}{}

“Hey, still bummed out?”

James looked up. Joy was standing next to the table, with two mugs in her hands. She passed one to him, and then sat on the other side of the table, and took a sip of hers.

James shrugged in reply.

“What’s getting you down?” Joy asked.

“I don’t know,” James sighed, looking into his hot chocolate.

“Ah,” Joy smiled, nodding. James frowned at her, confused. “Training isn’t what you expected, is it?”

“Yeah,” James agreed.

“And you’re getting a bit worried, because you’re stuck with two pokemon that you have no idea how to talk to or how to be friends with, right?” Joy continued. James nodded. Joy chuckled. “Every trainer goes through this. It seems to calm down after people hit Violet, but seriously, we’re flooded with trainers like this.”

“So I’m not the only one,” James concluded.

Joy nodded. “Look, tomorrow, just take the day off. We’ll let you stay here for another day, but tomorrow you’re to take the day off from training, and from traveling. Is that understood?”

“Why?”

“Tomorrow, you and your two pokemon are to spend the day together. Take some food, go on a picnic out the back of the center reserve, but just spend the day hanging out with your pokemon, and doing whatever they want. A lot of other trainers have tried it, and it doesn’t transform you into best friends with your pokemon straight away, but it starts the friendship.”

“How will I know what to do with them?” James asked.

“They’ll have a way of letting you know,” Joy smiled.

~fin~

[Lune the Guardian]

What the, how did I miss this chapter? >_< I would have replied sooner but somehow I didn't see it.

I like this line: "His mother used to tell him he had eyes as blue as the sky, which to he would reply 'But the sky is pink when the sun goes down!' " Says a little bit about James Shouldn't it be "to which he would reply" instead of "which to he would reply" though?

I feel bad for James and his pokémon. It's only been one or two days and their relationship is weird and strained. Hopefully the break that they take will help. I wonder if Jupiter would be too angry to soften up, though. I hope nothing happens before then =/ I get the bad feeling that Jupiter will go ahead and do what he's threatening to do.

I feel bad for Ricochet too. It's nearing the time when he and Charlie might drift apart... and he doesn't seem like the type to follow her around if she decides to go exploring. It's annoying how Ivy and Oak refer to her as an "it". Though I'm curious who the messenger meant by "they" when reporting that the old information had been dug up. The goverment? Lance perhaps?

Oh, also, the comment about the identical Joys never gets old. I always find that amusing

[PancaKe]

Hey Karin, thanks for replying!

I hadn't noticed about that little error. I must fix that. Lolz.

Thanks so much for your feedback and input. It's been realy difficult to continue writing this, just various blocks and stuff like that - so its really helpful to hear your suggestions and what you think mihgt happen. At this point, I'm not so sure what the information that "they" found even is - I always just assumed "they" is just people part of the League, but it would be very interesting if it was Lance. Hrmmmmmm. *thinks*

thank you!!!

I'll post more soon