TEEN: Insurgency

[Jewel the Quaxly]

~Chapter X: Negotiation Part II~​

"D-did we...l-lose th-them?" The caterpie barely managed to get out in between breaths. The rest of us didn't respond immediately. I closed my eyes and tried to slow my breathing.

"I think so," the jigglypuff finally responded, looking behind her at the area we had just ran through. She looked back ahead and her face lit up. "And, hey, look, there's the exit!"

"Oh, thank goodness." The pidgeotto let out a sigh of relief. "This leads out toward Pewter City, right?"

"Uh..." The jigglypuff's smile faded. "I...think so...?"

"I swear, if we ended up in Mountain-side..." I muttered under my breath.

The fairy type must have heard me then, because she hurriedly amended her statement. "This is the right path, don't worry." She glanced around the cave for a moment, then her shoulders sagged. "Yeah, yeah, this is it, sorry. You'd be able to tell if we ended up near Mountain-side."

"Well, that's good to hear!" The caterpie said cheerfully. He looked toward me with shining eyes. "Isn't this great, Pikachu?"

I averted my eyes and backed away from the bug type. My thoughts kept drifting back to Ash and the orange haired girl, for reasons I couldn't-

Ugh. Dammit, I am not thinking about this again.

This was all too confusing. Too frustrating to think about and I was too stupid to understand any of it.

No, no, no, stop thinking like that...

Ash wanted me to go. Save myself. He actually wanted me to be selfish. Encouraged it. Downright told me to abandon him, leave him behind...

...he's done the same thing before, hasn't he?

"Pikachu?" The caterpie cocked his head at me. "Are you alright? You're spacing out again-"

"I'm going back," I announced, to nobody in particular. The words had tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them. Regret instantly flooded my brain. I wished I could take my words back, but there it was.

"What?" The jigglypuff looked over from where she was untying the pidgeotto. "You're going back there? Are you crazy?"

I swallowed. It was too late to backtrack now. Plus, I had to admit, my curiosity was starting to take hold of me again. A dangerous trait of mine that I had learned to push down in Mountain-side, but...I wasn't there anymore, was I?

"Yes," I said. The word felt like molasses on my tongue. "That...that kid that was with the clefairy, Ash, he..." I wasn't sure what to say, so I settled on, "I know him."

The other pokemon looked between each other with various levels of confusion evident in their eyes. Fine. Fair. It's not like I gave them any reason to think I was particularly noble or selfless...

...that is what I was doing, wasn't it?

No. No, Pikachu, you're wrong... I pushed my thoughts down. You're not selfless. You're doing this for your own reasons...and your own reasons only...

The jigglypuff stared into my eyes, her gaze unflinching, even as I scowled at her.

"You don't need to come with me." I crossed my arms, feeling my stubborn side overtaking any sense of logic or mistrust I held about Ash. "I'm perfectly fine going on my own."

"Uh..." The other three pokemon still looked hesitant and I felt my frustration grow.

"Look, whatever I choose to do doesn't matter or affect you in any way whatsoever! So, if you'd please just stand aside and let me go through, because so help me, I will not hesitate to shock the living daylight out of-"

"Slow down, mousey." The jigglypuff said, holding up a paw to stop me mid-rant. I felt my eye twitch in annoyance at the nickname that had slipped out of her mouth. "I'm saying this out of concern for another pokemon. If you go back there, there's no guarantee you won't get killed. I don't know why the clefairy clan seems to be keeping those two humans alive, but-" She paused and frowned. "...I..." She grit her teeth. "Ugh, fine! But I'm coming with you."

Fantastic. I have a guide.

Not that I wanted one, but...maybe I DID need one...

My cheeks felt really hot for some reason and I fidgeted with my paws. This situation felt all too familiar for my liking. It almost reminded me of the kangaskhan...

My eyes widened and I shook my head. 'No. No, no, no. This and that are different. Just...get the kid, run away from the clefairy clan, and go back to listening to Ash's stupid rants about how he might actually want to be my f-fri...friend. Yeah...that.'

"Then let's go." I said resolutely and the jigglypuff nodded. My stomach did a little flip-flop at that. I didn't know why. Of course I didn't know why. I never know why. Why would I?

"Uh...w-wait!" The caterpie called out. "I, uh...I want to come too!"

...

...what?

Everyone stared at the small bug before the pidgeotto took a deep breath and said the exact same thing.

...what???

The jigglypuff groaned. "Okay, the pikachu I understand, but why the hell do you two want to come with? Lemme guess, you guys know that other human?"

I hadn't thought about that before, but it seemed unlikely. When would they have met her, then?

"No, I just want to help." The caterpie said, tilting his side from side to side. "Besides, you seem like a nice pokemon and I want to give thanks for helping ME out earlier. Y'know. With Pidgeotto here."

The pidgeotto blushed. "I honestly just want to make it up to this little guy. I was not thinking very straight earlier, so...now that I am, I want to do what I've always been doing. Helping others."

I wonder what her incentives were to help this time around, if that was the case. There was no way she just spent her life helping other pokemon out of the goodness of her heart. There had to be a reason.

...granted, I couldn't quite think of a reason other than the one she had just given, but I was certain that there was one.

Or was there? Was I just grasping at straws at this point?

'Focus, Pikachu.' I shook my head. "Alright, fine. We have a whole rescue squad now." I gestured to the fairy type. "Lead the way."

Before we could make any movements, however, something stopped us in our tracks. A voice. One single word. Screamed out in another language that pokemon were cursed with understanding, yet the ones who speak said language don't try to understand US...

"HEY!!!"

We turned around slowly and I felt my heart plummet into my stomach. A man, a human, was marching toward us with a Pokeball in hand. He wore all black clothes, almost making him seem like a silhouette come to life against the light coming from the other end of the tunnel. Two, three, no...there was another in the back...four humans all followed behind him, holding either a Pokeball or a strangle rectangular contraption threateningly. Aside from the dark attire the humans were sporting, there was a crimson red letter on their fronts...

It looked similar to a letter in Syllabus, but I wasn't quite sure. I'd only ever seen the text a few times and there was no real reason for any pokemon to actually learn how to read, no matter how curious they were about it.

Not that I wanted to learn how to read. That would be stupid. And pointless. When would I ever need it...?

I was getting off track again.

"Who are they?" The pidgeotto hissed, taking a step back. She spread her wings out at the man menacingly, though that didn't slow him at all. I noticed the other humans behind him stopped, though, so maybe that did something...?

"What are these pokemon doing here?" One of the humans who had stopped in their tracks asked. He crossed his arms. "Ugh, just chase them off with your pokemon."

The four of us exchanged looks.

The pidgeotto cleared her throat as the man who was approaching us threw his Pokeball into the air. "Well, my friends, it seems now would be quite a suitable time to MAKE OUR ESCAPE!!!"

I instantly turned around and ran down the tunnel. I didn't check to see if the others had followed, though judging by the light gust of wind blowing from above and the tiny, frantic, pattering of feet behind me, they had. Further behind us, I could hear the zubat's indignant cries of "get back here", but I paid no heed and just ran faster.

Why are you doing this?

Those humans. They were blocking the exit. I have to go find another way out of the cave...with Ash.

Why are you doing this?

Ash is a weird human. There's no way around it. He's put himself in dangerous situations multiple times in one day to save my stupid skin and has caused me emotional whiplash to the point where I feel like crying every six minutes or so.

When I was younger, I unfortunately had a habit of sticking my nose in places where it didn't belong. I learned the consequences of my actions rather quick and since then, I tried to suppress my curiosity, suppress my inquisitive nature, suppress all my feelings and instead focus on the sole purpose of surviving.

I honestly don't know why.

Still, for whatever reason, Ash, in his infinite weird qualities and idiocy...made me feel curious again. About him.

There's no way somebody could be this selfless, right...?

Why are you doing this?

I was curious.

I was just curious.

I was just-

I was-

I...was barging into dangerous territory with no thought to my own well-being.

For a human.

Whom I'd just met.

Why AM I doing this?

I didn't know, but thinking about it over and over again wasn't going to help my headache. Which was coming back again...oddly a lot stronger than before...

"Which way are we going?" The pidgeotto called out and ducked from an air slash attack from the zubat. We seemed to be losing him, as I stopped hearing his trainer's commands a while ago and the intensity of the attacks started to diminish.

"I think we took a wrong turn somewhere." The jigglypuff replied. She huffed. "Dammit. We definitely did, I don't recognize this area in the slight-AHHHH!!!"

Without warning, I felt two heavy bodies crash onto me, sending me tumbling forward. I hissed in pain as we rolled down the slope.

Slope. We were...going underground?

Eventually, we tumbled to a stop, with the jigglypuff thankfully at the bottom of the pile. The caterpie and I lay on top, haphazardly. My eye twitched, though not from irritation, as I felt my headache getting worse again.

"Oh dear, are you three alright?!" The pidgeotto came flying down toward us. She sighed lightly as the caterpie and I slid off of the jigglypuff. "I didn't even notice we were going downhill."

"Yeah, I didn't either." The jigglypuff said as she brushed herself off and got to her feet. She looked around and her eyes widened. "...I am definitely noticing that we shouldn't be here, though..."

It took a moment for me to realize what she meant until I took notice of the glowing pink hands of multiple clefairy looking on us with ire in their eyes. They surrounded us and some more clefairy started to circle around to block off the way we had stumbled down from. We were trapped.

"Ohhhhh noooo...whhhhhhyyyyyy???!!!"

"Oh...dear..."

"Ugh. Fantastic."

"You've got to be kidding me." I hissed.

We landed in a den.

And it belonged to some very unhappy fairy types.

***

Ash and the orange haired girl were alive. The duo in question were in the middle of a heated discussion with four elderly clefable carrying wooden sticks that looked akin to staffs, in the center of a crowd of clefairy and cleffa, watching on with mixed reactions of confusion, puzzlement, the occasional laughter, and pity. I thought back to that girl from the professor's laboratory and her stupid clefairy. He bore the same pitying look that THESE clefairy did.

Even if it wasn't directed toward me, it pissed me off.

When I said that Ash and the orange haired girl were talking with the clefable, I honestly meant that it was just Ash. The orange haired girl looked about as lost as a rattata caught stealing food from a grumpy mankey having a bad fur day(yes, I have seen this before).

The group of clefairy who had cornered us tied the four us up with some vines. They waited with us at the end of the crowd, I assume for a crowd with the clefable, judging by what they were muttering to each other about the "clan elders".

I didn't know how clans or herds worked in full. I only knew small details, bits and pieces I've heard from the rattata and the kangaskhan back from Mountain-side. Those two were hardly the best at relaying information, however, and the rattata was as fickle as a ponyta's body temperature. For all I know, they could've been feeding me lies for years just for shits and giggles.

Not wanting to think about the past again, I instead decided to focus on the conversation Ash was having with the clefable elders.

"-could help you out!" Ash was saying. "We...we can try, uh, reasoning with the people you're talking about..."

"I don't think you understand." One of the clefable interrupted. "These humans are not just regular trainers. They cannot be reasoned with."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because we've dealt with their specific kind before. Surely, you, who hail from a human settlement within the borders of this region have heard of them? Team Rocket?"

"Team...Rocket...?!"

The orange haired girl's head snapped toward Ash, with her eyes wide. "Team Rocket???" She sucked in air through gritted teeth. "What's Team Rocket doing here?"

Nope. Absolutely not. No way.

'Of course...' My mind betrayed me and I thought back to the incident at the Viridian City Poke Center earlier. The red haired woman, Rose Man, and the talking meowth...those two humans had a letter on their attire as well, did they not? It was the same one that the humans who had cornered me, the caterpie, the pidgeotto, and the jigglypuff wore. I scowled. 'Why are those morons behind this? And why are there more of them???'

"So, you do know of them." Another one of the clefable said.

"I bumped into them recently." Ash said, his gaze falling to the ground. "Three members, at least. Two humans and a, uh, er...a talking meowth."

Murmurs of confusion went through the crowd of pokemon, especially over the detail about the talking meowth. Honestly, I was still reeling from that fact myself. What was the point in learning human language? Just so that cat could join some human organization of some sort and...be like them?

It was weird. And stupid.

Ash, seeming to note the discomfort among the clefable elders, tried to placate them. "L-look, you have to at least let us try! You don't know for sure that we'll fail and you don't know for sure that getting rid of us will guarantee that anything changes for you. If we try, then...maybe something good will happen."

"Maybe something bad will happen, too." One of the clefable countered.

"But we don't know unless we try." Ash replied immediately. His voice was soft, but a hush went over the room. His words seemed to have a certain effect on the fairy types, who up until a moment ago had looked very hostile, irritant, confused, and scornful...now they looked almost...hopeful?

Did...did Ash somehow manage to get through to them?

"Hey, I GET why you might not trust me. I'm a human. We're different. But does that really have to be the deciding factor for why we can't work together? Coexist?"

My heart skipped a beat at that and I suddenly felt very invested in Ash's speech. I hung onto his every word, even if another part of me was screaming to ignore it.

"Just look among yourselves. Can you honestly say that, without a doubt, every single clefairy, clefable, or cleffa in here is...the exact same? Isn't that part of what makes people and pokemon great? That even if we're different species, even if there's a language barrier...some of us still find ways to form partnerships?" Ash was pleading with every word, which spoke to his apparent obliviousness to the spell he was putting every pokemon under. The room had gone almost dead silent now, with nothing breaking said silence except Ash's words. The occasional murmur started up, then died again, as if no one was quite sure what to say.

I, myself, felt absolutely floored.

The part of me that was screaming to ignore Ash's words, that they were stupid, that they were just nonsense...it got a little bit quieter.

I was forced to admit that Ash Ketchum...had piqued my curiosity once again.

"How can we make changes if we don't do anything?" Ash asked. "How can we learn to work together if we don't TRY? Why CAN'T we learn to work together? Why can't we come up with new ways to do it? If the only thing that's stopping friendship between...people and pokemon is how they're different...then maybe differences among people or pokemon themselves aren't worth celebrating at all. What's the point if we're all the same?"

...what WAS the point?

Ash's question was rhetorical, but I found myself struggling to find an answer. Predictable. I've been struggling with everything since the moment I was born out of my stupid egg into an utterly worthless existence...

...I don't-

...why am I...?

Ash's speech shouldn't affect me this much. Why was it affecting me this much? Why did he have this, this...this aura around him that makes my emotions go haywire?

Why am I crying over this?

"Please." Ash said firmly. "Please let us try and take those guys down. Talk to them, chase them out, whatever. If we just work together..."

Everyone looked among each other and even the orange haired girl was giving Ash an awestruck look.

"...very well then." One of the clefable finally said with a heavy sigh. She snapped her fingers and the vine that held Ash and the orange haired girl captive glowed before undoing its own knot. "You seem to be an idealist, human child. I confess to being like that myself when I was younger." She chuckled. "Your girlfriend seems to be a bit confused-"

"Not my girlfriend."

"Why do they keep insisting I'm your girlfriend?" The orange haired girl groaned to herself, upon hearing Ash's monotonous reply.

"-but if what you said was true, then...maybe she has her own skills to offer as well." The clefable put her paws together and looked over the crowd. "I see that everyone is actually in attendance for once..." Her eyes passed over to our group and she faltered. Then she pointed at us incredulously. "...sorry, who are you?"

"...wuh oh." The jigglypuff groaned. "And here i thought they'd be more interesting in hearing whatever that human had to say..."

"Well, they were." The pidgeotto muttered under her breath. "Now he has finished. So we are the center of attention now."

Great. Center of attention.

Just what I always wanted.

'Dammit...' I hissed internally as the clefairy surrounding us tugged on the vines holding our group captive and urged us to go toward the clefable elders.

"We found them a little bit away from here, Elders." The clefairy glared at us. I glared at him back and shot out some sparks to let him know who he was messing with. He hardly flinched, though he did immediately avert his gaze, so I felt satisfied with that. "I don't know what they were doing here, but I felt it was best to tie them up and bring them to you. To decide their fates, I mean."

Ash seemed confused by the sudden change in topic until he saw me and his eyes lit up. I internally groaned. 'Oh, here we go-'

"Pikachu! Hi!"

Everyone stared at him as he waved wildly.

Not sure what to do, I just awkwardly muttered a "hi" back. I wasn't really in the mood to think of a proper quip and Ash had just made me cry a moment ago, so...

Wait, it wasn't obvious that I cried, right? At the very least, the caterpie didn't seem to express faux concern over my well-being, so maybe it wasn't noticeable.

"You know them?" One of the clefable asked Ash.

"Sort of. Pikachu's with me, but the other three I only met briefly, when me and Misty were captured."

It took me a second to realize who 'Misty' was until I remembered that it was that orange haired girl's name.

She was awfully quiet, given how she was so quick to make jabs and argue with Ash when we first met her. Granted, she was only able to hear one half of any conversation going on at the moment and Ash was invested in his conversation with the clefable, so she didn't really have any reason to speak in the first place.

Honestly, good riddance. I don't know how I would have reacted if she turned out to have a speech like Ash's in her back pocket or something like that.

"Uh, uh, uh...I liked your speech!" The caterpie squeaked out. "It was very inspirational! It...oh! It reminded me of that one saying, you know, where 'the only reason to give a speech is to change the world'!"

"I agree." The pidgeotto chirped and Ash looked touched. Better her and the caterpie, than me, I suppose. I was forced to (annoyingly) admit that Ash's speech really was...inspirational, as the caterpie had said, but I wasn't willing to admit it. "I really did feel as if you had changed some hearts in here. Perhaps not the world, but..." She gave Ash a calculating look for a moment and something sparked in her eyes, as if she had a sudden realization. Weird. "...maybe today's not quite that day, yet."

Yet, huh?

"Really?" Ash smiled. "Thanks...I'm glad I was able to get through to you." He looked over to the rest of the pokemon gathered. "All of you."

"Some of us." A nearby cleffa corrected sourly and I smirked.

One clefable sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Alright, well, we're kind of busy planning something at the moment and it doesn't seem as if you four have ill intentions..." He narrowed his eyes at the four of us. "But if I see any of you harming or threatening anyone here..."

"Yeah, yeah, we got it, Old Man." The jigglypuff huffed. "We're not stupid." She gave a pointed look over to me, as if daring me to say anything to argue against it.

I didn't, for my own reasons, but I opened my mouth as if I was just to mess with her. The new look on her face was definitely worth it.

"That goes for you, too, humans." Another clefable elder piped up and glared at Ash and the orange haired girl. "We're, as you suggested, giving you a chance. But if things get worse for us or anyone here is harmed..."

"It won't come to that." Ash assured, before the fairy type could finish his sentence. He swallowed before saying it again. "It...won't come to that. Trust me."

"...good." The clefable elder sighed deeply then turned to glare at me, the caterpie, the pidgeotto, and the jigglypuff. "As for you..."

"I don't mind helping out." The jigglypuff grunted in annoyance. She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Just as long as you agree not to turn on us and kill us last second or something..."

"Yes, please." The pidgeotto chirped, a nervous twinge in her voice. "I, too, would not mind offering my services to help you...get rid of these humans infesting Mt. Moon."

Infesting.

'Interesting choice of words, bird...'

"Same!" The caterpie nodded frantically. "I'd love to help out!"

I waited a moment to see if the caterpie had anything to add. "What, you don't have a quote for this?"

"Oh!" The caterpie leaned in, eyes sparkling. I recoiled, my cheeks sparking, ready to retaliate, before I noticed the bug type had already hurriedly moved back. It was like he hadn't even noticed that small interaction, however, as he simply continued speaking. "I do, actually! 'A helping hand can be a ray of sunshine in a cloudy world.' It's perfect for this situation, don't ya think?"

"...I guess." I muttered with a scowl.

"Well, I guess that's that, then." One of the elderly clefable spoke up. "We will let you all go once you have helped us get rid of this threat known as 'Team Rocket'. Before we start anything, however, us elders need to converse among ourselves to discuss how we will divide our own clan in terms of tasks. This is a private matter, only for our clans' eyes and ears, so we will take our leave for a few minutes. The rest of you can...get to know each other, I suppose. And exchange information." The clefable let out a sigh and clapped his hands. "With that, let's get to it!"

"RIGHT!" Everyone cheered.

"Right..." I mumbled under my breath.

Wonderful.

Just...wonderful.

We were going to war.

...

...or the close equivalent.

***

"Sooooo..." The orange haired girl let out a long drawl. She awkwardly looked around the circle formed by her, Ash, the pidgeotto, the caterpie, the jigglypuff, and myself, before hanging her head with a heavy sigh. "Ah, I give. I'm the only loser here who won't be able to understand most of the conversation!"

"What conversation?" I muttered. We had been staring at each other awkwardly for a whole two minutes now and only now did someone decide to speak up. The Clefairy clan was bustling about us. Orders were shouted, names were called, and encouraging words were said. I had no clue exactly WHAT they were doing, but it...was admittedly fascinating to watch. For a bunch of moronic fairy types, they sure knew how to organize.

"I can translate for you." Ash offered. He turned to the rest of us. "I, uh, should probably start us off, then, in that case."

"Oh, yes, please." The pidgeotto preened her feathers and shot a grateful look toward the idiot boy.

"Well...my name's Ash Ketchum, I'm a trainer from Pallet Town, I just started my journey like...yesterday, uh...and I know Pikachu because..." He shot a look toward me. He was asking me something with his eyes, but I had no idea how to interpret eye language. What, did he need permission to share something with them? Why did he need MY permission to do anythi-

'Oh.' Realization dawned on me and I rolled my eyes. I gave Ash a half hearted shrug, to let him know I didn't really care about how he disclosed our relationship. I really didn't. Really.

Even if I felt irritation grow within me as Ash opened his mouth to finish his sentence-

"...because, well, Pikachu's my starter pokemon." The other pokemon exchanged looks, most of which consisted of confusion and surprise. I grit my teeth in annoyance, feeling the urge to smack them with my tail. They looked toward me for confirmation, to which I shrugged.

"I did tell you I knew him."

"I mean, yeah, I just..." The jigglypuff started, then trailed off. "Huh. Nevermind. That makes a lot more sense, honestly."

I had no idea what she was talking about and gave her a look to get my point across.

"Anyway," the jigglypuff said, breathing in deeply as she averted her gaze from mine. "I'm Jigglypuff." Obviously. "I've been living around the road to Pewter City from Mt. Moon for as long as I've been alive and...uh, I have a passion for singing."

"Singing?" The orange haired girl raised an eyebrow when Ash finished whispering his translation to her. "Like, the move, Sing? Or actually-"

"Actually singing." The jigglypuff interrupted. She narrowed her eyes. "Is there a problem with that?"

"Uh, you mean aside from the fact that it's weird-"

"-it's great!" Ash cut the orange haired girl off and gave her a glare. "I think it's great that you're interested in singing. It's always cool to have interests."

"...yuh huh..." The jigglypuff said dubiously. "And what about you, red-head?"

I gave the fairy type a funny look. Red-head? Wasn't her hair orange?

The orange haired girl huffed. "Misty Iizuka. That's my name. I'm actually the gym leader from the Cerulean City Gym. We specialize in water types over there..." She trailed off briefly, as if she were about to add something else, then shook her head. "I, myself, am going on a journey to learn more about water types in general. I can't be a type specialist without knowing how to navigate through the ins and outs of the water."

"Understandable." The pidgeotto remarked and adjusted her position. "That's a respectable motivation. Trying to understand something more before you hold a, what is the word you humans use...? Ah, yes. Before you hold a profession in it."

Ash translated for Misty, who blinked blankly before smiling. "Well, I'm not sure that's how you're supposed to phrase it...but thanks. I appreciate it."

"Of course." The pidgeotto bowed her head slightly and I felt myself feeling highly confused. Where was the bird from earlier who tried to eat me and the caterpie? And the jigglypuff too? Was she just running off of a fluke? Was she lying to us? Was she still hungry? What was happening??? "I suppose I should introduce myself next..." She tossed her head slightly in what seemed to be an arrogant manner, albeit she did it delicately, causing her red head feather to slightly sway behind her. "I am Pidgeotto. I come from a long line of regal flyers around Kanto. A clan of Pidgeot who've been known to rule the skies. We reside in Rota, but when we reach the teen stage of our lives, we are meant to go on a journey of our own around the region. I chose to leave the nest far later than most, focusing on doing a little more training...I eventually had to leave, though, especially after I evolved into a pidgeotto." She blushed, a little more embarrassed by this next part. "Of course, along the way, I ended up here around Mt. Moon and...lost my way, I suppose."

"Specific." The jigglypuff raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, well..." The pidgeotto said solemnly, her gaze drifting toward the ground. "Things don't always need to be, now do they?"

"Fair." I commented curtly, then begrudgingly said before I could stop myself... "I can respect that."

The bird looked caught off guard for a second before she tossed me an...appreciative look. I think. It looked more like she was pleading for forgiveness or something...

I glanced at Ash from the corner of my eyes and he grinned and gave me a thumbs up. I guess I did a good thing...? Was there something I was missing?

"Ooh, my turn!" The caterpie said excitedly. "Well, I'm Caterpie, I'm probably as old as Pidgeotto here-"

"How are you so sure-" She started, but couldn't get a word in as the caterpie continued speaking. All in one breath, fascinatingly enough.

"-I've lived in Viridian Forest for most of my life, I occasionally venture into Viridian City to learn more about the strange readings that humans have-" Ah, so that's where all those random ass quotes are coming from... "I've been looking for a trainer for a while, but could never seem to find one-"

"How come?" Ash asked curiously.

"Oh. Well, the reasoning changes per trainer. I just get unlucky, I suppose...some are scared on account of me being a bug type, others don't want me because I'm too weak..."

"That doesn't seem fair at all." Ash frowned. "I'm sure you can be really strong if you put your mind to it! I know anyone can!"

"Thank you," The caterpie chuckled. "But, well, you know...people do tend to be quick to judge a book by its cover."

The odd phrasing of his words led me to believe that he ended his own introduction with yet another quote. The bug type was full of them, wasn't he? I wasn't liking the way Ash was looking at the caterpie, either. 'I swear, if he asks the caterpie to be his pokemon, I WILL throw something...' I grumbled internally. The two would get along great, which bothered me, but not as much as the two individuals themselves pestering me together bothered me.

I felt something brush against my head and flinched. It took me a moment of shooting volatile sparks of electricity for me to realize that it was Ash. He tilted his head. Weirdo. "Pikachu, be nice when you introduce yourself, okay?"

I scowled at him. "You're not the boss of-"

"Yeah, I know, but if we can all get along, then the sooner we can get out of this place. You don't have to talk much after this, okay? Just be nice, please."

I fidgeted with my paws for a second, suddenly finding the small scars on my body that I've accumulated over the years to be the most interesting thing I needed to look at. "...fine." I muttered. I looked up at the others, who were staring at me expectantly and almost backed out. I looked up at Ash with an irate look.

'Go on.' He mouthed, giving me a big smile.

Ash was...

He's so...

...he's just far too enthusiastic for his own good.

'I hate him. I hate him, I hate him, I hate him...'

I gritted my teeth and took a deep breath. "I'm...Pikachu." I stopped. What else was I supposed to say? Judging by what everyone's told me thus far, mentioning my place of origin probably wasn't the smartest idea. Nor did I feel the need to bring it up, anyway. I probably would've decked everyone here in the face with my tail had they even looked at me funny from that piece of information. "Uh...like Ash here said..." I'd acknowledged Ash's name to him and within the inner confines of my mind, but saying it aloud to other people felt funny. The only other living being whose name I'd used regularly was the Ol' Bellsprout. And the Ol' Bellsprout was...

...

...well, Ash was definitely a better choice between the two of them, that's for sure.

"...I'm travelling with him at the moment." I finished, not sure what else to add... I looked over at Ash expectantly, hoping he would just cut me off there so I wouldn't have to torture myself speaking any longer.

I guess his irritating thumbs up sign wasn't as bad as I first thought, given how him giving it to me just now somehow sent the hint to the others that I didn't want to talk anymore.

"Well, I suppose that's dealt with." The jigglypuff sighed and crossed her arms. "You, Ash...do you mind actually explaining to the rest of us what we're supposed to be doing here with the whole 'Team Rocket' situation?"

"Oh, yeah!" Ash's eyes lit up, then darkened. "Uh, yeah, so...I don't know how much you guys know this, but Team Rocket's a group of really bad people who are known for illegally capturing pokemon and harassing people. The clefable elder from earlier...one of them, she uh, told me about how Team Rocket's lately been doing some shady stuff in Mt. Moon. Something about excavating some fossils deep within the mountain range or something like that..."

"I remember you mentioning that earlier, actually." The orange haired girl said contemplatively. "How did the clefable know what Team Rocket were doing?"

"They sent some scouts, I think...the place where they were digging up and searching for the fossils is actually pretty close to here..."

"Weird..." The jigglypuff said warily.

"...what would a criminal organization that dabbles in pokemon hunting want with fossils?" The pidgeotto asked what everyone was probably thinking and the rest of us exchanged looks. Mostly everyone looked worried. I, for one, felt non-committed in expressing my own concerns. I was more taken with the idea that Ash had somehow made my life more interest-

'Dangerous.' I interrupted my own thoughts before I could finish that particular line. 'He's made my life more dangerous.'

Right. Yes. Definitely.

"Not sure." Ash replied after having translated what the bird had said to the girl. "But they're pretty threatening...and they've taken space from the clefairy clan's territory. So, I guess once the, uh, clefable elders have sorted out everything here or whatever...then they'll take us to where Team Rocket is."

"How long should that take?" The caterpie asked curiously.

"Not long." We all looked over to see one of the clefable approaching us. His face was serious and his tone reflected it. He sounded like he'd just walked out of the territory of that fearow from Mountain-Side. Which was oddly fitting, given what he said next. "We've gotten ourselves situated. Most of the running around was us getting the young ones to a safe place and selecting which of us should accompany you in case things go...awry. Of course, we, as elders, could not hide, so..." He took a deep breath as the other three clefable elders approached from behind him. "We will be coming with you."

"Or, well, two of us, anyway." Another clefable spoke with a smirk. She raised the staff in her hand with a dramatic flourish. "I shall be joining you. These two shall stay behind and oversee matters here."

"Oh, uh, right..." Ash said slowly. "Wait, so...you're going to take us to where-"

"Yes." The male clefable said firmly. He exchanged looks with the other clefable and prompted us to follow them through the cave. "Follow us...and be careful. We shall show you...where Team Rocket is."

***

"That...is a lot..." I said, trailing off as I wasn't sure how to conclude my sentence. Because there were two options in front of me. And both filled me with a sense of dread for what lay in store for us.

The two clefable had led our group through the cave to descend deeper into the mountain. I could tell that we were getting closer to our destination, to where those dark clothed humans were, as the cave seemed to get brighter and brighter, despite the fact that we were going further down into the earth. Lights. They were strung along the upper side of the ceiling, filling the cave with a bright, white, glow. The bulbs hurt to look at and I certainly wouldn't have put name to object had it not been for my unfortunate experiences at the professor's lab.

That, and, the bulbasaur's know-it-all personality feeling the need to tell me the name of every single object I so much as even stared at for longer than two seconds...

In any case, we eventually arrived at a large opening. Sounds of humans shouting and pokemon moves being thrown about in what seemed to be a more controlled manner could be heard from behind the large rock we had found a hiding spot in.

Rocket members. Lots of them.

And...

I felt a shiver go up my spine as my gaze rested on a wheelbarrow a man was pushing toward the other end of the cave. I didn't know why and didn't check to see where he was going specifically...but the items inside the barrow freaked me out enough to back into Ash's legs. Annnnd here we are.

"A lot of wha-" Ash started, then trailed off as I wordlessly pointed. "...oh..."

"Well," the jigglypuff breathed out uneasily. "Guess they really are going to town with this...fossil hunt, huh?" She laughed nervously. "They sure have a big haul of bones there..."

"Yes." One of the clefable looked over her shoulder in sadness. "They've been at this for about a week now...they seem to be looking for something specific, but...we haven't quite been able to figure out exactly what it is...what are you planning on doing?"

She directed her question to the two humans in our group, which probably wasn't the best time, given how they both looked extremely lost.

The orange haired girl crossed her arm. "I don't like this...from the looks of things, this seems to be part of a large scale Team Rocket operation...what could they be looking for? A treasure of some sort?"

"Maybe, but I think we should try and figure out how to clear them out before we do any investigation or whatever. That's what we're here for, right?" The caterpie supplied cheerfully. "We need to stay focused on one thing at a time. And right now, our main priority is to get rid of these guys!"

While the group talked among themselves as to what we should try and do, I looked around to see what the Rockets were doing. They were doing things awfully...stilted. Every human there had this morose look on their face and their pokemon hardly fared much better. Most of the pokemon that were assisting the Rockets were golem, though I saw a few machoke carrying around bones to various piles along the cave floor. There were boxes everywhere, some of them marked, some of them not...and of course, some Rocket members were digging away at the sides of rocks with either shovels or...pick-axes? That's what I believe the double sided sharp blade was called, but I wasn't entirely sure.

That was when I noticed it.

"Remember child..."

'No...' I felt my fur bristle and my eyes widen.

"Remember always..."

'No, no, no...' I couldn't hear what the group was saying anymore. All the sounds from the wheelbarrows squeaking as they moved, the shouts of the Rockets, the asynchronous grunts of the rock type pokemon down below were drowned out by a high pitched ringing sound.

"...-kachu? Are you-"

'What is that thing doing here? Why is it here? Where did it come from? Has it been following me here? Why do I suddenly feel my headache coming back? Why does it hurt? Why...why, why, why???'

Behind a box of crates, I could see it moving again. A slight ripple in space, rounded, transparent...but look close enough and anyone could plainly see the rounded, translucent, bright, STUPID jellyfish...!

"Pikachu!"

I jumped out of my skin and recoiled from Ash's hand. I tried to growl at him, but it instead came out as a pathetic "cha...". I would have cringed if it weren't for the fact that my mind was still on the-

...where did it go?

"Pikachu?" Ash frowned in concern.

A Rocket member walked over to the boxes that jellyfish was hidden behind and picked one up.

"I don't understand..." I mumbled under my breath, feeling lost.

Against all reason, my headache, the strange distortion in the air between the crates, the odd sensation I felt upon seeing that jellyfish...was gone.

...

...and so was the jellyfish.