Poke-genetics 4

Poke-genetics: wild

He was not looking where he was going, it didn't matter. He was just running, going wherever his small pikachu's legs would bring him. Ash was crying. He had been told his life had been thrown out of the window. He was stuck. He was no longer Ash Ketchum, aspiring pokemon master, just a small pikachu that didn't even know where he was going. He didn't care.

Genno was also running, but he was inside his house and he was not as fast as Ash. Being a Pikachu was also new to him, he hadn't had the chance to try that morph before. Nonetheless, he arrived fairly quickly in his room. On his bed, Pikachu was still sleeping peacefully.
Not for long.
«Pikachu! Get up! »
«Huh? What's the big deal? » he asked in a sleepy tone.
«Ash is running away! We have to catch him before he gets too far! He does not realize how dangerous it can be for him right now! »
«WHAT?! » the yellow mouse screamed.

«Woah! »
Ash fell to the ground. In his hurry, he hadn't jumped well enough and he had tripped on a root. He didn't bother to get up. He just stayed there, letting the tears flow. He needed it. What Genno told him was too much. Being turned into a pikachu was one hell of a freaky thing to happen, being stuck as a pikachu forever was another.
But as he spent time mopping, his sadness began to melt away. «Come on, Ash, you're better than this. » he told himself.
«What are you doing here? » something else told him.
Something… it wasn't a human. It was a pokemon.
Ash looked up slowly. Actually, it was not A pokemon, it was pokemon. He had just stumbled in a family reunion of rattatas and ratticates.
«Er… I… got lost. »
«Well, do that, now! » shouted a big ratticate.
And it jumped toward him with the intention to bite, hard.
«Woah! » said Ash while he jumped on his right to dodge.
And he began to run away. Again… only this time it was not to cry on his lost human life, it was to save his pokemon life from being bitten to death by a giant rat!
«I'll show you, you damn pikachu! »
«What have I done to you? » asked an almost deperate Ash.
«You think you can just enter our territory like that and get away with it? »
«Sorry! It was an accideeeeeeent! »
That didn't seem to matter to the ratticate as it continued to chase Ash, who was getting tired of all that running. Before long, he slowed down, out of breath. He just collapsed next to a river... and the ratticate pushed him over.
«Woah! Help! I can't swim like this! »
It was true; he was not able to coordinate his body well enough to stay out of the water all the time and even if he had been able to, he was too exhausted. The ratticate looked at the poor boy without even blinking and went back under the cover of the trees.
«Am I going to die like this? Alone, without anybody to ever know that it was Ash Ketchum that drowned here, that the pikachu they might found was once human? I… I won't accept this! I DON'T WANT TO DIE»
Fighting with his last resources, he slowly got closer to the river bank. «Just… a few… more meters…» Then he noticed the shadow that swooped upon him.
Ash felt much lighter all of a sudden. It was at that moment he felt a jolt of primal fear. He had just been picked up by a fearow!
«You'll make a nice snack, little mouse. »
«I taste horrible! »
«Ah, pathetic. » it exclained as it bursted laughing.
As the laugh was echoing in his mind, Ash was seriously getting angry. What kind of day was that? Had the universe decided that today was the worst day of his life or what? In the sharp claws, he struggled to get free, cutting himself in the process. But that didn't stop him; he was just so fed up with his life right now that he was not even noticing he was bleeding.
«Stop struggling so much, feable prey. » ordered the bird of prey.
«Don't… ORDER ME AROUND!»
A ridiculously powerful thunderbolt erupted from Ash's body and fried the fearow. The bird was knocked out instantly… in the middle of flight.
«AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! » screamed Ash as he was falling to meet the ground.
He braced himself for the impact. The trees were getting closer… closer… WAY TOO CLOSE! In a matter of seconds, he had passed through the branches and the leaves and met the ground.
Pain. That was the message his body was sending to his brain and his brain received the message perfectly. «My body… won't move…»
«Growlithe, look! A wild pikachu! »
«No… way… I can't be that unlucky…»
«Growlithe, use flamethrower! »
The orange canine took a deep breath and got ready to shot a powerful flame attack. The dog tried to launch his attack as his trainer ordered…
«Chuuuuuuuuuuu! »
A lightning strike erupted from the bushes and hit the growlithe.
«Huh? Who's there? Who did that to my pokemon? »
«Ash! » shouted a worried Pikachu.
The pokemon ran toward his master at full speed.
«Did they do this to you? »
«HEY! » screamed another familiar person.
The trainer and his growlithe raised their heads and saw Genno sitting on a branch, an angry look on his face.
«Normally, I'd insult you for doing something like this, but since you can't probably understand anything I say, I'll do this instead. »
And he stook out his tongue at them and made an obscene gesture.
The young man gritted his teeth and ordered:
«Growlithe, use Tackle on the one in the tree! »
«Thank you. » whispered Genno.
Just as the dog pokemon was about to it him, he jumped down in the bushes.
«Pikachu! Hide Ash now! »
And the growlithe hit the tree, leaving it shaking. The poor dog staggered in confusion, making a pathethic «Grooooowlithe…» sound.
«Growlithe! Are you alright? »
Genno observed the teenager that was worrying about his pokemon. The guy wasn't inherently bad; he just stumbled on the wrong pikachu. Before his pokemon got better, the trainer heard a strange buzzing noise.
«That's weird, it's almost like a…»
A massive swarm of Beedrills descended from the tree that the growlithe had hit.
«SWARM OF BEEDRILLS! » he shouted.
The bug pokemon looked really pissed that someone dared to hit their nest like that. They had decided that whoever did it would never do it again. In a frighteningly well synchronised movement, they all flew toward the horrified kid… who ran for his li… well, not for his life, but forthe safety of his delicate skin.
Cautious, Genno waited a few moments to make sure there wasn't any other beedrill left.
«It's clear. No more aggressive bugs in sight, Pikachu. »
Both of them got out of the bushes, one of them carrying his unconscious best friend on his shoulder.
«Even as a pokemon, he's heavy! »
Genno didn't laugh; instead he looked at Ash's wounds.
«Those are pretty serious wounds. Pikachu, most weren't even done by that trainer. I'll transport him back to my house. »

For the second time today, Ash woke up unable to move. He didn't like the tendancy that his awakenings were following recently. Feably, he opened his eyes to see Pikachu looking worryingly at him.
« Ash! You're awake! Thank Mew. How are you feeling? »
«Like I got bitten, pushed in a river, scratched by a giant bird's claw and fell from the sky. »
Pikachu's face got a lot paler when he heard that.
«Well… huh… Genno took you back to his house and he patched you up. You're inside his room. »
Ash finally noticed where he was. His small Pikachu body was resting on a medium-sized bed. The room looked a lot like Ash's. If you replaced the pokemon plushies with atoms models and the posters of pokemon masters with those of great scientists that is. «He must really love his dad's research. » he thought. «I wonder if he wants to become a poke-geneticist like him…»
The realization hit him. Genno's situation was as bad as him and he didn't get all moppy about it. He could have said that he didn't want to get turn like that, but Genno didn't either. Plus, he was the one who insisted to enter that damn lab. Even worse, Genno had his father to worry about. From what he said, Team Blast members weren't exactly nice guys.
«Where is he now? » Ash asked.
«Downstairs I think. He said something about Viridian city. »
«What? But we can't go to a city. What would three pikachus do there? People would want to catch us and I'm pretty sure a pokeball isn't my idea of confortable. I mean, isn't it really small in there? »
«Well, maybe you understand why I hate it now. »
«Hey, I heard voices. Is Ash awake? » Genno asked from downstair.
There was something really weird about his voice this time. It didn't sound like a Pikachu at all this time. Did his friend morph into something else? Did he turn into that stranger he met again?
«Yes, he is, Genno. » answered Pikachu.
«Okay, I'm coming over; tell him to be decent when I arrive. »
«Very funny» Ash muttered.
«Hey Ash, you need to rest for a few days before we can move somewhere else. Luckily, that's the time you would have needed to get use to your Pikachu body anyway. So, we'll try both at the same time. Don't worry, there's a master at walking on four legs next to you, he'll teach you.
Pikachu chuckled a little.
«Anyway, once that's done, we'll go to Viridian city. I found the address of one of my father's old friend from university. If I give him my father's note, he may be able to do something about our condition. »
«Great! »
Ash jumped out of bed.
«When are we goiOUCH. »
Apparently, his injured body wasn't ready at all. So, he crashed to the floor and the pain got bigger than ever.
«Guess I really need that «getting used to the body» training. »
«Ash. Are you okay? »
«Huh, I think so, Pikachu. »
«Oh, good, I won't feel bad for doing this then. »
And he began to laugh at his master. Ash wasn't even bottered. There was still hope. It was exactly as if an enormous weight had been taken off his shoulders.
«Ash? Was that you? » inquired Genno, now on the same floor as them.
«Yeah, I jumped off of your bed. »
«Stupid idea. I don't want to have to get my first aid kit out of my bathroom again, you know? »
«Alright, alright, I'll just stop moving from now on. »
«Good. That's exactly what your body need right now. »
From this close, Genno's voice didn't just sound weird. It was also familiar, too familiar.
«You should make the most of this situation. We might need to travel a lot before getting results. »
And Genno entered the room in a human body.
Ash's jaw dropped to the floor. Genno was human-looking, that was for sure, but he wasn't the one he had met on the road a few days ago. Genno looked exactly like what he used to be. He had turned into a perfectly human Ash!