Hope

Dedicated to Anonymous Al: his simple question inspired me to write this!

There was pain - hot, searing, torturing agony. No matter how much he had cried and begged, it did not stop.

Imprisoned – trapped within glass with no means of escape. Time after time, his body was surged with intense jolts, bringing forth his wailing pleas.

No one… There was no one to hear him.

Hope had long vanished along with his strength. There was no point in struggling, it was useless to cry. He was all alone…

Weakened, he was on the verge of unconsciousness. His mind was deeply lost; he could hardly remember a thing. A haze of blurred images danced before his tear-filled eyes.

Just as he was willing to give in to the darkness threatening to consume him, the sound of breaking glass snapped him awake. It was quickly followed by deafening wails of a siren.

The noise hurt his ears and made him cringe horridly. Was sound another way to torture him?!

He wasn't sure how long he remained in a cowering position, trying to shield his long ears from the loud screeches. Something suddenly touched him, making him jerk abruptly away.

Frightened, he expected to see those glass-eyed machines that had captured him but what he saw was something surprising.

It was a human, a female. Her hand lingered in the air before him having recoiled from his sudden reaction. Blue eyes watched him carefully through broken glass. Hesitating, he did not make a move but simply gaped at her presence.

Light shone behind her in the room that was usually dark. Abruptly, the human turned around and faced the beings that entered the room.

The glass-eyed machines… He stiffened from their sight but then he was shaken free of his fear when the human rushed towards the fiends. An electric whip danced around her lithe body as she moved about the attacking machines. Pieces of metal were strewn around as both body and limb were severed from her powerful weapon.

A simple glance of her bold display made him realize who she was: she was his savior. She had broken the glass; freed him of his prison and that was enough to make him trust her.

Fueled with renewed hope and vigour, he ignored the blaring sirens and leapt away from his former prison. Anger powered his body and he directed it all on the glass-eyed machines that dared to harm the female. His cheeks went numb and his muscles tensed when he released a devastating bolt of lightning at the nearest enemy.

The machine twitched violently as electricity coursed through its circuits. It was soon kicked aside by the human where it then exploded into pieces.

He was ready for the last fiend but did not need to bother expending his energy for the human had already dispatched it with a flick of her whip. Once the machine was nothing but a pile of parts, she turned towards him. A small, thankful smirk adorned her face as she studied him with amusement.

He quickly returned the favour by sounding his joy. Bounding up beside her, he formed a wide smile. Giving him a slight nod, she turned to the doorway and left the room with him following close behind.

As they ran down the metallic corridor, the sirens had stopped their awful sounds but the red warning lights continued to flare. Although his legs were stiff and slightly aching from the torture he was put through, he was determined to keep his pace even with the female.

She was the one who saved him and he was willing to do anything to protect her.

Fiends appeared further down the corridor and were making their way towards them. He pumped his legs to propel himself forward at an incredible speed. He wanted to take down the foes first – for revenge.

Enemy after enemy, they were all the same glass-eyed robots. Not one of them was spared from his electrifying rage.

Further down both he and the human went. Together, they entered through many doorways and passages, often engaging more foes; some were robots but others were something else. Dark-skinned with red-eyes and green uniforms; these humanoid creatures stood amongst the machines, wielding guns and glowing blades.

Satisfaction from victories grew into weariness; he was quickly tiring from the numerous battles and could not hide it. The human had wordlessly taken the lead and fought against the enemy masses valiantly herself.

He was guilty to leave her to battle the fiends on her own but he was also amazed by her abilities. Everything she did was completely flawless. No attacks ever touched her. Her agile body flowed through the field of battle gracefully. Each lash of her pistol whip showered sparks every time it connected with a foe. It was a fascinating spectacle.

Watching her, he was most reluctant to enter the fray, afraid that he could get in her way.

But then, high atop a ledge unseen to her, he had spotted a fiend. No – there were more than one of them – five of them in fact. There were five robots, each aiming their blue-tinted glass eyes at the dancing human.

What were they doing?

He had no time to ponder and quickly made his way towards the human. He could have sounded a warning towards her; it would have been the best solution but his frantic mind did not even bother to suggest that.

It was a mistake to enter the battle. Within the chaos of the chasing fiends, he did not see her flipping through the air, heading towards his direction until he felt her boots collide with his body. He uttered a cry that was more of shock than pain as he stumbled along with her.

He heard her land and saw in the corner of his vision, the human quickly climbing back up. It was too late to warn her – it was too late to do anything for those fiends at the top had already sent their deadly beams straight at her.

The lasers had merged into a single, greater beam and it was then that she saw the attack. She attempted to avoid it by twisting her body to the side and managed to dodge the brunt of the attack but she did not escape unscathed. Her cry of pain and the sight of her falling made him absolutely furious.

Baring his teeth, he dashed protectively before her and faced all the fiends coming his way. From deep within the very core of his body, he drew all the power he had. His whole body shook as energy spurred forth from his small form. He gathered all of his strength and took a deep breath.

Closing his eyes tightly, he let out an angry cry as he unleashed a massive amount of lightning from his cheeks. His fur stood on end, his whole body tingled and his face went completely numb as all the electricity from his body was released at the swarm of fiends before him.

His ears were filled with crackling electricity that deafened every other sound. Soon, after the last of his energy was discharged, a loud ringing noise was audible.

His body had grown heavy, he felt himself fall. All was dark. He did not know if it was due to his outburst overloading the lights or because he fainted.

When he found himself waking from slumber, he knew the answer right away. His eyes fluttered open, flinching slightly from the bright light. Weakly, he groaned only to be silenced by a hush.

He peered through the artificial light in the room and saw the familiar blue eyes looking down at him. Now fully awake, he blinked away his mind's fatigue and got to his feet – or tried to. His body was feeble; he had exerted all his energy. A tingling sensation tickled his cheeks when he moved his head. Gently, he rubbed his sore cheeks with his paws until he tired from the action.

Sighing wearily, he simply lay on his side and glanced around. Metal crates surrounded them from one side while a wall was on the other. They were in the midst of hiding.

Turning his head, he stared up at the other. The human was resting on the ground, leaning against the monochrome wall. A small smile formed on her lips when he met her gaze.

She was safe – he was quite relieved. But then his eyes fell to her side. She was clutching tightly to that spot with her right hand, covering a wound that he could smell. The fabric of her light blue suit was burned where the laser had struck her.

Concerned washed over him and immediately, he crawled right beside her and rose shakily to his hind legs. Softly, he made a sound of worry and placed a small paw on her left bent knee. His brow furrowed with guilt and his ears drooped low.

A blonde eyebrow was raised from his display. It seemed she understood what he was trying to say. Smirking, she lifted her left hand and held it openly before him.

It was gesture but he wasn't sure what meaning it had. He didn't care which for he quickly placed his paw within her grasp and smiled. Whether it be thanks, trust or friendship, her open hand meant all three to him.

He then drew close, just up to her shoulder and gently nuzzled his forehead against her.

It was a silent vow that he would always stay close to protect her. She was his hope – she had given him freedom. She was his hero and forever would he be in her debt.

He quietly squeaked in her ear – a sounded promise that he would fight for her no matter what.

His determinate eyes made her grin. She nodded towards the crates, ready to press forward through enemy territory. A courageous, strong human – he truly admired her.

Filled with anticipation, his weak limbs had regained their strength. He gave her a curt nod to tell her he was ready. Together, they climbed over the metal crates and headed down the wide corridor. They were going to escape and Pikachu was willing to do whatever it took to reach the end with his newfound friend.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this little one-shot. This was far easier to write than my other SSBB stories because well, Pikachu doesn't exactly talk so there really was no dialogue to begin with.

Whoever thought that Nintendo was kiddie? Pikachu's torture just shows how twisted Nintendo can get... Lol.

Thanks for reading and please review!