Hi all, and welcome to a new installment of Life as a Pikachu! I was suffering a small writers block, not knowing how to get out of certain parts, sometimes throwing stuff away and starting all over. I think it's nice now, we can work towards the start of the ending of the story.

Place your bets now, will he remain pikachu or will he return back to human? Leave your answer and your opinion of the story in the review section, I love to read them.

Thanks for reading and waiting, without further ado, let's continue. :)

It didn't take long before we arrived at the colony I knew so well. It even made me feel quite… Emotional… Or something. My pikachu side, which was in control most of the time, was more than happy it was back at a place it liked and loved. It was ideal for pikachu, simply put. Add one or two mates and the whole picture was complete.

"So… Are you staying here with us while… Well, while you're a pikachu?" Lukas said with a glance of hope in his voice as we walked inside the colony through the trees that surrounded it.

"Well, I don't know yet. I really want to stay here, but I want to go home…" I said as I looked at him. "Just for the sake of… Being home. I mean, Team Rocket got me, they changed me into a completely different… something…" I said as I looked up and thought. "...and then Faia made a car crash and I had to pull along a pikachu that is also human and she forgot and she wants to be my mate…" I said as I shook my head.

"It's just too much for me to handle. I need some rest of everything. It's hard to believe I'm only a pikachu for a couple of days. It looked like ages. I was so afraid that nobody would ever know I was Maurice." I said as I shivered. "Imagine that you guys knew but that my parents would never believe that I was actually there, that I was a pikachu. It would make them so sad… And me too, because I would know that it was me but I couldn't tell them." I said.

Lukas stopped, turned around, and looked at me. He looked at my eyes and pulled some sceptic glares.

"Are you humans always thinking like this? Like everything goes wrong and such?" he said. I looked at him and looked next to him, lost in thoughts.

"Yup." I chuckled.

"But… But why? Everything's fine now, isn't it?" he said.

"Well, yes… But…" I said.

"Then don't bother about it." Lukas chuckled as he pulled me with him towards the colony.

"We're here. Let's see if Espeon is still here." he said as we walked into the clearing. A couple of pikachu gave us some glares, but when they realised it was Lukas, they didn't bother, but there were some bigger male pikachu coming straight for us.

"Hey Lukas!" one said. "I want to challenge you." he added at once, straight to the point.

"Oh, really?" Lukas said, not interested. "Why again? I beat your ass last time." he said.

"Because I want to take control of the colony!" he said. "You're doing a bad job and we want another pikachu to take your place, like Volt." he added.

"Hey, I think he's doing a good job, I'll only become leader when he tells me to." Volt said, walking towards the group with a 'not again' look on his face.

"Then I'll become leader." another pikachu said.

"No, I will." another said. Then they started arguing about who would become leader. Lukas looked at me, pulled a face and just walked away. I followed him, watched by Volt.

"They do this all the time." he said.

"Hey, where are you going?!" we heard from behind, before I could even answer.

"So our bad leader is a coward." another said.

"Running from a battle, like usual." another said.

"You're the worst leader we ever had, Lukas!" the first shouted. Lukas just stood there watching them, kind of frozen.

"Think about what I said…" I whispered to Lukas.

"Oh look, who is this. Newcomer?" the biggest of the pikachu said to me. It was Ricardo, one of our best fighters, but also a lone wolf. Now I was gone and the control of the colony was for Lukas alone, he took his chance and tried to take control over the colony. His speciality was power, but he wasn't that fast. Lukas was both fast and powerful, yet not as powerful as Ricardo.

"Ricardo, leave him alone." Lukas said.

"Oh, so you won't fight me but you will stand up for that puny little pikachu." he said as he moved closer and pushed me away a bit. I stood my ground and just gave him a foul look.

"If you only knew…" I thought. Lukas looked at Ricardo. Ricardo walked around me and then pushed me again, this time with more power, making me tip over. I yelped, rolled on my back and immediately rolled back on my feet. The other pikachu laughed at me and made fun of me. Lukas stepped in front of me.

"Leave my friend alone." he said with a dangerous voice.

"Oooooeeeehhhh, I'm so scared now." Ricardo said. "You have weak friends… So weak, you don't deserve to be leader."

"Ask him for three reasons." I whispered to Lukas so Ricardo couldn't hear.

"Give me three reasons." Lukas repeated straight after me. Then he looked at me with a 'what do you want me to do now?' face.

"Three rea… What?" Ricardo said as he looked at Lukas. I stood next to Lukas.

"Well, three reasons, dumbass, you know, things why he's a bad leader?" I said. Ricardo looked at me with a dangerous look.

"Shut your mouth, newbie." he said.

"Well?" Lukas asked, now understanding where this was going.

"Well, you suck, your mate fucks someone else, and you stink." he said.

"Wh… Wha?" Lukas said.

"You heard me." Ricardo said.

"Lola would never mate someone else." Lukas said as looked at Ricardo.

"Well, she did." he said as he laughed at Lukas. The other pikachu made fun of him. Lukas, a young pikachu, was bullied to the bone by the rest. I could see he was at the edge already, just after one measly bully. Probably because he had to deal with this all day long.

"She didn't like your sorry ass, so she found someone else while you were gone." Ricardo continued, belittling Lukas.

"Don't fall for it." I simply said to Lukas, pulling a completely neutral face. Ricardo looked at me again.

"Hey you, blabbermouth, shut up, will you?" he said. "Or I'll give you a beat up you'll never forget." I simply didn't respond. Lukas looked at me, and I gave him a quick wink.

"Oh look, the two are mates!" the pikachu said. "They winked!"

"I'd rather be mates with him than hearing you three talk any longer, jeez. You smell like shit and you sound like pichu." I chuckled.

"What did you say?" Ricardo said as he took a step towards me, sparking his cheeks. His friends took a step back, even Lukas took a step back, but I stood my guard. Since I had trained all of these pikachu, I knew what his move would be. Plus, as a pikachu, I would be able to dodge it with ease. He'd start with a headbutt followed by a quick attack and Iron Tail, usually taking out the target in one blow. But I could easily predict when he would attack me. A missed headbutt usually was fatal for the attacker, since if left your backside open completely. As a human, you could use this to turn around and grab the pikachu that attacked you at it's scruff. But since I was a pikachu, I could use some other techniques… Some more painful methods that we usually didn't utilize at the pokémon centers. Everyone knows there are things you shouldn't do with a pikachu, like pulling it's tail. There are several other of these tricks I could use against him.

"You heard me." I said, folding my arms. "Or are your ears full of shit as well?"

Ricardo took another step closer and stood right in front of me. I just looked up and gave him a foul look. He looked down and growled at me. Usually this would make a pikachu start running, but using my human mind I wasn't afraid at all (even though my pikachu side almost begged to run away). Ricardo took some steps back. He stood next to his friends again.

"So, does a bad mate make him a bad leader?" I said. "I don't think so. Neither does stinking, he can take a bath. Sucking doesn't make him a bad leader either." I said to Ricardo. Lukas just looked at me.

"Now get me some reasons or get lost." I said. Ricardo looked at me. You could easily see he was getting angrier with me with the second.

"Does he need you to talk to us or something?" Ricardo said.

"He has better things to do than talking to a bunch of pikachu that don't even know what they're talking about." I said with an amusing glare.

"Shut up, newcomer." Ricardo said.

"This newcomer knows more than you, Ricardo." I said.

"Shut - UP." Ricardo said. He stood on all fours and growled at me again.

"Ricardo is a douche bag, Ricardo is a douche bag." I sang on a random melody. "The newcomer is better than him." Ricardo got ready to attack, I could see it. I got ready to evade.

"SHUT UP!" he shouted.

"You shut up, you're a douche bag." I said. Ricardo launched from his spot to do the headbutt I expected, but I evaded him with ease.

"Oh, what's this, can't win from a newcomer?" I chuckled as Ricardo turned around and got ready to strike again. The pikachu around us took a step back, as this was turning into a duel. Time to end this stupid 'duel' with some ear pulling.

"I'll destroy you!" he said as he launched for me again. I simply stood aside from the powerhouse… and grabbed his ear. Thanks to my pikachu instincts, this was a piece of cake and thanks to Lukas' training just before my parents arrived, this was easier than I had expected. I twitched the ear 180 degrees and pulled hard, just like they would in the 1950's when you were naughty. I was dragged with him for a short while, but then I twitched his ear 360 degrees and Ricardo yelped in pain. I used the momentum I had to push his face against the ground, which wasn't easy. Ricardo resisted and tried to push me away but then I simply twitched his ear even further and pulled up while pushing down with my other paw. Ricardo whined and sat down like some kind of cat. I knew this was really painful. Ricardo whined and turned his face, only yelping harder when he pulled his own ear. I used my nails to firm my grip on him. Then I started to pull HIM around instead of the other way. Ricardo tried to push me away using a couple of moves. He wanted to shake me off, but it didn't work. My nails were dug deep into his skin and they weren't ready to let go.

"Come on big boy, can't you do better?" I said. Ricardo growled fiercely, but that didn't intimidate me at all. This simple move made one of the strongest pikachu (and it would probably make me as well) whine in pain and completely defenseless. Shaking your opponent off would feel like tearing off your own ear (in other words: it hurts) and doing nothing would count to defeat. In a live and death situation it would be worth it to tear your ear off, but this wasn't such a situation.

Ricardo suddenly did an enormous thundershock. I quickly grounded myself by putting my tail into the soil under us, so the electricity could flow away. The attack did little damage, even though it took my by surprise.

"Alrighty Ricardo, if I let you go will you stop being a total jerk to Lukas?" I said.

"What have you to do with that?" he said angry, still trying to get away, and whining if he tried so. The pikachu around us were holding their breath, wondering what the outcome would be. They were also surprised that this 'pikachu' was having a battle this strange, he didn't use a single move and still won.

"More than you think." I said, looking at him. I twitched his ear a bit. "Well?" I said, louder this time.

"Oh, go fuck yourself." he said. I twitched his ear again. He whined.

"Remember that you promised me that you wouldn't use him through me?" I said. "That you wouldn't abuse Lukas as soon I was gone?" I added. Ricardo looked at me with a surprised face.

"What the heck are you talking about?!" he said.

"Remember when you made him leader of the colony?" I said, pointing at Lukas and twitching his ear a bit.

"Owowo yes! I remember!" he said.

"What did you promise back then?" I said. I heard some gasping. Ricardo looked at me and pulled a face, not understanding what I meant. The gasping pikachu was Volt, who was now looking at me instead of Ricardo.

"I promised… Nothing!" he said. "How can you know! I don't even know you!" he said.

"Really?" I said. "How about headbutt, quick attack, iron tail?" I said. More pikachu gasped. Ricardo looked at me and still didn't understand.

"I knew your moves already before you even did them." I whispered to Ricardo. This was fun. He didn't have a clue what I was talking about.

"What the heck, what is wrong with you!" he said as he looked at me.

"Did you really think you would win a fight against a human being?" I whispered to him. Ricardo's eyes grew large as he looked at me. Then he pulled a face and looked around the pikachu group. I released him and walked away to Lukas. Ricardo sat up and looked at me.

"You're kidding me." he said. The whole colony was holding it's breath.

"Nope." I simply said. "I'm deeply disappointed in all of you." I added as I looked at the four pikachu that were bullying Lukas earlier.

"Who is that?" I heard from the crowded pikachu around us.

"That cannot be." Volt said as he moved closer. "No, no, no."

"Volt, it's really true." I said as I looked at him.

"How does he know his name?"

"Who is he?"

"Is that Maurice?"

"But wasn't he a human?!"

"WHERE IS HE!" I heard suddenly. I looked behind me to see a pikachu coming this way. It was Lola. The crowd made way for her, and she quickly got to the middle. She stopped before me.

"Was it you?!" she demanded angry, with eyes shooting fire.

"No, it was Ricardo." I heard a voice I didn't know that well. Lola's eyes shot from me to Ricardo. She looked at him. Ricardo looked back at her. He looked seriously scared. And I felt scared as well. Lola's looked dangerous.

"YOU - LITTLE - PIECE - OF - PICHU - SHIT!" Lola screamed slapping Ricardo in the face with her nails.

"Ow-ow - What are you doing?!" he said as he got up quickly and backed off. But Lola jumped into the air and did a well placed Iron Tail. She did it so fast that she even surprised me - she hit Ricardo dead on target. Ricardo was thrown on his back. He fell backwards and remained motionless, not hurt but looking at Lola and not daring to move. Lola walked over to him dangerously. She stood in front of him and then stood on top of his belly. Her face was dangerously close to his. She growled dangerously to him.

"Dont… EVER…. again…" she started "...tell Lukas I have a different mate." she growled. "I'm fed up with that shit." Then Lola gave Ricardo one more dangerous growl. It even scared me. Never try to stop an angry female…

"You don't even HAVE one…" she said in his face. "NEVER had one." she added. Then she jumped from Ricardo's belly.

"Not for more than three suns, at least." she said before she turned around and ran over to Lukas. Then she hugged him.

"I'm sorry for these jerks, Lukas." she said. "Don't believe them… I'm happy that Abby came to tell me they were trying to set you up again… This time I was fed up with them."

"You're the best mate… ever…" Lukas said as he nuzzled her cheeks. Lola purred and nuzzled Lukas back. The pikachu scattered around the colony again, except a couple ones that were interested in me, including Volt.

"I cannot believe this…" Volt said as he stood before me before I knew it. "Is that really you, Maurice?"

"Yes, it is really him." Lukas said. Lola stopped nuzzling Lukas and looked at me.

"Wait, this is…" she said as she looked at me with a open mouth.

"Yes, it is really him." Lukas repeated as he nuzzled Lola back. Lola purred and smiled at Lukas before she turned her attention back to me.

"But… But I thought you were a human… What happened to you?" she said.

"That's what I'd like to know as well." Volt said next to Lola. I looked at Lukas and told the pikachu around me my story. After I was done they all looked at me, expecting me to tell more.

"Wow…" Volt said. "Well, welcome back!" he smiled.

"I'm not staying." I chuckled.

"Wait, what?" Lukas said. "I thought you would stay here!"

"We came for Espeon, remember?" I chuckled.

"Yes I remember, but I hoped you would stay with us after that!" he said as he looked at me with hope in his eyes. I sighed and looked back at the pikachu standing in front of me.

"Sorry, but I won't be staying here right now." I said. "I want to go home. Maybe later, when I'm used to this a bit, and when I get over everything, and when I know if I can change back, I'll stick around here for a while." I said.

"Oh…" Lukas said. "So that means you'll go away again."

"I'm sorry, but yes." I sighed.

"Awww…" Lukas said as his ears drooped.

"Hey, don't worry, I'll sure visit you at least once as a pikachu. I promise. And I will visit soon." I said as I put a paw on his shoulder. "It's only… I want to be with my mom and dad right now…" I said as I sighed as well.

"It's fine… I was just so happy you got back." Lukas said as he hugged me again.

"I understand… Those pikachu weren't nice to you." I said. "Just don't let them drive you crazy."

"I won't." Lukas smiled.

"And I'll make sure they won't." Lola chuckled. "I mean, not that he can't handle them… He won fighting against them…"

"I understand." I said. "Do you have any clue where Espeon is?"

"I believe near the lake." Lola said. "She was here just now… You must have missed her."

"Dang, come on Lukas, let's go find her." I said as I ran off and Lukas followed me.

"Why do you need her anyway?" Lola said after us.

"To translate my speech for my parents!" I said back, before running away through the bushes.

. . .

Finding Espeon wasn't hard at all. We walked right into her as we were halfway the path towards the lake.

"Oh hey Lukas, how are you?" she asked as we stopped in front of her.

"And who is that…?" Espeon asked as she looked at me. "I can't recall to remember you."

"Really?" I said. "But you know me really well!"

"Really well?" she said with a unsure voice. "What's your name?"

I looked at Lukas with a sly smile. He looked at me with a face.

"It's all yours." I said as he almost begged me if he could tell it.

"It's Maurice!" he said. Espeon looked at me and then back at Lukas.

"Very funny, Lukas." she said with an adult-like annoying face that looked at both of us.

"But… It's true!" Lukas said.

"Look, I know you want him back as well, but making these jokes isn't funny." Espeon said.

"It's not a joke." I said as I looked at her. Espeon looked at me and I closed my eyes. Espeon and I had a lot of conversations without even talking using telepathy. It worked much faster, since I could show her images with my mind by simply thinking about it. I thought about my transformation, how surprised I was, about Nikki, our journey back to the lab, the reunite with my parents, why we needed Espeon and that it was really me. I opened my eyes after twenty seconds or so. Espeons eyes were glowing blue. As soon I was done they stopped glowing and she looked at me.

"Oh my…" she said as she sat down and inspected me. "Really?"

"Yup, really." I said.

"Isn't it awesome?" Lukas said as he hugged me again.

"Haha, I believe you think it's awesome." Espeon chuckled at Lukas as he did so. "But I also sense someone that isn't so happy with it." she said as she looked at me. I looked back at her.

"Well… Yeah…" I said as I blushed a bit. "I think it's awesome but… I prefer to remain human."

"Are you able to change back?" Espeon asked.

"I'm not sure. That's something for the scientists to discover." I said. "But that's not why we are here. We need you." I said.

"To translate. I saw that in a glimp." Espeon chuckled.

"Oh yeah, you know what I'm thinking." I said as I looked at her.

"I'm still a bit overwhelmed by your sudden change of appearance…" she said as she came closer and took my scent. "Your scent is different but familiar."

"That's what Scarlet said. She knew it was me." I said. "The only one that knew it. I don't know how she knew me and Lukas didn't, but she said that she knew me from the eyes…"

"Yeah, but Scarlet has a crush on you." Lukas said. "She told me she would recognize you anywhere."

"You know?" I said.

"Or course I know." Lukas said. "The way she behaves around you says enough about that... And besides that, she told me that she loved you."

"Blabbermouth…" I mumbled. Lukas chuckled.

"And I also know you got a crush on Nikki." he said. I waited a second and let these words sink in before I looked at him.

"How'd you know?" I asked.

"Haha, Maurice, really?" he said. "Do you think I don't know? I'm not crazy."

"No, it's just…" I said as I blushed heavily.

"It's just the truth." Espeon finished my sentence slowly while she looked at me with a look that said 'or isn't it?'.

"OK OK OK! I really like her, yes." I said. "But I just don't wanna tell her."

"Why not?" Lukas chuckled. "It's not wrong to like somebody. Are you scared?"

"Because I'm a human." I said as I looked at him with a serious face.

"No, you're a pikachu." Lukas said as he looked at me and smiled.

"No Lukas, I'm still a human that's changed into a pikachu. And until I'm absolutely sure I cannot change back… I'm not gonna get a mate." I sighed. "Even if I love Nikki. By the way, Nikki was a human as well, we need to change her back… Imagine me and her mating and getting pichu and then changing back to human. How would that work out? That would be cruel for the pichu."

"Well, I could raise it for you." Lukas chuckled.

"Whatever." I said. "Espeon, we need to go back to the laboratory. They're waiting for us there."

"Oh yeah I forgot…" Lukas said.

"You coming as well, Lukas?" I asked.

"Of course." Lukas said.

"Cool. But no mating talk, please." I said as I pulled a face. Lukas shook his face.

"Humans are weird. Why not just be open… It's much easier." he said as we ran off towards the lab.

. . .

We reached the laboratory quickly. The door was open, and we walked inside. My dad and Oak were talking inside Oak's room. Oak and my dad looked at us as we entered.

"Ah, Maurice, perfect timing." Oak said as he saw me. I smiled at my dad and jumped towards him almost immediately.

"Haha, welcome back." my dad said as he caught me and I requested cuddles. Rubbing my cheeks against his hands I climbed his arm and stood on his shoulder looking down on the room. Now I knew why Lukas, Scarlet and Cammy liked it climbing my shoulder so much. It gave you a whole new perspective on the world, compared being a pikachu. Seeing things from the ground is so much different… I held on tight as I looked around from above the shoulder of my dad. Looking down, it was rather… high… I would almost get scared by it. But I didn't.

"So this is your father?" Espeon said.

"Whoa, she can talk?" my dad said.

"Not really, she can use physic on you so you can understand her." I said without thinking.

"Maurice?!" he said as he turned his head and looked at me. I looked back with a questioning glare.

"What's the matter?" I said.

"You can talk!" he said. I pulled a questionable face.

"No shit." I said.

"Almost the same as you." Espeon chuckled. "You two are really alike."

"Wait, what?" my dad said. "How do you mean the same as him?"

"Wait, you can understand me, right?" I said as something in my head clicked.

"Yes, I can now." my dad said.

"That's why we got Espeon, silly!" I said as I softly punched his head with my paw.

"I know, but it sounds so weird to hear your voice again… But from a pikachu…!" he said.

"Wait, I still have my normal voice?" I said.

"Yes you do, only it's pitched slightly higher." Oak said.

"Oh wow… That's weird." I said.

"Or not. Depending on how you see it. I mean, you're still in there somewhere. How Albert managed to fit it all in that pikachu brain is still a mystery to me, but he managed to do it." Oak said.

"I did what?" Albert said as he and my mom entered the room.

"Fit Maurice inside that." my dad said as he pointed at me.

"Hi mom!" I said.

"Hello sweethea…. Wait did he talk?" she said halfway her sentence.

"Yes I did. Why is everyone so surprised by that?" I said as I pulled a face. "Pikachu can talk just as we can, only in a different language."

"It's just strange to talk to pikachu." Albert said.

"Maurice doesn't think so." Lukas said.

"Well, the first time I did." I said as I jumped from my fathers shoulder towards the table.

"Well that's true." Lukas said.

"Anyway…" I said. "Where is everyone?"

"You mean the pikachu? They got bored from waiting and went outside." Oak said.

"Ah, ok… Well, maybe it's better that they're gone. I wouldn't want Nikki and Scarlet to talk through this every time wondering what it means." I said as I pulled a face.

"Oh my, explain yourself." my mom chuckled.

"Really mom, that's exactly what I wanted to avoid." I said with an annoyed face when Cammy, Scarlet, Nikki, Jack and Rosie walked into the room together with their pichu.

"Avoid what?" Scarlet asked as Cammy jumped the table and hugged me.

"Hey, get away from my mate!" Nikki said almost immediately. Cammy just looked at Nikki with a weird face.

"Your… Mate?" my mom said. "Did I miss something?"

"No you did not." I said clearly annoyed, making sure every words was loud and clear, as Nikki jumped the table and pulled Cammy away from me.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Cammy said annoyed.

"He's my mate, you stay away from him." Nikki said simply put. Cammy looked at her and pulled an annoyed face.

"Is she your mate, Maurice?" my mom asked.

"Yes, I'm his mate. And we're gonna mate and find a den and have pichu." Nikki said looking at everyone. I blushed heavily and looked at my mom.

"Awwww…" my mom said.

"That's what SHE wants." I said as I looked down, a bit in shame.

"Well, I wouldn't mind… It sounds cute." my mom chuckled.

"Mooooooooooooooooooooooooom!" I said long, upset, surprised, and amused at the same time. "First you forbid me everything and now it's cute?!"

"Just kidding, just kidding…" my mother chuckled.

"Well, mate or not, you're still my daddy and I love you!" Cammy said as she pushed Nikki aside and hugged me.

"Wait, daddy?!" my mom said.

"Adopted." I said as I purred and nuzzled Cammy back. "I took her in when she was a pichu - and I still a human." Scarlet and Nikki both looked jealous at Cammy when I stopped giving her attention.

"Hey no offence, but that plan Nikki told you was pretty good. If you'd be willing to take a mate, I'd like to do the same." Scarlet said.

"Oh, so this is a fight about Maurice, now I understand." Oak said. "I knew Scarlet liked Maurice, but this… You're lucky, Maurice." he chuckled.

"Whatever you call lucky." I said. "Now, please give me some privacy and leave the room. I want to talk to my parents and Oak and Albert."

"But why can't we stay?" Nikki said.

"Nikki, you can stay for a while longer, but the rest has to go because I don't want you to fight over everything I say to my parents." I said. "Please - it'll only speed things up. I know it's a bit… arrogant, but its better for everyone."

"Uhm… OK." Scarlet said. Lukas looked at me with a sad face, but after Oak pushed all pokémon out of the room except Nikki, Espeon and me, I finally got some time to introduce Nikki properly.

"So, Albert, remember I wanted to tell you something?" I said to Albert.

"Yup, I do. What was it?" he said.

"This is Nikki." I said.

"Yup, that's me!" Nikki said. As soon I mentioned 'Nikki', Alberts eyes grew large.

"Are you kidding me?" Albert said as he moved closer. "That's great, that's absolutely great…"

"According to Faia she was a human before as well." I said as I pointed at her and looking at him. "That's why we were moved together and that's why I took her with me."

"Nikki Urtea?" officer Jenny said.

"Yes, Nikki Urtea." Albert said as he held Nikki with both hands and checked her from top to bottom.

"You know her?" I said.

"You bet." Jenny said. "She disappeared about three months ago. Not a trace of her, ever. We stopped the investigation because we couldn't find anything of her."

"This is great, just great!" Albert said. "I'm so happy we found another one…"

"Uhm, what do you mean?" Nikki said as she nuzzled my cheek and purred.

"Nikki Urtea, listen to me." Albert said as he pulled Nikki away from me, held her tight and forced her to look at him. "You are a human being. You were transformed into a pikachu by Team Rocket." Nikki stared at Albert blankly for a couple of seconds.

"Don't tell lies!" she said as she shook herself free. "That's what Maurice tells me, but it's not true! I'm a pikachu, and he is a pikachu as well!" she shouted. "Just look! Do I look like a human and does Maurice look like one?!" she said. "We're mates, we just wanna have a family and don't be bothered with! Just leave us alone!" she said as she looked at me. "Come on Maurice, let's go… I don't feel very comfortable here." she said as she grabbed my paw and pulled. She looked at me with a scared glare when I didn't move.

"I'm not coming, Nikki." I said as I stopped her. Nikki looked around. First at me, then at Albert, then at my dad (which was actually giving her a very relaxing glare) and then my mom and Jenny. They all looked down on her.

"Please Maurice, let's go…!" she plead, pulling harder. "I wanna go away, I don't feel safe." she said while looking around.

"But I do feel safe." I said as I looked at her. "And I don't want to go away."

"But Maurice...!" she said as she looked at me with scared eyes and then at all the adults around her. Suddenly Nikki had changed into a scared pikachu from which you could expect anything in terms of escape.

"There's nothing to be scared off." I said. Nikki quickly stood next to me and held on tight.

"But they're… They're telling me that… And you and everyone…" she said. "It's not true!"

"Calm down, Nikki. Neither of these humans wants to hurt you or kill you or turn you into a human." I said as I rubbed her cheek.

"Really?" she said as as she looked around.

"Of course not." my dad said as he moved his hands closer. Nikki growled at them.

"Oh come on." I said as I pushed my mate-to-be in my fathers hands. Nikki yelped, but my dad only moved his fingers through her fur and massaged her. Nikki let it all happen and after a few moments, she closed her eyes and purred.

"We should contact her family…" Jenny said.

"That won't help." I said. "Nikki has lost all her memories of being a human. She can't remember anything. Do you know more about that, Albert?"

"Yes, I do. The pikachu that lived through the transformation, usually remembered their human-being life perfectly. But after a couple of hours, days, weeks, or even months, sometimes even immediately, they forgot everything. It depends on the pikachu if they forget and how fast it goes. Once the pikachu forgets his human life, it's gone forever." Albert said.

"Gone… Forever?" I repeated slowly.

"So Nikki will never remember her family or… her human life?" I asked.

"To be honest, I don't know." Albert said. "We've never tried to change a transformed pikachu back into a human. It might work or it might not, I am not sure."

"Which brings us to me… Can I change back to a human?" I asked, almost begged. I could feel my parents also wanted to know this.

"I wish I could tell you." Albert said. "I can't. As far as I know we never changed pikachu to human."

I sighed. Was that too much to ask.

"Listen." Albert said. "If Kanto police will grant me permission to go back in there (he looked at Jenny), I can see what I can do. Until then, I cannot tell you."

It made me look down. I sighed again and shook my head. My dad (who had brought Nikki outside) now grabbed me and held me.

"Don't lose hope." he said as he hugged me.

"It's not that I lost hope. I wished I could just go to their hideout and change myself back this instant." I said. "Being a pikachu is cool, but to be honest, I prefer to be human."

"Well, you got plenty of friends to play with, right?" my dad said. "They'll keep you busy until you can change back."

"Yeah, that's true, I guess." I said. "But that's also the problem."

"The problem?" my mom asked.

"Yes, the problem." Oak said. He looked at my mother with a serious face. "Nikki."

"Nikki?" my mom asked. "How can she be the problem?"

"And Scarlet." Oak added. "And Cammy, although Cammy is a smaller problem."

"Can you explain me?" my mom said. "They look fine pikachu to me. I mean, I don't want them in my home, but they look fine pikachu."

"And they love me." I added. My mom and dad looked at me.

"What's the problem in that?" my dad chuckled.

"I would consider the fact that both of these pikachu have plans to start a family with your son a legit reason to worry." Oak said. My mom and dad now got the message, and looked at me with a certain face, mainly my mother.

"No I didn't." I said looking away from them. "Not yet."

"I thought you were joking, but are you serious right now?" my mom asked.

"Yes I am. And Nikki is dead serious about the family part." I said.

"But, how bad can it be? You can just ignore her, can you?" she said.

"He could, if he was a human." Oak said. "Like he ignored Scarlet for a while already. Not a drop of sweat. But this is a entirely different case. Maurice is now a pikachu…"

"So…? He still has his human thoughts, right?" my mom said.

"Yes, I have. But things are indeed different." I said as I looked at Oak, thanking him for explaining. "When I was human, I was a human with a pikachu inside me. My human mind was in control, and with my human mind, I also controlled my pikachu mind. I could allow it to control me and take the control at any given time. Like a robot of some sort." I said as I looked at my parents. They both nodded.

"However, sometimes, with a strong emotion, like if I got scared - or rather, my pikachu side got scared of something, or if something caught its attention, like a female for example, the emotion would be so strong that my human mind couldn't control it. Then I changed into a pikachu for a moment. For real. A pikachu in a human body." I said. "Get what I mean?"

"Yes, I do. You can control the… Pikachu inside, except for strong emotions or… Uhm… incentives." my dad said.

"That's what I mean." I said as I nodded. "With the most simple explanation being a laser pointer, I just got to get it when it appears somewhere…" I chuckled. Everyone laughed shortly.

"But what's the problem then?" my mom asked.

"Well, right now, this whole thing I just explained is kind of switched around. I'm a human inside a pikachu body. Right now, I'm like controlling myself, but it's much harder to retain… control over my pikachu side. It's controlling me most of the time. Maybe it sounds weird, but it basically means I'm like controlling myself but more like a wild pikachu would do. And guess what my pikachu side would love to do." I said as I frowned towards my parents.

"Ah, I get it now." my dad said.

"But… Can't you shake it off?" my mom said as she pet me with her hand and looked at me.

"I can…" I said. "But who knows how long until it goes wrong. I just need one strong… uhm… incentive… that I can't resist and I'm done for."

"And trust me, it's not easy." Oak said. "It's not like telling somebody not to do it. When a female pikachu wants to mate, they have several ways to tell this to the male and to make him mate. It's first instinct and very, VERY hard to fight against."

"We should thank Arceus that Nikki and Scarlet don't know charm or sweet kiss, or I would fall hopelessly in love with one of the two." I sighed. "And thank Arceus it's not mating season as well. I don't wanna know what happened then. You'll probably have to lock me up somewhere if it gets to that, if I see what it did to everyone in the pikachu colony."

My mother and father looked at each other and now understood that I was actually having trouble with girls. And it wasn't even funny…

"We'll talk about it when we get home. I'm sure there's something we can do." my mom said as her hand slid down my back and she scratched my ears.

"Are we going home?" I said as my ears perked up happily.

"Yes tiger, we're going home." dad chuckled at my reaction.

"But what about Albert?" I said. "I mean, if he gets arrested… I probably can never change back." I said as my ears hung again and my tail flopped as well. Jenny stepped forward.

"We have discussed the matter, just the two of us. Albert is very well aware he is responsible for the transformation and maybe even murder of several people, including transforming you." she said. "But since he is trying his best to inform you, me and your parents that you are a pikachu and since he is cooperating to change you back into a human (she looked at Albert, which quickly nodded), it's pointless to arrest him. If I did, I would just slow down everything to change you back, plus, I we would have to go and gather everything, we would have to take him into custody, and so on, well, you know the drill." she said. I nodded. "I have decided to arrest him but to bail him out immediately so we can continue the investigation while he works on your change. For now I don't have a clue what I should do and if I should either sue him or drop all charges, because he certainly didn't do anything out of free will. It's something we'll discuss later." she sighed. "For now, he's free to help with your transformation. We'll keep in touch, you'll probably need to visit him and the research facility often for tests." she said. "And we need to check all the pikachu that came from the facility as well."

Wait a minute, that reminded me of something!

"The pikachu that were in the Team Rocket hideout, where are they?!" I said. Jenny looked at me, surprised by my sudden enthusiasm.

"Why are you asking?" she asked.

"Some of these pikachu belong to my colony!" I said. "One in particular."

"Uhm, which one, if I may ask?" Jenny asked.

"Lukas' dad is among them…" I said. "His dad was considered death but apparently he was caught by Team Rocket and-"

"Maurice, hang on, we can't understand you." my dad interrupted. I looked at Espeon. She was staring at me, her eyes normal instead of blue, which they usually were in translation mode.

"WHAT?" she said as she looked at me. "His dad?! But he's dead! Are you kidding me?!"

"No he isn't." I chuckled. "If you translate again, I'll explain. And I'm not kidding."

"Oh, sorry. I'm just…" she said. Her eyes started glowing again.

"This better?" I said. Everyone nodded.

"Sorry, I was just a bit surprised." Espeon said through telepathy towards everyone and I continued.

"His dad was taken from him when he was young. He always thought his dad was dead, but it appeared his dad was caught by Team Rocket for use in this experiment. He never died - he was just captured and has been stuck in the hideout of Team Rocket ever since." I said.

"Really?" Jenny said. "Then we should sort these pikachu out."

"We should, but not just yet. Oh, and please don't tell Lukas yet. Not yet. As soon I transform back to human I'll sort everything out with you, depending on how long it'll take to transform back. But for now, just don't put them up for adoption or something, but make sure they get a good treating, because they've been in horrible conditions for a long time." I said.

"Why wait?" Jenny said.

"Because there are more pikachu from different colonies that I need to sort out. I'm sure they want to go back to that colony. That'll go easier as human, because I'll be able to do the research myself." I said. "Assuming I'll still be able to talk pikachu after I transform back, if I ever transform back…" I said as I sighed.

"Don't worry, I'll do my best. For now, I can tell you we did some tests regarding pikachu to human transformation. I'll see what the results were and I'll check if it's possible to change you back." Albert said as he laid a hand on my head. "But right now… You should go home. You look tired." he said as he stroked me from my head to my ears and scratched my ears.

"Thanks… I guess." I said as I purred. Then I suddenly felt really tired, for some reason. Was it because Albert told me I was tired? Or was it because it was a long day? Who knows.

"Just make sure these females don't drive you crazy." Albert said as he looked at me. "I know it's hard for you, but you can do it. I'm sure. I'll make sure Nikki and Scarlet something that makes them less willing to mate…"

"If you could, please. It looks like we're close friends and such, and we are, but sometimes they drive me crazy. Mainly Nikki though, she won't stop telling me that every den we see is great to live in. Scarlet understands me a bit more I guess, she stopped asking after she understood I was just keeping Nikki with me for human being sake…"

"But you did say you were in love with her, didn't you?" my mom said.

"Unfortunately, my pikachu side is, yes." I sighed. "But I won't have to deal with that when I'm home." I smiled.

"No you won't have to." my dad said as he grabbed me and placed me on his shoulder and smiled.

"Espeon, would you like to come with us so we can talk with Maurice?" my dad asked. "It's only temporarily… I hope." he said. Espeon looked at him and nodded.

"I'm fine with that, as long I'm free to go whenever I want." she said.

"Sure, sure." my dad said.

"Espeon, it's best to register you if you go with them, or they might capture you… Espeon are very popular pokémon." Oak said. After registering Espeon to Oak, my parents, Oak, Jenny, and Albert all shared phone numbers so they could reach each other in case something happened or in case Albert wanted to see me. After that, we headed home. The goodbye with Lukas and Scarlet was kind of easy, they just said goodbye. They knew they would see me again soon. Lukas asked me to visit the colony as pikachu a couple of times, because he thought it was cool.

Rosie even hugged me and wished me all the best and even reassured me that everything was gonna be alright. I guess she saw what I was going through, probably she could feel that better because she was mother of pichu and had to deal with this everyday.

Nikki, however, was entirely different. When I told her that I was going home and she was staying here, she almost exploded. Which was understandable, of course, but not really... nice to tell her and such. I wasn't really happy to leave her behind, but it was the best to do right now. Nikki however took this entirely different and screamed, shouted and even cried when I told her I'd go away for a while. It made me feel sad, but I knew it was the best. Lukas and Scarlet helped me out big time by telling that I would be back. When any human tried to reassure her, she'd try and electrocute him or her… Thankfully Scarlet and Lukas weren't affected at all. I was sad that Cammy was nowhere to be seen nor found when I was leaving, because I wanted to say goodbye to her, but we couldn't find her. I didn't know what to think of that. Maybe she was crying somewhere, maybe she was just asleep. Who knows.

In the car on the way back to my house I felt asleep fast. When we arrived home, my dad woke me up by gently shaking me awake.

"Hey there, we're home." he said, smiling, grabbing me out of the seat and setting me on the path towards our front door. My mom just unlocked the door when I slid past her and entered first. It felt good, now I actually was welcome and not being chased away by my own parents. Good to be home, good to be here. It felt like ages since I was here, although it was just a couple of days, maybe two weeks.

"Nice house, Maurice." Espeon chuckled as she entered behind me.

"Thanks." I said as we entered the living room and Espeon looked around. My dad and mom also entered.

"Maurice, we've got you something… Oak said you'd like it." my dad said with a smile. He then looked into a bag he took with him. He searched into it, before he grabbed a pokéball. He threw it in the air and before I even realised, Cammy stood in front of me. She hugged me before I could even react. We hugged each other, Cammy purring loudly.

"Finally Nikki is gone…" she said. "She's getting on my nerves."

"She's getting on my nerves as well." I sighed.

"Why is she your mate if she makes you unhappy?" Cammy said as she looked at me.

"That's hard to explain right now, Cammy." I said. "Man, I'm hungry…"

"Me too! Let's eat!" Cammy said as she hopped away from me and towards the kitchen.

"You hungry?" my mom said to Cammy as Cammy looked up to her when I entered the kitchen as well.

"Me too… And Espeon too, I think." I said as I looked at Espeon. She nodded and mom looked into the kitchen cabinet for food.

"Maurice, should I give you this?" she said, unsure if I'd like pokéchew.

"Sure! I like that." I chuckled. "Ever since I got caught in that pokéball I love it when I'm in pikachu mode, so don't feel bad for giving me that."

"Thank goodness. I wouldn't know what else I should give you." my mom said. After we ate our dinner, I felt tired. I could see Cammy was tired as well. Espeon wasn't showing any signs of being tired at all.

"Tired?" she asked at me telepathically.

"Yes…" I said, yawning long and loud, throwing my paws in the air human-style. Cammy followed me and also yawned.

"Contagious, isn't it?" I chuckled at Cammy before we walked into the living room. My mom and dad sat on the couch and were watching TV. I also looked at the TV. The news was on, which always interested me back when I was human. But right now, it just didn't interest me. I guess. Instead, I jumped the couch right next to my dad. My mother was busy doing laundry and folding all kinds of clothing.

"You know, without you, this is going a lot faster." she said as she held my dad's underwear towards me. I smiled quickly, before I jumped my dad's chest. He looked down just in time to see me climbing his sweater, before I stopped at his neck and laid my head just under it, sighing and nuzzling his neck.

He smiled and placed his hands around me. It made me feel much safer and if felt all nice and warm. I cooed happily and closed my eyes, nuzzling my cheeks around his neck and hands and unintentionally releasing some sparks from my cheeks.

"You know, you behave just like Bobby." my dad said. "Including the sparks."

"Sparks? Is he attacking you?" my mother said.

"You will never understand pikachu." my dad laughed. "They affectionately spark sometimes, it's normal." he said as he revealed one of my cheeks towards my mother.

"Watch." he said. He then started rubbing under my chin, which felt absolutely great. I purred loudly and sparked again, small electric sparks releasing from my cheeks.

"Whaa…" my mom said as she saw it. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"Haha, not at all. They also do this when they sleep next to you and you cuddle them instead of the other way around." my dad said. "It feels like getting tickled, it's not dangerous at all.

"Well, better you than me." she said when Cammy jumped the couch as well, and copied me. She jumped on my dad's belly and then climbed up towards me. "I'd be terrified."

"Oh my, you too?" my dad said. Cammy purred and gave dad a irresistible puppy face. I opened up one eye and looked at Cammy. She stuck her tongue out shortly before dad placed her right next to me. She immediately started nuzzling me, before she started to wash my face right in my fathers hands. I purred softly, letting Cammy wash me more efficiently. After thirty seconds or so she was done, while my mom looked at everything. Instinctively, I started washing Cammy as well. I started with her cheeks, then her ears, and then her head. Cammy held still and purred as well. My mom shook her head.

"You're absolutely crazy, Maurice." she said. I opened one eye, looked at her, stuck my tongue out, before I closed my eyes and cuddled up to Cammy, before we both fell asleep. It must have been when my parents went to bed that I woke up shortly.

"No worries…" my dad said as we entered my own room. "Just putting you in your own bed."

He laid me down on my own pillow and shortly later he placed Cammy right next to me. Cammy and I cuddled close before my dad placed my blanket over us.

"Sweet dreams." he said, letting Espeon enter and leaving the room, leaving the door slightly open. Espeon jumped my bed and curled herself up at the end.

"Why is Nikki your mate when she makes you unhappy?" Cammy said at me.

"Just don't worry about it." I said as I started licking Cammy instinctively. I cleaned her head and cheeks again before I noticed she was asleep. I laid down next to her and closed my eyes. I slept before I even knew it.