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Pokémon

50,000 Volts

Chapter one: Yellow fuzz on my skin

"What are you doing Luke!?" A tall and slender woman asks.

"It's a going out of business party, I'm done!" A man shouts from across the room.

The man shouting is me: Lucas Bright. I'm just a guy who likes to organize things and wear decent clothing. Not much else to say about me right now other than the fact that I was angry at the moment. I was throwing boxes everywhere as well as crushing everything in my path like a wild Rhyhorn. So much for organizing things.

The woman, who spent a large amount of time helping me organize these expensive items, runs in my direction and then she stretches her hands toward me, "Look at me Luke, It's not over. So what if you just found out that everything you sold all this time was contraband? I know that sounds stupid but-"

"I just found out that for almost ten years now I've been selling illegal goods to people who are probably in prison because of me!" I interrupted her. I didn't mean to be rude, but I was too frustrated to notice my own actions. I wouldn't notice until I felt her grab both my hands which seems to work: my violent rampage comes to an end as a result.

Taking a deep breath I look down to meet with those two gorgeous rose-colored eyes that she has. Jennifer, or as she prefers to be called, Jen, is a close friend of mine and she always knows how to calm me down in a bad situation. Is it magic? Is she a witch? I didn't care as long as I was okay.

As my breathing slows back to normal, I begin to clean the mess that I had made, which consisted of fallen boxes and broken glass shards scattered all over the floor.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry I lost control, but I've wasted ten years…ten years...a decade of my life doing the wrong things. I should have known from the start..."

"You worry too much, that's your problem," She says while she helps me clean up the very small warehouse, "The police haven't even caught you yet and there's a good chance they never will if you think about it."

"You know as well as I that this region has strict rules about contraband, very strict rules" I pick up the last box, which has broken glass inside it, and I walk out of the warehouse and into our office inside the store. The store itself contains countless number of medicines for humans and Pokémon all lined up on each side of the store.

"Jen, I want to go back to Kanto. Back to pallet town…" I sat down on a wooden stool next to a slightly dusty counter we have inside the small store. I place the last box on this counter. I wipe sweat from my forehead, taking deep breaths every once in a while.

"You're going home because of this?"

"No…this was the last straw."

"I see. Are you Homesick too?"

I look up toward her and then I look at the box, "Yes, and because I want to start over."

She walks toward my desk casually and picks up a Pokémon clock, the shape of a Pikachu, and brandished it in front of my face as she leans against the desk.

"Why not settle down instead?"

I took notice of her pose, and i'm happy to say that she's attractive. I examine her structure: Jen is wearing a red jacket with a white shirt underneath and bright blue jeans. She also wears a hat just like me but it's red instead. Hidden inside her hat is long red hair. Needless to say that it is not that of a dyed color but instead is one-hundred percent natural. It hangs over her nice round set of...

"Stop staring at me like that!"

"Ahhh!" I almost fall from my chair. She growls in slight anger, "One second ago you were talking about how you're so homesick and then all of a sudden you stare at me like a beggar! What's wrong with you this morning?" She asks.

"I'm sorry! Can you say what you said before?"

She rolls her eyes, "Why don't you just settle down?"

"I...I think not, not here at least." My voice trails off slightly. At the back of my mind I feel as though that was too harsh.

Jen places the clock with barely noticeable force on the desk. She walks toward the counter and opens the box but she quickly closes it again.

"Luke, I won't stop you. This is your job after all, but I can't follow you to Kanto."

"I understand, we've been through a lot, but I feel as though I made a terrible mistake 18 years ago"

"I've heard this many times, but what's in the past is the past. You left Kanto 10 years ago because of your biggest mistake. She taunted.

"It's not that" I stated, "I want to get a Pokémon license."

"So…that's why, you want to become a Pokémon Trainer."

I looked up toward Jen and smiled, "A Pokémon Master." I retorted, "I was too scared to start when I was ten and now that I'm twenty eight-"

Jen tries to hold in her giggling; however, it soon explodes into a hearty laughter.

"This is funny to you?"

"Yes but not in that way…I was reminded of one of my old friends. She is a veteran trainer and she was beaten by a 10-year old novice in a matter of seconds. I imagined the same thing will happen to you too if you do become a Master."

"So you support me but at the same time…?" I blink twice with confusion.

"Oh come on…it's bound to happen to every veteran trainer, just look at all the experienced Gym Leaders getting their butts kicked by youngsters who have only been around for a few weeks."

I couldn't help but laugh myself, "Well, that's true."

"Come on, I don't mind if you go actually as long as you come back from time to time."

"Oh really?"

"Yea, I guess…if you do manage to go up the ranks, you can come here and we can be the perfect duo!" She claims proudly.

...

It's an early September morning inside the international airport. People and Pokémon from many different places converge here at this very place: the central terminal. I was about to enter the checkpoint to flight 124. My destination: Viridian City, Kanto.

Jen takes off her sunglasses and hugs me tightly, "No matter what happens Luke, do whatever you want to do. Don't let anyone discourage you from your dreams."

I smile as I return the hug, "Thank you Jen, for helping me out through the thick and thin. I've only known you for awhile, but it feels like it's been so much more."

"No problem Luke, just be sure to keep in touch okay?"

"Attention, all passengers boarding flight 124 must proceed to checkpoint A2." An announcer's voice echos throughout the terminal.

We break from our tight hug as I grab my bag. I walk towards the line which will soon separate us completely.

"You know I will, I promise."

Jen smiles softly as I enter the restricted territory. Held tightly In her hand, there is a bag of flowers ranging from brightly colored roses and numerous Hydrangeas scattered around.

...

A few hours later, I am finally in Viridian City. I explore the city as I feel a rush of nostalgia and a breath of fresh air: a new beginning. I loved it when my parents took me here to watch battles from time to time and it used to be a small city, but to my surprise it was now noisy. The smell of new asphalt and sweat filled the air.

As time passed, I walk by the Viridian Gym only to find a young trainer enter inside. Curious, I decide to turn around and check out the impending battle inside the gym.

There are two guards standing by the large golden door.

"Only one trainer at a time citizen." The first guard says.

"I'm not a trainer, I'm just watching if that's okay."

The first guard checks my pockets and bag and then walks back toward his guard spot.

"Proceed" The second one demands as the doors slowly opens.

This place, as I remember it, is gargantuan and filled with classic architecture from an earlier era as well as a rectangular dirt-covered arena where the battles happen. I sat down on the floor and observed the soon to be Pokémon Battle.

But then I notice an older man standing next to me. He is wearing a suit. Soon afterwards, he turns toward me, "Are you friends with Giovanni or the trainer?" He expects a response.

I replied, "Neither, just here to watch. I'm a big fan of Giovanni"

"I see. Would you be interested to see the battle from a better place? I would be glad to escort you to the balcony if you like."

This completely catches me off guard! Giovanni, the Gym leader of Viridian City as I remember too vividly, lets complete strangers hang out in his crib? It sounds unlikely but I accept right away with no hesitation. Needless to say that I follow him upstairs to the balcony as I see that Mr. Giovanni is standing on the arena about to battle.

Across the arena is a young teenage boy, who has a smaller than average Pikachu. It is resting on his shoulder and it's eager to begin the battle. The boy turns to his right to find two guards in armor announcing the game.

Each trainer may only use three Pokémon. There is no time-limit. Let the battle begin!

Then a bell rings.

"Rhydon." Giovanni softly throws a Poké ball into the ground which releases a gray-color bipedal creature with a horn on its snout. The boy immediately throws his Poké ball in the air as well, "Goodluck Charmeleon!" A bright light comes out of the ball and forms a red reptilian creature afterwards. It roars with dignity.

"A fire-type and it's only in its first evolved form?" Giovanni laughs as he looks back at the boy, "You're going to need better strategy to defeat me." The man snaps his fingers, "Rhydon, fissure."

"Ember!" The boy retaliates as his Pokémon releases small flames from its mouth toward the Rhydon, but it endures the hit easily as the beast roars. It stomps on the ground resulting in a small portion of the arena slicing open that heads toward Charmeleon, "Dodge it!" The boy shouts but it's too late. His Pokémon falls inside the fissure and then the entire inside of it explodes with red light as the red reptilian monster is flown out and hits the ground hard afterwards. The fissure closes and the original shape of the arena returns.

"Come back!" The boy shouts as sweat falls from his forehead. His breathing gets very shallow as he pulls out an inhaler and breathes into it.

"Are you already doubting your chances of winning?"

The young teen thrashes his arm sideways, "N...never! Mankey go!"

Giovanni smirks, "I would say it's a good decision to use a fighting type on Rhydon, but it won't help you in the long run. I see that you haven't trained your team as much as you should have. Surely if you are a strong trainer as you have stated before, you would have all of your teammates with high enough levels to defeat me."

"My team is fine!"

"We shall see."

As I watch the battle continue I look back toward the man, "Thanks for this. This is really cool," I say, flattered, while leaning on the balcony. This is the first battle I've seen in a while and I'm just eager to start training my very own Pokémon right this moment. In my heart I know that I can become the best Pokémon Master and I'm ready to prove myself to everybody back home that I will-

Suddenly, I feel extreme pain at the back of my head. Everything gets dark afterwards.

...

As I regain consciousness, I feel a surge of pain surround the back of my skull. I groan as I try to move but to no avail. There is a bright white light that blinds me instantly after I open my eyes, and I hear a familiar voice nearby.

"I'm sorry if my representative mistreated you back there, but we had to make sure you wouldn't try to break anything priceless in my private balcony" A man teased me.

"G…Mr. Giovanni?" I ask, aghast, as I try to open my eyes again to make sure it was him. It certainly was, and his faithful Persian is standing next to him.

"Why thank you, not many young hooligans like yourself add the Mr. when they identify me. Perhaps you can also…"

Still trying to adjust to the bright light I interrupt him, "Sir…your representative sent me up here claiming it was okay too."

"Do you honestly think we're still inside the gym?" He laughs as he pets his Pokémon.

Finally, I am able to examine my environment: It is rather high-tech with many machines surrounding me. In fact, there are many strange objects attached to my skin as my body begins to respond to the many needles underneath my skin. My clothes are gone, replaced by a hospital gown. I look up to find numerous men and women in lab coats, which I assume to be either doctors or scientists. They are checking instruments every few seconds while others pour strange liquid into several vials. One person, a female, to the right is holding a vial containing some sort of dark liquid. She took a syringe from a tray next to her and withdrew some of the fluid. She inspected its contents carefully. This immediately makes me look toward Giovanni. Sweat begins to fall from my temples.

"Sir, its kind that you brought me to the hospital after the incident, but I…" I try to say.

Mr. Giovanni roars in laughter.

"I don't understand why you find this funny." I say to him.

"It is apparent that you do not understand, for you see, you are my test subject."

I lift my head in confusion, but it was more from fear, "I beg your pardon Mr. Giovanni?"

"I see no reason not to tell you, so I'll say it. I needed a tourist from another region, so we identified you quite easily as you walked across my gym in those Sinnoh-themed clothing. We needed a person we can grab out of the streets with the least amount of importance."

"Sir, what exactly do you want from me?"

"You'll soon see." Giovanni snaps his fingers as two scientists: one forcefully holds my head down while the other, the scientist from earlier, brandishes the syringe in front of my face.

"Why are you doing this…?" I try to avoid the needle as nervousness seeps into pure fear.

"This formula will change the world; it will give humans limitless potential, perhaps even exceed the power of the strongest of Pokémon! You will thank me later when this works"

"Please don't!"

My resistance proves to be futile, for the scientist injects the dark fluid into my vein. I close my eyes in terror. They cover my mouth so I wouldn't emit an ear-piercing scream. The pain is unbearable. It's as if my arm suddenly burst into flames and it only got worse. The pain spreads and my organs feel like they are being crushed by a rather unusual amount of pressure.

"Pipe down. If this little experiment is successful, I might let you leave our facility with no further observation from us or perhaps if you're interested enough you can join Team Rocket."

My eyes open slightly after I hear 'Team Rocket'.

He chuckles in amusement, "I can tell by your expression that you are as lost as a Psyduck, so allow me to explain: I am the boss of Team Rocket and all of its shining glory!" He proudly stretches his arms in opposite directions as if he is telling the world his secret, but I barely notice this because my pain worsens with each passing second.

"And by the way…don't ever interrupt me again."

Moments after he said that I feel my insides gradually begin to compact against one another in a gruesome way. I try so hard to pray, let alone think, to myself that somehow I was going to survive this. I could have passed out again from here, but my mind just kept fighting against the agonizing pain for some reason. Maybe it wanted to see what exactly was going on because this felt...unnatural.

"Imagine humans with Pokémon abilities! Do you know how many people would be anxious enough to buy my formula? Millions no doubt and they would be willing to pay much more than that amount." He laughed, "I might even be revered by the scientific community for my accomplishments and then the world will truly know that I...Dr. Bartoli…what is that yellow fuzz growing on his skin?" Giovanni asks, confused.

I am also confused as I painfully look down to see patches of hair on my skin which has started to itch uncontrollably. Giovanni was right. It is bright yellow…fur? Fur is the correct term because I feel one of the scientists try to get rid of it, which of course causes me to yelp with more pain.

"Dr. Bartoli! Tell me what is happening right now!" He shouts.

"This must be an unexpected side effect…oh no…" The female doctor explains. Giovanni pushed some of the scientists next to him aside as he rushes toward Bartoli with rage, "Not a very good explanation doctor, I want real answers now!"

The doctor examines her clipboard and other instruments on a table. She then examines me very briefly. Finally, she turns to Giovanni, "The formula is turning him into a Pokémon instead."

It looks as though Giovanni had lost his mind for a second as he tries to interpret what she had just said, "I spent a fortune on this project and you're telling me that it's not working!? Doctor, I suggest you fix this right now before you make me angry!"

"Yes sir!"

My bones and spine snap as they are compressed into smaller forms. By now I am screeching in pain.

"Control him! His body is in too much stress at the moment!" Bartoli ordered.

"We're trying!"

"You're not trying hard enough!" She retorts.

If anyone would have seen me on that bed at that very moment, they would see that most of my body is already covered in this strange yellow fur and that I am shrinking little by little as time went by. My screams didn't stop, for they merely continued to get louder and more profound as my vocal cords begins to shift. I feel an odd pressure on my cheeks as two red circles appear opposite from each other on each cheek.

Giovanni rushes to stand next to me, "Must I do everything myself!? Be quiet!" he yells as he holds my mouth in place. Without thinking, I instinctively bite his hand as I find that my canines has grown sharper. He is disturbed but nonetheless determined, "Get me some tape, now!"

"Yes sir!" The man came back immediately with adhesive tape you normally find in office cubicles, but Giovanni explodes with frustration, "Not that tape you imbecile! Duct tape!"

My body kept on shrinking until I am about half the size of the bed, so I am essentially the size of a 10 year old boy and there are no signs that the change is ever going to stop. My hospital gown becomes, to be expected, too large to fit me. Both my fingers and toes gradually begin to feel numb and when I look toward my right hand to find it completely changed, it made me cringe: if I had known better I would have said that it now looks like the paws of a particular Pokémon.

I didn't have time to think about it because my ears are the next part of my body to painfully change as I feel them stretch and eventually…I couldn't hear anything. In fact, all sound has been muted for an indefinite amount of time. I did hear, however, faint bangs because the scientists scrambled throughout the room searching for a solution to my problem only to knock many things on the floor. Even the faintest sounds are now received by my sensitive ears, but many others are still muted however. I see that Giovanni is yelling inaudible messages to me as I kept yelling in pain. Eventually, my ears rest on top of my head with both of them having a coat of black fur at the tip of each one.

Then, all the pain in my spine from earlier had made a bump on my tail bone, I couldn't really see what was happening but I somehow knew that I was growing a tail rather quickly.

Finally, my nose painfully lengthens into a short muzzle. The last of my screams fade, but the feeling of vertigo begins to hit me. Finally free from the grasp of my restraints, I am small enough to disappear underneath my gown and make a run for the exit; however, I didn't think ahead and remember that I am now only about 1 foot tall as well as too dizzy to walk straight and as a result I fall down on the floor with a loud thud. I look up to see everyone's distorted face: they are speechless. Even Giovanni is at a loss for words, but his Persian growls at me and even starts to walk towards me in a threatening posture.

"Well…what are we going to do sir?" A scientist asks.

"Nothing." The Team Rocket boss responds.

"Sir?" Everyone said.

"I'm not about to spend another fortune just to find a solution for one expendable person, so we will act as if this had never happened; however, I expect you all to perfect that formula very soon or I will see that everyone of you will end up like him…a rodent!"

"Yes sir!" Like a chorus singing in one tune, they all acknowledged.

"Dr. Bartoli, he's all yours." Giovanni concludes as he staggers toward the exit with his Persian, obviously shocked by what he had just seen. The man from earlier brought in the tape, "Sir! The duct tape sir!"

Giovanni grabs the tape but then throws it at the young Team Rocket Grunt, "You're fired!"

Dr. Bartoli, a young woman in her thirties with straight brown hair hanging down from her neck, veers straight down at me with such a mischievous expression. Her fire-red eyes made me gulp instantly.

"You're going to be a useful Pikachu for our experiments."

"P…P…Pikachu?" I say very weakly. What really made me cry out in confusion was the fact that even though I fully understood what I had just said, it came out the same way but my voice was that of a Pikachu. The female scientist quickly grabs and restrains me.

"Pika...Pi...chu!"

My weak muffled cries for help are hopelessly muted because of my new language, and what was worse was that I am now under the custody of the notorious Team Rocket.

I am taken into a room with cages on all sides. The room was disturbing to me because every single cage here has inside them Pikachu's. The cries and squeaks makes my dizziness much worse than what it already is. Strangely enough, in addition to the feeling of vertigo that I am experiencing, I can swear I heard voices nearby.

"Help me please!"

"Mom! Is that you...you're not mom!"

"Hey you! Don't eat their food! They put something that makes you go insane!"

Dr. Bartoli throws me inside a particularly small cage. I hit the metal wall with a tremendous force. Needless to say that it left a small bump on the wall as a reminder. The doctor laughs, "If only you could see yourself right now…oh! I know!"

She reaches into her pocket and takes out a small red plastic mirror and places it inside the cage, "This is so that you can get used to your new body and so I can identify you much easier…well, good night!" The scientist says rather enthusiastically as she walks out of the narrow room.

As I lay inside the cage with no way to get out, I gasp for air, "Please…don't leave me here," darkness begins to envelop my field of view once again.

"I should…have never…entered…the gym…"

I passed out.