>>>Present>>>
Rain poured down heavily over his body as Cade shakily pushed himself off the ground. His whole body is aching, out of breath after that hard topple. Caws and screeches were heard behind his back, and he looks over his shoulder.
For one thing, he felt like regretting to look behind him because by the names of his least favorite science teacher's big mole on her nose, it was a lot of Spearow.
And the flashes in the sky didn't make them any less intimidating.
Still, he has a role to fulfill.
Slowly, he pushed himself up to his feet, then turned to face the terrifying flock. The Fearow glared down at him with a sense of murderous aura, possibly in vengeance for punching its ugly face.
He took a stance, elbows bent in, fists clenched, and entire body stone firm ready to fight. He will fight them, no matter how many they are, no matter how powerful, he will fight...
'But what is there to fight for?' a voice spoke at the back of his mind, making him falter a bit, 'You're just some stranger stealing away not only someone else's body, but also their life. You deceived his mother, his rival, the professor, and most of all, his best friend. You have nothing to fight for, nothing to live. The life you once had is gone and now your going to take this life as your own?"
In every word, his body falters. In every word, his mind starts to doubt. In every word, chains of despair coils around him harshly, locking him down.
'Face it, you are just a liar,'
The chains pinned his arms to his sides...
'A fake,'
They coiled and choked his throat....
'An imposter, traitor,'
They all squeezed and coiled, suffocating and crushing the boy who didn't bothered screaming in pain.
'A hopeless failure, to your family...and to Ash,'
In the real world, rain poured, thunder flashes, winds blew, and sounds of wings flapping filled the air.
A lone boy stood there, arms limp uselessly to his sides, head bowed in shame, and voided eyes stared at the abyss of darkness as he sinks, not coming up and may never will be.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thunder cracked outside the cave, the warm makeshift fire crackled behind him.
Pikachu never felt more disappointed to himself than ever.
He had failed. Failed to stop the boy from baiting himself just to protect him and the redhead, failed to help out because of this state he's in, and failed to keep the promise he had made with Ash.
"It's very harsh out there," he heard the girl spoke. Misty Waterflower, Cerulean Gym Leader, had gave him some potions but it seemed to do little to no effect to lower his fever, "I...I'm actually starting to feel worried about that kid. This is a condition that no one can possibly survive,"
The words stabbed Pikachu more than the pain he's having now. Great Arceus, everything is all falling apart. Pikachu clenched his eyes shut and tightly hugged the cap and glove in his arms, never before he had felt like-
'A hopeless failure, to your family...and Ash,'
Pikachu's eyes shot open. Those weren't his thoughts, nor did it felt like it was aimed at him. Call his assumption all you want, but the words are far too...off.
And now that he opened his eyes, it just got more off.
Wherever he is now, Pikachu is definitely not in the cave with Misty.
He was in another black void, but instead there are numerous ominous chains hanging and rooted to nothingness, trailing to the darkness that leads off until they disappear. He pushed himself to a sitting position, placing a paw to the side of his forehead as he took in the oddity of the environment he was in before he realized that he didn't feel in pain or sick anymore.
'Another one,' Pikachu thought, remembering that 'far-too-real-to-be-called-a-dream' dream, then looked at the environment he woke up in, 'But why does this looked like something out of a horror dungeon?'
The mouse stood up, arms moving around the air at his chest, feeling empty without the cap and the glove. He was disappointed about this before trudging towards a direction.
As he walk, he passed through more chains. He shivered as he couldn't help but feel a disturbing chill whenever he was close to one. Something about them felt so wrong. Very, very wrong.
Pikachu stopped, eyes focused but distant. He stood there for a while, ears perked and twitching as he intently listened through the deafening silence that is all but his beating heart. Then they froze.
Pikachu's eyes whipped to his right, eyes going wide before dashing to the direction in all fours. In his adrenaline, his mind went up to speed as he tries to comprehend what his ears caught hearing of.
As he runs, the sound soon became more distinct: rattles of chains...and murmurs of a voice he would never misplace.
He continued running for who knows how long, then he slowly decreased to a trot, until he stopped and stood straight to his hind feet. His eyes stared at the horrifying sight before him, stomach churning in dread.
Before him, the chains slithered around like venomous Ekans (in his words) watching and stalking their prey with a hunger for its death. They coiled and restrained it immobile, constricting them so tight that Pikachu would assumed they would break their victim's bones and throat.
As for the prey, it showed no signs of fighting them. It seemed to have accepted its fate, head down with an atmosphere that leaks out lifelessness, the empty sense of purpose. Like...
'He's asking them to kill him,' Pikachu's eyes widen in horrific realization, shaking in disbelief as Cade let's the chains bind and crush him in their grasp, 'Cade-'
"You can't be serious," Pikachu blurted, not realizing that he spoke it out.
Then something he did not expected happened.
The boy raised his head and his eyes, null as the void around them, suddenly sparked a little as they made eye contact with the Electric-Type.
"A talking Pikachu?" Cade said almost quietly, a distinct voice of surprise can be heard.
Pikachu blinked in surprise too, feeling a sense of Deja vu, before shaking it away and taking a step forward-
*KLANKT!*
-Then yelping back when a chain lashed out and whipped the non-existent floor in front of him. He didn't think these chains would act so violent.
"Don't bother,"
Pikachu whipped his head up to see Cade fading back to his broken state, chains seemingly to coil tighter.
"This...this something I deserved," Cade said monotonously, "I had been already enough of a burden to so many. Mom, Dad, Uncle Logan,...even to Ash and his Pikachu..."
Chains seemed to grow more in numbers as he spoke, the despair weighting down on him more and more.
"Maybe life would've been better if I'm gone, then I wouldn't be here taking away Ash's dream....taking away Pikachu's only best friend..." Cade could feel himself sinking deeper, yet he didn't do anything to fight it off, "For the better, once I'm gone, maybe Ash would comeback again. Everyone will be happy, Pikachu will be happy-"
"Shut up,"
Another spark.
Cade looked up in surprise and confusion at the Pikachu. The Electric-Type looking to him with glaring eyes. Not filled with hatred, but defiance with a small spark of rage over something.
"You didn't took Ash from me, nor are you a burden to both of us," Pikachu said with a burning flare, "What made you think that I would be happy for you being gone?"
Cade couldn't understand what the mouse was talking about. Then his mind caught up to something.
"You're Ash's Pikachu?" bafflement had filled his empty eyes as they widen.
Pikachu only gave a nod, then took a step-
*K-l-l-l-ling-*
-this time, he was prepared and leaped away in time. And in a reckless-abandon move, he made a dash towards Cade.
Like a barrage of angry hostile purple snakes, may it or may it not be Pokémon in Pikachu's terms, chains after chains lunged towards the mouse. Time after time, Pikachu would dodge them or deflect with his tail as he pushed through to reach the chained up teen.
Cade watched in confusion, surprise, and an odd swelling in his heart as Pikachu fought to get close.
"W-why?" he muttered and tears trailed down his face, "Why are you doing this? I'm not even Ash,"
Pikachu leaped away from another chain, "You may not be Ash..." then looked to him in the eyes, "You are worth being called my Trainer, Cade,"
In that moment, Cade's mind froze. The Pikachu knows his name. Ash's Pikachu knows his name. This...this doesn't make sense...
And yet....
"So, do me a favor..."
Cade pulled out of his stupor and looked up high where the mouse's voice come from, in time to see him coming down to the teen with a glowing tail,-
"...And let me..."
-then twisted in the air-
"...See you..."
-and with a yell,-
"...SMILE!"
-landed an axe-swing with his Iron Tail to the chains coiled all over Cade.
Time seemed to have moved in slow motion. the chains wrapping the boy began to deeply break.
At the same time, Cade's eyes stared to Pikachu's with recognition from a forgotten-now returned memory. He recognized him now, more than ever as Pikachu's fierce look soften to a more happy, relieved expression.
And like their first meeting four years ago, Cade's mouth formed a smile.
Then everything was filled with bright light and heavy shattering and clinking of chains.
Amidst it all, a lone golden chain was made.