A Shocking Revenge

He sat there. Cold. Alone. Lost. He could hardly remember the dazzling outline of his mother’s brilliant yellow coat, the comfort of her compassionate brown eyes, and the countless hours of fun he had spent with his little brothers and sisters. He felt a small tear roll down his rosy cheek. Those times were gone.

The sun was bright, sending warmth through the leaves of the lush green trees to the velvety grass below. He and four of his younger siblings had been out playing in the depths of Viridian Forest. That is when it happened. He watched in the distance as a giant monster plowed through the tall dark grass toward his helpless little brother. The creature was hideous; a mop of wilting grey fur sprouted from the top of his foul face, wicked smile spread and villainous brows furrowed. A filthy white coat covered his wrinkled pink flesh, and gripped in his grubby hand was a small red and white ball. It was a human; the terrible beasts who stormed through the land, stealing innocent Pokémon from their homes, torturing them and forcing them to fight each other to near death. Down on all fours, he sprinted forward, ready to save his brother. But he was too slow. The human had captured his poor brother. The rage he felt at that moment was tremendous, and he felt his body surge with power. He leapt toward the human and hurled a mighty bolt of electricity toward him. It should have brought the beast tumbling down, but it seemed unfazed by the attack. “Oh wow, I can’t believe my luck! Another Pikachu, and this one is a feisty little guy too!” Those were the last words he heard before he was sucked up.

Every day since he would tell himself he does whatever it took to get back to his mother, but he had tried, the walls of his prison were unbreachable. He didn’t know how long he had been trapped, but it felt like years. There was nothing to do, nothing to see, no one to talk to, nothing to hear but the muted sound of the human’s voice. He was never fed, too tormented to sleep, so cold that his trembling was near constant, so very lonely.

He had been let out only twice since his capture, and in those times his anger had overcome him. He had caused as much damage as he could, shooting sparks of electricity at every little thing he could find. When his senses returned, he ran, looking for a way out, but with nowhere to go, he was beaten and shoved back into the horrible red ball.

His ears perked up, he heard something. He knew the old human’s voice by heart and had learned to ignore it, but this sound was different.

“I have to have a Pokémon!” It was a croaky voice, loud and squeaky, full of determination. So this was it, a human had finally decided to take him and use him as its slave. He would never obey; as soon as he was let out from his ball, he would run and find his way home.

A loud click sounded and a glaring light blinded him. His vision cleared and two humans stood before him. The one on the left was Professor Oak, the man who had ripped him away from his loving family. This other human was shorter, it had messy black hair, and a calm innocent look on its young face. Its eyes were large and curious and below each, was a z-shaped scar etched into its soft ivory skin. The professor spoke. “Its name is Pikachu.”

No. That was not his name. His name was Robert.

The young human smiled as it fastened its slimy fingers around Robert’s waist and lifted him from the ground, holding him at eye level. “Hi Pikachu!”

Robert growled. He felt his power begin to surge, then a massive jolt of electricity blasted from the red pouches on his cheeks. He heard a pained scream and was released, before landing gently on all fours.

Robert ran forward, scanning the room for any exits, but all he could see were the metallic legs of the lab tables. Then he saw it; a faint light glowing from beneath a sturdy grey door. He bolted ahead, but all that hope was lost as he felt himself dematerialize back into the dreaded red ball.

“Well, there you are Ash. Pikachu will be your Pokémon companion.” Robert heard the professor sigh through the thick wall of his dungeon. “I just can’t seem to figure it out. Why do these Pokémon hate us so much? They should show more compassion after all we do for them; we wash them, feed them, love them, give them a nice comfy home, give them friends, everything they could ask for.”

The professor’s lies were outrageous! They weren’t helping the poor Pokémon, they were snatching them from their homes and families, taking away everything they had ever known and loved, forcing them to fight endlessly to the near death, just so they could get bashed and battered all over again!

“Well Ash, you know the rules about Pokémon, I’m sure, but just let me remind you. You must be careful out there in the wild, most of these animals are feral and will attack on sight, use your Pikachu to defend you. It may be hard to get it to help you at first, but feed it some Grepa berries and that should make it friendlier. When you travel, make sure you keep it in its ball until you find some of these berries. If you let your Pikachu out, and it attacks you or runs away, just click the centre button on your Pokéball. Just make sure you click it while it is still in range, otherwise your Pikachu will be gone forever.”

Robert was ready. As soon as this boy let him out, he would release a devastating blast and escape from the human’s sight as fast as he could, before he could be pulled back into the ball. Then he could finally get back home.

There was silence for a while, maybe an hour, it was hard to tell time in his cramped cage. Then Ash began to speak. “Oh Pikachu, isn’t this great? You and me, on our first adventure together! I’m so excited, us two are going to explore the whole world and catch every Pokémon there is!”

“Aha, a spearow. Aw man, I haven’t seen any Grepa berries yet, but I can’t let this opportunity pass me by. So I will catch this thing all by myself!” The human grunted as he hurled what could only be a projectile at the unlucky Pokémon, but Robert knew that was Ash’s mistake. Spearow had awful tempers. They often flocked together in massive groups comprised of over fifty birds and attacked. Ash was in for it.

A parade of shrilling caws sounded and was accompanied by a terrified scream. Robert jounced around in his ball, smacking his head against the roof, banging into the sides; Ash was running for his life.

“Don’t worry, Pikachu. No matter what, I’ll save you.” Like hell. Robert wasn’t the one these Spearow were after, Ash was the one in trouble. He heard a sudden crackle of thunder, and Robert grinned. It was the perfect weather to escape in, he could use this storm to his advantage, by combining his electricity with that of the storm, he could obliterate anything.

“Oh no Pikachu, they’re getting close. I can’t outrun them, but you can, I can’t let them get to you. I won’t let them hurt you! Go free, and save yourself!”

Robert felt himself flash out of his prison into the tempestuous land beyond. He looked up to see Ash running toward him, his face was stained in terror as a massive army of incensed Spearow zoomed after him.

Robert’s rage grew beyond its bounds, his entire body crackled and sparkled, and before he could stop it, a charged bolt of lightning slammed into him. He absorbed its energy, combining it with his own, and with a thundering shout of his name, Robert exploded, releasing an earth-shattering blast of electricity.

Robert awoke after what seemed like days. He pushed himself to his feet, shaking, he had completely drained himself in his uncontrollable attack. He was finally free after years of captivity. His eyes flicked across the beaten road to Ash’s carcass. The human’s soft pink flesh had been charred, burnt to a crispy black crust, his mop of hair was seared, leaving only small patches of scorched fur.

This human got what he deserved. Robert had saved thousands of Pokémon that would have been enslaved under this boy’s blighted hand. Now Robert could finally go home. He turned and scampered into the trees, ready to reunite with his family.

Carly White | Greenwood College School | Grade 12