Pokemon-Born Again Prologue 4

It's that dream again. Same swamp, same darkness, same trees...

and same two glowing eyes, pointed straight at me. And the same voice from nowhere that I experienced before, but instead of saying the first message, it bellowed,

"You are still not ready..."

I still don't understand what he's talking about. What am I not ready for?

"You will face hardship in your travels. Be prepared..."

That's the last thing it says before the two eyes dissolve into the void of darkness. I'm still confused. I don't think I've seen many hardships lately. Unless...

Before I finish this thought, however, something pulls me backward, like a vaccumn cleaner. It sucks up everything around me until I can't see anything, and then...nothing.

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"Wakey wakey..."

I strain my eyes open, which is hard because there's some sort of bright light in my face. I eventually adjust to it, and soon see a strange salamander-like being in front of me. I think it's a Charmander. Actually, I'm positive. Was he the guy who sent me down a hole and gassed me till I went unconscious? I look down at his feet and see that they match the last image I remember before blacking out.

"Good, you're awake. Glad to see. How are you?"

Weird. He's got some sort of British accent. Or Australian. I can't tell which.

"Good? Good. Now, lemme ask you a question. Who are you and why did you come here?!" He gets in my face as he says that.

I cry out in fright and try to get away, but I find out then that I can barely move. My arms and legs, stubby as they are, are shackled down with some sort of metal cuffs. I also seem to be swaying  back and forth a little. I stop moving, but then I start spinning, like I'm on some sort of rotating frame. I spin all the way down until I'm upside down, which makes me start to feel woozy.

"Grrrr. ALEX!! You were supposed to tighten the tilt-a-frame before I put him in!!"  The Charmander shouts to no one in particular. Then, suddenly, a Mudkip walks in with a snarl and stands in front of me.

"I did it last night, Barry." he says. "You unscrewed it to torture the last victim we had." The Mudkip's hard to understand, like he's Russian or something. Wait a minute, what am I thinking? When did Pokemon ever get accents?! Actually, why should I care? I'm stuck here, I don't have Andrea (as annoying as that little Eevee gets) to back me up, and I don't have that weird Tails kid either.

I try looking around the room. Actually, make that a dungeon. With no windows, and just a small light bulb above my head.

"Bah, whatever," Barry scowls. "Back to the important stuff. Why are you here, Pikachu?"

I dunno why-maybe it's the fact that I'm upside down- but I'm starting to get a little peeved here. So I retaliate, "Why don't you tell me where I am first?"

Apparently, that got a reaction from Barry. "Well, you should know. Why did you even come here in the first place?"

Again, he pops the question. But, why should I even answer him? What's the worst he'll do to me? Spin me around till I'm nauseous? Not gonna work, 'cause I don't spew easily. Pluck my fur out one by one? HA! I got too big a threshold of pain for that, bub! "I'm not telling you anything." I tell him smugly.

At this, he gets a really scary grin on his face. "My favorite answer. Alex, get me my 345-S torture kit."

Alex seems to look confused. "Barry, you only got one torture kit."

Barry looks at him and says, "I'm trying to be dramatic, you moron. Just go get it." He points a claw to the door on the other side of the room, which the quadrapedal fish dashes through. After Alex is gone, Barry turns me right-side up. Good thing, too, because I had Pika-blood rushing to my head.

Suddenly, I feel cocky. Like I can control this guy. He seems a little...off, and probably new at this. So I can probably either scare him or persuade him into letting me go. I'll try scaring him first.

"Barry, is it?" I start to say. "I should tell you right now that I'm not really affected by pain. Heck, when you start plucking or whatever torture's in that little walnut head of yours..." Wow, when did I get the guts to say that? "it's not gonna work. I might start laughing at you, too!"

I think it worked. He tilts his head down. Is he gonna let me go now? He looks up...and there's that evil grin again. "Funny you should mention laughing..." he trails his sentence off and takes a few steps closer to me till his eyes are near mine.

Okay, now I'm scared. If he means what I think he means, then-

"Gah!" I grunt a little bit as his claw pokes my stomach. Yup, he's gonna do it.

"So, Pikachu, I got a better question for you. Are you...ticklish?" Oh, no. Not again. First Andrea does it to me, and now this guy? This is the worst coincidence ever!

He takes his sharp claw and starts zigzagging it around my belly. I close my eyes and try to block the ticklish sensations out of my head. I don't wanna answer him, I don't wanna look at him, and now I just want out of here!

He adds another claw, then another, then another. I'm already hating this so much. He starts wiggling his claws all over my belly, making me squirm around as much as I can, eyes still screwed shut.

"Stoooooop!" I try to cry out, and I barely keep the laughter inside me when I say that.

"I don't want to. What I want is your cute laugh, as well as your answer to my previous question: Who are you, and why are you here?" He now darts both his hands to my sides and starts scribblig around there. I try and take a few deep breaths while this happens, knowing I'm gonna go berserk any minute now. Just as long as he doesn't go where Andrea always goes...and that's where I jinxed it.

The exact second he attacks my tiny underarms, I start laughing, and I can't stop! I try pulling my arms down, but the frame won't let me! I have no choice but to sit there, laugh, and try to stand his maddening claws.

"Awwwwww, you have such a cute laugh! Kitchy kitchy koo!" he teases me while attacking my left armpit with one hand and scratching at my belly with the other. His words seem to tickle me even more, making me go practically hysterical. I can barely breathe already, and it's only been about a minute...or was it an hour? I can't tell, it tickles too much!

"STOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" I try and cry out, but I can't even speak. I try again and again, but each time, I get less and less of it out. Finally, he gets the message and stops. I take this time to catch my breath. I don't want to answer him, but it looks like I've faced the worst of it.

Just then, Alex comes back in, with a box marked "Torture tools" on his back. Now I get worried. Is he gonna burn my fur off? Cut me open with a sword? Give me 40 lashes? I shudder at my thoughts.

It turns out that there's a bunch of feathers inside. And if I learned one thing from those cartoons, it's that feathers tickle. A lot. And I don't want that! It's not burning or cutting or lashing, but it just feels embarassing laughing like that. What was I even thinking?!

"Okay, I'll talk! I'm from a rescue team, and we're looking for a Treecko girl named Emily. Have you seen her anywhere?" I cringe and look away, thinking he's gonna tickle me anyway.

Suddenly, Barry's expression changes. Now instead of sadistic, he looks...compassionate. Mood swing? Or does he know something?

"I'm...uh, I'm sorry. I just don't like trespassers around here. And they all think I'm a freak anyway, those guys in town." He looks up at me. "You don't even look like you're from the town."

I see he didn't mean to hurt-or tickle-me like he did, and I roll with it. "Yeah, I'm not even sure why I'm a Pikachu. Me and my partner, we just...well, we were humans before we became Pokemon. You wouldn't understand."

Now he shocks me by saying, "Actually, I know exactly how you feel...mate. I was a human too. So was Alex. Then one day a year ago, we woke up like this. That was when we met."

Alex continues the story. "We don't know why we're here either, or why we appeared together, but we decided to make a home. So we did. But we didn't really trust anyone else around here, so that's why we were kind of...well, defensive.

"We both have a liking for tickling and tickling others, so we focus around that a lot. But sometimes, Barry and I take it too far. That's why we're shunned by the town."

Suddenly, I hear my stomach rumble. Now I remember, I didn't have any breakfast or lunch. Alex takes out a cheese sandwich and puts it in my hand, understanding. He smiles at me, and I smile back. I realize now that these guys are just...just that. Guys who like tickling.

"Oh, sorry. I'll get that." Barry pipes up and flips a switch, letting me down from the Tilt-a-Frame. I eat the sandwich quickly, thanking Alex in the process.

"If there's anything we can do to make up for what we did, we'll do it," Barry tells me. "As long as it's not dirty."

"If you want, you guys can come to my, uh, Tails' hut." I offer them. Hey, they give me a sandwich, I give them a home to hang out in. Fair trade to me. But Alex looks at me funny when I mention Tails.

Alex asks, "Tails? Don't you mean Tan Tailed? The Apprentice of the Psychic Owl?" Tan Tailed? Apprentice? Psychic Owl? What the heck is he talking about?

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

Suddenly, Alex catches himself and speaks no more. Now I'm REALLY confused.

Barry chimes in with, "He means he and I would really like to come to Tails' hut with you."

I smile and say, "Perfect. But, um..." Now I remember: Emily. I had to find Emily. "Do you know an Emily? Or a Treecko with a silver ring on her tail?"

Barry smiles back to me and says, "Yeah. She's in our testing room, where we practice all of our tickle techniques. She's always running off without telling her mother. Want me to go get her?" He goes to the door before I can even say yes.

Alex then questions me. "In all the confusion of this, we never really got your name."

Wow, I'd almost forgotten too. "Johnny."

Alex looks at me funny again, but instantly reverts back to a normal look, as if correcting himself.

Soon, Barry and a young Treecko come out. Emily. Finally, I can bring her back to Nicole.

Emily greets me nicely, telling me her name and all that jazz. I just say "Let's head home" and walk out. Soon enough, Barry, Alex, and I are out of the forest and on our way home.