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Livid

The lights are dim and he hasn't seen a living creature in days. His mouth is dry, but that's the least of his worries. His best friend is nowhere in sight; who knows what they're doing to him. Suddenly, there's a scream he recognizes very well and then labored squeaks.
He growls in rage and lividly shouts repeatedly, "PIKACHU! PIKACHU, I'M SORRY. I'M SORRY, PIKACHU."
A painless buzz pulls him from the nightmare. Raichu stands above him, nudging him lightly.
"Raichurai." He's calm; this has become a regular occurrence over the last few months.
Ash rubs his face and sighs. "I had that dream again." He sits up, eye level with Raichu.
"Raichu chu chu rai-ai? Chu rai rai aichu."
"Yeah. That one. Was I screaming again?" Ash places his left hand over Raichu's yellow cheek and rubs it lightly.
Raichu pulls from his hand and darts forward to wrap his paws around Ash; trying to press as closely to his master as possible. "Rai ai chu chu!" His proficiency in his best friend's language was earned through years of training.
"I know you don't blame me. I'm still sorry it happened." Ash pulls Raichu onto his lap and hugs him back. He feels he doesn't deserve Raichu.
"Chu rai." Raichu mumbles against Ash's chest and releases painless shocks to help convey his affection for his master.
A lone tear slips from Ash's eye. "I love you too, buddy."
He is grateful that their relationship is as strong as ever.
Minutes later, he realizes that Raichu has fallen asleep in their embrace. Ash chuckles at the overgrown mouse and resituates them back in his sleeping bag. Raichu refuses to leave Ash's side. He only agrees to stay in a Pokéball during the day so Ash can roam inconspicuously. His odd blue color and size would attract a lot of attention. Ash sighs and scratches behind Raichu's ear. He remembers the first time he saw Raichu in his evolved form. His light blue color took over every patch of fur that was meant to be orange while navy stained his paws, outer ears, and the stripes on his back. Oddly, his cheeks, tail, and inner ears remained a normal vibrant yellow. When Ash first realized how large Raichu was, he immediately knew that Raichu was undoubtedly twice as strong as he had been as a Pikachu and he had already been at a high level. Of course, that's not what mattered to Ash. His immediate concerns were that Raichu would be bitter at being forced into evolution. Luckily, Raichu adjusted quickly and has been calm about the situation.
With a small smile, Ash turns toward his bag and whispers to the Pokémon in the Pokéballs sitting on top. "Thank you. Good night, guys."
In a blink he's out again; sleeping soundly.
He's lying there in the dim lights. The room is metallic and he hears soulless laughter bouncing from wall to wall.
"This Pikachu is incredibly strong, but there's nothing particularly special about it." The voice is familiar, but Ash, on the verge becoming unconscious due to dehydration, fails to connect voices to faces.
"Pikachu..." He mumbles; it's been days since they were transported to this location and it seems like they have forgotten about him. He slams his head back against the table. He had always had a plan; always a solution. Chained to a metal table, almost lifeless, Ash has no idea what to do. He has run his luck, it appears. And he's convinced it's his fault Pikachu is crying.
As he's about to slip away, he hears footsteps approaching.
"Big bad Pokémon Master can't even help his wimpy little Pokémon." A voice cracks at him. An unfamiliar man sporting a red "R" on his chest appears.
Ash grinds his teeth in rage and venomously replies. "If he's so wimpy, why don't you just let us go?" Ash spits in the man's face in disgust.
The man is shocked and grabs him by the collar of his shredded blue jacket. "Who do you think you are, punk?"
Ash sneers at him and bites at his hand. "Ash Ketchum; Pokémon Master."
"Not much of a master without the Pokémon." The man mutters as he walks away angrily.
Ash lays back against the metal bed again. At least Pikachu isn't crying at the moment.
With spontaneous determination, Ash starts to pound his cuffed wrists against the bed and scream. If he's going to go down, he's literally going down kicking and screaming.
Suddenly, as he's screaming at the world, the building's alarms start blaring. He wonders if he screamed loud enough to set them off, but then he hears shouting down the hall. His bed is turned just enough to allow him to look out the hall just in time to see a fireball chasing after a group of Rocket grunts. He doesn't know who or what released the fireball, but he's rooting for it. Closer and closer, Ash hears monstrous footsteps approaching his room. A Raticate is thrown from the direction of the beast and a Mightyena runs away. The footsteps stop.
Whatever it is, it's not on the Rocket's side.
With one last crack of his voice, Ash manages to scream for help.
The footsteps immediately pound on the floor again and finally reach his room. Tremendous joy runs through Ash as his Charizard comes into full view from the hall. Frantically, Charizard runs to him and snaps the chains with Metal Claw. Ash is weak and can't stand so Charizard offers his back.
"Charizard... We need to... Pikachu." Ash whispers; his mind is running at quarter speed. Charizard makes sure Ash is holding tight before charging through the halls, ripping open every door until they enter one at the end containing scientists and lab equipment. Charizard spots Pikachu hooked up to machines towards the middle of the room. He shoos the scientists out of the room with a flick of his tail and sets Ash down against the wall. Charizard approaches the control panels. Knowing they have limited time until reinforcements come, Charizard stops the machine the only way he can; by punching the controls. The machine lets out a spark and then explodes; chucking Charizard against the wall. The container that holds Pikachu sparks and overloads causing a second explosion. As the smoke clears, Ash sees no movement between either of his Pokémon and worriedly drags himself to Charizard. Immediately, he notices the torn skin and scalding metal shards that protrude from his left side extending from his cheek down to his leg.
"Charizard, buddy, wake up. Please, we have to go. Charizard, please be okay." Ash shakes him lightly trying to keep tears in check. Charizard's eyes snap open and he mumbles something as he tries to move; his left side sears with pain. Ash breathes a sigh of relief that Charizard is alive. His relief doesn't last long when he sees his little yellow friend lying in a pile of debris on the other side of the room. With strength he didn't realize he had left, he crawls over to Pikachu. Patches of his yellow fur are stained with blood and his breathing is shallow. When Ash goes to pick him up, a shock transfers from his little body. He looks closely at Pikachu wondering why he's emitting so much electricity. His usual vibrant colors appear faded and his coat is whiter than usual. Suddenly, Charizard is urging him on so he picks up Pikachu despite the electricity that's coursing through him.
"We have to get out of here." Charizard nods in agreement. "How did you come in?" Ash grits his teeth ignoring the shocks.
Charizard points a claw at the window.
"I don't think you're in any shape to fly us out of here, we should find another way out." Charizard refuses and insists it's the only way. Ash looks both ways down the hallway and sees higher ranking Rockets running towards the room. Either they fight or fly. "Are you sure?"
Charizard turns around and directs him to hold on tightly. As Ash grips Charizard, he is careful to avoid fresh wounds. Ash can tell Charizard is feeling some of Pikachu's electricity because he is also gritting his teeth. In a flash, Charizard barrels out the window just as reinforcement piles through the door screaming at them to stop. Within seconds, they're airborne, soaring through clouds in the fresh night air. It seems to be fairly early, perhaps just after dusk. Ash looks back at the building and wonders how long he's been confined. He breathes a sigh of relief, though he knows they're not quite in the clear yet; they're in no shape to run far. They fly for a few minutes in silence. Charizard lands when he spots a small stream in a heavy brush.
Once on the ground, Charizard rests against a tree. Ash knows he must take care of himself somewhat first before he can help his Pokémon, so he lays Pikachu down and drinks greedily from the stream. Almost immediately, he feels a consciousness return to him that's been absent for days. Once he's revived, his attention is back on Pikachu. The small mouse looks serene laying in the grass breathing every few seconds. Ash wishes he had potions with. He's not sure if that would even help.
He lays next to the rodent and whispers to him. "Pikachu, wake up, please." Surprisingly, Pikachu's eyes peel open. They stare at each other momentarily and share a content look because they've survived and they're together. Suddenly, Pikachu's eyes snap shut and he starts screaming and emitting violent sparks of electricity.
"His body is in overload!" Ash panics, he has no idea how to help Pikachu.
Unexpectedly, the electricity starts to pull back into Pikachu. As the sparks are reabsorbed, his fur begins to glow white with growing light. Ash and Charizard cover their eyes in fear of being blinded. Seconds later, when Ash peers back at where Pikachu was lying, he's taken aback. Where the small yellow mouse was lying there was now a very large blue one. In fact, Ash notices that this creature was at least three times longer than Pikachu.
"NO." Ash rushes forward and kneels next to the blue creature. "What happened? Pikachu?"
The Pokémon's eyes open again slowly and stare back up at Ash's baffled face. "Raichu?" His eyes widen when he hears his voice and he is immediately aware of what happened.
Ash wraps his arms around Raichu and pulls him close. "I don't know what they did to you, but I'm so happy you're alright."
Raichu licks his chin softly and lays back in the grass. His flesh wounds healed with his evolution, but he's still exhausted and dehydrated. Ash runs to the water and scoops some out with his hand to share with Raichu.
When Ash is sure that Raichu will be alright, his attention redirects towards Charizard.
They start a fire so he could see better and immediately begins tending to Charizard's wounds. The beast cries as quietly as possible as Ash pulls shards of metal from his torn skin and muscle. Luckily, the bleeding is minimal. "Charizard, thank you." Who knows what would have happened if he hadn't shown up. They'd be locked up forever; at least until - Ash decides it's best not to think about it. Instead, he focuses on caring for Charizard. He knows he must find potions to insure Charizard wouldn't get an infection, but he doesn't have a clue where he is or how far a Pokémon center is. "I'm sorry, I don't have anything to put on it right now."
Suddenly, Charizard is glowing red and Ash feels warmer than he had. Why is he using Overheat?
A minute later, the bushes to Ash's left start to shake. Fearing the worst, Ash scrambles over to Raichu. However, a white and blue critter falls clumsily out of the bush. "Typhlosion?" Ash realizes the heat that Charizard let off called Typhlosion to them silently.
The weasel Pokémon jumps to his feet and bolts straight to Ash; taking him down with a hug. Ash can't help giggling at his Pokémon even though the tackle was a lot to take in his condition. He is overjoyed to see Typhlosion and Charizard. He'd had a lot of time to miss them while he was locked up.
Like a light bulb switching on, Typhlosion remembers something and runs back to the bush it came from. It rummages for a moment, collecting what it had dropped on a large leaf.
"Berries?" Ash is pleased with Typhlosion's find. Berries could be very helpful. Typhlosion definitely collected a fair amount too. "Great idea!"
Ash sorts the berries out; ones that would be good for eating and ones that would be good for Charizard's wounds. After Ash applies berries to Charizard's wounds they both insist that Ash and Raichu eat the edible ones. He doesn't argue; he only thanks them sincerely. Once he regains his strength he will get them real pokefood, so he eats his half and saves the rest for when Raichu wakes up.
"I am so grateful you are here." Tears start to form in Ash's eyes. It's hardly hit him that he's free until now. He knows he owes the two Pokémon that came to his rescue his life. Typhlosion collects leaves for Ash and Raichu. Charizard insists everyone else sleeps while he keeps watch. Unable to deny himself sleep, Ash lays on the bed of leaves with Raichu and falls asleep quickly. Typhlosion curls up against Ash's other side to keep him warm.