Side Story – The Adventures of a Lonesome Soul

He knew nothing but void. No matter where he went, the world was cold. He did not feel anything, he did not want anything. He was just there, floating in this everlasting darkness, in this everlasting silence. He was nothing and everything at the same time. He was part of the universe.

But then, his world changed. Out of nowhere, a glimmer of light appeared. For the first time, he felt embraced by something other than the cold. For the first time, something arose in him. Beguiled by a gentle whisper, he followed the light.

And he was born.

Everything changed around him. The cold darkness he once knew was now completely gone. Thousands of colors came to enlighten his monochrome existence as the world around him started to take shape. He was no longer empty. He could feel warmth filling his body. He was there, he was alive, he was existing.

But the burden of existence quickly started to show. He was alone in this unfamiliar place. He was scared. Completely disoriented, he started to inspect his surroundings. And he saw her. In this intimidating world, she was the only thing that seemed familiar to him. He felt drawn to her. He could immediately tell: she was his glimmer of light. She was his mother.

“Pika?”

But his mother did not seem very pleased. He had yet to learn about this world, but he could instinctively feel the disappointment in her. He did not understand. He wanted to comfort her somehow, but he did not know how.

When someone suddenly burst out laughing, he noticed that they were not alone.

“What is this thing? A yellow rabbit? It looks so stupid! Hahaha!”

“A-Actually it’s a mouse…”

What strange looking creatures! They looked similar to his mother somehow, but for some reason, they felt intimidating. They did not share her warmth. They did not have this familiar scent which he was so attracted to.

“You… Are you making fun of me? Are you seriously planning to use this stupid rabbit to fight my Tisdus? Tisdus! Eat him!”

Before he could finish assessing the situation, an even stranger looking creature attacked him. He did not have the time to react. He did not have the reflex to. But as soon as the creature’s fangs sank into him, something triggered in him. For the first time, he felt pain. And he did not like it. He hated it. It was no wonder his mother did not look pleased with such an annoying creature around. Unconsciously, he released all his energy in a sudden electrical burst. And the creature vanished.

Now that the nuisance was gone, he turned back to his mother. But she still did not look pleased. In fact, she looked horrified. Why? What was she unhappy about?

“Pikachu!”

Instinctively, he knew: that was his name. She was calling him. His mother was calling him.

“Shh! Shh! Leave! Disappear! Get away from here! I don’t want to see you anymore!”

Pikachu did not understand what she was trying to say, but he was happy. She was looking his way, calling his name. Her voice was soothing. Her sight was comforting. So he tilted his head, and silently watched her, as she kept waving her arms in his direction.

But his mother still looked worried. When he noticed the presence of someone approaching, however, he finally understood. They were the source of her worries. And if that was the case, then he just needed to get rid of them, like the others. However, before he could carry out his plan, his mother dashed towards him. And she kicked him.

Pikachu was confused. He did not understand. Why would she do that? In all cases, he was not happy. He immediately retaliated the only way he could: by delivering a new electrical shock. But his mother did not seem willing to reflect. Instead, she kept waving at him aggressively. Upset, he turned around and walked away.

She was not so kind after all…

◊◊◊◊◊◊

As time passed, Pikachu understood one thing: he was strong. The small creatures fled him, and while the bigger ones attacked him at first, they immediately stopped trying once he started retaliating. Now, everyone was avoiding him. He was the strongest out there, there was nothing for him to be afraid about.

So he explored. He did not feel the need to eat or to sleep, so he simply explored his surroundings. However, for some reasons, he could not bring himself to leave the area. Each time he strayed too far away, his instinct ordered him to go back.

And eventually, Pikachu realized something: he was bored. He was lonely. In his vast world, he wanted to make a friend, but every other creature ran away from him. So he decided to go to the only one place where he was not avoided. The place where people were.

People did not try to flee him. Quite the contrary, actually. They always ran after him. At first, he did not like it. After being attacked by strangers and chased by his own mother, people seemed scary to him. So he decided to hide in the forest. But now that he knew that he was strong and that there was nothing for him to be afraid about, he decided to go back.

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As Pikachu left the forest to adventure himself in the Academy, it did not take long for him to come across someone.

“Ah!” he heard someone exclaim.

It was a young woman.

As Pikachu stayed in the forest, he quickly learned to assess the others’ power based on their mana core. So he immediately could tell: among all the people here, this one was an alpha.

Instinctively, he raised his head and puffed out his chest so as to show that he was not a pushover. But much to his surprise, the woman did not back off. In fact, she was not even trying to challenge him. He quickly understood that as she crouched down to him to give him her best smile.

“Oh my, how cute! What may you be?”

Confused, Pikachu tilted his head. She did not feel hostile at all, so he did not feel the need to reject her hand as she extended her arm to pat his head. It was a weird feeling, but it was not unpleasant. The touch of someone else.

“AAAAAAAH!!”

As a sudden shout broke the silence, both Pikachu and the woman turned their head. Someone had just arrived, and his face was familiar to Pikachu. He was one of the people who chased after him a few days ago.

“Mrs. Olga, catch that creature!” he exclaimed, his finger pointing at Pikachu.

“Huh?”

“That’s the legendary beast that has been terrorizing the students! Don’t let it go away!!”

“H-HUH?!”

As the woman returned her attention to him, Pikachu noticed the change in her expression. He was not sure how to interpret this, but she did not feel threatening.

Then, all of a sudden, she tried to grab him. Surprised her abrupt movement, he avoided her hands out of reflex. Puzzled, he stared at her. She was blinking at him. Then, she tried to grab him again. So he dodged her once more. And she tried again, and again, and again.

Still feeling absolutely no hostility from her, Pikachu quickly understood: she was not trying to harm him. It was a game. So he played along, happy to have made a new friend.

Soon, the newcomer came to join them. As he pounced on him, Pikachu jumped to the side, easily avoiding him. He, too, wanted to play.

“Why isn’t it running away?” the young woman asked.

“Shit… Is it making fun of us?” the newcomer commented, wiping the dirt on his face.

Pikachu tilted his ears happily. It was his first time having this much fun.

As his two playmates gave each other a meaningful nod, the game resumed, and Pikachu played to his heart’s content. Who would have thought people were so amusing? If he had known, he would have come here much sooner.

◊◊◊◊◊◊

These past few days, Pikachu made a lot of friends. Each time he visited them, they tried to catch him, so he ran away, and they chased after him. That was the game. If they ever lagged behind, he slowed down to wait for them, and once they got in sight again, he resumed his course. From times to times, his friends would even use magic, spicing up the game. Playing was always exciting.

However, despite all these new friendships, Pikachu was still not completely satisfied. There was something lacking within him. Every night, his gaze would lose itself in the direction of the people. He was missing one person in particular: his mother. Despite not forgetting how she chased him away the last time, he was craving for her. Besides, thinking about it now, his mother probably wanted to play too. But he could not understand that, so she kicked him to show him. Yet, he walked away sulking. She must have felt very disheartened by this. She must have felt lonely.

So he decided to pay her a visit. Following nothing else but her familiar scent, he ventured in the middle of the buildings. This time, he made sure to avoid the others as he did not have the time to play with them.

After walking for a while, he finally reached her. He stopped just in front of a wall and looked up. She was near. Sensing her presence up there, he climbed. When he reached the window where her mana was the strongest, he slipped through the bar. And finally, he saw her. She was there, peacefully sleeping.

He had missed her warmth. Just as Pikachu thought, her presence was the most comforting thing in the world. The only sight of her was soothing. Not wanting to disturb her sleep, he sat on the window ledge, watching her in silence.

It did not take long for his mother to wake up. After only half an hour, the sun rays came to wake her up. And as she slowly emerged from her sleep, Pikachu greeted her.

“Pika!”

“…Huh?”

Pikachu appeared right in her face as she opened her eyes, his mother sat up, squinting and blinking at him several times.

“Pikachu…?”

“Pika!”

Pikachu happily tilted his head. It had been a while since his mother called his name. His mother, however, looked more baffled than ever. It took maybe a minute or two for her to realize the situation. Then, her face collapsed.

“Crap…!”

She anxiously started to look all around her, seemingly looking for something, before returning her attention to him. Then, she suddenly grabbed him. Pikachu did not try to avoid her. He had been yearning for her touch.

“Crap, crap, crap!”

Carrying him in her arms, his mother suddenly got up, dashing for the closet.

“Stay here!”

She placed him in it and immediately closed the door at his face. Pikachu tilted his head, unsure of why she would put him in such a narrow space. When he heard her footsteps fading and her presence weakening however, he immediately destroyed the closet.

As his mother turned around, upon hearing the sudden electrical discharge, her mouth fell wide open.

“Wh-…”

She blankly stared at him for a few seconds before recovering from the shock. Then, she pounced, trying to catch him.

That is when Pikachu understood: his mother wanted to play too, after all. He knew this game. He was good at it. With a swift leap to the side, he evaded her.

His mother blinked at him a couple of times. When she tried to catch him again, he rushed to the window. He turned around, giving her a meaningful look, and then he jumped out.

“Wait- No, no, no!”

If his mother wanted to play, then he had to play along. He had already found her. Now, it was her turn to find him.

Playing tag and hide and seek was his favorite thing in the world. And now that his mother was playing with him, he was the happiest soul ever.

His heart now light and fulfilled, he happily hopped around, waiting for his mother to chase after him.

“Fuck! That goddamn pokémon!!”

Pikachu did not understand. But based on the tone of her voice, she seemed very excited to start playing.