The Trial of Juno Saga [PG-13]

[Neo Emolga]

Chapter 10
The New Dawn

Contrary to my first belief, I woke up feeling absolutely no different from before. At that moment, I had already begun to believe that perhaps Coldblood had decided not to go through with this. It was possible. Or maybe he had decided he liked his new physical form and if I ended Randy's world, he would disappear along with everything else.

“How do you feel?” He asked me as he was the only one seated at the conference table. "I trust it was painless."

“I don’t even feel anything,” I told him.

“That is good,” Coldblood told me. “If you did, then something would have been wrong.”

Outstanding. Now all he needed to do was tell me how I needed to get it to work. At first, I could visualize just thinking up an attack, ordering which Pokémon to attack with, and that would be it. But, it wasn’t as easy as I thought. I still felt like Randy would still have some advantage over me.

“First off,” Coldblood told me, “Randy makes it look easy. He comes up with an attack in his head, sends it to one of his Pokémon in a psychic decoded message from his imagination, and because he wants to, the Pokémon he sends it to understands it, and immediately attacks with Randy’s desired move in its full form.”

“It can’t be that easy…” I remarked in disbelief.

“But it is,” Coldblood said firmly with a confident smile. “Or to him it is, at least. You will definitely need to focus more on what your Pokémon are thinking. You need to make them realize that in Randy’s world, your imagination is probably the most powerful weapon you can wield, and as long as they can listen to you, you and them can make it possible. You need to believe you can break the rules, Jake.”

This was crazy. I couldn’t believe Randy had even come up with such a thing. Making up your own Pokémon attacks seemed like a pretty difficult task, and I didn’t even know where to get started. It seemed like the biggest cheating tool of all time in the history of Pokémon battling, as if what he was doing wasn’t bad enough already. And yet, despite all this, everyone acted like it was perfectly okay. Another reason why I hated this place.

And I was already certain that Randy had done this numerous times. Right now, his simple imagination had become a god-like power. No wonder he was so eager to want to battle us. He would wipe the floor with us in no time and get giddy in ways that would just make me sick. It was probably what he was itching to do all this time. All he had to do was see my face, and he would let out his absolute worst. He must have slaughtered David's team if he really battled him…

Obviously, he was expecting me to show up again for a battle. He would probably be enraged that I was no longer the flower princess precious that he expected me to be, but that was just tough for him. I was thinking it would probably be a far better idea to go in some kind of disguise than show my face to his. He wanted to crush the three of us more than anything, but I had to try and fight him looking like someone else…

“You're absolutely right,” Coldblood told me, reading my mind again. “Randy cannot be allowed to recognize you as you are. And I already have something in mind.”

Coldblood had already helped me out immensely and I felt like I was deep in his debt. Right now, I was all ears for another good idea of his. Unlike the others, this guy was trustworthy. He could have screwed me over if he really wanted to, but he didn't. Not like I had much more to lose anyway.

“I have seen what Randy has done to you,” Coldblood said. “He wants you to feel demoralized and pathetic the moment you step up to battle him. And he would easily do it again given another opportunity.”

"Yeah, no kidding," I replied, looking away and thinking about how much I hated Randy for that.

It all definitely sounded familiar. I felt embarrassed as hell when I was in that stadium, and I’m sure that wouldn’t have changed one bit if I were to do it again. I really was hoping Coldblood knew exactly how to fix this stupid mess.

“I know of a way you can make Randy feel demoralized, effectively disguise yourself, and encode your commands to your Pokémon, leaving Randy without any idea of what you just said to them,” Coldblood smiled with a hint of sadistic delight in his tone.

PERFECT!!! I loved that idea! As if Randy didn’t have enough to worry about now, he was just about to see something that was going to make him piss his pants even more. If Randy couldn’t understand the commands I was giving to my Pokémon, and they were going to be made-up attacks just like his, he was going to be in deep trouble. Now this was a much better chance and was exactly what I was hoping for, although I could tell it was going to be quite a lot of insanity. Two battlers that could make up their own attacks? What the hell was Pokémon battling coming to?

“So what is it already!?” I shouted, eagerly waiting for Coldblood to reveal his outstanding plan.

“I want you to assimilate yourself as the one Pokémon Randy has hungrily desired for all the years of his life, but has been unable to capture and train," Coldblood smiled with a nefarious grin. "Seeing this Pokémon will surely bring back some rather bitter memories that Randy will not want to be reminded of. On top of that, Randy will not know it is really you, Jake. Not even with his powers will he be able to deduce your true identity once this assimilation is complete. And third, your Pokémon will understand your commands as you talk to them in their own language, but Randy will have no clue as to what you have told them.”

Well, that certainly fit the criteria, but it wasn’t what I expected. I had never once remembered Randy so desperately wanting a single Pokémon that he couldn’t get. I tried to imagine what Pokémon it would be, but I had no clue. My guess was he kept it a pretty hard secret. Good thing for him too, because I'm sure Alex, David and I would have taunted him to death over it.

And then, I knew that Coldblood had figured out what I was thinking. He was just about to tell me everything…

It was then that Coldblood had told me about Randy’s childhood, and how even as a little kid there was nothing more he wanted than this one Pokémon. Coldblood told me he asked for it every single damn birthday and Christmas of his entire life but was left disappointed every time. He also told me how he had failed to capture it on three separate occasions, as if luck itself just hated his guts. At that point, I think I would have been pretty frustrated myself.

“For the longest time, Randy had desperately desired a Pikachu above all other Pokémon," Coldblood had finally revealed. "Even at this time, deep inside, Randy still wants a Pikachu, but after focusing only on being the best rather than following his heart, his mind is possessed by power and his own idea of what his personal image should be. Therefore, he only has the best Pokémon possible rather than having the one Pokémon he used to long for.”

Fantastic. Now Coldblood wanted me to square off against Randy as a Pikachu? Things were really starting to get loony now. I had only been normal for a few hours. Couldn’t I at least have a few moments to spend as myself? Why was Randy so enticed by an electric mouse anyway? I had one for a short while before I turned him into a Raichu and I had no regrets. Was it because he thought they were cute or because one just happened to smile at him the right way?

“Randy always loved giving his Pokémon nicknames before this whole incident,” Coldblood recalled. “He called his Growlithe ‘Striker,’ his Nidoran ‘Spike,’ his Pidove ‘Storm Wind’ and his Sewaddle ‘Enigma’. He never called his Pokémon by their nicknames while you three were around because he was afraid you would make fun of them.”

Yeah, we probably would, even though for once I personally didn’t feel they were that bad, though his Pokémon were terrible and sure didn't live up to those kinds of names.

“If he had caught a Pikachu, he would have named him ‘Juno,’ and he would have been overjoyed,” Coldblood told me, informing me of this mysterious Pikachu. “Of course in Randy’s world, there is such a Pikachu already in existence, but he lives too far underground and too far away in the caverns of what is forgotten and neglected to make any use of. Instead, you will inherit Juno’s place and confront Randy. You will become the one Pokémon in this world that Randy craved so desperately, born from Randy’s most passionate imagination and fondest dreams before being the winner and the ultimate champion was all that ever mattered to him. I do not need to tell you how much power that can hold in this place.”

It was a bold and sneaky move to fight Randy as something he truly once wanted and desired but abandoned after he made this zoo. Randy would surely hold back some of his power, but I certainly wouldn’t. It would certainly make my day if Randy lost to me just because he didn’t want to hurt the feelings of a Pikachu he once really wanted. I loved Coldblood’s whole plan. It was cleverly delicious and sinister, just the way I liked things. It was totally worth the cost of becoming a cute, yellow, electric mouse. You'd never suspect something like that of being up to dirty deeds, and it made it that much more satisfying.

Recommended Listening: Guardians of the Galaxy Soundtrack - Groot Cocoon

“Alright, Coldblood, I'm ready for this,” I told him, really wondering what it was going to be like living as a Pikachu for a while. “If it makes Randy sweat, I can work with it.”

“It is not that easy,” Coldblood warned me. “Once you become Juno, the real Juno will become a part of you, and you will be remain as him until you find a way to break Randy's dream world dimension. You will have to take his role from here on in, and that means Jake Kossak the bully will have to be gone. You will be Juno the Pikachu, and you will have to remember that you are Randy's most coveted Pokémon and must act that way and not make him believe otherwise. Defeat him as if you want to remind him of what he has forgotten, not because you just want to end his world.”

Good point, but it really didn't seem that hard. The plan was way too good to let go, and I had to act upon it. It was definitely worth the risk, even if it meant staying as a Pikachu for the rest of my life. I wanted to be free of Randy’s mind, and I wanted that chance at any cost.

“Let’s go already,” I told Coldblood firmly. “I’ve made up my mind.”

“Very well,” Coldblood said to me as he focused his concentration and energy.

At first, nothing seemed to happen. I waited, wondering just how this was even going to work. But then a few seconds later, I felt something was being drawn to me from dark within the forgotten centers of Randy's world. It tingled me deep inside, feeling like nothing I had ever felt before.

When I shut my eyes to get a better sense of what this force was, I caught a glimpse of this Pikachu named Juno, and I swore I had never seen anything like him. He was still a Pikachu, but he seemed so much more... angelic, charismatic, and genuine. I could tell this Pikachu was created from some serious, very fond imagination and even though a Pikachu like this would never, ever be possible in reality, it was interesting to see how it would have been if it could be...

Slowly, I was enveloped with a white and golden glow, and I suddenly began to change. Gradually, I felt like my human body was dematerialized into pure light, and then I felt like I was shrinking little by little. I felt myself coated with the yellow fur of a Pikachu, followed by having two, long, black-tipped ears emerge from my head before a Pikachu's signature thunderbolt-shaped tail materialized on my rear. My hands were shrunken down to paws while cherry-red patches formed on my cheeks as the place where every Pikachu held their electric power. I almost trembled from the sensation, and before I opened my new, shiny black Pikachu eyes, it was like I could hear a faint whisper...

...Starchaser...

And that was when it hit me in full force.

Suddenly a massive, roaring pulsation of brilliant, white light was unleashed from all directions as I realized my soul had been connected with a Pikachu made from dreams, and now that dream had what no other did. Everything in the room was hit with force and wind, and even Coldblood himself had to steel himself against the celestial wind as the whole building trembled from what was something more profound and intense then I could have ever imagined.

Everything in the room became huge, as if I was lying on the floor. Meanwhile, the energy around me was affecting me in ways that I never thought it would. I looked down with my new eyes and looked at my paws, almost seemingly glowing white for a few seconds before it settled. It actually took me a moment to start breathing again.

There was something far more powerful behind this than becoming a simple Pikachu. Juno… without a doubt… was definitely born from dreams, and there was something about him that was even affecting me deep inside. I didn't know what it was, but suddenly, by becoming him, I felt strangely purified, empowered, and ended up stepping into something so much deeper than I thought I could ever imagine...

Even after I had totally become this Pikachu named Juno that Coldblood had described, I clenched my chest with my now tiny, yellow paws, feeling some kind of light and warmth that was so strong that connected with my soul. I even began to tremble as the connection was completed, and then suddenly, what was a simple unity at first was turned into a full assimilation, made just as a bright, blinding white light came over me. When it finally settled down, I was left with a feeling of being overwhelmed for a moment… suddenly as if I became more of Juno than I was expecting to...

When the dust began to settle and Coldblood regained his bearings, even he seemed surprised.

"I wasn't expecting that kind of reaction, but..." Coldblood muttered, taken back at what he had just seen, "...it seems to have worked."

And yet, to me, it was okay. I suddenly felt like I could actually enjoy this.

"How do you feel?" Coldblood asked.

"Now this is... incredible," I told him, a bit surprised at my new slightly lighter-pitched Pikachu voice. "Juno..."

I made it pretty clear that even though something definitely unanticipated happened, I felt alright with it. In fact, I could easily see why Randy used to like this Pikachu. Heck, if he didn't want him, I'd take him!

"We need to continue with the plan," Coldblood reminded me.

For a minute, I had almost forgotten about what the plan was. While I knew ending Randy's world was the goal, the idea of reminding him about Juno, this awesome Pikachu he had imagined, just seemed like something that needed to be done.

Coldblood handed me the belt with my Poké Balls, only now they felt huge due to my smaller size. It was like tying basketballs around my waist. And I couldn’t help but think that when I pressed the button the prep the Poké Ball for use, it would grow to the size of a giant beach ball. I quickly realized why there weren't any Pokémon trainers that were Pokémon themselves…

“You must be careful,” Coldblood warned me. “Anyone that loses to Randy immediately becomes his servant. That is exactly why happened to Alex and David. David had lost badly against Randy, and after Alex heard the news, he immediately challenged Randy only to fail. If you lose as well, there will be nothing to help bring the three of you back to the real world. Most likely, if you lose to Randy, you’ll be stuck as his favorite Pokémon to train and care for. I’m sure that’s not what you want.”

It was true, I wasn't all too crazy about that idea. It was hard to think that now, David and Alex were Randy’s slaves, the one thing in the world they didn’t want. Heck, it made me shudder thinking what else Randy probably did to them. As if turning them into a fairy princess and giant butterfly wasn't humiliating enough...

“Normally, you cannot fight Randy whenever you want to,” Coldblood told me. “There will be a tournament held in only a few days, and the winner of the final round will challenge Randy for the ultimate prize. To anyone who beats Randy in a Pokémon battle, they will be allowed one wish. Anything they can think of, and Randy has the power to grant it to them."

Well, that kind of prize would definitely reap in quite a bracket of trainers to work with.

"If you were still were Jake Kossak," Coldblood continued, "you could challenge Randy whenever you wanted to because there’s nothing he wants more than to beat you, but now is different. You don’t want to give Randy any hint that you’re Jake in disguise. Therefore, you must enter into the tournament and rise through the rounds to face him.”

As if this didn't even need to get more challenging. I figured if I got wiped out of the tournament, that was a really good sign I wasn't ready yet and needed to work on something else.

“Obviously, no one has ever won this tournament other than Randy,” Coldblood told me the obvious. “Anyone that loses to him becomes his slave, and already several challengers have fallen victim to it. You have to be the one to fight Randy in the final round, and you have to be the one who wins. I can only wish you the best of luck from here on in.”

As I walked out that door and bid him farewell, I had no idea what I would have done without him. But in the meantime, I was still feeling that strange and pure feeling from being Juno deep inside…