"I don't even understand why you would even use a puny pikachu."

A young teenager holds a small yellow mouse in his arms, tightening his grip as he comforts his injured Pokémon. Standing above him is a taller trainer with a primeape beside him. The location is a small field near the outskirts of Saffron City and it's an hour past noon. The boy stands up and pays his rival to compensate for the battle, having lost it. He then begins to walk away, with his pikachu still in his arms.

"Kid, I suggest you evolve him. At least as a Raichu he won't look so puny. Heck, he'll actually stand a chance against opponents bigger than him."

The boy suddenly stops walking away and then turns back in anger, "I like the way he is, and calling him puny is stupid. I know my Pikachu can do better, he has potential!" He says.

The other trainer howls in laughter as a result, "You're funny kid, there's no potential for an electric mouse that's smaller than most other Pokémon." He retorts.

"You're just ignorant!" The boy turns around and begins walking in the opposite direction again, towards the city. He can hear distant laughter fade into nothingness as he continues to hike along a trail with his Pokémon.

Idiot…how can a person be that prejudice toward a Pokémon? It's not about the size of a Pokémon…it's about strategy…and levels…and moves…and so many other things.

He looks down to his friend, "Don't worry buddy, I'll get you to the nearest Pokémon Center before you know it."

…

The young teen strutted impatiently back and forth across a small room, waiting for the moment when a red light will turn off above a door nearby. He soon grows tired and sits down on a chair, mainly because he spent a great amount of time trying to get to the city.

After an hour of waiting, and without warning, the red light disappears and the door opens as a nurse and a chansey come out of it. She is pushing a trolley which has the pikachu laying on it. A light bulb has been placed conveniently on its head and it is blinking repeatedly. The nurse is not smiling, something that worries the child, "Marcus? Correct?" She asks the boy and he nods in confirmation, "Your pikachu suffered significant injuries. It's a good thing you brought it here in time."

"Chansey!" The pink creature says beside the nurse.

Marcus looks down toward the floor, almost close to tears, before he looks back up again. He tries to focus his eyes on the nurse as he asks, "Will he be okay."

The nurse removes the light bulb from the Pokémon's head and hands it to the trainer, "Certainly, but we recommend that you keep it away from battles for at least three days, so it has time to fully heal its wounds." She says.

Once the Pokémon is in the hands of Marcus, it opens its eyes slightly and looks towards him.

"P…Pika…"

He hugs his pikachu, much tighter than he did after the battle, "Dale, I'm glad you're okay."

Once they leave the center and start making their way back home, Marcus provides Dale with several snacks since he figured that he was hungry after eating nothing all day. The human couldn't help but chuckle when Dale devoured them. Once they made it to the trainer's apartment, situated near the top floor, Marcus turns on the lights and throws his bag on the table. He then places his belt full of Poké balls on the table as well. Afterwards, he closes the blinds after the last rays of sunlight disappear over the horizon as Dale jumps on the couch. Marcus walks toward the kitchen and reads a note on the refrigerator, "Marcus: There's money for Pizza on the counter. We will be back at 10PM. Don't forget to lock the doors. Love Mom and Dad."

"Already locked the doors, so we're safe…" He rolls his eyes, "What if somebody, who really wanted to hurt me, would just use a Pokémon to bring down the door instead? Those locks aren't so useful I guess."

Then, he looks toward the counter, as instructed, and picks up several Poké dollars. He decides to call the local Pizza place later, for he opens the refrigerator, grabs a can of soda and then sits down on the couch beside his pikachu. Marcus grabs a remote control, which has almost disappeared under the seats and turns on the television set in front of him. After he changes several channels, he turns toward Dale for a second and says, "I'm sorry for using you out there like that buddy." Dale, who is still covered in bruises, tilts his head.

"It's just that…I'm sick of people calling you small, calling you puny, and calling you weak! You're not weak and…sure you're smaller than most Pokémon but…you're not weak because you're small!" Marcus says as Dale puts on a serious face, as if he knows exactly what his trainer is talking about.

Marcus turns toward the T.V. again and continues to search for something to watch until: he finds a movie he thinks is interesting.

"Heh…Attack of the 500 Foot Tall Totodile…I remember this movie."

Dale looks up and raises an eyebrow, "Pikachu?"

Marcus takes notice of this, "It's about a Totodile who grew in size and began to destroy a nearby city. It's a cool movie, we should watch it."

The pikachu closes his eyes and smiles, "Chu!"

After about ten minutes of watching, they get to the part when the totodile begins to grow because of a chemical. The scientist responsible for the chemical is trapped and witnesses the growth of the small Pokémon himself. Dale is staring into the Television screen, mesmerized by the way the small blue reptile is outgrowing the room. Its body begins to push away tables and other laboratory equipment until eventually it hits it head against the ceiling. Once it does, its body suddenly begins to grow again. The laboratory, and the scientist, is swallowed up by the creature. Dale jumps down from the couch and walks closer to the screen, blocking Marcus's view of the movie entirely. He raises an eyebrow but smiles and decides not to intervene when he sees Dale's wide smile. The pikachu is in a trance, focusing on specific points from the movie. Once the totodile stomps into a city and begins to destroy it, Dale's eyes widen even more and he begins to mimic the totodile's stomping and gestures. The army attempts to stop the monster but to no avail. When it ultimately destroys the city, Dale jumps up and down with certain joy as Marcus chuckles.

"I'll be right back, Dalezilla. I'm going to order pizza." Marcus says, but Dale did not pay attention because he is completely focused on the movie to care. Dale continued to stare at the T.V. screen as the movie continued, his smile never fading and his love for the movie continued to grow indefinitely. Marcus, seeing how much his pikachu loved the movie, recorded it and left it for him to watch.

…

The next day, Marcus left Dale with the family, so his wounds can heal without interruption, and left with him the recorded movie for him to watch. All day, the Pokémon watched the movie and even prevented Marcus's parents from watching. When the boy returned home that evening, his parents gave him a talk concerning his Pokémon's unusual behavior. Marcus began to notice Dale's obsession with the film. When he tried to persuade his Pikachu to watch something else, Dale responded violently and even threatened to shock the human. It was something that Dale would never do to Marcus, seeing as how they've known each other for a long time and since Dale was his first Pokémon. The trainer decided, with a heavy heart, to take action.

…

The morning after, Dale was crying uncontrollably as Marcus tried to find the recording of the movie on the device. He checked everywhere but to no avail. He eventually stopped looking all together. He then hugs his pikachu tightly in his arms, "I'm sorry buddy…it's gone…but don't worry! Maybe they'll have a rerun soon…hopefully…"

Marcus knew this wasn't true, since the movie ever hardly appears on any channel and since it was his fault for deleting the movie in the first place, he felt guilty for what he did last night. Although the feeling of guilt overtook him, he knew that deleting the recording of the movie had to be done.

Later that same day however, the family had left the pikachu alone to run a few errands outside the apartment complex. The legacy of the film began to drive Dale to try and reenact the totodile's infamous rampage from memory. By obtaining several items from the kitchen and from his trainer's bedroom, Dale managed to create a miniature city of his own to play with. With no one to disturb him, the pikachu began to stomp his feet in the same fashion as he made his way into the "city" without resistance. He pretended there were people below him as he began to smash into the cereal boxes and tower of cans which he has made. Several dusty toy cars, relics from an earlier time in Marcus's life, were kicked, smashed, or picked up and thrown by the Pokémon. In the end, what were once neatly placed props was now a heap of trash. Dale shouts very loudly as electricity explodes from his body, almost coming into contact with several electrical appliances. He breathes rapidly as sweat falls from his forehead, one of his knuckles is bleeding now: a result of punching one of the toy cars too hard. He hears a door open; he looks to find the disgruntled faces of the parents and the disappointed face of his trainer standing by the door.

…

"You've got to control him Marcus, he is out of control!" The father says as Marcus folds his arms. The family is having a discussion at the dinner table without Dale anywhere to be seen since he was forced to retreat into his Poké ball, a consequence for his actions.

"He's becoming a nuisance in this house." The mother adds to the conversation.

"This is my fault; I showed him the movie in the first place. I didn't think he would become obsessed with it though!" Marcus says silently, almost to himself, at first but then increases the volume in his voice, "Please...understand"

"We understand how you feel about him, but now it has gone too far. Try to take his mind off the movie tomorrow, or else he'll have to spend more time in his Poké ball whenever he is in this house, like the rest of your Pokémon.

"I'll spend the day with him, like always. I promise I'll get this fixed."

"Great." The mother says as both parents hug their child, almost simultaneously, "Don't worry, Dale will eventually lose interest." The father says.

Eventually allowed to leave the confined space of his Poké ball, Dale was not allowed out of Marcus's room for the night. As a result, the pikachu quickly became irritated but soon felt saddened by what he had caused earlier. Marcus, now in his pajamas, gestured Dale to come and sleep: he jumped on the bed and placed himself conveniently near the boy's feet.

"Dale."

"Pi?"

Marcus stared outside the window, "What if I told you…"

Dale raised his head towards his trainer and tiled his head, "….?"

"Never mind…I'll tell you tomorrow."

Dale rolled his eyes and lowered his head.

"Tomorrow's going to be a special day, Dale. We're going to take a break from battling for a while and we're going to the park instead to play."

The rodent quickly raised his head and smiled, "Pika!?"

"Tomorrow is going to be for you: just you."

Dale began to jump up and down the bed repeatedly with excitement, "Okay, okay buddy…wait till tomorrow, save that energy."

"Pi…chu…" Dale gave up and went back to his sleeping position.

"Dale…just understand…please…that I love you like a brother…so please…don't think of me or my parents as jerks."

With that said, the both of them feel asleep fairly quickly.

…

Dale is now fully healed with the exception of the wound on his paw, but now it is covered in white bandages. Today, Marcus has spent a great amount of time playing with his pikachu: petting him, feeding him Poké puffs, playing puzzle games and several more activities; however, the boy noticed the occasional expression of sadness on Dale's face whenever they had an interlude between their activities. As a result, Marcus bought cotton candy to eat and offered Dale some occasionally. Then they sat down in the middle of the city park to rest after a long day of fun. Unfortunately, the opportunity arose and as a result Marcus sighs deeply. He looks toward his Pikachu, "Listen Dale, my parents are worried about you…I'm worried about you."

The mouse stops eating cotton candy and then frowns upon hearing the human speak, "I know you love the movie and it was a pain to see you cry, but the truth is…I…I was the one that removed the recording, not my parents."

Dale drops the cotton candy on the floor, "Pi….ka…" The pikachu begins getting angry and Marcus notices this right away, "I had too! You were getting too obsessive over it! You threatened to electrocute me two days ago for goodness sake!"

"Pikachu-Pika!?" Electricity begins to escape from Dale's cheeks as Marcus stands up from the ground and speaks again, "Don't think of me like one of those idiots who make fun of us: the ones who call you weak…and small."

"Chu…PI…" He begins to growl, as it begins to increase in volume.

"We've been buddies for a very long time and you're just going to let a simple movie tear us apart!? You're not weak because you're small! Remember that!"

Unknown to Marcus, the sheer thought of him being the one responsible for the sabotage of Dale's favorite movie clouded the pikachu's mind. He refused to listen to anything that the human had to say and as a result he began to run away into the deeper areas of the park.

"Dale!" The human tried to catch up but within moments, his best friend was gone. He stopped running and he rested his hands down. He falls on to his knees and lowers his head toward the floor.

…

Two weeks pass and notes have been placed on every corner of every street in town. The notes have detailed description of Dale and many are already being removed by the city. Remnants remain, but occasional rain has removed the rest of the notes in other places.

Marcus has been searching every area of the city for the past two weeks, and most of the time without any rest. His mother, who is away along with her husband, wrote a letter which had been mailed to him:

"Marcus, I've spent countless hours thinking about how difficult it must be for you to deal with the loss of Dale, but I must tell you straight away that although committing your time searching for him is brave and indeed shows the undeniable love you have for him, it is also becoming senseless."

"Dale….please…where are you?"

"As hard as it must sound for you, but the fact is: Dale could be anywhere in the region by now and you simply cannot commit hours and hours just to find him."

"I've searched everywhere in the city…I can't find him anywhere…"

"I'm sorry Marcus, but it's time that you forget about Dale. It's time to let him go…as difficult as it sounds. Sincerely, Mother."

"I won't give up…I will find him…tomorrow I'll try again…I will find him…I hope…"

…

Dale, now covered in dirt and smudge, narrowly avoids a gang of teenage misfits. The teens begin throwing garbage, tin cans, and other trash at the pikachu as it tries to climb a fence. Despite the rain and the slippery surface, he manages to climb over, but Dale's victory is short lived because after he jumped, he came across a dead end: a dead end in an alleyway. He looks back as his ears droop in fear: the teens jump over the fence easily and then surround the Pokémon.

"Such a puny little mouse!"

"Hehe…no where to run little guy!"

"Reinhold, look how scared the thing is! Ha!"

Dale closes his eyes, afraid of what was about to happen to him. It was over, this is it. It is the end of the road for the homeless pikachu known as Dale. He lowered his head, hoping for the worst to pass by quickly.

The taunting soon grows silent as a loud noise erupts while a bright light illuminates the alleyway. Dale opens his eyes to find the boys frozen in place, as if time stopped for them. He looks across from them to find a shadowy figure in robes nearby: it lowers its finger in response and soon begins heading toward the pikachu. He steps back, scared, and eventually has his back against the wall as the anthropomorphic creature gazed down upon him. It crouches down and takes out a small silver necklace which it offers to Dale.

"You are an interesting creature to observe from afar, quite interesting. Let me ask you this: do you have a wish?"

Dale looked confused yet he nodded at the question, "Of course I do…" He covers his mouth, surprised that he is able to speak, "H…how did I do that?"

"It can be your wish to speak. All you need to do is to wish for anything while wearing this necklace, but beware little one…for you may only wish once and your wish may have an unexpected side effect…"

"I…I don't understand…who are you?"

"I am the wishkeeper. I give wish necklaces to those who need it the most."

Once the necklace lands on the pikachu's paws, the figure retreats as smoke begins to cover its entire body, "Remember, only one wish for each necklace…choose your wish wisely…" His/her voice, a combination of the two, begins to fade away, "Leave before the boys regain consciousness…"

"Pikachu!" Dale says, losing his ability to speak human language, as he is left alone again, he decides to put on the small necklace and once he does he runs away from the alleyway.

Night time arrives and Dale the pikachu is now inside a lobby of a tall abandoned building. He brandishes the necklace, pondering on what to wish for. The thought has been on his mind but another is also making the decision hard. He had to choose which he wanted: the ability to speak human language or something else. Since the creature told him that it is one wish, it was hard to decide.

As he lay on the floor of this building, he began to hear a voice nearby: it sounded very familiar and as a result Dale got up and walked toward the entrance. Now closer to the source of the noise, the mouse placed an ear on the door to hear more closely.

"Dale…Dale…come out boy…please!" Marcus kept shouting from outside.

Dale said right away, "PIka-chu!" However, Dale shakes his head several times in regret, cursing himself for accidentally revealing his location. He believed it was Marcus's fault for causing all of his suffering since the movie incident. The electric mouse covers his mouth, but it's too late: Marcus found the source of his Pokémon's call. Dale immediately frowns and gets into a defensive position.

"Dale…is that you?" He notices the bracelet which the pikachu is wearing on one of his wrists, "It is you! I'm so glad you're not hurt!" Marcus reaches out to touch his pikachu, but it responds by almost biting him, "Dale? Don't tell me you're still acting like this! I haven't seen you in weeks, your fur is unhealthy and you look like you need a bath…" Marcus tries to grab his Pokémon again but it results in him being smacked in the face by Dale, in which he used his tail to do so.

"Dale! Please….forgive me…please. I know it was wrong to lie to you about the incident…and I'm sorry…I truly am…"

"Pikachu, Pika-pi!" Dale's necklace began to glow brightly, too brightly that Marcus needed to shield his eyes from the blinding light that almost engulfed him.

To Dale, he had enough with humans, enough of the ridicule, enough of everything about them. He was tired of being treated as nothing more than fodder, being seen as a small and innocent creature. He wanted the world to see him differently from now on; he wanted the world to fear him and to run away from him. He wanted to be…

Suddenly, the necklace had disappeared after the bright light subsided. Marcus is confused as to what had just happened, but he was about to become even more confused.

Dale looked down to his body and waited for his wish to come true. Then without warning, his entire body begins to swell. He begins to grow in size which results in Dale looking towards Marcus with a mischievous face. Marcus, on the other hand, is too confused as to what was going on, but soon became frightened when Dale surpassed his height. Marcus looks at the special bracelet, which Dale has had for a few months now, begin to break away from the pikachu. The human walks back slowly towards the exit as his pikachu, now beginning to outgrow the main lobby of the abandoned building, began to try and not to hit the ceiling. Marcus's eyes are wide open; surprised that such an event was happening in from of him. His pikachu, his small lovable pikachu, was transforming into a giant pikachu. Eventually, Dale hits the ceiling of the floor, which is about twenty feet high and actually causes a crack to form on it. Despite this, he continues to grow.

"Dale..."

Marcus takes the initiative and leaves the building as his former friend gains more mass. Soon, his entire body fills up the lobby as he tries to make more space to breathe, but he consequently destroys the ceiling as it comes crashing down on him, not affecting him at all. Then, his growth accelerates as his body destroys each floor above him until he is big enough to destroy the entire building using his body. Once the growth ends, the large 500 foot tall pikachu roars very loudly in satisfaction.

He is now an unstoppable giant monster. His favorite movie has now become his reality. He soon began to destroy the tall buildings surrounding him as he managed to get hundreds of people to flee from him, one of them being his former trainer. He continues his rampage, undefeated as he smiles for the first time in days. Now, instead of the totodile causing certain destruction, it is Dale: the 500 foot tall pikachu wreaking havoc instead. With the army unable to stop him, he eventually reduced the city to rubble, including his old apartment, which was luckily vacant at the time.

Nevertheless, now…no one can call him small, no one can call him weak and now everyone fears him because he isn't a 1'4 tall pikachu anymore, now he's PikachuZIlla, as dubbed by the media, and he will be for a very long time…unless of course Marcus manages to find the wishkeeper.

To be continued…?