Because We're Still Standing Here ~ A Pokémon Fan Novel

Chapter 2 - Who's That Pokémon?

• 16:33, 1st of January, 2022
- The Entrance

"We're finally here, Flake! It's real!"

"Oi! Shut it, sis!" Avalanche scolded me, hitting the back of my head. I started walking slower and looked around. We're in quite a long tunnel. I could see a couple dozen Pokémon of varying species, each holding some sort of medieval weaponry. None of them are Pikachus or a part of their evolution line.

"If this is the Pikachu Sanctuary, then why is it that none of them look like an orange rat?" Flake asked quite nervously. I wouldn't blame her. Those guards do look menacing, even when one of them is literally a Skitty. A Skitty looking like she could kill you within seconds is NOT in my 2022 bingo list. Well, I don't have any bingo li-

"What're you looking at?" The Skitty asked me. I was looking at her chest. I think I almost peed myself because of how menacing her voice was. Why is everything here so scary...?

"It's their first time being here." Avalanche interrupted. I hid behind him. I think I could hear some Pokémon groaning. "They're all from Eeveelution Haven. You know how sensitive the Pokémon from there are." He continued.

"So, exactly like you." The Skitty responded, chuckling a little. Avalanche stares at her, looking all grumpy, but in a cute way. The three of us kept walking until we saw what was on the other end of the tunnel.

• 16:35, 1st of January, 2022
- The Outskirts, Pikachu Sanctuary

The shining light blinded me for a moment. I slowly opened my eyes to look around. It seemed that we were at a higher altitude as I looked down to see what is basically a utopian city. It's so beautiful! There are Pokémon roaming around everywhere!

Despite being named Pikachu Sanctuary, there sure are a plethora of species of Pokémon around here, it made it seem like Pikachus were the minority here. Come to think of it, I couldn't see a Pikachu anywhere. I couldn't even see any Pichus or Raichus anywhere!

"Hold on, what's going on here!?" Flake shouted at Avalanche. Sounded like she figured out the same thing as I do.

Avalanche walked near the edge and stared down for a few seconds before finally speaking. "It should've been obvious back when we were walking through the tunnel before." Avalanche responded with a sigh. "The species of Pokémon we're protecting here are scarce. All four of those species made up less than 5% of the whole population of Pokémon who live here." He added.

I looked at Flake. She had her jaw wide open. She also looked back at me. I noticed that my jaw was hanging. We closed each other's jaw and looked back at the Avalanche.

"Most who were originally here have tried escaping, and some were probably unlucky enough to be purged by the Kantonian government." He continued, now looking back at us.

"All of this happened right after people knew that Pallet City was destroyed five years ago."

My eyes widen. Pallet City was one of the five safe zones for refugees in Kanto. I shook my head, trying to clear it off my mind.

"Whatever in the past should stay in the past, right?" I tried to cheer things up. Both Avalanche and Flake were dead silent. Well, I don't blame them...

• 16:37, 1st of January, 2022
- South Market Street, The Outskirts, Pikachu Sanctuary

All three of us walked down the street. It took us a while to finally get here from up there. "Despite being extremely isolated from the world, this place is probably the most advanced territory than any other countries out there." Avalanche boasted while handing us some Pecha Berries he bought from one of the stalls.