The PALLET Team

Khan was at his feet, struggling to stand up. He still looked a little dizzy from the attack on his head. Haze went to his aid. "No Khan, don't stand up. You're still too badly hurt." Before he could get close though, Khan began to run foward and quickly sprinted towards the mother and unleashed a Force Palm, paralyzing her as well.

Haze was amazed at the power that his friend possessed. Maybe if he was strong like Khan, he would've been able to save his father. What power... Khan had suddenly collapsed, he had overexerted himself. "Khan!" he gasped. I told him to stay... As he went to assist Khan, he noticed the mother approaching him. Haze had to act quick. He jumped in between the two Pokemon, jumped, and grabbed hold of the beast's Hammer Arm. Haze squinted at the pain but he knew that the stone around his neck would make him endure most of the damage. With a warrior's yell he used the attack his parents had taught him as a child, Foul Play! He felt the strength of the Kangaskhan surge through his tiny body and with this power, he through her away from Khan.

When the coast was clear, he went back to assist his injured friend.

((OOC: I'm kind of worried about this one. Foul Play is supposed to damage the opponent with their attack stat. However, I have no idea what Foul Play looks like. The description says that the Pokemon uses the opponent's strength against it...it sounds like a grappling move... Whatever the case, if this post doesn't make sense, tell me and I'll change it. Thank you.))

The Kangaskhan was out numbered, and most likely out matched. Khan looked to be ok that he managed to attack, though it seemed to put him into a load of pain cause it didn't take long for him to fall to the ground holding his head in pain. Ken clenched his beak as he saw the Lucario like that, it was the first time he had seen the fighting type in such pain, it almost distracted him from the Kangaskhan going to attacking the Lucario while it was down.

"Khan!" He shouted as he flew after the Kangaskhan as fast as he could, aiming a Wing Attacking at the back of the normal types head, hoping to cause the same amount of pain that she had done to Khan.

He blinked his eyes confused...The Poison Powder did no effect on the Kanghaskhan...Maybe he missed. He was about to try again but his antenna twitched, as he turned around he was slammed by something he shaked his head to get back to focus...the Pikachu was who slammed him.

He whimpered as he tried to get up on his feet and shaked his head, he looked at the Pikachu and his eyes start to glow, he shot a Confusion at the Pikachu hoping it would it.

Although his head felt like it was about to explode, Khan was determined to stay conscious. It appeared that his Force Palm attack had done its job, but only temporarily. Within seconds the enraged Kangaskhan was upon him. He rolled over and held out his paw, ready to deliver another Force Palm as she came into contact with him. However, Haze quickly countered the attack.

"Thank you..." he said weakly to the Nuzleaf.

He tried to stand just as Ken appeared and attacked as well. Why was she being so persistent? She knew very well that she was outnumbered and was ultimately fighting a losing battle. But the thing that upset Khan the most was that she was a survivor of the Epidemic just like they were ... and yet she was forced to turn against her fellow survivors in such a brutal way. All because she simply refused to euthanise her baby ... and now Maxwell was involved too, complicating matters further.

He finally wobbled to his feet and winced as Venonat received a nasty Slam attack from Maxwell. This was complete madness ... they should be helping one another, not killing. Khan wanted nothing more than to yell and scream at the top of his lungs for them to stop fighting, but he wasn't sure if his body would allow it. The trees were starting to spin again and the battle blurred.

"Stop..." he muttered, staggering to the side and falling against a tree. "Stop fighting ... all of you ... ENOUGH!" he managed to bellow as loud as he could before regretting it: his head felt like it had been stabbed with a blade as he slid down the tree onto the ground, clutching his head and moaning in agony. How had her attack managed to hurt so much? He was resistant to Normal type moves like Dizzy Punch...

Maxwell had successfully hit the bug, jumping backward to avoid further contact with the Venonat. The Pikachu then suddenly slumped onto his haunches, his muscles relaxing and his eyes losing its spark. Whatever parasite had controlled his body with such ease had left his battered soul on its own... or at least, for a while. The electric type shut his eyes in despair (or the shadow of such, as he couldn’t feel), his fore paws slackly gripping the grass. He wanted nothing more than to live, to see the world in the bright colors he barely remembered it as. Above all, Maxwell wanted to hold onto his dreams.

Even those were slipping out of his grasp, and the Mouse Pokemon shivered, the commotions of battle going on without him, not even taking note of the Venonat’s Confusion causing his vision to go lope sided and his brain to harbor a horrible headache; he had lost all will to fight. The Pikachu allowed his eyes to become unfocused, watching his blurred mother fight with all her might. Watched that powerful Lucario attempt to fight back, the others pitching into the battle in different ways. And there lay he, dying. …. I... don’t want to die.

What happened after death? A pitch-blackness of unconsciousness? Staring at memories of your past life? A heavenly paradise above the material world? Maxwell didn’t know... he didn’t know much actually, now that most of his memory had gone up and disappeared. The only fragment his mind had held onto was... joy... Tears filled his eyes, meaningful tears this time, as Maxwell saw his entire life in a flash, one glimpse into the world he had forgotten.

He was still a Pichu, yet, he was happy. His juvenile days were spent with his trainer, their cultivated love grown by shared goals. They promised one another that they would go far... together. And they had... Maxwell couldn’t remember much after that. He could recall his trainer pronouncing they were to face whatever kept the Gym Leaders away from their jobs, finding a bloodied red-eyed Arcanine, and boldy facing it. The large canine had leaped towards him...

The Pikachu’s grip on the grass loosened, and his eyes became dull. Maxwell’s face was streaked with tears as he fought for the life he couldn’t recall, his hold on whatever sanity he still had beginning to unravel. Help... He didn’t want his life to end like this, yet as the electric type stared at a blurry world, feeling his heart slow down, he knew it was inevitable. He dropped to the ground, one sigh escaping his mouth. It was the last sigh he’d ever be able to make.

Because, even if he put his mind to the opposite, Maxwell was dead.

[ooc: not completely dead ;o;]

Pain, throbbing pain. She was sent flying backwards all of a sudden by some force, and to top it all off, she as attacked while trying to get up. What she wouldn’t give to go back to that little clearing and continue to sleep….It was hard for her to get up, her whole body was hurting now, but it was her head that hurt the worst. Moving cause a splitting headache, but it oddly caused her to be drained of energy with each step she took, but then it dawned on her as to why. If she could see herself in a reflection, she knew she would see her face all beat up and worn, and most likely with a purple tint to it….She was poisoned, it was only going to get worse the more she moved.

But she couldn’t stand still, as much as her body told her otherwise, Nora was up and walking in zigzagging lines, no longer able to keep her balance right. She wasn’t running away, nor was she charging straight into battle like always, no, she was doing something more important. Her mind didn’t even take notice of the rest of the things happening around her, all she saw, all she thought about was her Maxwell lying on the ground and possibly dead.

She stumbled up to his small and frail looking body, he wasn’t moving, she had allowed him to fight when instincts told her to not, she had not kept an eye on him and he had gotten hurt. She had failed another of her children….Like the first few attempts were misery found her first batch of children, she had lost Maxwell because of her failure as a mother.

Nora Bates kneeled down in front of her son’s body with tears in her eyes, waiting, hoping beyond reason that he would get up, look up to her with those sad eyes and that they could run off and be a family again, all three of them. But she was losing consciousness rather quickly. She fell down, on all fours, creating some space between her belly and the ground for a safe zone to protect her two children with her body, one still in the pouch and squirming to get out, and the other lying motionless on the ground, because even she started having trouble keeping her eyes open, she still only thought of them.



((She believes Maxwell to be dead, and no, she is not dead either… And seeing as she is practically limp, it would be fairly easy to move her if needs arise, or for Maxwell to get out/push her off))

"...ENOUGH!"

The fighting had ceased. The Kangaskhan mother and son and the Pikachu had collapsed from their fighting them... Finally...Haze and the others had time to relax and absorb all that had just happened. Khan had slid to the ground, clutching his head in agony. Haze wanted to help but didn't know how to. As Ken and Venonat catch their breath, Haze's mind raced. Had these angry Pokemon been following us? For how long? Why us? Why now? Why...why...why why WHY!? His thoughts had angered him to some extent but he quickly pushed them aside. He then put his focus on the family of Pokemon who lay unconscious in front of the four of them.

"So what do we do now? We can't just leave them here to die." he said. He hoped that at least one of them would agree with him. He hated death and didn't want to see anymore suffering. He impulsively ran off to get some left over berries that Venonat had gathered the night before and came back. To him it didn't matter what the others thought right now, he'd help these Pokemon...even if they didn't thank him when they were back to health, it wouldn't matter. He didn't want anymore pain...for anyone. He didn't want anymore to fall to the Infection. Papa...I won't let anymore die. He looked at his friends, one by one. "If times were different, wouldn't you help them?"

((Sorry guys, but I have no clue what just happened, so just skip me.))

Venonat was preparing another attack but stopped once he heard the Lucario shout...The fight was over and Venonat just followed the orders to stop. Looking around the Venonat spotted the Fighting type on the ground, he seemed to be wounded or tired.

He hopped towards him and poked him, as if asking if he was alright. Venonat didn't liked to see his friends hurt and this Lucario was no exception. He looked at the Nuzleaf, he was helping the Kanghaskhan and the Pikachu, Venonat tilted his head and hopped towards the Nuzleaf and helped him giving some berries to them. It was true they were mean and tried to kill them...

But as the Nuzleaf said, if times were different, would we help them?

Imagine a dark abyss, the stark clutches of the blackness gripping and grappling at whatever it can. There is no ending, no beginning, nor any existence at all. The darkness is simply there. Now, imagine that within this dark abyss, you can simply make out a yellow speck of an animal, falling deeper and deeper - his eyes are closed as if he were sound asleep, but his chest made no movement and his heart did not beat. The yellow Pokemon was a Pikachu, or at least, the remains of one. You see, long ago, a few months back actually, this Pokemon was hurt by a strange and peculiar Arcanine. As it turns out, this rabid fire dog held within him a horrid infection, and with it, he transferred into the Pikachu.

Since then the Pikachu, lost and confused, had slowly lost his memories, as well as his sanity. All the electric wished for was to have his goals accomplished and cherished moments with his friends, but what he got instead was the end of his life as he knew it, or rather, as he forgot. This Pikachu, Maxwell was his name, continued his travels, his blood-lust growing and his mind dying. Maxwell, in short, had died as a living Pokemon. And he still roams the world to this day.

The Mouse Pokemon had fallen, but just as he had become still and began his descent down the everlasting abyss, another thing had taken control of his body. An infiltrator, you might say. But it’s stupid to personify a nonliving thing, yes? The virus is merely a sickness in the mind, and the mind is the most powerful thing within a body. How is an inanimate thing able to be “smart” enough to pinpoint the most genius (and most vulnerable) part of the body? This is because it is indeed living and ‘thinking’ as you and I. Actually, it’s because I am the virus within the Pikachu’s body.

This pathetic little Pocket Monster had associated itself with so many others, when it knew full well that it was losing its mind. It’s utterly disgusting, how this infected creature still finds himself worthy to hold others dear to him. Disgraceful, but I toss the thought aside as I open my eyes as this ‘Pikachu’. Just hovering above is a Kangaskhan, and I can hear others speaking just outside of the dome the motherly figure had made with her body. ...My.... mother... Shut it! I feel my smile lift into a winning grin as I feel the otherworldly presence recoil at my sharp tone. And so you should, Maxwell, so you should.

I recall when I was merely a shadow that my dear, dear Maxwell had been near to emotionless. With a coy smile easily dispersing into a flat line, I am prepared to creep out from under the Kangaskhan. Her little child was attempting to reach for me, but with an electrified paw, I slap the the child with no emotion showing whatsoever. What a worthless piece of trash, not even able to defend itself. It should be dead, for all I care. Norman... Oh, for the love of- go away.

A-hem. As I was doing, I slapped my emotionless face on, and crawled out from underneath the Kangaskhan, keeping my eyes downcast (I knew from experience that the “undead” tend to have a tinge of red to their eyes) and my body entirely cowered. Friends... Lucario... help him... help me... Godammit, there is no use constantly shoving you away if you’re just going to come back. I allow my dearest Maxwell to watch as I fake a faint, appearing to the others as a weak and utterly helpless Pikachu that has been tormented. No... help...

Khan wasn't sure whether or not it was his outburst was responsible for stopping the fight. Maybe it was a mere coincidence that everyone had stopped fighting a second after he had yelled. The Lucario took deep breaths and, very slowly, the pain in his head started to ease. He guessed that it was not because of the attack itself, but where it had hit - right in the back of the head in the middle. No doubt there were important nerves there that governed his balance and vision. While he had been resistant to the Normal-type move, it had simply hit him in the worst possible place. He looked up once he felt it was safe to do so.

The Kangaskhan was on the ground, clearly exhausted and injured from her fight. Khan couldn't help but admire how she had managed to stay on her feet for so long, and while vastly outnumbered too. Maxwell was on the ground near to her, not moving even in the slightest. Dead, clearly; Khan had known that it was only a matter of time. But his heart started to hammer against his chest as it occurred to him what happened to a Pokemon stricken by the virus after they 'died'.

Just as he trying to get up to warn the others to stay away, Haze spoke words that tugged at his conscience: "So what do we do now? We can't just leave them here to die." Khan watched him - his vision had now cleared - run off and return shortly after with some of the leftover berries from the night before. "If times were different, wouldn't you help them?"

Haze looked around at all of them one by one, but when his eyes reached Khan's, the Lucario quickly looked away, ashamed of himself. Finally getting to his feet and, to his relief, not falling over, he took out the second half of the Sitrus Berry that he always carried with him. He took a small bite out of it to try and ease the lingering - but not as intense - pain in his head. He edged himself over to the fallen Kangaskhan, never taking his eyes off Maxwell, and dropped the piece of berry into her hand.

"We must leave," he said, quickly backing away. "She is injured, but she will survive. But please, look at the Pikachu. He may appear to be dead, but remember one important thing: he has the virus. We must get away from here before he--"

He had spoken too soon. Maxwell had crawled out from underneath the Kangaskhan, his head downcast and his eyes dark and emotionless. He fell to the ground once again but as he did so, Khan spotted the tiniest glint of red in the Pikachu's eye.

"Don't allow that to fool you!" he barked urgently at the other before any of them could approach him. "He is an undead now. He will have an appetite for blood. Our blood. We must leave, now." He began to move away, the spike on his fist glowing as he prepared a Metal Claw attack just in case. He prayed that the others would see sense and follow.

All she wanted to do was sleep, to go into a unconscious state and not be bothered for at least a full day, she was just that tired. Her eyes were closed, but she was still semi-conscious, though she wished she was not. She knew she should be fighting it, to not let her guard down around those that could hurt her only remaining baby left, but she couldn’t help herself, she just hoped the position she had laid herself in before falling would be enough at the moment.

There was talk around her, she couldn’t be bothered to comprehend it, and movement real close to her till suddenly she was grabbing on to something. She had no clue what it was due to her eyes being closed, so she squeezed it, and some liquid came out. Knowing her condition she automatically assumed that it was some part of her cut off during the fight, and that liquid was her own blood being squeezed out, when the sweet scent caught her nose she started to mentally panic, thinking she was changing because she found the smell of her blood sweet. She didn’t want to change, if she did she feared she would not be able to properly take care of her child, that the virus would even make her forget about them, the only things that had ever cared for her in her life….But then again the idea of forgetting all the bad things just seemed to inviting.

Her baby Norman was crying, that managed to bring her a little out of the fog of unconsciousness. It wasn’t a normal cry, it was a mixture of crying and snarling, and when she forced herself to open her eyes to check on him his cheeks were red and had tears running down them, it was odd that one side was a lot redder than the other, but her mind could not process why at the moment. She looked outward as to why, only to see the body of her other son lying seemingly lifeless a few feet away. She could have sworn she crouched over it to protect it….maybe in her delirious state she had missed…..

The others were yelling something, but again it was all gibberish to her at the moment, and seeing little Maxwell’s body again made her want sleep more….

((OOC: Please skip me again. I'm sorry for skipping a lot...))

The Kangaskhan was starting to rise she seemed slightly injured but was still after her children, Venonat looked around and picked up a berry, he hoped to her and poked her shoulder and rised the berry towards her, hoping she would accepted it.

She wasn't infected, her son was though. What would be the problem of helping another living?

((OOC: Sorry, but please skip me. There isn't much that Khan can do at the moment. Just say that he told them all to hurry up. =P))

... He knows... Oh yes, of course I didn't know that! That upright canine had barked (heh) out a stern order to the others, telling them to stay away from myself. Even with my face turned downward, I could sense how his blood seemed to pick up speed, and I take great pride in knowing that it was due to 'Maxwell', poor little 'Maxwell', who had gone over to the evil side. Stop... Hmph. Anyhow, it was useless to conceal what they all suddenly knew, so with that, I swayed upward, an unknowing force charging my entire body with malice and lust. For blood. And that blasted Lucario knew as such, I note, as I stare at his eyes with great intensity.

He was telling them to hurry, to not be so foolish and to be rid of any business with him or his 'mother'. N... Nora... It's useless, Maxwell, admit that you've lost all control over your body. I'm the one in charge here! No response came whatsoever, and an idea sparked dangerously in my mind. With one last glare with my red eyes, I turned away from the Lucario and faced the Kangaskhan that had been Maxwell's mother in his dying moments. There was so much that he could do with her weak figure! A Thunder that could not miss at such a close angle, or a swift Slam right where her heart would be. I keep a neutral face upon myself, knowing that I was in control of the entire situation, that I practically held the reigns of whatever was about to happen.

I felt my cheeks spark alive with electricity, and in a matter of seconds, I would have obliterated the Kangaskhan and cause Maxwell to lose all hope. That is, would have. ... No...! It almost felt like an invisible iron fist had smacked me dead in the stomach, forcing me to lose the static I had gathered and take a step back. I'd throw a fuck and ask what the hell happened, but I already knew; Maxwell had retained just one bit of muscle reflex to protect his mother.

Safe... I mutter something incomprehensible, even to myself, and let my eyes travel to the Venonat. Wasn't this your little friend that you had been fighting before, Maxwell? ... n... Of course it was! I'm positive you wish for payback, yes? Perhaps dig into his body and dissect the bug? ... nev...er... Pathetic. I don't need permission anyhow, but it's all in the sake of mental torture. With a growl, I drop to all fours and glare at the Venonat with vile venom in my eyes. Thrusting my feet to propel me forward, I come to Slam the bug and attempt to drive it into a tree.

It was the second time something had nudged her hand, the first she had ignored, she was too tired to care what mutilation they have done to her probably numb hand. But she just wanted to sleep, to forget this had all happen, and to hope that when she woke up, all of this would have been a dream, that Maxwell would be safe and sound in her arms along with Norman as soon as she opened her eyes again. The world refused her this small pleasure. She was being nudged on her shoulder, maybe the next spot of their game of “poke the defenseless pokemon”……

With profound annoyance Nora finally managed to lift her eyelids and even was able to turn her sore and tired neck to send a glare the way of the one poking her, sufficient to say, if glares could do damage, she would have been able to kill someone with the one she had on. But her glare quickly turned into one of confusion as she saw exactly why the thing was trying to get her attention.

Her vision was hazy, but it was clearly the purple bug trying to give her a berry, who knew what sort of things they did to that berry before offering it to her as a petty act of revenge…. But then again, she was basically up for dead, she had basically no other choice than to eat the berry, or else die without leaving anyone to take care of her son. Grudgingly Nora reached out with her hand to pick up the berry, only to see the remains of a different one in her now sticky hand. It seems they had put a different on before, she must have clenched her hand and crushed it, smothering the overly sweet smelling juices all over the palm of her hand.

With slow and sloppy movements, Nora grabbed it and tossed it into her mouth, expecting tastes that were not supposted to be there, only to taste the berry’s lone flavor. Not knowing if she should say thanks, tell the bug to fuck off, or what, Nora settled with trying to pass out again, and letting the berry take effect.

The air felt strangely electric, the pace of things appeared to slow down, and Haze had begun to feel nauseous.

Haze could tell by looking into his friends' eyes that they weren't very eager to help the fallen Pokemon but after a moemnt to think, his plea to help the family had finally encouraged them. Venonat was first to help, Khan soon followed.

After a while, the berries soon took effect and the Kangaskhan slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes were cloudy so she probably wouldn't see them clearly. Venonat hopped closer to her to hand her the berry in his hand and she sluggishly took it. She ate the berry and returned to resting.

It took a while but Haze finally noticed the little Pikachu who had crawled out from under his adopted mother, had started to trot about. HIs eyes were different now than from before. Before he looked dazed and confused, now he looked angry...just angry. It scared Haze and took a step back. Then all of a sudden, the Pikachu pounced. He lunged with a Slam towards Venonat. Haze quickly launched a Razor Leaf at him, hoping it would stop, or at least delay the attack.

Ken didn't like the idea of helping the one who had just attacked them, for all he knew she would just attack them again once she had her strength back.
While the others helped her Ken flew up into one of the trees to keep look out for any infected that could have been drawn in by the sounds of the battle. Though he could see none at the moment, there was always the slim chance that one would show up.

Nothing got past Kens sharp eyes, though he wasn't expecting the attack from the Pikachu. Since he had his back turned, he didn't hear anything but the sound of the wind getting sliced by a Razor Leaf.
The Honchkrow quickly turned around to see what had just attacked them, to see the Pikachu using a Slam on Ven(Venonat) while the Haze used a Razor Leaf to try and save the but pokemon.

Things seemed to be under control, but Ken had his wings partly spread in case he had to do a last minute attack, but for now he would stand by and keep watch.

The Kangaskhan had accepted his berry, the little bug seemed to smile and patted her arm softly as if trying to confort her. The child eventually wouldn't prove a problem, Venonat believed it was as unconsious as the mother. He sit next of the Kangaskhan looking at the large pokemon with his big red eyes.

His antenna twitched as a strange slicing sound came to notice, he turned around just to see a yellow blurr slam it's weigth against Venonat. The Insect pokemon rolled like a ball untill he hit a tree. He than blinked and looked towards what had hit him. It was that pikachu. Venonat looked around...there was grass around, said grass reached to his little pincer mouth. It was tall grass, not very tall it's true, but it was still tall. Venonat would prepare his special attack. Secret Power! From his little hand suddenly started to grow large thorns, being on tall grass he could mimic the action of Needle Arm, not use it though. He ran to the Pikachu trying to hit it with his Secret Power in the form of the Needle Arm action.

He smiled since if he would be able to hit the pikachu, this attacker would be put to sleep, thanks to his Secret Power.

He knew it. The second that Maxwell was on his feet he immediately threw himself at the closest target and started to attack, his new-found bloodlust taking over his entire body. Venonat seemed to have countered the attack successfully, but Khan knew that it would take more than that to take Maxwell down, especially now that he was undead. He knew that there was one way to do it that was particularly effective. He had learned from experience that the head was the biggest weak spot. And he couldn't allow this Pikachu to remain standing for a second longer. He had to die. For good.

Upon that thought, Khan prepared a Bone Rush and leapt through the air towards the Pikachu. He rose the bone over his head and prepared to deliver a direct blow to the top of the skull upon landing.

Please ... let this work.

Just great, Maxwell, why’d you have to accompany yourself with a bunch of capable Pokemon? It’s ridiculous, how persistent they are on living, and on killing - at least that purple bug got slammed right into that tree. ... Kill... me. Hm? You want to die, Maxwell, is that your wish? Ha, you’re already dead! But you know, they all think you’re a bloodthirsty killer... it would be fair if the true controller of this body took the brunt of their attacks, no? I’ll just step away from the Venonat for a moment, let my mind drift...

Maxwell knew he was being monitored, probably still being controlled, but he relished the freedom he had for just the first precious moments, flexing his arms. The Pikachu looked at the others around him with sad eyes, but with eyes that registered them and understood that they were alive and well. The Lucario - his name... Khan? - stared at him distrustfully, and for a second, he felt his heart sink, knowing he had broken the trust laid on him multiple times. The Honchkrow looked on from a tree, its calculating eyes telling Maxwell that they knew he should be dead. You’re already dead, shithead. He winced at the bitter voice inside of him.

The electric mouse slumped in defeat, watching as the Venonat lunged forward with a spiked fist, and with a sudden jerk of his body, he dodged the attack. Stupid, I want you to get hit, not kill yourself. But Maxwell yearned for death, to end the hurt he’s caused; the Pikachu didn’t deserve to be alive, when he had already died! He let a single tear escape his eye as he glanced at his mother, broken down in heartbreak, as the Lucario swung his mighty bone - Maxwell’s head instinctively turned to witness the attack, and ended up getting hit on the side of his skull.

Maxwell was thrown against the tree without question, sliding down to lay on the ground. It didn’t hurt, yet the Pikachu was certain he was bleeding... it was on his right side, the same side where he could not hear due to his missing ear. You’re invincible to the point that you won’t even feel injury. He winced once more, lazily coming up on his feet again, bring a paw up to his head. When he brought it down, it was entirely dredged in blood, and although Maxwell had quite the taste for blood, he felt his heart fall down a notch. He should feel this. He should feel like he was dying, but he didn’t, and that’s what was hurting the most.

The Pikachu rose a fist, then with a mighty swing, he punched himself in the face. Killing yourself, eh? He staggered off to the side, and when he regained his balance once again, he brought up the other fist and punched, staggering back. You can only do this for so long. Maxwell was crying, sobbing, for all the things he couldn’t feel. He punched himself again and again, letting the blood flow freely, and seeking repentance, knowing he would get none. ... Pathetic. Death never seemed quite as inviting and so far out of reach as it was right now.

His Razor Leaf attack had failed to hit and the Pikachu had successfully used Slam on Venonat, but he was struck by Khan's powerful Bone Rush. Haze rushed over to Venonat. "Venonat, are you ok!?" the Grass type asked frantically looking over his friend for any wounds.

Seeing nothing severely bad with Venonat, he stood up. "Stay here for now." he had told his insect friend. Haze looked up to see Ken, wings spread far, as if preparing to attack, his shadow shaded them all. Haze then joined Khan into the fray.

This Pikachu is very odd. he thought. He starts to attack then wanders around like he's distracted or something... What's wrong with him? Then all of a sudden, the Pikachu started punching himself. Wh-what..!? What is he doing!? Bewildered, Haze looked to Khan for answers. "K-Khan? What's wrong with him? What's he doing? Why?"

Ken just watched from his perch in the tree as he watched everything unfold. The most unnatural thing that was happening, was the Max was starting to beat himself up. Why? Was it possible tat a little part of the Pikachu is fighting back against the infection that was slowly taking over the little mouse's body?
Spreading his wings, the Honchkrow flew down to the others, just in time to hear Haze's question of what was wrong with him. "Well, I think that the real Max is fighting against the Infection inside of him." He said as he folded his wings and stood next to Nuzleaf. "Were just seeing him beat himself up as a result of that, though, I could be wrong." He added as he pointed a wing at the Pikachu, then at his beak as he thought on if that was even possible. "You think its possible Khan?" He said as he turned to the Lucario, hoping he could shed some light one what they where watching.

Venonat seemed to pout as his attack had failed, the Nuzleaf came to question if he was alright, as Venonat nodded. Khan and Ken were getting ready to unleash other attack. Venonat stepped back to be able to see clearly what was happening, the Pikachu was beating himself up by some strange reason.

Grabbing on a stick, Venonat sitted on the ground and started doodling on the dirt as he thought. He made a pikachu with a sad face, and another with an evil face. Clearly one is the Infected pikachu and the other is Maxwell, he made a line connecting both, questioning himself if it would be possible the two still being in the same body. He than started to draw again making a pikachu hitting himself and drew a tear on it. Then Venonat snapped his fingers, he knew what was happening!

He poked Ken's wing with the stick and he started to write on the ground "Already Dead. Nobody get's the Body." Clearly ment if Maxwell was "Already dead" than he would stay dead and nothing would take his body. Venonat looked at Ken hoping the Honchkrow had understood his message, he than looked at the others in case if any of them understood it.