Little Lost Raichu

Chapter 9
-

Festival

Perched on a small chair with a few pillows for support —as she was denied permission to sit on books— Nica bit her lip in concentration, writing word after word on scrolls lying on the table before her.

In the end, one reason why she was given shelter was for the research purposes, and she wasn’t going to disappoint.

She took a quick glance out the window at the sunrise and rubbed her eyes, still feeling some leftovers of the sleeping spell, but struggled against it.

An hour later, she lowered her quill and grabbed the scrolls between her paws, staring at them with pride. <So many precious memories have returned to me, so many to share. I hope they’ll satisfy Twilight’s curiosity.>

Ever since yesterday’s exercise —which she had actually enjoyed— she made peace with herself. Her legs were no longer her enemy. Yet in terms of jumping mastery, there was still room for improvement… a storage-sized room. It would no doubt take many days, or maybe even weeks before she would feel comfortable with casual jumping, but at least she got rid of her fear.

With rolled-up scrolls in her grasp and electricity-absorbing collar on her neck, Raichu stepped into a spacious room, one which was skipped during her tour with Spike. The sight was breathtaking.

A large rounded table made of shining crystals, surrounded with four thrones, or maybe six or seven? Not that she could take in the entirety of the room by standing at the entrance, especially at her diminutive size.

Being small or not, it didn’t get in the way of noticing an impressive display of roots that dangled down from the ceiling with an arrangement of various gems. The very idea of damaging something this beautiful seemed unimaginable, so jumping up was out of the question. The room itself beamed with beauty and authority, as if being an important location of power. Or at least it would have, if not for the numerous balloons and a large banner with ‘Cheer Up’ written on it, which ruined the impression.

Nica’s ears perked up and her eyes drifted to the side as she sensed a very strong aura of excitement and happiness behind her. The odd thing about it was that she hadn’t sensed it before, nor had she heard a single noise. Even teleportation didn’t prove to be completely silent, so why was this so different?

“Surpri—” Pinkie failed to finish as Raichu’s paws embraced her neck. The force of the restrained jump made her take a few steps backward while confetti she’d been holding spread all over the room. Two oval eyes were now staring into her very soul. “Wow… you’re the first pon… creature who I tried to surprise, but surprised me instead. You’re goooood.”

Nica blushed and closed her eyes as a warm smile was present on her face. It had been a few days since she’d encountered Pinkie Pie and started missing her. Or maybe she just missed the delicious sweets the pink pony generously shared with her? It was hard to tell.

Pinkie embraced the Raichu with one foreleg and entered further into the room, approaching her own throne. “I heard about what happened at the school and how gloomy you were because of that accident, so I thought a good dose of cheering up will… well… cheer you up.” She gestured over to the balloons and next pulled a cupcake from the deepest part her puffy tail.

<Thank you!> Nica said as she released the neck of the party pony. <You’re so kind, thoughtful and generous, Pinkie Pie. You’re too nice.> She took the cupcake between her paws before biting it. She licked her lips and massaged her belly while displaying her teeth with a satisfied smile.

Was this cupcake sanitary considering it was stored in this pony’s tail? How was this pony able to silently appear out of nowhere and use tail and mane as a storage?

Nica didn’t care. The taste was out of this world and that's all she cared about.

“I knew my sweets would cheer you up. I made this cupcake with extra TCaLoL just for you. TCaLoL being ‘Tender Care and Lots of Love.’ Was it extra tasty?”

Nica stood on the tips of her rear paws, touched Pinkie’s muzzle with her tiny nose and then licked it.

“Can we get with the report, please,” Twilight said from her own throne, her face judging and impassive. Leftovers of confetti still present on her mane.

Raichu rounded the party mare and grabbed the scrolls from the floor before approaching the princess in haste. The very look on Twilight’s face made her feel uneasy, already missing those cute, knowledge-hungry, love-filled eyes. Why’s she angry at me, did I do something wrong? She sighed and handed over the scrolls, hoping deeply that it would satisfy the princess.

Nica looked around, considering where to sit. Twilight was perched in her respective throne with a smaller one next to it, most likely for Spike. Each throne had a large mark similar to the tattoo on ponies’ flanks. One of them belonged to Applejack, one to Rarity and one to Pinkie, leaving two thrones with marks she didn’t recognize.

With Starlight sitting on Rarity’s throne, Nica approached the seat with three butterflies and pointed at it. <Can I… sit on it?>

Twilight levitated Raichu onto the throne and returned to reading the report. “So let me get this straight. According to your recovered memories, you come from an island over the ocean with many more regions nearby. Orange Islands and Alola region are made of an archipelago while the Kanto region is on a continent.”

Nica stood on the tips of her rear paws on the throne as the large map blocked part of her view. Seeing the upper part of the alicorn, she nodded. She still didn’t remember visiting any new location, but the human girl described them often in her recent dream.

Twilight smiled widely and her ears perked up. “That’s really, really interesting!”

Twilight levitated one of the scrolls over to Starlight and said, “Apparently, the place that our guest comes from is filled with many creatures that possess great survival abilities and powers. They can control forces of electricity, fire, water and so on, and most of them are very determined to grow stronger and improve themselves. They are beings called Pokemon by another species.”

Starlight skimmed over the scroll and shot Nica a curious glance. “I take it that our Raichu possess power over electricity. But something feels odd.”

“What is?” Pinkie asked, tilting her head forward from her spot on the throne.

Wow, ponies’ necks sure are flexible, Nica thought, observing Pinkie’s extended neck with a growing curiosity.

“According to this report, Pokemon fight each other quite often, and not just to hunt for food. They mostly do it for fun or to improve themselves.” Starlight looked at Raichu. “But our guest is anything but violent. Her heart nearly broke recently because she hurt ponies. I can hardly imagine her fighting for the fun of it.”

“Well, she was more violent when she was younger. Apparently, she was fighting over and over against a human girl,” Twilight commented, causing Raichu to curl up in shame. “According to this report, these humans doesn’t possess great powers but are innovative and clever, yet they can still become tougher and stronger through hardship.” Her ears drooped. “I kind of feel sorry for Astra, stuck on an island and lonely because her parents had very dangerous jobs.”

“She may have been a bully when she was younger, but she changed, and that’s what’s important,” Starlight commented.

“Or maybe she was violent, but changed due to her memory loss,” Twilight commented before raising a forehoof up to her face. “S-sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. It was just a theory.”

“Oh come on girls, there’s no way this fluffy puffy cutie could be a bully,” Pinkie commented.

Twilight’s eyes sparkled and she looked at Nica. “Wait a moment, when you were younger, you were a tiny critter called Pichu. According to the human, you were going to evolve into the bigger Pikachu and next with the help of some sort of magical stone you were going to turn into… your current self.” She squealed. “An instant evolution, that’s amazing.”

“Is this evolution like growing up? Or can a Pokemon mature without evolving?” Starlight asked.

Twilight shrugged. “I don’t know. This report doesn’t provide enough data.”

Nica rubbed her chin, now deep in thought. Was it possible for her to mature while staying as a tiny Pichu? She was quite immature in the past after all. Her parents however were very responsible and caring while still being Pikachu, raising a big family while protecting the herd. There didn’t seem to be any thunderstones on the island to make it any easier.

Had evolving changed her character in any way? Or was it just a natural progression to improve her survival abilities with no effect on her personality? In the end, her recent memories provided her with more questions than answers.

“That’s a massive cultural discovery!” Twilight lowered the scrolls and maintained a satisfied smile, her wings spread in excitement. “Pokemon possess great powers and love for battles, and they use the human’s intelligence and creativity to become stronger.”

Pinkie’s ears drooped as she spoke in a sorrowful tone, “So humans make those teeny cuties fight each other… I don’t like it.”

Nica hopped from throne to throne until reaching Pinkie, balancing on the tips of her rear leg to place her forepaw on the mare’s shoulder. <Don’t worry, it’s what we choose for ourselves. The pain isn’t even that bad. Not that I would want to fight another pokemon...>

“Come here!” Pinkie shouted and grabbed Raichu into a warm hug, pressing her into her chest. “No mean human will make you fight as long as I’m around.”

Nica didn’t resist and allowed Pinkie to squeeze her to her heart's desire. Being hugged always made her feel at ease, though, she still prefered the gentle touch of a wing as feathers were soft and pleasant to touch. No matter if they were soft or painful, she had to admit, hugs were always nice.

Starlight spoke up, “Well, this explains why she’s so athletic. She must’ve had a fair share of battles in the past. For example, a trainer's job is to help their clients get in good shape or become an expert at a specific sport. A Pokemon trainer’s job is most likely to make a Pokemon great at fighting.” She glanced at her mentor. “I know a specific pony who could use someone like that.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “One stalemate against you doesn’t mean I needed to become a monster-fighting warrior-princess.” She cleared her throat with a cough. “Back to the topic at hoof, I wonder if we’ll ever discover this other continent. Maybe we can organize an expedition or something…” she said to herself before looking at the long-tailed critter. “Raichu, I find all this data to be very satisfactory and informative. Thank you.”

“Does this mean I can take Raichu outside so we can have fun?” Pinkie asked.

“Wait, there’s one more thing,” Twilight said, pointing at the last scroll before giving Raichu a curious glance. “Your trainer named you Nica. So in the end Raichu was just the name of your species, or rather its final evolution. Pichu evolved into…” She paused and massaged her forehead. “Anyway, do you wish for us to use your real name?”

Raichu nodded. It was odd enough that she kept repeating her own name just to communicate, and ‘Nica’ had a nice ring to it. It was a short, calm and peaceful name.

“Nica it is,” Starlight said in a cheerful tone. “Now go and have some fun, it will clear your mind from all the bad experiences you had so far.”

“That’s great!” Pinkie raised Raichu up to her face and said, “There’s a festival in town, we’ll have so much fun, Nica. Cotton-candy for everyp-one!” She dashed out of the room in a cloud of dust with Raichu holding her neck.

“Have fun!” Starlight and Twilight shouted in unison before vanishing from Nica’s sight.

“With the report out of the way, we should focus on the more pressing issue.” Twilight spread her wings and started towards Starlight authoritatively. “Spike has been planning to invite Ember to visit Ponyville for a while now, and today he finally got a response. There’s a lot of preparations to be done before her arrival, and that’s why I have a task for you.”

Starlight saluted. “Decorating, transporting of materials? Whatever it is, I’ll get it done.” Whatever the task was, she wasn’t going to fail. Maybe she would even get a chance to unleash some powerful spells. It has been a while since she… On the other hoof… maybe abusing her powerful magic wasn’t all that safe.

“We’ll take care of that in due time. For tomorrow, your task will be to take Raichu… Nica... to Fluttershy.”

“Because I want all of my friends to meet our new companion, and neither Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash know about her. Furthermore, when it comes to taking care of animals, Fluttershy is an expert, so I thought Nica would be more comfortable living with her instead.”

“Let her choose,” Twilight said before she had the chance to speak. “I think it’s unfair that we keep Raichu inside the castle for the sake of research. She has been living with us for over a week and has had many bad experiences. Maybe she’ll be happier with Fluttershy instead.”

Starlight lowered her head and her ears drooped. Over the past week she’d gotten very attached to the large critter and was even impressed by her reawakening abilities. Taking care of Raichu was actually something she was looking forward to…

“N-no,” Starlight answered with a forced smile. Now wasn’t the time to be selfish.

Tents in a variety of colors and sizes were randomly scattered about, which was a big change when compared to the organized lines of stands in the market area. And while Nica hid behind Pinkie’s mane whenever tracked by the curious eyes of bystanders, the quantity of ponies per meter in here was extreme.

Nica’s nose twitched as she sniffed the scent of something sweet, and her attention quickly rested upon a stand with a pink puffy ball on a stick. A quick glance at Pinkie’s mane to compare raised a question: was Pinkie Pie’s tail edible?

“I really really love festivals, they are filled with so many ponies, lots of fun events and most importantly, delicious sweets!” Pinkie shouted as she bounced in place, forcing her passenger to hold onto her neck.

Nica’s eyes sparkled as if covered by glitter, and she licked her lips. Her mind provided her with images of cakes covered by cream surpassing the recently eaten cupcakes, distracting her from odd stares from nearby ponies.

“Come closer everypony. For today you can prove your strength and win grand prizes!” shouted a tall bronze stallion with muscular legs. He wasn’t the only pony with a muscular build as nearby sat a much bigger white stallion who seemed busy hugging a few plush toys he won, yet his muscles were everywhere except in his legs and tiny wings.

“Cotton candy and ice cream everypony! Come here and warm your heart with a cold snack!”

Advertisements, one after another, reached Raichu’s ears as she felt a strong urge to participate, yet it wasn’t an easy choice. On one side she could stuff her cheeks with delicious sweets she loved so much, but on the other she could have fun while performing athletic activities. Was there a way she could do both at the same time?

“Two cotton candies please,” Pinkie ordered while placing several bits on the table, which she took out from her own mane.

“Oh, hello Pinkie. Do you want a large, extra large, super extra large or mega extra large?” asked the shopkeeper.

Nica rubbed the top of her head. Why was the shopkeeper coming up with so many different sizes? Was eating habits of the pink pony anything special?

“One small and one super extra large,” Pinkie said with a glee before turning to the side and pointing at her passenger.

The shopkeeper examined Nica for a moment before nodding. “On it,” he said and gave her cotton candy after only ten seconds, which was just slightly bigger than Raichu’s head. “The super extra large will take three minutes to make, so feel free to come back later.”

Raichu’s mouth was agape as she took the stick between her paws while a few drops of saliva dripped from her mouth and sunk into Pinkie’s mane. <Thank you!> She considered gifting the shopkeeper with a grateful hug or cheek nuzzling, but with her paws busy, she decided against it. She shot the pony a thankful smile before pressing her face into the pink sticky goodness, biting and chewing it.

“That’s a great idea,” Pinkie said and turned around, bouncing towards another stand.

With half of the cotton candy eaten, Raichu withdrew her face from the puffy pink blob and licked her lips, though several small cotton candy fragments now decorated her head. A few were stuck to her long ears, one on the tip of her tiny nose, two on her forehead and even the yellow dots on her cheeks were now pink instead. Massaging her fat cheeks and her attempt to wipe her face clean only resulted in the cotton candy now being stuck to the fur on her paws.

<Was it good? It was amazing!> Nica shouted and patted Pinkie’s neck, which resulted in cotton tying their fur together. <Sorry.> She pulled her paw away, tearing off a small bit of Pinkie’s fur as a result. <S-sorry!> She looked at her own presentable collar to make sure it was spared the sticky cotton candy and sighed in relief.

“Eating tasty sweets is great, but even better is burning those extra calories on fun and games,” Pinkie said as she approached a long sledgehammer and wrapped her tail around it.

Nica devoured the rest of her cotton candy in haste –licking her forepaws at the end– and glanced at Pinkie’s tail, studying its movements as if hypnotised by it. How it raised the heavy hammer, balanced above the wooden plank and swung it with such force behind it. The lead weight half the size of Raichu that rested on the other side of the plank was pushed up two meters before falling down.

“Studious unicorn level, here’s your reward,” the stallion said as he put a plush toy into Pinkie’s embrace. A blue unicorn wearing cape covered by tiny stars.

“Thankies,” Pinkie said with a quick bounce before wrapping her tail around Raichu’s belly and placing her in front of the wooden plank. “Now it’s your turn. Show this plank who’s the boss, and, most importantly, have fun!”

“Huh?” The stallion lowered his head to take a better look. “Is your friend a filly or colt in a costume? If so, it sure is one heck of a disguise.” He pointed at her head. “How’s this mask even hiding the muzzle?”

“Oh, right... I almost forgot. This here’s a Raichu and her name’s Nica, she’s a pet slash mascot slash friend slash… something,” Pinkie said while trotting in place before paying two extra bit as a participant fee. “Can she have a try, please?”

The stallion rubbed his chin and shrugged. “Sure. Pony or whatever else, makes no difference to me.”

Raichu looked between Pinkie and the stallion before nodding, only to nearly lose her balance when the sledgehammer was pushed into her embrace. After a moment to stabilize herself on her trembling feet, she approached and raised the large weapon above her head. Her forepaws trembled as well.

She gritted her teeth and swung, slamming the solid wood while bouncing up from the recoil.

“Studious unicorn filly level,” the stallion said before picking up a tiny wooden statuette, which was small enough to fit on a single hoof. The weight didn’t go up even half a meter after all, reaching near-bottom score.

“Not bad, try again,” Pinkie said, throwing a few more bits in the stallion’s direction. “Come on, you can do better than that!”

Nica glanced at Pinkie’s tail for a moment, and next gazed at her own. Didn’t the human girl who was training her also mention about using her tail for combat once she reached her next and final evolution? Maybe it wasn’t as useless as she thought it to be.

She bit her lip and turned around while mimicking Pinkie’s previous actions, wrapping her very long tail around the lower part of the sledgehammer, picking it up surprisingly easy. Using her forepaws for support as she now stood on four instead of two, she focused on controlling her tail, moving it back and forth as a warm up.

“Oh, you’re trying to use your tail the same way I did, I’m flattered,” Pinkie said with closed eyes while shaking her foreleg.

A few bypassing ponies stopped in their track to take a better look, never before seeing a long-tailed pear-shaped critter lifting a sledgehammer. There was certainly nothing ordinary about it, even for Ponyville’s standards. Even for a pony, using their tail in such way wasn’t an easy feat.

Raichu narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth, swinging the hammer. To her surprise, she hit the wooden plank with less effort than before. Now that she thought about it, was her tail stronger than her other limbs?

“Pegasus colt level, that’s better,” the stallion said while pointing at small pictures on the measuring pole. On the very bottom was a tiny baby pony, followed by small pony with horn, small pony with wings and small pony with no outstanding features. Were those the unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies that Twilight and Starlight had told her about? Three top races Equestria was made of.

The trend continued as further up were a grown up unicorn with a book, grown up pegasus with a weight in its mouth, and finally, an earth pony with a boulder on its back. On the very top of the pole under a gong was a picture of a stallion lifting a large boulder while standing on two rear hooves.

Does this mean that in terms of strength earth ponies are on the top and unicorns on the bottom? But Starlight said she could levitate fifty tons… Are my caretakers special? Raichu thought.

“You did great, Nica, now that was a solid tail-smashing,” Pinkie said while clapping her hooves. A few ponies that gathered nearby giggled at the cute performance and clapped as well.

“Bravooo... For your size, you did really well,” the stallion applauded. “Want to try again, this one’s on the house.” He gestured for the crowd of ponies to come closer.

Raichu looked at the gathered ponies and her ears drooped. Testing her strength was really fun, so why was she feeling so nervous? Was she afraid of screwing up in front of an audience? She smiled sheepishly and shook her head. Suddenly, her eyes focused on a pony whose aura she recognized, and said pony stepped ahead of the crowd.

“Sure,” the stallion said and nodded with an encouraging smile, looking down at the pink filly. “Just don’t strain yourself.”

<It’s… you,> Nica said, pointing at the filly. Her name was Lily, Lily Longsock. A very deceiving name indeed, but why was she here?

“I’ll do my best,” Lily said with a cheerful smile as she trotted towards the sledgehammer, picking it up with one hoof. A quick and solid swing didn’t bear the desired fruit though, as the wooden plank shattered from the impact. A few ponies in the crowd raised their forelegs defensively. “Sorry!” She dropped the weapon, took a step back and covered her blushing face.

The stallion gasped before recovering his composure. He opened a chest next to the pole and picked up an iron model to replace the destroyed plank. “I have this baby for such situations, try again.”

The filly nodded and gave it another try. While the iron resisted, the hammer still left a mark in it while the weight shot up at extreme speed. Not only did it reach the top, but also pushed the gong away. A shout of panic and a loud thud followed as the weight and gong landed a few meters away.

Raichu couldn’t help herself but giggle, looking at faces and sensing ponies auras in amusement.

The stand-owner closed his mouth and pushed a life-sized plush of a purple pony with both horn and wings. “Here’s your prize. A princess plush for a superpony. What’s your name, little one?”

“Lily Longsock? More like, Lily Stronghold,” the stallion said with a chuckle, only for his privacy to become endangered as Pinkie’s muzzle touched his.

“You have a life-sized plush of Twilight Sparkle? Do you have other princesses as rewards as well?” Pinkie asked.

“Y-yes... I use different ones as the main reward depending where I open my stand,” the stallion answered, taking a few steps backward to distance himself from the enthusiastic pony.

Raichu approached the filly and clapped her paws. <You used your strength in public, I’m impressed. And I must say, Stronghold really suits you.>

The filly pushed the plush towards Raichu. “H-here… take it… I won this for you.”

<For me? But you won it fair and square, I don’t deserve it.> Nica pushed the plush towards the filly, but trying to overpower her was a futile endeavour.

“Please, accept it. Whenever I’m around you, I feel comfortable with showing my strength,” Lily said as she tapped her hooves together. “I want to thank you somehow… for being my friend.”

Raichu smiled, hugged the filly and next nuzzled her cheek. <Thank you.> She looked around at the nearby stands. It was only fair for her to win something for Lily in return.

Little Lost Raichu

by CommanderX5

Chapter 9 - Festival