//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 - Pokemon and... // Story: Little Lost Raichu // by CommanderX5 //------------------------------// Little Lost Raichu - Chapter 13 - Pokemon and... “Enough is enough,” Starlight said as she walked in the direction of the castle. A blue aura of her magic was present on her horn and was wrapped around Nica’s tail, pulling it. Raichu’s four paws were pressed into the ground, resisting with all their might while leaving trails in the soil. Starlight looked up at the sky, admiring the moon and the stars as it calmed her down. For the past two days she had assisted in preparations for arrival of Dragon Lord Ember, and many residents of Ponyville had volunteered to assist as well. The unexpected part however was how Spike took over the leadership role from Twilight, who in turn followed his instructions and assisted directly. It was clear that this event was important to Spike, most likely due to his relationship with Ember and the role he played in choosing the next Dragon Lord. Starlight glanced at the resisting Raichu and shook her head. When it came to enthusiasm and willingness to work hard, this large critter proved herself to be above even Spike’s level of dedication, assisting restlessly wherever she could. What exactly was motivating Nica was difficult to figure out. Maybe it was a matter of honor? Maybe willingness to repay their kindness? Or maybe she had a personal agenda. Whatever the reason, such dedication was difficult to ignore. “I know you want to help, but even you don’t have limitless stamina, you need to rest,” Starlight said before pulling Raichu closer to her head. Nica asked and crossed her arms. Starlight sighed and shook her head. Despite Raichu assisting whenever possible for two days straight, she didn’t seem tired in the least. Well, Nica looked sleepy as she struggled to keep her tired eyes open, but when it came to energy, she still had plenty to spare. She grabbed Raichu with her foreleg and focused a teleportation spell, vanishing and reappearing inside Nica’s room. She caught the critter with her magic in an instant and placed her on the bed. “Everything is almost ready, and there’s still plenty of time left before Ember’s arrival. I know you want to help, but you don’t want to greet our honorable quest while half-asleep, do you?” Nica’s ears drooped and she nodded hesitantly. Starlight smiled and rubbed Nica behind her ear, and next did the same with the critter’s wide belly. As Starlight expected, she was rubbed under her chin by Raichu’s tail as the critter returned the favor every single time. It was a give and take, and both sides enjoyed the experience. Mr. Patrick climbed up Raichu’s back, sat on her shoulder and nuzzled her cheek, a warm welcome for a hard working critter. “It seems your newest friend missed you a lot,” Starlight commented before patting Raichu on the head. “Good night and have sweet dreams. And no sneaking out of the castle, got it?” The moment she noticed a nod, Starlight vanished in a flash of teleportation. Now being in her own room, Starlight approached her mirror and gazed at a few attached pictures of her with her friends. Opening the saddlebag, she levitated out a picture she made yesterday of herself with Nica hanging from her neck, both looking at the camera with a wide smile while waving at it. Holding a forehoof on her chest as she felt pleasant warmness, Starlight attached this newest picture in between two pictures: One with her and Trixie and the other with her and Maud Pie. She approached her bed and sat on it, thinking about today’s events. Thanks to her possessing powerful magic, her tasks focused mostly on levitating several tons of materials or advanced transformations. However... being powerful didn’t mean she had unlimited magic, it just meant she depleted her reserves quickly by using a lot of it at once. In a sense, the situation with her partner was reversed. While Starlight could levitate several tons and deal with difficult tasks very quickly thanks to her rich arsenal of spells, Raichu’s strength didn’t surpass that of somepony like Apple Bloom. Relocating a few flower pots, painting difficult spots to reach, gardening and so on. All smallest tasks were left to the enthusiastic critter. What Nica lacked in size and strength she made up with extreme agility and stamina. If something small needed to be done, it was done quickly, and the critter worked for hours without a single break. Starlight sighed. While she admired Nica’s enthusiasm, she couldn’t help but feel that this critter was using only a fraction of what she was capable of. After sparing several minutes to play with her little friends, Nica allowed her tired eyes to close. Without adrenaline keeping her going, it took only moments before she once again saw herself as a tiny Pichu in her dreams. In only a few weeks, her human trainer had gathered a team made of four pokemon and they were now a force to be reckoned with. Still, it was a very weak team when compared to the competition. Trainers who started their journey at age of ten after two years already had a team of six and a lot of experience with two or three tournaments behind them. Still, Astra had a massive advantage when it came to theoretical knowledge. She had memorized types, strength and weaknesses of nearly every registered pokemon in the books inside the bunker and possessed a vast knowledge of hundreds of attacks. It was only a matter of time before she would catch up in terms of experience. Pichu approached Astra as they were now observing the island from the top of the snowy mountain, seeing the entire landscape, the ocean and even some clouds beneath them. The sun descending behind the horizon reflected its light among the water while the sky turned bronze. “You seem excited today. I bet you can’t wait for us to leave this place and visit the Orange Islands, am I right?” Astra asked as she looked down at her partner. Pichu raised her head and nodded energetically. Had the time finally come? Was the real journey actually going to begin? “Sadly, I must disappoint you. There’s still a lot to do before we’re ready to face the outside world.” Nica took a step back and tripped on the slippery ground. After a moment to reassert herself, she shot her trainer an annoyed glare. It had been two years already since Astra was left on this island, why was she still not ready to leave? “If I was on an ordinary adventure, I would have left this island already, but what if my parent's enemies are up there? I have a team, but it would be overpowered easily by an experienced criminal,” Astra explained before gesturing over the landscape ahead of her. “This island is filled with many pokemon, some weaker, some stronger, but it is a perfect training ground. I’m sure we can find experienced pokemon who can teach you and the rest of the team stronger attacks.” Pichu calmed a bit and nodded. She had to admit, even with ‘Nasty Plot’, knowing only weak moves like ‘Thundershock’ and ‘Quick Attack’ did little favors when it came to the offensive. She could use her charm to lower the morale of an attacking enemy, but even this wouldn’t let her last long against a powerful opponent. Still, she could learn new tricks away from this island, so staying here much longer was quite disappointing. Ninetales, who kept watch from behind a boulder, rolled his eyes. The following weeks were filled with a diligent training as Astra challenged residents of the island to train with her team. During the training, Nica learned of her trainer’s style. First, whenever they encountered a weaker pokemon who wouldn’t put much of a fight, Astra deployed a team member who had a type disadvantage against it. And Nica couldn’t even count how many times she had to fight against a foe who was somewhat resistant to her electricity. Second, Astra shared food and aided defeated pokemon, gaining respect and befriending many of them. Not that pokemon needed such aid, but they appreciated it anyway. Third, Astra was on the lookout for pokemon with stronger attacks, and often negotiated for said pokemon to teach their attacks to specific team members. At times, it almost felt as if the young trainer thought of pokemon as equal and intelligent beings during their negotiations, only to end up disappointed from time to time. And finally, Astra didn’t allow her team members to evolve. Raichu’s rest lasted longer than usual as she was making up for one sleepless night, and so her dream continued a bit longer. Still being a Pichu in her dream, Nica once again stood next to her trainer on the top of the mountain, watching the island from the higher ground. Despite enduring half a year of harsh training as her trainer ensured that every single fight would be against a stronger opponent, she was still eager to battle more. Her weak attacks were replaced by more powerful ones. Astra sat and placed Pichu on her knee as they looked each other in the eyes. “The time has finally come. From tomorrow morning we’ll start working on a wooden boat, and with the maps I found in the bunker, we should reach Orange Islands in no time.” Nica’s smile widened and she started jumping up and down. Ten meters, twelve meters, thirty meters, fifty meters, her jumps became higher until her body started flashing with a bright light. Her body finally began to evolve as she was going to become bigger and stronger. She was going to look just like her parents, no longer as tiny and feeble. “Stop, don’t evolve, please!” Astra shouted, snapping Pichu out from her excitement as the bright light vanished. Still being a tiny Pichu, Nica landed softly on the snow and glanced at her trainer in confusion. Using a notepad and pen, she wrote a simple question. ‘Why?’ Astra sighed and sat at the edge of the cliff with Nica sitting next to her. “I suppose you deserve an explanation.” She shook her head. “As I was training alongside you, becoming stronger myself, I started thinking. In order to succeed as a trainer and to accomplish my goals, I need an ideology of my own, something to push me forward.” Pichu nodded, her ears straightened upward as she listened with full attention. “My mother always trained with her pokemon and was very adventurous, while my father relied on long-term strategies and prepared for everything in advance. I was taking their example to be as smart and well-read as my father, and to become strong and have a powerful team like my mother. But in the end I fear it’s not enough.” Nica asked, not that her trainer would understand her. Holding her knees with her hands while staring at the water on the horizon, Astra spoke, “My ideology is as follows; I believe that power equals responsibility, and one needs to prove that they deserve more power. If you’re weak, there’s not much you can do, but if you’re powerful, what you do may decide between life or death of others.” Pichu nodded, it made sense. Her parents and other Pikachu always protected the herd from threats and watched over the unevolved ones. “My father was a very clever man and had a small army under his command, while my mother was very strong, and they did their best to keep criminals from all regions in check. They had power and used it to the fullest.” Astra continued, “Once my team will become stronger, we’ll need to keep others safe from criminals. It’ll become our responsibility.” Nica rubbed her chin, thinking. In the end she wants to follow her parents example. I’ll need to train extra hard to keep her safe. She blinked in confusion. Did she actually care for the well-being of her trainer? It was not like her to care for others. “However,” Astra said, capturing Nica’s attention, “having more power means that everything will become easier, and this is a risk that I’m trying to avoid.” She pointed at Pichu and gave her a serious look. “At the moment, you’re in a baby form, which is extremely weak. Because of that every opponent you face is stronger, every fight is a challenge, but once you evolve, such fights will become easy.” Pichu nodded. Evolving would make her stronger, and dangerous opponents would become a breeze to defeat. “Evolving gives pokemon a quick and big boost in power, because of that many pokemon stop training as hard and improve slower. Everything becomes easier, so why work as hard as before?” Astra asked, her tone very serious. Pichu asked, as she had to agree. Thus far every fight has been extremely difficult, every opponent was stronger, and it gave her a lot of room to improve. Not for a moment had she been allowed to be reckless or make a mistake. “I believe that one needs to prove their worth to deserve power, that’s why I expect that you and my other pokemon will hold off with evolution for the time being. Only by defeating extremely powerful opponents before facing near impossible challenge will you prove that you’ll be capable of using greater power to the fullest.” Pichu nodded and narrowed her eyes. If she needed to prove that she could use full potential of her evolution, she will. She’ll count on her comrades to do the same. “Still, there’s a catch,” Astra spoke up as she tightened her fists in determination. “Should you or a member of the team prove worthy of evolution, you’ll need to train even harder than before. Greater power is worthless without skill and dedication to back it up.” She rubbed the top of Pichu’s head and continued in a much calmer tone. “You’re my partner, Nica, so I’ll expect more from you than from the rest of the team. You need to give others a good example. You’re second in command, should a criminal knock me out, so I’ll push you harder than the others. Are you willing to handle such responsibility? Or would you prefer if I didn’t go harder on you than the rest?” Nica looked away from her trainer and stared at the sky, thinking. Her trainer had great expectations of her, and she would need to work harder than the others to meet them. In a sense, it was an honor to receive such treatment. She wasn’t just a follower, she was the human’s partner. She smirked and then smiled. Being Astra’s partner was going to be a challenge, and she loved challenges. She turned to her trainer, tightened her fists and nodded with confidence radiating from her face. “Perfect. Now would you kindly wake up already?” Astra said as her face shapeshifted into Starlight’s. Raichu yelped and rolled from the bed with her pillow landing on her head. The vision of the pony before her was still blurry. “I warned you that not sleeping for two days would have consequences. It is afternoon already,” Starlight said before levitating Nica to a sitting position. “Nevermind that, I need your help.” Nica said before rubbing her eyes. She approached and looked up at Starlight with expectation in her eyes. Her tail swung left and right in excitement. Starlight raised an eyebrow. “The word ‘help’ seems to motivate you into action similar to how catnip affects a cat.” She turned around and gestured with her forehoof. “There’s no time to waste, follow me.” Nica nodded and followed Starlight, now trotting next to her while feeling a rush of excitement. This was it, another opportunity to help. Thus far she was but a burden and ponies provided her with food, shelter and love. Every opportunity to repay them was precious, like water in the desert. Starlight stopped in front of the entrance into the library and looked at the critter. “Alright, here’s the situation in a nutshell. One of Spike’s friends, Thorax, came for a visit today and we need to keep him and Ember separated.” Nica nodded, listening with full attention. “He’s a leader of the changelings, but he’s a softy, so I’m sure you both will get along. I don’t care how, but keep him busy. Use your natural charm, weaponized cuteness or whatever you can to keep him from leaving the castle. Can I count on you?” Nica saluted. When she was asked to help, she didn’t expect this kind of task, but it sounded very important. “Perfect, I’m counting on you. I need to join Spike and keep Ember entertained, so best of luck,” Starlight said with a shake of her foreleg before vanishing in a flash of teleportation. Filled with confidence, Nica stretched her rear legs to reach the handle before opening the door into the library. As she stepped inside while walking on her four paws, she noticed a few small changes. The first one being an oddly high number of random chairs in a diversity of sizes and shapes. Second was the presence of a green creature with long orange horns on its head, chilling up in a very soft-looking armchair with very, very relaxed posture. This had to be Thorax that Starlight mentioned. With a sense of duty as her guide, she approached the creature, noticing a transparent tail sticking up from under its legs. Thorax’s belly looked more like a green chestplate armor, and three white gem-like objects were decorating its neck. Taking a deep breath, Nica said, She raised a forepaw up to her mouth. There was no point in speaking since Thorax wouldn’t understand her anyway. She needed to make herself seen. “Huh, what?” Thorax said, scanning his surroundings in search for the source of the voice. Nica approached the armchair while walking on her rear paws. she shouted and waved. Thorax looked down from his comfortable spot. “Oh… hello little one.” He lowered his head to take a closer look. “I sense a lot of excitement coming from you, and I was getting bored. Would you like to play with me to pass the time?” Nica nodded before climbing up onto the armchair. She sat on Thorax’s leg and nuzzled his hardened chest. The changeling laughed cheerfully and started rubbing Raichu’s back with a green hoof. “I’ve never seen a creature like you and I must say, you’re cute and soft, and you have a nice and genuine smile.” He pointed at the collar with five gems decorating her neck. “Whose pet are you anyway?” Nica shrugged. He raised a small tag on the collar, noticing that ‘Raichu’ was written on it, and this name escaped her mouth a few times just a moment ago. “Are you communicating by repeating your own name?” Nica nodded hesitantly. She looked to the side and sighed, now regretting that no scroll and quill was nearby when she needed them. Thorax smirked. “I think I have a solution.” In an instant, his body burst into green flames. Nica flinched, landing on the floor as her eyes stared at the green fire. Was this pony... creature burning alive? In her dream she witnessed how her water-type friend put out the fire with a water attack, but the closest water source was the kitchen or the fountain at the top of this castle.  But she had to do something? No, wait... the flames vanished on their own, revealing... She blinked in confusion and next rubbed her eyes.