Raichu, Defender of Equestria
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Chapter 27
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Back to Ponyville
“So… let me get this straight,” Daring Do said as she sat on a platform with a half-repaired statue of Somnambula, the one she destroyed some time ago. Its repairs being funded partially from her own pocket. A few bandages were present on her face, hooves, and wrapped around her belly. Her attention was now on a Raichu sitting in front of her who carried a small bag over her shoulder. “You came from a different world and were sent here by powerful legendaries to stop a pokemon called Darkrai, who, for Celestia knows how long, was secretly cursing ponies with dark magic while clearing their memories of it.”
Rainbow Dash spoke up, “He was the one who sealed your memories, and since he can’t do it anymore, he tried to get you to join him.” Sitting next to Daring Do while having a few small bandages covering her burns, she rubbed her chest and said, “What’s up with the bad guys trying to get others to join them? Nightmare Moon already tried that with the Shadowbolts, like I would leave my friends to join a random group that just popped up in the Everfree Forest.”
Quibble rubbed his chin, sitting on the side in between the ponies and the pokemon, a few bandages were present on his back. Pinkie Pie was sitting ahead of him, while his minion, Desert Blade, stood by his side, both having a few bruises and bandages of their own. “Whatever the case, he’s way above any villains you ever faced, Daring Do. He saw benefit in eliminating you, had to eliminate Rainbow Dash for his accomplice, and nearly succeeded." He paused to glance at the pokemon. "Now he sees Nica as a threat to his plans and was even willing to send her back home in exchange for her neutrality.” He looked at Pinkie and pointed at her. “We saw what happened. He drained Pinkie’s magic in mere seconds, weakening her while using the gathered magic against us. If this is what his curse is about, he can hold entire towns as hostages and increase his power at will.”
“Kind of like Tirek,” Rainbow Dash said. “He absorbed everypony’s magic to grow big and strong. The difference being that this Darkrai creature isn’t growing big, but instead sneaks around a lot. Coward.”
“I don’t think he’s a coward. He’s just cunning and cautious,” Nica spoke up, her forepaw raised. “Thorax told me that… according to rumors at the hive... Tirek could be easily stopped if not for Discord’s betrayal. Darkrai however said that being a dark type made him immune to spells and how his powers are extremely dangerous against magical beings. The dark magic he now commands apparently has similar qualities. Not to mention that he managed to manipulate Chrysalis and remained hidden all this time.”
Nica stood up and patted her white chest while her tail rose up from the ground. “I’m not a magical being, nor I am weak to dark type attacks or dark magic. I should be able to match him in a fight…” She sat and tapped her paws together. “... Unless he makes himself super powerful by boosting himself with stolen magic…”
Daring Do shrugged. “I’ll fly home and check if I still have any artifacts that can be of use against him before joining you in Ponyville, but no promises I’ll find anything useful.”
Rainbow Dash looked at Pinkie Pie, who still kept looking to the side. “You’re awfully quiet, Pinkie, I mean… like… super quiet. It’s not like you. Is something wrong?” As Pinkie looked at her own rear hooves, Dash asked. “Are you still hurting?”
“N-no… it’s just…” Pinkie said, her head still lowered and her ears drooped. “When I decided to come with you, I thought I would be helpful, yet I couldn’t do anything useful. Instead, I was used by that meany to hurt you all. I feel awful.”
“Come on Pinks, you did help… ummm… well… your brought us those flashlight helmets so we could explore the dark pyramid. It was helpful,” Dash said, only for Pinkie to release a deep depressed sigh. “I’m not helping, am I?” She stepped from the platform and placed her wing over Pinkie’s shoulder. “Anyway, we need to regroup with our friends at Ponyville. I can fly us there…”
“Take Nica,” Pinkie said with a depressed tone, her mane less pink and more greyish than usual. “I would weigh you down anyway.”
Dash opened her mouth, but Quibble was first to speak, “Pinkie Pie can come with me and Daring Do.” He pointed at Dash and continued, “Take Nica for a ride. She’s three or four times lighter than an average mare, so you’ll be able to get to Ponyville in no time.”
“W-what about Darkrai? It’s risky to split up,” Dash said, her wings spread in panic.
Quibble shook his forehoof and head dismissively. “Not really. According to what Nica told us, he’s not interested in hurting ponies, and he already put a curse on Pinkie. I’m not a threat to him and Daring Do can fly. Also, if he’s serious about taking over Equestria and his existence is now well known to us, he’ll no doubt go to Canterlot and take action. You both need to warn the others as quickly as possible.”
Nica kept staring at Pinkie Pie with drooped ears. Seeing this energetic mare like this, sensing her aura of depression… she could only whimper as a sad smile appeared on her face. Taking a few steps on her rear feet, Nica pushed herself against Pinkie’s chest and nuzzled it. Using her tail, she rubbed Pinkie behind her ears and next tickled soft part of her rear hooves, causing the mare to giggle.
Pinkie hugged Nica in return. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll get back to my puffy and happy self before you know it. Now go with Dash and tell Twilight what happened.”
Nica waited until she was released before nodding. She took off the bag from her shoulder, giving it to Pinkie as a rat’s head peeked out from it. She lowered her head and nuzzled the rat’s nose. “I’ll leave you with Pinkie Pie, Mr. Patrick.”
Upon hearing squeaking noises of protest, she added, “Don’t be like that. I’ll fly on Dash’s back and I don’t want to put you in danger. Stay safe.” After hearing sad squeaking and ignoring the drooped ears and whispers of the rat, she approached Rainbow Dash who lowered her wing to the sandy ground for her to climb up. She perched herself on the pegasus’ back and wrapped her paws around Dash’s neck.
Rainbow Dash saluted. “Daring Do, Quibble, and you Desert Blade, take good care of Pinkie. We’ll wait for you either at the castle in Ponyville or in Canterlot.” She spread her wings and flew up, now flying north towards Ponyville with map in her hooves. “Hey, Nica, you’re probably still a bit tired from your fight. You might want to take a nap.”
“Says the mare who was put asleep by Darkrai’s spell not long ago. Are you sure you’re not the one who needs to rest and recover?” Nica asked, only to tighten her hold of Dash’s neck as the pegasus performed a barrel roll.
“I’m fine. I may not be as tough as a pokemon, but I’m not a pushover,” Dash said in annoyance.
“Alright. I suppose a short nap won’t hurt. My last dream stopped before a very important fight against a criminal who could use way more than six pokemon at once, each of his pokemon stolen from skilled trainers and brainwashed to do his bidding,” Nica said, catching Dash’s interest. “Since I regain my memories whenever I sleep, maybe after a short nap I’ll remember that encounter.”
“I hope so, you totally need to tell me everything about that fight once you wake up,” Dash said while slightly reducing her speed.
Nica closed her eyes and pressed herself into fur on Dash’s neck. Her ears and tail flapped under the strong wind.
“And so we meet again. I must say, you sure did your best to anger my boss. Slowing down Team Rocket’s search of Lugia in Johto, preventing our capture of Zapdos, Moltres and Articuno in Kanto, and next you made us search for you in Hoenn and Sinnoh outside of our territory.”
Nica peeked from behind a tree, observing the scene from the sideline. Her trainer Astra stood firm in front of the Team Rocket hitman, codename ‘Deathblow.’ Astra wore a shirt and short skirt, both green, large bronze boots, and no hat covered her orange long hair.
On Astra’s right side stood a young girl in a white kimono decorated in blue waves, with a water pokemon armed with two yellow shells, Dewott, by her side.
On Astra’s left side stood a young boy named Lauki with a Pikachu by his side.
Nica kept looking at both pokemon in guilt. Ever since she refused to use electricity against the water pokemon, fighting Dewott with only her ‘Iron Tail,’ she earned his respect. Her refusal to fight back against the Pikachu, defending herself and training him during an actual battle turned him into a fan. Both pokemon and their respective trainers were now facing danger… because of her.
She looked back at Deathblow. The hitman apparently refused to shave his bronze beard, and was wearing a black uniform with a big white ‘R’ mark written on it. He wore three belts, each equipped with ten pokeballs, a personal army of brainwashed stolen pokemon at his command. On the left and right sides of the hitman two large pokemon stood tall: A large metalic head with four large limbs, Metagross, and large and fat fighting type pokemon with massive hands ready to overpower any opponent in a fight of sumo, Hariyama. Both on guard and ready to defend their master.
“Who’s he? What’s going on?” the girl wearing kimono asked in confusion, her eyes narrowed. Her Dewott aimed his shells aggressively, repeating his name.
“A Team Rocket member? You guys already caused a lot of trouble in Kanto, and now you grunts dare to show your face in Sinnoh?” Lauki said as his Pikachu released a few bolts from dots on his cheeks.
“Grunt? I’m one of three elite hitmen. By stealing pokemon from experienced trainers, I earned a fortune on the black market, an elite squad of powerful pokemon, and most importantly my boss’ respect.” Deathblow crossed his arms and frowned. “Consider yourself lucky you’re a small fry. I have no use for stealing your weak pokemon.” He pointed at the trainer in the middle. “Astra, you have become a nuisance to my boss and caught my attention. The question is, will you surrender yourself and your pokemon to me peacefully and beg my boss for mercy? Or should I ask my Hariyama to snap your neck while I take your pokemon to one of our facilities where they’ll become my loyal servants?”
Astra chuckled. “Funny… to think when we first meet, I was scared of you.”
“As you should,” Deathblow said. “Too bad that this fear didn’t stop you from making the same mistakes your parents made,” Deathblow said, causing an angered expresion to form on Astra’s face to surface. “Your parents and their subordinates nearly ruined Team Rocket and many other criminal organizations. I had the privilege of putting them down, but we never found their daughter. Ever since you freed Zapdos from under my nose, I did some digging. It appears I now have an opportunity to finish what I started years ago.”
“You did what? How despicable!” the kimono girl spoke in anger and frowned.
“You took the life of her parents? I knew Team Rocket were up to no good, but that’s horrible,” Lauki paused and gave Astra a confused glance. “Wait… you really stopped Team Rocket from catching three legendary pokemon from Kanto? That’s… that’s amazing!” He held his hands in front of his face, staring in admiration.
“All she did was seal her fate,” Deathblow stated.
Astra took a few calming breaths and forced a smile. “All this time I was thinking how I can defeat a criminal who can command several well trained pokemon at once. All this time I feared I can’t defeat you in a pokemon battle, thinking of you as my biggest challenge to overcome.” She pointed accusingly at the criminal elite. “I bet you watched my battles, waiting for me to face a powerful trainer so you could ambush me on my way to the Pokemon Center while my team is still weak. Unfortunately for you, when I was watching my partner train herself to near-death while unable to stop her, an easy solution came to my mind.”
“What are you blabbering about?” Deathblow asked.
Nica dashed from behind her cover, running towards her opponent with all speed she could muster. Her tail now metalic and shining, charged with power, while bolts of electricity escaped dots on her cheeks. She ran under Metagross’ massive head, tripping it with a slam of her tail against its limb while it wasn’t levitating himself. The earth trembled upon the impact. With a swift movement of her tail, she cut the three belts and wrapped her tail around them, pulling them away from the elite hitman.
“What the—”
With a quick ‘Thunderbolt,’ she pushed the hitman against Hariyama before running towards her trainer, the prize in her possession.
“You’ll pay for this! Metagross, use ‘Rock Slide!’” Deathblow shouted before trying to grab his pokeballs, only for his old face to become pale. “You… you dared!”
Nica zipped between falling stones, not even slowing down.
“After thinking over so many strategies, the answer was so simple. All I needed was to steal your pokeballs before you could use them and your biggest advantage is gone,” Astra said as she grabbed the tree belts eagerly, a wide grin on her face. She held one hand on her hip and asked, “How does it feel that after years of stealing from other trainers to have your pokemon being taken from you? Defeated by your own technique, quite fitting if you asks me.”
Deathblow grit his teeth, but calmed down quickly. He rubbed his beard and said, “I must say, I’m impressed. Thus far I simply challenged and defeated every trainer with overwhelming force, or ambushed them when their pokemon were exhausted. Not even a champion could’ve stopped me in direct fight.” He pointed at Astra. “But you’re different, you’re not afraid to play dirty.”
Nica ran at the hitman once again, only to pull herself to a full stop, causing grass and dirt spread around her paws, her attention focused on a remote detonator in the hitman’s hand.
“Lucky, no elite ever takes action without a plan B. I placed explosives inside the Pokemon Center. Unless you give me my pokemon back and let me go, you’ll have the lives of many pokemon and humans on your conscience,” Deathblow said with a serious expression, as if an elderly playing a game of chess. “While at it, you can as well give me your pokemon and surrender yourself. You wouldn’t want all those people and pokemon die just to protect your own skin?”
“You monster!” the girl in the kimono shouted.
“You’re no ordinary Team Rocket thug after all, none of them would go this far to achieve their goals,” Lauki said, shooting daggers at the hitman.
Nica grit her teeth and bent her legs. She already had a life of a father on her conscience because she didn’t react fast enough. Not again… never again…
“I thought your pokemon were very valuable and worth taking, but in case I failed to defeat you, I was just planning to blow you up along with the Pokemon Center. I didn’t expect I would need to use it as a bargaining chip, but now that I think about it, using hostages works just fine.”
With a quick jump, Nica flew at the hitman, wrapping her tail carefully around the detonator, pulling it from Deathblow’s hand without touching the round red button. Grabbing the detonator with her forepaws, she turned around and unleashed bolts of electricity towards Deathblow’s backpack, forcing him to throw it away before it bursts into flames.
“My jetpack! You little rodent!” Deathblow paused and looked around, finding himself surrounded by multiple pokemon.
“Your jetpack was your plan C, correct?” Astra asked. “Do you have plan D or any trump card left? Or did you simply underestimate me and fall into my hands?”
Deathblow shook her head and then knelt on his both knees, his head lowered. “I have been bested. Now the question is, will you have what it takes to avenge your parents in front of witnesses. Will you sacrifice your innocence for revenge?”
Before Astra or Nica could react, one of the pokeballs on Astra’s belt opened, and a nine-tailed flame-breathing fox appeared in front of the hitman.
Nica flinched and bit her bottom lip before running in front of Ninetales. <H-hey… I know you’re angry, b-but…” She raised her tail defensively, yet the fire easily broke her ‘Iron Tail,’ burning half of Deathblow’s face who screamed in pain, holding his hands against his face. Metagross and Hariyama stepped to the side, not interfering without their master’s command.
Nica glanced at her long burned tail and next gave Ninetales an angered glare.
Ninetales growled, only to be recalled back into his pokeball by Astra.
“It seems my mother’s Ninetales wanted to leave a mark on you as punishment,” Astra said as she looked to the side, her clenched fists trembling in anger. “Also, outside of your crimes in Kanto and Johto, I’m sure the police in Sinnoh would be very interested in inspecting your detonator and disarming explosives you placed inside a Pokemon Center. As for my revenge, I’ll not rest until I hunt the most skilled members of every criminal organization.” She gestured at trainers by her side who still kept staring silently in disbelief. “I witnessed the power in possession of many pokemon trainers. I wonder how efficient your grunts will be against them without backup from elites.”
Nica glanced at her trainer and nodded. The time for preparations, challenges and laying low was over. Now was the time to “Wake up!”
Nica yawned, then raised one paw and rubbed her sleepy eyes.