//------------------------------// // Ch.4 - Tests and Regrets Pt.2 // Story: Little Lost Pikachu // by CommanderX5 //------------------------------// Little Lost Pikachu - Chapter 4 - Tests and Regrets Pt.2 “Two different evolutions?” Pikachu asked before smiling. “Do you mean Nica’s here too?” Twilight nodded before levitating a large box to the side, revealing the pokemon hiding behind. Both Pikachu and Nica looked at each other. Feeling a surge of happiness, Pikachu looked at his guardian with a big smile on his face. A seed of worry was planted in his mind as Nica returned his warm smile with an awkward one, a clear indication their yesterday’s discussion was still haunting her mind. Ninetales approached Twilight and raised his head. “I assure you, Princess, I shall provide you with the data you seek.” He gave Litten a challenging glance. “And I shall prove my clear superiority over the unevolved feline.” The fire cat groaned, yet refused to answer his remark. “B-be nice, Ninetales. Remember, no mean teasing,” Nica said with a disapproval in her voice. “There won’t be a need for teasing. We’ll prove the superiority of our team without any need for words,” Ninetales said as he winked at his captain. “Am I right?” Nica smiled nervously while refusing to answer. Pikachu ran towards Nica, who in response hid herself behind Twilight’s rear legs. “Come on, don’t be shy. Let’s just enjoy this experiment together and do our best!” As Nica didn’t answer, he massaged his forepaw and added, “I know yesterday’s discussion ended on… a bad note, but let’s forget about it and have fun, alright?” “S-sure…” Nica said as she stepped from behind the alicorn. “Come on, it will be fun,” Twilight said as she marked four spots on the ground with a hoof and gestured at them. “Gather round everypokemon. The first test will be a test of strength. Basically, Starlight will place weights on your backs one at a time. Try to lift as much as you can and I’ll compare the data.” Pikachu ran to his spot in excitement and stretched his limbs. “Now that’s more like it. I love these kind of exercises. What about you?” He looked at Nica, who approached her spot with hesitant steps. “I like them too,” the long-tailed pokemon said with a nod. “Come on Nica, you were waaay more enthusiastic the first time around.” Twilight looked at the other pokemon. “Is everypokemon ready?” “I am ready, Your Highness,” Ninetales said, standing firmly on his four legs while in a fighting stance. “So am I,” Litten said as he gave the large fox-like pokemon a firm glance. Pikachu stood firmly on his four limbs, his muscles tense and eyes narrowed. “I won’t go down easily, you can be sure of that.” He looked to the side, seeing his long-tailed fan who took a similar stance, but didn’t seem to share his confidence. His ears drooped. What happened with all her cheerfulness and energy? I’m already missing it. He looked towards the levitated weight. I hope our exercises will restore her enthusiasm. Nothing motivates more than a bit of competing and challenges. He looked up at the descending weight, which was half-the-size of his belly and nearly twice heavier than his entire body. He gulped, already expecting the pressure to be anything but pleasant. He wasn’t disappointed. The moment the cold metal made contact with his warm fur, his legs bent slightly, forcing some effort to stabilize his stance. One after another, heavy weights were placed on his back, creating a stack of five as his legs started to tremble. He soldiered on, finding the challenge to be both exciting as demanding with his pride being on the line. “That’s fifty kilograms so far, how are you all holding up?” Starlight asked as she levitated four more weights, ready to place them on each pokemon at the same time. Pikachu felt a drop of sweat fall down his face. “It’s… n-nothing…” he said between his heavy breaths. The moment the sixth weight was added to the tower on his back, he grit his teeth and his legs started to tremble, his little rear feet sank slightly into the hard ground. He looked to his right, seeing Litten struggle way more than he did while Ninetales didn’t show any hints of being tired whatsoever. He looked to the left at Nica, whose legs trembled despite their bigger size. That’s odd… I was sure she would be stronger than that, he thought. While there wasn’t much weight his six kilogram heavy body could endure, his evolution was way bigger. Pikachu closed his eyes for the moment as his face was getting closer and closer to the rocky ground. “I… can’t… anymore!” Litten shouted as he plopped down, trapped under the weight. “That’s seventy kilograms, not bad,” Twilight said as she levitated the weights away before scanning the pokemon with her magic. “You weigh five point four kilogram. You lifted thirteen times your own weight, impressive.” “Impressive? Disappointing you mean,” Ninetales said with a frown. “It’s true that while our size affects our physical strength, our powers can make a difference. Smaller but well trained pokemon can still lift more weight than bigger but poorly trained. In other words, you could do better.” Litten shot the tall pokemon a raspberry. Pikachu felt sweat sliding down his face like a waterfall as his muscles burned. It was obvious that he was reaching his limits as his body started rebelling against him, about to give up and stop resisting the crushing weight. “That’s eighty kilograms,” Starlight commented as she placed another weight on the three remaining contestants. “Ninety.” Pikachu kept struggling, each added weight making the exercise  way more painful as the jump in pressure was extreme for a pokemon of his size. Small cracks spread around his paws as they were not stuck in the stone. His face started turning red from a lack of oxygen. He moved his trembling head to glance at Nica. “H-how… are… you… holding up?” He asked while gasping for air. “N-not… so well…” Nica answered as she grit her teeth, her legs trembling and bending under the weight. Pikachu pressed his head against the ground for support, nearly crying from the struggle as his pride kept him going where his body was about to fall. One more weight proving enough to overpower his little rear legs as he lost his balance. “I… surrender,” he said as only his head and legs stood out from under the tower of weights. “That’s one hundred and twenty kilograms,” Twilight said as she levitated away the weights, allowing Pikachu to sigh in relief. She followed up with a quick scan. “Six kilograms, you lifted twenty times your own weight, now that’s impressive.” Ninetales gave Pikachu a proud glance. “That’s more like it. You’re certainly well trained and very determined, unlike your friend over there.” Litten crossed his arms and looked to the side. “I admit, I became Ash’s pokemon just recently, I am way behind Pikachu in terms of training and experience.” “And it shows,” Ninetales said with a proud nod. Pikachu stood up on his trembling legs, now walking towards Twilight as his little feet still felt the leftovers of his struggle. He turned around and cheered. “Go Nica! Do you best!” He sat a moment later, his rear feet refusing to let him perform any sort of dance. Not that he would get many opportunities to cheer for his fan as only a few weights later, Nica drooped down, trapped under the tower of lead. “I give up.” NInetales looked at Nica in shock. Litten laughed. “So much for your captain being anything special.” “That’s two... hundred and twenty kilograms? Really?” Twilight asked in disbelief. “Sorry,” Nica said as she looked at the alicorn while laying flat on the ground. Twilight levitated the weights away and scanned the pokemon with her magic. “Twenty five kilograms. That’s nine times your own…” Pikachu looked at Nica in confusion as he expected so much more of her. Part of him felt disappointed in his friend’s poor performance, yet another bigger part felt… happy. This Raichu despite being so much bigger didn’t even lift twice as much as he could. While he didn’t want to admit it, he found bits of satisfaction in Nica’s failure. “What happened? The last time you performed this test, you reached–” Twilight failed to finish as the tip of Nica’s tail sealed away her mouth. “Congratulation, you were truly amazing,” Nica said as she shook Pikachu’s forepaws before giving Twilight a look of disapproval. “I wish I could do more. I’m not all that strong.” Ninetales raised an eyebrow. “I see how it is.” He looked at Starlight. “Keep putting those weights faster on me! The faster these tests end, the better.” His tone sharp. Levitated weights stopped dropping onto the tower on Ninetales’ back upon reaching five hundred and fifty kilograms as the pokemon's long thin legs game up under the increasing weight. “You weigh thirty two kilograms, that’s seventy times your own weight,” Twilight commented before levitating the weights away. Litten approached and looked up at the proud pokemon. “That… was quite impressive. You’re actually physically strong. I assumed you were just bark and no bite.” “Whatever,” Ninetales said as he bypassed Litten, ignoring his praise. “Hey, I was just trying to be nice. No need to be so grumpy,” Litten said with a frown. “Alright everypokemon. The next experiment will be a test of speed. Please, run as quickly as you can as those machines will register your running speed,” Twilight said. Starlight chuckled. “You’re using actual treadmills rather than gigantic poorly constructed hamster-wheels. Progress.” “Haha, very funny,” Twilight said with sarcasm. “I learned my lesson.” Pikachu leaped onto his treadmill, its size a few times that of his own body, both in length and height. Some sort of calculating device seemed to be attached to it. With a casual trot, he started running at a slow pace, his attention on the other pokemon. Litten seemed as eager as before, yet Ninetales' face was showing nothing but annoyance. He looked to his left at Nica who seemed to match his speed. “I wish you luck. I’m sure you’ll do way better at the test of speed.” “T-thank you,” Nica said with a forced smile. All pokemon slowly increased their speed as their breathing became faster and faster. Soon drops of sweat started falling down their faces, all except Nica. Litten grit his teeth and his face turned red before he leaped from his treadmill, now laying as flat as before while gasping for air. Twilight wrote the data with a nod before looking at other participants. “It seems to be a speed above a running pegasus and earth pony.” Nica was the second to give up as she took heavy breaths of air into her lungs, her head lowered, yet not a single drop of sweat was present on her face. Ninetales growled before giving up as well several seconds later as his numerous tails lay against the stone, his chin supported against his forepaws. “Much better. Nica and Ninetales’ speed surpass Litten’s quite substantially,” Twilight commented before giving the long-tailed critter a curious look. “No offense, but while I failed to gather any data the last time due to equipment malfunction, I could swear your speed was–” Her mouth was sealed once again as Nica shook her head at her. Starlight frowned. “So that is how it is.” Pikachu closed his eyes and grit his teeth, now running like a mad pokemon, shaking the treadmill from effort alone. He didn’t use ‘Quick Attack’ as other pokemon didn’t seem to know this move, using only his regular speed. The moment he tripped, his body ended up launched backward with a lot of speed. However, instead of crashing into a nearby stone, he felt something soft slow him down in mid-air. “Are you alright?” Pikachu opened his eyes and looked behind, finding himself held in Nica’s soft embrace, his back pressed into her belly. “I’m fine…” Nica placed him on the ground and clapped her forepaws. “That was an amazing speed. I wish I was that fast.” Pikachu titled his head to the side. If he was so much faster, how did Nica manage to catch him? Something didn’t seem right. “Now a test of jumps, this time in the open area,” Twilight said as she spread her wings and flapped up. Starlight looked at Nica with a smug-face. “I still remember how often you hit the ceiling with your head whenever you got excited. I really missing those.” “If that’s the case, I can head-jump into something for you. Would that make you happier?” Nica asked. “Why am I not surprised by such a response?” Starlight asked. Pikachu chuckled. So she’s willing to hurt herself to make others happy. Now that’s dedication. “Alright everypokemon, so here’s how we’ll do it.” Twilight explained, excitement still clear in her voice, “I want you to jump as high as you can and I’ll calculate your reached height based on how long you stay in the air.” She levitated over a stopwatch. “I doubt air resistance will affect the height all that much.” Starlight commented, “And here I thought you were going to tie the pokemon to a super long measuring tape or something like that.” “That’s actually sounds like a good idea,” Twilight said with a flap of her wings. “I was kidding,” Starlight responded, her ears drooped in aggravation. “So was I,” the princess said with a smirk. Pikachu looked at Litten, who bent his legs before jumping with all his might. “Forty meters, decent,” Twilight commented. Ninetales was second to jump, reaching a much greater height. “That’s eighty meters.” Twilight clapped her forehooves. “Next!” Pikachu bent his legs and grit his teeth, his little feet shaking as he gathered all energy he could muster for the highest jump he could muster. He gave Nica one quick glance who smiled encouragingly at him. “Do your best! I’m sure the height you reach will be incredible!” Nica shouted with shake of her forepaws. Her eyes filled with admiration. Pikachu nodded before focusing on his jump. How could he dare to disappoint a face like this? With a single jump, he launched himself into the air. 45 meters, 80 meters, 105 meters, 120 meters, 125 meters, gravity caught up to him as he spend in the air no more than nine seconds before his tiny feet smashed into the ground, spreading dust all around them. “That was amazing!” Nica shouted as she grabbed him and performed a cheerful dance, leaping from one rear paw to another. Pikachu cheered as well, waving his forepaws. Now that was the excitement and cheerfulness he wanted to see again. “Now your turn, Nica,” Starlight said. “Go ahead and perform your… best jump.” She winked. Once released, Pikachu stepped to the side, awaiting eagerly to see Nica’s jumping potential. “Do your best!” he shouted, yet part of him secretly hoped she wouldn’t surpass his record. He watched the jump with full attention as Nica stayed in mid-air eight seconds before landing in front of him with a loud thud. “A hundred meters…” Twilight said, now giving Nica a suspicious stare. “As expected,” Starlight commented with shake of her head. “Of course,” Ninetales said with a frown. Nica rubbed the back of her neck. “Well, that was close. Seems my jumping isn’t as good as yours.” She tapped her forepaws together. “You’re pretty amazing.” Pikachu looked away form his fan, now glancing at each pony and pokemon as even Litten gave Nica a suspicious glance. Nica did perform similar tests in the past after all and she kept interrupting the princess whenever she wanted to comment on her results. Was it possible that… she was holding back? “Now it’s time for a test of raw power,” Twilight said as she levitated a large enhanced gem a few meters ahead of Pikachu. “Attack with ‘Thunderbolt’ as strong as you can.” “You don’t have to ask me twice, I’m on it!” Pikachu did as he was told, clenching his forepaws and screaming his name. His barrage of powerful bolts was absorbed into the gem as it shone brightly in the process. “That’s enough, thank you,” Twilight said as she levitated over the large yellow gem which was the size of a Pikachu, scanning it with her magic. “That’s… a lot of raw power. Your electric attack is really powerful.” Pikachu rubbed his nose in pride. Twilight waited for the shining to vanish before levitating the gem in front of the long-tailed pokemon. “Your turn, Nica, do your best.” Pikachu kept watching his guardian with full attention who took off the collar from her neck and then unleashed a ‘Thunderbolt.' The size and intensity of the electricity going towards the levitated gem seemed thinner and less violent than his own, while the gem shone with less brightness. Starlight raised an eyebrow. “Let me guess, Pikachu’s attack was stronger.” “By quite a lot, yes,” Twilight said with a nod. He narrowed his eyes and looked at his guardian suspiciously, who looked to the side, not daring to meet his gaze. Now I’m certain that something is wrong, Pikachu thought, approaching his guardian. “I must say, I expected more from you.” He placed his forepaws on his hips. “What happened?” Nica said as she rubbed the back of her neck. Pikachu raised an eyebrow. He wasn't buying this poor excuse in the least.