Summoning of Chu

Chapter 4
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Tests and Regrets Pt.4

Starlight lit the darkened surroundings of the basement with her horn, focusing her illumination on the wall ahead. She smiled. “It seems my instincts were right.” She approached and sat next to the depressed Raichu, whose back was pressed against a dusty wall. “You forgot something.” She levitated the collar onto Nica’s neck, putting it on. She wrapped her foreleg over Nica’s shoulder before pressing the side of this pokemon’s cheek into her chest. “I feel a sense of deja-vu. Now tell your friend Starlight what’s bothering you.”

“Of course I will, now go on and tell me what’s on your mind,” Starlight said with a warm smile and encouraging voice as her horn provided them with light in the darkness of the basement.

“You mean Pikachu?” She laughed. “Why would he hate you, don’t be ridiculous.”

“You don’t understand,” Nica said as she wiped tears from her face with the bronze edge of her paw. “I… I sensed it, his jealousy the moment I met him in the forest…” She looked at the dusty floor in front of her own rear legs. “It was very weak, barely noticeable at first, but it grew stronger… like when I told him how I posed for Rarity for hours. It weakened after Fluttershy’s visit, but became more noticeable for me after I calmed Lycanroc. Whenever I displayed my abilities in any way, this aura grew stronger.”

“So he was a little jealous of your skills, big deal. It’s not something to get upset about,” Starlight said.

“You still don’t get it. He’s my hero, my idol. I don’t want him to be jealous or angry at me. Until yesterday’s discussion I had no idea why he felt this way, but now I know the truth.”

“Do tell,” Starlight said as she picked Nica up and placed her on her rear legs. “I’m all ears. Whatever weighs on your heart, don’t bottle it up. Trust me, it will end poorly.”

Nica nodded. “The very first Raichu he met was very harsh against the newcomers and left a terrible impression. Pikachu ended up bullied and badly injured, fighting harder than he should to defend his pride. Their fight left a scar on his psyche. I’m sure that he started to fear and hate his evolution, hiding it behind his pride. As long as he didn’t need to evolve to win battles, as long as he didn’t need to become a big mean bully which hurt him so much, as long as he could give them a lesson and show he’s better, any excuse works.”

“I am. He showed a growing difficulty in defending his arguments and seemed more conflicted the longer we talked. Part of him must be angered at his evolution, even if he’s unaware of it. I could sense it at all times. I finally understood where all his jealousy and anger comes from.” She gestured at herself. “I’m the very embodiment of what he hates deeply in his mind.”

“I… still think you’re overreacting, it can’t be that bad. Surely he had to meet some nicer Raichu as well.”

Nica shook her head. “Even if he did, it didn’t change much. To make matters worse, when he faced a very big and brutal Raichu, it nearly cost him his life, only reinforcing his fears and anger.” Tears fell down her face uncontrollably as she held a forepaw on her chest. “Do you know how I felt when I learned that a representative of who I am nearly took the life of a great hero who saved so many lives. It.. it hurt.”

Starlight wiped tears from Nica’s face before nuzzling her gently while stroking the back of her head. “Ssshhh… it’s okay.” She felt Nica’s face press into her chest in a hug. After waiting half-a-minute to let her friend vent her sadness, she asked, “Still, why are you so sure he would hate you? You’re very kind to him and he seemed so happy around you.”

Nica sighed. “That’s because he doesn’t know much about me. For now I’m just some random Raichu who admires him. If he learned… if he learned that we achieved something that he and Ash were seeking for years, if he knew that I and my trainer are the final obstacle standing before them and the title of ‘Pokemon Master’... I… I don’t want to stand in the way of someone I admire.”

She stepped from Starlight’s legs and sat in front of her while looking up with a saddened expression. “If he found out about my real skills and power, he would see me as a rival, he would be determined to defeat me. After losing to me, he would train hard and challenge me once more, only to lose again and again as his anger and jealousy would grow.” She started hyperventilating as her forepaws trembled. “He would be more and more angry, which would turn into a pure hatred. I… I can’t stand the idea of my idol hating me so much.” She waved her forepaws. “I don’t want that… I don’t want that!”

“Calm down!” Starlight said, waiting for her friend’s breathing to stabilize. “You really thought that making yourself look weak would solve the problem?”

Nica nodded. “I hoped it would… When I allowed him to win over and over, I felt his annoyance and disappointment towards me, but his anger and jealousy weakened in turn.” She tapped her forepaws together. “My very presence must remind him of the mean Raichu that hurt him so much. If he’ll be happier without me around or with me being pathetic, so be it.”

Starlight looked to the side and asked, “Out of curiosity, do you and your trainer care for the fame you’ve earned? Isn’t title of ‘Pokemon Master’ something all trainers want to achieve?”

Nica shook her head. “We would care less about the fame. This title was meant to be a stepping stone. ‘Pokemon Master’ is a well respected title where I come from and gives a lot of influence over Elite Four groups, Gyms, important events and so on. We just wanted this position to convince powerful trainers to take actions against criminals while also fighting corruption in the police in Kanto and Johto. Protecting legendary pokemon and arresting the most dangerous criminals was our top priority.”

“So let me get this straight,” Starlight said as she narrowed her eyes, her voice firm and loud. “Weakening criminal organizations and protecting your world was what motivated you and your trainer so much that you won the title of Pokemon Master.” Upon seeing a nod, Starlight continued, “And a trainer named Ash who… correct me if I’m wrong… didn’t yet win a single Pokemon League, ended up fighting crime and saving the world, always in the right place at the right time?”

Nica sighed. “Yes… the irony isn’t lost on me.” She stood up and held a forepaw on her chest. “I already accepted my inferiority and I’m just happy if our actions could weaken the criminal organizations enough to pave a way to Ash’s victories over them. We would gladly give up our title to Ash, but it can be obtained only through a victory against champions and former champions from all regions, and next after defeating us in a final battle. The tournament itself takes place only once every five years.”

“And while Ash is really good at facing dangers and protecting the world, his team is less experienced and weaker than Astra’s. You both envy each other.” Starlight's ears drooped. “Just… to make sure… you don’t regret being a Raichu… now that you know that your idol dislikes who you are deeply in his mind?”

Nica shook her head and narrowed her eyes. “Of course not! I earned my evolutions by facing the impossible odds and I did my damn best to make as good use of my greater powers as possible, even if the results aren’t good enough. My tail alone helped me save many lives. I’m happy with who I am.”

Starlight smiled. “Good to know you at least still like yourself for who you are.” She raised her forehoof in front of her face in a questioning gesture. “Still, holding back and hiding your abilities didn’t work, what will you do now?”

Nica shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’ll just stay out of Pikachu’s sight until I figure something out. He’ll be happier without seeing his evolution anyway.”

“I suppose it’s for the best. I will talk with Twilight in the meanwhile, maybe we’ll figure something out.”

Nica rubbed her chin. “I suppose letting Twilight know won’t hurt… but please, don’t tell Pikachu or our other friends about it, and ask Twilight to not tell them as well. The less they know, the better.”

“I… see…” Twilight said with Pikachu perched on her back as she now entered her room. Unlike the guest rooms, this one was equipped with a massive double bed with curtains. What purpose did those curtains serve? Pikachu couldn’t tell.

“I assumed she took my experience with that strong Raichu very hard, but I’m not sure why she started avoiding me and holding back. She’s been too secretive about her past as well,” Pikachu explained.

“Well… she was very open about her past with us and I kept her reports in my room.” She opened a large chest with her levitation, only to gasp. “They’re gone!” She looked deeply into her chest, staring at the empty bottom in shock. She looked at her passenger and asked, “You don’t think she took them away?”

“I wouldn't be surprised if she did.” Pikachu frowned. “So she doesn’t want me to learn about her past, but why?”

Twilight rubbed her chin, now deep in thought. After a moment of silent thinking, she smiled. “That’s it, I think I know the problem.”

“If I remember correctly, Astra shared her ideology with her partner and friend. Nica often repeated that one needed to prove themselves worthy of greater power, and the more power one has, the greater their responsibility… and that one needs to have the skills to let them make the best use of their power.”

“Picture this.” Twilight levitated Pikachu onto the red pillow on her massive bed. “Astra asked her partner not to evolve into a Pikachu until she proved herself worthy. I think they faced the Orange Islands, Alola Region and even Kanto League before Nica evolved for the first time.”

Pikachu gasped. “She did… what!?” He stood on the tips of his tiny feet and waved his forepaws. “So for so long… she faced all those strong trainers and pokemon... as a Pichu?!”

Twilight nodded. “She did, and I think it took a year or two and an extremely difficult challenge before she evolved into a Raichu. She takes great pride in being a fully evolved pokemon and was desperate in finding opportunities to use her powers while in Equestria. She wants to be helpful and feels worthless if she can’t make use of her powers.”

Pikachu nodded, now understanding his guardian a bit better. No wonder she kept repeating how worthy I am to evolve and how much it would help me in keeping my trainer and friends safe. For her it’s something to earn through hardship and be proud of.

“However, now she learned that her hero she admired for so long and was inspired by was against evolving, and also that another Raichu sent her hero to a hospital… I mean, the Pokemon Center... in a critical condition. It must’ve shaken her beliefs,” Twilight said before rubbing one of her wings. “It’s just a theory, but seems highly possible.”

“Your theory makes sense.“ Pikachu looked at his own forepaws and then poked his ears. Just because I believe that pokemon don’t need to evolve to become strong, doesn’t mean that I look down on those who evolved… but what if she thinks I do? What if she feels bad about being a Raichu because of what happened to me? He rubbed his chin and closed his eyes. Did she hold back against me because she lost her motivation, or maybe she didn’t want to prove me wrong… What if I offended her?

He nodded. “You know her better than me. Is she sensitive? Very sensitive, or very, veeeery sensitive?”

“You have noooo idea,” Twilight said with a roll of her eyes. “When she crashes into something, the first thing she does is apologize for the damage. When she hurt fillies and colts with electricity by accident, she hid in the basement and drowned in depression, only to perform a painful exercise where she tried to hold back electricity.”

Pikachu’s body shuddered as he felt a chill go down his spine. It would take a lot of resistance to pain or powerful a motivation for an electric pokemon to hold their electricity while harshly rubbing electric pouches, and Nica worked for hours if what she told me is true. Tough or not, to pull this off, the guilt she felt had to be extreme.

“Nica may be tough, but she’s the first to blame herself and apologize. She admires others, and unless she gets an opportunity to help, she thinks very low of herself,” Twilight explained. “So yes, she’s humble and very, veeeery sensitive. Earning her evolution through hardship is most likely the only thing she was proud about, and now she questioning even that.”

Pikachu turned around and kicked the large pillow. “Great, just great. I offended her feelings, shook her beliefs, and she probably thinks that I look down on her.” He turned around and held his forepaws in a pleading gesture. “But what can I do? Please, help me, I don’t want her to feel bad. It’s just a big misunderstanding.”

“Well… you can start with an apology. Even if you didn’t do anything wrong, it would get her attention.” Twilight approached the window, now staring at the rest of Ponyville. “Just tell her how you feel and prove to her that you don’t look down on her just because she’s a Raichu. Your different beliefs shouldn’t get in the way of your friendship.” She opened the window and looked outside. “Speaking of your friend, I think she’s running away from the castle. You can catch up with her.”

“On it,” Pikachu said with a firm nod before jumping from the bed onto Twilight’s head and then towards the town while falling a distance towards the ground. His legs bent slightly from the impact. Not wasting a moment, he ran, following Nica’s trail. I’ll set things right, I swear.

After flying outside towards the post-Tirek battlefield to quickly check on Litten and Ninetales, Twilight found the taller pokemon training with the smaller one, like a master instructing his pupil. A pleasant surprise in her eyes. While Ninetales still seemed to tease the weaker pokemon for his lack of experience, the exchange was less hostile as the fire-breathing cat tolerated his remarks. In return, the taller pokemon allowed Litten to attack him over and over while pointing out weaknesses in his techniques, advising how to improve them.

When asked what inspired them to try to get along, Ninetales pointed at Litten, saying he swallowed his pride and admitted his inferiority, showing him respect while asking to help him improve. Apparently, it pleased the Ninetales so much he became eager to guide the smaller pokemon, even to the point of promising to teach Litten a move called 'Flamethrower.'

With Litten busy practicing under Ninetales’ guidance and with Pikachu following Nica in attempt to resolve their misunderstanding, Twilight returned to her library, once again back to where she left off her research of an interdimensional-trasportation spell. With a spell that can summon pokemon into Equestria, she had just enough clues to discover a way to reverse the process. A two-way portal being only a few days away from completion.

“Hey, Twilight, back to the spell?” Starlight asked as she entered the library and sat at the opposite side of the rounded table.

“Yes,” Twilight said with a hint of boredom in her tone. “While the fight between Ninetales and Litten provided interesting data… as well as being somewhat exciting, it was also a bit too one-sided. Nica’s fight against Pikachu was even worse.”

Starlight gave her mentor a sassy smile. “I’ll be honest, I’m actually surprised you were willing to go on with a sport where pokemon injure one another. I was sure you would stop your experiment the moment we started a pokemon battle.”

“Oh please. From Nica’s reports we learned that pokemon have a high resistance to pain, greater regeneration than ponies and enjoy fighting one another. Furthermore, if the fight went too far, Nica would stop it.”

“Fair point. On a side note, I talked with her and found the source of the problem. This is something I wanted to discuss with you.”

Twilight lowered her levitated books and gave her student her full attention. “I talked with Pikachu as well and we drew our own conclusions.”

“Considering how very, very sensitive Nica is, we assumed that her beliefs were shaken after finding out what her hero thinks about evolving. She must fear that her idol looks down on her for being a Raichu,” Twilight explained, causing Starlight to look back at her in disbelief. “Pikachu went after Nica to apologize for offending her and to explain this misunderstanding.”

Starlight facehooved. “T-that’s not the case. Her beliefs weren’t shaken and she wasn’t offended, at least not in the way you described it.”

“Pikachu’s traumatic experiences with two Raichu caused him to dislike his evolution, even if he’s not aware of it. Nica sensed his jealousy whenever she displayed her skills and even a growing anger at some point. She purposely made herself look bad so her hero wouldn’t be jealous of her.”

“Nica fears that if Pikachu found out how skilled she really is, he would see her as a rival and try to defeat her, only to lose again and again. She’s terrified that he would start to hate her.” Starlight’s ears drooped. “She also fears that since she’s the embodiment of what this Pikachu dislikes, it would be better if she stayed away and not remind him of those traumatic memories. She decided to avoid Pikachu until she or we can figure something out.”

“Wait… so right now Pikachu is following Nica to apologize for the wrong reasons, and Nica is trying to avoid him for the wrong reasons…” Twilight raised a forehoof up to her face. “Oh dear.”

Little Lost Pikachu

by CommanderX5

Ch.4 - Tests and Regrets Pt.4