Ch.4 - Tests and Regrets Pt.3
Little Lost Pikachu
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Chapter 4
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Tests and Regrets Pt.3
Pikachu raised an eyebrow, not buying this poor excuse in the least.
<What? I’m serious…> Nica pointed at him. <Even for a Pikachu you’re extremely powerful. Evolved or not, I’m no match for you.>
“Fine… let’s leave it at that,” Pikachu said, a hint of disappointment clear in his voice. They both turned around to look at Litten and Ninetales, who now took their turns in attacking Twilight’s barrier. The alicorn strengthened her shield accordingly before writing data in her notepad.
<Litten is using ‘Ember’ instead of ‘Flamethrower’?> Nica asked while holding her collar with her tail. <Should I assume he’s the least experienced pokemon on the team while Ash’s veterans weren’t pulled into this world?>
Litten looked at Ninetales, expecting a mocking remark, yet the larger pokemon kept staring at the sky in annoyance.
“That would be Rowlet actually,” Pikachu said with a raised forepaw. “And no, Ash always catches a new full team whenever he arrives in another region.”
<He must have a lot pokemon already. What happened to his old teams?> Nica asked, giving Pikachu a questioning look.
“Well… he leaves them with Professor Oak… or releases them. I’m the only pokemon who has accompanied him from the very start.”
Nica gasped before narrowing her eyes. <What… but…> Her face softened as she forced a smile. <That’s… very nice that… that he’s trying to train so many pokemon… allowing them to participate in events of great importance…>
“Are you sure? I don’t think you’re confident in what you just said.”
Nica chuckled nervously and shook her forepaw. <No… you must be imagining things.>
“What about your trainer?” Pikachu asked, “What’s her approach to the team?”
Nica took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes. <Astra from experience knows how it feels to be abandoned, so she’s using all of her pokemon, swapping them out depending on the situation, or releasing them temporarily so they could accompany her out of their pokeball before recapturing them again.>
“Really?” Pikachu asked, his ears raised and eyes filled with curiosity. He smiled widely and said, “Please, tell me more.”
<You look cute when you’re curious,> Nica said as she gently poked Pikachu’s nose, who blushed in response. She giggled and continued, <My trainer caught me on an island back when I saw still a Pichu, and next we caught Bulbasaur, Happiny and Staryu, and we have been with her all this time. She taught me how to write and read and ensured that we were well-trained and knew strong attacks before we started our adventure.>
Nica took a quick breath. <Ever since then, she caught Gligar in Johto, the Eevee that hatched from an egg is from Hoenn, Riolu who volunteered to teach me ‘Focus Blast’ and how to sense the aura of other pokemon joined us in Sinnoh. She also caught Axew in Unova and Scyther in Kalos. And that little cutie in costume during our revisit of Alola region. She made sure our team represents different types and swapped the main six depending on the situation.>
“I see…” Pikachu looked at Ninetales. “And her mother’s pokemon joined her voluntarily. Her method is so different from Ash’s approach, but from what you say, she really cares about her pokemon.”
<She does. She just… has difficulty showing it, but I can sense how much she cares whenever we are together.>
Pikachu grinned. “I am sure she had many exciting adventures and traveled with you for many years. Her team must be really strong.”
Nica’s eyes became wide. <Strong… n-no… not at all.” She looked at him with a nervous smile. <I mean… I’m her partner, and I’m so much weaker than you.>
Pikachu looked to the side and sighed. She was opening herself up, it was so close…
“Alright, now with most of the tests out of the way, let’s get to the cherry on the top and recreate a real pokemon battle!” Twilight said as she hovered above the ground and clapped her forehooves. “Finally I can learn about the culture behind pokemon battles from a personal experience.”
Ninetales walked towards Starlight and turned around, his head raised in pride. “As tempting as fighting for royalty is, I shall join sides with Starlight.” He glanced at the unicorn mare. “I must say, I find our philosophical debates to be quite enlightening, we should do it more often.”
“You can count on that,” Starlight said before taking a fighting stance herself. “Nica told us much about her trainer and past. I have full trust in the power of her team.”
Pikachu looked at Starlight and groaned in annoyance. Did everyone know about Nica’s past with him being left in the dark?
“And I shall not disappoint. My attack moves are ‘Flamethrower,' ‘Psychic,' ‘Calm Mind’ and ‘Solar Beam.' And my ability is drought.”
"Drought? Can you tell me how this ability helps?" Starlight asked.
“With this ability I can increase the intensity of sunlight, making all fire attacks stronger and water attacks weaker." Ninetales smiled at Starlight. "Don’t worry if you don’t know anything about those moves, learning from experience is what pokemon trainers do.”
“Sounds good, now let's show that feline what we’re capable of,” Starlight said with a confident smile.
Ninetales smirked. "Now you're speaking my language."
Twilight levitated Litten over, held a wing before her face and perched him on it. “What are your attack moves?”
“Ember, Fire Fang, Slash and Fury Swipes.”
Ninetales raised a forepaw up to his mouth and chuckled. “This fight won’t last long.”
“We’ll see about that!” Litten shouted and turned around, hissing. His claws sank into Twilight’s wing who grit her teeth in order not to make painful noises. A moment later both pokemon stood before each other with the princess and her student performing the roles of trainers.
Pikachu was about to cheer, but his guardian beat him to it.
<Go Litten, I know it’ll be a difficult battle, but fighting against the odds is what will make you strong!> Nica shouted, balanced on her tail as if it was a black spring while holding her forepaws on both sides of her mouth. <Go Litten, fight hard! Even if you lose, it matters not, as long as you do your best!>
Litten looked at Nica and smiled awkwardly. “T-thanks.”
Pikachu gave Nica a curious glance. “Not that I don’t appreciate the gesture, but why aren’t you cheering for your friend?”
Nica looked down from her higher ground. <What can I say, I often cheer for the pokemon who’re at a disadvantage. I know what it means to fight against the odds and I’ll always encourage those who struggle to do their best.> She looked at Ninetales and said, <No offense.>
“None taken, Captain,” Ninetales responded with a calm smile.
Pikachu laughed. His fan just kept surprising him. He looked at Litten and shouted, “You heard her, whether you lose or win it doesn’t matter, as long as you did your best.”
Twilight trotted in place. “Let’s get started.” She pointed ahead of her with a hoof. “Litten, attack with ‘Slash!'”
Starlight said, “Solar Beam sounds really strong, let’s test it out.”
“It is not wise using grass attack against a fire pokemon, but I do not mind going easy against a weaker opponent,” Ninetales said before opening his mouth as a green orb grew in size before it. All nine majestic tails stretched in random directions as a big wave of heat spread over the area.
Twilight, Starlight, Pikachu and Nica raised one limb, protecting their eyes from the intense sunlight.
The orb in front of Ninetales mouth grew in size in an instant, now being the size of his head. The moment Litten jumped with shining claws ready to strike, he unleashed his attack at close range.
“Litten, watch out!” Twilight shouted as her horn lit. The stream of energy scattered upon continuous contact with a lavender round barrier, pushing it away as it bounced on the ground.
The cracked barrier vanished, freeing a shocked Litten who looked at his temporary trainer with wide eyes.
“T-thank you… I appreciate it... but trainers aren’t allowed to help during battles.”
“They aren’t?” Twilight took a step back and raised one foreleg, rubbing the back of her neck. “S-sorry, force of habit. Ever since Nica started training me in self-defense, I can’t help myself but raise a barrier around those in danger.”
Pikachu rounded Nica and looked up into her eyes. “You trained an alicorn in self-defense, a pony whose raw power is on the level of legendary pokemon?”
“I d-did… Small advice here, a bit of practice there,” Nica said hesitantly. “It was mostly coaching. I was no match for her might in an actual fight.”
“Sure you weren't,” Pikachu said before walking away. It was now clear that she tried to make herself look weaker than she really was. The question was how much had she held back, and more importantly, why?
“Ninetales, attack with ‘Flamethrower!’” Starlight commanded. “Ummm… why are you not attacking?”
“Sometimes it is best not to attack recklessly and instead wait for an opening,” Ninetales answered.
“So you’re waiting for an opportunity to attack when his guard is down?” Starlight asked.
“Normally I would say yes, but in this case I just decided to give the kid a chance to attack. I want to at least see if he can hit me before ending this battle.”
“Fair enough.”
Litten growled in annoyance.
“Calm down, Litten. Let’s just take this offering and attack with ‘Fire Fang,’” Twilight commanded.
Flames started bursting from Litten’s mouth as he charged forward before jumping at his opponent. The intense sunlight only making his flames even more intense.
Ninetales leaped backward and next to the side, as if dancing around the smaller opponent who kept trying and failing to sink flaming teeth into his forepaws. With a quick jump, Ninetales pressed both of his limbs against Litten’s back and then sat on his opponent.
“It seems I came up on top, any last word?”
Litten’s paws trembled as he struggled against the strength of his opponent, with little result, his head failing to reach the limbs pressed against his back. He gulped and closed his eyes.
<Ninetales, attacking a lying opponents is dishonorable!> Nica complained.
“F-fine,” Ninetales said as he stepped from the cat-like pokemon while grumbling to himself.
With Litten ending up defeated by a more experienced pokemon, Pikachu now maintained a fighting stance on his four paws, his muscles tense. The moment he hoped for had finally come. Behind him stood a tall excited alicorn who performed the role of his trainer.
Before him was his opponent, Nica, and her trainer Starlight. His guardian stood on her rear feet with her tail lying flat on the rocky ground, the translating collar no longer on her neck, nor was held by her tail. It was clear that she wasn’t eager to fight him, but he now wanted to do it more than ever before. Defeating her or defending his pride wasn’t his goal however, but something else. He was finally going to assess her strength and call out to her that she shouldn’t hold back. He was going to get some answers, one way or another.
“I was really looking forward to it, I’m sooo excited,” Starlight said with a toothy smile. “Alright Nica, use ‘Thunderbolt!' Show your might!”
The pokemon did as she was told, shouting “Raichuuu!” as bolts of electricity shot in his direction.
“Pikachu, attack with ‘Thunderbolt’ as well, I want to compare your raw power in direct confrontation,” Twilight commanded as she stood on her rear hooves and pointed ahead.
Pikachu clenched his paws and shouted as his electricity clashed with Nica’s, slowly pushing it back.
Nica closed her eyes and braced herself as her body accumulated a few miniscule burns.
Starlight frowned. “Nica, attack with ‘Volt Tackle!'”
“Pikachu… do you know that attack as well?” Twilight asked.
“I did once, but no more,” Pikachu said with a shake of his head, now looking back at the alicorn trainer. “I know these: Quick Attack, Iron Tail, Electro Ball.”
Twilight looked in random directions, panic clear on her face. “Oh, what to choose, what to choose?” She flew up and pointed down. “Use ‘Electro Ball!'”
Both pokemon repeated their name as an aura of electricity surrounded them.
Pikachu concentrated his electricity, sending it towards his raised tail as a yellow orb formed at the edge and grew in size. His eyes narrowed and filled with determination as his attention focused on Nica who charged at him. With a double spin, he threw the ball of electricity at the speding Raichu, causing an explosion the moment it made contact with Nica’s face.
Once the dust cleared away, his eyes rested on the long-tailed pokemon who was now laying on her belly. A trail of damaged rock being enough to tell him that his opponent crashed into it with her back before bouncing onto her belly.
Nica stood up on her trembling legs. <I… expected nothing less… from a hero.>
He frowned. Under other circumstances overpowering his evolution would bring a lot of satisfaction, yet this was just sad. The fact that she was holding back ruined the experience.
“Is keeping up pressure with ‘Quick Attack’ a good idea?” Twilight asked.
Pikachu didn’t bother to respond and ran instead, his speed increasing as a bright white aura coming from his legs left a trail behind him.
“Can ‘Light Screen’ stop that?” Starlight asked.
Nica stood up, looked at her and shook her head. <Only special attacks, this one is physical,> she said as no collar translated her words. She braced herself for the impact with paws covering her head.
Pikachu’s head struck against the white belly as his opponent ended up pushed away.
Nica’s rear feet remained on the rocky ground, spreading dust as they struggled to keep her standing. Despite her efforts she tripped over.
“Ummm… an all out attack didn’t work, how about ‘Iron Tail?' You were always amazing and creative at using it,” Starlight suggested.
“Pikachu, use ‘Iron Tail’ as well,” Twilight said while giving Nica a pitiful glance.
Pikachu ran at his bigger opponent, his attention on the metalic cover at the edge of Nica’s long tail. The moment it pushed in his direction, he jumped over, running on the black part before swinging his tail, slapping Nica’s cheek with the side of his tail. He didn’t dare to look away as his guardian ended up slammed into a large stone while piercing through. His ears drooped. Hitting that cute face wasn’t something he looked forward to.
Without hesitation, he ran closer and towered over his lying opponent, forepaws on his hips. “How long are you going to keep up this charade?”
<W-what are you talking about?> Nica asked as she lay on her belly, a bruise was present on her cheek and forehead, leftovers of two attacks hitting it with great force.
“Don’t play dumb with me, please. You have been holding back this entire time.” He pointed accusingly. “Your strength, speed, jumping, agility, raw power. You allowed me to win everytime, but why?”
“So you figured it out, you sure took your time,” Ninetales said with a frown.
Starlight facehooved. “Let’s be honest, Nica, you may be a great pokemon, but you’re a poor actor and even worse at lying.”
Pikachu nodded. “Your jumping, I remember seeing you launch yourself into the sky a greater height at the farm, though back than I assumed it was a flying pegasus. I saw your agility and speed in action during all the games yesterday, and I can already tell that your trainer has a strong and experienced team.” He pushed his shoulder under Nica’s forepaw, supporting her greater weight while helping her stand. “There’s no way her partner would be so weak.”
Nica’s ears drooped as she whimpered.
Pikachu’s face softened as he looked her in the eyes in concern. “Please, tell me, why were you holding back? Ever since yesterday you have been avoiding me or embarrassing yourself for my sake.”
She looked to the side, her mouth sealed.
“Were you trying to make me feel better?” He asked. Seeing that he provoked a response as his guardian looked him in the eyes again, he raised his forepaw towards his chest and continued, “I enjoy pokemon battles only if my opponents do their best just as I do.” He gently grabbed Nica’s forepaw by the bronze edge. “I would prefer to endure your attacks in a hard battle rather than have a one-sided fight knowing you’re going easy on me.”
<Would you, would you really?> Nica asked before pulling her forepaw away. <You may believe that what you say is true, but what if...> She turned around and ran away, not finishing her sentence.
He tried to follow, only for Nica’s metallic tail to slap into the ground before him, spreading stones in random directions. His other attempt to follow resulted in bolts of electricity to hit the ground ahead of him as Nica didn’t bother to look back to aim. His ears picked up the noise of sobbing as his guardian ran towards the castle at speed… surpassing his own.
Pikachu felt a heavy hoof on his shoulder. Looking back and up he noticed the compassionate stare of Starlight Glimmer with Nica’s collar levitating by her side.
“I’ll talk with her,” the unicorn said before vanishing in a flash of teleportation.
Pikachu lowered his head and his ears drooped.
Twilight approached and levitated him onto her spread wing, his feet perched between the soft feathers. “Can you tell me what happened between you two? I can tell that something stands in the way of your friendship. If I can help, I’m willing to listen.”
“Alright.” Pikachu sat and took a calming breath, his voice showing hints of regret. “It started last night during our discussion…”
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Ninetails needs to back off. Pikachu was just giving Nica time to open up without grilling her. Oh boy, things are just getting rougher on this road.
9121415
I was talking that he's not AFRAID afraid. How should I put it? Pikachu doesn't have any fear of becoming or facing Raichu. He doesn't want to risk his own personality. Give me a break, I'm Russian. X)
Ash restarting with just pikachu is to go back to his routes and improve as his trainer.
Astra wants her pokemon to be the strongest while ash wants to be a better trainer along with his pokemon.
Astra having nica take command of the team is the easy way out for her. She does not fix her own faults but has nica cover for them.
Astra had nica do her job as a trainer.
The reason she beat alot of trainers is astra is more of a breeder.
At last they address the problem.
9121431
I actually really like Ninetails. He knows his strength and isn’t afraid to show it off. Makes a nice contrast to Nica and Ash’s team
Here's hoping Starlight gets through to Nica.
9121431
Considering that so far Nica was very nice and helpful for him, it only make sense he wouldn't want to grill her or anything. Even if he doesn't aprove of what NIca did, he would be gentle about it.
Still, I agree that things are just getting rougher on this road.
9121522
9121529
Being a good trainer doesn't mean only to train as many pokemon as possible or get extremely clever at mid-combat strategies and improvise. Being a good trainer also means to raise their pokemon with care and love, but also to help them improve and form a powerful team that can cover each other well. Ash may be good at helping many pokemon unlock their potential or find their talent, but in the end he give around one year of care to each of them before freeing them or sending them to Oak. None of them is nowhere near as skilled as Pikachu is who has been traveling with Ash all this time.
Nica however decided to focus only a small group of pokemon (around 9) and give them care and affection for many years. She's afraid to catch many so none would feel abandoned, she constantly swap between them or free her team members so they can accompany her outside of their pokeball. Some team members even have 7 years of experience and are training resularly to stay in top condition. Not to mention that Astra caught the pokemon to have representative of almost all pokemon types (with rock and ice being exception), and she trained them as a team so they can help each other and work together well.
Astra may not care much about becoming better at mid-combat startegies and improvise like Ash do, but she still have two strengths you forgot about. First is that she's great at long-term strategy and pre-battle preparations. If she know who she goes up against, she can gather information, create a strategy in advance and even tell her pokemon what to do. The reason she tasked Nica with being second in command and to cover for her weakness is that Nica is capaible of being a decent field commander and motivate the team to train and fight hard when Astra is unable to give them commands. A good leader doesn't need to be a good field commander, as long as he know how to best use his resources and delegate.
What I'm trying to say is that Astra is more of HQ commander who pre-pare long-term plans in advance and plan how to best lead her pokemon into becoming an amayzing well trained team. She delegated Nica to the role of field commander to make up for her weakness since she found difficulty in overcoming this weakness herself (I can quarantee that she tried, but it just wasn't her thing). I suppose this is what she genetically got from her father who was a general of anti-criminal organization, and she learned a thing or two from him whenever he took her to work for a tour.
Her another strength is that if there's no way to avoid danger or improve the odds of victory, Astra is willing to go into the field herself and support her pokemon. (This is a part of her she got from her mother). Sadly, the fact that Little Lost Raichu was already becoming unbelievably long and since it focused mostly on Nica, I failed to show that side of Astra. It was a limitation I had to accept, especially since for most the dream scenes were the low-side of the story. (Long story short, she got some boldness and bravery form her mother, but I failed to present it. I think a good example of it is when Astra was climbing the mountain half a year to get stronger and earn Pichu's respect. Another one was when she became assistant of the super strong Nurse Joy where she not only got some medical knowledge, but also improved her condition and got good at using kayak).
9121787
Eeyup. Until now none of them believed it was a big problem until now.
9121823
Hehe, he is a bit arrogant. He was at one point a partner of Astra's mother and death of his trainer made him a bit agreesive and grumpy at times (he vent his frustration by teasing others). He is a big contrast to Nica and Ash's team indeed, but he can be respectful to those he view worthy or those who show him proper respect. He is getting along with Twilight and Starlight quite well since he respect their inteligence. Also, he started respecting Pikachu a bit after seeing what he's capaible off. Still, the fact that Litten is way behind Pikachu in terms of skills and power, and since he actually used a weak move like ember kind of leave a very poor impression in Ninetales' eyes.
9121925
Well... so far Starlight proved to be good at cheering Nica up and getting to the source of the problem, like when she got depressed after hurting fillies and colts as the school. The question is, will she be able to give a proper advice to Nica once she learn about her dilema.
Oh boy can’t wait to see what happens next!
well i just marathon the last three chapters and they were all great i hope to see more soon.
whenever he arrives
has
increase the intensity
to