Little Lost Pikachu
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Chapter 10
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Joke’s On You, Pt.2 - Cold Welcome
“Yak smash!”
Pikachu leapt backwards, his small paws sinking into the powdery snow layered all across the mountain. While he refused to panic as a massive creature bolted towards him, the snow had captured him up to his neck, limiting his mobility. Thinking fast, he pushed himself higher using the tip of his tail and managed to find a patch of hardened ice. He leapt backwards once again, avoiding the beast’s sharpened horns and catapulting himself a safe distance away.
Narrowing his eyes, he attempted to observe his opponents through the raging blizzard. Both yaks were undoubtedly gigantic, twice the size of even Big Macintosh, and weighting two to three tons if he had to guess. Atop surprisingly thin limbs, they had a very bulky body shape, with powerful muscles highlighting each curve. Pounds of warm fur was wrapped around each yak, forming a bunched up beard with small snowflakes caught within their mass, like a fly in a web. Each step made the earth tremble beneath their hooves, and the rugged horns were certainly not for just looks. One horn alone seemed to be a few times bigger than his own body, and if hit with enough force, he was positive it would leave a mark.
One of the yaks had a darkened bronze fur color and was wearing a grey metallic helmet and saddle, his role most likely one of the Royal Guard. The other yak however had a lighter shade of bronze while wearing a flaxen saddle with many golden decorations littered among his saddle and fur. The most prominent was a set of intricate designs traced on his horn in a deep buttercup, one the others referred to as ‘Prince Rutherford.’
After their quick tour of the Yakyakistan… and a drawn out lecture about the many ways yaks were superior to other ‘common’ creatures, he and Nica told the yaks about pokemon culture at the campfire. They had no idea it would lead to them being challenged into a battle by the Prince himself with the yaks’ pride on the line.
“Yaks tough and strong. Yaks not fear the power of little electric-using pests.” Prince Rutherford stomped with both of his forelegs against the frosted ground and roared. “Pokemon battle to get stronger, yaks already strong, yaks won’t lose!” The other yaks gathered around the fire jumped to their hooves and began cheering and chanting, for both the Prince’s victory and the two startled pokemon’s defeat.
Pikachu glanced away from the towering form of the yaks, and peeked to see how his friends reacted.
Nica stood on the tips of her rear feet with snow coating her rear legs. Her ‘Iron Tail’ was raised before her like a katana. He saw small bolts of electricity sparking along sunny dots on her cheeks while her face displayed an intense level of focus. The translating collar was no longer present on her neck, tossed towards Starlight for safekeeping. I guess Nica’s in. She seems to be taking this battle very seriously, he thought, slightly surprised how easily the peaceful Raichu agreed to the battle.
He smiled with glee. It seems teamfight is more appealing to her. I can’t believe I’ll finally see what she’s capable off.
Starlight stood further away as she poked her adventurous hat, a smirk of satisfaction present on her face. Her role was the one of a novice pokemon trainer, a role she took seriously and certainly had fun performing. “I heard stories from Twilight about how… destructive… yaks can get when something or someone displeases them. I’m going to enjoy showing the prince what destruction in a living form really is.”
Behind Starlight rested a colossal mountain with a large fort nestled at its lower part within the frozen tundras embrace. A large audience formed of yaks were gathered in front of the wooden main entrance, observing the double battle from the higher ground. Loud stomping and cheering for the upcoming duel proved overwhelming as the Prince’s subjects were showing full support towards their temperamental leader.
Pikachu covered his eyes as a strong blast of snow and hail assaulted the mountain’s residents, blurring his field of vision. He grit his teeth, struggling to stand against the wind while his tail and ears flopped uncontrollably.
“Little pokemon better surrender before yaks crush them,” the prince goaded while dragging his hoof along the snow, not bothered by the freezing temperature in the least.
“Don’t underestimate how tough pokemon are. Pikachu, let's start this with ‘Electro Ball’!” Starlight commanded while pointing a hoof at the yaks, only to raise a barrier to shield herself from the strong blizzard raging around her.
Pikachu shook the growing pile of snow from his back, while attempting to remember his past experiences. He had fought against many ice type pokemon, even dueled inside ice-type gyms, usually buried in snow, balanced on solid ice or frozen with the creeping sensation of ice forming from a well-aimed ‘Ice-Beam.’ He brought his attention back to the battle and closed his eyes, concentrating a growing mass of electricity through his tail. A sparking orb was formed, awaiting to be thrown.
“Yaks fear nothing, charge!” the prince called to his companion, refusing to acknowledge the ball of pure lightning pointed straight towards him.
Pikachu opened his eyes and gave a cocky smirk. He launched himself into the air and directed his attack towards the Prince’s face. The orb exploded upon contact in a flashy display, clearing away snow from the rocky ground in three-meter radius. Pikachu gasped as both yaks kept charging at him, his confident expression vanishing. The force of his attack didn’t even slow the prince down, much less do any real damage. The moment he settled from his jump, he felt a terrifying trembling under his little feet, which quickly turned into an earthquake, causing him to lose his balance and fall to his back. If they continued to fight like this, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to imagine more than a few avalanches coming down to greet them.
“Pikachu, get out of the way!” Starlight desperately shouted, unable to actually do anything to help the fallen friend. Any support would do nothing but allow yaks to claim their victory over a cheating foes.
Easier said than done. He pushed himself to a sitting position with his forepaw, only to lay stunned in fear as his pupils shrunk to dots. In mere seconds he was going to be flattened by two creatures nearly twice the size of a Mamoswine, as well as twice as angry and eager to win. He braced himself for the flattening sensation and closed his eyes, only for his ears to perk up upon hearing the noise of ‘Iron Tail’ making contact with a loud thud, most likely a yak’s horn. A loud crashing noise followed, as well as a tidal wave of snow which swept him away, once again thrown off of his feet.
After a moment of digging through the thick powder, his head peeked out from a pile of snow as he looked at his once-charging opponents. The guard yak was lying to the side with the prince tossed on top of him.
<Sorry I took so long,> Nica apologized as she sank her tail into the snow and pulled him out. <I was distracted by the quake, trying not to lose my balance.> She smiled at him encouragingly. <But don’t worry, I got your back. Can’t just leave my hero hanging.>
Pikachu smiled back, a slight blush present on his cheeks. The setting couldn’t be more perfect. While he was no longer interested in facing her in combat, both due to her gentle nature and his own hesitance in upsetting the kind Raichu, an opportunity to fight side by side with the partner of the pokemon master filled him with an unadulterated joy. He stepped from Nica’s tail and took a fighting stance alongside the Raichu, his paws once again sinking into the snow.
The prince struggled back to his hooves and frowned. “Incompetent guard, got in way when I was about to crush little pokemon. Pests lucky.”
“S-sorry, Prince Rutherford,” the yak muttered in shame before standing up as well and bowing humbly. “It won’t happen again.”
“It better not,” Rutherford spat before turning towards them, a signal the battle was continuing.
Nica narrowed her eyes, fuming with untold anger. She approached Pikachu, untied his collar and held it against her, the lightning-marked gems dancing around her own neck now. “Hey! Stop picking on him. I hit you with my ‘Iron Tail’ from a side-angle to change your course, making you hit your ally on purpose. He did nothing wrong! Even so, you fell on him. How can you blame him for something so silly?”
“If I say it his fault, it his fault. Little creature should talk less, fight more,” Rutherford said before releasing a feral roar. He charged at them once again, seemingly oblivious to the blizzard that swirled around him.
Nica frowned at the leader’s arrogance. She quickly secured the collar back on Pikachu’s neck and took her previous fighting stance, calmly awaiting her opponent’s next move.
Pikachu looked at his partner with a grin. A growing excitement coursed through his body, one from the adrenaline of a challenging battle and one from the glee of performing his own showcase of skills to his guardian. If this was a dream, he didn’t want to wake up anytime soon.
“Pikachu, Nica, attack as one with supercharged ‘Thunderbolt’!” Starlight bellowed over the storm’s howls.
Pikachu clenched his fists, unleashing his electricity with a loud shriek. His guardian aided him with her own lightning, close to doubling the power, but not near strong enough to match Pikachu’s own raw attack power. Seeing a Raichu with a weaker special attack than my own is still so weird. It’s gonna take a while to get used to that. He observed as both yaks kept galloping at them despite being hit by both of their attacks. Burns appearing on the yaks’ fur indicated that they weren’t immune, leaving Pikachu positive this was a battle they could win.
“Yak smash!” both yaks shouted as they jumped up several meters. Though their only attack, it was a game changing one if landed head-on.
Pikachu and Nica jumped to the side in opposite directions, evading their opponents whose missed blow caused a massive splash of snow and a short-lasting quake. A short barrage of stones cracked from the rugged side, adding a rock-like hail to the blistering snow.
“Pikachu, use ‘Quick Attack’ and then follow up with an ‘Iron Tail,' against the guard!” Starlight commanded. “Nica, go after the Prince using ‘Volt Tackle’ and then nail him in the side with your own ‘Iron Tail’!”
Pikachu nodded before sending power into his tail, changing its color as he prepared for the implied combo. He then ran head-first towards his massive opponent. In his world, the smallest creatures could be the strongest, and it was time he taught these bullies a lesson. The yak accepted the challenge and sprinted at him, lowering his sharp horns. Not particularly in the mood to be stabbed, he ran to the bulky yak’s side, circling his opponent. With a sharp turn, he struck a clean hit on the left side of the yak with his head, and then slapped his face with ‘Iron Tail.’
With the blizzard once again growing in strength, Pikachu covered his face, a moment of distraction his opponent was more than happy to use after being barraged with heavy attacks.
His ears picked up the repetitive “Rai… Rai… Rai...,” a sound he remembered from his own time of performing the move. The moment he peeked from behind his forepaws, he saw the full weight of the yak descending above him, only for the gigantic creature to be pushed away by Nica, who struck him with a combination of ‘Iron Tail’ and ‘Volt Tackle’ with an explosion of electricity following in her wake. The moment Nica landed next to him, he questioned, “Thanks for helping me, but Starlight told you to attack the Prince. Why did you disobey her?”
<With my own speed and skills, I often covered for my trainer’s trouble in improvising during heated battles. She was an excellent strategist and planned for things I couldn’t have even guessed of, but when not given enough time to think out a solution, she freezes.> She took a quick breath, releasing white smog of air from her mouth. <I depend on my own intuition and make decisions during combat, based on what I think gives us the best chance of victory, but most importantly what I can do to keep my partners safe.>
She looked at the struggling yak and next at the unicorn far behind her. <Starlight gave a wise command, but I simply would rather protect you, given your stronger attack power. Not to mention, a good friend doesn’t let another get hurt.> She pointed at the sky, while hiding a slight flush filling her face. <More importantly, the weather is working against us, which makes you more vulnerable to their charges. You’re not at full strength yet after our long travel and numerous encounters with monsters. Keeping you from harm is my top priority.>
Pikachu nodded and asked, “Do you always focus on protecting your team members in battle?”
<Of course I do! My defensive style is mostly meant to keep others safe, since I never cared much about being the strongest. I may not be as powerful as you when it comes to offense, but shielding you is a role I much prefer,> Nica explained as she looked between both Yaks, who now attempted to corner them from both sides.
“What about the blizzard? It doesn’t seem to distract you at all, yet you’re not an ice-type,” Pikachu pointed out as he took a fighting stance on his four paws, preparing for the not-so-sneaky ambush.
<Aside from diligent training in multiple harsh conditions, I was raised on a snowy mountain, it comes with territory. There was snow blowing in my face before I even opened my eyes,> Nica answered before doing her best to stabilize herself and her partner despite the trembling ground. She raised one forepaw and bit her lip in concentration, summoning a transparent barrier in front of Pikachu as the raging rain of snow now battered him with a weakened force. <Do you trust me?>
“Of course I do,” Pikachu replied without a trace of doubt, only to feel Nica’s tail wrap around his belly and raise him above the snow. He felt the tip of Nica’s heart-shaped tail gently touch the red dot on his left cheek. His ears perked up as he felt electricity recharge his body, replenishing his once diminishing stores. She’s using her tail… to give me some of her electricity. Genius! He could see both galloping yaks charging towards them. If they missed, they would collide head on with one another, but either they didn’t care or didn’t even notice.
<One…> Nica mumbled under her breath, bending her hind legs. Pikachu was still wrapped in her hold, though he trusted whatever her plan was. <Two…> The yaks were getting closer, a bit too close for comfort, as Nica remained still. <Now!> Before Pikachu could register what was happening, she catapulted herself into the air, avoiding both foes with no time to spare.
The yaks were going too fast to stop, as they crashed horns upon horns. A sharp bang echoed through the crowds, the onlookers going quiet as they witnessed their leader outplayed by mere ‘pests.’ Nica landed on the prince’s massive horn. <Attack with everything you’ve got!> Nica shouted as she wrapped her tail around the curved spike she stood on, and then grabbed Pikachu with both of her paws to keep him stable.
Both pokemon unleashed pure lightning through the Prince’s bones, causing him to yelp in pain and jump around in panic. The yak prince shook his head, jumped in place and used all the tricks he could think of in attempt to shake them off, but the two stubborn pokemon could not, and would not be tossed aside. Sparks of electricity continued to fly.
<Don’t stop, I’ll keep us stable,> Nica promised, refusing to loosen her grip as her tail kept stretching from the constant use. Her paws trembled but held Pikachu in place despite the obvious difficulty.
Pikachu didn’t need to be told twice as he grit his teeth, continuously using his ‘Thunderbolt.' While the yak seemed to have a lot of strength, frantically leaping this way and that, Nica’s strong and unrelenting grip was more than enough to fight against it.
“Smash them, stab them!” the prince commanded in panic as he lowered his head to his guard.
Pikachu watched the dangerously sharp prong pointed directly towards him, as the guard began to charge as his leader ordered. In a split second, he felt himself pulled away from the horn’s trajectory, narrowly missing his face. Nica maneuvered themself back atop the Prince, now on his back, before sharing just enough electricity to replenish Pikachu’s strength.
<Those yaks are strong and seem to have plenty of stamina, but the prince is slowly losing the will to fight. He’s getting tired, though refuses to admit it,> Nica shared before withdrawing her tail. She summoned ‘Light Screen’ once more, weakening the blizzard around Pikachu. <Keep on the offensive while I distract them. Oh, and don’t fret about conserving power. I will try my best to replenish your reserves whenever possible.>
“On it!” Pikachu said with a nod before grabbing the fur of the yak with his paws. Clenching his paws around the prince’s coat, releasing bolt after bolt of damaging lightning. He watched as Nica jumped forward, leaping out of his sight, but returning through his hearing a second later.
“Get off yaks’ muzzle this instant!”
Pikachu’s ears drooped upon a hearing crashing noise.
“Stop getting in front of my hooves you incompetent guard! You’re fault the yaks’ lose!” the prince shouted.
<You’re the one who struck him while trying to hit me, don’t blame others for your mistakes!> Nica complained, though it came out uninterpretable to the hulking yak.
“Stop repeating your name and stand still!”
Another crashing noise followed, this one louder than the last.
“Incompetent guard dares to lay his horns against the prince!?”
<You got in his way you arrogant, selfish ruler!> Nica whined. <I’m so done with you. C’mon Pikachu, let’s finish this battle up fast!>
Pikachu smiled cheerfully, enjoying his team up with Nica even more than expected, which said a lot. She protected me from three powerful attacks, did her best to distract our opponents and recharged my electricity throughout the entire battle. She may be hesitant when it comes to hurting others, but when it comes to teamwork, she’s the master. It’s obvious she cares a lot, both about my safety and teaching this bully a lesson. With a loud scream, he unleashed more electricity, putting as much energy behind the attack as possible. The gigantic prince lost his balance and stumbled atop the snow. They may have a lot of durability and strength, but it’s no match for our teamwork. This will be over soon.
“Now that’s what I call a solid pokemon battle. Maybe once Twilight finishes working on the portal to your world, I can give this pokemon training stuff a chance,” Starlight said as she walked through the snow with two passengers resting on her back, leaving the fort and the defeated and embarrassed prince behind. She was looking forward to sharing yak’s defeat with her mentor and her friends.
“It’s not as simple as it seems. You need to keep track of the strengths and weaknesses of your team members and the pokemon of your opponent, memorize all pokemon types and so on. Many trainers could have amazing knowledge about Pokemon types and weaknesses, but if they’re unable to put that to use in battle, they can end up dragging the entire team down. That’s why I usually help Astra strategize through writing during battle,” Nica explained from Starlight’s back. A bouquet of blue flowers once again decorated her ear, slightly above where the collar rested, returned after the grueling battle with the stubborn prince.
Nica continued in a more excited tone, “And you need to be more innovative than simply telling us which attack to use. My trainer may be an expert when it comes to theoretical knowledge and creates long-term strategies, but she still struggles to improvise. Many trainers are better than her when it comes to using terrain to their advantage, such as Pikachu’s trainer. I’m certain it played an important role in them becoming such great heroes, even with such little proper training. Am I right?”
Pikachu looked back at Nica from a spot on Starlight’s hat while his own collection of blooming flowers were tucked away behind his ear. “Thanks,” Pikachu shyly said with a chuckle, still unused to his guardians constant praise. “Even so, his knowledge is still somewhat lacking. I always have to hold back a groan when he sends out pokemon with type disadvantages, when he has one with an advantage right next to him.” He climbed down Starlight’s neck and sat in front of Nica. “I must say, you’re one of the best pokemon I have battled with when it comes to teamwork.” He patted his own fur. “You didn’t let them crush or stomp me a single time, even if it meant taking a hit or two for me. Looking after me while defending yourself had to be very difficult. It requires skillful multitasking.”
Nica rubbed back of her neck. “Well… it’s not easy, but I much prefer it from hurting my opponents. I just like being a shield rather than a sword. It not only suits my fighting style better but my personality as well.” She closed her eyes and smiled warmly. ”Supporting my allies makes me very happy. It’s one of the only things I truly enjoy in these battles.” Her ears drooped as she looked to the side. “To be fair, I didn’t do even half the damage you did in that fight. Without you, the battle would’ve lasted forever.”
“A Pikachu and Raichu, a sword and shield. You make a cute team that covers each others weaknesses quite nicely,” Starlight commented. “That fight didn’t tire you both all that much. Ah ha, I know! How about a snowball fight?”
Starlight heard Nica’s cheer, only to watch from the corner of her vision as the pokemon jumped from her back and ran through the natural walls of snow littered around the snowy clearing.
“It’s been a while since I had a good snowball fight. I’m going to enjoy it,” Nica revealed as she gathered a stray clump of powder into a pile with her forepaws before patting the small parts of it into a multitude of round balls. Each globe she wrapped with the black part of her tail. She then placed the fifth snowball on the yellow edge of her tail while number sixth she held with her right forepaw. “Dodge this!”
Straight took a step back and raised her forehoof defensively, preparing her horn to pull up a shield if needed.
Nica stood on the tips of her rear paws, stretched her right forepaw backward, and then swung it at her. The moment Starlight leaped to the side to evade the snowball, she swung her tail, pushing the snowball which was balanced on the yellow heart-shaped edge.
The second flew straight towards Pikachu who was perched on Starlight’s hat. The little pokemon jumped into the snow with a little splash while the adventurous hat ended up sniped off by the snowball. It fluttered to the ground a few feet behind, quickly forgotten by the trio prancing atop the deep snow.
Nica started spinning before catapulting all four snowballs with incredible aim. Each one wrapped around her with tail was thrown one by one. She smirked as she watched them all fly true.
Starlight closed her eyes and covered her face with a foreleg. Two snowballs hit her face, while the other two struck her in the chest. She wiped snow from her cheeks and chest and lowered her foreleg, a wicked glint sparking in her eyes. “Impressive, but I have bad news. Now it’s my turn!”
With a grin, she levitated a massive quantity of snow, only to split it into twenty snowballs instantly with her magic. She sent first ten, one at a time at a rapid rate, requiring nothing more than a thought and command with her magic for each to be aimed and launched. Despite speed of her attack, Nica was a step ahead. No matter where she threw them, they all ended up evaded by Nica’s graceful leaps, which seemed to look more like a cheerful dance among the snow, rather than the ultimate snowball royale currently taking place. Starlight followed up by sending a volley of ten snowballs at the same time.
Without a cheerful jump this time, Nica leaped over the snowballs while snatching two of them with her tail. With a roll in mid-air, she threw both snowballs at her.
Starlight summoned a magical shield ahead of her to stop the assault.
“Barriers, no fair!” Nica complained, though she still held a smile on her face.
“Not barriers, just small shields. They don’t protect me from all sides, so I think they’re fair game,” Starlight answered before levitating several snowballs. The smirk on Nica’s face filled her with worry. The little tease was planning something. What she was planning, she needed to figure out.
Nica raised her forepaw and taunted. “Come at me.”
Starlight levitated snowballs at the long-tailed pokemon with greater speed than before, but was missing regardless. A few of her own orbs were captured by Nica, being held hostage as she planned to use them against her. Using levitation, she redirected her thrown snowballs to follow after Nica. “Let see you evade that.” Starlight took a step back in shock as Nica started to run at her, only to jump forward and slide on the snow using her belly like a penguin. Nica bypassed her by sliding under her belly while her tail pressed the previously thrown snowballs into her face. The levitated snowballs which were dead set after Nica, now nailed Starlight instead, hitting her face, chest and limbs.
“Got you! Hehe, you look like a snowpony!”
“How about you try your luck against someone smaller than you?” Pikachu taunted. Having been watching on the sidelines, he had more than enough time to create an arsenal of snowballs, lining them up behind him like soldiers following their leader into battle.
Starlight wiped the snow from her face before turning around, her attention now on both pokemon battling each other. Nica easily dodged one snowball while deflecting the second one with her tail. Pikachu leaped left and right to evade the two snowballs, using ‘Quick Attack’ the moment Nica threw a few at once with her tail. He had a single snowball in his grasp as he ran.
Starlight perched herself on a small white puffy pile while ignoring the snow raining down on her fur. If I understand correctly, pokemon trainers examine the battlefield and fighting pokemon with their full attention to come up with the best strategies while their pokemon are battling. I should use this snowball fight to practice it, if I want to be serious about this whole trainer thing. Who knows, maybe I’ll even have my own pokemon someday.
She examined the ongoing battle with her utmost focus. First, the terrain. The snow is quite deep and not easy to run in for smaller creatures. With their smaller legs, it is much easier to become trapped within the snow, which leaves them open to attack from foes. Nica has longer legs and seems used to the cold, but Pikachu is struggling against it. She gazed up. The weather also seems to favor Nica, considering how much this blizzard distracted Pikachu during the battle with the yaks. I’d say Nica clearly has the advantage in this aspect. She smiled proudly. Being a trainer started proving to be fun. Next, the pokemon themselves. Nica being bigger and wider is making her an easier target to hit, and Pikachu seems to be taking advantage of his smaller profile. They both also seem to be making snowballs of similar size, but with Nica’s bigger paws, greater strength and impressive dexterity, it allows her make them at a much faster rate.
Pikachu smashed an incoming snowball with his tail, and then threw the one he held with his paws. Nica leaped to the side, again catching his projectile and turning it against him. She threw the two snowballs she held in each paw before swinging her tail to throw the third. Pikachu leaped to the side, evading two snowballs, only for a third to splash against his face. He rolled on the snow for a second before shaking himself, eager to return the favor.
“Sorry. I didn’t throw too hard, did I?” Nica asked, concern momentarily blocking out the fun she was once displaying.
“Too hard? More like; too light. I thought the tail you pride yourself with would be way stronger than that,” Pikachu replied in a joking tone.
Nica shook her head before presenting her tail. “I always prefered speed over power, and a snowball fight is about hitting multiple times, not hitting hard.” She placed her forepaws on her hips and raised her head in pride. “I’m not an unbeatable snowball master for years for… nothing…” She lowered her forepaws and her ears drooped. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound arrogant.”
Pikachu rolled his eyes. “There’s a difference between being arrogant, and being prideful or playful.” His ears wilted as he gave Nica the look filled with pity. “Humility may be a virtue, but I would really like it if you showed that you’re proud of who you are, at least once.”
Starlight unconsciously tuned out Pikachu’s words as she looked between his and Nica’s tail. Pikachu’s tail can effectively destroy snowballs with quick swings, but Nica’s tail has a lot more utility. Not only can she grab Pikachu’s snowballs, but throw numerous snowballs at once with a lot of speed. Pikachu may use ‘Quick Attack’ to make up for his reduced mobility, but it leaves him stuck running in a certain direction for too long. He’s unable to make sharp enough turns to match Nica’s natural agility. There are just waaay too many advantages working in Nica’s favor.
“Starlight!”
“Huh, yes? Starlight mumbled, awoken from her thoughts as she was met with Nica’s pleading puppy look.
“Can you use ‘Ice Beam’ with your magic, and cover the ground with ice? Pretty please!”
Starlight rubbed her chin, thinking back to her arsenal of spells. She looked around and said, “There’s no water to freeze, but I suppose if I melted the snow first, I could freeze it with magic. So in other words, I can.”
“Perfect!” Nica shouted with a cheerful jump, soaring for a few seconds before landing in the snow with a loud splash.
“What are you planning?” Pikachu inquired as he shook the snow from his fur.
Starlight lowered herself down to the ground, aiming her horn at a flatter area of land. Her horn blazed awake with dormant magic. She emitted a wave of heat, melting the snow in the vicinity. She followed it up with a freezing spell before the water sank into the ground.
Pikachu smiled in satisfaction upon feeling the wave of heat caress his fur. While Nica didn’t react, most likely not feeling much of a difference, she still grinned in pleasure, ecstatic about the idea of ice-skating in this winter wonderland.
“Let’s go!” Nica shouted before grabbing Pikachu’s left forepaw with the bronze patch of her right forepaw. She gently tugged him along as she made her way to the newly installed ‘Ice Rink.’ As Pikachu struggled to maintain balance, she wrapped her tail around his belly, helping him until he found his footing.
“Have you faced situations where a pokemon has frozen a battlefield to their advantage?” Nica asked.
“Many times, why do you ask?” Pikachu asked.
Nica withdrew her tail and smiled. “Then I assume you’ve learned how to ice-skate. Try this.” With slow movements of her rear legs, Nica started sliding on the ice, standing on the tip of one rear leg while pushing herself forward with the other. With a little leap, she performed a triple spin in mid-air before landing on one leg, her forepaws stretched for balance while her body lowered. She performed a mock bow to her onlooker as if curtsying to a crowd of fans. With a quick movement of her tail, she changed her course, now sliding towards Pikachu.
Pikachu nodded before mimicking Nica’s movements, attempting to copy his new teacher’s instruction. With shaking limbs, he slowly crept forward on the ice, sliding a centimeter forward before stopping and repeating the cycle. After a few encouraging words from both Nica and Starlight, he gathered his fleeting courage and pushed himself harder, now gliding atop the frozen terrain.
“Nica! Starlight! Look, look! I’m doing it, I’m actually doing-” His excited chattering cut short as he lost his balance and slammed face-first onto the ground. Nica gracefully slid forward, gently picking up Pikachu and supporting his stunned body. Slight groans echoed from his dazed expression.
Behind the two pokemon, Starlight struggled to hold in her laughter, though failed spectacularly. Her chuckles could be heard by both pokemon as Pikachu slowly managed to reorient himself and stand up straight.
“That wasn’t funny!” Pikachu declared after he recovered, a massive blush covering his face. Nica pulled him across the ice, while finally cracking a slight smile.
“It was a tiny bit funny,” she whispered, managing to hold in her laughter much better than Starlight, who was still caught in a stream of endless giggles. Pikachu’s blush only grew as he realized how silly he must have looked failing so spectacularly in front of his guardian.
She gave a warm smile and pulled Pikachu along, holding him steady as he practiced gliding from paw to paw.
“Fine, I guess it was a little bit funny. Only the teeniest bit funny though,” he admitted, pulling Nica closer. They twirled for minutes, oblivious to the tundra’s harsh snows swirling around them.
Pikachu relectanly released Nica’s grip and once again tried to skate, making sure his balance was steady before attempting to move. He slid one paw forward, then the other, and slowly but surely began skating, occasionally using his 'Iron Tail' for a quick turn. Starlight recovered from her vicious giggles and cheered alongside Nica as Pikachu began to slide less like a rookie and more like a long time pro.
“Woohoo! Go Pikachu!” Starlight called, and levitated herself over to join the pokemon. Pulling out circle-shaped shoes from within her saddlebag, she placed warm mitts on each hoof, and brought out two extra pairs of snow-gear. An adorable blue scarf was wrapped around Nica’s neck, before a matching set of mittens adorned her forepaws. The last accessory, a pair of shoes, was denied.
“Thank you very much, but I prefer to skate with nothing. I found I can maneuver myself much better across the ice without paw-wear getting in the way.” She smiled and helped Pikachu put on his own gear. His own set was very similar to Nica's own but with a different coloration. Rather than her blue, he displayed a crimson red. He too refused the shoes, though a question who managed to make customised shoes to fit his little feet began to circle in his mind.”
“Let’s go!” Pikachu cried, eagerly returning to gliding back and forth with Nica now dragged behind him.
Starlight watched in awe as the duo skid across the ice, each matching the other like repeating a song from memory. They danced through the storm, danced through the blistering cold, and focused on nothing but the next step to come.
Starlight began attempting to slide herself, though it was much harder than she originally anticipated. How was Nica able to make it look so easy? She questioned, as the two pokemon glided by her with little difficulty. As they passed, Pikachu stuck out a tongue and squished his cheeks together, silently teasing her. With a smirk, Starlight tossed a snowball directly in his face and slipped away, whistling innocently.
Now that the two had continued their duet, she worked on her center of gravity. While skating, the hardest part was keeping balance, so if she mastered that, she should be able to master skating, in theory. It turns out, it was not that easy as she lost control, sliding across the ice towards a massive pile of snow, seemingly waiting for her to crash into. Unable to stop herself and too slow to summon her magic to come to her aid, she ended up trapped in the powdery mass. Her head emerged from the top of the pile with bits of snow now decorating her muzzle. Looks like this is return of the snowpony. She chuckled to herself.
Glancing across the range, she spotted Pikachu gifting her a sassy smile as she dusted herself off. With a glum expression, she gave up and continued to gaze upon the two creatures for half an hour, as they themselves were lost within the tundra’s soothing melody.
With both pokemon once again perched comfortably on her back, Starlight continued her exploration with her two companions in tow. “So, should we continue exploring, or is there anything we can do before going back to Ponyville?”
Nica looked at the line of mountains in the distance, balanced herself on a single foot, and spread her forepaws in excitement. “Climbing time!”
So poison joke hasn't hit them yet, it'll be interesting to see what happens.
Nice to see them getting along.
I remember distinctly having my skates in left sets, if you know what I mean. Even with supports, I was completely inept at it.
I wonder what the poison joke did if that is what the blue flowers are
9188162
well... Poison Joke alter the form of its victims in a funny twist, Ash's Pikachu would make sense since he likes fighting, becoming a weak pichu will give it the funny twist...
But Nica I'll admit that I didn't think very deeply in her case, only that it matched.
It was funny and very cute, as I imagine the two of them dancing in the ice. This should be a pokemon episode.
A sword and shield, good analogy to their teamwork.
9188644
My guess, evolution swap. Pikachu becomes Raichu and vice versa.
I bet that the Poison Joke effect is gonna be a heck of a doozy for those two and Starlight.
It would have been funny to see Starlight encounter the plant in the TV Show and see what happens to her.
I know what you mean, but I decided to leave the challenging part for the very late part of the story. For now I am focusing on cute interactions and the comedy, as well as character development.
To be fair, I don't remember doing much building in "Lost Little Raichu." I just put Nica in a scenario where she had to explore already estabilished world.
What can I say, I always go for balance in my stories, making sure that each character have a set of strong points and weaknesses and he can contribute depending on them. In this case it wasn't much of a character growing on an adventure to overcome the odds at the end. It was more of a character who already grew and reached the gretest height and was sent on an important mission, but because of outside circumstances, she lost her memory and had to rediscover all her powers and taents again (she had them, just needed to discover them through experience).
As for Nica being a bit Mery-suish until her past was introduced, I came up with her design with a few base ideas in mind:
1) Main mascoth of the pokemon is a Pikachu. He's unevolved (so underdog path), but because of talent and determination, he becomes powerful very quickly and can face legendaries and pseudo-legendaries, gaining offense and durability that are nothing like Pikachu's game bsae stat. So I thought, why can't Raichu accomplish something similar with enough of willpower and determination? She would be an underdog at the start (since she stays as Pichu for two years), and yet her challenges and struggles doesn't get any easier after fully evolving.
2) In many pokemon games with "Dungeon" in the name, main heroes are always unevolved and can't evolve, and they end up in an alien world with no memory of their past and no knwoledge of this new world, yet somehow they manage to create teams, defeat powerful enemies, and without evolving they save the world and defeat the most powerful legendaries. Yet not a single time a fully evolved pokemon is given a chance to save the world. Kind of makes one quesion what's the point of evolution in the first place if underdogs are always presented as superior. So my line of thinking was, why not allow fully evolved pokemon to be the hero for a chance?
3) Raichu was always my favorite pokemon, but their presentation in the show wasn't all that good, so I wanted to change that.
4) The path of underdog becoming super powerful and defeting the odds or doing the imposible has been quite overdone in Pokemon. Instead, I wanted a pokemon who is the opposite of underdog to take a central stage, in this case the strongest Raichu in the world, and instead introduce a diferent set of conflicts.
5) Since I focus on balance a lot, I made sure that Nica had proper weaknesses and drawbacks to balance her insane survibility, though in my story I could introduce her past only in small fragments, so it took a while before her struggles were presented.
6) Considering that in pokemon, the most skilled and powerful pokemon are either prideful, arrogant, competitive or determined to win, I thought it would be a nice change of pace if the best of the best was actully opposite of that. For being on top, Nica is overly humble and have low self-esteem. She don't want to compete and overcome others and she refuses to be proud of herself, always feeling that she could have done more or better with what she's capaible of.
7) And most importantly, I wanted her power and skills to feel earned. In the show, main character and his Pikachu often face great challenges to grow stronger, but at the same time their abilities and powers are all over the place. In some cases Pikachu is too extremely OP, doing something he shouldn't just to make him look more epic, while in another scenario he perform terribly, making one wonder how an elite like him can go down so easily or is he even trying. (Some of his victories and defeats seemed non-deserved,)
With Nica I wanted her growth to be more consistent. To have every bit of power and skill earned with great struggle, but at the same time that she'll remain strong. She also have her own unique motivation that drives her into greatness, but at the same time is a source of her biggest downfalls.
That was my thought progress when I developed Nica and her backstory. I know that there is most likely a room for improvement, and that I took heavy risk by introducing an OP character, but it paid off in the end. I just wish a story where Nica interact and befriend Ash's Pikachu got more attention from people outside of those who enjoyed the first story. Hopefully it will happen once this story's stakes will be raised at the later part.
Sorry for writitng such a long reply, and don't worry, I don't mind criticism, as long as it is either constructive or a soft one, and your was in that category. Have a nice day.
9188644
The countdown is quickly aproaching. It should hit them in later part of part 3. They're in for a surprice. (Which is a bit of a pity since they had such a fun and nice day).
9188645
Considering their personalities, how could they not get along? They may have opposite point of view on many things (like one doesn't want to evolve while another takes evolution extremely seriously, one is competitive and want to be the best of the best, while another is the best already but feel inferior in everyway).
The question is, how well they can get along. Nica viewed Pikachu as a hero, and so far her view of him didn't change. In fact, she likes him even more than before, while Pikachu got his jelousity under control and started to admire Nica instead, enjoying her company and wanting to team up with her. After getting over their drama, their relationship is improving quite nicely.
9188666
Heh. Ice can be unforgiving at times. At least Nica is well adapted to cold enviroment, and Pikachu already had his share of experience when it comes to ice (mostly when facing gym leaders or Regice).
9188686
Oh trust me. Those flowers are poison joke indeed. Nica and Pikachu's gesture of friendship and affection will soon become their undoing.
9188702
I must say, your logic regarding Pikachu is solid. Don't worry about Nica. I'm sure the effect on her will plesantly surprice you... I hope.
9188740
I wish.
if someone drew an image of them skating alone would be great. Sadly, my stories never get enough attention for an artist to decide and draw a scene from it... Sigh...
9188826
Eeyup.
While Nica dislike fighting, protecting others and teamwork is something she love. During her fight against Pikachu she got to know his strenths and weaknesses fairly well, so she knew how to best support him. She knew that his fighting style of more of a fast striking sword, so performing the role of shield worked really well to complement that (and she likes it better this way). In any case, she ensured that Pikachu got as many opportunities to attack as posible, even using her own stamina and rich reserves to recharge him (making sure that he can not only hit hard but also remain strong for a long battle), and she ensured that their bigger foes wouldn't hurt him. (While Pikachu is extremely durable thanks to his talent and experience, his body is still fragile, so making sure he wouldn't come to harm was her priority).
Even if in the end Pikachu would be considered to be a short steel sword at best while Nica would be more of a big titanium shield, it doesn't change the fact that their teamwork was benefital for them both. (When it comes to teamwork with Nica, glass cannons benefit the most as they can do a lot of damage, knowing that Nica will keep them from harm, but Nica's relationship with Pikachu helps them form a great team as well).
9189079
You can always ask some artist in DeviantArt, but unless you pay, I don't suppose they could decode tp dp ot
9189079
I know. I was just saying that because the story was really going out of its way to make them against each other. Not that I mind of course, though I would love to see more of the other Pokémon. But that's just me.
9189024
The worldbuilding part didn't mean that you've already built it, it meant that you have an opportunity. Yes, your first story was just about Nica and her struggles primarily limited to Ponyville, although she did visit around when she became a mercenary.
I was just implying that you're set in a slice-of-life story right now where the options are really either having more happen in their day-to-day life in Ponyville or having then go out and explore the various locations in the world, which is more or less what you're starting to do with their current journey to the Frozen North, am I right? I don't want to change your vision for whatever you have planned for the story, just feeding you an idea I suppose, you could do a lot with this setup eventually.
It's a shame that the story isn't gaining too much traction, but it might just be because of the chill slice of life nature of this story. Not that that's a bad thing, I'm just pointing out the fact that if you were to compare the two stories, this one has less mystery surrounding it to uncover, less "bad guy" buildup, less urgency to make people think "oh my gosh what's going to happen next" because nothing is opposing them, etc.. I didn't say that's bad, this story is still very good in it's own way, but it's not one that would pull in as large an audience as the first due to the nature of the genre. So don't be too disappointed. You mentioned your comments section being dry so my goal was really just to give you a bit to think about; you have a lot going for you, this story just isn't as bombastic as the first so it has a smaller crowd.
P.S. introducing a larger conflict in the final stretch of the story won't necessarily bring people back since the people you're hoping it'll bring aren't, you know, reaching that point to begin with. If you're going to start a big conflict arc eventually I'd suggest completing this one first and then making it a new story, as this story is already set in the day-to-day slice of life theme and spicing it up at the end isn't going to suddenly bring in a much larger audience. I'm no author, but I'm willing to offer my service as an editor or proofreader if you ever find yourself needing one. Time to read the new chapter now.
great chapter i hope to see more soon
Certainly interested to find out what the Poison Joke is gonna do to them.
9189514
The thing is, the conflict will start the moment Twilight will open portal to Alolan Islands, where some bad things will be happening ever since the pokemon were summoned to Equestira. I may consider making it a separated story, but commng up wiht a proper epilogue for this one and prologue for the next one may be slightly problematic. I mean, how do you jump from Nica and Pikachu having a good time with their friends to them crossing portal and ending up facing danger and with a sense of urgency. It would require at least a slight introduction to the characters for readers who didn't check the pre-quel yet.
9189631
Part 3 will come out tomorrow, after which there will be break until next weakend. Stay tunned.
9190065
Wait a few hours and you'll find out. Hope the results will satisfy you. (Correction, my proof-reader need one extra day to work on the chapter, my bad).
Actually, Pikachu is quite good at zig-zag Quick attack. Not to mention, just how slow Lt. Sarg's Raichu was? How slow was Sho's Raichu? When coming back with a strat he ran circles around them.
9190361
It may be a bit harder to do with strong blizzard and rich snow all around. Also, keep in mind that Pikachu isn't having a slowball fight against slow Raichu like those you mentioned, but against Nica. In the end Raichu is slightly faster than Pikachu, it's just that Raichu users that fought agianst Ash prefered raw power over speed and agility, which became their undoing.
9190798
It maybe hard, but Pikachu usually is not a static target anyway, no matter who he fights against. The only times he stays in one place if he's already exhausted, or in some sort of condition. Pinned by rubble, frosen in place by ice, or paralised. That's why I think that Pikachu would not just ran straight, like Starlight saw it.
9190827
Electric pokemon can't be paralyzed ever since gen 7. Lol.
As for Pikachu, he's already a bit tired after exploring the Everfree Forest, traveling to the frozen north, going to Yakyakistan and his battle with Yaks (Nica recharged his electricity and kept him from harm, but there is little she could do to restore his stamina).
Long story short, Pikachu is getting tired faster than Nica the longer this adventure goes on, and while Nica grew up in a very cold enviroment, playing in blizzard and snow both tire and slow Pikachu down. So long story short, he can't easily zip-zap through walls of snow while using Quick Attack.
9190832
Wait, what? The hell? What kind of stupid decision was that? Paralised should be just as viable as Burn or Poisoned. Is Frosen a status from Pokemon? Can't remember everything from the top of my head, there's like... 500+++ Pokemon to simply remember typing(fire/water/electric), look and name, let alone moves and stuff.
Ah, I see, yeah, he might be exausted enough to slow down and/or not use strong/hard moves in this terrain.
9191056
I wouldn't call it stupid.
Fire pokemon can often cause burn to their opponent and they can't be burned.
Ice pokemon can freeze their opponent and can't be frozen.
Poison pokemon can poison their opponents and can't be poisoned.
So it makes sense that Electric pokemon that paralyze their foes can't be paralyzed.
I would even say it was a buff that should have been in the game long time ago.
9191157
Ah, didn't see that Electric would be immune to paralise. I saw it as paralising effect would be removed from games entirely. Need to go to sleep, if I can't see stuff like that.
9191255
I think more proper wy to call it is "wrap" or a solid dose of "sqeezing."
9191445
I consider those two things differently, one is "status condition", another is "pokemon state".
Status conditions:
Burned, asleep, shocked/paralised, posioned, other.
Pokemon state:
Underground(dig), held in place(by move bind or similar), airborn... There WAS a move, that was opposite of Dig. Two stage move, made user airborn, and if he was hit with a specific counter-attack suffered double damage.
Being "wrapped" is a state(was induced by attack, if attacker leaves or "Spin" is used it stops), not status(inflicted by an attack, can work after user left the field, can be transferred by some mechanichs).
I am expecting an Egg at the end of this book.
9191445
Suggestion for Starlights final team,(as in when all of them are fully evolved):
Marowak
Lapras
Gardevoir
Illumise and Volbeat (Double Battle)
Ampharos
Castform (One that uses Hail a lot)
Glalie
Roserade
Lopunny
Abomasnow (For some reason I see Starlight with more Ice type Pokemon than any other type)
Glaceon
Togekiss
Florges
Aurorus
Klefki
Also, here are some Pokemon I think Pinkie Pie would have:
Bellossom
Azumarill
Sunflora
Masquerain
Kricketune
Ambipom
Mime Jr.
Chatot
Lilligant
Maractus
Zorua (Not all of them have to evolve)
Sylveon
Oricorio (One of each type)
What do you think?
9576242
I think that you suggested waaay too many pokemon. Also, I am not sure why most of them would fit Starlight. Any reason behind such specific choices?
9576242
You forgot Twilight
She would catch Twilight with a masterball >:)
for a third
tuned
feet
keeping
in the distance
Huh, didn't expect Starlight to have a bit of Guzma in her soul.