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"description": "A story about a male Pikachu and a female Raichu. ADULT RATING! I don't own any characters.\n\n200+ pages long, 34 chapters. \n\nDissected in different chapters in here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14034569/1/Electric-Touch\n\nPDF VERSION, IF THERE ARE FORMATTING PROBLEMS:\n\nhttps://www.furaffinity.net/view/45828734/\n\nI'm new to writing fanfic stories, so I hope you all can understand that my abilities aren't perfect. I did my best to make this story as interesting as I could, but please take note that I still have a lot to learn about writing.\n\nMy Goal: To write some Chu family shorter fics, as they are my favourite pokémon. I would also thank if you guys would take the time to read the story, and \n\ngive me feedback on whether you liked it or not. This is my gift for Raichu day, and I hope you like it! See ya!\n\nReleased in Raichu day 2022.",
"description_bbcode_parsed": "A story about a male Pikachu and a female Raichu. ADULT RATING! I don't own any characters.
200+ pages long, 34 chapters.
Dissected in different chapters in here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14034569/1/Electric-Touch
PDF VERSION, IF THERE ARE FORMATTING PROBLEMS:
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/45828734/
I'm new to writing fanfic stories, so I hope you all can understand that my abilities aren't perfect. I did my best to make this story as interesting as I could, but please take note that I still have a lot to learn about writing.
My Goal: To write some Chu family shorter fics, as they are my favourite pokémon. I would also thank if you guys would take the time to read the story, and
give me feedback on whether you liked it or not. This is my gift for Raichu day, and I hope you like it! See ya!
Released in Raichu day 2022.",
"writing": "Electric touch\n\nA story by Coercer1730 (Male Pikachu x Female Raichu)\n\nCHAPTER 1\n\nIt was a warm autumn evening in Kanto. The birds playfully chirped, flying over the trees, as a warm breeze blew all across the place.\n\nA group of people walked along the city, chatting happily as they walked to one of the city's biggest parks, where lots of people and pokemon enjoyed their sunday off.\n\nAs it was to be expected, the kids played happily with the pokemon as the adults entertained themselves with a variety of activities.\n\nOne of the pokemon that was at that place was a Pikachu, who didn?t have as much energy as the baby pokemon who ran without rest here and there, so he preferred to enjoy the peaceful moment unfold from the comfortable branch he was sitting on. He was pleased to witness the harmony with which humans and pokemon lived together, and the respect everyone had for the \"independent pokemon\", who were trainerless pokemon who lived a regular life at the city, as same as humans did.\n\nAs the last minutes of daylight came to an end, he decided to come down from his branch, and return to the place he lived, which was quite a distance away.\n\nAs soon as he reached to the \"Residential district\", where the vast majority of the inhabitants lived, he spotted the place where he was heading to.\n\nIt was a three-story four building complex of a considerable size, surrounded by a small fence which delimited it's domains from the rest of the neigbourhood. It was a good place to be, even if it wasn ?t particularly his private home. Said place was inhabited by a large group of pokemon, all of whom worked together, as well as other pokemon visitors who stayed for a while. On top of that, from time to time, this building was also occupied by some people working in it.\n\nUpon walking from the main entrance to the dining hall, Pikachu was suddenly met with a large group of pokemon who were busy and talking, while enjoying a meal. They were gathered around different tables, while others were already finished, entertaining each other in some friendly competitions, or simply having a pleasant conversation.\n\nPikachu's eyes widened, thinking that he might have arrived a bit late, but was pleasantly surprised to find that the cooking group was still there, as he was able to hear their chatter about the various dishes they made, as well as a few other things as well.\n\nWithout time to waste, Pikachu quickly darted inside, to check the area where the order system was located. This time, Pikachu was just in time to get a hold of an standard menu. The only dish that he ordered from said menu was a \"Salad\", which consisted of two small cups of various vegetables and a small bowl of mixed berries, served with water, and as soon as he finished the order, quickly took a seat.\n\nJust as the meal was cooked, a large, smiling Kangaskhan entered the area handing over a tray to Pikachu, who quickly grabbed it and thanked her for her assistance. \"It looks like you arrived just in time. How are you, my dear?\" Kangaskhan asked, in her usual, motherly tone. \"Just fine, thank you for waiting for me!\" said Pikachu as he took a few bites of the salad, enjoying the taste of the food. \"Guess we were a bit hungry, huh?\" asked Kangaskhan, smiling at him, as it was obvious that she enjoyed making him feel good. \"Yeah, I guess you are right. I lost track of time in that place... Oh, and you were really nice to me. Thank you very much.\" said Pikachu with a grateful smile. \"You're welcome!\" said Kangaskhan as she smiled and left the place, letting Pikachu off to continue his meal.\n\nA while later, when he finished his meal, he took the empty plates and placed them on the service area. Now that his duties were done, Pikachu left the large place and started to make the way back to his room, as he realized how late it was already. Pikachu steadily walked through the corridors, while being as silent as possible, to avoid disturbing others, as most of the residents were already in their rooms, resting after a long day's work.\n\nHe made at last his way to his room, where he was greeted by the sight of his small, but comfortable space, filled with the things that made him happy, such as his favourite books or photos, as well as other assorted objects. At the opposite end of his room, a small round bed (Even though he preferred to refer to it as a \"nest\") stood near the window. At one corner there was also a small table with a lamp, useful when he wished to read something at night-time.\n\nHe turned around, as he proceeded to close the door in front of him, before moving some blankets off the nest, in order to make a larger space for him to lay down. As he did so, a strong feeling of comfort started to come over him, as he snuggled in his nest, the moonlight bathing his small frame. He closed his eyes, and as he did so, quickly fell asleep.\n\nThe next day, Pikachu woke up as he heard the ringing of his alarm clock. He looked out the window, and admired the view that the new sunny day was bringing him. At last, he decided to get out of the room, and onto the patio, where he could enjoy the fresh air and the sunshine, as his duty couldn?t start to be done yet. Meanwhile, Pikachu decided to take a walk around the complex. He went over to the small, \"community room\", where he was greeted by some of his fellows. At that very moment, there were an Espeon, an Sceptile, and a Pidgeot.\n\nHey, Pikachu! How's it going, buddy?!\" asked the Espeon, smiling at the young male, as he made his way into the room. \"I'm doing fine, thanks, Espeon!\" said Pikachu, making his way over to a small table with some assorted goods on it.\" I wanted to be sure to be in time to take breakfast!\" Said Pikachu with a smile, as he happily hopped onto the chair.\n\n\"Oh, I see. Well, it looks like we have a full table this morning. Go ahead and come and get some, matey!\" said the Sceptile, as he handed a tray with a few fruits on it to the yellow colored Pokemon, who happily took a piece from it.\n\n\"Thanks!\" Replied Pikachu, as he took a cup of coffee from the table and mixed it with some milk, \"It's good to have this extra caffeine!\" he added with a happy tone. Pikachu then continued taking his breakfast, as everyone started thinking of what they should do today. After a little while, one of them came up with an idea: \"I was thinking that we should go over to the city's famous shopping district, and see if we could get some potions, as we are running short of them\" said the Pidgeot.\n\n\"That sounds great!\" said the Sceptile, with an obvious tone of sarcasm. \"Wouldn?t you mind if you take charge of this, Pidgeot? At least, you can fly all the way there!\" said the Espeon. The Pidgeot looked around the area, being unable to come with an excuse, as Espeon's reasoning was quite logic. Damn psychics.\n\n\"I should be going because I must start the daily exercise routine.\" Pikachu said before leaving the room \" Thank you for the company, guys!\".\n\n\"Well, that's good a reason as any!\" said Sceptile. \"Remember to take your vitamins and not to overdo yourself too much, ok?\" added the Pidgeot.\n\n\"Sure thing.\" Replied Pikachu, as he got up to leave the room. The sun had already risen, and it was about time for the group to get ready, so, before long, everyone was busy with their own business.\n\nAs Pikachu made his way out of the complex and down the road, he noticed that he still had time to go for a long stroll, so he decided that he should take the scenic route, as the road he was on was rather long and winding, but it would be more relaxing than the boring midday city center. As Pikachu's walk took him through the beach, he observed some children playing Frisbee. He noticed also some Pokemon watching curiously, as if they were considering taking it on for their own.\n\n\"Hey it's a Pikachu!\" said a cheerful voice.\n\n\"What's up, little fellow?\" replied Pikachu to the kid with a smile on his face.\n\n\"I've got an idea for you: We want to start our own Frisbee competition. But we need someone to throw the Frisbee, as we want to compete to see who is the best. Do you think you could do it? Just for fun?\" said the kid.\n\n\"Sure!\" said Pikachu. Pikachu liked that sport, so he started walking over to the group of kids.\n\n\"Hey! Thanks!\" said the kid with a grin, \"I was afraid that the competition turned a bit unfair. Go ahead and start the Frisbee game!\"\n\n\"Ok! Get set up, guys!\" The kids were able to get set up quickly, and before long, the Frisbee was flying through the air, as the first round started.\n\nWhile the Frisbee was in the air, the group of kids sprinted, as if they were competing for the title of ?fastest frisbee catcher?.\n\nAfter a while, one of the tallest kids was the first one to get a catch. He then returned the Frisbee to Pikachu, who then, proceeded to throw it again. After a good number of throws, Pikachu started to get a little tired, so he decided to end the competition, and as soon as the kids agreed, he recounted the wins and announced the winner.\n\nAs the kids thanked Pikachu for his attention, he continued his walk. Some time afterwards, the trip, he passed through the \"Battling district\", which, despite it's name, was also a place where people related to battling lived. It was one of the nicer ones, because it contained some battling arenas and the city gym, as well as a lot of hostals for trainers who were in town.\n\nHe then continued his way to the \"Library district\", where the university was located. It was strange that the university would be located in the same area as the military complex was before. As a city that values knowledge, and loathes the conflict, it was somewhat surprising to him that the government would invest a lot of time and money in the past into the military complex, leaving the inhabitants without an adequate place to learn. He liked to walk around the university area, as it was also a peaceful and quiet place, very different than the city center, where students of all classes and species shared a part of their lives in common.\n\nFinally, deciding that it was time to return to his home, he headed to the bus station, so he reached there just in time for dinner. As he walked inside the dining room, he noticed that the place was busier than usual, so he just sat down at his regular table and began to fill the order sheet.\n\n\"Welcome back, Pikachu!\" said the waitress, who always appeared to be having a great day.\n\n\"Oh hi! So, today what would you recomend me to have?\" he replied. He wasn?t the best pokemon in taking decisions, so he let the Kangaskhan to decide what he would have today.\n\n\"If I were you, I would undoubtedly choose the trout, the pizza and the risotto. They're all great dishes here\".\n\n\"So are they! I'll take that! And, you know what, if you didn?t mind, I?d like a berry bowl as well\", he added with a smile.\n\nAfter he checked in his order, he returned his sight to the table area, where he did spot an empty chair. Grabbing the chair, he sat down, as he shortly was brought his meal. He quickly ate, as he had no idea what he had chosen, but was soon pleased with the random choice.\n\nAs he put his plate on the table, he gazed to the clock on the wall, and immediately prepared himself to start his duties, as classes were finishing in about half an hour. After that, he would have to work until the evening, so he concentrated to enjoy his last minutes of the holiday as best as he could.\n\nAs the bell rang, Pikachu knew that he had to start soon, so he headed off to the \"visitors\" rooms as he was ready to start.\n\nCHAPTER 2\n\nUpon entering the area, a lot of young pokemon were already there. As usual, the first person he came across was the director of the section.\n\n\"Good afternoon, young man!\" said Mrs. Millers. She always had a very special smile on her face, as he knew that she was usually in a good mood. \"Good afternoon! So, what do I have to do today?\" he asked.\n\n\"Well, today you will go see the coordinator Celeste, to get the weekly review of the students done. She will review the data that you will have to approve today. Next, you will go talk with the peer counselor, to see if she has any problems that need to be solved. You know she is not very good at it, so make sure to help her if needed\", she answered with a smile.\n\n\"So, when do we start?\", he asked again.\n\n\"Oh, now is the best moment! The students are all starting to go back to their rooms after having lunch\", she replied.\n\n\"Alright! Hey Ms. Millers, do you know a time when I could visit the coordinator Celeste?\" he asked.\n\n\"Well, you know her more than me, so you know when it's best to meet her\", she answered.\n\nPikachu said goodbye and gave Ms. Millers a happy smile as he left the area, and started to make his way to the front of the building. As he walked, he was almost hit by an Azurill, that he saw fly over his head, but as the encounter luckily had no consequences, he continued to move. After a few minutes, he arrived at the front-right building of the complex, and as soon as he got to the management area, spotted the assistant coordinator Celeste, in a big table inside the office.\n\nWhen he walked in, he saw Celeste, shifting through different papers, as she noticed Pikachu's presence\n\n\"Alright, Pikachu! Please, take a seat!\" she said, standing up and motioning towards a chair in front of her table.\n\n\"Thanks! That's nice of you!\", replied the Pikachu.\n\nAs soon as they got to work, Celeste asked \"What can I help you with, young man?\"\n\n\"Well, as I understand, the week's reports should be all done, by now.\", he said.\n\n\"Oh yeah, that's true!\"\n\n\"Okay. So, do you have any worries about some students?\", she asked.\n\n\"Well, I heard that there is a certain Eevee missing from the housing area at certain times\", he responded.\n\nCeleste immediately sat back down, and got a serious face. \"What do you mean by missing?\"\n\n\"Well, ever since he has been moved here, the Eevee has just vanished after I leave the students with the night manager\", he explained.\n\nCeleste did not want to believe the Pikachu's news.\n\n\"Are you sure? Do you think it's due to a natural cause? Could this situation be contributing?\", she asked.\n\n\"Well, I can?t tell for sure, but he seems to dissapear a bit before the staff sends the students to their rooms for the night, but he is always here at time when the day starts\", he answered.\n\n\"But why would a pokemon disappear like that? It's a living creature!\", Celeste said.\n\n\"Well, I can only say that it's quite peculiar!\", he said.\n\n\"Well, the way I understand it, maybe the staff put him here to study it? It could be like an experiment\", she explained.\n\n\"But I still don?t buy it!\", the Pikachu said.\n\n\"Well, I guess there is no other option, but to try to solve it yourself. If you can?t do it, nobody does\".\n\n\"Yes, I understand, you are the coordinator after all!\", he replied, with a slight smile.\n\nCeleste got back into her desk, and soon, she saw the Pikachu walk back to his spot next to her.\n\n\"What a day so far, right?\", Celeste asked, visibly bored.\n\n\"Yes, it is quite the adventure!\", he replied in a dull tone.\n\n\"I just want to get back to the front-left building, and then to go back to my room, where I can relax and get some sleep!\", he added.\n\nCeleste realized that she was letting her mind wander, instead of focusing in all the stuff that was waiting for her on her desk.\n\n\"Well Pikachu, I'm afraid i must be back to work. Let me know any news on this topic, ok?\"\n\n\"Sure, yeah. Take it easy!\", the Pikachu replied, as he crossed the office's door.\n\nCeleste could only nod in agreement, and continued with her work.\n\nAs soon as Pikachu exited, his face dropped a bit when he thought on his next task, as it would be \"a bit\" more intense. He had to check on the peer counselor's work, and see if she was doing something wrong. He preparred himself mentally by giving a long walk through the corridors, instead of going directly to her office, as he feared she could be a little \"blunt\" to him.\n\nOnce he stood at her office's door, he raised his head and said \"Shall I, Clefable?\".\n\nThe door opened, and a Clefable wearing a long yellow dress, with a floppy hat, and a pair of goggles appeared at the other side of the door, staring firmly at Pikachu.\n\n\"Huh?\", she replied, startled by the visitor.\n\n\"Hello. I am the student's free time supervisor. I have been assigned to you, to join you today in your work, in order to make sure that the students solve their conflicts swiftly and efficiently. Is this correct?\", he asked.\n\nClefable widely opened her eyes, as she grunted \"I am sorry, I do not know who you are\".\n\n\"I am Pikachu, the Pikachu that is with the students, do you really don?t recognize me?\"\n\n\"Well, I can?t say that I do, but I suppose there is no need for me to answer your silly questions\", she answered.\n\n\"Well, why don?t we put aside our differences, and just get on with the work?\", he asked.\n\n\"Huh?\"\n\n\"The student's don?t have time for silly misunderstandings, now do they?\", he asked.\n\n\"Hey look! The know-it-all has finally arrived to the city! Woohoo!\" Clefable repied with a sarcasm-filled grin.\n\nPikachu just ignored this taunt, and turned to Clefable.\n\n\"Oh yes, sorry. I just thought that I should know who you are counselling, in case there were any problems\", he explained.\n\n\"Hmm, well, there shouldn?t be any, at least, not today\", she replied.\n\n\"Are you sure about that?\", he asked.\n\n\"Of course! I wouldn?t just ask the students to get in fights only to go give me work in the office after, would I?\"\n\n\"Well, I suppose you can?t do that anyway. Tell me, what are the problems that are already going on with these students?\"\n\n\"Nothing out of the ordinary problems of some pokemon kindergarten elsewhere\" she responded.\n\n\"But, what kind of problems?\"\n\n\"Well, most of them started when the school started\", she stated.\n\n\"So do you mean you don?t need me to help you deal with a known confrontation?\".\n\n\"It doesn?t matter that you know about them\", she said.\n\nAs Pikachu was quite upset at her attitude, he moved the tone of the conversation.\n\n\"Please\", he whispered to Clefable. \"I know you are just a peachy Clefable, but there is no need to talk to me in that manner. I could be very direct with you. As you might have guessed, I have a direct approach to problems, and I will do my best to solve the problems that the students have with each other\".\n\n\"Oookay\", she said. \"Good. It's so nice to finally see someone actually taking interest in these students? conflicts, instead of turning away like all of the others.\" Clefable laughed at him.\n\n\"What do you mean?\", he asked.\n\n\"Now you are going to do the counselling work you seem to love so much\" she told him, coldly, as she turned her back to him and slammed the door.\n\n\"So you're leaving me?\", he yelled from the other side of the door.\n\nPikachu just sighed, as he leaned on the door, which was closed.\n\n\"What a mood!\", he thought.\n\nAfter some time, Pikachu heard a gentle knock on the door.\n\n\"Oh, hello!\", Pikachu said, as he motioned the other pokemon to enter.\n\n\"Pika... chu?\", a Charmander asked.\n\n\"Yes, hello\", Pikachu replied.\n\n\"I heard you talkin? bout solvin? problems\", he told him, pointing to the door.\n\n\"Ah! Yes\", Pikachu answered, and motioned the other pokemon to go inside.\n\n\"Come on, Charmander, Vulpix, this way\", he said, gesturing with his paw, as he pointed to the door, to open it.\n\nOnce the door was opened, the other pokemon slowly entered, and looked around the room.\n\n\"The room seems quite nice\", the Charmander stated.\n\n\"What's nice?\", the Vulpix questioned. \"The joke you played on me before isn?t. There is no way I'm accepting an apology!\"\n\n\"I'm really sorry about that\", the Charmander apologized.\n\nPikachu then intervened in the conversation \"Hey, why don?t we try to talk the problem calmly?\"\n\n\"What do you mean?\" the Vulpix said.\n\n\"I mean, rather than both of you getting angry and shouting\", he explained.\n\n\"You're right\", the Vulpix said. Pikachu asked what was the problem and Vulpix explained: \"We fight constantly, and I hate it! You pretend to be nice when I don?t see you but, when I do, you give me a direct order and ask me to do something and then throw it in my face when I don?t do it!\"\n\n\"Well, I get it, and if you have a problem you should have come to me first, instead of talking to your classmates like that\", Pikachu said.\n\nThe Vulpix, who seemed a bit calmer, explained that he tried to talk Charmander about it, but he was so \"rude\" and \"insensitive\" about the problem that he couldn?t.\n\n\"So, why are you two here?\" Pikachu asked.\n\n\"Well, I did think about it, and I thought that this is a good opportunity for me to try and settle this, as I think it's the right thing to do\", the Vulpix told him. \"But I'm not sure if Charmander will take it seriously, since he's a bit hard to deal with sometimes, and I want to make sure he doesn?t play rude jokes on me again\".\n\nPikachu then talked to Charmander: \"So, now you've made your apologies? Is that right?\"\n\n\"Yeah\", he said.\n\n\"Well, then I think you should listen to what he has to say, and we'll both try to work it out together\", Pikachu told him.\n\n\"Well, let's get this over with then\", the Vulpix said, as he looked to Charmander and asked him \"What do you have to say?\"\n\n\"I'm sorry\", Charmander said.\n\n\"Well, do you think you can try and get along with me and your classmates?\", the Vulpix asked.\n\n\"Sure, I can\", he said.\n\n\"Good, then I guess we are finished, is it true?\" the Pikachu asked.\n\n\"Yeah\", the Vulpix answered.\n\n\"Then I guess we have successfully completed this meeting\", the Pikachu said.\n\n\"Ok, it was nice meeting you!\", the Vulpix added before exiting the room.\n\nAs soon as Charmander was scurrying off, Pikachu told him \"Charmander, I suggest that you try and change your ways a bit, if you want to stay friends with your classmates.\"\n\n\"Ok, I'll try, and you know I'll do my best to get along with my classmates too\", he said, a bit calmer than before.\n\n\"Great\", Pikachu said, as he gave a big sigh.\n\n\"Well, it was nice meeting you\", the Charmander added as he walked away.\n\nPikachu thought perplexed that he did actually nothing to have the duo's problem solved. \"They're kids at all...\".\n\nCHAPTER 3\n\nThe rest of the day went as expected, as there were no more remarkable problems for Pikachu to solve, at least not today.\n\nAs the night arrived, the students had dinner and soon retired to sleep. As the last students went to their rooms, it was time for the staff to have dinner, as well as clean up the buildings and make it ready for the next day.\n\nAs soon as Pikachu entered the dinning room, he headed to the table where he usually sits. When he arrived, he saw that some of his peers were there, namely Pidgeot, Hitmonchan, Natu, Diancie, Espeon and Carracosta.\n\n\"Hi guys!, how's going?\" Pikachu said in a cheerful voice.\n\n\"Pikachu, do you think you could sing for us like you did last week?\" Hitmonchan asked, laughing as he remembered the funny incident.\n\n\"So funny\" Pikachu said with irony.\n\n\"It was funny, we sure did laugh\" Diancie added.\n\n\"Of course we did, I'm happy that you had fun again\" Natu added.\n\n\"Yeah, it was fun!\" Espeon said.\n\n\"Well if you say so\" Pikachu said, blushing slightly.\n\n\"Alright, what will it be this time?\" Pidgeot asked, looking around the table.\n\n\"I think it should be...\" Pikachu started as everyone stared at him, waiting for him to continue.\n\n\"I think I should do a classic song\" Pikachu finished as everyone cheered and congratulated him.\n\n\"Alright, well that's the end of the dinner, we're going to have a whole new subject for tomorrow, so why don?t we get some rest\" Natu said before the conversation topic diverged.\n\n\"Sure, I guess, why not?\" Hitmonchan answered.\n\n\"Alright then, let's go to our rooms so we can sleep before tomorrow\" Diancie said, followed by Pidgeot and Carracosta.\n\n\"By the way, why doesn?t Pidgeot just fly to her room's window? asked Carracosta, as the group exited the dining room, earning a bored sigh from the bird. \"That joke is getting old...\".\n\nMinutes after, the three pokemon who were still at the table, looked at each other.\n\n\"You know, I think they are all some lazy poke. It's only 11 PM!\" Hitmonchan added.\n\n\"Yea, but someone has to wake up early tomorrow to do their tasks\" Diancie replied.\n\n\"We can?t all be early bird types!\" Hitmonchan added in.\n\n\"Whaaat?\" Carracosta asked.\n\nThe three looked at each other, then turned to look at Hitmonchan. He stared back at them, as if reassuring himself for answering truthfully.\n\n\"Guys, what's up with the birds?\" Pidgeot asked a bit startled, as she misheard the conversation.\n\n\"Well I guess it can wait until tomorrow\" Espeon said, hoping to change the subject.\n\n\"It's late, let him get some sleep before he gets angrier\" Hitmonchan answered, staring at the pokemon, as the exiting group forcefully took Carracosta away to avoid the conflict.\n\n\"Hey! Come back here you little punk!\" Carracosta yelled as the group walked away.\n\n\"Burgly! What's up with that jerk?\" Hitmonchan said, as he returned his gaze to Pikachu and Espeon.\n\n\"Hey! It's nothing, we're going to have a little problem with him tomorrow\" Pikachu commented in a carefree voice, as he used a little humor to cover up the incident.\n\n\"I guess you are right\" Hitmonchan said as he added \"Well, I'm going to the gym to train, g-night fellas!\"\n\n\"OK\" Espeon said, before Hitmonchan disappeared.\n\nNow Espeon was the only left there, and Pikachu then remembered the little Eevee's mystery, so he decided to talk to her, as he took a seat by her side. \"Hey, Espeon, you are the only one here now, isn?t it\", he said to her.\n\n\"Well, I am, as all the others went off to do their own things\", she replied.\n\n\"Oh, so it's just me, then\", Pikachu said.\n\n\"Yep, and I'm fine with that\", Espeon replied.\n\nPikachu recalled the Eevee incident, because he thought that maybe talking about it with someone of \"nearly\" it's same species could enlighten him a bit. \"Have you heard about the little Eevee that leaves the bedroom at night?\" he asked her.\n\n\"Oh, yeah, I've heard about that boy\", she replied.\n\n\"Yeah, it's really strange that such a little boy could be so mysterious\" he said. \"Do you know where could he go at night?\"\n\n\"Umm... I'm not sure, but I think he might hide in a secluded place, when he's frightened, of course!\", Espeon replied.\n\nPikachu thought deeply, as the idea didn?t convince him.\n\n\"Can you help me understand?\" he asked her. \"The only thing I know about this mystery is that the Eevee is afraid at night, and he tends to escape his bedroom, when he's scared\".\n\n\"It could be, but I've heard of quite a few Eeveelutions, so I don?t think that it's just the tiny ones who can?t hide their fears\", Espeon said.\n\nPikachu was a bit surprised about what she had just said. \"By the way, why do you say that I am the only one that was close to him?\", she asked him. Pikachu was surprised as he didn?t remember saying that though out loud.\n\n\"Don?t overthink it, I just read your thoughts\" Espeon answered.\n\n\"Well, that wasn?t necessary\", he said, a bit dumbfounded, making her giggle.\n\n\"Do you know why he might be scared?\" Asked to her again.\n\n\"Oh, I think that maybe it has something to do with his parents\", she replied.\n\n\"So, do you think it's related with that?\" Pikachu said.\n\n\"Well, I can?t know for sure, but I suppose it's a logical guess\", she said.\n\n\"Ok. Thank you for telling me your point of view\", Pikachu thanked her.\n\n\"No problem\", she replied as she picked used telekinesis to lift up her fork as she finished eating.\n\n\"You see, there's always someone willing to help a Pokemon in trouble\" Espeon said. \"Well, now, if you don?t mind, I think I will call it a night. It's been a long day, and I'm tired\", as Pikachu got up, getting ready to leave.\n\nShe stared back at him. \"You're not alone there, I guess I'll head to bed as well\" she said, as she also got up to leave. As Pikachu left Espeon at her room, he proceeded to head to his own room, but before going to bed, he decided to take a look into the little Eevee's room. He walked with a silent pace through the hallways, being unnoticed by the other workers who were already sleeping. He passed through the last corridors, and finally got to the students? rooms. As he walked past the night monitor without being seen, he was able to find Eevee's room, and stepped in the doorway, as the door was slightly open.\n\nHe couldn?t see him, as the lights were turned off. Then, Pikachu decided to be completely still, and tried to use his developed hearing to listen for breathing sounds. Nothing. As he got ready to get out of the room, he got a great idea. As he checked that the bed was empty, he grabbed the sheets as much as he could, and took a deep sniff at them. As there were traces of Eevee's scent on them, Pikachu memorized it. Then, as fast as he could, he ran through all the complex, trying to match the smell to the one in the sheets, to no avail. After searching for one hour, he still couldn?t detect the Eevee. Finally, he came to the conclusion that Eevee must be outside.\n\n\"How can he be gone?\" he said to himself, as he opened the window, in case he decided to come back. He sat on the window, staring through it, hoping that he would soon see the little Eevee, but he could not find him anywhere.\n\n\"He has been gone too long already\" he said, with a saddened face. He let out a loud sigh.\n\n\"I hope he's safe, and not scared\", he thought.\n\nSuddenly, as he continued to stare at the moon, something clicked on his mind. Eevee might be in serous danger, and he had to ensure his safety, independently from the tasks he could take charge of.\n\nSo Pikachu quickly went outside, and started to walk through the cold streets.\n\nAt first, he didn?t find anything that could look like an Eevee. There was no one around the streets, so he couldn?t ask anyone. He started to walk around in small circles, trying to figure out where Eevee might be, but he couldn?t. He was so depressed, so he just kept walking further and further away. After searching for another hour, he came across a park in the district, when he finally came to a scent that matched the one he had memorized before. As he followed it, he would be eventually able to figure out where Eevee might be!\n\n\"I'll be with him soon\", he thought, as he quickly ran through the night, trying to reach the Eevee as quickly as he could.\n\nFinally, he arrived at the edge of the woods. As he got close, he heard soft breathing as he came to a grassy plain, where a still, brown figure sat down on the grass. Pikachu went up to it, and as soon as he reached his side, started to talk with him: \"Hello, little Eevee\".\n\nThe Eevee quickly jumped up in surprise, as he tried to adjust his sight.\n\n\"Wh-- Who are you?\", he asked. \"I'm sorry for scaring you, Eevee, I'm Pikachu, would you mind to be my friend?\" But Eevee stood still on the ground, without pronouncing a word.\n\n\"Eevee, what is the matter? What do you want?\", Pikachu asked.\n\nEevee didn?t move, as he kept staring at the ground.\n\n\"What is wrong?\" Pikachu asked.\n\nEevee slowly stood up and got closer to Pikachu. \"Please.... please...\" he started to say.\n\n\"Eevee, I won?t hurt you\", Pikachu said, as he tried to pat his back.\n\n\"Don?t touch me!\", Eevee screamed. The sudden reaction made ikachu took a step back.\n\n\"Please...\" he kept on saying. \"I want to be alone...\"\n\nPikachu saw tears in his eyes, and as the situation started to get worse, he decided to think of a solution to the problem. He tried to soothe him \"Eevee, I can?t help you if you don?t trust me. If you trust me, I will do my best to help you out.\"\n\nEevee was still crying as he finally stood still, with a sad look on his face.\n\n\"I want to leave this place!\", Eevee cried. \"I want to be happy.\"\n\nPikachu went to him and gently rubbed his back.\n\n\"But... But I'm your friend, isn?t true?\"\n\n\"No, I don?t want to to see you ever again\", Eevee said between hiccups, as he continued crying.\n\nPikachu looked at him, shocked.\n\n\"But we are all your friends, you know?\", he tried to comfort him. \"Just tell me... What happens?\"\n\nEevee finally lost his words as he broke down. \"You work there, so you must know\", as Eevee kept crying, each time taking him more effort to talk between sobs.\n\nPikachu felt his heart crumble. Nobody argued that he was very good in his job, but these moments were definitely overwhelming for him. \"I... I know what you're going to say!\", he tried to give him words of comfort, \"But you have a lot of friends in here who are waiting to have fun with you.\"\n\n\"Don?t lie to me!\" Eevee screamed, \"You all lie to me... I hate everybody!\"\n\nPikachu looked at the Eevee in the eyes.\n\n\"Eevee, nobody put you in this situation on purpose\", he tried to calm him down.\n\nThen Pikachu decided to express his feelings wordlessly, by giving the little Eevee a big, heartfelt hug. However, as he was about to touch him, Eevee thought he was going to trap him, and began to run from him with all his speed. Pikachu was shocked to the sudden turn of events.\n\n\"Eevee, come back!\" he called after him, but Eevee kept running.\n\nPikachu was confused, and was a bit scared. He couldn?t leave the poor cub on the streets alone, so he chased after him as fast as he could.\n\n\"Eevee, I'm trying to do my best to help you out! Stop!!\"\n\nEevee continued running away from the park, and onto the streets, not stopping to listen to the latter, with teary eyes.\n\n\"Eevee!\", he yelled, \"I'm sorry, I know how much you want to see your mother again!\" as he felt gradually becoming short of breath. But he couldn?t feel defeated. Not now.\n\nPikachu kept chasing the Eevee through the bustling city streets, and almost got to him before he could escape.\n\n\"Eevee, stop!\", he screamed as he tried to tackle the little Eevee to the floor. He was already far away from his \"home\", fact that made him even more scared, if possible.\n\n\"Eevee, I will do my best to help you!!\", he assured the cub, as he finally felt his body started to give in. He really wanted the Eevee to come with him, so he could be able to help him, but he wasn?t sure how he would manage to do it. He couldn?t raise his voice anymore, and was at a good bit of a distance from Eevee, so he decided to take a shortcut, hoping that Eevee would run through the longer route.\n\nPikachu, panting from his long journey to catch up with Eevee, finally exited the dark alleys that led to the most outer street of the city, the motorway standing on the other side. He hoped that he would find Eevee there. And he did.\n\n\"Eevee!!\"\n\nEevee looked up and saw the Pikachu right in front of him, out of breath from running after him. He panicked instantly, and did the only thing he could think of, which was to jump to the other side Pikachu came from, to avoid being caught.\n\n\"GAAHHH!!\", screamed Pikachu in defeat, as he missed Eevee by a mere inch. But nothing could have told him what was about to happen next.\n\nEevee turned his head around to look at the defeated Pikachu, who stared at him with his pitch-black eyes open wide before collapsing from the extreme tiredness, as a hopeful grin formed on Eevee's face, as he was already running to the other side of the motorway, off the city's limits.\n\nBut as soon as he turned his head to the front, his sight was blinded by a very bright white light, mixed with a deafening screech, as his world turned black.\n\nCHAPTER 4\n\nThe next morning, the Pikachu sprang back to life, and looked around, feeling very dizzy, but breathing normally. As he started to slowly regain his senses, he found himself in a small, cozy room, that looked almost like his own room.\n\nHe looked out the window of his new home, It was a sunny day, and the walls of his room almost looked the same too, except for the one that he was staring at, as it was a different color. He walked over and took a good look at it. It was a very nice room, but he couldn?t help feeling a little bit awkward.\n\nThere was a television set above the far wall, and, sitting in front of it, was a small black and white Pokemon plush with orange whiskers. He somewhat recognized it, but couldn?t put his finger on why. He had never seen that Pokemon plush before, or so he thought.\n\nThen again, he had never been in this room, so who could be the owner of this room?\n\nAs he looked to the ceiling, he heard the door slowly opening, revealing an elegant, thin, pale purple haired figure.\n\n\"Aaaah!\" screamed Pikachu, as Espeon walked in. He was almost surprised, but welcomed her presence, even if he still couldn?t recall what had led him to this situation.\n\n\"Welcome to your new home, Pikachu,\" said Espeon with a smile, as it was evident that she was joking him. \"We must say, we didn?t expect you to be able to sleep in such a hard, cold floor for so long...\" Added Sceptile, as he could guess to who belonged the voice.\n\n\"Well,\" said Pikachu, slightly embarrassed, \"I don?t really know why I've ended up here\" he said with a shrug, looking around the room with a confused expression.\n\n\"Well,\" continued Sceptile, who seemed a bit shocked by Pikachu's statement. \"I don?t really know, but, if I am sure about something, it's that you are sleeping in the ladies? room.\" As he said this, he winked at him and pointed a thumb to the door of the room, still being held open by Espeon. As Sceptile had told him, he could finally match the number on the door with the owner, who turned to be Espeon herself.\n\nPikachu stuttered as his embarrassment went off limits, as he was laying down on Espeon's nest. He then fixed his gaze on her.\n\n\"W-wait!\" he said, shocked, \" I-I don?t know why I'm here, I promise!\" He looked back at Sceptile, trying to convince him of his actions, as he was returning him a miscievous look. \"I promise, You have my word! I promise!\"\n\n\"Oh, that's right!\" giggled Espeon. \"I was who found you, Pikachu, and you don?t need to convince anyone of nothing, as I was the one who finally got you in this room.\" As she said this, she pulled his sheet off of him, exposing his striped, yellow back, as he slowly got up, and turned to look at his side, and was shocked once again to see the alarm clock, as it was already 5 PM.\n\n\"Ahhhh!\" he screamed in frustration. \"Why did you not just come sooner? Ahhhhh!\"\n\nThen, Sceptile walked up to him and said \"It's not really your fault, dude.\" As he said this, he took the alarm clock out of his left hand, to show to him that the time wasn?t relevant right now. He knew that Pikachu had an habit of accepting everyone's responsabilities, and was so hard with himself when things didn?t come out as expected. However, now Pikachu needed to rest, so he did what though was best for Pikachu, and in this moment, it is what he was doing.\n\n\"Listen, the fact is, that you're okay, and we shouldn?t really worry about other unimportant matters\" said Sceptile as Espeon put a calming hand on his back, and looked towards the female, who answered to him. \"I'm sure that Pikachu will be fine, but still, he's supposed to rest, as he had to work hard yesterday night, so, I'm sure you understand that, right?\"\n\n\"Yep\" said Sceptile, as he helped Pikachu out of the nest.\n\nAs Pikachu slowly walked out, he looked back at Espeon and Espeon looked back at him. He stared at her, still a bit astonished by how she cared about him.\n\n\"Don?t look so surprised, you have a tendency to show up everywhere, Pikachu.\" Said Espeon, with a smile. \"But, no matter how good you get at avoiding me, I always manage to find you somehow.\" She said this with a hint of sarcasm, as she was still smiling.\n\n\"Thank you so much\" he said to her, as he went to his room to tidy up his room before having dinner.\n\n\"Of course. Just for now, I'll leave you on your own\" said Espeon as she turned back to mind her own business.\n\nAs Pikachu entered in his own room, he first set up his usual bed for the night. He knew that he had a few free hours to spare, so it would be good to finally take his mind off of everything and relax. He was not physically exhausted, as he had \"slept\" for nearly all day, but he was mentally tired of his sudden lack of memories, as he was still hoping for another chance for his brain to come back to him and remember what had led him to that situation. Meanwhile, he would relax himself by staring at the animated street that his window led to, while the sunset light warmed up his fur. As night arrived, he preferred to have dinner in his own room, as he wasn?t feeling well enough to go to the dining room, thinking that it was caused by the strange turn of events today. After eating half a dozen of berries, he curled asleep on his nest, and was soon asleep.\n\n-----------------------------\n\nEverything was black. His entire vision was black, as he had no idea what was going on, he also couldn?t hear anything around him.\n\nThere was silence.\n\nSilence.\n\nSilence.\n\nWith every second that he was in this silence, a strange sensation began to grow inside his brain. It was a very familiar feeling, as if a breeze was gently caressing his head.\n\nIf death felt this peaceful, Eevee was more than happy to take his place at the final curtain, after all, he didn?t feel like he was living, anyway, so, maybe this death thing was the solution to his grieving.\n\n\"Why am I here? Who am I?\" he asked himself, as he tried to open his eyes. They wouldn?t open, though, but he did feel more details around his body.\n\nHe was in a rather fluffy place, and the temperature was also comfortable. He started to feel more peaceful with this new experience, as if he was finally achieving some peace after assuming that his life had ended.\n\nThen, he began to feel like he was slowly being lightened with a white-ish light, as if someone was trying to signal him. He wondered if this faint light that traveled in the dark and was focusing on his eyes was supposed to reveal something to him, as he started to feel warm. After a few minutes, he could swear he was able to hear a distant conversation, or so he thought. He felt a buzzing sensation in his head, as the peacefulness started to fade, and then he felt something else. A cool breeze passed through his body, as he felt his body move very slightly, and then he began to think of these new revealings. However, his doubts would soon be solved, because just when he was about to give up finding a solution, His entire vision began to brighten, before he opened his eyes.\n\nIt was indeed what he had guessed. He was laying in a bed, but he didn?t know what he was doing there. There were curtains covering the left window, so that his vision would not be affected.\n\nThen, he suddenly realized that even he didn?t know where he was, this place didn?t belong to the \"complex\", so he thought that he could had been moved, or so that's what he wanted to think. He thought that this might be the end of his desperate search for a better place, so he thought to himself that maybe he could finally rebuild his life again with ease, as he was just a cub. Looking around again, he discerned that the room looked a bit similar to the nursery room from the \"complex\" but this one was definitely bigger, and packed with strange machines on the walls.\n\nAs he was absorbed in his thoughts, the door opened, and he saw someone enter. He couldn?t see well the figure behind the door, as his sight was still not the best. However, what he did see was something that made him extremely curious, as he hadn?t seen that pokemon species in his life.\n\nHis attention was suddenly drawn to the eyes of the visitor, who were pitch black with a small white pupil. He could also guess by the way the visitor stared back at him that he wasn?t expected to be awake.\n\n\"Who are you?\" he asked, as he tried to figure out who this mysterious figure was, as he was still trying to clarify if it was friend or foe.\n\nAs if his body was suddenly took over by a sudden force, he couldn?t help to quickly clos his eyes, and whisper, \"Please, dont hurt me...\", as he saw the figure getting nearer.\n\n\"Don?t worry. You are alive and safe. You were just resting., the figure said before quickly leaving, as the cub slowly opened his eyes.\n\nSoon after, the nurse came into the room to check on his condition, and he was too tired to say anything.\n\nHowever, she noticed that he had his eyes red like a flame and only a few words were said.\n\n\"Please, can you tell me what happened?\"\n\nAs he just stared blankly at the nurse, she decided to wait until he was finally able to explain some parts of the incident that he remembered.\n\nFortunately, the nurse had some quick thinking, as she decided that she would run a complete examination to see what his vitals were, as she couldn?t determine what his condition was at the moment.\n\nShe ran many checks on his body, while the little Eevee stood still, and she soon came to the conclusion that he was safe and sound, with a healthy vitals, but she still needed to make a few quick notes in the record.\n\nIt was confirmed that he didn?t fall victim to the night outside the complex, as he only collapsed by the sudden shock of the events that he was involved in, but she also found out that he was extremely tired, so she decided to allow him to rest in there for the night, and then, decide tomorrow if he was able to return back to where he came from.\n\nHowever, she needed to contact someone in charge of him, as he was just a little Eevee after all.\n\nAfter some fine searching, the young nurse finally came to a possible answer.\n\nShe was in luck, as not every unidentified patient could be matched with such a personal contact.\n\nHowever, as there was no one more suitable for the task, she decided to personally talk to the number she had just found.\n\nAfter dialing the number in the hospital's computer, and waiting a couple of seconds for it to connect, she spoke up, saying, \"Hello, am I talking to Mrs. Millers?\"\n\nAfter a short silence, the voice at the other side answered, \"Yes, you are speaking to Mrs. Millers, the director of the section of...\"\n\n\"Ok, listen, we have received an Eevee cub in shock yesterday night, and the only person who we could contact regarding him was yourself.\"\n\nAfter a little longer of waiting, the voice answered, \"Yes?, Is that right?\" As Mrs. Millers was unaware of Eevee's story, so she was somewhat surprised at hearing what she said.\n\n\"Yes, we have checked that he lives in there. We thought that you could give us some information about this matter.\"\n\n\"Yes, of course. However, I'm not the person in charge of these things, so I need to contact the actual employee in charge. Would you let me half an hour to speak to them?\"\n\nAfter a long second, the employee responded, \"Um... yeah. Sure. But don?t worry, he's fine. As it's too late, we have no problem on letting him sleep here for the night. Moreover, it's always been a pleasure to help out a young cub, so we'll definitely do our best to help him.\"\n\n\"Thank you so much. Tomorrow without fail, an employee will come here to check on him, and then, he will return him to his place.\" Mrs. Millers firmly stated.\n\n\"Fine.\" After a few seconds of silence, Mrs. Millers finished, \"Thank you for informing us. Good night!\"\n\n\"Good night. Bye bye!\" After the connection was broken, Mrs. Millers decided to call Celeste, to check if she had idea who could take the Eevee back in. But that would happen tomorrow, as she remembered that Celeste's workday had ended. So, with a sight, she decided to shut down for today, and go home. Tomorrow would be another day.\n\nCHAPTER 5\n\n\"Hello?\" Pikachu said, a bit surprised that there was a personal call to him.\n\n\"Pikachu?\" the voice responded, as she carefully thought what words to choose, to avoid getting Pikachu stressed. \"I'm Celeste, the coordinator. I wanted to talk about Eevee. Yesterday, I received a phone call from Mrs. Millers, saying that she received a call from the hospital. They said that an Eevee from here was sent there, and asked me if I know what happened to him.\"\n\nPikachu thought about it a little, but didn?t remember nothing. \"Hello?, are you there, Pikachu?\" Celeste asked again, a little stressed.\n\n\"Yeah? Yes, I don?t remember an Eevee at all\". \"When did he go to the hospital?\" asked.\n\n\"It seems that he came from the city's outskits last night\".\n\nThen, Pikachu suddenly became paralyzed, as a cold chill ran down his spine, and his face turned pale and frightened as the fateful night's events returned to his mind. He then jumped up from the chair and started to frenetically ask questions \"How's going? Is he alright? How much time has been since he was sent to the hospital? Who called? Will you send someone there? Did he get healed? Is there...\"\n\n\"Relax Pikachu, Eevee's fine. He was sent to the hospital in shock, but after his symptoms had subsided, the doctors told us that he will be returning home today. I had though of you going to the hospital to return him to his place, but I need to be sure it's okay with you.\"\n\nPikachu answered: \"Yes, yes!, no problem\", Pikachu said.\n\n\"Ok, don?t be too late. See you on monday!\" Celeste said.\n\n\"See ya\" Pikachu said before hanging up. He had to go to the hospital, and he had to do it as soon as possible.\n\nWhen he finally felt the reality that Eevee had been in the hospital and that he will be coming back home, he immediately darted from his room to the hospital. But as soon as he was running out the \"complex\", he bumped into Sceptile and Espeon, who were now talking about him, about how much he had to go through these days.\n\n\"What's with Pikachu?\" Sceptile asked, as he saw the Pikachu running on a rampage through the hallway.\n\n\"Hey Pikachu\" Sceptile said, as Pikachu waved back at him.\n\n\"What's with you?\" said Sceptile\n\n\"I remember all about that night!!\" said Pikachu.\n\n\"Sceptile! What's up with you?!\" Espeon scolded him, as he seemed to interrupt Pikachu.\n\n\"I know nothing about that night! I don?t know what happened!\" Said Sceptile, wanting Pikachu to tell them everything.\n\n\"There's nothing to tell, nothing\" said Espeon, giving Pikachu a \"Don?t care what he says\" look.\n\n\"Well, It was definitely a night. I couldn?t believe how fast that little guy was!\" Pikachu shouted, while pumping his fists in the air.\n\nEspeon and Sceptile looked at each other, as they didn?t thought that Pikachu was telling the full story.\n\n\"There's a simple explanation for everything. He was too excited that day, that it caused him to panic... That's all\" Pikachu replied nervously.\n\n\"I must go, bye!\", before running off to the city, earning a new dumbfounded look from his two peers.\n\nAfter a short while, he finally reached the bus station. He disliked having to go by bus, as he always ended messing it up with the lines and directions, but he hadn?t had another way to get to the little Eevee, as he didn?t really knew where the hospital was, because only pokemon who needed other special treatments were derived to that place. Once that he finally discerned what bus he should take, and having a bit of a hard time paying the ticket as the coins were a bit big for his paws, he sat down and tried to relax as he was on his way to the hospital.\n\nFinally, he reached the hospital, having to wait a short while, due to the crowds and no staff being available. Finally, after what seemed like a few hours of waiting, he was finally able to find someone who tell him where his little Eevee had been sent. That nurse turned to be who was looking after the Eevee. As soon as he presented himself as the one that Mrs. Millers sent there, she went to a table, and motioned him to sit.\n\nPikachu really had a good set of questions for her, so, as the nurse stopped talking, he would ask her everything.\n\n\"Well Pikachu, I'm glad that you came here to visit Eevee. He's doing really well, he's at my diagnostic office right now. And in just a few minutes, his caretaker will bring him to the main hall to see you. Is there anything else you?d like to know? \" Asked the Nurse.\n\n\"Well, to begin with, could you please let me know how he got hurt?\"\n\n\"Well, it was just one of those 'miracles?. We give credit that his caretaker was the one who actually saved him, as she pulled him out of the way of a car that would have hit him, risking her own life. But if she hadn?t taken action, he should have been hit by the car, and the results would have been much, much worse.\"\n\n\"I see...\" Pikachu answered.\n\n\"On a personal note, I've also observed that he doesn?t remember too much about what happened.\" The nurse added. \"He was unconscious for a while, and hasn?t been eating or drinking much, probably because he just woke up yesterday night.\"\n\n\"But why has Eevee ended in the hospital? Is he injured?\"\n\n\"Well, he was unconscious when he arrived here, but only sustained very superficial bruises, caused by the rough landing, but he's doing very well. The scratches on his paws and limbs will dissapear in very few days\"\n\n\"Good. Well, I'll be leaving now, after picking him up. Thank you for your time.\" Pikachu thanked the nurse.\n\n\"Pikachu, I'm sorry about what happened, but remember that Eevee has a better chance of getting healed properly if you check on him, so, surveillance is never an unnecessary plus. If there's anything I can do to help, please don?t hesitate to ask\". As the nurse walked away, Pikachu left the room to go back where he waited before.\n\nPikachu took a relaxed sigh, as he waited for the Eevee to go to the main hall to bring him back home.\n\nMinutes passed by, only for him to stare back at the still slightly crowded hall, as he waited for Eevee to arrive. But with each minute, Pikachu could feel his heart become heavier, until he finally decided to go for a short walk around the hall, to see if he could spot him.\n\n\"Hey, Eevee! Come here!\" He shouted, hoping to catch him on his way. \"Eevee!\" He called out again, but his efforts were in vain, as he coudn?t spot any trace of him, so he sat alone, on a small chair at the edge of said hall.\n\nPikachu decided that he had to end this duty no matter what, so, if the nurse told him that Eevee would be brought to the hall, he would wait there, until it was time to him to appear.\n\nA little while later, as Pikachu was starting to lose the hope to see him safe and sound, the Eevee came, and started walking towards the hall.\n\nHe couldn?t feel a better sensation run through his mind. This was what he was waiting for, as he could match the Eevee's scent, even though they were a couple hundred feet apart. As soon as he came to an stop, Pikachu could clearly see him safe and sound, as he sat down on a chair, and seemed to wait for someone.\n\n\"Eevee!\" He cried, the sound of his voice so weak to be perceptible. \"Are you all right?\"\n\nThe Eevee, as it was supposed, didn?t even hear him. Pikachu could have walked to him, but, after remembering his bad reaction when he first met him, he decided to wait for his caretaker to re-introduce Eevee to him in more friendly terms. But as the seconds passed, he couldn?t spot any caretaker at all.\n\n\"What's going on?\" Pikachu tried to keep calm, although he wasn?t so sure if he was doing the right thing. \"Hey, Eevee!\" Pikachu called again, but Eevee wasn?t responding, and Pikachu, after several tries, decided to slowly walk to him.\n\nHowever, of the possible events that could take place in the mere twenty seconds that separated him from Eevee, the one that was about to happen was definitely going to be the one he least expected.\n\nAs soon as Pikachu stood up from the chair, his body became still, his breath turned shallow, his skin went pale and colorless, and his eyes went wide open, as he nearly lost his balance. The caretaker walked into the hall, and toward the little Eevee. But that was definitely the least important detail. The explanation of such a strong shock resided more in ?who? resulted to be Eevee's caretaker. He couldn?t believe it. He couldn?t. From all the possible Pokemon who could have saved the poor Eevee, it turned out to be a Raichu.\n\n\"No! It can?t be!\" Pikachu thought. Shivers kept running through his body as he realized Eevee was talking with a Raichu. It was over. He would have to leave the hospital, as his mind wouldn?t let him take the risk of the Raichu seeing him. So, before his mind blocked him completely, he had to get away, and so, he did. Pikachu quickly ran as fast as he could, his eyes watering at the thought of Raichu talking to Eevee, until he left the hospital behind, out of sight.\n\nThen, his body started to shake as he stopped running. The coldness of the night started to play it's toll on him, as he felt himself getting colder. Luckily, he managed to spot the bus that led to the residential district without wait, and before long, he was on his way back at the \"complex\". He though while sitting in the bus what excuse could he give to Eevee not coming with him. He had to think fast. Or, more specifically, think efficiently.\n\nAs he sat on his own seat, he realized there was no way he could tell the truth to anyone, so he finally decided to lie telling them that they needed to run more checks on him. As a result, he would have to spend a day more in the hospital. So, that way, he could scurry off inside the hospital tomorrow, and, hopefully, take Eevee back without that Raichu noticing.\n\nOnce back in the \"complex\" Pikachu had dinner with Sceptile and Pidgeot. As they ate, Pikachu told then the story he had just \"tuned\", so that they wouldn?t be upset with his actions.\n\nOnce he finished talking, everyone had finished dinning, and slowly waked toward esch one's rooms. Just before splitting, Sceptile talked to Pikachu.\n\n\"I know it's hard for you, with everything that happened these days. But, you need to take care of yourself, even if you do like helping other Pokemon so much... Just, try to take it easy, so we don?t receive more bad news, Okay? That's all I ask\" he said, finishing the sentence with a firmness he had not shown anytime earlier, as he's confident about his words.\n\n\"Thank you for looking after me. You're great, guys\" he said softly, as he waved up on his paw. \"Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to get some sleep. I promise I'll be a good boy, okay?\" he said to them, and went to his room. As soon as he stepped on his nest, a long yawn escaped him. \"Oh my, What a crazy day!\", he thought as he quickly fell asleep.\n\nCHAPTER 6\n\nPikachu started to wake up. As he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see that it was still at night, hours before the sunrise.\n\nHe jumped from the nest thought about walking through the silent building, to assess his thoughts.\n\nOn one hand, Eevee deserved to be as happy as possible. He is supposed to be the one to care of Eevee. He was responsible for the kind of life he was making Eevee live.\n\nOn the other hand, he just couldn?t make it. It was just too much for him to continue, as he probably had to talk to the Raichu before taking Eevee back.\n\nHe sighed, and looked around for anything that may be of help. He found a pencil, not the kind that writes with, but a kind that does arts, and started to think. He loved to draw, so he relaxed himself a bit while sketching some of his happy old memories. Once he felt the tiredness come over him, he returned to his room, and fell asleep again.\n\n\"Aaaah!!!!\" Pikachu screamed as he suddenly awoke. His eyes were wide open, and he could feel himself drenched in sweat, his heart was pounding so fast he thought he was going to die. He looked around to stabilize himself a bit.\n\nHe had been dreaming again. Pikachu wasn?t the type of Pokemon who disliked things in general, but he couldn?t help to hate dreaming, as it made him relive the painful past, so he would be happier if he could go to sleep every night without fearing what would he dream of.\n\nAs the sun was starting to rise, Pikachu decided to end his sleeping time, and prepare himself to take Eevee back. But first of all, he would have breakfast, as he didn?t feel very hungry before. As soon as he got up, he went to the dinning room and grabbed a thick juicy grape from the bowl on the table.\n\nHe swallowed it all, and just when he was about to leave, Espeon came in. For one time, Pikachu hoped that he would remain unnoticed by the polite Espeon, so he hadn?t had to give explanations. On top of that, it was really difficult to lie to her, as she could hear every thought, and read the expressions, so he didn?t have to think much for her to, if not reveal the truth by herself, be aware of his elusive intentions. Nevertheless, he was positive that she wouldn?t notice him if he waited for her to pass by, so she wasn?t facing in his direction.\n\nEspeon went straight to the door, where she looked around to make sure there were no annoying Pokemmon around, and then she walked inside the dinning room, in order to have breakfast. Pikachu stood still in a darker corner, and hoped as hard as he could that she would just not notice him, and just go get her food and eat it.\n\nPikachu had luck, as Espeon was having a bit of a hard time waking up, and needed a little extra energy, so she just did as Pikachu thought, and when she sat in a chair to eat her breakfast, he ran as fast as he could to the door. When he was crossing the door, Espeon noticed him, but still wasn?t expecting to see him leave that way. As she then knew he was inside, and had to run through at least, a few tens of feet from the nearest tables to the entrance in the direction she saw him dissapear, came to the conclusion that there was an high probability that Pikachu saw her in some moment on his way out, so she was a bit confused of him leaving without saying nothing to her. It's not that she was the typical Pokemon who felt the center of the universe, rather the opposite, but it was strange for Pikachu to ignore any known face, due to his cheerful personality. As she couldn?t guess more than that without talking to him, she resumed her breakfast.\n\nPikachu then ran away from the \"complex\", and got the same bus line he rode yesterday night, so, in a short while, he was back at the hospital. He came through the same route, and entered the same waiting room he was in yesterday. Since it was still so early, nobody was there yet, and it would be easier to him to turn back Eevee where he belonged.\n\nWhen he got to the entrance of the little Eevee's room, he feared to see 'someone? he had seen before sitting there. But, as if today was Pikachu's lucky day, only the Eevee was there.\n\n\"Eevee, are you okay?\" He whispered to the cub, as he was standing very close to the door, to avoid anyone who was walking by to get curious.\n\n\"Y-Yes, I'm fine. Just leave me alone, please\" said Eevee as he started to shake again.\n\n\"Sorry, but I can?t let you in here anymore\" said Pikachu with a grin on his face, knowing that he needed a bit of psychology to get Eevee to come with him in friendly terms.\n\n\"Wha... what are you talking about?\" said Eevee, very confused by his sudden appearance.\n\n\"You have to return back home, okay? I should have come yesterday.\"\n\n\"But... what about Raichu?\" asked Eevee.\n\nAt the single mention to the Raichu, Pikachu's body stiffened again, as a very uncomfortable pressure packed up in his gut. Once he confirmed that there were no Raichu around, he continued talking to the cub.\n\n\"I'm sure Raichu is fine with you being discharged from the hospital\"\n\n\"But... why? I don?t want to go back!\"\n\n\"Just trust me, okay?\"\n\n\"But I'm not even a good student, and I'm not very valuable for you.\"\n\n\"I don?t care about those little things\" Pikachu sighed. \"I know we're not in what everybody would call a \"perfect\" place, but now I'm going to ask you something. If you don?t come back to your room, where are you going to?\" Pikachu asked.\n\n\"I... I don?t know. Maybe some trainer's house?\" Eevee answered, looking at the floor, as if the answer were obvious. At the only mention of battling, Pikachu tried to get the idea out of his mind.\n\n\"It isn?t that easy. You see, powerful Pokemon like Raichu battle wildly for fame and money. If you aren?t really well prepared, they aren?t going to give you an opportunity to back up, so, for your own safety, you have to always avoid pokemon battling. Always\" affirmed Pikachu.\n\n\"But Raichu seems nice, because wh...\"\n\n\"NO!\" Pikachu said in a loud tone \"There are no nice pokemon who are made for battling. Only those who are dedicated to their helpful jobs alone are worthy of getting your thrust. So you are NOT staying here anymore. It's time to return home. It's for your safety.\"\n\n\"But... I...I... don?t want to, Please, Please\" Eevee said as he started to sob uncontrollably.\n\n\"Look, I don?t want to hurt your feelings, but I just can?t let you continue to suffer like this. And by staying here, you aren?t going to achieve nothing.\"\n\nEevee got up, and as soon as he did, Pikachu felt a distressing feeling in his mind, as if it was about to happen something really disgusting.\n\n\"Eevee, we want to help you. We know you can do so much better, so we want to make you feel at home, bec...\"\n\n\"My mother died!!\", Eevee interrupted him, hurting his throat a bit by the sudden reaction. Pikachu closed his eyes sympathetically, as Eevee continued to talk in his sorrow: \"Mommy really wanted to find me a new home, but she was already so sick that she wasn?t able do so. The last thing she said was that whatever happened to me, she would always love me...\" As he kept shedding tears, heartbroken.\n\n\"I'm sorry, Eevee.\"\n\n\"Why, Pikachu?, Whyyy...?\" Said Eevee between hiccups.\n\nHis job was what a lot of people would think of as a \"too easy job\". However, working in a Pokemon orphanage had his very noticeable downsides. How could him tell an Eevee cub that his mother isn?t going to return? How could he bring happiness to some stray cubs who shared such tragic backstories? It definitely wasn?t a job for the lighthearted.\n\n\"You need to calm down and rest Eevee. It's going to be alright, okay?\"\n\n\"No...\" The cub replied in an echoing voice.\n\nPikachu knelt down and, as if he knew what the cub wanted, whispered something in Eevee's ears: \"It's okay. I'll always be here to support you and I'm going to work night and day to find you a new family. But now, I need you to trust me. You aren?t the first one in here, and many pokemon who lived here ended living a happy life. So let's see where this path takes us. That's what your late mother had wished for you, isn?t it?\"\n\nPikachu stood up, gave his buddy a long embrace and gave one last shout of joy:\n\n\"Eevee! We are going to find a new family for you! Come on!\"\n\nEevee whimpered, but slowly nodded his head. He knew that he had no chance other than wait for the events to occur. With that thought, he too smiled, although it was a much sadder smile than Pikachu's.\n\nPikachu then turned around and, after giving another sigh, he motioned Eevee to follow him, and in a hour, they were both back at the orphanage. Pikachu felt that he had done a really good job, so he could relax and take care about another issues.\n\nHowever, later that day, in the evening, Espeon was taking a calm stroll around the entrance hall, when she spotted a particularly worried Raichu looking for somebody. Espeon quickly got closer to her, and, as she got nearer, Raichu fixed her look at Espeon, as if telling her that she needed to ask her something.\n\n\"Hello, how can I help you?\" Espeon asked.\n\n\"Well, the other day, while I was volunteering at the hospital, an Eevee cub came in and I was asked to supervise him until he was discharged. But when I got there in the morning, he wasn?t in his room anymore. His direction in the registry matches with this building, and I wanted to make sure he is okay.\" Raichu spoke quietly, almost too quietly, trying not to draw attention.\n\n\"Wow, that must have been awful. Did you do a search for him around the place? Or perhaps a little...?\" Espeon slowed down and didn?t finish the sentence as she remembered the other day's events. She had an idea about this, as she knew that Pikachu was involved in this Eevee's care.\n\n\"I don?t know where he is now, but if you prefer, I'm going to find the employee in charge of him.\" Raichu paused for a while, then said \"Thank you, really.\"\n\nEspeon just smiled and left the place. She didn?t know if the cub was in class or not, but she knew that she had an urge to try to find Pikachu, so she decided to search for him. Now, she used her psychic abilities to try to locate Pikachu with success, as he wasn?t too far away. She just went up to him and in a while, finally saw him teaching a game to a group of cubs. She approached him.\n\n\"Hi, Pikachu!\"\n\nPikachu turned around, and then she knew she had him.\n\n\"I'm sorry to appear here all of a sudden, but I've been asked for the little Eevee who was at the hospital\" She told him.\n\nPikachu didn?t want to continue with that issue, and decided to continue the teaching. He pointed to the little cubs, who were busy playing with each other.\n\n\"They are just testing how strong they are with each other, you know?\"\n\nEspeon just laughed at his answer. \"There is more to training than testing. It's a really good activity, but you didn?t answer my question\"\n\nPikachu scratched his head. \"How am I supposed to know where he is? this is my first time working with Eevee\"\n\nEspeon was atill a bit confused. \"Are you sure you haven?t seen him?\" She insisted.\n\n\"I've met other Eevee in my life. If I were to see one, I'm sure I could remember him\" He said without thinking. That was an important issue, because that was the only way to keep Espeon's powers at bay.\n\n\"It's okay, if you don?t remember, tell me when you see him, ok?\"\n\n\"Yes, don?t worry\" replied Pikachu while playfully poking the little cubs.\n\nEspeon was surprised at his answer, but knew that she just couldn?t ignore Raichu, as she took her responsibility so seriously that she even went there to the orphanage to make Eevee's return less traumatic for him.\n\nAs Espeon made her way back to the entrance, she was surprised to see that the Raichu stood there, waiting for her. As soon as Espeon entered to the reception hall, Raichu quickly walked to her, and asked if she had found him.\n\nShe shook her head, but let Raichu in so that she could search for him herself. \"Thank you so much!\" she said, as she ran in to find Eevee.\n\n\"Thank you so much!\" she said, as Raichu ran in to find Eevee.\n\nCHAPTER 7\n\nRaichu, knowing the cub's nature, knew that she had to find the one in charge. Raichu didn?t think the little Eevee was ready to be with other kids, as he is undergoing a difficult moment, and she just couldn?t let him suffer.\n\nShe started to look for the caretaker, knowing that he was a Pikachu. But it was difficult to search for someone who is rather small, having in count the size of the building and the lots of cubs that ran all over the place, as today's lessons were over.\n\nShe headed to the receptionist, and asked her about the caretaker. \"Please\" she started, \"can you help me find the nurse or the caretaker of Eevee?\"\n\nThe receptionist couldn?t give her an answer. She knew that all the cubs were taken care of, but there were so many that it was impossible for just one worker to watch all of them.\n\nThat's when Raichu was informed about different caretakers, but she was told by the receptionist that she remembered who could inform her about them in depth, so she could discover who had taken the little one in.\n\n\"Thank you so much!\" exclaimed Raichu, as she looked around to find the director of the residence section, where the cubs? rooms were. As she walked in the main hall of that building, she could spot Mrs. Millers.\n\n\"Excuse me, but I have something to ask you\" She said, hoping that Mrs. Millers would hear her.\n\n\"Oh, hello! have you been here before?\" the director replied, as she didn?t remember any Raichu.\n\n\"Well, I haven?t been here before. I'm looking for is Mrs. Millers. My name is Raichu, and I'm looking for her\" she explained.\n\n\"Oh, that's so nice!\" exclaimed Mrs. Millers, as she shook Raichu's paw, and introduced herself. \"I don?t recall seeing you before, but maybe you've seen me earlier. I'm Mrs. Millers. Nice to meet you, Raichu\" Responded in a polite tone. \"What brings you around?\"\n\n\"I'm here to visit an Eevee cub who was discharged from the hospital earlier today. I was told that someone came to pick him up, but nobody informed me.\" answered Raichu as she rubbed her cheek with her paw.\n\n\"Well, how about I show you around. Come along. You can say hello to the rest of the cubs\" she said, as she opened the door to the residence section of the building, and motioned for Raichu to follow her.\n\nAs they were walking through the halls, the director pointed out the many different cubs in the residence section.\n\n\"Now this is Litten. He's only two years old, but he's already so amazing. He's like a lion, except he is a little smaller.\" the director said in an humorous tone as she pointed to a little baby Litten, who was playing with a thread.\n\n\"And this one's Dedenne. He's only a year old, but he can already open doors.\" As they approached the cubs? rooms, Mrs. Millers showed Raichu how the cubs liked to play with each other.\n\n\"And that's Millie, Marbles, Dilbert and Robbie. Now these four are all siblings, and they live together. This one's like a mother hen, while the one next to her is like a son, and the one next to him is like a daughter. And that's Bogles. He's just a baby, but when he grows up, he's gonna be an even more powerful leader. We had to give names to identify each one of them.\"\n\n\"Oh, I see\" She smiled, as she looked at the numerous Rattata in a group. As they slowly walked through the building, Raichu kept looking here and there, searching for an Eevee, but it was hard to find him in a place packed of baby Pokemon.\n\n\"And that's one Eevee that was in a catatonic state\" explained Mrs. Millers, as Raichu's attention was quickly draw to the Eevee cub. \"I think he had some emotional trauma. He was really sensitive to the touch. We had to wait until he fell asleep to transfer him here. It's not what we would have liked for him, but we had no other choice.\"\n\n\"Oh, that's so nice! it must be hard to be so traumatized\" Raichu responded, as she saw him sitting against a wall. After checking that he was the cub she was looking for, thanked Mrs. Millers for her help, and she leaned against the wall beside the cub, and he suddenly opened his eyes, and looked at Raichu.\n\n\"Hello. I'm Raichu, do you remember me?\" she said. \"I'm here to visit you.\"\n\n\"Oh, so are you the same one that I talked to yesterday?\" he responded in a shocked tone. \"I haven?t seen anyone like you before, so I remember you.\"\n\n\"Oh yeah, well, when I arrived to the hospital, the nurses told me that you?d been transferred here, so I decided to visit you\" She said. \"What happened to you, Eevee?\"\n\n\"Well, Pikachu just took me out, and told me that...\" Then, Eevee remembered that Pikachu had told him to keep away from Pokemon species that were made for fighting, for example Raichu.\n\nAs soon as he processed the talk Pikachu gave him, he just stopped talking, and kept silent.\n\n\"What did Pikachu told you?\" She asked, as she looked at the frightened Eevee. As she looked at him, she noticed a brown bandage on his head.\n\n\"H-how did you get hurt?\" Raichu asked in a shocked tone.\n\nEevee was frightened to talk to Raichu. But, as he was so near to her, he thought that if he didn?t answer, Raichu could hurt him badly before he was able to run away from her. \"Well, Pikachu said it was dangerous to fight other pokemon, and then he took me away from the hospital\" He said with a blank stare \"When I came back, I saw tho other cubs playing, and I wanted to play too, but they told me to leave\" He said in a serious tone \" And, I was scared, and, I didn?t want to do it, so, I just... I ran away... And hit my head on a door.\" He said with a teary eyed face. \"Pikachu was right. Pokemon like me and him can?t fight anyone.\"\n\n\"That's really hard to hear.\" Raichu said in a depressed tone, as she realized that the Eevee's caretaker must be a Pikachu. \"Would you like to tell me where is the Pikachu who helped you to come back?\"\n\nShe asked, as she looked at the cub, who felt very pressured by her.\n\n\"Ok\" Eevee said. \"He is coming back in five minutes\" as he looked towards one of the back doors. \"I will wait here. I will stay here until he arrives, okay?\"\n\n\"Ok, Raichu.\" Eevee said as he started to walk away. Raichu thought about asking the Eevee to stay, but as he seemed to be so nervous and scared, preferred to let him do as he pleased.\n\nAs Eevee said, five minutes later, Pikachu entered the room. At first, he stared searching for Eevee and started to search for him, but he found someone who wasn?t expexted to be there.\n\nAs soon as he saw a Raichu standing there, he felt an immense fear, which made him freeze in place. He then tried to talk to another cub to show him a game, hoping that the Raichu wouldn?t notice him, but this time, he wasn?t so lucky, because as soon as he started to talk to a random cub to face backwards her, the Raichu saw him and quickly ran to his side, and presented herself.\n\n\"Hi, Pikachu.\" Raichu said as she looked at him with a warm smile. Pikachu felt the terror run through his veins, as she didn?t just spotted him, but went straight to talk to him. Pikachu felt a strong pressure in his chest, as he realized that this Raichu really wanted him to talk to her.\n\n\"Hi\" he said to her as he sat down, put his ears down and his tail laid on the ground. He tried to hide his fear and talk to her, as he needed to be seen as a cheerful leader by the little cubs, but he just couldn?t do it, as he was completely terrified by Raichu.\n\n\"You're Pikachu, right?\" She asked him. Pikachu was so afraid, that he felt like a small child, because he was still unable to talk to Raichu properly.\n\n\"Yes\" Pikachu replied.\n\n\"Well, do you know anything about Eevee? He seems to know you very well\" Raichu said, giving a small pat on the shoulder to the smaller Pikachu, trying to ease him into the conversation.\n\n\"No\" Pikachu said, as he couldn?t talk to Raichu at all, as she was too much for him.\n\nHe didn?t know how to respond to her, so he just sat there and stared at the ground.\n\n\"Well, Eevee just told me that he knows you very well.\" Raichu said, as she looked over at Pikachu, as she noticed him looking down.\n\nShe just looked up to him and smiled \"Do you now remember who Eevee is?\".\n\nPikachu started to squirm. It took him a second to process what Raichu had just said. He started to feel uneasy, because she had just implied that she knew him very well, as Eevee told her about him.\n\nHe was scared of the possibility that she was going to ask him to battle, to train or something like that. But Raichu smiled, and just looked back at him, as if she was trying to make him feel better. However, he didn?t have the courage to talk to her as he felt his lips stick together. Finally, he could just answer \"Yes\".\n\n\"So Pikachu, I just want to say thank you, as I know it was hard for you to care for Eevee, and I know you really love him.\" Pikachu started to nod and he gave his head a shake.\n\nRaichu just looked at him and smiled. She felt very special in this place, she felt good and comfortable there. She felt like she would be one with the cubs, one of the ?family?, and she felt she knew how to comfort them and give them the company they needed.\n\n\"You know Pikachu, it is very nice to meet you\" Raichu said, before turning back to leave the room. She didn?t notice it, but he looked at her with a very sad expression on his face.\n\nBefore leaving, she spotted Eevee again, running behind her, and a smile on his face. \"Oh, there's Eevee!\" Raichu said in a playful tone as Eevee stopped, looking back at Raichu, a confused look on his face.\n\n\"Will you visit me again someday?\" Eevee asked, his eyes fluttering. Raichu had to think about this for a second. She really liked Eevee, he was a very cute little boy, and it seemed she was his friend. Raichu was sure she would do whatever she could to keep Eevee happy. She just couldn?t imagine him being so alone. She knew that Pikachu did his best to try and help him, but there were so many cubs that, in the end, it was too much for him to handle. \"Of course I will!\" Raichu said, not wanting Eevee to be alone in his time of need.\n\nEevee looked at Raichu with a look of wonderment on his face.\n\nAs she waved goodbye and left the room, Raichu searched for Mrs. Millers, trying to find her, and when she finally found her, she was surprised to see that she gestured her to come. Raichu followed her down the hallway, as she led Raichu to the entrance hall, where Mrs. Millers talked to Raichu \"I have seen how well you have done with Eevee, and I am happy to see that he has finally found someone who he can confide in. I think we can make the best of this by allowing you to visit him weekly. He has never really been allowed to exit the building by himself, but, with you and Pikachu by his side, he is sure to be able to go for a walk and go to the movies or play with you when he feels like it. It will be a pleasure to have you around, Raichu.\"\n\nRaichu couldn?t feel better. Raichu felt a huge amount of happiness as she was accepted to volunteer in a place where she really could help Eevee. Raichu's eyes got big as she nodded to Mrs. Millers, as she smiled back at Raichu. Soon after, the paperwork was done, and Raichu officially became a member of the team.\n\nCHAPTER 8\n\nSoon, days went by, and Pikachu was kept occupied with new tasks, like finding more Pokemon and giving advice to Eevee and all the other Pokemon, as well as being a second pair of eyes for the other staff as the cubs were being taught at classes. The rest of the week went by with Pikachu checking on Eevee almost every day. As Saturday came, Pikachu awoke peacefully and yawned, as he walked through the streets of the residential distict, wondering what could he do today to help the cubs to feel a little better. As he kept walking, he came to the conclusion that the best thing to do would be to go into the city and take a walk through the commercial district, as the cubs were surprised by the large amount of shops, making them feel very excited about the new surroundings. As he got closer to the cinema, Pikachu thought about going with the kids to the cinema. Definitely worth a chance. As he finished his daily walk through the city, he came back to the orphanage.\n\n\"Hello!\" Pidgeot said. \"Hey guys, Pikachu has returned!\" informed to his peers \"I hope you have had a good day, Pikachu\" added Espeon.\n\n\"Thank you guys!\" replied Pikachu. \"Are there any news today?\"\n\n\"We have had quite a lot of news this week, Pikachu.\" Espeon said \"It seems that Eevee is doing really well. He hasn?t been spending too much time in the corner, and he's been around the cubs a lot more than we had expected. He's even asked to go the cinema with a few of them to see Pokemon: Ultraheroes, which the staff are happy about, as they want Eevee to feel a little more comfortable. Another good thing has happened as well, a new volunteer will help the cubs on a weekly basis. The name will be revealed in the afternoon, after having lunch, but we know she is a female!\"\n\nPikachu was incredibly happy with this news. It was finally revealed that he will finally be helped out with helping to improve the orphanage's performance, as she would be part of the team. \"Awesome.\" he said, smiling and raising his head \"Can I see her? Oh wait, she's coming later!\" Pikachu said in utter excitement. Everyone knew he takes his job seriously, hence the cubs always had a great time with him. Having someone new here would entice Pikachu to instruct her, so he could take his needed rest more often.\n\nAfter they had left to have lunch in the dining room area, they met Mrs. Millers at the hall. When she was sure everyone interested had arrived and were seated, she began.\n\n\"Good day everyone. Welcome to the general meeting I have urgently convoked\" Mrs. Millers announced, \"Well, I have very important news to tell you, which is that you all are getting a new volunteer!\"\n\nThere was a big round of cheers, as the cubs were incredibly happy. After silence was made again, Mrs. Millers contunued her speech. \"She's a very nice Pokemon, who likes to play and be active, and she loves to be around cubs and adults. She is also very friendly and will always be a good friend to you all.\" she said, \"And yes, she is very much the type of Pokemon that isn?t afraid to help others, regardless of who they are or the needs they have. Without further ado, let's give our new volunteer a cheerful welcome!\".\n\nThe room was filled with cheers and excitement, as Mrs. Millers proceeded to call said volunteer. \"Give a warm welcome to Raichu!\"\n\nPikachu just couldn?t believe what he was hearing, \"Oh my god!\" he muttered, and his eyes widened in horror. \"Why a Raichu?\" he then asked to himself.\n\nA seconds later, he heard the very loud roar from the room subside, as the camera in the room zoomed to the direction of the Raichu. The cubs were a little bit scared when the cameraman first appeared, but they recovered quickly. It could be seen at a glance that Raichu is an energetic pokemon which loved to play and was very eager to interact with everyone. \"Hello.\" said Raichu, giving a cheerful smile.\n\n\"Hello, Raichu.\" replied the cubs.\n\n\"Can I have a hug?\" she asked, still smiling, then she opened her arms, as lots of kids ran to her to hug her tightly. She seemed to had tears of joy in her eyes. \"Thank you!\" she said, as her face turned red in embarassment.\n\n\"You're welcome, Raichu.\" answered Mrs. Millers, the contagious smile already in her face. \"Now, I've arranged for all the employees to help me give you some of your well-deserved welcome party!\" Mrs. Milles said to Raichu and motioned her to come, once the cubs had ?crushed? her a bit.\n\n\"All right.\" said Raichu, as she followed her new boss. She and Mrs. Millers, along with the young ones, walked to the dining room and enjoyed the delicious buffet lunch that was set up. It was a huge feast, with lots of dishes for all types of tastes, which were explained by Mrs. Millers to the cubs who weren?t able to tell what they were. \"See those plates there?\" she asked, indicating a tall table full of fruits and vegetables. \"Those are some of the most common types of fruits and vegetables, which we try to add some variety and freshness to our diets.\" As the cubs were amazed at the sight of huge amounts of food.\n\n\"There are a lot of different vegetables, both for regular diets and special diets, for example, grass species which are suited for light foods tend to get sick if they eat spicy food\" continued Mrs. Millers. \"Those nuts are high in vitamins, they're also high in fiber and calcium and are great sources of fat and protein. The best food for an energetic lifestyle!\" She then started picking some fruit which was on the plates. \"These apples and oranges here seem like pretty good choices.\" The cubs didn?t really know what a carrot or a bunch of celery was, but didn?t have any objections. This way, she ensured that the cubs ate healthy food before desserts, and taught Raichu how to convince them to eat what they need, instead of what they want.\n\n\"Now, Raichu, would you like some of those?, I'm sure you're quite hungry by now\" asked Mrs. Millers, as the cubs ran to the table and ate their food. Raichu looked around her, and decided on a bunch of bananas. She then walked towards the table, and picked one, and then jogged back to the camera. \"Bye!\" she shouted, and waved to the camera, as it was shut down. It wasn?t a TV show, but it would be a nice memory to remember by the time she grows older. She then went over to the staff table and sat down, where tens of humans and pokemon who worked there shared a meal with one another. She had a nice time there, as she also met Celeste, and so many others. She also heard about a retired volunteer named Carl. Apparently, he was very loved by many of the employees and had a lot of great times with the pokemon who resided there, and visited the orphanage frequently while he was able to.\n\nAfter the meal was done, Raichu told her new peers in a cheerful voice \"That was nice, wasn?t it? You all have a good appetite, it seems\" she said as everyone laughed at the fact that there were no food left.\n\nOnce the night fell, everyone said goodbye to each other before going back to the residential section, leaving the staff alone. \"So, Raichu, how was your first day?\" asked Mrs. Millers, as she didn?t have any obvious chance to ask the new employee.\n\n\"It was great. I really liked it here. So many baby Pokemon who are all so nice, playful and full of life.\" Raichu answered, surprised at the great welcome she was given. As Mrs. Millers knew that Raichu listened very seriously what she said, decided to motivate her to do her best.\n\n\"We want them to go to loving and caring homes, but, for now their life depends on us. They're still very young, and only a handful of them might walk the correct path in life if we don?t teach them the right values. You, Raichu, have a very bright future as a caretaker. I'm sure that with the training you'll get here, you'll definitely change the life of everyone here.\"\n\n\"But, how do you believe in me? I haven?t done anything to deserve that.\" replied the Raichu, remembering that she was offered the position after visiting only once.\n\n\"A wise man taught me once how to discern who can really enjoy this job, and you definitely do. But, what really matters is that you keep coming back here, and care for all the pokemon here on weekends, so they can have fun with you, instead of letting their minds focus on their past memories. That's what really matters.\" Said Mrs. Millers.\n\n\"I'll do my best.\" Said Raichu, who was truly touched by the words.\n\n\"Well then, I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of you, and your pokemon family in here, Mrs. Millers.\" said Raichu.\n\n\"Do yo want me to show your new room?\" Said Mrs. Millers, who smiled at her.\n\n\"Yes! Thank you!\" Raichu shouted, with a big smile on her face.\n\nA couple of minutes later, they got to her new room.\n\n\"Here it is, Raichu! Your new room! Since you don?t obviously don?t have to work all night long, this is your own personal place to relax, exercise, or whatever you feel to do in your free time. Feel free to come here anytime you want, this is your second home. Oh! and I nearly forgot it! There are also staff rooms, where you can talk between yourselves without some pesky cubs overhearing you. There's nothing bad in it, but maybe you prefer to talk to the other employees in a more private environment.\" Mrs. Millers finished. \"If you have any doubt, don?t hesitate to ask me\".\n\nRaichu said nothing. She felt so lucky, being given a chance to feel comfortable doing what she liked the most, and not have to worry about other's hurtful opinions. This made her emotional, and she felt so happy.\n\n\"That's all Raichu. I hope you enjoy this new chapter in your life. Now it's a bit late, so get some rest and get ready for tomorrow, okay?\" Mrs. Millers said, and Raichu gave her a smile.\n\n\"Okay Mrs. Millers.\" Raichu said, before saying goodbye to each other.\n\nShe entered the room, went to her bed, lay down on it, and stared at the ceiling for a while, thinking about the events that happened today. It was a very happy day for her, and she enjoyed her day in all its beauty. But there were some things that she wanted to do next weeks, like finding Eevee a new family, or learn more about her colleagues.\n\nCHAPTER 9\n\nEven though she wouldn?t visit daily, Raichu thought that it would be good if she spent the day here today, in order to properly learn the place, the rules, and meet the rest of her peers.\n\nAs soon as she woke up, she prepared herself and waited outside her room, until someone else appeared. Soon, she saw a pokemon entering the corridor. It was Espeon, who was the only one awake at the moment, as she had been training.\n\n\"Good morning, Espeon! I see you're awake already.\" Raichu said.\n\nEspeon gave her a cheerful nod. \"Good morning, Raichu! How's your night going so far? You must be tired after the events yesterday, huh?\" Espeon replied.\n\nRaichu blushed. \"Espeon, I can?t believe that we're in the same place at the same time.\" She said, with a nervous laugh, as she scolded herself for saying such a silly thing.\n\n\"Well, it's a bit surprising, but what can I say?\" Espeon replied. \"We had a great time together, and we might be working together in the future. You're in a pretty good place, Raichu. Don?t give up on it. I know you can do it, and I'll do anything to help you.\"\n\nRaichu was a little bit awestruck. She didn?t expect Espeon, to be so nice.\n\n\"Thank you, Espeon!\" Raichu said, with a big smile on her face.\n\nEspeon continued talking to her, as Raichu seemed to eager to know everything she needed.\n\n\"Well, the first place you want to know is, well, are the staff rooms on each building in the complex. Another place the cubs like so much is the special gym in the center. They also have different types of training charts. From battle to training to simple social activity. Also, from the looks of things, there's going to be a tag tournament with the Pokemon around this time.\" Espeon explained, excitedly, as she continued describing the place.\n\nRaichu turned her head to her left, and saw Espeon's pokemon food, which looked so delicious. After seeing Espeon's food, she began to feel hungry, and Espeon noticed that she was surprised by this.\n\n\"I know, you're probably thinking what Espeon had to eat today. Well, don?t worry about food. There's a great cooking team that cook good food for everyone in each day, and the vegetables and meat are cooked by a man named Mr. Wallbanger, who even makes the roast himself. His recipes are really good.\" Espeon told her. Raichu was a bit shocked as she didn?t though it out loud.\n\n\"And what about the other workers in our group?\" asked Raichu.\n\nEspeon gave her a carefree look.\n\n\"Sceptile is the most outgoing of the group. He doesn?t hesitate to throw jokes around with any of the co-workers. Even kids that are a bit older are usually comfortable with him. He's so tiring sometimes, but it's worth it. Pidgeot is a bit naive pokemon. While she cares a lot about her peers, she likes to act like she's more immature than others. However, she's a really good pokemon and very smart.\" Espeon added.\n\n\"And Pikachu is... Just the sweetest of them all. He is really very lovable. No matter how you act around him, he always gives you a warm and happy smile. Everyone here agrees that Pikachu is a very unique pokemon.\"\n\nRaichu thanked her for the introductions, and asked Espeon to lead her to the dinning room.\n\n\"Follow me, Raichu!\"\n\nEspeon didn?t even turn her head to look at Raichu as she walked toward the dinning room.\n\nWhen they got there, they saw the cooks cooking up the food for their fellow workers. After the cooks finished serving their first meals, Raichu couldn?t help but stare at them in wonder, as the food that was being served looked delicious! Without hesitating, Raichu went to the order area, and, after being served and receiving Espeon's permission, she started eating.\n\nAs soon as they finished breakfast, they saw a large group of pokemon starting to order, Pikachu among them.\n\nEspeon soon spotted him and quickly headed towards him.\n\n\"Pikachu!\" Espeon said, excitedly, as she approached him. Pikachu was also ordering a rather good breakfast, as he woke up rather hungry.\n\n\"Good morning!\" Pikachu replied with a smile, as he looked at Espeon.\n\n\"Good morning, Pikachu! I see you woke up a bit late today. Any good breakfast here?\" Espeon asked as she sat down next to him.\n\nPikachu frowned to the floor with an angry expression, after hearing her making fun of his sleep habits, but soon, his eyes lit up with a huge smile, and he turned his head to Espeon.\n\n\"Anything it's served today is good for me! I'm starving!\" He said, as he ordered two large breakfasts and a plate of bacon.\n\nEspeon stared at Pikachu for a while, wondering how can he be so hungry already.\n\nRaichu was also staring at them, wondering about what were they talking.\n\n\"Come here to sit with us. We're having a great time together!\" said Espeon, as Pikachu became confused. The others were still up in their rooms, hence, no one should be accompanying Espeon.\n\n\"Us?\" replied Pikachu.\n\nEspeon then replied \"Yes silly, Raichu is already at the table! We're having a great time together!\" She added with a smile.\n\nShe looked back at Raichu, who was sat down at a distant table, staring at them.\n\n\"See! Your breakfast is ready! Come with me and sit with us!\" Espeon said, as she used telekinesis to take Pikachu's order to the table.\n\nPikachu's personality turned rather cold at the thought of having to share table with Raichu for minutes.\n\nHe sat down at the table, but only looked at Espeon, as he started to eat his meal really fast. \"Hi Pikachu!\" Raichu greeted him.\n\nHe just stared at the table with a blank expression.\n\nEspeon smiled and waited for Pikachu to respond.\n\n\"Hi Raichu! Great to see you!\" He said as he returned to staring at the table.\n\nRaichu insisted a bit \"Don?t be shy! I'm happy to see you!\" She added with a friendly smile.\n\nPikachu didn?t answer anymore, so Raichu tried again \"Are you okay?\" She asked as she got a little worried.\n\nPikachu just shrugged as he continued to eat his breakfast, but soon he felt Espeon's presence in his mind. He was left in a more relaxed state of mind, so he could at least answer something coherent without panicking.\n\n\"I'm fine. Thank you for asking. Are you comfortable here?\" He answered as he looked at Raichu, and she smiled back to him.\n\n\"Oh yeah, I like the atmosphere! But where are you guys from?\" She said with a smile\n\nShe looked at the others, seeing that they too seemed quite at ease.\n\n\"I am from the Kanto region!\" Pikachu replied, and the others nodded in agreement.\n\n\"Hmm...So, where are you from?\" He asked, curious to know more about the new people around him\n\nRaichu nodded \"Kanto forests are also my home, where I spent my cubhood.\"\n\nPikachu and Espeon nooded in agreement, before they heard Raichu continue.\n\n\"But now I'm staying this city. It's a nice place, especially its colorful ever-changing views through the year.\" She said.\n\n\"Hm...so you're a new resident?\" Espeon asked.\n\n\"Yup!\" Raichu answered \"I just came here a few weeks ago.\"\n\n\"Really? Are you enjoying your stay so far?\" She asked.\n\n\"I am, and I am very excited about what's to come.\" Raichu responded with a grin.\n\n\"I see! Well, you will enjoy this experience for the long haul! If you have any doubts of what to do, you can always ask Pikachu or me to help!\" Espeon nodded afterwards, then she began to walk away, leaving the chu duo alone.\n\n\"Well Pikachu, what are you doing now?\" Raichu asked, as he stood still. \"I'm heading to a nearby park where I think there might be some Pokemon in need\" Pikachu stated.\n\n\"Can I help?\" Raichu asked.\n\nPikachu was then again really uncomfortable with Raichu's request to help. Pikachu then turned to Raichu and started to shake. \"Y...Y...\" he whispered. Raichu was starting to get nervous, as if something might go wrong. The male then decided that he would just let her go, fearing he might get hurt. \"Alright,\" he said, and headed to the park, looking at the floor the entire walk.\n\nRaichu soon began to think why Pikachu was acting so nervous, as he couldn?t articulate what he was thinking. A little later, the two finally came to a really large and crouded park, with several hundred PokA(c)mon playing there. \"So, whats this?\" Raichu asked, walking up to the entrance.\n\nThe entrance of the park was a small red-lit pathway, and there were a small waterfall. Raichu walked up to there, where a few water pokemon were bathing. What she didn?t expect was that as soon as she turned back, Pikachu dissapeared.\n\n\"Pikachu!\" she shouted. Raichu then looked back, but there was no Pikachu. \" He got away!\" she thought. After a long time searching for him, she realized that the area was too large to find Pikachu, and he wasn?t coming back to her, so she decided to go back to her home, thinking on what to do the next weekend to entertain the cubs, but a bit annoyed with herself because she couldn?t find Pikachu.\n\n-------------------------\n\nLater that day, once night felt, Pikachu came back to the orphanage, and, as soon as he entered the main hall, found Sceptile standing there, throwing paper balls in a bin, or more accurately, near a bin. \"Ouch! that one was near!\" Sceptile groaned.\n\n\"Hi guy! How's going\" Pikachu asked him.\n\nSceptile sighed. \"Meh. Just an average training day. But I just saw a paper ball and decided to sit here until I get it in the bin. Why is it so hard?!\"\n\n\"I dunno, I just can wish you luck,\" he replied, and with that he made a cute OK sign with his paw. \"Whatever\" Sceptile replied. \"How about you?\"\n\nPikachu nodded his head, but then, he remembered what he did to escape from Raichu, and, logically, he shouldn?t tell it to Sceptile, since he is another member of the team, and would probably use that information to make some fun of him. \"Today, I had an acceptable day. I went with Raichu to the park, and taught her how to solve some of the common cubs problems, you know, like sharing a meal or playing harsh games\" Pikachu replied in a playful tone, trying to hide his feelings. \"Sounds like fun\" replied Sceptile.\n\nAs Pikachu left him playing ?basketbin?, he decided to end this day as soon as possible, so he went directly to his room, laid down on his nest, and slowly went asleep, remembering the bitter memories lived today.\n\nCHAPTER 10\n\nPikachu woke up in a comfortable bed. It was a sunny day, and he was in the backyard of an old house. He could see the trees outside, and could smell the sun on the freshly plucked grass.\n\nThe Pikachu slowly walked out the door and saw the entire backyard. He saw a tree next to him with a small opening in it. \"That is where I come every morning when it is sunny outside. I came here because there is a nice view and I can take some rest.\" A boy in his late teens said.\n\nThe Pikachu nodded. It was a good way to start the morning. \"Do you know what are we doing today? I just thought about it, and I think it would be a nice idea to have some outdoor training.\"\n\n\"Yeah, I know what you mean buddy\" The boy answered. \"Don?t worry, we're going to the city today, where we will be fighting against different trainers and Pokemon.\"\n\nPikachu smiled happily at his trainer. He definitely likes it when his trainer takes him out. But, what he really loves is the peaceful and good vibe his friendly relationship with that human was.\n\n\"Make sure to be finished with breakfast in time, so we don?t have to go walking, like last time\" Pikachu's trainer asked.\n\n\"You got it\" the Pikachu replied.\n\nAs soon as they had finished, Pikachu and his trainer started to walk towards the train station, which laid near the gym they had previously met. After an hour of swift walking, they got to see a impressive building surrounded by railways.\n\n\"It's pretty high!\" he exclaimed. \"Have you been here before?\"\n\n\"Well, I haven?t\". Pikachu was excited for the adventure he was about to start. The young trainer also felt the same way. After all, being able to travel to the capital city of the region was the best thing he could've wished for.\n\nAs he sat on the train, he watched through the window the changing landscapes until they reached the city.\n\nHowever, as he left the train station, a rush of memories started to come to him. They all flowed, flooding his mind. Soon, he started to panic, thinking about what was to come. Soon, he felt everything turning black.\n\n---------------------------------------------------------\n\nHe immediately jumped on his nest, realizing that he was having his typical nightmares again. They always happened every time he thought he was able to leave his past behind.\n\nThe Pikachu sat, shaking. He knew that something bad would happen to him in the future. A heavy weight hung on his chest, as he tried to regain his consciousness.\n\n\"RAAHH!\" He groaned in frustation, as he felt his angst pushing down on his chest, making it hard to breathe.\n\nAfter half an hour the Pikachu finally felt a feeling of calm through him, as he came to the conclusion that it was only a nightmare.\n\nBut, just as he started to relax, he noticed that it was almost time to wake up.\n\n\"Time to have breakfast\" He exclaimed, as he jumped to the table, and opened a tupper with some berries he took weekly from the nearby park. It wasn?t as good as the breakfast menu from there, but it was still good enough for Pikachu's standards, and it was also a good way to start the day without unwanted company.\n\nAs soon as he was done eating, he sat on his nest, and started to thing how the last five days after Raichu left had been. He soon smiled as he remembered what had happened.\n\nOne day, he had started to talk to Eevee about the place people called \"The Cinema\". It was a really big room, which was decorated with a massive white curtain. Then, a good movie was usually shown there every Saturday. Eevee looked interested, but he couldn?t talk back to Pikachu as he didn?t know what a cinema was, so he decided to go to the cinema this Saturday with the cubs. He then waited a bit until wake-up time, and as soon as the cubs finished to have their breakfast, Pikachu got out of his room and went to search for Eevee. As it was weekend, he would be probably in his room.\n\nWhen he arrived at Eevee's room, he could see him lying in his nest, and he had a big bowl of chocolate milk on the table. Eevee was just drinking, and the Pikachu took a few steps forward.\n\n\"Hey, Eevee\" he said, \"I'm going to the cinema this Saturday. Want to come with me?\"\n\n\"Yeah!\" Eevee replied happily.\n\n\"Awesome! There's only one question I need to know\" Pikachu continued. \"Do you want to invite someone?\"\n\nEevee looked surprised, and he asked for a moment. He was a shy cub and didn?t had a lot of friends. But, Pikachu knew that he had to try. So, he smiled and tried to convince him \"Think about it, if you talk with other kids about the film, you'll have some more friends\".\n\nEevee considered the idea, then nodded. \"Sure\" he said, \"I guess I'll invite a few peers!\".\n\n\"Alright, then, I'll leave now, and we'll meet in the front hall to go there\".\n\n\"Okay!\" Eevee replied.\n\nPikachu thought for a moment. He liked Saturdays, as it was a lot easier to interact with the cubs in a more relaxed environment.\n\nWith that, he walked outside, and walked around the park. He was thinking about the day that was to come, until Pidgeot saw him. Pidgeot was a friendly bird, so she didn?t thaw to the idea of staying at home on her own on Saturday.\n\n\"Hey, Pikachu\" she shouted.\n\nPikachu immediately answered \"Hey, Pidgeot\" with a smile, and he waved at her. She then flew to him, and landed in front of him.\n\n\"Hey, Pidgeot\" He said happily. \"Wanna go with me to the cinema with Eevee?\"\n\nPidgeot nodded \"Sure, I'll come with you. Are you inviting the others?\" she added.\n\nPikachu then though about Espeon, Sceptile, Carracosta, Hitmonchan, and others who worked with him more or less frequently. \"Of course, I will tell them as soon as I find them.\"\n\n\"Alright\" Pidgeot replied happily, and then she flew with him back to the complex.\n\nAs soon as they landed back in their place, Pikachu invited one by one to all the people he worked with, and also some kind cubs who could chat with Eevee.\n\nBut then he remembered today was Saturday. Raichu was visiting the place today. So, Pikachu decided to go out for a walk again until it was time to go to the cinema. Luckily, he would be able to avoid Raichu for this week.\n\n\"Ok\" he said \"I'm going to take the tickets now. If anyone else shows up, you can go with them.\"\n\nIt wasn?t more than ten minutes until he left, thinking that he would now enjoy a Raichu-free Saturrday evening. However, he was soon surprised. \"Hey, Pikachu!\"\n\nPikachu turned, and saw that it was Raichu. \"Oh, hi Raichu\" he said, thinking as fast as he could to come up with something. \"I didn?t see you there, you look like you're in a hurry. Is it true?\"\n\nRaichu smiled \"Not really. I was looking for you, I've been thinking about some things we could do to entertain the kids today.\"\n\nPikachu felt very frightened to tell her that he already planned something to do. Something to avoid HER, to be more precise.\n\n\"You mean you'll play games with the kids?\" He said, trying to make her talk more, so he could think of a better way to convince her out of his plans.\n\n\"Yeah\"\n\nPikachu's eyes widened. \"That's a really nice idea, Raichu\"\n\n\"It was, but Espeon told me that you were going to the cinema today. She said that you'll invite some of your friends.\"\n\nPikachu thought about what to do now. She didn?t just discovered his plans, but was also invited to join them. The look in her eyes showed that she was very keen on the idea, so he tried to come up with another excuse. But when he noticed Raichu staring at him, he thought that the best idea was to try to make her loathe to come, so she won?t want to get into it.\n\n\"You don?t have to come if you don?t want, Raichu\" he said with his most cheerful voice. \"We are going to see a kids movie, which isn?t the best type of thing for adults to watch.\"\n\nPikachu felt really scared now. He really wished to convince Raichu, because he had run out of arguments by now.\n\nRaichu was quite pleased by this offer, and nodded. \"That's perfect. I'll go to the cinema with them. I know you want the cubs to have fun, so that's a great choice!\"\n\nPikachu was very stressed to hear this, because he felt very pressured around Raichu, but Pikachu came with an excellent idea to stay at home himself. \"Well, it's better if you are the one who goes with them. If there are a lot of us in there, the cubs may get distracted, and nobody wants that, right?\"\n\n\"Of course\" Raichu replied. \"But you can come as well, since you are the one who invited me. I don?t like to know you are spending time alone, and Eevee will sure be very happy.\"\n\n\"Ok..\" Pikachu said shyly. He was impressed how Raichu seemed to care about him, and wanted to make his friendship with her stronger. Even though she probably had already noted his shyness towards her, she kept trying to be close to him.\n\n\"Just let me go to the tickets\" he said. Raichu smiled and said \"Yeah, of course. See you later!\".\n\nShe left, leaving him alone. Pikachu's mind was upside down right now. He had found everyone in the complex today, but as he went out to be sure he missed Raichu, she appeared right behind him, asking him to join.\n\nHis plan had failed, and he started wondering what to do next. He decided to buy the tickets, as he had to do it anyway. As he went to the kiosk, he noticed that the tickets for the kids movie were about to be sold, so he hurried up to get them.\n\nSoon, he was back in the dining room, having launch with everyone who were going to the cinema. He bought the tickets, and waited for everyone to pick them.\n\n\"Thank you for inviting us\" said Eevee, his tail wagging happily. He looked at the ticket in his paw and giggled, looking at the title of the movie.\n\n\"It's called \"Mew\", and I have no idea why we are going to watch it\" he said, hiding his giggles. \"It's ok. I think it's a great movie\" a litten cub answered him.\n\nPikachu decided not to reply. He might had found an excuse to keep himself from attending the movie.\n\n\"Well, the popcorn is free. You can have as much as you want\" said Vixie, looking at him. The Vulpix cub had been to the cinema before, and her favourite part was the popcorn.\n\n\"Oh\" said Pikachu, smiling at her. He got up and started to walk towards the door.\n\nVixie followed him and asked \"where are you going?\"\n\n\"I have a small errand to do\" he said. \"I will be back in a moment\".\n\nVixie nodded and walked behind him.\n\nPikachu watched Vixie follow, and as soon as he noticed, told her to go play with Eevee and the others.\n\nPikachu really wanted to be as cheerful as he could, but his fear of Raichu was taking the best of him. After sitting down, he put his head in his paws and closed his eyes. He was so nervous about what would happen, he felt that he would freeze and die right then and there.\n\nHe had to get out of there. After all, he couldn?t avoid this situation. Now Raichu was going to spend time with him and his friends.\n\n\"Pikachu?\" he heard Espeon's voice say. He opened his eyes and found her behind him.\n\nShe had guessed his thoughts, and was smiling encouragingly at him. \"Well done\" she said. \"You are trying to overcome your fears to help the others.\" Pikachu stopped thinking, to prevent Espeon digging deeper into his memories.\n\n\"What is going on? Why are you so afraid of Raichu?\" Espeon asked.\n\n\"Why?\" said Pikachu, confused. \"She doesn?t even know me.\" Trying to sound confident, he said \"I'm just afraid that she would find out how I feel about her\".\n\n\"But it's not natural for you to be afraid of Raichu\" said Espeon, frowning.\n\nPikachu opened his eyes and saw Espeon's expression. Then, a thought struck him. She knew all about Raichu's feelings, didn?t she? So, maybe she knew about her intentions.\n\n\"Espeon\" he said, worried. \"Do you think Raichu hates me?\"\n\n\"Of course not!\" Espeon said, jumping in front of Pikachu. \"She isn?t as bad as you think. You don?t have to be afraid of her. I promise. We can have fun with her, and I can help you forget about your fear.\"\n\nPikachu didn?t know what to say. All he could think of was his fear of Raichu. \"Thank you\" he said. He was shocked that Espeon knew about his fear, but she knew so well that she could only say this to try and comfort him.\n\n\"Come\" Espeon said, and she grabbed his paw and helped him up. \"We will go and find Raichu.\"\n\n\"I'm not afraid\" said Pikachu to himself.\n\nAs they walked through the corridor, Espeon noticed Raichu sitting on a bench. \"We will have a chat\" Espeon said, and she walked over to Raichu and sat down next to her.\n\n\"Hi Raichu! how are you?\" she said cheerfully.\n\n\"Hello Espeon\" Raichu answered.\n\n\"How it's going?\" asked Espeon.\n\n\"Fine, I was just waiting.\" she said.\n\n\"So do you know why Raichu is here?\" asked Pikachu in a very afraid voice to Espeon.\n\n\"She is waiting for you\" said Espeon telepatically.\n\n\"For me?\" said Pikachu.\n\n\"Yes\" said Espeon. Pikachu felt a very strange sensation. He didn?t expect anyone caring for him, and not the other way round. But on top of that, a Raichu was the one who was caring for him now.\n\n\"Hi Raichu\" said Pikachu quietly.\n\n\"Hello\" said Raichu in a friendly voice. She tried to be as slow as possible, as she knew that Pikachu was startled easily by now.\n\n\"Are you ready for this evening plan?\" Asked Raichu to Pikachu.\n\n\"Yes, I'm ready\" said Pikachu, nodding. \"Are you ready too?\"\n\n\"Yes, I think so\" said Raichu. \"Do you want to go to the hall?\"\n\n\"Yes\" said Pikachu. \"We all better go there now. We can?t risk getting late!\"\n\nAs they both started walking to the hall, Espeon noticed the rest of the invited group already waiting where they all had agreed.\n\n\"They are here\" she said telepathically. \"They've come to go with you!\"\n\nPikachu felt excited. Even though Raichu was still a drawback for him, the good feeling he had from knowing that everyoe waiting cared for him overpowered that part of his mind. He couldn?t help but feel happy.\n\n\"So\" said Pikachu to Everyone. \"Ready to have a movie?\"\n\n\"Yeah!!\" said everyone in unison. \"Let's go!\" cheerfully said Pikachu.\n\nCHAPTER 11\n\nAs they walked out toward the cinema, Pikachu felt very excited. Raichu walked by his side, like a loyal friend should.\n\n\"What are we going to see?\" Asked Eevee.\n\n\"It's a film called Mew\" said Pikachu. \"It's a Mew being cared for by an evil woman.\"\n\nEevee didn?t know what was going on, but he though that it was a good choice, as he thought that Pikachu knew a lot about films.\n\nAs they continued walking, Vixie and Eevee started to have a small conversation with each other.\n\n\"So where did you start to battle?\" asked Eevee.\n\n\"I started in the Johto region\" said Vixie.\n\n\"Which region is that?\" asked Eevee.\n\n\"I'm not sure, I think it's a place that has a river in it and a small forest\" replied Vixie. I was soon taken from that place, as someone called ?trainer? made me travel with her. I battled with her for a while, until she said that she wanted to take me to this place.\"\n\n\"But why did she want to take you here?\" asked Eevee.\n\n\"She thought I would be happy here, because I had food, and a warm bed and everything. She said she wasn?t successful enough to be able to care for us anymore.\"\n\n\"Why did you agree to it?\"\n\n\"I knew she was a good person, so she wouldn?t lie to anyone of us. Plus, if I didn?t agree, she would probably had a harder time trying to feed all of us, so I said yes.\"\n\n\"Then what happened to her?\" Eevee asked.\n\n\"I haven?t seen her for a long time\" replied Vixie. I don?t know where she is now. Last thing I knew, she was trying to find someone who could lend her some food.\"\n\n\"Oh\" said Eevee. \"Maybe she has found a better place to live by now\" as he smiled.\n\n\"But I'm very worried that she might not make it out\" said Vixie.\n\nRaichu had heard this last conversation from afar, and though that it was unfair for some trainers to give up their dreams because of some bad situation.\n\n\"We should keep walking\" Pikachu said to Vixie, who had started to think for herself.\n\n\"All right\" said Vixie \"I had distracted myself, oops\" She added, laughing a little.\n\nAs they walked, Pikachu felt a rather painful sensation on his foot, but he tried to ignore it. It wasn?t the time to worry about something as small as that, having in count that they had the exact time to reach to the cinema.\n\nAs soon as they reached the cinema, everyone was impressed by the big building, which looked like a classical roman or greek temple. The building was made out of marble, which made it look very elegant.\n\nThey walked up to the box office, where they took the tickets that they bought, and entered the cinema.\n\nAs they walked in, they saw the whole cinema was filled with people and Pokemon of all ages and race, all had a wide smile on their face.\n\n\"Wow\" Eevee said, amazed by the scenery. He was clearly impressed by the immensity of the cinema.\n\n\"They are all going to watch Mew?\" asked Eevee.\n\nEspeon heard him and replied \"Yes Eevee. This cinema is sure a popular place\" as she turned to look at him.\n\n\"We have to sit down here\" said Pikachu.\n\nThe cubs looked around, but coudn?t see the numbers on the tickets\n\n\"What about here?\" said Eevee.\n\n\"I don?t know\" Replied Vixie.\n\nBut the confusion was short-lived as they felt a force that pushed them to a seat at the left side of the screen.\n\nAs soon as they sat down, Espeon sat by their side. She didn?t need any psychic powers as her cat sight allowed her to see in the dark. But it would suffice for the cubs to start admiring her.\n\nThey looked around, and saw the cinema was filling up fast. Soon, the lights went out and the film started.\n\nAs they watched the film, Eevee was surprised to watch a Mew fight some powerful Pokemon, trying to break free from an evil woman, who seemed to be a queen herself, everything in the same room they were sitting!\n\n\"So- You like it?\" said Vixie.\n\n\"Yes\" Eevee replied.\n\nEevee and Vixie were enjoying the film, but they couldn?t help to spy on the others to see what they were doing.\n\nEspeon saw the movie with a neutral expression in her face. \"How could such an intelligent pokemon not to be surprised to see a legendary Pokemon, a queen and such powerful heroes just in front of her!\"\n\nPidgeot also listened to the movie, but her childish attitude never let her stop caring about the characters, even though it was just a movie. \"Pidgeot at least seems to be very impressed. So strange\" thought Eevee, clearly confused, as he hadn?t seen a movie before. Eevee turned to look at Pikachu, but as he looked at him, he saw a fear expression on his face, clearly afraid of the movie.\n\n------\n\n\"Amazing\" said Vixie. \"I really liked the ending. \"\n\n\"Espeon? Pidgeot?\" said Eevee. \"Can you please explain to me what was going on there?\" he asked them.\n\n\"Yes\" said Espeon. \"In a film, they usually include all of the main heroes in the end, so the audience is more satisfied.\"\n\n\"But why did such powerful Pokemon come here?\"\n\nEspeon started to process his words, and soon started to burst in laughter.\n\n\"The people in the film aren?t real!\" Espeon shouted.\n\n\"What do you mean?\" asked Eevee.\n\n\"The people in the movie weren?t in that room when we were watching the movie!\" laughed Vixie.\n\nEspeon started to laugh more, and explained to the cubs what was going on. Once Eevee understood that the movie wasn?t a real story, he felt a bit depressed, but also excited to come again someday to see another movie.\n\nBut Pikachu had a very bad experience with the film. Of course that Pikachu knew it was a movie, but he couldn?t stand Pokemon battles. \"What happened?\" asked Eevee. \" You really were scared?\"\n\nPikachu stared at Eevee, his face was expressionless. \"I wasn?t feeling well, thats all.\"\n\nEevee didn?t understand. \"I thought you would like the movie.\"\n\n\"But I liked it!\" he replied.\n\nEevee sighed. \"You can?t expect that from someone who doesn?t like battles.\" thought Pikachu.\n\nThen, he felt a pat on his back, and turned to see Raichu. \"How was the movie? Did you like it?\" asked Raichu.\n\n\"Sure.\" said Eevee. \"But I want Pikachu to tell us why he didn?t like it.\"\n\nRaichu then sighed, and told the cubs to go to play somewhere else. \"Eevee, you and Vixie can do whatever you like, but stay together OK?\" he said.\n\n\"All right!\" said Eevee, and they both started playing tag.\n\n\"Pikachu, what happened?\" Asked Raichu.\n\n\"I'm sorry, but I don?t understand your question\" replied Pikachu in a robotic-like fashion.\n\n\"Why didn?t you enjoy the movie?\" asked Raichu as she stared curiously at him.\n\nPikachu started to look at Raichu like he was in a trial. \"Why did you like the movie then?\" Pikachu said, trying to change the conversation's direction as quickly as he could. As Raichu though for an answer, Pikachu said loudly \"Who wants to have dinner at a restaurant?!!\"\n\nRaichu almost fell to the ground by the sudden impulse. \"ME, ME!!!\" heard Pikachu from afar, relieved as Raichu would forget the previous conversation. He knew that the cubs would be eager to visit a restaurant after going to the cinema. However, he was the one who was shocked to observe that Pidgeot was flapping her wings happily and jumping in joy.\n\n\"Pidgeot, It's supposed to be the cubs the ones that are happy to have dinner outside\" said Raichu.\n\nPikachu started to laugh. \"Yeah, well, Pidgeot just likes to express very heartfully her feelings, isn?t it true?\"\n\nPikachu laughed, as Pidgeot looked at them with an edgy look. \"Yes\" replied Pidgeot. \"But only for a little bit...\"\n\nThen, Espeon started to giggle a little. \"OK, we will go get some food. But don?t tell the other cubs.\"\n\n\"We won?t\" said Pikachu.\n\n\"It's time to go\" said Pidgeot.\n\nPikachu then saw Sceptile walking away.\n\n\"Hey, Sceptile!\" he shouted.\n\n\"Hey\" replied Sceptile.\n\n\"Where are you going?\" asked Pikachu.\n\n\"I am going back home to train\" said Sceptile.\n\nPikachu was surprised. \"Train? Seriously?\"\n\n\"I've been wanting to train so badly.\" Sceptile answered.\n\n\"Well, I'm also going to watch over Hitmonchan and Carracosta, who left long ago, even though any of you noticed. Those two can?t be left alone, as they aren?t exactly best friends... Well, see ya later!\" Said Sceptile as he left. \"Oh! And don?t forget to order a bucket of birdseed for our little Pidgey!\" he said as he went off.\n\n\"I'm NOT A LITTLE PIDGEY!!! YOU IDIOT!!!!\" yelled Pidgeot at him.\n\nEspeon tried to calm her down \"Pidgeot, is it OK to speak like that to the others?\"\n\n\"I'm sorry\" said Pidgeot in a sad voice.\n\n\"Don?t do it again. You're not a Pidgey anymore, so try to act a little more relaxed, like me, OK?\"\n\nPidgeot then nodded a little, and did a little pose. \"Now, it's time to go to the restaurant!\"\n\n\"OK, lets go!\" said Pikachu.\n\nEveryone started to walk behind Pikachu, as Pidgeot shouted \"I'm hungry, so hurry up! I'm not much of a patient bird!\" She said as she was feeling hungry.\n\n\"Then, why don?t you fly us to the pizzeria we're heading to?\"\n\n\"That is a great idea! But it would be more comfortable if *someone* lost a little weight\" she said happily.\n\nEevee started to make fun of Pikachu, but then, he quickly realized that Pikachu was a bit embarrassed.\n\n\"Stop it!\" he shouted at Eevee, and started to walk faster. \"You want to lose weight?\" asked Vixie laughing too.\n\n\"Please, let's try to calm ourselves a bit\" Raichu said, as she tried to soothe Pikachu.\n\nFinally, they arrived at the pizzeria, and as soon as they entered, everyone felt like heaven as the smell of freshly cooked pizza entered their nostrils.\n\n\"Welcome to the best pizzeria in town\" said the chef.\n\nEevee, Vixie and Espeon tried to spot the best place, but as they couldn?t decide, they sat down in the nearest table to the kitchen.\n\nMeanwhile, Raichu and Pikachu were told to make the order.\n\n\"Hey Pikachu, do you know what to order?\"\n\n\"I... I... will order the cheese one\" said Pikachu in a very low tone. Raichu knew that Pikachu was a bit shy when she was around, so she decided to help him by ordering the menu, because Pikachu wasn?t really paying attention, as he was thinking how to relax a bit with Raichu by his side.\n\n\"Well, I'll take that and a large pizza with pepperoni, please!\" exclaimed Raichu. \"And my friend will take a cheese pizza too.\"\n\n\"Oh! And three of fries for the kids!\". As Raichu finished ordering, she took Pikachu to the table where the other were sitting. \"Now let's take a seat, and relax\", but Pikachu, before heading off with Raichu, tried to pay, but she kindly asked him not to do that. \"It's on the house, Pikachu\", she smiled.\n\nPikachu was astonished as he had just witnessed such kind acts from a Raichu no less.\n\n\"That is wonderful, Raichu\" he said, while he was trying to relax. \"But it isn?t necessary to pay.\"\n\n\"Yes, it is\" said Raichu. \"It's also the job of a good Pokemon to do good deeds for the ones she cares about.\"\n\nRaichu was such a sweetheart to him, and that just made him to start felling rather bad, as he felt he had been such a jerk to her for the past weeks.\n\n\"Hey, you two! Wanna play a game?\" asked Espeon, as she tried to make them sit on the table once at all.\n\n\"As the pizza is only a few more minutes away, let's play some cards for a bit.\" Vixie said.\n\n\"Fine\", said Espeon, and soon, they were all having a good time, until the dinner was served.\n\nAs soon as they finished eating, they decided to go back home, as it was really late already. The cubs were very amused by their trip and couldn?t help but smile.\n\nNot much later, they got the bus back to the residential district, and arrived to the orphanage. Pikachu was very satisfied as he saw everyone so happy, and was even more surprised by the Raichu, who was very polite with him, and he even seemed to calm down more with Raichu by his side.\n\nAs everyone dispersed to their rooms, Pikachu felt another sharp pain, this time in the stomach. It was so intense that made him flinch. He then hurried up to his room, as he tried to fall asleep, trying to forget the pain. Once he took a painkiller, he was slowly able to fall asleep.\n\nHowever, there was a pokemon who saw Pikachu suffer this strong pain and run to his room. This time, Raichu would leave with a bittersweet sensation, after witnessing Pikachu's fragile health.\n\nCHAPTER 12\n\nFor the next days, Pikachu's pain diminished and dissapeared, allowing him to feel better. During the week, he also noticed that last weekend he wasn?t as nervous around Raichu than before, and slowly started to loosen up a bit.\n\nVixie, Espeon, and the others also witnessed Eevee's improvement as well. In a short time, he started to socialize with more and more cubs, and would soon start the battling lessons, which made him ever happier.\n\nPikachu knew that tomorrow, Raichu would come to visit again, and hopefully, it would also be more pleasant than the first time. He also thought that it would be good to take the cubs somewhere again, as it was good for them in various ways. As he selected the cubs that went on trip, he could control in someway who did each cub befriended, so it was easier for them to have fun and to meet new friends, but it was also beneficial for them to walk around the city, so they knew better the location where they lived, and also learnt how to manage different situation by themselves. But for him, the most important condition was that he wanted to have a stress-free day, so everyone could forget, even if it was for only a few hours, the hard reality that the destiny had brought them to.\n\nAs he saw all the happy cubs, he thought that today was a good day for everyone. He was soon brought back to Earth when he felt an orange peel fall over his head.\n\n\"If you're gonna do the statue, you'll have to do it in another place!\" shouted a voice, that obviously was Sceptile.\n\n\"What the hell?\" he said, looking up.\n\n\"Well, it's my late birthday gift for you. They are leftovers, a good item to battle!\" Sceptile shouted.\n\n\"You're kidding me! \" he shouted back. \"As much as I liked it to be a joke it's true, why? I don?t know. Ask Arceus\"\n\n\"Fine, if you insist, I will talk to Arceus about it tomorrow\" Pikachu responded in a sarcastic tone. \"Well, your Majesty, now, if you're done tormenting your loyal subjects, I would like to resume my thinking. Thank you.\"\n\nThe Sceptile saw the Pikachu's irritation in his eyes, and decided not to mess with him anymore. \"My loyal subject, I'm going to try luck in the ladies? place today. You are free to go\". He said as he turned around.\n\nPikachu just stared at the Sceptile's back, before standing up and walked away. He then rememebred that the cubs haven?t visited the mountain district! The day before, he read a newspaper worshipping the great snows that had took place last week, and the pretty sights all over the place. So he decided to go there tomorrow.\n\nAs it was still a bit soon, he went berrypicking to the nearby places. What's better than the freash flavour of just-picked berries? While he was walking, he saw a huge crowd around a poster on a wall. As it caught the small pokemon's attention, he headed off to the multitude, wondering to know what was the source of all the fuss. He noticed that the poster contained a bunch of names which he didn?t remember at all. \"Hey guys! Look! I can?t believe it! A team of six legendaries!\" \"And it's a 6 vs 1!\" \"When did that happen? How could they get such a team in so short amount of time?\" These questions were all that he could hear from the people around him. Suddenly, his ear twitched as he noticed that the commotion was also caused by such contestant. \"I can?t believe Ginger Sparklight agreed to do this\" \"Isn?t it too hardcore even to be in the finals?\" \"I can?t wait for these remaining two weeks!\" he heard people say.\n\n\"Are you serious? One Pokemon against a team of six legendaries?\" thought Pikachu. He didn?t know who would be that \"Ginger\", but the only thought of a battle send shivers down his spine. \"In my opinion, this is the most stupid decision ever conceived. I hope I will not see this battle at all!\" he said to himself. But he couldn?t tell if he was acting like this from his irrational fear for battling, or because of envy of the apparent Ginger's extremely powerful attacks. Because it's the only explanation to why would anyone battle a team of legendaries, isn?t it?\n\nHe decided to shrug it off, and continue with his berrypicking routine. As soon as he got to the outskirts, he started to happily wander through the berry trees fields, as he was looking for the best berries there were. While he was walking, he noticed a familiar shape.\n\n\"What the!? Another one!? And it's my own!\" he shouted as he came closer to an specific tree. \"A pecha berry! It's my lucky day!\" he exclaimed happily as he collected it. After a while, he had filled his little basket to the brim \"That's the last one!\" As he was preparing to go back home, he suddenly heard a noise in a nearby tree. As he got nearer, he could discern it was a watering noise. Before he could react, he was drenched by a water jet pointed at his face. \"What the? Who the heck is this guy!? What do you want?\" he screamed as he saw an Oshawott laughing his ass off. \"Hahahaha! It was funny! Look at his face!!\" \"Oh god, this is the silliest thing I've ever seen!\" he said as he looked at the Oshawott. He just shrugged it off and laughed at it was clear that the little guy was just joking. As he went back home, it was already lunch time. \"What a nice relaxing day! I'm starving!\" As he came closer to the dinning room, he could see his fellows waiting in the usual team table. He sat down on his spot after ordering launch. \"Hi guys!\" He said with a smile. \"I hope you're hungry because a good lunch is how you better recharge energies!\". As he said so, Kanghaskan smiled as she gave Pikachu his combined cereals plate. Once he was finished, he felt a strong wave of tiredness even though he had just had lunch, but he couldn?t help but go back to his room, and soon fell asleep.\n\n-------------------------------\n\nPikachu felt confused as he woke up already walking, but as soon as he turned his head, his doubts were solved. He was still in the same spot he had left before, just outside of the local train station.\n\nHe looked around in front of him. He had no idea where his trainer was, and he started to worry. \"How am I supposed to take the train if I don?t know where my trainer is?!\" he asked himself. While trying to think about a solution to his problem, he suddenly heard a loud whistle.\n\nHe jumped at the noise and looked up, where he saw his trainer calling for him. \"Come on Pikachu! Let's get our battles started!\" he said as he waved at him. He couldn?t wait any longer, and happily followed his dear trainer.\n\nAs they left the station, they walked around the city. It was a large town, and a tourist hotspot. As they walked around, they passed by a lot of impressive places. Apart from battling, that was their main focus on their travels, and they had a lot of fun exploring different places.\n\nHowever, after walking around for some time, they were too tired to continue walking. Pikachu knew that if he travelled in his pokeball, he wouldn?t have to deal with so much walking, but he preferred to share the once in a lifetime experience of a pokemon journey with his favourite human. Soon, they had found a modest inn. Pikachu looked in amazement as he saw an elegant looking hall. \"Wow... this is amazing!\" he said excitedly. His trainer just smiled at him, and then looked at the doors.\n\n\"I see that they're open. Let's go in, I'll pay for it!\" he said as he grabbed the doors and opened them. Once inside, he paid for one night and let Pikachu on to the bed as he started to think what to do tomorrow. \"Hey, what should we do tomorrow?\" \"We can go shopping!\" he said with a bright smile. \"Ooh, I like shopping!\" \"Maybe we'll even go to the city's spa! I've never been there before. Let's try there! But tomorrow, We'll go battling, of course!\" he said with a satisfied expression.\n\nPikachu was so happy to be spending the time he always had desired with his trainer. He felt so fulfilled that he just didn?t care about the slight adversities that could arise. He just loved him so much, that he would do anything that he would want to. The next morning, as the sun came up, they got ready to spend the day in the city. First, they started to walk to the shopping centre where they could buy some supplies not available on the other cities Pokemarts. While walking, they had a few laughs and enjoyed the beautiful day. They passed by different shops and buildings that looked like a patchwork from the vibrant colours of the advertsing posters. After finishing thir initial stroll, they decided to go battling first, as it was better to have the deed done.\n\nThey headed to the nearest pokemon battling arena, where they fought their first battle in the town. The visitants took turns to battle another local traners, and after a few minutes, it was their turn to battle.\n\n\"Pikachu, are you ready?\" the trainer said, as he patted his cheek, \"I'm ready for some battle fun.\" The trainer called him trying to act brave, but he knew this battle would be a hard one. The first Pokemon the other trainer sent out was a strong Fennekin, as if to match his trainer.\n\n\"Pikachu! Use tackle on the Fennekin! He seems pretty strong!\" the trainer ordered, eager to start his battle.\n\nPikachu nodded, and ran towards the opponent, as he put all his energy into a ball and unleashed it, hitting Fennekin's face. The Fennekin showed no signs of feeling pain, and grinned evilly at his opponent, who was surprised by his strategy. However, Pikachu had a plan in mind and proceeded to launch a thunderbolt at Fennekin, with the determination to hit the powerful opponent. He felt rewareded by his force of the attack, as the Fennekin was knocked back by the impact. The opponent was visibly weakened and tried to retreat, but then suddenly he felt his body being hit by a bone-shattering body slam by the yellow mouse.\n\nFennekin was knocked to the floor by the hit, and was unable to battle.\n\n\"We did it!!\" Pikachu panted as he was finished. The trainer was surprised, because he had won this battle, but he had a second pokeball in his hand, so he sent out that Pokemon to battle.\n\nAs the second pokemon was revealed, everything seemed to start fading, as a hatred sensation started to burn his heart from beneath it's core. He let out an ear-splitting cry as everything went black.\n\n-------------------------------------\n\nAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! Pikachu screamed as he woke up from his dream. He was sweating profusely again, as his body stood petrified in his nest. As soon as he regained mobility, he quickly jumped out of his blankets, and ran out of his room, as he felt fear and a dread from the place in which he was dreaming, but his actions quickly stopped when he crashed with Pidgeot.\n\n\"OW!\" she yelped as Pikachu was sprawled on the floor.. Pidgeot looked down at him in confusion. The little yellow rodent heard Pidgeot's bird-like voice, and he began to get alarmed.\n\n\"Pikachu! Why are you so scared?\" Pidgeot asked in an slightly annoyed tone. \"Are you not used to the dark yet?\".\n\n\"Oh... I'm sorry Pidgeot. I guess I just... just haven?t gotten used to it.\" Pikachu said. The little mouse hoped to talk to his peer trying to sound confident. But with his voice trembling, he could barely form words.\n\n\"It's ok Pikachu. If you have a problem with me, you can tell me, but don?t worry, I'll leave you alone for now. If you feel better later, we can play together, OK?\" she said as she giggled to get a reaction out of him.\n\n\"I'm sorry, I'm just not used to these scares...\" Pikachu answered. As Pidgeot left, he headed off to have breakfast.\n\nHalf an hour later, he was having breakfast alone, as he tried to forget the dream. He tried to focus on the fact that he was actually safe now, and nothing could harm him anymore. He would try to make his dream go away.\n\nWhile eating his cereal, he noticed Eevee running towards him in utter excitement. \"Hey Eevee! How's going!\"\n\nEevee shouted in delight. \"Today is Saturday!\" as he started to do a barrel roll. He stopped after a while, as he looked at Pikachu. \"Raichu is coming, right?\"\n\nPikachu quickly froze up in place. \"Yes...\" he muttered.\n\nEevee cried in glee, and quickly did a one-eighty, before hitting the ground. \"Where are we going today?\" asked the cub.\n\nPikachu made his way back to the room, Eevee following behind, making him sigh at the persistance of the Eevee. \"We'll go to the mountain!\" he yelled in excitement.\n\n\"Weeeeeeee!\" Eevee screamed in joy as he ran outside. The little yellow mouse laughed in reply. Some minutes after he started to relax in his room, he heard a knock at the door. But he couldn?t have guessed who was at the other side. As he opened the door, he came face to face with Raichu.\n\n\"Hello, Pikachu!\" she said cheerfully. \"I came a bit earlier to see how things were going. I also heard that you were scared of the dark. But do not worry, I am here, so it won?t happen anything to you. Let's go Pikachu!\"\n\nPikachu sighed, as he discovered that Pidgeot couldn?t keep her beak shut, even though she didn?t really knew what had actually happened.\n\nAnd so, the three of them went out to spend a more familiar Saturday evening to the mountain.\n\nCHAPTER 13\n\nAs the three of them walked out to the mountain mountain district, Pikachu was feeling more confident.\n\n\"I'm really glad to have a place like this Pikachu!. I mean, it would be nice to have a bit of a family!\" Raichu said as he walked beside him.\n\nPikachu thought for a moment. She said it would be nice to have a family. Doesn?t she have a family? Pikachu thought.\n\nThen, he remembered his own situation, and felt a bit of a warmth in his heart. And even though he didn?t have a family anymore, he still had the trust in his friends to rely on them. Even Raichu seemed to care for him.\n\n\"Pikachu!\" Eevee said, as he ran up to him.\n\nEevee then jumped up and down, in an excited state. \"So, how are we going to the mountain?\" he asked\n\nPikachu laughed and shook his head. \"Well, we won?t walk all the way there! I have three bus tickets!\" he said excitedly. So we just have to wait for the bus to come.\n\nAfter waiting for a bit, they were finally sat on their places, and after hearing Eevee describe everything he saw for two whole hours, they got to their destination.\n\nThe three of them walked to the mountain district, looking around them as they walked.\n\n\"What a pretty place!\" Raichu said.\n\nEevee nodded in agreement. \"Wow! This looks like a great place for us to be!\" he added.\n\nPikachu blushed slightly, as Raichu walked up to him, giving him a hug. \"It's wonderful!\"\n\n\"This reminds me of a story I was told when I was little!\" Eevee said excitedly.\n\n\"It talks about a Glaceon who went out on an adventure to find itself. And it found a place that seemed to have the right kind of people!\" Eevee explained.\n\nPikachu thought it was a cute story, but soon his attention was drawn to a skiing competition.\n\nRaichu and Eevee started to check the maps on the snow. \"Alright, let's give it a try!\" Raichu said.\n\nEevee grinned as he jumped over the snow on his rump. \"Whoo! Nice!\" he yelled as he took a big jump.\n\nThen, Raichu walked over to the slope. \"Come on Pikachu! lets try it!\" she said, starting to run up the slope.\n\n\"Are you sure?\" Pikachu asked.\n\n\"Of course! I'm a great racer! \" she said.\n\nAfter a few seconds, Pikachu came to the top, and they started skiing down the slope.\n\n\"Ha! You're fast! \" Raichu laughed.\n\nPikachu blushed. \"Yes, I've learned from the best!\"\n\nWhen they had finished to ski down the slope, Eevee asked what Raichu wanted to do next.\n\n\"I'm not quite sure. We should go to the area where the saunas are.\" Raichu said.\n\n\"OK! It'll be great!\" Eevee said excitedly.\n\nThey then walked over to the sauna, and they went inside. It was pretty warm inside, but it didn?t really bother Eevee.\n\n\"Pikachu, can I ask you a question?\" Eevee whispered, once inside the sauna.\n\nPikachu smiled and said \"Sure. What is it?\"\n\nEevee then whispered \"Does Raichu really mean it when she says she wants to take care of you?\"\n\nPikachu blushed. \"I uh, I hope so.\"\n\n\"I know so! And I hope that she does that!\" Eevee said, then leaning in close to him. \"I think she likes you.\"\n\nPikachu blushed even more, but answered to him that in no way she could love someone like him. (And also scolded him for saying inappropriate things)\n\nEevee then smiled and hugged him, saying \"OK! I think we should go out and swim in the warm swimming pool!\"\n\n\"Ha! I bet you can?t win me!\" Pikachu said excitedly as he ran to the swimming pool, Eevee running behind him. Meanwhile, Raichu stood in the sauna, thinking about herself.\n\nAs Eevee jumped in the pool, Pikachu dove in as well.\n\nAfter swimming around a bit, Eevee started a water war with him. Of course, Pikachu wanted him to have as much fun as possible, and so he decided to take on Eevee.\n\nThe water war didn?t last long, as Eevee was soon about to drown the poor Pikachu. Later, Raichu dediced to join them in the pool, and had a good time swimming together.\n\nAs they decided to call it a day, it was time to return to the orphanage. As they all waved goodbye to the receptionist and were heading back home in the wayback bus, Pikachu started to feel a sharp pain on his tail.\n\n\"What's that?!\" Pikachu thought. He desired to be Eevee messing with him. He really desired to me Eevee the one who caused that pain. But his soul fell to his feet as he saw Eevee calmly talking with Raichu about the day. It couldn?t start again. Not now.\n\nAs he tried to calm down, he grabbed the armrest as hard as he could, hoping that it wouldn?t attract Raichu's attention. It seemed to work, as he felt the pain subside a bit.\n\nJust then, Raichu looked at him, and smiled.\n\n\"I'm sorry to disturb you from your thoughts, but Eevee wants to tell you something!\" Raichu said.\n\n\"What's that?\"\n\n\"Well, it turns out that Eevee and I both want to say that we'll be friends forever.\" Raichu said as she smiled.\n\nPikachu looked confused.\n\n\"I mean, you're my friend too! We all care for each other\" Raichu said.\n\nPikachu blushed a bit at this statement.\n\n\"I mean, I'm Y-your adopted... uh... friend Y-you! But I guess it's nice to have friends! I mean, it's not everyday you get an Eevee to choose to be your friend!\", Eevee exclaimed, trying to spit as many words as possible in his excitement.\n\nPikachu laughed a bit, and then thanked them both. Then, the bus informed the passengers that they had arrived to the bus station. Soon, they walked back home.\n\nAs the day was about to come to an end, he made a quick summary of the day. It had been a perfect day in all ways. Not only he had finished to open up Eevee to the world, but started to see Raichu as a friend. Of course, she hadn?t done anything that could change his deep, intimate feelings about himself, but at least, she accepted him as he was. In any way he expected someone like her to be so supportive. As he walked into the building, it was time for Raichu to leave until next week.\n\n\"Do you guys have any plans for tomorrow?\" Raichu asked them as she was about to split up.\n\n\"On Sundays, all the cubs are given chocolate cookies!\" Eevee exclaimed. Raichu smiled at the sheer amount of happiness that flowed from him only at the thought of sweets. Being a cub was sure a magical experience in life.\n\nBut Pikachu started to worry, as there was one thing left to do. His ankle started to hurt like hell, that it became difficult for him to stay up on his feet, and he had to make sure Raichu didn?t discover his weakness, as there was no way that she wouldn?t start to taunt him about it. He had to get to his room, and he had to do it soon.\n\n\"I should be going now, Raichu. Bye!\" Pikachu said as he tried to stand up.\n\n\"Wait!\" Raichu said as she dived towards Pikachu. \"Eevee, you can go to have dinner. You must be starving!\". Eevee said goodbye to her, and soon ran towards the dining hall.\n\nPikachu watched as Raichu stood in front of him. At that very same moment, the pain he was feeling combined with Raichu's presence made his confidence start to crumble. He could only face her with a crouching posture.\n\n\"Don?t be so sad! I'm not scolding you, Pikachu!\" Raichu said, a smile playing across her lips. She pulled him up to her feet, and tried to cheer him up.\n\n\"You don?t have to feel so bad! Eevee loves you. I love you. So does everyone else! Please, don?t act like this\", she said, smiling at him.\n\n\"Thanks. I... I guess... That is...\" Responded Pikachu as he tried to hide his pain, even though it was harder now.\n\n\"It's okay, Pikachu. I wanted to ask you if I could give Eevee a gift\", Raichu asked.\n\n\"I, uh, think so. Why? \" questioned Pikachu, trying to come up with something that didn?t sound stupid.\n\n\"He has never received a gift before. This will be his first. It will be something that he will treasure for years to come\", answered Raichu, trying to get an answer for Pikachu.\n\nPikachu found it quite an absurd question. However, he wanted her to finish as soon as possible, as he couldn?t bear the pain much longer, and he didn?t want to feel like a weakling in front of her.\n\n\"There isn?t any inconvenient. Just a small present, like a small ball of rubber, or...\"\n\n\"I already have it, but he'll like it, I promise\", Raichu assured him.\n\n\"He sure will\", said Pikachu, trying to walk to his room and finish the conversation.\n\nHowever, he was grabbed by Raichu again, making him really start to panic.\n\n\"Can we go to the beach next week?\" she asked. He didn?t know what happened with her, but today she was as sticky as glue.\n\n\"Oh, yeah, sure. Is that alright? The cubs have some next week, so I can?t miss those days, as the cubs tend to worry and get angry if I leave them alone,\" he said, trying to relax his body, as his muscles were still burning in a soaring pain and tense from the recent scare with Raichu.\n\n\"Great! Are we still good friends? I still like you, Pikachu, OK?\" Raichu said a bit worried, as she didn?t know if she had hurt Pikachu's feelings in any way.\n\n\"Yeah. We're still friends\", he replied. He was still suffering a physical nightmare, and also fearing that Raichu was nearer and nearer to unveil the truth.\n\nHe was relieved that Raichu let him go, and was ready to leave, but before she left, she gave him a last very quick hug.\n\n\"OK. Now I can leave in peace. Bye, my friend\", she said, as she ran out of the orphanage.\n\nPikachu exhaled as he had never before, as the wave of relief allowed him to forget for a moment from the pain, which now had spread a bit to his tail. \"That was very near\" he thought, still in the main hall, rubbing his sore tail. Of course, he skipped dinner and headed directly to his room.\n\nAs soon as he entered, he started to pant in agony, as he took some pills from his medicine set and drank a glass of water. As soon as the pain started to subside minutes later, he started to calm down, and was finally able to sleep.\n\nCHAPTER 14\n\nAs Pikachu woke up, he couldn?t believe that he was dreaming of ?that? again. He loathed that memories, but he was still reliving them again and again. But his thoughts were gradually shut down, as his dream started to feel more and more vivid.\n\nHe was laying down in a big bed, which seemed to be made for all types of Pokemon. It was a cream colour, and the window let the warm sunset light in. He felt a bit relieved to see the blue sea with white clouds in the horizon, a mere few kilometres from the place he was currently in. But, what was the only thing that mattered right now, was that he was able to wake up again.\n\nHe didn?t exactly remember what led him to that place, but he could feel a warm sensation all around his body. The warmth brought back cubhood memories that made him close his eyes, and start to remember his family. Even though he barely remembered them, it was still so comforting, so wonderful to reminisce.\n\nNext thing he noticed as he wake up, was the different machinery around him.\n\nPikachu was surprised to see that he was in what seemed to be an hospital. He tried to get up, but he noticed that his body felt incredibly heavy, and was forced to lay down. His body was extremely sore, as if his muscles were tearing apart.\n\n\"Maybe I just need more rest\", he thought, as the pain gradually died away. He was adrift in his thoughts as a female nurse came near, with a serious face. She had a lab coat with golden stripes on her clothes, and had a badge with the letters A and W on her shoulder.\n\n\"Hello. I am Doctor Allison Wert. As you have woken up by yourself, I need to run some checks on you, before calling your trainer.\"\n\nThe doctor had a serious voice, and was looking at Pikachu with a stern face. It seemed to be a serious issue with him, so he started to feel a bit afraid.\n\n\"Do you know what happened to you?\" She asked, as she looked at him with an emotionless look.\n\n\"I dunno. All I remember is that I was about to battle, and then, I woke up here\". The nurse was very surprised to hear Pikachu confirm his trainer's story. She let out a sigh before pulling out the sheets, uncovering his body to start checking his vitals.\n\nHe just didn?t know what to think. That couldn?t be his body, no. He was an average healthy Pikachu. There was no way that scars all over his chest and back are now part of him. They can?t be. He couldn?t neither stand the trimmed patches of fur, nor the tail with blood stains.\n\nPikachu was lost in thought, just staring at his lacerated body.\n\n\"The first thing I need to check is your health\", she said, as she started to take his vitals on a monitor. \"You seem to be as healthy as possible in your condition, but I must inform you that you will carry some injuries for life. However, we don?t know the extent of your injuries at this point in time.\n\nShe checked some more things, before she finally had some news for him.\n\n\"You seem to be ready for being visited by your trainer\". Pikachu heard the words, but he still didn?t register what she was talking about. \"I'll send him an urgent message now\". Pikachu wasn?t sure what a pokegear was, but he was too afraid to see her pull one of those things from her pocket.\n\n\"Pikachu has woken up! After we took some time to stabilise him, we think it's time for you to visit him\". She said in a sympathetic tone, finally smiling at Pikachu. \"We will provide you with some room for you to recover, before you go back home\".\n\nAn hour later, the door was kicked open, and a familiar figure came into the room. His hair was slightly shabby, as if he hasn?t combed it. His clothes were a bit wrinkled, but at least he didn?t look like a homeless vagabond.\n\n\"Pikachu? What happened? Are you okay? It's me!\".\n\nPikachu tried to jump to him, but a severe wave of pain kept him sitting down. It seemed to be logical, due to his bad physical state.\n\nThe Doctor told the trainer to inform Pikachu about something that she had told him, and left, leaving them in a more private environment.\n\n\"I.. I am sorry. I have done something terrible to you.\" The trainer said, while trying to apologize to his friend, but he didn?t understand any of what he said.\n\n\"What.. What happened?\"\n\nThe trainer gave a sorrowful look at his old friend.\n\n\"I took advantage of you. I used you, just like the other trainers did. I was just greedy and want to become stronger. However, I failed. I am sorry Pikachu. I won?t ever battle again, or else I will soon be left with no one in my life\".\n\n\"What do you mean? You haven?t beat me in any Pokemon battles. You are not weak, you have been the greatest and kindest trainer that I've ever. I've always felt a connection to you, so I had no doubt that you can?t do anything bad for anyone\".\n\n\"I had no right to do that, but I'm sorry for what I did, I just... I don?t deserve your friendship\".\n\nThe trainer's tears started to fall.\n\n\"It's all my fault. Now, you have to carry on with the consequences of what I've done.\"\n\nPikachu started to worry, as he knew that if his friend started to cry, there was a really serious problem. His trainer wasn?t the crying type at all.\n\n\"I was too selfish and irresponsible. I feel so sorry for hurting you Pikachu\" continued the trainer.\n\nPikachu wanted to know the truth. He looked at his trainer's eyes, as he started to talk \"I know you love me. I know you love everyone, because it's a trait rooted in the deep core of your soul. But now, I need you to use your own strength to overcome your fear, and tell me what are the sequels I will face from now on. Please, tell me everything\".\n\nThe trainer was afraid to break the silence. He had to admit that he was so hurt inside that he couldn?t hold on anymore.\n\n\"I'll always be your friend, never forget it ok?\" Pikachu insisted, wanting to know what was happening to him.\n\n\"I...I need to tell you... You were instantly rushed to the hospital in critical condition. You lost most of your blood, and there might be severe brain damage. At first, we didn?t think you would make it. However, your strength and will to live was stronger than your physical damages. We fought for your life and managed to bring you back to the land of the living\".\n\nPikachu felt such deep sympathy for his old friend. He motioned him to continue.\n\n\"But...but your body isn?t well anymore...\" He said as he started to sob uncontrollably.\n\n\"Your organs suffered massive damage, so, the only way to save your life was to take a very hard decision. After hours of intense debate... We had to remove most of them.\" The trainer started to cry, not because he lost his dear friend, but because he hurt his old friend by telling him about the hard decision he had to make.\n\n\"You were left with the basics to live, but.. but...\" It was each time harder to continue. \"I am so sorry Pikachu, but you won?t be able to use any attacks ever again\".\n\nThe trainer was crying so hard that he couldn?t continue, and he couldn?t talk anymore. Pikachu was completely defeated. Soon, his trainer continued, once he could speak again.\n\n\"I know it's hard to accept, but you are a very strong Pokemon inside your hearth, and that's exactly why I love you the most. You're my best friend and I will never be able to forget that. I will always be here for you. You're my best friend and I love you so much\".\n\nThe little Pikachu fell into his arms, and they started to cry together.\n\n\"I love you Pikachu\" said the boy, while hugging his beloved friend, as Pikachu started to feel the world around him fade out.\n\n--------------------------------\n\nPikachu opened his eyes, and found himself curled into a ball on his nest.\n\nHe felt his tears pouring down his face. His mind was unable to think, but his heart knew the reason perfectly. He fell into a deeper depression, and no help could make him feel better. He hated it.\n\nHe kept crying. Tears flooded his thoughts. He didn?t understand why things were so unfair. He thought that good people in the world always get rewarded, and bad people get punished. But it wasn?t the case for him.\n\nPikachu had no one, except for his best friend. But destiny gave him a devastating blow. He wasn?t able to use any attacks anymore, and his emotional suffering was unbearable, as his trainer wasn?t around him anymore.\n\nHe saw the walls of his nest, and remembered his trainer's words as he looked around him. His room now was a terrible mess. His nest was torn apart, and the medicine box was broken.\n\n\"I wish he was here to protect me\" He thought, as he looked around. He felt even more ashamed about himself, as he had suffered a psychotic outbreak, and couldn?t avoid it in time.\n\n\"I feel terrible. I'm useless now.\"\n\nAs Pikachu kept looking around, he noticed his vision was blurry. He had been weeping for hours, and had given up all hope of being able to continue living a normal life.\n\nBut then, he thought he heard a voice that he had heard many times before.\n\n\"Raichu, I think Pikachu is sick today. He hasn?t still woken up.\" Eevee said.\n\nA soothing warm fuzzy feeling flowed through his body. He felt a small little heat coming from his chest. Even though any of his long-time relationships were with him anymore, he loved his work, as it was the only activity that made his life worth living. He absolutely loved to care of the cubs in there, and to make their lives better. They had also suffered so much in their short lives, and deserved something better, that he was able to provide. As his positive thoughts started to fill up his mind, he decided to give himself a little more time, before making a wrong, irreversible decision.\n\n\"Hey Eevee, buddy!\" he said, trying to sound normal. Nobody could know about his secret.\n\n\"Are you okay?\" Eevee asked at the other side of the door.\n\nPikachu started to feel better.\n\n\"I'm sorry\" he said, \"I overslept today. I will come out in a minute, OK?\"\n\n\"No problem buddy\" Eevee replied.\n\n\"Can you wait for me in the corridor's entrance?\" Pikachu asked, as he didn?t want them to witness the huge mess he had made.\n\nEevee nodded \"Ok, no problem. Let's go, Raichu!\"\n\nPikachu rushed to get ready for the Saturday that was to come. He almost forgot that today, Raichu was staying for the whole day, and only remembered it when he heard Eevee talk to her. He though for a moment, but finally decided to go out and try to resume his life as best as he could.\n\nAs he reached Eevee and Raichu, he felt a huge emotional weight coming from their presence. Although Raichu and Eevee had been a huge dread for him, each one due to different reasons, he didn?t expect them to become his friends. He had never liked anyone but his trainer and family, and all of his relationships ended so horribly, that he had lost his trust for love. But Raichu and Eevee were slowly building up a connection with him, and he hoped to see how far they could take it.\n\n\"Hey there, Raichu! So you're staying here for the whole day? I'm happy to see you\" Pikachu said as he tried to make small talk.\n\n\"Actually, Pikachu, I already knew you would come with us\" Raichu said. \"I told Eevee that I would come and check on you today before going out, to make sure everything is OK\".\n\n\"I'm OK, see? Anyway, Did you want to go to the beach today? The weather can?t be better! And besides, we will enjoy it\" Pikachu said, trying to sound cheerful to get a conversation started.\n\nRaichu nodded happily before they headed off to have a beautiful day together.\n\nCHAPTER 15\n\nAs they got to the beach, Pikachu noticed a few other Pokemon and humans around the beach. Most of them were enjoying the lovely weather or the sea breeze. His eyes were soon fixated on a tall cliff that overlooked the beach. As he was too focused on the sights, he didn?t notice Eevee approaching the beach.\n\n\"Eevee! What are you doing? Where are you going?\" Raichu shouted at him.\n\nEevee didn?t reply, so Raichu just ran after him.\n\n\"Eevee, wait!\" she shouted again, as she got closer to the escaping Eevee.\n\nBut thee Eevee reached the sea, and started to laugh as the water started to drench him. \"Woohoo\" he said, as he started swimming.\n\nAs Raichu saw he was having fun, decided to join him.\n\n\"Wanna come to swim?\" Eevee asked her in utter excitement.\n\n\"Yeah!\" Replied Raichu as she got closer.\n\nThe Pikachu didn?t pay attention to what was happening, as he was thinking in personal thoughts as the pair of Pokemon swimming in the sea, finally got out of sight. When he came back to heart, those two were nowhere to be seen!\n\nHe immediately hurried to go find Eevee and Raichu, but since they were in the sea, he couldn?t find them in the sand. He frantically began to look around, but no Eevee or Raichu. As he couldn?t find them from his spot, he started to walk around the nearby streets trying to find them.\n\nMeanwhile, once Eevee started to get cold, Raichu helped him get back to land. \"Next time try to tell me you are getting cold earlier OK? You can catch a cold!\" Raichu said to Eevee as she wrapped a little towel around him.\n\nAs Eevee smiled, he answered that he wouldn?t do it again before getting back to playing with the Raichu. Eevee felt so lucky to have Raichu as a friend, he couldn?t thank her enough.\n\nBy the time Raichu and Eevee finished playing in the sand, Eevee started to walk towards the tall cliff. \"Eevee! Eevee! Don?t go there!\" Raichu shouted.\n\nEevee turned back. \"Come here Raichu!\" she said.\n\nAs Raichu got to Eevee's side, she became too mesmerized by the beautiful sights in front of her. The sparkling ocean, the tall cliffs, and the warm oceanic breeze were too amazing to her eyes. \"Who knew that walking near the ocean could be so fun?\" she thought to herself.\n\nShe started to talk to Eevee. \"Eevee, I can?t believe how beautiful this place is! Look at all those water Pokemon!\" she said. \"We should come here to explore more often!\"\n\nEevee couldn?t hold his own as he couldn?t stop looking at the sea. \"Wow! You're right Raichu! This place really is cool!\" he said, looking at the sea.\n\nAs the two Pokemon talked, the time passed by very quickly, and soon, they headed back to the beach. \"Raichu, do you know where is Pikachu?\" Eevee asked.\n\n\"I hope he hasn?t gone back to his room feeling upset\" Eevee worriedly replied.\n\n\"We must go find him\" replied Raichu. \"You'll search around the beach, and I'll search in the streets. Then, we'll reunite in this spot, OK?\" Eevee happily nooded and ran off to find his Pikachu friend.\n\nAs Raichu made his way through the streets, she didn?t feared Eevee getting lost, as all the cubs were localized with a small chip as soon as they ingressed the orphanage. As Raichu was the most similar pokemon to Pikachu, she could naturally take the same decissions as him, so she easily followed the same route Pikachu had walked earlier, and soon found him. \"Pikachu! Pikachu!\" she called him. \"Where were you? What happened to you?\"\n\nPikachu didn?t understand what was going on, as he was too surprised to realize that he had been walking aimlessly alone for a good amount of time. \"I was just thinking about some things. Don?t worry!\" he said as he patted Raichu's cheek.\n\nMeanwhile, Eevee had reached to a beach bar. As he paid close attention to the people who were around having a drink, he spotted one pokemon who seemed very familiar.\n\n\"Pikachu!\" he yelled as he ran over to the bar to reunite with Pikachu. He was so proud of himself as he was able to find Pikachu all by himself!\n\n\"Hello there!\" he said to Pikachu. \"I've been looking for you for a while now! I was really worried that something happened to you!\"\n\nThe Pikachu gave him a dumbfounded look, before looking to the human who sat on the same table. The human also had the same expression on his face. \"It's me, Eevee! By the way, who's your friend right there?\" he asked, as his curiosity got the best of him. He knew Pikachu was very popular, as there were lots of people who liked him, so, he wanted to know why he was talking to the boy by his side.\n\n\"I'm sorry, but I don?t remember you at all\" said the Pikachu, with an upset look on his face.\n\n\"We've walked to the beach together before! You can?t remember me?\" replied the Eevee. In the very same moment, the Pikachu started to laugh as hard as he could as he became aware of the situation.\n\n\"Eevee, did you know that there are many Pikachu in the world?\" asked in a more calmed voice. \"No.\" the Eevee replied. \"I only know one Pikachu\".\n\n\"Yes, you might only know a Pikachu, but there are more Pikachu apart from your friend! I'm an example of that. I have also met some Eevee before, but you aren?t one of them either!\"\n\nEevee then asked \"And do you know who Raichu is? Pikachu and Raichu are my best friends\". The Pikachu then replied again \"I don?t know Raichu, as there are also many Raichu in the world! I've never met one though. Did you know that Raichu was a Pikachu before?\"\n\nEevee's brain exploded at the very same moment. Raichu was a Pikachu before!\n\nThe Eevee said \"That's impossible! Raichu is different!\"\n\n\"Do you think?\" asked Pikachu as he cracked a smile.\n\n\"Yes, it's impossible!\" responded the Eevee. But then, as he was going to reply, a long tail grabbed him, and pulled him back to the aforementioned Raichu. \"Sorry for the inconvenience!\" the Raichu said in concern. \"I hope he hasn?t disturbed you!\" Replied the Pikachu standing by the Raichu's side. Eevee's jaw dropped as he saw two identical Pikachu in the same place, and was unable to proccess it for the whole time that they spent together.\n\nOnce they departed, it was starting to get late, and they decided to get the day finished as they headed back to the orphanage.\n\nIt wasn?t long until they were back at their destination, and as soon as they were going to say goodblye to Raichu until next week, Raichu smiled at Eevee. \"Eevee, do you know what a gift is?\" Eevee shook his head. \"Well, it's not something that you give to everybody. It's something that you can only give to good kids like you!\" Raichu said. Eevee said \"Thank you for being nice with me.\"\n\n\"That's what friends are for!\" replied the Raichu, as she handed him a medium-sized package. \"Come on! Open it!\"\n\n\"Are you sure this is for me?\" replied Eevee.\n\n\"It sure is!\" replied the Raichu. Eevee opened the package to find a set of Eeveelution figures. \"Hey, how did you know that I love to collect figures?!\" replied Eevee.\n\n\"It was easy!\" said the Raichu. \"I've seen you collecting them!\"\n\n\"But Raichu, it's not fair that I get them for free!\" Eevee said. \"They cost money!\"\n\n\"But they are for the kids like you!\" replied the Raichu. \"Do you like them?\"\n\n\"Yes! I love them!\" replied the Eevee.\n\n\"I love when he is cheerful\" thought Raichu. \"Now it's time to go. See you next Saturday! Bye!\"\n\n\"Bye!\" replied the Eevee.\n\nAs soon as they parted, Pikachu and Eevee both walked into the main hall, where they realized that they hadn?t had dinner. But Eevee was lucky that Pikachu still had some of the berries he picked up the other week, so, after inviting Eevee to his room, they ate them, and, once they were full, Eevee went back to his own place, leaving Pikachu alone.\n\nOnce he was about to go to sleep, he felt again a sharp pain in his stomach, which he quickly knew wasn?t caused by the berries. These pain attacks were one of the sequels he would carry the rest of his life. So, before they could get any worse, he took his medicine as fast as he could, until he managed to fall asleep.\n\nCHAPTER 16\n\nHe awoke again, this time in a bed that wasn?t his. It was so vivid, that he could remember inmediately that it was the last part of his journey.\n\nAs he tried to get up, he saw his trainer looking at him, with a sad but comforting expression.\n\n\"Pikachu, How are you?\" he asked, as he put his hands on his shoulders.\n\n\"I'm sincerely devastated. I know you do your best, but there's just no way for me to live a normal Pikachu life anymore.\"\n\n\"What can I do for you?\" the trainer asked heartbroken.\n\n\"Can you promise me that you won?t give up your dreams? I don?t want you to suffer anymore.\"\n\n\"Of course I'll do it.\" the boy said with a determined face.\n\n\"That's awesome!\" Pikachu shouted.\n\nThen, the boy hugged him.\n\n\"I'll help you through this too.\" he said as he put his hand on Pikachu's shoulder.\n\n\"But, Pikachu, you also have to promise me one thing.\"\n\n\"What?\" the Pikachu asked with an astonished look on his face.\n\n\"Please, never blame yourself for your past.\"\n\n\"What are you talking about?\" Pikachu asked.\n\n\"You've lived a very though life. You've done many things, and faced many challenges, everything with bravery and courage. Despite everything, you managed to help the people in need, even when others said that you had no chance\" He then paused a little before concluding:\n\n\"And most of all, you always tried your best. You tried to protect everyone you could from the reality of our world. You tried to build a new and better one, just by yourself, in an act of pure generosity, just to make everyone around you happy. So, you have the right to live a happier life now. It's not your fault that things went the way they did.\"\n\n\"Thank you for your encouragement, but where do you want to get with this?\" Pikachu asked in his confusion.\n\n\"I think that I have a solution to your problem.\" the trainer replied.\n\n\"Even though your battling career has ended, there is still a wide array of ways for you to make a better life.\" The boy replied.\n\n\"I'm listening.\"\n\n\"You have always wanted to make things better for everyone. The world may never be perfect, but you sure can make it better by dedicating your live to making others happy.\"\n\n\"And how do I do it? How do I become a better Pokemon if I can?t even light up a single bulb?\" Pikachu asked in a hint of frustration.\n\n\"I've thought about it.\" the trainer said. \"I thought that maybe you could search for a place where the only motive is making others happy. You can come up with a solution for it.\"\n\n\"Yeah...that's...what I?d like to do...\" Pikachu answered.\n\n\"So, please, do that.\"\n\n\"Okay, but...\" he replied as he took a deep breath.\n\n\"I need to tell you something first.\" Pikachu asked him in a serious tone.\n\n\"Yeah?\"\n\n\"Since you are left with no Pokemon now, you have to grow up and be an adult from now on.\"\n\n\"What? How come?\" the trainer asked in shock. But soon, he realized the sad truth.\n\n\"There's no way around it.\"\n\n\"I'll do it.\" the boy answered confidently.\n\n\"I know you will.\"\n\n\"But, I'm gonna miss you, Pikachu\"\n\n\"I'll miss you too. You are gonna do great on your own. Make the world remember you for being the caring person that you were.\"\n\n\"You're right.\" the boy agreed. \"I'll be fine. I'm sure of it.\"\n\nPikachu nodded.\n\nAnd so, the boy put his hand on his shoulder again.\n\n\"Then, let's do this.\" The boy said to Pikachu. He then went to his room, and started to search in the computer.\n\nLater that afternoon, the boy asked Pikachu to go to the city with him.\n\nPikachu still couldn?t wrap his mind about the sudden turn of events last week. On Monday, he was in his way to become a professional Pokemon fighter, and on Saturday, he was supposed to wander around trying to find a place where he can live without battling ever again. In his whole life, he never experience something like this, but he had to stay positive to help his friend now, as his injuries hurt his trainer as much as it did to him.\n\nHe agreed to go with the boy. They sat off together in the bus stop, in silence.\n\n\"How do we get to the city, though?\"\n\n\"The bus will arrive soon\".\n\n\"You mean the city isn?t even a nearby?\"\n\n\"No, that's a big city where we are going.\"\n\nSoon, they got on the bus, and, before sunset, they had reached the city. It was a big city, actually, quite different from the one that Pikachu was from.\n\n\"So, where is the place we are heading to?\"\n\n\"It's near here. The people there are the ones who are in need of our help. They're people who need someone to make them happy.\"\n\n\"We will be helping them with the best of our powers.\" Pikachu said in a encouraging tone.\n\n\"I know you will. You are a very caring Pokemon, you can do anything if you are determined\".\n\nAfter about ten minutes, the trainer said \"Here it is!\" as he pointed to a building, or more precisely, a complex of not-so-tall buildings. Pikachu couldn?t figure out what it was a first sight. After all, the place looked quite out of the place in the middle of a residential district. As he got to the main entrance, he waited for the receptionist there to greet them. After a few minutes, the staff opened the door for them and took them inside. Pikachu was quite surprised that there was so many cubs around that place. All around the foyer, cubs were running around, playing with each other. Seconds later, a woman greeted them.\n\n\"Hello there! My name is Samantha Millers, even though I'm known as Mrs. Millers\".\n\n\"What's your role here?\".\n\n\"I'm the Assistant Manager of this place. I organize the people who work here. By the way, Is the Pikachu on your shoulder the little one you talked about before?\"\n\n\"Yes, this is Pikachu.\" Said the boy as Pikachu waved at her. \"Hello, Pikachu\" said Mrs. Millers, trying to be as friendly as possible.\n\n\"Hello, Mr. Millers\" Pikachu replied in a cheerful voice, sensing that she had something to do with his new life.\n\n\"Right, well, let's go upstairs, and you'll be introduced to all of our staff\".\n\nAs she got there, a group of Pokemon who had just arrived at the place stared at them with a mixture of curiosity and happiness.\n\n\"They are the ones you are working with. They are Espeon, Sceptile and Pidgeot\", she told them. \"They all help us to take care of all the cubs in need. You Pikachu, must be sure that there are no cubs unhappy or depressed, ok?\"\n\n\"Yes, I'll do that\", said Pikachu, eager to meet them.\n\nAfter that, Mrs. Millers pointed to a door that stood at the end of a corridor. \"That's the room you will live for now on. Please, feel free to make this place your home!\"\n\nWhen they got to the room, the Pikachu sat in the small bed that was by the window. He turned back to stare at his trainer, as his eyes started watering. Pikachu knew what was to come now. The boy had thought that by starting to help homeless cubs in an orphanage would make Pikachu happy again, but in any case, the departure turned out to be a very hard moment for both.\n\n\"Pikachu, it's time to go now. From now, you will meet your new friends. I really hope you live a fulfilling life.\" The boy said as he waved goodbye at him. Pikachu wordlessly returned his wave to him.\n\n\"Bye, Pikachu\", the boy said as he began to walk away from the room. Pikachu then looked through the window, where, a minute later, saw his trainer one last time, walking out of the orphanage, before dissapearing behind some other buildings. He started to cry as the orange sunset light seeped in his room, warming a little his small frame.\n\nAs he started to regain consciousness, Pikachu ?awoke? to find himself staring at the same window, crying, as he remembered his late trainer. He had been daydreaming all day long. Fearing the other's comments if he got out of his room, decided to stay there, opening a little golden box, where he stored old photos of his journey, and spent the rest of the day reliving all of the memories with him in the past. Hours later, he felt himself getting sleepy, and decided to sleep in the nest, till morning.\n\nCHAPTER 17\n\nIt was the time. The wait was over.\n\nThe one and only topic of discussion in the whole city for months had finally arrived to the city.\n\nPikachu woke up peacefully this Saturday morning. After having a peaceful and long sleep, he was looking forward to this new day. He got out of the room, and went straight to the dining room, where he found his peers. \"Hi Pidgeot! Hi Sceptile!\" waved Pikachu.\n\n\"Hello, little buddy\", the Espeon answered. They all wore their usual smile, and enjoyed a nice breakfast.\n\n\"Why are you so happy?\", asked the Pikachu.\n\n\"Well, do you live under a rock?\" Pidgeot said in a very surprised tone. \"You know that the World Championship is taking place in the main stadium tonight, right? The Champion will be decided. And all of us want to be there!\"\n\nPikachu was then terrified by the idea of battling and instantly became mute. He then glanced at Sceptile, who was busy with the taste of a delicious pudding, but he took the opportunity to brag about himself.\n\n\"World Championship? I'm the best fighter in this place! Don?t even think of beating me! Don?t be foolish\", laughed Sceptile, his attitude making Pidgeot upset. \"Listen, there is only one way to become champion, and I don?t see you on the list, mister Pokemon Champion. Now, shut up and continue eating!\"\n\nThe two were glancing at each other, as Pikachu was in the middle of the confrontation, without knowing what to say. A poor attempt of speech was then made by Pikachu, which did not help the situation.\n\n\"Well, that was some decent speech you gave her\", said Sceptile. He then gave Pikachu a look, which made him more nervous. Trying to avoid the possible confromtation, Pikachu quickly decided to leave. \"Oh, don?t worry, you won?t have to fight against me, bye!\", he said as he fearfully ran off. Nobody knew his deep, personal secret, but, if he had to make use of his electric abilities, everyone would discover it.\n\nAs Pikachu ran from the place, he crashed with someone. \"Ow!\" said Espeon. \"What happens?\" she asked worried, as she knew that Pikachu wasn?t the type of pokemon who acted like that. \"You must help me!\" he exclaimed, as she ran behind him. Pikachu was about to cry, as he knew that he has left two Pokemon battling in rage with each other, and could not solve the situation by himself, because of his lack of power.\n\nAs Espeon got there and saw the confromtation, she used her powers to hypnotize the two rivals. Her attempt was successful as neither of them were aware of Espeon's presence. She then erased the confromtation from their memories, and the four sat down completely still, without remembering anything that had happened.\n\n\"Alright, what's up with the Championship?\", asked Espeon.\n\n\"It starts at seven o?clock at the stadium, in the Main Arena. But the Final Battle will take place around eleven o?clock.\"\n\n\"Have you bought the tickets, guys?\" asked Sceptile. Pikachu was too afraid to say that he wouldn?t be going, as he was really scared of battles.\n\n\"I really hope to see Armando Cavarone, the actual Pokemon League Champion, in the final battle, as it's the most important battle\", said Pidgeot.\n\n\"Well, he is the Champion who has been facing the most toughest opponents, but managed to win them all. It's logical that he's winning this year again\" added Espeon.\n\nPidgeot smiled, as she was watching her friends having a good time, and also thinking about the Final Battle. Armando Cavarone, for her, was one of her biggest heroes, as he had managed to get the Unova League Champion title, only to use it to help creating a peaceful region, along with his longtime friend Shauna Nara, also a worldwide reputed elite trainer.\n\nEspeon also liked to see the independent fighters, who were regular Pokemon who battled without being told what to do, as they trained themselves, and still gained fame all over the world. She was a fan of some of them, as well as legendaries who decided to fight alone or with a trainer who they loved. Independently from who reached to the later stages of the competition, exciting moments were guaranteed.\n\nAs they finished eating, everyone in the place got ready to do their chores, so by the time the tournament started, they were already watching it on TV, or were in the arena watching the show live. Pikachu decided to do the opposite, as he wanted to avoid going to the Championship or watching it from TV, so he preferred to relax now, and go buying groceries later.\n\n\"Pikachu!\" shouted Eevee, as he spotted him, \"Are you going to the Championship?\"\n\n\"Actually not\" he answered, putting a finger to his lips.\n\n\"Are you sure?\" Eevee asked in shock. He was the first one he met who wasn?t going!\n\n\"I'm sure that I don?t want to go\" he answered. As Eevee was very sad that Pikachu wasn?t going, he went to Espeon, and told her what he said. Eevee was almost crying, as she told Eevee what Pikachu had told him.\n\nA while later, Eevee appeared again. \"Eevee! Are you ok?\" asked Pikachu, worried about him.\n\n\"I'm ok, Pikachu\" he answered, \"I'm sad that you don?t want to go to the Championship, but I will feel better if you are more comfortable.\"\n\nPikachu sighed \"Ok, thanks for understanding me\" he answered.\n\nThen Espeon appeared there too. \"Pikachu, I'm a bit impressed that you decided to stay home instead going to the Championship\" she said.\n\n\"Yeah\" he answered, \"I was feeling nervous thinking that I won?t be able to survive against them in a fight! It's so scary!\". For any other Pokemon, that sentence lacked any common sense, but, for him, it was another whole story.\n\n\"Pikachu, I still have to tell you something\" she said. \"I understand that you really want to avoid battling, but I think that it's best to think about them in a more positive way. We have all lived some nice moments in the arena, and there have been some battles we'll never forget. In addition, battling can also be a great opportunity to meet some new people\". Espeon was really trying to convince Pikachu to go to the Championship.\n\n\"Espeon, I appreciate what you're trying to say, but it's just that...\"\n\n\"Pikachu, if you really suffer from anxiety, don?t force yourself to go. If you really don?t want to go, I'm sorry. I really want you to go, but I understand your feeling\" Espeon said. She hugged Pikachu with one of her arms and her tail, and the other one she put on the side of Pikachu's face, trying to comfort him. It was a very touching moment, even for Eevee, as he always disliked overly sweet moments like this.\n\nPikachu looked at Espeon, and smiled. \"Thanks, Espeon. And thanks for telling me that it's ok if I don?t go to the Championship. I'm very happy that you understand it.\"\n\nAs Eevee finally desisted, he went to his room, and prepared himself to go to the Main Arena at evening. He tidied up his room and packed his bag, went to the playing room and took a toy camera, to take pictures of himself in front of the door of that place.\n\nOnce the time was coming, everyone reunited at the main hall. It sure was an exciting event for everyone, and Eevee was just as nervous as the others. It would be amazing to see all the competitors going into the arena, watching them as they competed for the title of Champion of the year.\n\nWhen it was only two hours before the finals of the championship started, everyone left the orphanage, leaving the place desert. Pikachu was always used to Eevee leaving with him, and the sensation of him alone in the big and peaceful place was starting to get to him. It has been ages since he was completely alone, like now. He walked to the main entrance, and stood there thinking about his unlucky past, and now slowly improving present.\n\nEevee was so excited that he preferred to jump all the way to the arena rather than walk like the rest. \"Espeon! Espeon! Do you know who is battling today?\"\n\n\"Today are the finals\" So the best fighters!\" Answered Pidgeot from afar. \"Are you excited?\"\n\n\"I sure am! But I was asking who contestants were battling today\".\n\n\"I think you should see who they are in that poster\" answered Espeon. Eevee was so curious about the upcoming battle that he ran as fast as he could to read said poster. The contestants were named Armando Cavarone, Christine Lovelock, John Stein, Ginger Sparklight, Hideki Tanizaki, Susan Hertz, Nikki Hamilton and someone called ?The Volcano?.\n\n\"Wow! There are more finalists than I thought\" Eevee said. \"Oh my gosh, it's so awesome\" he imagined Armando commanding the most powerful Pokemon in the world.\n\nEspeon, Pidgeot and Sceptile's eyes were very wide open, as they recognized all of the names, which belonged to very famous people and also a couple of independent fighters! \"Eevee\" Espeon said. \"It's time to go to the Main Arena! Come on, we're gonna get behind the group!\"\n\n\"Oh, yeah!\" Eevee said as he ran away. \"Let's go!\"\n\nAfter about tho hours later, everyone got to the place where the event was taking place. Eevee couldn?t believe how many people came to see this event happen. As they took their seats, Eevee saw that they were really far from the stage, as the attacks could be so poweful that the espectators had to sit in a place which was covered with thick bulletproof glass about 1000 feet away from the battling field. However, everyone had in their seats a VR set where they could see the battle from a nearer perspective, which was really amazing!\n\nAnd just at seven o?clock, the announcer exclaimed \"Welcome to the Main Arena, where it's going to take place the 2045 World Championship! I am Mr. Anvil, the announcer of the event, and I the locutor of the final battles!\"\n\n\"I would like to welcome all the participants who are going to battle today!\" announced Mr. Anvil. \"Just a short note before each fight, let me inform you that none of the contestants are allowed to use more than six Pokemon against each other. If someone faces an independent fighter, it must start first, and must restrain from using status-infringing techniques to them.\"\n\n\"Alright, here is the first round of the final battle! Please give your all to reach your goals! Fight in the Spirit of winning!\" Anvil announced as the contestants appeared. \"Everyone give a warm welcome to Hideki Tanizaki and Typlhosion.... ?The Volcano!!!?\" The crowd cheered as Tanizaki and Typlhosion appeared on the battlefield.\n\nCHAPTER 18\n\nFor a while, the battle went well with for the Typhlosion, as he wss able to knock out three of his opponents without suffering considerable damage, but, as the trainer had figured out that this alignment might happen, the next Pokemon were water Pokemon. The Typhlosion wasn?t so fortunate, because by the time he beat the fourth opponent, he had already received numerous water-based attacks and so, was easily defeated by the fifth opponent. After this, the trainer helped the Typhlosion to get up, and they finally shook hands in a deportive manner.\n\nThe public was already in a state of excitement, as the deafening roar that was emanating from all the people confirmed it.\n\nNext battle was the battle between Christine Lovelock and John Stein.\n\nThe public became crazy again as both trainers began to walk to their places.\n\nSoon after, the battle began, the first Pokemon who battled were a Garchomp and a Sceptile. \"Hah! I knew we are the best!!!!\" Shouted in amazement the Sceptile who sat by the seats. \"Look who's talking! Mr. Modest!\" Responded Espeon in a sarcastic tone.\n\nBut sadly, after cheering for over ten minutes, the Sceptile battling was beaten. \"Noooo!!!\" He said as his frustation overcame his body. \"And that's how you make him shut up\" added Pidgeot.\n\nAfterwards, it was the battle between the weakened Garchomp and a Haunter. It was impossible to the Garchomp to defeat the Haunter. The battle continued for a long time, until John Stein achieved a very close 5-6 victory.\n\nThe third battle was between Armando Cavarone and Nikki Hamilton. This time, the public started to cheer frenetically as Armando made his way to the battlefield. The man, somewhere around his mid or late fourties, was also very famous due to his elegant looks, his long hair, and his refinated manners, apart from his battling career.\n\nThe man turned to the crowd and made a gesture of affection as he made it to the side of his part in the battlefield.\n\nA moment later, Nikki Hamilton also entered in the arena, as she cheerfully thanked everyone for the support. She knew that there was a very slim chance that she would win the battle, but she was determined to make the most of it! She made a signal indicating that she was ready to start, and Armando responded in a confident way.\n\nThe first Pokemon Nikki sent to the battlefield was a shiny Charizard, but everyone in the public was inmediately awestruct as Armando made a gesture to the sky, and an Articuno arrived to the battle. Legends told that it was a powerful and extremely fast fighter. As the battle started, Articuno quickly flew through the air, the Charizard standing still concentrated on its next move, to parry it with a flurry of counter-attacks. But the legendary's vast experience allowed it to detect Charizard's intentions, and, as soon as it got about twenty feet from him, it instantly changed direction, and flew upwards. The Charizard quickly took off, chasing the ice bird trying to catch up with Articuno, but, as the altitude started to rise, the Charizard started to feel a penetraring cold, chilly wind that made the fire Pokemon feel weaker.\n\nThis cold had the opposite effect on Articuno, who continued flying up until it was miles above the ground, and then, dived down to the ground, reaching an impressive speed. The Charizard, who was still flying, trying to spot Articuno, was only able to realize what was going on when the Articuno shooted a powerful ice-beam to the fire type, before landing its claws at full-force on Charizard's back.\n\nThe Charizard lost control and soon landed head-first to the ground. As the Articuno landed swiftly, the Charizard was revealed to be unable to battle.\n\nNext battle, Nikki Hamilton took out her second Pokemon, a Rotom. Now, Articuno and Rotom were the only active Pokemon on the battlefield.\n\nAs soon as the battle began, it became apparent that the Articuno was powerful, as it avoided Rotom's electric attacks, and even countered the clever Pokemon's long-ranged attacks, before countering with an intense blizzard. The Articuno made sure there was no way the Rotom could escape it.\n\nThe battle went on for a while, but the Rotom couldn?t get past the Articuno's defense, and every attack seemed to make the bird more resistant to it, as if Rotom's attacks were completely useless. After putting on an incredible show, the Rotom was left exhausted by Articuno's continuous dodging, and, with a very quick evasive maneuver, the bird soon managed to make his opponent collapse in sheer exhaustion.\n\n\"Rotom is unable to battle!\" yelled the commentator.\n\nNikki Hamilton proudly displayed her third Pokemon to the audience, which was a Poliwrath. Since the Articuno was the only revealed pokemon on Armando's side, many of the crowd believed that the Poliwrath would lose the battle, which would turn out to be the true, due to the latter's being rather slow.\n\nThe Poliwrath was incredibly strong nevertheless, and it attacked the bird with a vicious front kick, before making a devastating overhead smash with a powerful, yet elegant powerful kick. The attack was extremely powerful, and, although the Poliwrath couldn?t defeat the Articuno when it was weak, it inflicted serious damage on the blue and white bird.\n\nNikki's fourth Pokemon turned out to be a rather large Lapras. People started to think that there was no way that any of Nikki's Pokemon was able to win to Articuno, as legendaries are known to be the toughest pokemon in the world.\n\nLapras started using Frost Breath, which turned to be very effective in the battle, as it suddenly changed the air temperature near the surface, making the air suffer a sudden change of density, unstabilizing the Articuno's flight enough to disorientate it.\n\nThen, Lapras continued with Ice Shard. When the attack hit, it hit hard, especially on the left wing, and, when another shard struck it again, the right wing was also affected, as well as the back. This forced Articuno to dive down in order to avoid further attacks, but it was a bad decission.\n\nLapras appeared on top of the bird, using a devastating water gun at a close range. Articuno withstood the mighty attack, but, unable to take much more punishment, it started to weaken rapidly, and after a few seconds, Articuno fell unconscious.\n\n\"Articuno is unable to battle!\" The commentator proclaimed, while the audience cheered for Nikki, as Articuno was regarded as a pokemon which nobody could defeat.\n\nLapras, who had won the battle, gave a salute to the audience, before Articuno was carried away from the battlefield by Armando himself. \"Thank you, Articuno, for fighting with us. It was a pleasure!\"\n\nThe audience then were struck in awe, as Armando made another signal, and the floor beneath him started to crack down. Seconds later, the almighty Entei appeared on the field. People started to raise their hands, screaming out loud.\n\n\"You're welcome, Entei, show everyone what are you capable of\". Armando said.\n\nEntei roared as if taunting the Lapras to attack, but, the latter showed restraint, as it looked at Entei with an emotionless look on its face. As that tactic didn?t yield any results, Entei decided to take the initiative, and let out an ear-piercing roar, trying to intimidate its foe.\n\nLapras then, without hesitating, headed for the fire beast, who was obviously not expecting such a move. As Lapras tacked Entei, it used a powerful water cannon attack. Entei was not harmed by the attack, but, instead, it was able to react quickly, and wildly dug its extremely powerful claws on Lapras? underside, before using an equally powerful flamethrower to the face.\n\nAs a result, Lapras toppled over, and was unable to continue.\n\n\"Lapras is unable to battle!\" The commentator exclaimed.\n\nNikki's fifth pokemon was a giant Ursaring. People started to consider that Entei should probably win this battle, as the last encounter was a clear victory for the large fire legendary.\n\nNikki's Ursaring then, without hesitation, used Bite. The attack was very powerful, and, although it was able to pierce the Entei's thick skin, it wasn?t strong enough to seriously injure it.\n\nThe legendary didn?t flinch, and instead, threw a large fireball at the Ursaring, creating a large explosion near it.\n\nNikki's Ursaring was simply not expected to survive that attack.\n\nHowever, Nikki's Pokemon's extraordinary will did not fail it. Even though Ursaring took the explosion to the face, it managed to resist it, and then used Silver Wind. The attack left the Entei a bit more confused than before. But Entei, making good use of his overwhelming close combat skills, was able to lift up its foe in the air, and then slammed the Ursaring against the arena's rock-hard floor.\n\nThe impact was so hard, that the Ursaring was knocked out.\n\nAt that time, Nikki was obviously a bit tense. She knew that it was difficult to defeat a legendary like Entei, but she also knew that she was a really strong trainer anyway, with her pokemon not even having a single weakness.\n\nThe audience started to worry, thinking that Nikki was not able to win, but, she wasn?t going to let the audience down, as she called in her last pokemon, Umbreon.\n\n\"Umbreon! It's time to show everybody why you're such a powerful pokemon!\" Nikki shouted.\n\nThe dog-like pokemon, who rose from its default, statical possition, prepared to attack.\n\n\"Umbreon, go, use disable!\" Nikki commanded.\n\nSuddenly, Umbreon's eyes lit up. A blue light formed at its head, and then a black and blue aura surrounded Entei. Then, the aura faded, and Umbreon started to run towards Entei.\n\nEntei, however, wasn?t fazed, and was, in fact, waiting for Umbreon to attack it. When the dog-like pokemon passed close by Entei, the legendary was about to strike another deadly scratch, but an inner force stopped it.\n\nAs it stared into Umbreon's eyes, it noticed something.\n\nUmbreon's eyes went blank, and, for some reason, its tail started to glow a silvery color. Then, it started to generate an intense, white light. And, as it continued to generate the light, Entei was absort from reality. Umbreon's hypnosis had succedded, and soon, Entei found itself sitting on the floor.\n\nThe audience gasped, and the commentators, shocked, couldn?t pronounce a single word.\n\n\"Umbreon! use Shadow blast!\" Nikki called out. The umbren then emanated a dark, dense energy, which exploded on Entei's back, causing it to flinch. But as the Umbreon got near the legendary, it was revealed that the hypnosos effect had already worn out when the legendary counterattacked with a brutal blow, using its paw as a punch, delivering a sheer amount of force straight to Umbreon's face.\n\n\"OHH! Entei has been acting! Impressive!\" The announcer commented.\n\nThe attack paid its toll on Umbreon, as its condition deteriorated. It managed to stand up, but was barely conscious.\n\nThen, Nikky commanded her Umbreon to use another Shadow blast. The attack was powerful, and, it hit Entei directly, causing critical damage.\n\nHaving nothing to loose, Umbreon quickly used quick attack to strike Entei again, but, as Umbreon striked, Entei's paw came out from behind, and pushed Umbreon back, making it roll over a large distance backwards.\n\nEntei was noticeably exhausted from the battle, and so was Umbreon. As they exchallenged a respectful glare, both Pokemon collapsed.\n\n\"Entei and Umbreon are unable to battle!\" The announcer announced.\n\nNikki's eyes went empty of emotion, but she soon rallied up, and looked towards the audience, who cheered at them.\n\n\"Armando wins by 2-6!\" The announcer shouted, as the announcer proceeded to introduce the last battle, Susan Hertz again Ginger Sparklight.\n\nCHAPTER 19\n\nPeople was euphoric to have witnessed Armando's victory. His fighting skills are very strong, and even though his opponent was strong he had no problem dealing with her.\n\nThe next battle was a bit of an incognit. People knew that Susan was a genius fighter, and her opponent was known to be an independent Pokemon fighter. But, when the battle ended, anyone could believe that she was defeated, as the independent Pokemon she was fighting defeated all her team members, without receiving any damage at all.\n\nSo, from the contestats, only Armando, John, Hideiki and Ginger got to the semifinals. The semifinals were randomly selected by the judges. Armando vs Hideiki and John vs Ginger. The first round was a pretty interesting battle, where Armando won against Hideiki with an astonishing 6-0 win, ensuring once again his way to the final.\n\nThe other battle was a bit of a surprise. It was actually a lot of fighting, with a lot of the people cheering for Ginger, as it turned into an epic showdown. Slowly but steadily, one by one, after the hard fought battles, Ginger managed to defeat such powerful foes such as Tyranitar or Salamence. After defeating the last opponent, everyone started to cheer for Ginger, who managed to fight its way to the final.\n\nThe announcer exclaimed \"The best is yet to come! The final battle between Ginger and Armando will take place in two hours!\" After that, the Pokemon who were going to be involved in the final battle were brought to the infirmary, where they were fully restored to a perfect state. Meanwhile, Eevee was having the time of his life, as he kept cheering \"Ginger!! Ginger!!\" with each and every move of the Pokemon!\n\nPidgeot was also excited to watch this final battle between Armando and Ginger, as she was amazed by the strenght of the Pokemon! Her enthusiasm was so strong that she didn?t noticed that the announcer had given a two hour countdown time for the contestants to rest.\n\nAt that point, Sceptile shook one of Pidgeot's wings. \"Hey! Someone there? We're bringing some drinks and snacks! But I need you to move!\" As he finished, Pidgeot let him pass, and as he was facing backwards, she pecked him on the head \"NOBODY TOUCHES MY WING WITHOUT PERMISSON!!\". He just stared at her and sighed as he went to grab the snacks. \"Eevee, do you like the battles?\" Asked Espeon \"Of course! I love watching those battles! \" Excalimed Eevee as he jumped on the seat. \"And who will be the champion?\" He asked. \"There's only one way to find out!\" Sceptile said as he came back with plenty of drinks. As they reviewed the battles, time passed by quickly and soon, the announcer had made the announcement everyone waited for.\n\n\"Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come! The finalists are ready! Give them a really heartfelt, warm welcome!!\" The announcer said in a louder tone than ever before. \"On the right side... The current champion Armando Cavarone!!!\" Everyone cheered Armando as he walked toward the stage, giving the public a reverence as he headed towards the stage. He was definitely a true gentleman, nobody had any doubt about that.\n\n\"Aaaaaaand, on the left side... The aspirant, Ginger Sparklight!!!!\" Everyone cheered again as Ginger stepped onto the stage. Everyone cheered for Ginger, because nobody thought that a regular kantonian Raichu could make it to the world finals.\n\nBut Ginger was now concentrated on Armando's previous performances, as it analyzed the patterns in his moves and then proceeded to look at him, a determined look on its face.\n\nIt took Ginger a moment to decide how to react as soon as its first opponent was finally revealed. Shortly after, Armando made one of his characteristic poses, and the wonderful Articuno flought to the stage. It was as if there was nothing more in the world to the Raichu, who decided to let the Articuno make its first move. The ice bird flew full speed towards Ginger, sending out two powerful ice projectiles. Ginger dodged both projectiles without any trouble, and counterattacked them with a great thunderbolt, which made the public's fur stood on end, despite the great distance between them. A loud screech sounded as Articuno was hit by the powerful thunderbolt, causing its body to shake. The spectators gasped as the bird temporally lost control, and its eyes were closed tightly. But it was able to shrug off the blow, it began to attack with a large, powerful gust towards Ginger. Ginger had a moment to think, and quickly dug a hole, with the exact depth to avoid the intense wind's effects, so it was able to avoid the gust. As the Articuno stopped flapping its wings, it looked down, and felt relieved as the Raichu was nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile Ginger knew that Articuno was still confused, and took advantage of the situation as it blasted through the ground just below the Articuno and threw a hard punch right at its stomach. The Articuno screamed in pain, as it started to fly as high as it could, to prepare a dive and attack move. Meanwhile, the Raichu stood still on the ground, waiting to the right moment to synchronize its next attack with Articuno's actions.\n\nAs Articuno turned to the opposite direction, and began diving at an impressive speed, Ginger kept an still pose, as if preparing to attack, waiting for the Articuno to get as closest as possible. As Articuno kept moving in a downward direction, Ginger knew that it was a good idea. Soon, the distance between the two was cut to a couple hundred feet. Due to the Articuno impressive speed, it only took about half a second to the Pokemon to collide, as a dense ball of dust tens of times their own size covered all of their surroundings, making impossible to discern any movement from the audience's perspective. But Ginger, who had been timing the next action, managed to execute the plan correctly. As soon as Articuno got to a range of not more than two times the Raichu tail's length, Ginger jumped and did a quick backflip, as the tail hardened as much as diamond at the same time it was launched foward like a whip, and just as it had been calculated, the time it took to Articuno to reach its supposed target made the bird to crash head-first with its hardened tail, receiving a devastating blow to the face. As the dust cleared off, the public started to applaud as the Articuno laid still on the ground.\n\n\"Articuno is unable to battle!\" the announcer exclaimed.\n\nThe crowd kept applauding as the Articuno regained a bit of its balance, just enough to leave the battlefield.\n\nA few seconds later, Armando gave a small gesture of approvement to Ginger, then proceeded to do the second set of signals, as Entei entered the arena the same way it did with Nikki. Ginger knew that, unlike Articuno, this Pokemon was much more resilient, and relied on its physical strength to inflict a great deal of damage. But its downside was that it was slow, and as Ginger was way faster and agile, it would be easier to predict its moves, and counterattack with long-ranged moves.\n\nAnd as Ginger made the decision, Entei was already running toward the Raichu, his mouth expelling smoke and flames as it sped forward trying to start a close combat battle against Ginger. But as Entei tried to tackle, Ginger jumped several meters in the air, and as soon as Entei's back was just below, released a powerful thunder which flashed a blinding light, stunning Entei as millions of volts flowed through the legendary's body. In just seconds, Entei was scarred with a black scorch on his back, which seemed to hurt like hell, but, nevertheless, was able to continue, as it tried to attack with a scratch, imprinting a massive amount of strength in it. Raichu quickly dodged it laying on the floor, making Entei immediately lose balance, taking a second to balance itself, that Ginger wisely took advantage of by using a quick attack in the opposite direction, opening a long, safe distance between them. Entei immediately turned its head back, to see Raichu a few hundred feet away. Entei couldn?t understand why did the Raichu did such a thing, but, as the legendary ran towards it, the Raichu ?greeted? it with another electric attack, this one consisting in a large electric blast, and Entei immediately felt a huge electric surge as it roared in pain, forcing to stop his run. The Raichu instantly realized this, so, instead of being prepared to defend itself, it began to prepare another attack, which left no one indifferent. The Raichu struck the ground with the tail in an inclinated position, and, a couple seconds later, a water wave twice as tall as Entei appeared, and due to the sheer speed of the attack, it struck Entei before it could even react, making a huge amount of smoke and steam. The Raichu quickly looked around looking for any trace of movenent, and found none, only to see Entei's immobile frame lying on the ground as the blast dissipated.\n\n\"WOW!! A Raichu that has learnt Surf! It's been really impressive!! Entei is unable to battle!\" The announcer narrated struck in awe at the sight of such an unusual attack for an electric Pokemon. Ginger felt a relieving sensation though its body, as it had been possible to take down two legendaries without receiving any damage, and also felt proud of itself, as nobody had managed to beat two of Armando's legendary opponents without succumbing in the process.\n\nAs Entei also recovered slightly and abandoned the arena, Armando though about the extraordinary strength this Raichu packed. However, the battle for the crown of the Pokemon Champion was far from finish. Armando then made a pose before moving his hand forward in a very quick movement, and, faster as anyone could see, a Latias appeared on the battlefield and stared firmly at the Raichu. \"How many legendaries does Armando know?\" asked Ginger to itself, not realizing that it was logical that the most powerful champion in history, Armando himself, could only rely on such a great team to achieve the huge success he?d had so far.\n\nBut the self-thinking was short-lived, as the Latias flew at such speed that Ginger was barely able to dodge, even though Latias started moving from the opposite side of the arena. As any human or Pokemon who dedicated to battle in a rather professional way knew, the Eon Duo were the legendaries known for their extreme speed, enough to break the sound barrier in a diving flight. The movement of Latias was really fast, which led to Ginger to rely on Latias? own speed to use it against her. As soon as Latias charged again, Ginger made an attempt to get Latias to fly lower, as it would be rather easy to land a hit and crash her to the ground. As Ginger predicted, Latias would eventually fly lower and lower after each avoided tackle, until Ginger was able to touch Latias with its paws. Then, the next time Latias charged, Ginger went to intercept it, by throwing an electricity-packed thunder punch. The hit was powerful enough to stop Latias in her tracks, sending a brutal shockwave which resonated throughout the arena. Latias felt an unbearable pain in her head, as the punch was a perfectly clean blow, but not enough to defeat her. As Ginger was dragged tens of feet backwards from the recoil from the first hit, Latias quickly launched a Solar Beam at the still balancing Raichu, who was quickly struck by the energy of the attack and was sent flying backwards. Ginger knew that it would be impossible to win a fight against a legendary team without taking this kind of damage, but for now, she simply continued fighting Latias as if nothing had happened.\n\nLatias, which had discerned that the flying tackle wasn?t effective enough with Ginger, had made an additional change. When she got close enough to Ginger, she would launch another Solar beam or Ice Beam, trying to hit the Raichu as hard as possible. But the Raichu was so skilled that, each time Latias tried to launch an attack, it could read her movements and guess the direction of the attack. With every passing second, Latias grew more and more frustrated with her own performance, making her suffer the psychological toll of her feelings.\n\nGinger did not care about failing strategies, as negative feelings in a foe's mind could kill any fighter's performance, due to the lack of concentration. So, once Ginger felt that Latias? performance had fallen further behind its own, decided to play a trick which luckily, would make the Raichu win this battle. As Latias was a psychic Pokemon, it would have been wise to read the Raichu's thoughts to find out what it was thinking. However, the inexperience handling this very difficult challenge fogged her mind, losing such abilities. Ginger decided to use her state to its advantage by taunting her, getting as near as it could from her barrage of attacks, until the Latias? powerful mind was taken over by her feelings, and started to try to tackle again, just what Ginger was looking for. Once the Raichu positioned itself in the perfect position, waited for the Latias to get nearer, and as soon as she was going to deliver the impact, Ginger jumped at a precise height and launched a perfect flying kick, striking Latias? wing at full force. Ginger's plan bare fruit as it felt something give in, causing the Latias to scream in agony, before she landed harshly on the ground, being paralyzed by the pain and unable to flight due to the broken wing. Then, Ginger just ran to her, and launched an array of fast-moving punches for some seconds, until Latias was rendered unconscious.\n\n\"Latias is unable to battle!\" the commentator shouted, before the Latias was taken out. Ginger wasn?t keen on status-inflicting attacks, but she knew they sometimes were the only option left.\n\nArmando felt really impressed with Ginger, as nobody could beat half of his team before, let alone an independent fighter. His victory over Ginger wasn?t ensured, and for him, this battle really was nothing compared to his previous ones. He had been dreaming of a battle like this for ages.\n\nCHAPTER 20\n\nBut Armando hadn?t still been defeated. He was in fact into the battle as never before, enjoying the challenge.\n\nThen, Armando made a new pose never seen before, and a huge blast of water sprayed over the battle ground, as the wonderful Lugia emerged from below. \"Wow!\" The announcer cried out, \"Lugia, the mytical sea legendary\".\n\nGinger was also amazed by Armando. Having lived a quite regular life, Ginger had never witnessed any legendaries before, and now, it was fighting an amazing trainer with a team full of them.\n\nLugia stared at Ginger, its body completely devoid of movement. Some seconds later, Ginger had to duck down as a really powerful Water Blast was launched with an impecable precission. Ginger had no doubt that the Lugia's strategy was based on aiming from long distances, such as it had done right now. But as a flying type, it was weak to electric attacks, so Ginger's attacks would follow the same tactic as with Articuno.\n\nAs the Raichu dodged the attack, it did exactly as same as Lugia, and stood still on all fours to reduce the natural trembling of its body as it started to aim. Lugia moved around far from the Raichu, as it knew that if it stood still, the Raichu would have increased chances to land an attack on its body.\n\nGinger watched with a very serious expression as it tried to decypher the Lugia's movements. Seemingly, the preferred movement of the Lugia was to fly upwards about three hundred feet more or less, did a zigzag in the air, flought near the ground, did another zigzag at a low altitude, and repeated. So, as a new cycle began, the Raichu charged a massive thunderbolt, charging the time the Lugia needed to fly low. And just then, the attack was launched. It was a direct blow that hit the Lugia's face, but it wasn?t enough to defeat it.\n\nThe legandary then flew up to attack. The Lugia's body moved at high speed towards Ginger, who watched the legendary getting nearer, and, in a moment it wasn?t seeing it, the Raichu launched a thunderbolt, which struck the Lugia's stomach. Ginger hoped that Lugia would be stopped by the attack, but, unfortunately, it wasn?t the case. Even though receiving damage, the legendary got close to the Raichu, and in a moment, performed an Aeroblast attack. Ginger's body immediately flew away and soon, its body hit the floor with a colossal force. It was a big hit which hurt in a considerable manner, but still wasn?t enough to defeat Ginger. Detecting that Lugia's accuracy was beyond the limits of Ginger, it decided to change the strategy, and looked for an easy path to reach Lugia. However, there was only one way to do it. As Lugia attacked, Ginger kept dodging attacks by a very narrow margin, until an Hydro Pump attack was launched. Just then, Raichu jumped above the attack, hoping that the plan yielded a good result, or the damage received would be probably enough to be knocked out. As the Raichu started to fall, tilted its body a little, so it was parallel to the water stream Lugia was shooting. As soon as the Raichu's paws were about to touch the water, it started to move all its extremities frenetically, action that turned out to be effective, because as soon as the ?landing? took place, the Raichu started to run over the Hydro Pump attack towards Lugia at full speed, and before the legendary could react, the Raichu delivered an unforgiving Iron Tail straight to the face. As a result, Lugia was almost knocked out, and took a bit of time to recover. But a legendary Pokemon wasn?t easy to defeat, and so, Lugia continued to try another attack, this time trying to hit Ginger with the wings. With this, Lugia quickly threw its attack, which seemed to strike Ginger, making an action that would surely end the battle. Lugia felt relieved as there was no way that Ginger could have endured such an attack, but, to its dismay, Ginger's speed was such that it was able to run over the wing and onto the legendary's back, without the Lugia noticing!! The Raichu took advantage of Lugia's confusion, and started to release electric shocks as hard as its body would, making Lugia scream uncontrollably. However, Lugia tried to free itself from the trap Ginger had used, and quickly started to fly, doing complex acrobatic moves to try to drop the Raichu off and avoid being further shocked. Ginger felt its stomach bouncing up and down due to the reaction forces, as it kept a firm grip on Lugia's back, while sending enormous shocks to the legendary which could be heard from the public's seats. Lugia kept maneuvering impossible moves, trying to make Ginger lose its grip, but, each shock the Raichu delivered made Lugia to lose its remaining strength progressively, making the legendary's body slowly start to fall off. The effect on Lugia was like it was being injected a powerful venom that made its body shut down a little more. After an extenuating exhibition of over twenty electric shocks, the Lugia started to fly slower and slower, until it finally landed on the ground in exhaustion, and fell unconscious. Finally, Ginger let go, and jumped off Lugia's back.\n\n\"Lugia is unable to battle!\" the announcer shouted over the roar of the crowd.\n\nArmando was starting to consider this battle as a possible defeat, but he didn?t dare to accept it, so, with a determined look on his face, Armando made the call to invoke the fifth member of the team. Just then, the sky started to fill with dark clouds and lightning, as a snake-like pokemon descended from the sky.\n\n\"I can?t believe this is happening! Rayquaza is about to start battling!!\" commented the announcer with a very shocked tone.\n\nGinger knew that Rayquaza was a rather troublesome foe, as no one can predict what Rayquaza will do when starting a battle, so, the only option Ginger had left was to wait again for the legendary Pokemon to make a move. The wait was very short, as the Rayquaza suddenly began to form a white ball of energy in his mouth, quickly launching it towards the Raichu, who had the exact time to sidestep it. Ginger saw the snake-like Pokemon, and immediately threw an electric attack in response. The Rayquaza couldn?t dodge it, and was hit at full force. Being a Dragon-Flying type, electricity wasn?t the worst option to use against Rayquaza, as it was too risky to engage in close combat, considering Rayquaza's possible constricting abilities.\n\nAs Ginger knew that Rayquaza would eventually strike again, another powerful attack of its own was launched. Both attacks were incredibly powerful, and when they clashed, they made a rather large explosion, with both Rayquaza and Raichu having their bodies blasted away, receiving some damage. However, Ginger knew that it had to rely on its other abilities to defend itself, because as any Raichu, it would only withstand a limited amount of damage.\n\nRayquaza charged again, this time breathing out an entire wall of fire, forming a Fire Spin. While Rayquaza was doing so, it didn?t notice that Ginger was crawling under the ground, making the attack dissipate without dealing any damage. Just then, Ginger appeared from behind and threw a large, large ball of electricity reached the long serpentine form of Rayquaza, which quickly turned into a smokey fireball as soon as the attack collided, causing Rayquaza's body to flinch a bit.\n\nBut before Ginger could continue, Rayquaza charged up again, this time making its body glow white, trying to do a special tackle attack to the electric mouse. The attack landed hard on the Raichu's body, causing great damage to Ginger, leaving it without resistance to resist many more attacks. At this point, Ginger's body hurt like hell, as its whole body was burned out, scratched and scarred. Rayquaza, soon after, turned to face the electric rodent again, before finally releasing its claws to deliver a final blow. The electric mouse looked over at Rayquaza, struggling to think of some way to counterattack. Ginger had to be extremely careful, as any attack from now would be fatal. Soon, as the Raichu guessed, Rayquaza quickly dived towards Ginger's position, but, to everyone's surprise, the Raichu stood completely still, waiting for the legendary to get nearer. Then, Ginger made a backflip, and started to spin in the spot as fast as possible, as the Rayquaza tried to smash with its claw. But just before the claw touched its body, the Raichu's tail hit the ground slightly, lifting its body a bit, just enough to jump over Rayquaza's head. Then, Ginger started to smash the snake-like legendary with its tail over and over again, as the electric rodent's body kept spinning at an incredible pace, managing to land tens of iron tails all over Rayquaza's body, leaving it paralyzed. Once Ginger checked that Rayquaza couldn?t counterattack, delivered a massive electric punch, which knocked out Rayquaza completely.\n\n\"Rayquaza is unable to battle!\" the announcer cried out in utter amazement. \"The battle is about to end! The last round is about to begin! Will Ginger defeat this legendary, or will Armando Cavarone be able to stop this amazing Raichu?\"\n\nGinger did not know how long had been waiting for this moment in its whole life. But, as its heart beat faster, Ginger decided to make it its goal, and focus at two-hundred percent to defeat the last legendary. It was a very though situation, as Ginger's body was about to collapse. One more hit, and it would be all over.\n\nArmando started to pray, and then, he took a golden stone by his and set it on fire! The flame burned brightly in the arena, as everyone waited to see who would fight the final round. It would be logical to be a fire type, as the stone was being consumed by a very vigorous flame.\n\nAs soon as the stone burnt completely, some ashes were the only trace left of the precious stone. But, as the flame died, the ashes started to glow in a bright red, until a figure started to form. The figure was a bird-like creature, and was quite big. As the figure finished growing, a pattern of red, white, green and gold lights started to flash throughout the arena, until the last legendary was finally formed by Armando's side.\n\n\"The last Pokemon is no other than Ho-oh!\" The announcer screamed. As the public's roar grew louder, the air around the arena was filled with a very warm, refreshing feeling, that cheered Ginger to fight once again. As Ginger though of the best strategy for this battle, it had in count that its body couldn?t receive any more damages under any circumstance, thus, the battle must be short, and the attacks used had to be the strongest ones. Then, Ginger remembered it. That attack. The attack. Ginger had been reserving it for a moment like this. Now, the time had come. In fact, mastering this attack in a way that left the user unharmed costed months, if not years to master. However, Ginger knew that it was in fact, the strongest attack a Raichu could ever do, by far. But first, the Ho-oh must be paralyzed, in order to ensure the last attack hits.\n\nAs it was already a common trait in all Armando's battles, Ho-oh quickly flew toward the Raichu. After a long battle, Ginger was starting to feel the pressure of the time, but resisted well, as whatever would happen, it would unfold in the next minutes.\n\nAfter a few moments, Ho-oh was already about to strike, as its body became engulfed in flames. Ginger heard once that he attack was known as \"Sacred Fire\", and could only be used by Ho-oh itself. Then, as the bird was about to hit, stopped completely, and launched a mighty amount of fire through its beak, trying to incinerate the Raichu. Ginger, using its agility, managed to dodge the attack, and get to the legendary's underside. Then, Ginger ran the tip of its tail all over Ho-oh 's length, as the sound of static electricity could be heard. Furious, Ho-oh tried to peck the Raichu on the head, but the Raichu had already been able to create a safe distance between them. If Ginger was correct, the attack should paralyze it, but it didn?t. Without losing its cold-headed sate of mind, Ginger shugged it off, and tried to repeat the maneouver.\n\nAs soon as Ho-oh flew to the place Ginger was standing, a new paralyzing attack was prepared by Ginger, but, again, it failed. Ginger feared that Ho-oh managed to land a hit.\n\nThe Raichu instantly lost its cold-headed feelings, and it took some time to recover. Luckily, it all happened before Ho-oh charged again.\n\nGinger's light sparkled on its mind, as it finally found the explaination why the attack didnt work. So, next time Ho.oh charged, Ginger did the same, but ran its tail in the opposite direction. The feeling of feathers being pushed apart was clearly felt this time on its tail, until the legendary's flesh started to touch the tip of the tail. Just then, another electric crackle sounded, and Ginger finally managed to do what it was looking for.\n\nHo-oh gave a loud screech as its wings stopped moving, landing harshly on the ground, just besides one scattered rock from a previous round. At this point, the Raichu knew that no real damage was inflicted, so, the Ho-oh was still as resilient as before.\n\nBefore the paralyzing effect wore off, Ginger pressed the bird against the rock using its tail as hard as possible, and then, it was the time where everything would end. Good or bad, the whole Championship would finish after this final attack.\n\nGinger opened its mouth, and started to condense a bright, white sphere inside its mouth. Ho-oh tried to escape the Raichu's tight grip, but failed. Second after second, the ball got brighter and brighter, until it started to blind Ho-oh completely. A minute after Ginger started the attack, the sphere glew so bright that not only the whole quarter-mile-wide stadium started was lit completely, but the whole district. Some seconds after, the Raichu's body started to tremble, near to be teared apart from the whole amount of energy the attack packed. That was the signal Ginger waited for. As Ginger gave an almighty scream the energy was finally released all at once.\n\nThe size of the blast was something probably never witnessed before. A deafening explosion made all the one-foot-thick security barrier to tremble and crackle, as the obliterating shockwave quickly spread all through the whole city, even shattering some windows a long sitance away. It was such a huge blast that it could probably be faintly heard tens of miles away.\n\nAll the arena was then covered in a very, very thick black dust. While the spectators's senses were coming back to them, they patienly waited about a minute in absolute darkness, until something could be seen in the middle of the arena through the thick dust. A devastating wide crater now covered the central area of the battlefield, two figures being visible in it.\n\nOne, a Raichu still standing on its hind legs.\n\nAnother, a legendary bird, which stood motionless on the ground.\n\nAbsolute silence filled the whole arena. Ginger, as the dust dissipated enough, got near its foe, and touched it for about ten seconds. It couldn?t be real. It had worked. As Ho-oh had been defeated in a single blow, there were no more opponents in Armando's team. It was finally over.\n\n\"HO-OH IS UNABLE TO BATTLE!!!!! THE BATTLE HAS FINISHED!!!!!! EVERYONE, GIVE A WARM WELCOME TO THE NEW WORLD CHAMPION.... GINGER SPARKLIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!\"\n\nThen, the public went absolutely crazy. People cheering for Ginger could be heard all over the place, making it feel so good that if felt as if all the damages sustained in the battle seemed to have healed. This was probably being the best day in that Raichu's life.\n\nEven though all the commotion around them, Ginger helped to get Ho-oh out of the battlefield, and then, walked to Armando, who was waiting for her with a proud smile. \"Ginger, it's been a great fight. You are the first rival who has managed to take down my entire team. And I thank you for your heroic effort and the courage that you gave. Congratulations\".\n\n\"You have been a very powerful rival too!\" Ginger exclaimed, looking at Armando. Then, the man held Ginger's paw as everyone stood up in respect.\n\n\"The podium is ready! Now it's time for Ginger to receive the medal, the trophy, and the 100 millon Poke prize!!\" told the announcer. \"Finally, I want to thank all the staff and volunteers who made possible this special day for us, as well as the millions of contestants from all over the world who have competed in any stage of this 2045 edition! That's all eveyone! Mr.Anvil logging out!\" he finished before disconnecting the microphone.\n\nThen, the staff guided Ginger and Armando to the podium. Once there, Armando took off his champion medal, and handed it over to Ginger. Soon after, it was given a trophy nearly as big as its own body, making the Raichu feel a bit startled. Just then, hundred of cameras flashed all over the place. Once after the cameras left, Ginger handed the trophy to some volunteer staff to take it to the car that would drive Ginger back to where it was staying the last weeks previus to the competition.\n\nThe public gradually left the Arena, and kept partying and cheering all over the city for the rest of the night. Others decided to call it a day, and go back to their homes. This was the case with Espeon, Eevee, Sceptile and Pidgeot. \"Eevee! Did you like the battles?\" asked Espeon.\n\n\" Yeah! It really was amazing!\" replied the little Eevee as he started to jump in circles all around her. Eevee was really happy to have witnessed such a battle.\n\nMeanwhile, Pidgeot kept thinking about the wonderful attacks that Ginger was able to perform during the competition. Even though she replayed them over and over again in her mind, it kept amazing her. Pidgeot was also so happy that she remembered all of the things that happened during the competition.\n\nAnd Sceptile kept pouting for a long time abut the Sceptile who lost that battle in the quarters. He was also dissapointed to think that Ginger wasn?t a Sceptile. Nature is unfair! About halfway back to the orphanage, Sceptile found Hitmonchan, who had also went to the championship with other friends. As the two started to taunt each other, both soon became enraged and started a duel in the nearest park they found.\n\n\"Hey guys, wanna take a flight back home?!\" Pidgeot asked to Espeon and Eevee. \"Aren?t we too heavy for you? That's what you have been telling everyone for a long time\". Then, Pidgeot started to laugh hysterically. \"IT's FAKE HAHAHA Don?t tell Sceptile, as he is idiot ok???\" Eevee and Espeon looked at each other with a mixed look of confusion and fear from the sudden turn of events, but, as they turned their heads back to the battling Sceptile, they reasned that the Pidgeot was somewhat true, despite the childish attitude. They nodded, and Espeon jumped on top of Pidgeot's back, holding Eevee tight in her arms. \"It's time to go!!\" Pidgeot said as she took off fast enough to remain unnoticed for everyone else.\n\nAs they floght back home, Espeon could see a black car of those who brought the finalists to the Arena on the road. It was the exact same vehicle that one of those parked outside the battlefield, making her curiosity take the best of her. After about five minutes, Pidgeot's incredible flying speed allowed them to reach their destination, and as soon as the bird landed, Espeon and Eevee got down. \"Thank you Pidgeot!!\" Said the little cub as he hugged her tightly. Then, Eevee ran at full speed to see Pikachu. He couldn?t go with him, which made him feel a bit sad, but now, he had lots of cool things to tell his Pikachu friend!! He just couldn?t wait any longer.\n\n\"What a bundle of energy, isn?t he?\" Espeon told Pidgeot. \"Yeah! But he is soooo cute isn?t true??\"\n\n\"Yeah, he is sure a pretty cute little thing!\"\n\nThen, the memory of the black car on the city's roads struck her mind again. She had to know where did it go. Maybe she could even discover where did one of those ultra powerful fighters came from! Without thinking it a second more, she told Pidgeot what happened, and so, the bird had no problem to lift her again in order to search for said vehicle. Due to Pidgeot's excellent eagle sight, it only took a couple minutes to locate the car they were looking for. When said car started to move slower through the city streets, Pidgeot landed in a near area and Espeon kept chasing the vehicle throguh the city's streets by foot, as Pidgeot flought back home. Espeon was determined to follow the car to its destination. She ran over fifteen minutes chasing it until it seemed to stop... in a bus station?\n\nEspeon was awestruck with this nonsense. What was going on there!? It took her a lot to restrain herself from running to the place to see what was going on by herself, but decided to wait. Another ten long minutes passed until a bus arrived. Then, the men who were inside the vehicle laid a black blanket all over the mysterious figure, as they lifted it into the bus, before driving off the place. Why was the contestant going back home by bus, when a luxury car could drive directly to the desired destination?? She had no doubt that the human or Pokemon covered by the blanket had indeed been a very important character that night, but she couldn?t guess who it was.\n\nAs soon as the bus started to move, Espeon started a second chase to follow the bus, checking at each stop if the lonely contestant stepped out. After what seemed a long, long time, she saw which seemed to be the only traveller in the bus get down, still covered in the black blanket. Espeon stood hidden in a near corner, waiting for the figure to unveil and reveal itself. Espeon stood still, trying to remain unnoticed, while she had her sight fixated on the figure, which, after some more seconds, started to take off the blanket that had been covering it for such a long time.\n\nJust a second later, the blanket fell on the ground, as Espeon saw in awe that the figure was no other than Ginger Sparklight!! She wasn?t able to take a look at the Raichu. She couldn?t believe that the most powerful Pokemon in the world was standing a mere fifty feet from her! Espeon's heart sank to its core. \"What the heck is Ginger doing here??\" Espeon thought to herself as Ginger started to walk away. Espeon, being a cat-like Pokemon, excelled at moving around in a sigilous manner, making her able to walk at a relatively close distance without being caught. After some minutes, Espeon noticed that Ginger started to walk a bit faster, forcing her to move also at a quicker pace to follow the Raichu, until, suddenly, Ginger came to a complete stop. Espeon's heart skipped a beat as she feared that Ginger had discovered her. She knew that, if Ginger were to actually attack her, it would definitely end with her death.\n\nBut Ginger didn?t turn around or move away. It seemed to stay there until it finally turned around to face what semed to be a long street, and then, ran at full speed through the street!. Espeon came to the conclusion that Ginger's destination must be very close, and soon, her doubts would be answered. She peeked around the corner to see the orange-glowing figure moving further and further away, still running in a perfectly straight line. As soon as Ginger was at a safer distance, Espeon started chasing the Raichu again. After some more seconds, Ginger turned left. She soon followed. Nearing the end of this street, it turned again, this time to the right. She followed the electric rodent again. After some seconds running down the street, it turned left again. She followed. Then, she saw Ginger finally run full speed through the last street of its route, as it ran inside a big building. Espeon got nearer. And nearer. And nearer. Then, she finally saw the place Ginger had entered in, her doubt being instantly solved.\n\nEspeon's body froze completely, making her fall to the ground in shock. It couldn?t be. This wasn?t happening. This definitely WASN?T happening. Ginger Sparklight, the World Champion, the MIGHTY fighter who took down SIX legendaries by itself... had just entered into the VERY SAME orphanage she LIVED in.\n\nHer mind was blocked by the extremily strong sensation running down her body. Ginger Sparklight wasn?t a regular Raichu, she already knew. But she could have never imagined that it was THE SAME Raichu that had been working with her those last weeks. She felt really lucky to have met her in this place. Ginger wasn?t only an excellent fighter, but it turned out that she also had a heart of gold. Espeon could guess without thinking too much that Ginger had made way more money than she needed to retire and live a very comfortable life for the rest of her days. But she didn?t just continued battling, but, in addition, she spent all Saturdays helping and playing with the cubs at the orphanage. She had even saw her and talked with her before!\n\nShe stood still outside the main entrance, as her body trembled from the each time stronger cold that reigned in the area, as it was now already way past midnight. \"Espeon! Come on, enter at once! You're going to catch a cold out there!\" Pikachu shouted from the window. \"Espeon, don?t get sicky!\" added the little Eevee by his side. As she was about to enter, she saw the Raichu talking with Pikachu and Eevee, both unbeknownst of her real identity.\n\nHalf a minute later, Espeon stepped out of the door, her face grimacing as she stood in the hall, still processing the shocking news. Pikachu, Eevee and Ginger ran to the hall to greet her. \"You finally came! Why did you take a walk at night?\" Asked Pikachu with a puzzled look \"It's so cold now to do anything!\".\n\nEspeon had to think of something right now. It would be bad to say that she was spying on someone. It would be worse to say she was spying on one of the contestants. It would even be worse to say that she was spying on the World Champion. But the worse part was that said World Champion was also staring at her with the same puzzled look than Pikachu and Eevee.\n\nEspeon had already thought of erasing their memories, so they would stop asking, but then, she remembered Ginger's psychological strenght. There was no way that she could use any trick on her. \"I was just making sure I had already bought the groceries of the week\". What a shit of excuse! she thought.\n\n\"Haha! You don?t need to do that!\" said Eevee. \"Pikachu has already done those boring things today, while we were at the Championship!\". Espeon remained silent, staring at the ground to avoid eye contact with Ginger. \"By the way, why didn?t you came with us, Raichu?\" the Eevee asked, as he looked at Ginger with a sad expression.\n\n\"I just couldn?t buy the tickets in time!\" She quickly answered. And that was the last proof Espeon needed to ensure that the Raichu eveyone knew was, in fact, Ginger Sparklight. As she told that lie to the Eevee cub, Espeon could sense her aura weakening, as she was commiting the unfair act of lying. Of course, the truth was much more complex than that, and Espeon knew that Ginger wasn?t the type of Pokemon who lied deliberately, and the very strange occasion when it ocurred, there was a very good reason behind, like it was happening now.\n\nAs Espeon verified that Ginger wanted to keep her true identity hidden from everyone, she just decided to think of her by the generic name \"Raichu\", to avoid commiting an irreversible mistake. Even though she was a psychic type, anyone was free from these kind of things, so it was better to be safe than sorry.\n\nAs Espeon was going to talk again, she started to shake from the cold that she had been experiencing before, and sat on the ground, waiting for it to dissipate. But seconds later, Raichu came back with a big, thick duvet, and enveloped her with it. \"Oh my god! You are so cold! Please, take this warm thing with you for a minute, ok?\" Raichu said, as she started to cover her body with it.\n\nEspeon felt a shiver run down her spine as she felt Ginger's paws pressing the warm envelope around her body. She just couldn?t wrap her mind about it. \"Yeah, okay, that's good\" Espeon said, as they all started to walk to their rooms. She walked a bit slower due to the unusual ?coat? Raichu had made her, and soon, Eevee and Pikachu were a few meters ahead. \"Espeon\" the Raichu asked. Espeon felt very pressured for being addressed by Ginger herself. \"Do you mind if I stay here tomorrow? It was impossible for me to be here today. Are you OK with it?\" \"No problem\" Espeon said, with a slight smile. \"Thank you!\" Ginger said, as she pulled the warm coat a bit tighter to the Espeon's body. Soon everyone got to their rooms, and said goodbye to each other. Espeon laid on her nest, thinking of everything she?d been through. Soon, she felt asleep in her thoughts.\n\nCHAPTER 21\n\nNext day, Pikachu awoke from his sleep as a sharp pain in his arm started to hit him. As he looked to his right arm, he couldn?t notice any external injuries. \"Why can?t I live one single day without a chronic pain like this?\" asked Pikachu to himself as he went to get the healing meds from his damaged medicine box.\n\nHalf an hour later, the pain had reduced its intensity a bit, letting Pikachu move his arm again. Then, he could hear slight knocking noises from the door. \"Hi! Pikachu!\" \"Hi!\" \"Hi! Hello?\" said an high pitched voice.\n\n\"Hi Eevee! I'm going to have freakfast right now!\" Said Pikachu trying to calm the cub waiting for him. It seems that he had a very good memory when it came to remember the path to his room. \"Alright! Bye!\" Eevee said as he went to have breakfast. But, as he walked, he bumped into Raichu, who also was feeling hungry after waking up. \"Hi Raichu! What's for breakfast?\" Eevee asked as he walked by her side.\n\n\"Chocolate! Go figure!\" said Raichu smiling. \"I'm going to have some right now too, thanks for telling me!\" said Eevee as both went to eat their chocolate.\n\nSoon after, Pikachu went down, and joined Raichu and Eevee.\n\n\"Are you OK?\" asked Raichu as she looked at Pikachu's face with worry. \"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking\" said Pikachu\n\n\"Where were you while we were at the Championship?\" asked Eevee. \"Didn?t I already told you? I was buying things at the commercial distict\" said Pikachu.\n\n\"Yeah, but I don?t know what did you do there! I wanted to know why didn?t you came with me...\" said Eevee, looking down.\n\n\"I had to do it yesterday! You know I'm your friend, and I don?t like being separated from you\" said Pikachu. Of course he would have joined Eevee to any other activity, but Pikachu was really afraid of the idea of battling.\n\n\"Well... I'm so sorry! We can do anything today!\" said Pikachu trying to cheer up the suffering cub.\n\nEevee then looked to Raichu, and felt even sadder to recall that Raichu wasn?t with him either. Then, she felt a warm sensation in her heart. \"Hey! I've got an idea!\" Raichu announced happily. \"Why don?t we go to the theme park today?\" asked Raichu. Eevee smiled, and nodded enthusiastically.\n\nPikachu then had an idea to do some of his favorite things today. He just went to his room, and started packing things for them to go.\n\n\"Woo! ! I'm going to the theme park!\" said Eevee excitedly. \"And you're coming too! How did you know that I was really looking forward to going there with you!\" said Eevee smiling happily. \"It's a surprise! But we need to get going fast\" said Raichu as she started to pack her things for the theme park too. As they were about to go, Espeon found Eevee running up and down the corridors. \"Where are you going?\" said Espeon curious as she stopped Eevee from running. \"Hey Espeon! I'm going to the theme park with Pikachu and Raichu! Weee!\" said Eevee happily. Espeon then remembered Ginger's battle, and wondered how could she be battling legendaries one day, and going to the theme park with an Eevee cub and a shy Pikachu another day. In fact, she couldn?t understand how did Ginger spent the rest of the day after winning the World Championship. She didn?t celebrate it, or have a party, or go to any other important event afterwards.\n\n\"Do you want to come?\" asked Eevee.\n\n\"Oh! Sorry! I already have other tasks to do today!\" said Espeon. Eevee though how boring must be working on Sunday! \"Okay don?t worry! Will you play with me another day?\" said Eevee.\n\n\"Oh, that's okay\" said Espeon, as Pikachu finally entered the room, finding Eevee. \"There you are! Let's get going, or we'll be late!\" said Pikachu cheerfully. Eevee smiled and nodded happily.\n\n\"Are you coming too?\" said Espeon.\n\n\"Yeah! It seems that Eevee was a bit frustated from my abscence yesterday.\" said Pikachu. \"Well, it's time to go! Bye, Espeon!\" said Pikachu happily. Espeon returning the gesture. Once they reunited with Raichu, they went to have a wonderful day to the theme park!\n\nOnce they got there, they were amazed by the great amount of rides there were, and also the breathtaking effect of the huge rollercoaster and the rollercoaster cars. They were in the main stage of the park. As Raichu made sure that Eevee didn?t run away alone, Pikachu decided to introduce Eevee to one of his favorite rollercoaster rides there.\n\n\"Eevee, I want to show you the Rock Tunnel!\" said Pikachu excitedly. \"You want to ride this ride? It's a roller coaster that drops really fast! Pikachu continued as he grinned at Eevee. Eevee was scared, but excited at the same time.\n\n\"You can count on me, Pikachu!\" said Eevee happily. Soon, the trio was ready to go! They went to the queue, and in a short time, they were on their way to the coaster car. \"Here we go!\" said Eevee, as the roller coaster started. The ride was really exciting, as Pikachu had warned Eevee. Suddenly, the coaster car was in the air. \"Woohoo! We're in the air!\" shouted Eevee, as he enjoyed the ride. The ride seemed to last a very long time, as they slowly got back to the ground.\n\n\"Wow! That was the best ride ever!!\" added Raichu.\n\nAfter the roller coaster, the trio decided to do some other rides and games in the park.\n\n\"Uhhh... What about ice cream?\" said Raichu, suggesting something they all wanted.\n\n\"Great idea! Let's go!\" replied Pikachu excitedly. The trio made a trip to the ice cream shop, and got lots of ice creams. Once they finished, Eevee wanted to ride on \"The Sky Tower\" and see the ocean.\n\n\"Okay! Let's go!\" said Pikachu. The ride wasn?t in fact a rollercoaster, but rather a very tall elevator with a small platform on top, from where it could be seen the city from afar.\n\n\"Eevee, look at the city! It's so beautiful!\" added Raichu.\n\n\"It sure is.\" added Pikachu happily.\n\n\"Aww... Eevee, look! What an amazing look!\" added Raichu.\n\n\"I see it! And... That's the ocean! \" answered Eevee.\n\nThey kept staring to the great views for quite a long time, until they decided to go back down, feeling refreshed.\n\n\"We'll have to come here again, won?t we, Raichu?\" said Eevee happily.\n\n\"Uh-huh, let's do it!\" replied Raichu.\n\nOnce they were done, they decided to go to the ?Tilt-a-whirl? for some more fun. Raichu then decided to get a pizza for Eevee, and took him to one special ride for cubs. As she made sure that Eevee couldn?t see her, she turned to Pikachu.\n\n\"I haven?t talked to you that much, that's for sure.\" said Raichu \"Do you want to talk about ourselves now?\"\n\n\"Of course. Let's have some fun!\" replied Pikachu excitedly. \"Well, I didn?t really mean to get into a ride. In fact, I would prefer to talk with you here, in a relaxed place. Are you okay with that?\" said Raichu.\n\nPikachu started to feel a fear which he didn?t feel since the first times he saw Raichu. He felt frightened that Raichu would attack him if she didn?t like his answers, so he started to build a bit of an adrenaline inside him.\n\n\"Pikachu, it's okay.\" said Raichu. \"I only want to know you a bit better, that's all. Do you want to sit in that bench over there?\" She said as she pointed to an empty bench.\n\nPikachu walked to the bench, thinking what to say. He was afraid of what she would say to him. Really afraid. He walked over and sat down.\n\n\"Are you comfortable there?\" said Raichu, as she looked at him.\n\n\"Well, um... Yes.\" said Pikachu, as he started to feel a bit of relief. \"Good. Then what is it that you want to know about me?\" said Pikachu in a really low volume.\n\n\"Well. I was wondering why didn?t you want to come to the Championship. I know that it's a bit overwhelming to see all those people and Pokemon, but would you have done it if only your friends were there?\" asked Raichu.\n\nPikachu though deeply about what to answer. Of course, the real answer was obvious. The fact he couldn?t battle scarred his mind deeply, making him develop a fear for battling ever since the incident. He was afraid that Raichu might get very angry with him for not wanting to battle, and even lash out at him. He didn?t want to tell that to Raichu, of course.\n\n\"Well, I guess I'm just a bit unlucky with dates! Just that day I had to go shopping! There was an important discount on potions!\"\n\nRaichu thought for a moment. She knew that Pikachu worked hard for the wellbeing of the cubs. But she also knew that he wouldn?t let those things get in his way of living his life like he wanted to. She knew it was his choice, after all. Raichu didn?t understand his meaning, but accepted what he said. She gave him a smile. She was quite confident that Pikachu had a deeper problem, but didn?t want to rush to get any hints.\n\n\"What do you like to do in your free time?\" asked Raichu.\n\n\"Oh, you mean like what I did before you came?\" replied Pikachu with an scared tone again.\n\n\"Yes. Do you have any friends out here?\" asked Raichu.\n\nPikachu thought deeply. Did he like to be alone, or did he want to have someone around that cared for him? It should be a clear question to anyone, but, for him, his previous experiences made him feel like he was worthless, not deserving anyone's attention. \"Oh, um. I actually don?t have friends, as I spent all my time checking on the cubs! They are all my friends in a way\" said Pikachu. \"But I guess I do like to be alone sometimes, or with the cubs, when I go to the places that they enjoy visiting.\"\n\nRaichu smiled. It was a bit saddening for her to confirm that Pikachu didn?t have a life outside of the orphanage.\n\n\"Did you make any friends?\" asked Raichu, trying to think of ways to help Pikachu to feel better.\n\n\"Yeah! I had a friend named Jack! He was always there! I had good times with him...\" He said as he started to think about Jack. He was his trainer, the one who helped him to be stronger, but, most important, to care for the others before oneself. Jack gave him lots of advice on how to improve himself. He even trained him personally a lot, helping him become the loving soul he was. But it was so unfair that everything ended that way!\n\n\"I... I think I need to go...\" said Pikachu, as he started to feel his eyes start to water.\n\n\"I'm sorry Raichu, but I need to go. I really need to be alone. I know you wanted to talk for a longer time, but I really need to go\" said Pikachu, trying to hold back the tears. He always tried to be strong for his friends, but he just couldn?t deal with reviving his past, happier memories. He knew that it wouldn?t be fair to Raichu if he left without telling her anything.\n\n\"Hey, don?t cry! I'm sorry! I understand you really want to be alone, okay?\" said Raichu.\n\nPikachu tried to hold back, but as he couldn?t keep himself from crying, he quickly ran from her and left.\n\n\"Pikachu! Pikachu! Come back!\" shouted Raichu. She grabbed her handbag and though about running after him, but she decided against it. She had hurt Pikachu! What a fatal mistake! She knew that she might have messed up greatly her progress with Pikachu's friendship, and felt really guilty, even though she did it with her best intentions.\n\nRaichu turned back around and saw Eevee staring at her. \"Where's Pikachu?\" asked Eevee.\n\n\"I... I don?t know... I think he left. I'm sorry Eevee. Pikachu isn?t very well right now, and needs to rest alone. I didn?t want to tell you because I didn?t want you to worry. He is okay, and will return soon, so, don?t worry, okay?\" explained Raichu.\n\nEevee hesitantly nodded.\n\n\"Here, I will give you this\" said Raichu, handing Eevee a tiny envelope.\n\n\"What's that?\" asked Eevee.\n\n\"I have something for you.\" replied Raichu, taking someting from a box which he didn?t noticed she had.\n\n\"What is it?\"\n\n\"Open it and see!\" said Raichu, holding the envelope close to her.\n\nEevee slowly opened the envelope and pulled out a photo. The photo was a cheerful image of the trio enjoing one of their previous rides!\n\n\"Awwww, It's wonderful! I love it!!\" Replied Eevee.\n\nRaichu smiled as she loved to see Eevee happy. She hugged him as she couldn?t help herself.\n\n\"Eevee, I want you to keep this photo with you forever, okay?\" said Raichu.\n\nEevee nodded. She knew that this photo was special to Raichu, and felt so loved when he was gifted it.\n\n\"You're welcome, Raichu. Thank you!\" said Eevee as he trasured the photo.\n\nRaichu smiled. It was a great moment that they had experienced. He had enjoyed their company a lot, as he still felt a bit alone in the orphanage.\n\n\"Hey, Eevee...I need to go for a bit, but I'll be back as soon as I can. Don?t worry about me, ok?\" said Raichu.\n\n\"Don?t worry, Raichu!\" Answered Eevee. Then, Raichu darted off to search for Pikachu.\n\nIt wasn?t long before Raichu found Pikachu as he was resting on the grass, his head against a nearby tree. Raichu ran to Pikachu and began to softly talk to him.\n\n\"Hi, Pikachu! How are you? Are you feeling better?\" asked Raichu.\n\nPikachu quietly smiled, as he had started to feel better after a good rest.\n\n\"Remember that I'll be always here if you need me\" said Raichu.\n\nPikachu, then, smiled and nodded.\n\n\"I won?t let you down, Pikachu!\" promised Raichu.\n\nRaichu then guided Pikachu to Eevee, and as the trio reunited, they noticed that it was getting late, so, they decided to call it a day, and return to their places.\n\n\"That was a good run, Pikachu\" said Raichu.\n\nPikachu then grined and nodded.\n\n\"Alright, let's go back to our spot.\" said Raichu, as he and Pikachu began to head back to the orphanage.\n\nOnce there, they waved goodbye until next weekend, and returned to their respective homes. Of course Raichu had a room, but decided to go back to her own place. As she took part in the World Champinship, she had several weeks of free hotel, so she went back there, wondering what to do for the rest of the week, now that she had no real duties now that it was already over.\n\nPikachu and Eevee had dinner, and soon, they both fell asleep, exhausted by their long adventures of today.\n\nCHAPTER 22\n\nNext Saturday Pikachu woke up feeling weaker than normal. He sat up, and felt the floor spinning around him. It took several minutes to regain stability, and walk out from his room.\n\nHe knew that today, Sceptile and the others wanted to do something special for today. He had absolutely no idea what they were going to do. \"I don?t know\" he muttered as he walked down the stairs, thinking about his friendship with Raichu. Of course, he had never trust a Raichu before because he had his reasons. On the other hand, she had always been very open to him and liked how he did things, and she always cared for him, because she firmly defended he was her best friend, even though he would get scared when she tried to talk to him. She always loved to make him feel good when he was hurt, especially when he had to work hard to hide his secret. However, that didn?t stop him from getting angry with himself. He sworn the day he was separated from Jack that he would never befriend anyone like her for the rest of his life.\n\nHowever, Eevee soon got him out of his thoughts. \"Pikachu Pikachu!\" said Eevee. \"Hi Eevee!\" he waved at him excitedly. \"We are having battles today!\" he told his friend as he started to do barrel rolls on the ground, as Eevee liked to do when he was excited. Pikachu couldn?t believe it. He had avoided fighting in order to increase his chances of surviving longer with his health issues. He also had an underlying psycological problem associated with all the suffering he faced after his last battle. All that made him refuse to go to the championship, and now that he had managed to convince everyone that he couldn?t go because other issues required his attention, the Pokemon who were keen on fighting in the orphanage decided to do a tournament by themselves?? It wasn?t his lucky week, it seems.\n\n\"Are you going to go?\" asked Eevee as he rolled out and stood up, wiggling his tail in excitement. \"Well I...\" As he was going to tell Eevee that there was no way he could battle, he saw Eevee's eyes start to sadden. He seemed to be his biggest fan, as he already was sad last week when Pikachu didn?t attend to the tournament with him. So, he couldn?t just tell Eevee that he wasn?t going. \"I'll be there, ok? Don?t be sad\" he said with a grin as Eevee started to jump in excitement again.\n\n\"I'll see you at the tournament if that's all right. It starts after launch!\" As he said that, Pikachu understood what was all about. Probably, Sceptile wanted the kids to get familiarized with battling in a friendly environment, so, it seemed a good idea to battle between us, to do some sort of competition. He felt relieved to infer that it wasn?t a real competition, but, anyway, he stil wasn?t able to launch or receive any attack, as it would have fatal consequences. Pikachu knew that the others cared about him enough to not to kill him on purpose, but never told anyone about it! He would have to find a way out of this without hurting anyone's feelings. So, he thought he would just dissapear from the crowd before it was his turn. Easy peasy.\n\nThe rest of the morning passed without a hiccup for Pikachu. He also discovered that every pokemon in the staff was participating. Even Kangaskhan the waitress! Pikachu really wasn?t expecting that.\n\nOnce we all had launch, everyone gathered in the big playground in front of the complex. There were several hundred cubs, and also some of the human staff in the place, who watched quite interested the event unfold from the windows.\n\nAs the time came, Sceptile walked in front of everyone. \"Welcome to the first tournament of the Pokemon Society\" he said. Even though \"Pokemon Society\" was the name of the orphanage, it seemed that it was more of a secret conspiring organisation. As expected, Sceptile was delighted to see everyone. \"First of all, I want to thank all the contestants for taking part in this experiment, starting by me, of course...\" he said, earning a sigh from some of the audience. \" Secondly, I really hope you guys are all prepared to fight! I know that...\"\n\nAs Sceptile kept reciting his speech, Pikachu looked around, searching for the best way to escape when no one was watching. It was quite easy, as he sat behind the cubs, far away from the majority of the other contestants. \"Thank you guys for listening to me!\" Sceptile ended.\n\n\"Now, let's go on with the battles! The first one is Kangaskan versus Hitmonchan!!\" The cubs then applauded as both pokemon appeared. Of course, it was a completely different level from the one in the Championship, so the strenght of the attacks were way way lower, being safe for the cubs to watch from a regular distance. As both opponents were engaging in a fight, he saw clear the occasion to flee. But, as it seemed that only bad luck was on his side, as he stood up to leave, he felt someone touch his back. \"Pikachu!\"\n\nHe turned out, and closed his eyes in sheer terror, as it turned out to be Raichu. \"Pikachu, where are you going?\" she asked in a very polite and comfortable tone. \"I... was going to get a drink!\" Pikachu immediately started to walk away from her, thinking that once he got inside the complex, he just wouldn?t come out until everything was all over. But, bad luck was still there, right at his side. \"Oh! I am also feeling thirsty! I'm going with you!\". Pikachu sighed in defeat, as Raichu went to take some cold drinks with him. Some minutes after, they were both back to the ?tournament?. Soon, the battle finished with Kangaskhan's victory. \"Ok! Next battle is Espeon versus Pidgeot!\"\n\nPikachu felt bad for them, as they were both friends, and were now forced to fight. Eevee, as opposite as Pikachu's point of view, was so excited to see the battle, as he wanted to know who was stronger!\n\nAs the battle started, Espeon just kept avoiding Pidgeot, as she just tried to tackle her. Then, she remembered that, if she got to the next round, she might be aligned to fight versus Raichu. Of course, nobody else knew, but Espeon did. Logically, she wasn?t very interested to fight against the world champion, so, she preferred to act weak, and let Pidgeot do her thing. After a long time, Espeon finally decided to lay on the ground and play dead, as she got tired of Pidgeot's useless tactics. \"Espeon is unable to battle?\" said Sceptile, as he really didn?t expect Pidgeot to be able to win against such an intelligent pokemon as Espeon. \"What a surprise! Nobody expected her to win...\" he added. Just a moment after, Pidgeot flew to him and pecked him on the head \" What the fuck happens with you?!?!\" she said, before flying off. Everyone started to laugh at the sight, and Pikachu knew it was the perfect time to escape! Finally, his efforts seemed to bare fruit, as he managed to get out of the croud, and started to walk away.\n\nEveryone looked at Sceptile, as he continued to announce the next battle. \"Next battle will be Raichu versus Pikachu!\". As soon as Raichu knew that they were next, she turned her head to Pikachu, only to find him missing. \"Pikachu! We are next! Where are you?\".\n\nPikachu, even though he was walking away, could hear thet he had to battle against Raichu. Then, he started to cry frenetically as he started to sprint out of that place as fast as he could. He didn?t care about what might happen next, as he only kept running and running from everyone. He hadn?t felt so scared sice that fateful day, and wouldn?t hesitate to do anything to be safe, as he was fearing for his life again! He was so, so scared.\n\nMeanwhile, Raichu kept calling for Pikachu, without receiving an answer. So, she decided to step on the battlefield alone, and talked to Sceptile about what happened, so he could postpone their battle. As she finished talking, she ran off to search for Pikachu.\n\nRaichu didn?t knew where could Pikachu have gone. At first she went to the dinning room, and looked around. \"Pikachu! Where are you?\" she asked, to no avail. Then, she went out of the complex, and went to the park where Pikachu went berrypicking once in a while. \"Pikachu? Please come back!\". No response.\n\nRaichu was starting to worry, as she couldn?t imagine where Pikachu had gone. She tried to look around, but she couldn?t find anyone. So, she decided to enter in the complex again, and search inside. She walked through the corridors, calling for Pikachu. Each minute it passed, each place she went, the tension inside her grew stronger and stronger. Eventually, she had only one more corridor to look in. The male staff rooms. She carefully walked, as silently as possible, trying to detect any noise that could be coming from Pikachu. Once she was at the end of said corridor, she saw that the last room was open, and what was more surprising, completely dark inside, as the windows were covered by thick curtains. She wondered why was that room like that, as she couldn?t get a clue as to what was going on. But, as she was about to leave, she heard something which caused her to get curious. It was like someone was breathing, or something like that. Wanting to figure it out, Raichu pulled the switch down, and the room was lit up. Her heart shrank as she noticed that almost everything in there was damaged or destroyed. She knew that something serious was going on. \"Pikachu? Where are you?\" she asked as calmly as she could, but she couldn?t spot him. Then, she noticed a relatively small bump on the nest, which emmanated sobbing sounds. \"Pikachu? Are you there?\" she asked.\n\nAs she had no response back, she decided to lift the blankets which covered the mysterious figure. But as she was about to take them off, she felt something grabbing them as hard as it could. \"NO!\" the voice said. Raichu jumped. \"Pikachu. What happened?\" She said, in shock. But she didn?t got an answer. Tired from the situation, Raichu pulled off some of the blankets, enough to reveal Pikachu's body. Now, her soul literally shattered into pieces as she saw him. He was covered in bloody scratches all over his body, and some patches of fur were missing. Bite marks could also be seen on his arms and tail.\n\n\"OH MY GOD PIKACHU! WHAT HAPPENED?!?!\" she screamed, trying to figure out what exactly happened. \"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! GO AWAY GO AWAY! GET OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW!!\" Answered Pikachu as Raichu started to shake and cry. \"Pikachu! Please, tell me what's going on! I want to help you!\" said Raichu, trying to calm him down.\n\n\"I KNEW YOU WANTED THIS!! ANYONE LIKE YOU HAS ANY HEART LEFT!!! YOU ARE KILLING MACHINES!!!\" said Pikachu, as he started to break a part of the nest to use as a cover.\n\n\"Pikachu! Please let me take care of you!\" Raichu begged, hoping Pikachu would come back to his senses, but it was impossible. \"Pikachu, please!\" said Raichu. Pikachu looked up and saw Raichu trying to help him, but he misinterpreted it as she was getting nearer to finish him off. \"No Raichu! Please, please, Please! DON?T!\" he begged her, his pitch-black eyes widened to a blinding, terrified face. As Raichu got nearer, Pikachu grabbed the sheets that were left in the nest, and ran to the opposite corner. \"KEEP OUT!! PLEASE, DON?T KILL ME!! GET OUT!!!\" he shouted out.\n\nRaichu discerned that Pikachu had entered in a psychotic outbreak, and so, it was senseless to try to talk to him in that state. But, her worries about Pikachu's mental condition made her go as far as trying to take out the covers he had with him, so she turned around, and started to walk to him again. But Pikachu, terrified, did the first thing that his body attempted to do, and threw a small, golden box at her face with all his might. Raichu didn?t saw it coming, and hit her right in the nose, as it started to bleed a bit. \"Pikachu! she cried, but as she crouched down to pick up the now damaged box, Pikachu had already left.\n\nAs soon as she was left alone, Raichu sat down in the flor and started to cry as she worried about Pikachu. She knew that he was shy, but this event revealed that Pikachu had some very serious problems that she was unaware of. As Raichu was going to leave the room, she saw the little box that Pikachu had thrown at her in his rage attack, and noticed it was open, so she decided to take a look in.\n\nShe noticed that there were a lot of photograps in there. She started to look at the photos, and saw a young boy with a Pikachu in some of these photos, who looked like he was having a good time with his partner. There were photos of different cities that she had never been in, and soon, her eyes were filled with all sorts of photos of Pikachu and that boy she didn?t knew at all. She then ordered all the photos, and carefully placed them again inside the box. Even though she didn?t really knew what those photos were, she figured that Pikachu surely trasured them.\n\nAfter a moment, she decided to go out to search for Pikachu again, but as she was going to leave the room, she saw Espeon walking up towards her, but as soon as she saw Raichu's tear-stained face, Espeon ran toward her. \"Raichu! Are you ok?\" she asked, but, as soon as she asked, Raichu started to cry again. \"Raichu, what are you crying about?\" said Espeon as she also started to worry.\n\n\"It's Pikachu... He isn?t well\". Espeon's face then changed and was now more serious than before. \"He was bleeding all over his body, and it seemed he had a mental breakdown! He ran off before I could calm him, and now, I don?t know where did he go!\" Raichu's face became even darker as she looked at her with worried eyes. \"Please, tell everyone to help me find Pikachu! He might be in extreme danger!\" Espeon, confused about everything that had happened there, helped Raichu by talking telepatically to everyone pleading to help them find Pikachu. Soon, Sceptile's tournament was dismantled, as everyone left to search for Pikachu all over the city.\n\nCHAPTER 23\n\nEevee joined Raichu to search all though the residential district. They started to search for Pikachu from outside the building, and progressively increased the area around it. \"Raichu\" Eevee asked, as he looked up to the sky, \"Are you sure that Pikachu will be okay?\"\n\n\"Yes, that's why we are here. Raichu really wasn?t sure if Pikachu would be well or not, but she couldn?t scare the cub with such thoughts.\n\nEspeon decided to search around the different parks scattered around the city. She decided to search there, as she knew that Pikachu liked to roam around the park, so she would look up anything she figured that Pikachu liked in there.\n\nPidgeot flought around all the places the others didn?t search in, so there were a lot of Pokemon searching for Pikachu all over the city. For hours, everyone looked for Pikachu, but nobody found him. They were all on the city to find Pikachu.\n\nBut, as the sun was setting down, nobody had found Pikachu. Espeon continued to search the parks in the daytime as Raichu searched at the bus stations. Meanwhile, Sceptile had decided to search at the hospitals in the daytime, and he quickly found that Pikachu's name didn?t belong on any of the registers. If he had found Pikachu, he would have said so. Even though he didn?t take most things seriously, when it came to save someone from danger, he took it very seriously.\n\nAs it got dark, Raichu and Eevee started to search in the beach district. As they walked, Eevee kept calling for Pikachu, but he saw nobody. Finally, Raichu told Eevee to rest, but he refused to stop until Pikachu was found.\n\n \n\nFinally, after hours of searching, Eevee couldn?t take it any longer and started to fall asleep. Raichu, knowing that Eevee wouldn?t tell her to stop, quickly carried him back to the orphanage to sleep, and then, she resumed the searching.\n\nAfter a while, Raichu went to the city center, and kept searching through the dark alleys. She looked at all the buildings, but she couldn?t find Pikachu anywhere.\n\nHours after, she refused to give up searching, and even though it was really cold that night, she kept searching for Pikachu. And when she was searching in a dead end alley, suddenly, she heard some breathing.\n\n\"Hey!\" she said in a surprised voice. \"Pikachu?\"\n\nThen, as she turned around, a pale and injured Pikachu was lying on the grund.\n\n\"Pikachu! It's you!\" Raichu quickly picked up Pikachu in her paws, \"Pikachu! Where have you been all this time? We've been looking all around the city for you. Are you alright?\"\n\nPikachu's face turned to look her and he nodded, \"I'm fine. Thank you\" then Raichu's eyes widened \"No, you aren?t fine! I'm taking you to the Pokemon center, right now!\"\n\nPikachu tried to fight her off, but was so weak that he couldn?t even do that.\n\n\"No, Pikachu! Please, let me take you to the Pokemon center! I just have to take you there, then you can rest. We'll be back in the morning, okay?\n\n\"Alright...\" Said Pikachu in defeat.\n\n\"You know, you're really cute when you're not struggling against me,\" said Raichu, trying again to calm him down. \"Let's get you there.\"\n\nRaichu took Pikachu to the hospital and they both ran to the desk to get help. After the nurse examined Pikachu, she started to spray potions in him, and bandaged his self-inflicted wounds. \"He seems to be fine, but he must be exhausted. I'm sorry, but you can?t go home just yet. We'll let him rest for tonight\"\n\n\"Thank you so much! said Raichu,\n\n\"Is there anything you can tell me about what happened to him?\" said the nurse.\n\n\"Well, I?d be happy to help, but I don?t have much to tell you. When I found him, he was already like that in his room. When I entered to take care of him, he ran off\".\n\nRaichu quickly ran to the door the nurse told her, and saw Pikachu laying in the bed.\n\n\"Pikachu!\" said Raichu.\n\n\"Raichu!\" said Pikachu, but then he turned to Raichu in shock, his body completely silent.\n\n\"Pikachu, are you okay?\"\n\nPikachu looked at Raichu. Raichu noticed something in his eyes. It was a sad and familiar look.\n\n\"Pikachu...I'm sorry...I shouldn?t have pressured you...I should have just let you...\" as she started crying.\n\n\"Raichu..\" said Pikachu, but his face was still pale, and his eyes were nearly shut.\n\n\"Raichu...Please...Don?t kill me... I'll never bother you again.\" said Pikachu, as he started to shake uncontrollably. \"Pikachu! Please... Please!\" said Raichu desperately. \"I just want to be your friend, I'm not going to hurt you...\"\n\nPikachu turned his head back, tears falling down from his eyes.\n\n\"Please...I don?t want to die!\"\n\nRaichu tried to caress Pikachu, but he got further away in the bed. \"Pikachu, you're not going to die. You have to get better, okay?\"\n\nPikachu looked at Raichu and his eyes turned back to the bed. \"I want to sleep...\" He said, still sobbing. Raichu decided to let him do as he pleased, and she just nodded. Pikachu soon felt asleep, and Raichu decided to sleep on the floor next to him. She loved him too much to let him alone in that cold place. Moreover, if something happened to him during the night, she could wake up and check on him herself.\n\nFinally she fell asleep, but she woke up just before dawn, trying to make sure that he was still alive. She whispered to Pikachu \"Please, come back to me. I'm so sorry, I didn?t know how to show my love to you...\" She then licked his cheek and left, for fear that the nurses may come in and try to take him away from her.\n\nPikachu woke up next morning, still remembering what happened. Luckily, the care he received last night helped to heal his injuries. He got out of the bed with ease and tried to walk. His vision wasn?t perfect, as he also lost a bit of vision since that day, but he was able to navigate around. Soon, she heard one of the nurses. \"Good morning, Pikachu\" and he turned to her.\n\n\"Good morning! I see that you're better!\" said the nurse, who gave him some medicine to make him better, before she left.\n\n\"I'll tell your friend Raichu to return you home\".\n\nPikachu looked at her with an scared look, but as soon as she left, Raichu entered the room again. \"Pikachu...how are you feeling?\" But Pikachu didn?t answer. She could see that he was better, but still had those bandages all over his body. \"We need to go back\" said Raichu. Pikachu decided to let it be and not fight back, as he thought again that it was useless. But as he started to look sadly to the ground, she got nearer to him and smiled.\n\n\"Hang in there, Pikachu!\" she said. \"I'll carry you, okay?\"\n\nThen she hugged him and Pikachu did nothing, knowing that he could not fight back. She would take him back to his room, where she would stay with him. Pikachu then fell asleep as she gently carried him to her room.\n\nWhen Pikachu woke up, he was confused that he wasn?t in his room. Raichu couldn?t stand Pikachu living in his own room due to its deplorable state, and she decided to let Pikachu stay there while she replaced everything with things she bought herself. She knew that as long as she kept caring for him, he would never act that way again. Hence, she decided to stay everyday in her room there to check on Pikachu.\n\n\"Hi Pikachu!\" Said Raichu as she saw him waking up. She sweetly smiled at him. He then looked at her and tugged her gray paw. She got closer and smiled as she rubbed his head \"I'm sorry\" he said.\n\n\"It's okay, Pikachu...you haven?t done nothing wrong!\" She kissed him on the cheek and he looked at her in a confused face. He was still scared about being in a different room as he couldn?t stand seeing Raichu for more than a second after all. He tried to look at her, but his eyes kept staring at the nest.\n\n\"Pikachu?\" said Raichu. He started to see that he was not being mistreated, and relaxed a bit.\n\n\"Can I go down to the patio? It's pretty out there\" He softly asked her. Even though the place he was in wasn?t an hostile place, he didn?t like to invade another one's space. She got up, gave him a pat on the head and walked down the hall. She opened the door to the patio and saw the sun shining. She smiled and walked out there with Pikachu. They stood there in silence, enjoying the calming warmth of the sun, feeling good.\n\nAfter what felt a long time, the cubs finished their lessons, and were now going to play. As Raichu figured that watching Pikachu with all those bandages was a very shocking experience, she decided to coerce Pikachu in going back to her room.\n\n\"You need to rest, Pikachu, so you need to go back to the nest\" she said. He looked at her, confused, as she waved her paw at him. After some time, and more important, an explanation on why he couldn?t walk around in his state, he accepted to go back to her room.\n\nAs soon as Raichu put him down on her bed, he started to cry. \"No...don?t hurt me...\" But as soon as Raichu looked at him, he nodded his head. She smiled and sat in front of him. \"Okay, Pikachu. I'll sit here to check on you while you sleep, ok?\"\n\nBut then, both heard a gentle knock on the door. \"Are you Pikachu? Can I come in?\" Said the Eevee cub at the other side of the door. Raichu quickly came out. \"I'm sorry Eevee, but Pikachu is sick. He'll need to be left alone, so he can recover as soon as possible.\" as she gave him a sad smile, before returning inside.\n\n\"Okay. Well, I'll better be in my room. I don?t want him getting in trouble\" she thought. As she turned around, she saw that Pikachu's eyes had watered up, and he was all curled up in a ball. She was a bit sad about that as she knew that Pikachu didn?t like Eevee to suffer.\n\nSo Raichu decided to do something that Pikachu didn?t expect. She gave him a small smile, covered his wounded body except the face and ran outside the room.\n\nPikachu was startled at the sudden reaction of Raichu. What could she be thinking? Maybe she was planning something for him. But he knew that he didn?t deserve it. No one would care for a disabled Pikachu, he was completely sure about that.\n\nBut to his surprise, some seconds after, Raichu was back, but she wasn?t alone. Eevee was at her side! Why did she brought him there?! He tried to find a reason, but he couldn?t.\n\n\"Please don?t...\" said Pikachu while looking at Eevee, finding it hard to come up with words.\n\n\"It's OK, don?t worry. I am here for you! And your partners are here with you too!\" she said as she smiled. She wasn?t used to help someone psychologically, so she was slightly unsure, but she could tell that he needed her help. \"We are here to listen you. If you tell me what are you afraid of, maybe we can try to help you get over your fears together!\" she reassured him. Pikachu had very conflicting thoughts. He wanted to make everyone forget this embarrassing event, so he could return to his previous life. But one part of him also wanted to reveal the truth to her. What could be better to take over his fear for her than talking about it with her while she was there for him?\n\n\"What is it, Pikachu? Asked Eevee, a joyful smile on his face, as if trying to cheer Pikachu up.\n\n\"I'm afraid of...\" He froze again. If he said the truth, she would be really concerned. But he didn?t have anymore the willpower to lie to her, so he simply said \"Nothing.\"\n\n\"Well... Don?t worry! Whatever it is, I'll make sure you are safe!\" she said, and ran her paw over his forehead. The mouse then felt her paw running over his fur, which gave him a relaxing sensation. He looked behind her and saw Eevee again.\n\n\"Eevee...\" he mumbled, as he wasn?t expecting him to be there in this situation at all.\n\n\"I brought him here again\" told Raichu \"I wanted you to hear what he thinks about you. Listening to him maybe lets you open up a bit more, so you don?t need to hide it anymore.\" Then, she smiled again.\n\n\"Come on, Pikachu! What do you think he thinks about you?\" Raichu asked in a comforting tone, while she sat next to the nest on which Pikachu was laying.\n\n\"Probably he doesn?t trust me at all...\" said Pikachu looking down, feeling very bad.\n\n\"Are you sure about that? No wonder you are feeling so sad. But I can fix that!\" replied Raichu, smiling again, as she told Eevee to start talking.\n\nEevee smiled \"I do trust you a lot! You are really fun! Maybe you could be more positive!\" he said excitedly as he started to do barrel rolls again in excitement.\n\n\"Really, Eevee? I didn?t knew you were so fond of me!\" replied Pikachu, as he got a glimmer of hope again.\n\n\"Of course!, You're my best friend, really!\" he replied. He was honestly trying to make things better for him, as he did everything he though that could make him like he was again.\n\nRaichu then thanked Eevee and told him to go back to play with the cubs. As Eevee left the room, she turned back to Pikachu again.\n\n \"As you can see, a lot of people thrusts you!\" said Raichu as she turned back and smiled at him. Then, she got closer, until their faces were only a couple inches apart. \"How about you Pikachu? Do you trust me?\"\n\nPikachu had just been asked the worst question she could have asked. Not one of the worse, but the worst. He didn?t know what to say, and he didn?t want to lie, but at the same time, he didn?t want to tell the truth either. It was hard, and very hard, to lie to someone that cared for him so much, as all of her hopes and dreams and thoughts were on him.\n\n\"Well...\" he replied weakly. He though about that day. Shudders came through him, as he felt terrified about what happened, as well as sad about what to his important sequels. But, on the other side, Raichu... He thought as he stared at Raichu deeply in her eyes... She has always had a beautiful smile when he is around. She also didn?t hesitate to show her affection to him when he feel sad, or in need of some love. And yesterday, when he needed her the most, she wandered around in the cold streets at night just to find him, even though he had ?attacked? her before. At the end, he had no evidence to assume that she wants to do any harm to him.\n\nThen, Pikachu held Raichu's paw. \"Yes, I trust you...\" he said shyly.\n\nThe two sat in silence for a moment. Then, Raichu carefully hugged Pikachu, as she held him close to her. \"Thanks for making me feel better...\" he said after a while. She kissed Pikachu on the cheek again, then said \"Thank you for being sincere...I mean, you are a really good Pokemon...and I appreciate that... Please don?t be scared of me anymore, okay?\" She got serious and looked him directly in the eyes.\n\nPikachu looked at her, deep in thought. For a moment, he started thinking about this new situation, then he decided that no matter what happens from now on, he would always trust Raichu...and he meant it.\n\nThen, he smiled, and said \"I know, Raichu. I won?t be scared of you, ever again. I feel you truly care about me, as a best friend would.\"\n\nRaichu smiled and hugged him once again. \"You're the best friend I could ever have. Ever.\" she said as she kissed him on the cheek again, this time holding the kiss longer.\n\n\"I feel the same way about you, Raichu. I really do...Thank you...\" replied Pikachu.\n\n\"You're very welcome, my friend...\" she smiled as she gently let go of him. \"By the way... Who wants to eat berries!!\" she said as she took out a little box with Pikachu's favourite berries!\n\nPikachu looked at them, smiling at her \"Thank you!\" he said, as they happily had dinner in the room. Once finished, they both fell asleep in the next together, as they hugged each other.\n\nCHAPTER 24\n\nAs the days and weeks progressed, everything became a bit easier for Pikachu. He would still be nervous around Raichu sometimes, but with time he became more and more used to it.\n\nIt was in the late afternoon, when Raichu went downstairs to have lunch when Pikachu suddenly ran towards her. He was trembling in fear, as she feared that his thoughts flashed back to the terrible day he?d been a battler. As soon as Pikachu was close enough, she held him close to her. \"Are you okay?\" she asked, her voice calm and comforting.\n\nPikachu slowly nodded. \"I'm...a little scared of something, but...but I'm okay...\" he replied, nervously.\n\n\"Well... Let's go outside for some fresh air and then, you tell me, shall we?\" Raichu suggested as she took Pikachu's hand and led him outside.\n\nPikachu didn?t have a choice but to follow Raichu, as she led him into the comfortable nearby park. After a short while, they walked into the small little stream next to the park, and sat down on the rocks. \"Why don?t you tell me your problem, Pikachu?\" asked Raichu, as she looked at him in the eyes.\n\n\"Uh... I...uh...well, I was going to see what you were doing ...but I got a bit scared\" he answered, as Raichu noticed he was shaking.\n\nRaichu nodded \"And why are you scared? You're my best friend. I don?t want you to be scared of me...\"\n\nPikachu looked at her for a few seconds, then he smiled. \"Don?t worry, I'm not scared of you!\" said Pikachu. \"As I was going to leave the room, I heard a strong noise in the window!\" he said, shuddering at the memory.\n\n\"Ok! Do you want to go back?\" she asked as she smiled warmly. \"I promise to solve the problem, ok?\"\n\n\"Yes, I do\" he replied as he stood up from his spot, followed by Raichu. As they walked back to the room, he ran behind her \"I-I'm so sorry for being weak\" he whispered.\n\nShe gently squeezed his hand. \"Don?t say that Pikachu, it isn?t true. Where did you heard that noise?\" she asked as she walked ahead.\n\nPikachu looked around and answered her question \"In the window...It sounded like a Pokemon was coming to attack me.\" he said, as he started to cry a bit. \"I don?t wanna... go through that again...\"\n\n\"You're a brave Pokemon\" said Raichu, noticing Pikachu was almost shaking with fear. \"Don?t worry, Pikachu. We'll find out what is making that noise and we'll take care of it!\"\n\n\"We will?\" asked Pikachu, looking up at her.\n\n\"Of course!\" she smiled as she reached the room.\n\n\"Thank you!\" he said as he hugged her in the middle of the room, his head buried in her soft orange and grey fur. She knew that she was being too repetitive with her reassuring words, but she didn?t care. The confidence, and love in her voice gave Pikachu the self-esteem he needed, and he slowly stopped shaking.\n\nRaichu peeked though the window, but she wasn?t able to see anything there. She was confused to where the sound came from. \"Where did you hear the sound?\" she asked, turning to Pikachu.\n\n\"It was outside...I thought it might be something attacking me...\" he replied as he looked up at her.\n\n\"It is alright Pikachu\" she reassured him. \"I'm sure we'll find out what is making that noise soon. Do you want to check out outside the building?\"\n\n\"Sure!\" answered Pikachu.\n\nSoon, they were outside the building, watching the window which belonged to Raichu's room, where Pikachu was staying, however, neither of them could appreciate anything strange or particularly different. \"I'm sorry Raichu, it may be my imagination\" said Pikachu as he looked at his feet.\n\n\"Don?t worry Pikachu\" she replied, and gave a comforting hug. \"Everything is fine, don?t be afraid of any noises. We'll figure this out together...\"\n\nPikachu nodded. \"Yes...you're right.\" He said as he looked at her. \"Thank you for being so patient with me. If you hadn?t been here, I probably would've hurt myself again...\"\n\n\"You're welcome! We'll get through this, Pikachu.\" she said, and smiled warmly at him.\n\nBut as they were going to head back to her room, the little Eevee ran to Pikachu. \"Pikachu! Pikachu! It's horrible! We were in class with Sceptile and Pidgeot when... you must come with me!\" said Eevee, his voice trembling. \"It's all right Eevee, let's go!\" said Raichu as the trio headed toward the classroom.\n\n\"It's the truth! Wanna hear it again??!\" shouted Sceptile to Pidgeot, who was flying over him at the moment. \"Why do you say that?? You are the one who makes silly comments!!\" she answered as she flapped her wings forcefully trying to make Sceptile fall.\n\n\"Why do you say that?\"\n\n\"You're a gurrrlll! You are envious ?cause you cant fly!\"\n\nPikachu looked over the classroom, where the cubs were staring at the confrontation.\n\n\"Really? Can?t they wait for the cubs to be gone?\" asked Raichu. She hated when the cubs witnessed such violence.\n\n\"I know you're the worst b-\"\n\n\"ENOUGH!!\" yelled the Raichu, who ran in and put herself between the two.\n\n\"Nooo...he's the really worst b-\"\n\nRaichu gave a loud scream that froze them in place. \"You two are adults! If you can?t handle each other's bickering, then you better go back to elementary school!\" she said, but to her dismay, the two continued to argue.\n\n\"Sceptile is going to regret his words! He insulted me!\" said Pidgeot.\n\n\"You're a b-\"\n\n\"ENOUGH!!!\" screamed Raichu, and as the two got closer and closer to each other, she let out a powerful electric blast, enough for them to stop and turn around to look at her.\n\nThey both stood there, looking at her in awe.\n\n\"Wow...\" said Pikachu in disbelief as he saw Raichu's electric shock.\n\nRaichu walked toward Sceptile. \"What have you done?!\" she yelled angrily.\n\n\"Wait, I was about to teach the cubs how to do a quick attack when know-it-all said I was wrong!\"\n\n\"Well, there was a huge mistake you made!\" answered Pidgeot. \"Then he told me I was an useless chick!\"\n\nRaichu and Sceptile got into a stare-down, and then Raichu came closer. \"Sceptile, is it true?\" she asked with a serious tone.\n\n\"I suppose it is\" he replied with a cold voice, \"but I don?t need her knowledge to win a battle. She doesn?t know anything, so she can?t help me. And if I 'm right, she will just trash around! She's so immature!\"\n\n\"Actually,\" said Raichu, \"you are making a mistake by ignoring Pidgeot. She may know interesting techniques for flying types.\"\n\n\"I suppose.. hmmm\" said Sceptile. Then, Raichu turned back to Pidgeot \"And you... You have very little patience! Any comment makes you look lose your temper!\"\n\n\"Oh, now you're insulting my patience?\" replied Pidgeot with a surprised expression.\n\n\"Can you see??\" said Raichu angrily. \"That's right... Sorry. But I tried to tell you about this before, but, as I flought to your window, I almost got hit! It was closed!\" Then, Raichu started to giggle. \"Pikachu! We've solved the case! The Pokemon you heard before was Pidgeot!\"\n\nPikachu 's face was still red with fear. He looked at Raichu with that same worried expression as before \"Why don?t they try to settle the matter?\"\n\nRaichu nodded slowly. \"Sceptile! Apologize now to Pidgeot! What you said is very offensive!\"\n\nSceptile then patted Pidgeot's head \" Sorry Pidgeot...\"\n\nThen, Raichu talked to Pidgeot \"And you should apologize to Sceptile for attacking him without permission!\" Pidgeot hesitantly said \"I'm sorry for being so impulsive\".\n\nOnce the discussion was finished, Raichu remembered what had to show Pikachu. She almost forgot! Raichu couldn?t believe it!\n\n\"Pikachu, wanna come with me?\" Asked Raichu. \"Sure!\" said Pikachu. Soon, they were walking back to their room together. Raichu looked at Pikachu and looked at him \"I really want to make you feel good! I can see that you're still struggling with staying in another place, isn?t it?\"\n\n\"Well, I can get used to live in your room I guess...\" Replied Pikachu feeling a bit uncomfortable by the fact he destroyed his own furniture. \"It's good to know! But I want to show you something! I know that you'll love it!\" Said Raichu feeling an unexpected warmth in her heart. Pikachu looked at Raichu and felt also a sensation of happiness maybe? He was unsure about what was he feeling in that moment.\n\nOnce they were back to the corridor, Pikachu stopped walking at Raichu's room, but Raichu continued walking. \"Raichu! Where are you going?\" Asked Pikachu in confusion.\n\n\"We are going to your room! I hope you find it okay!\" Raichu answered as she motioned him to come.\n\n\"Alright\" said Pikachu as he walked behind her. When they got to their room, Raichu opened the door, and Pikachu was starting to feel bad again for what he had done.\n\nBut his eyes went wide open when he saw his room. He couldn?t believe his eyes! A perfectly decorated room with a nice, light-colored furniture, a cream- colored desk, a light-orange nest and a few little chairs were all just lying around. Suddenly, a feeling of happiness filled his heart. Raichu could see his face and immediately she knew how he must be feeling.\n\n\"Welcome to your room Pikachu!\" said Raichu as she hugged him tightly. She couldn?t help but feel also a new sensation as his body touched hers and their bodies were held tightly together.\n\nFinally, a whole minute after, they finished hugging, and then, Pikachu looked at Raichu, as his eyes started to water again \"Thank you for everything! You are amazing! You really are my best friend here! Thank you for taking care of me!\"\n\n\"Thank you for accepting me\" Raichu answered to him. She knew that he was very reticent to her for months due to some circumstances he hadn?t still told her. Even though she had been really suportive since they first met, she didn?t manage to get Pikachu to tell her about what happened. It must have been a really important thing for him as it seems he had a trainer and battled in the past. It also was strange to her, as she still hasn?t witnessed him fighting. In fact, she hasn?t seen him making any use of electricity yet.\n\nHer face was still looking at him with surprise as she saw the smile on Pikachu's face as he looked at everything. He was amazed about the fact that his room was restored in such a short time.\n\n\"Raichu\" asked Pikachu \"How did you got all these things? There's a nest, a table, a bed lamp... And even a medicine box...\" He said, the last words with a sadder tone.\n\n\"Well, that's what friends are for, right?\" Raichu said with a grin. \"Everyone here loves you\" she added. She tried to make him feel better about everyone, even though she had paid for everything herself. The money she won at the world Championship was more than enough to live in a well-to-do home and be carefree about money for the rest of her life, so, she didn?t doubted in helping him out and was glad to see her generosity rewarded.\n\nShe also knew that, as she kept helping Pikachu, he also gained more and more confidence in her, so, she was each time nearer to find out what troubled Pikachu the most.\n\nBut as she thought about that, the sky had already turned black and she knew that maybe they had prolonged they conversation for too long. So, after another heartfelt hug, the duo separated, and went to sleep to their respective rooms.\n\nCHAPTER 25\n\nNext Saturday, Pikachu woke up in his ?new? room, and then, he did his usual morning routine of waiting for Raichu, who would wake up early as well. Once they greeted the new day to each other, they walked together down the street to the park, where they would play with each other for the day.\n\nBut today, it was an special day! The cubs were having their final battling tests! Eevee was so excited today! He would finally be able to improve his skills and advance into next level! After two months of training, all the cubs were ready to take the battle test!\n\nAs the chu duo was returning from their rutinal walk, the little Eevee finally saw them and went to them jumping in excitement. \"Hi Pikachu!\" he said excitedly, with a happy tone in his voice. \"Do you know what I must do today?\"\n\n\"Well\" responded Pikachu \"You must be about to do the tests, is it right?\"\n\n\"Yeeeah\" he said as he started to barrel roll on the floor again \"I want to be the best!\"\n\nShortly after they finished talking, Ms. Millers called all the staff to be explained the ?testing? ceremony. The cubs were being divided into two groups, and then would compete between them in different games. All the test were little games where the winner team would be rewarded points, and, in the end, the winner of that contest would be declared the top tier battlers and receive a prize!\n\nEevee was surprised. He really didn?t expect to be in such competitive activity! Raichu, on the other hand, knew very well the futility of being in a group like that. So, she was happily surprised to see how Eevee was so excited about it!\n\nMs. Millers was continuing on with the introduction. \"All right everyone, let's begin the test!\" She finished before reuniting all the cubs in the playground.\n\nAfter about half an hour, the ball game finished, with Eevee's team winning! Eevee was so happy that he jumped high in the air, and he proudly gave Raichu a hug. \"You motivate me!\" he said, with a proud tone in his voice.\n\n\"Wow!\" said Raichu, surprised at her friend's behavior. \"Well done!\".\n\nThe second game consisted in some sort of maze where all the cubs had to run as fast as they could to be the first to escape!\n\nSome of the cubs were very quick, while others took their time, trying to think of what they were going to do. All of the players tried to do their best but some cubs weren?t able to finish in time, Eevee being one of them \"Ouch!\" he said in frustation, as the other team won the game.\n\nThe third game was a race, with each cub trying to reach the other side of the district first!\n\nThey all went through and Eevee was so happy as realized that he was a very speedy cub! He soon crossed the line first! he then stood on his hind legs and gave a high-five to Raichu, who was standing next to him. \"You rock!\" he said with a very positive tone.\n\nThe last game was the obstacle battle! In that particular obstacle course, the cubs were to stay on those lines as long as they could, while attacking the adversaries on the other side of the field.\n\nA while later, the cubs had finished the course and Eevee managed to beat two of the adversaries. However, his team lost, as the last cub of the team stepped out the area.\n\nAfter that, it was time for the prize giving ceremony, which surprisingly consisted in free pizza tickets for the winner team. Eevee, seeing that his team didn?t win the race, was a little disappointed. But, he had a good time anyway.\n\n\"Blue team, you won!\" Ms. Millers said with a big smile, as the team was all standing there together. \"Congratulations to all the winners, who we gathered here today!\" She called out a bunch of names and the cubs all cheered, and applauded.\n\nEevee looked up and saw Raichu and Pikachu, and he felt his mouth slightly opening up in shock. He shook his head and grabbed Raichu's hand, with a faint smile on his face \"I had fun, nevermind\" he said politely.\n\n\"Well, you certainly had a good time\" said Raichu, giving him a pat on the shoulder. However, Pikachu didn?t like the idea of being called a loser, and he wanted to teach Eevee that he was a great cub. \"Eevee, it doesn?t matter what other people say about you! What matters is what you think of yourself! Come on, let's go back to your room\" he said, cheerfully.\n\nEevee looked a little surprised at what his partner had just said. \"Ok!\" he said, as he joined Raichu and Pikachu with a huge smile on his face.\n\nPikachu then felt a very strong pain running down his chest, making him feel as if he had just been attacked. \"Ouch!\" he said as he flicked his ears, making them stand up straight \"I'm feeling quite a bit of pain right now\". He turned to face Raichu, and noticed that Eevee started rubbing his hand over his chest.\n\nRaichu gave a worried look towards Pikachu. \"Pikachu, what's wrong with you? Are you sick?\"\n\nPikachu quickly shook his head as he started to take a very slow step backwards \"No. No, it's nothing serious\" he said in a somewhat comforting tone.\n\nRaichu looked back to her friend, worried about his health. However, she decided to wait for Eevee to go to his room to talk with him, and hopefully get to tell her what really happened.\n\nBut as she was still thinking, they bumped into Espeon, who was walking to her room. \"Hey guys? How's going? I heard that the cubs had a competition today? Did you have fun, Eevee?\"\n\n\"Yeah! It was fun\" he replied as he rubbed against her. Espeon laughed a bit at the circumstance and then smiled slightly.\n\nBut Pikachu wasn?t keen on the idea of the cubs competing to win something, as he thought that type of competition didn?t help the cubs to befriend each other.\n\n\"But it's unfair that Eevee's team lost! They all did their best! No one deserved losing at all!\" Pikachu added.\n\nEevee smiled a bit at Pikachu's comment.\n\nAs the trio continued walking and got to Eevee's room, they left him playing with Vixie and other cubs that were friendly to him. Afterwards, the chu duo returned to Pikachu's room.\n\nAs they entered, Pikachu kept talking to Raichu. \"I didn?t like the competition at all! Some cubs were very stressed and didn?t had fun! Moreover, no cub should be told that they are worthless!\"\n\nRaichu looked at him and answered. \"I don?t think its too serious! Eevee didn?t care about losing!\"\n\n\"I know that Eevee didn?t care, but I saw some other cubs who were ashammed of themselves! I don?t want them to give up their dreams at such a young age!\" He contined as Raichu nodded \"This is an important matter. What if, for example, some cubs refuse battling because they arent encouraged?\" He was terrified by the idea of battling, but he knew that Raichu gave importance to it.\n\n\"Hmmm... You're right! It's really important for them to be motivated!\" She said and paused her speech. She had a great idea!\n\n\"What about giving the losing cubs what they gave to the others?\" Raichu said after a while.\n\n\"I don?t get it, Raichu\" replied Pikachu.\n\n\"I guess that the cubs will be really motivated if we take them to the pizzeria where the other team is going!\" She said with a cheerful smile.\n\n\"But... Are you crazy? They are over one-hundred cubs! It's too expensive! I sadly can?t afford it\". He said with a sad tone.\n\nThen, Raichu smiled and whispered to him \"Don?t worry. I've got it covered\". She knew that even before winning the World Championship, she had way more money than what would be possible to her to spend in her lifetime, so, she didn?t have any worries about helping everyone without worrying about economic issues.\n\nThen, Pikachu felt intense pain in his chest again. He already knew that it was caused by the sequels he carried, so he just went to the medicine box, and took the painkiller.\n\n\"Pikachu, is that medicine box yours?\" Asked Raichu. \"Yeah, it's mine. I need to take the medicine, but don?t worry, I'm fine with it, see?\" He said as he tried to convince her about the medicine, but had to act as best as he could to hide the pain in his chest, which was slowly increasing.\n\n\"That's good!\" Said Raichu, as she saw that her friend was alright.\n\n\"What about having dinner? Said Pikachu as he started to walk to the dining room. \"Count with me!\" She said as she followed him close.\n\nSoon, they were having dinner with Espeon, Sceptile, and Pidgeot. \"Guys! My team absolutely killed it!\" Said Sceptile as he looked at the others, as if to say that he was invincible.\n\n\"Well, Mr. Miracle, you only managed a very close victory!\" Replied Pidgeot as she gave a stern look at him. \"What about calming a little?\" Said Pikachu, as he took a deep breath and sighed. He had to admit that he was very pleased with his ability to end conflicts.\n\nAfter finishing dinner, everyone went back to their rooms, and Raichu and Pikachu did the same. Raichu watched his friend with concern as he walked way slower than before. \"Are you really sure you are okay?\" She asked again, but Pikachu just shrugged his shoulders, and repeated what he had already told her.\n\nSoon, it was time to split up, however, Raichu wanted to stay with him a little longer, so she asked Pikachu to enter in his room.\n\nAs they entered, Pikachu sat in his nest, and Raichu sat on a chair, as both looked to each other. Then, they felt a strange sensation, as there was absolute silence everywhere. There was something in just staring at each other's eyes in silence that neither of them had really felt before.\n\n\"Raichu, I really want to tell you that you are a very generous Pokemon who wants to help all of us. I really feel very honored to have you in my life. Thank you\". Raichu felt her own tears coming down her face as she was told these words.\n\nRaichu nodded and then she responded with a warm smile \"You are also a very loving Pokemon despite your fears. Thank you for pushing yourself forward so hard\". She answered to Pikachu.\n\nPikachu couldn?t still completely believe that a Raichu was able to be so kind, to the point that she hadn?t made fun of his fears even though she didn?t knew the sad truth behind them.\n\nRaichu then climbed to his nest and hugged him tightly, feeling his warm fur pressing against hers.\n\nPikachu also felt it was the best feeling he could ever experience, and so, he just closed her eyes in joy as he kept hugging Raichu.\n\nBut after some minutes, the pain in his chest returned, this time way stronger than never before. He didn?t want to disturb the moment, as he also thought that probably there wasn?t better ailment to his sequels than the warmth and care that Raichu was giving him, so he remained in a calm state.\n\nBut, sadly, seconds later, he felt his world start shutting down. He looked in silence at Raichu, as he knew that this time, his hearth couldn?t keep up its injuries anymore. Then, he focused again on Raichu's face, thinking about how beautiful she was. He had very bad luck that his previous life was cut short by one of them, but now, he finally felt in peace, as she did everything she could to make him happy again, showing him that not every Raichu were cruel. Just after finishing these last thoughts, Pikachu felt his heart definitely stop beating, and soon, he felt his world completely turn black.\n\nCHAPTER 26\n\nAfter a minute, Raichu decided to finish their time together and return to her room. \"Pikachu, come on! It's time to sleep\" she said in a gentle tone. However, Pikachu didn?t reply, so Raichu took a deep breath before talking to him again. \"Don?t worry! Tomorrow we will spend more time together, okay?\" She sais as she looked at Pikachu again, who remained silent.\n\n\"Pikachu, are you hearing me?\" Raichu asked, but Pikachu did not respond. So she started to worry about him again, wondering if he was even awake at all. \"Pikachu!\" she said this time shaking Pikachu's body trying to wake him up. Raichu felt something was really wrong, and decided to press her paw on his waist to check his pulse.\n\nThen, she started to shake in fear as she didn?t detect Pikachu's pulse. \"Please.. Please..\" She said while shivering. Everything seemed to occur in slow-motion, and it felt like a nightmare. Pikachu didn?t deserve to die so young! \"Pikachu, please wake up\" she screamed while shaking him. Raichu was scared for Pikachu's life!\n\n\"Pikachu!\" Raichu screamed again. Then, she realized that she had to act by herself. She was an electric Pokemon, so she could maybe return his heart to its usual state by shocking him in a specific way.\n\nRaichu knew she could do that, and then, placed her paw over his hearth and started to send electric shocks down his body. \"Pikachu! Please wake up! Don?t leave me this way!\" she yelled, trying to spring him back to life.\n\nRaichu was about to stop trying, when she felt his heart start to beat. She started to cry uncontrolably as she made sure that his heart could work again by itself. Then, the door opened with a strong sound and saw Espeon enter with a worried face \"Raichu! What happens!\" Espeon was confused as to what happened.\n\n\"Pikachu has just suffered a severe heart attack! He almost died!\" She screamed, still crying in shock. Espeon was taken aback and tried to calm down. \"Is he alive?!\" Espeon asked again as she still couldn?t believe what happened. Everyone knew that Pikachu's health wasn?t good enough, but she just couldn?t believe he almost died in his room.\n\n\"He's still unconscious, but his heart is working fine. I'll check on him for the night!\" Raichu said as she made sure that his heart kept working.\n\n \n\nPikachu kept on sleeping peacefully, and Espeon got worried over the Pikachu's health. \"I wonder if he's doing well!\" She thought out loud, trying to find an answer to the question.\n\n\"He's fine Espeon, but you are still worried for him aren?t you?\" Raichu said, looking at Espeon with a comfortable look. \"I have to say I'm really worried, and I don?t think he is okay.\" Espeon said with concern. \"I'll be sure to make sure he wakes up in the morning, I promise!\"\n\nRaichu sighed and gave Espeon a reassuring look \"It's not your fault, and he will be okay. Everything will be fine tomorrow, okay?\" She reassured Espeon, who still had her head in her paws as she nodded \"Yeah... No... I don?t know. This is all just...\" She started to cry, this time because of how much she was worried about him. Raichu had enough experience to tell that Pikachu was alright, and knew he didn?t need additional supervision, at least for today.\n\n\"He's not going to die Espeon. Trust me, I know about this\" She smiled, as she wiped Espeon's tears \"You can always ask me about him, okay?\" Raichu said as she helped her friend up.\n\n\"Well... Thanks for your help Raichu\" Espeon said, rubbing the back of her head. \"You definitely deserve to be trusted, after all\" She giggled and shook her head \"You're a true friend\".\n\n\"Always and forever\" Raichu said, hugging her one last time before she went to her room.\n\nRaichu kept looking at Pikachu, as she processed everything that just happened, and soon, she was thinking of her feelings towards Pikachu again. \"He's cute, and I like him...\" She thought, in a daze. She really didn?t though that she could think that about Pikachu.\n\nWhile still thinking, she got a strange feeling in her stomach. She remembered all the times Pikachu had helped the cubs in different situations. She then though of how kind he was to Eevee, and also that he would surely make a good father to a litter. So maybe... He was actually starting to affect her in a way. Was it possible that she was starting to like him? After a long time wondering, everything seemed crystal clear. She... loved him. She finally realized that she was in love with Pikachu.\n\nMinutes after, she heard stirring sounds from the nest, and was so excited to see that Pikachu was waking up!\n\n\"Pikachu!\" cried Raichu, jumping into the nest. \"Look at you! You're awake!\"\n\n\"Yeah...\" replied Pikachu, with a tired expression, but a smile as well \"I'm awake. Are you okay?\" He was really confused about what happened. He only remembered hugging her as they fell asleep.\n\n\"Yes! You're awake!\" Raichu was really happy with the results of her intervention. \"Don?t worry about it Pikachu. I will definitely take care of you.\"\n\n\"Raichu, what happens? you are acting so strange!\"\n\n\"Pikachu! Please be more serious! You almost died!\" She scolded. \"You had a heart attack when you fell asleep, and you are still really weak, so you aren?t going to be able to be by yourself for now. I'm going to take care of you.\"\n\n\"You want to adopt me or something?\" asked Pikachu with a confused face.\n\n\"Well, not really, but now, I want you to answer me a question. A very important question.\" Raichu said. \"Please, Pikachu, do you REALLY trust me?\"\n\n\"Yes, I already told you!\" answered Pikachu, his confusion increasing.\n\nRaichu stared firmly right at his eyes. \"Pikachu. This is now a matter of life and death. PLEASE, tell me what happened to you to have these aches and be so fearful of battling, and also what do you really, deep, deep down, think about me and my species.\"\n\n\"O-okay...\" replied Pikachu, his eyes moistening with tears. \"Fine... I just... I just... will tell you now. You are the best friend I've ever had in my life. I think you really deserve to discover once at all everything about my past\".\n\nRaichu stared at him, amazed at what he said. After a minute of silence, she took in a deep breath and looked at him. \"Okay. Are you ready to start?\"\n\n\"Yes, I finally am.\" ansered Pikachu as he started to tell her his story.\n\n\"Years ago, I was a Pokemon who lived in the wild.\" said Pikachu. \"I had a lot of brothers and sisters, hence I was able to do whatever I wanted without anybody scolding me. I always had curiosity about what was in the city, as I was always a very curious Pikachu. Then, one day when I couldn?t keep my curiosity at bay any longer, so I walked down the road, and entered the city. It was a grand city, filled with many people. I had never seen so many humans in my life, and, even though I liked everything the city, I wanted to go to the local battling gym. As soon as I entered there, I instantly noticed all the pokemon battling each other. It was beautiful! I was filled with curiosity. I looked around, and I saw a lot of people surrounding a battle scene. So I walked there as I definitely wanted to see more. But before I could reach there, I noticed someone in a very sad situation near me. A boy was bleeding and falling down, hiding from everyone's sight. I felt so sad for him that I couldn?t help to walk to him and start talking to him. He told me that he had been alone for years since he failed the \"initial test\", making him unable to have a Pokemon with him, and could only live by stealing and other terrible things. I realized that the boy needed my help.\n\nHe told me that his name was Jake, and that he had lived there for all his life. I asked him why he didn?t get help when he first needed it, and he told me that it was because he was ashamed of himself. I then told him that I would be there for him, no matter what, and he agreed. I helped him stand up, and he thanked me for it, and, since then, we forged a very close bond. After a long while, I noticed that he had managed to leave his old life behind, and he now lived the life of an average trainer. We even took part in tournaments, battled other trainers and traveled to different cities by ourselves, only him and me.\"\n\nRaichu nooded in amazement, as she finally discovered what the photos she saw were. \"But... I still don?t understand why you are afraid of battling now.\"\n\n\"That's the next part of my story, and it's not only the answer to that question, but also explains almost, if not all, of my current problems. After about three years together, we got to a really large city, which, when we arrived, was full of trainers training at the beach. Soon, we were training with other trainers, as usual, to get stronger for the next gym battle, which turned out to be an electric-type specialized gym, but fire types also took part on the leader's battles. Once we were ready, we went to the gym leader. We managed to defeat the assistants of the leader without much difficulty, and soon, the battle for the gym badge began. The first Pokemon the trainer used was a Fennekin, but the battle didn?t go well for him, and, just like that, I managed to defeat the Fennekin without trouble. Then, I saw him smiling at me as if I had done something good. But, in reality, he was thinking about wiping me off as soon as possible, and then, he released his second Pokemon, which turned out to be a Raichu. I was really shocked by this, seeing that I didn?t know any Raichu even though it was my direct evolution. The battle was on his side this time, as that Raichu was a lot stronger than me, and also was unnafected by my attacks. I knew that I would lose the battle, but... I couldn?t have guessed what happened after. After I was defeated, Jake was going to pick me up, as he couldn?t buy pokeballs due to being an ?illegal? trainer, but that Raichu launched a thunderbolt just in front of him. He wasn?t struck, but couldn?t get me out of the battlefield. Then, as I laid unconscious, the Raichu walked over to me. Jake started to worry about me, as it was to late for him to pick me up. As the Raichu stood by the side of my unconscious body, he lifted me up with his tail, and then, pressed me on a wall, or that was what Jake told me. Finally, in some fatidical seconds, he launched a full-power hyperbeam to me at a very close range, leaving me shattered, wounded, and humiliated. Then, after that, the Raichu and the gym leader turned back and left. Jake ran to me and didn?t know what to do. All he could see was that I was bleeding all over my body, and my rib-cage was shattered. A terrible sight.\"\n\nRaichu started to tremble, tears running down her face. \"After a while, he managed to reach the hospital, and so, I was rushed to the critical care unit. That night, I was admitted in the ICU, where I was hooked to several machines. But, even though my chances of survival were slim, I managed to make it out. But after being in the hospital for about a week, I was discharged home, only after a nurse gave Jake a letter that he had to explain to me. I know it must had been the hardest day in his life, as he had to explain to me that my electric-type organs were damaged beyond repair, and, in order to save my life, they had to be removed. I was able to live but I was only left with the basics. There would be no more electricity, or any attacks in general. Our battling career was over, and both Jake and me were devastated. Soon, however, Jake came to the conclusion that he had to be strong for me, and worked night and day to find me a new place, where I could continue to be of utility to other people. We searched for quite a while, and, finally, Jake managed to found a place for me, which turned out to be this orphanage. But... the end of this story is really unfair...\" he said as he sobbed \"As he left me here, he was left with no Pokemon, and would have to return to his previous life... But, after all the experiences he lived with me, he couldn?t adapt to the new situation as he thought that I was a part of him... I know he tried to overcome his depression but... he finally lost his final battle, and departed this world after taking his own life... So... I was left without family... or friends...\" he finished telling as he definitely broke down.\n\nRaichu was left completely speechless. She stared at him as he told the story that she wanted to hear for so long. Finally, she spoke up \"So... you're saying that it was a Raichu who took you away from your hobby and your trainer?\"\n\nPikachu looked down, embarrassed \"Yes\".\n\n\"Pikachu... please... I... I'm really sorry that I asked...\" Raichu said \"It wasn?t meant to make you sad or anything... I didn?t mean to...\"\n\n\"Oh... it's okay. I understand\" said Pikachu, as Raichu started to cry as never before. She cried and cried as her heart was aching for what she had just heard. Now, everything made sense. The reason why he was different from all the other Pokemon, the reason why he always acted so oddly around her, even though he had always been a cheerful Pokemon... This was a tragic story, a very sad one at that. Now that she finally understood what was behind him, her feelings about him would never be the same. She felt so many emotions, for the loss of his friend, and his depression, she felt rage towards that evil Raichu, a feeling she didn?t know existed. She also felt sadness for that poor kid. She had no idea what he had to go through, but, even though she was a famous battler and all, she wouldn?t have hesitated to help him out and give him a shoulder to cry on. In fact, after that, she would've done anything to be with him. No one should ever feel the way he did. But it was too late, as he died depressed and alone.\n\nAfter a couple minutes, she looked over to Pikachu, still crying. \"So... what do you want me to do?\" she asked. She would do anything for Pikachu. Anything. But she didn?t expect the next word out of his mouth.\n\n\"Nothing\".\n\nShe paused for a second.\n\n\"Nothing...? What do you mean by that?\" she asked him.\n\n\"Well... I'm saying that I understand how you feel, but there's nothing that we can do about it\".\n\n\"What do you mean?\" she asked \"After what you just said... That trainer... Jake... If there's something that we can do about it... we'll do it... For example, we can go on a journey together if you want!\" she said as she leaned forward and hugged him.\n\nPikachu hugged her back, and as he did, he started to regain his emotions. \"You don?t need to do that\", he said to her. \"You have, in fact, helped me to get over my depression, and I am extremely grateful for that\" he said to her. \"You don?t have to seek out revenge about the fact that Jake is gone. It won?t bring him back\" he continued. \"No matter what we do, nothing will bring him back. The only thing we can do is to live our lives, so he feels proud of ourselves wherever he is right now\".\n\nPikachu hugged her again and as he did so, he felt a warm feeling spreading through his heart, one that he never felt before. He felt happiness and friendship, and a joy that he never felt before. The depression he felt over the past few years seemed to have completely faded away.\n\nPikachu felt a sense of serenity and happiness as he felt this warm feeling in his heart, a feeling he had never experienced before. Raichu was smiling a big smile as she looked into his eyes and felt the same feeling. At that thought, she started crying, as the tears started to trickle down her cheeks. \"I know you have had a tough life... but you are a wonderful pokemon. You are the bravest pokemon I have ever seen\". Raichu felt a strong sadness in her heart. She didn?t know how to express it, but she knew that this was something that had affected her heart and soul. She felt a huge regret over what had happened, and as she continued to cry, she felt a huge urge to protect him \"I will stay with you, no matter what\" she finished.\n\n\"This means so much to me Raichu... I... I know it is very hard for you to care of me, standing by my side. I have lost my parents... I lost all my friends... But I never lost your optimism. Your sense of adventure, your strength and your love for helping everyone out. Your kindness to strangers, and your patience with me.\"\n\nThe female finally gave her Pikachu a hug. She had never hugged anyone like this before... \"Thank you Raichu for everything...\" She looked up to him and said. \"I will do whatever it takes to protect you, so I can keep you safe... I promise I will protect you forever\" Pikachu then squeezed her in a warm embrace as well. It was a very peaceful moment as both pokemon just held each other for a few minutes.\n\nWhen they finished their hugs, they finally said goodbye to each other, and Raichu got up and started walking out the door. But as she was about to leave, something kept her back. She looked up at Pikachu, who was staring at her with a look of admiration, as if she had seen some incredible miracle in front of him. She then looked down at herself, as if she was wondering about something. She thought about everything that had happened between them... \"You are a really good friend, Raichu... It really feels like we have known each other forever...\", Pikachu murmured.\n\nThen, silence dominated the room, as they soon realized that everyone was asleep at the moment. Raichu started thinking again in her head about what she should do... She thought about a lot of things. She had realized that Pikachu had a good heart, and that she was trying as hard as she could to be the best friend to him that she could. Nevertheless, the relationship between her and him had evolved, as she had noticed that her heart had grown stronger than ever... And it was because of her that Pikachu was able to accept himself more. She then realized that he wasn?t just a good friend, she really desired to live her life by his side, just as much as Pikachu was willing to be with her. Then, she remembered the way that Pikachu looked at her, and it gave her a sudden feeling of comfort. She felt secure around him... She knew that the words that she had said had affected his life, and had made him feel happy again. She also realized that she had been seeing Pikachu in a different light. When she looked at him again, she came to the conclusion that he had become not just a friend, but the one she desired to spend the rest of her life with. She had at last realized that she wanted her Pikachu not to be just a friend anymore. Raichu thought of how that would change her life, and it made her really happy. She decided at last to become Pikachu's mate.\n\nAnd so, firmly decided, she slowly walked back towards Pikachu as he stood still, seeing the admirable Raichu walk towards him. She then looked at Pikachu deeply, as for her, there was no turning back now. The time had finally come.\n\nWhen Pikachu looked up to Raichu, she returned a love-filled look, as she began to speak, \"Pikachu, you know, there might be some things we don?t know about each other. We know what our differences are, but we still love each other unconditionally. We can?t always agree with each other on things, but we still try to understand each other. Whatever happens in our life, we still try to care for each other. You have a very long history of fighting against your sadness to be able to make the best of yourself. You are a special pokemon and I'm proud of you.\"\n\nAnd then she put a big, heart-warming smile on her face and gave Pikachu a peck on the cheek. She then looked up at the little guy, as she made him stand up on the nest, and continued: \"I think it is time to confess myself to you. This is something that I have been thinking of, and I have wondered about it for a long time. But, now that I am totally sure, it's time to tell you the truth.\"\n\nShe then hugged Pikachu firmly and held his paw with hers as she began to speak again. \"Pikachu, I love you with all my heart. You are the only one I can?t live without, and you are a friend that I will never, ever lose. I will always love you and care for you forever. Pikachu, I want to be your mate\".\n\nPikachu was left speechless by her confession. He had known that she cared about him a lot, but he had never known that she wanted to be his mate, but now that he had heard her out, he knew that she truly loved him and wanted to be with him. Pikachu suddenly couldn?t help but smile. He then held her paws as she held him up so they were staring each other eye-to-eye.\n\nHe then whispered back to her. \"I love you too Raichu. Thank you so much for making me your mate. I really love you so much Raichu\". After some seconds in silence, they began to kiss each other. And for a long time, they just kissed deeply, lovingly, and with tender love. They felt like the happiest Pokemon in the world. If Pikachu was sure about something, it was that he loved Raichu very much, and would always love her no matter what. After a while, their lips parted and they both sighed in happiness. And that's how they shared their first kiss.\n\nThey kept staring and caressing each other for a long time. They were both waiting for the other one to make another move. But no one did. It was a bit awkward for both of them as they both knew that they wanted more of each other. So, Raichu, due to her more natural leader attitude, slowly broke the silence and began to speak, as she began to hold Pikachu's paw with her own, and started to speak:\n\n\"Pikachu, I know that you love me, and I also love you very much. We have known each other for so long, and we want to be with each other forever. And that's why I think it's time to seal our relationship forever\". She was sure of what she was about to do, but, in the end, it was still a bit challenging to find the right words, so she decided to just tell Pikachu what she wanted to say.\n\nRaichu looked at Pikachu with a watery but determined look. \"Pikachu. Do you... want to make love with me?\" she asked him in a soft tone. And then she softly gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek. She smiled to him and waited for her most loved pokemon to answer.\n\nPikachu looked up at her seriously. \"Yes, Raichu. I want to make love with you, as my mate\" As he returned her a warm smile. Just then, they started kissing again, this time more passionately. As they kept kissing, Raichu closed her eyes. Her heart was beating fast as her proposal had just been accepted. They kept kissing for minutes, until they were both blushing and panting in each other's arms.\n\nAs they laid down in their nest, both Pokemon looked at each other and smiled, as they had finally accepted to share their most beautiful and intimate moment tonight. Raichu decided to take the first step, as she placed her paw on his chest and gently pushed him to get him to lay belly up on the nest. She then softly rubbed his body up and down, gently caressing his belly and thighs. Eventually she laid on top of him and put her mouth around his, as they softly kissed, moving their tongues up and down, enjoying each other's bodies and senses. As they continued to kiss, the two slowly became more in love with each other, as their feelings were so strong and passionate, as well as their desires. Eventually, their bodies slowly became more sensitive, as they felt each other's hot body against them, as well as their breaths in and out. As they continued to touch each other, they slowly became more aroused until they could feel each other's arousal. Finally, after a while, when Raichu stopped to look down between Pikachu's legs, she saw a long thin rod poking out of Pikachu's crotch. He quickly became embarrased, as it was his first time, and he didn?t know what to do. On top of that, the fact that he still feared her species a bit was causing him anxiety. \"Pikachu!\" Raichu called out, as she slowly lifted Pikachu to his feet, and gently placed him standing up on his nest. \"Don?t worry, Pikachu, remember that I'll never hurt you, ever.\" Raichu smiled, placing a kiss on his head, as she turned herself to face her back to Pikachu. Raichu took a deep breath, as she took a small step forward, and slowly crouched down until her paws rested on the nest, with her rear facing Pikachu. At last, she lifted her tail, and moved her hips back a bit. \"Pikachu, it's time to breed with your mate.\" Raichu smiled, as she gently lifted her rear, exposing herself to him.\n\nBut Pikachu was still being a bit hesitant to enter the female. Raichu, who was enjoying the moment, decided to give the male Pikachu some more encouragement by telling him how much she will love to feel him inside her. It seemed to work, as Pikachu's cock slightly throbbed upon hearing her words.\n\nSo, Raichu to be a bit more firm in her attempt to get him to mate with her, gently pushed him nearer to her softly with her tail, until their hips were just touching. Raichu told him to try and put his penis in her vagina. However, he was still a bit scared and uncomfortable at the thought of doing it with her. So he reunited a lot of courage to tell Raichu to help him out, as he had no idea how to do it. Raichu then lowered herself, as she used her tail again to lift Pikachu a little, so he could lay on her back, with his erect penis aligned with her crotch. Afterwards, she told him to hold her hips with his arms and to start thrusting in and out slowly and gently.\n\nPikachu was then shown what he was told when she started to motion him, pushing his hips in with her tail, so he could understand what he was expected to do. Meanwhile, his rod started to softly enter inside Raichu, finally making Pikachu realize how amazing it felt! He was enjoying to be inside his partner, so he kept telling her to push him deeper so he could get all of it in, so, as soon as she was ready, she pushed his hips in a little more, just enough to get his penis fully inside her.\n\nRaichu then reassured Pikachu to relax as he started pushing his penis in and out a bit without her help, so they could enjoy it together. After some time, Raichu decided to make Pikachu push harder inside her, so she started to slowly rock her body back and forth to try to speed up the penetration. She was determined to make him enjoy the night, so she pushed forcefully her body backwards, to make sure that he would go all the way in by himself. Pikachu felt his penis completely sink in, and as soon as he dug his final section, he was surprised to hear Raichu squeak in pleasure. It was a real pleasure to hear Raichu's voice, because it was so sweet. It was definitely a lovely experience. Feeling more confident with himself, Pikachu started to thrust his penis in and out, a bit faster each time. At that point, Raichu started moaning in her charming voice, as well as her vagina begin to relax and tighten rhythmically. Raichu felt his penis enter her deeper, as her whole body began to relax and her juices began to drip out of her pussy and onto Pikachu's penis.\n\nShe was amazed at how smooth and hot his penis felt inside of her, as well as how he was pulling her vaginal muscles and opening her up to feel his warm, soft penis in her. Raichu felt her body begin to tighten, as she was getting more and more close to the orgasm she had hoped for.\n\nThe mixed feeling of his penis being inside of her and the tight grip that Pikachu had on her, made her tense up, as her body got ready to climax. Her tail shook, her legs trembled, and her vagina convulsed uncontrollably as she came. The sound of her juices squirting onto the nest as her pussy was being squeezed by Pikachu's penis caused Raichu to scream out in ecstasy as her body went into overdrive as she kept splashing her juices all over Pikachu's thighs, drenching him with her love fluids.\n\nA few seconds after this orgasm she started to rock herself back and forth again, and was beginning to try to get her body to relax and not get too wild about it, to avoid startling Pikachu out of his trance. The feeling she got in her legs while she was being fucked and his rod being pushed in and out so much was causing her to become somewhat sore. She could feel Pikachu pushing himself inside of her as she continued to shake and moan, her pussy quivering with a pleasurable shiver. Her eyes were slightly closed as she was enjoying Pikachu's dick sliding in and out of her, as the sensation kept feeling great.\n\nPikachu smiled as he felt himself relax again. It was as if he felt being lifted into the sky, as he could feel his weight on her back combined with the feeling of his cock pressing against her pussy. He felt her body relax and her breathing return to a normal rhythm. As he decided to speed up the lovemaking, he started to thrust into her more forcefully, her pussy beginning to spasm again, the feeling of the tip pushing against her caused her to gasp out in ecstasy once again. Pikachu thought as he slid his entire length into her how the pleasure from his actions was almost overwhelming for her. He wondered what it would be like to fill her with the warmth of his sperm while firmly grabbing her from her back with his paws. Pikachu sighed as he felt his body loosen up, his mind filled with the sensations of riding her as he focused on the wet sounds of his hips slamming into hers.\n\nShorly after, he felt a chill down his spine as his hips spasmed at the sudden new and foreign sensation that started down in his balls. As a consequence, some seconds later Pikachu felt a little pressure building in his penis, wondering if it was his own orgasm coming. He was almost ready to explode inside of Raichu, so he stopped thrusting to concentrate on the pleasure. Raichu, aware of the situation, knew exactly what to do to send her mate over the edge. As soon as he stopped thrusting, she started to moan loudly, as if she was enjoying another orgasm. Pikachu began to feel the pressure inside his penis increase as a result of hearing her mate's arousal, causing his hips to tremble from the sudden sensation. As soon as Raichu felt it, she began to give her partner's penis a gentle squeeze as she continued to moan louder. This made him feel like he had to ejaculate inside of her. The feeling of her cunt clamping down on his penis sent a jolt of pleasure throughout his entire body as his body began to tense up a bit as a result of the cumulative pleasure. His whole frame started to paralyze as his orgasm was reaching it's peak. Finally, being unable to hold it any longer, Pikachu's entire body twitched, as he thrusted as deep as he could one last time. That was all that he needed. Pikachu started to cry her mate's name as his malehood started to ejaculate a thick stream of sperm inside Raichu's vagina, which caused her body to become tense as she started to scream in delight. Pikachu was surprised at how much pleasure his orgasm sent him as he continued to pump his cum into her belly, while she started to feel the effects of his seed shooting up into her, which began to feel as a tickle in her uterus. Raichu reached a state of pure ecstasy as he continued to spray his sticky semen into her. Her womb started to ache as Pikachu's liquid love that poured into her continued coating her insides. Pikachu just kept moving his hips a bit, as he kept enjoying the repetitive feeling of sperm loads being pushed into her, as she felt his powerful jets of warm cum shooting into her womb. As Pikachu's orgasm started to subside, he felt his seed stop flowing from his penis, and a strong feeling of tiredness caused him to become extremely exhausted. He collapsed onto his stomach, on top of Raichu's back, his body unable to react as he lay there in total exhaustion, starting to quickly fall asleep.\n\nRaichu, sensing that his lover could not keep himself awoke any longer, began to gently crouch herself, to allow Pikachu to climb out, her entire body going rigid as Pikachu's quickly softening erection left her body, making some of his seed to run out of her as it started dripping from her vagina to the nest. Raichu, being so tired, let out a sigh of relief as she dismounted Pikachu from her and laid him on the now sperm-covered nest.\n\nAfter letting the already asleep Pikachu on the nest, she cleaned him by licking off the last drops of combined fluids that were remaining on his crotch and legs, and then, she proceeded to clean herself off, leaving a little bit of Pikachu's semen on her fur, as a reminder of what they had just done to each other, and at last hugged him one last time as she gave a final, loving kiss to him before going back to sleep to her place.\n\nJust before leaving, she looked back at him, her eyes watering again as she recalled once again all the harsh moments in Pikachu's life, and all the times that he had felt lonely. It has been very hard to him to find a love, someone who would accept him as he was.\n\nThen, with a sigh, as she was exiting the room, she stared at Pikachu once again, as her fur stood on end at the thought of everything that they had done to each other. As a strong wave of tiredness came over Raichu, she fastly left to her home, and slowly drifted off to a peaceful sleep.\n\nCHAPTER 27\n\nNext day, as soon as he awoke, he blushed as he remembered what had happened the night before. He slowly looked up at the ceiling, thinking of what had happened the night before, from beginning to end. He felt so grateful for being with her, that he could not keep himself from tearing up. The whole experience that they had just had really made the bond between them stronger than ever, as he finally knew what it felt like to be loved.\n\nHe slowly moved his hand to his chest, where she had placed her hand earlier that night, and gently rubbed the area. He could still feel her touch in his body, almost as if he was in a dream. He let out a tearful sigh as he sat on his bed and slowly looked around the room.\n\nThen, he looked back at the nest where they had spent the night together, and the many happy memories that had been made with each other last night. He quickly jumped out of the nest and started the day by having breakfast. As he walked towards the dining room, he saw Espeon and Eevee talking to each other.\n\n\"Hi guys! Is that a box of pokeyummies?\" said Pikachu, pointing at the box that was sitting on the table in front of the two Pokemon.\n\n\"Yeah\" replied Eevee as he ate. \"I see!\" replied Espeon. \"I bet that the cutie will get mad if I eat any of those!\". Then, both smiled as they saw Eevee stuffing his face with one of the pokeyummies.\n\nThen, Pikachu slowly walked towards the dining room table, and once he ordered his breakfast, he noticed that Eevee was very happy about something.\n\n\"Eevee! What's the matter?\" said Pikachu.\n\n\"I... I...\" said Eevee. \"I'm confused!\" he shouted in a cheerful tone as he jumped from his seat and ran next to Pikachu. Once he got near him, he started to barrel roll on the floor again. \"Eevee! Stop doing that! You are going to dry your fur!\" said Pikachu, making him stand up and keep jumping. Eevee was sure a very energetic cub! In addition, he didn?t really knew why being confused was a good thing.\n\n\"I can evolve to a lot of different Pokemon!\" he shouted as he jumped into a ball. Then, he uncurled himself and kept jumping. \"I can become... an Umbreon! I can become a Leafeon!\" He kept running and jumping in a ball. \"I can become an Espeon! I can become a Vaporeon!\" He kept running and jumping in a ball.\n\n\"Hey, Eevee!\" shouted Pikachu, not giving him any rest. \"Why don?t you relax a bit?\" Eevee was much too hyper for him right now.\n\n\"But...\"\n\n\"You can tell me while you stay relaxed, eating your pokeyummies, okay?\"\n\n\"OK!\" he replied, making Pikachu give him a nice hug. Then, he sat up and kept telling Pikachu. \"I can become nearly anything I want!\"\n\nPikachu knew about the very unstable genetics of Eevee as species, allowing them to evolve in many different ways, and that is why many Eevee never really knew what to do when it came to evolution.\n\n\"I know it's very exciting to evolve!\" Pikachu said excitedly. \"But... do you know what evolution are you going to do?\"\n\nEevee looked at Pikachu in shock. He had never been asked that before. Then, he took a deep breath and looked at Pikachu. \"I will become...\" he said as he started to think to a level that Pikachu didn?t knew a cub was able to.\n\n\"I will become......\"\n\nThen, he just stared at Pikachu. Espeon thought that maybe, he was a bit reluctant to say that he wanted to become an Espeon as she was there. Another option would be to read his mind, but she preferred to not spoil the surprise! It was an exciting moment for them, and when Eevee looked back at Pikachu and gave him an adorable grin, she thought that Eevee had decided it already!\n\n\"When I grow older, I want to become a Pikachu!!\" he said as he pointed to Pikachu with his little cute paw.\n\nEspeon and Pikachu couldn?t help but start laughing as hard as they could to the sudden, unexpected answer of the cub. \"Yes! I will become a Pikachu! I will shoot lightning from my body!\"\n\nPikachu just couldn?t stop laughing! He couldn?t help himself, it was just so funny!\n\n\"I know it's very good news! I will be very fast! I will fight for justice! Then, I will win many medals! And when I feel ready, I will evolve to Raichu! So I can be like her!\"\n\nAfter a whole minute laughing, they stared at Eevee with big, surprised eyes \"Eevee, unfortunately, you can?t become a Pikachu! You can only select one of the evolutions in the paper the teacher gave you!\"\n\n\"Oh... I have it in my room! It's the poster called Eeveelutions, isn?t it?\"\n\n\"Yes, it is\" answered Espeon, still trying to hold her laughter inside of her.\n\n\"I'm bringing it here right now!\" said Eevee as he ran off the table.\n\n\"He is such a cutie when he gets excited, isn?t he?\" asked Espeon as he saw Pikachu looking at him as he ran out the door. \"Yes, he is!\"\n\nThey continued laughing until they saw someone entering the dinning room. They thought that Eevee was already back with the Eeveelution poster, but, instead, they saw Raichu, who started walking to the table. \"Hello, Pikachu, Hello Espeon!\" he said as she looked at Pikachu with big, bright, happy eyes.\n\n\"Oh, come here, Raichu!\" He said as the memories of yesterday flashed in his mind, making him feel a bit embarrassed.\n\n\"We need to tell you a very funny thing that happened just a moment ago!\" Pikachu said as she sat with them.\n\nAfter telling her what happened with Eevee and laughing for another half minute, they saw Eevee come back with the poster, in which could be easily read the word ?Eeveelutions?.\n\n\"Here it is!\" said Eevee with a smile. \"I got it back from my room!\" But as he was about to sit down with Pikachu, he saw that Raichu had just appeared from nowhere!! \"Wow! Raichu has very cool powers! She teleported right now like that!!\"\n\n\"Hahaha! No silly, I just came while you were at your room!\" Raichu said, pointing at the poster \"It's an Eeveelution poster! Do you know which of them do you want to become?\"\n\n\"Are you sure I can?t become a Pikachu or a Raichu? I like both of them!!\" he said in a bit of a whisper.\n\n\"No, no, silly! You can only choose one those in the poster! Espeon is right there, so you see?\" Raichu said as she pointed at an image in the Eeveelution poster. \"Just like her!\" then, she pointed to Espeon.\n\nRaichu thought for a moment, then, she looked at Espeon as she just smiled to Eevee. \"I don?t dislike Espeon, but, if in the future I am an Espeon, how is people going to distinguish me and her??\" he said as he looked at Espeon with his wide open black eyes. \"But if I become Raichu, it's much easier. People will automatically know who I am!\" he said, as he kept desiring to be a Pikachu.\n\n\"Well, I'm a Raichu, so you will have the same problem!\" Raichu said to Eevee, trying to dissuade him from his original idea, so he could make a valid decision without any anxiety. She laughed a bit as the argument she used didn?t make any sense, as there were many pokemon of the same species in the world. Even legendaries aren?t one of a kind!\n\n\"OW! It's right! I can?t become a Pikachu or a Raichu! It would be a big problem! I will think it out better! Bye!\" he said as he ate the last contents of the pokeyummies box, and left the table with a smile on his face.\n\n\"He's such a child!\" said Pikachu as he saw Raichu also smiling and happy while waving goodbye at him \"But he's such a nice cub! I would be happy if I were him!\" she added. \"Well, anyways, we should now get ready to do our deeds! It's so late! Espeon said as she also left the table, leaving the couple alone.\n\nThen, they looked to each other tenderly, and, for the first time today, they smiled a bit.\n\n\"Pikachu\" she said as she licked his cheek \"Are you alright?\"\n\n\"You know that I am\" he said with a smile. He then laid her head on her chest, and took a deep breath, as Raichu whispered at him in a barely audible tone.\n\n\"Did you enjoy it?\"\n\n\"It was amazing\" he told her.\n\n\"You really are special\" she whispered back.\n\nThen, they held paws, and, after a few minutes, decided to go shopping, as today, Pikachu was in charge of buying the food. They both enjoyed their first walk together as a mated couple, holding hands as they slowly walked to the biggest mall in the commercial district, where they started to buy things for the annual festivity of the city!\n\nThe Carnival, as it's called, was one of the biggest events of the year, and it was a great chance for the commercial district to attract customers, mostly by selling new and latest fashion products.\n\nOn top of that, everyone was ready to have a good time. As soon as the two arrived at the entrance, they both could smell the aroma of the roasting pork, as the smell of chicken wafted by them, so they decided to buy some sausages to munch on while they did their usual activities.\n\n\"So where do we start?\" he asked her as they walked around the stalls.\n\n\"Well, as we are here! let's have a look at what's here!\" she said, pointing at the different booths \"We can buy some things for the cubs as well!\"\n\n\"Okay, that sounds like a good idea!\" he said as he couldn?t deny it.\n\nThen, after a few hours, they bought everything they thought they needed, such as food, drinks, and Raichu also got a fur polish, as she wanted to look really good for her partner.\n\n\"Pikachu\" she said with a happy smile \"Do you think I'm pretty enough?\"\n\n\"You know that I love you very much, Raichu\" he said, which made her blush slightly, as she blushed a bit at his compliment \"And you're beautiful as well!\"\n\nThen, neither of them could help to kiss each other, as they both didn?t get tired of looking at each other's faces, as always. \"I love you, Raichu\" he whispered as he put his arm around her.\n\n\"I love you too, Pikachu\" she whispered as they touched each other's faces.\n\nThen, as the day was nearing its end, they decided to call it a day and returned to the orphanage. As they were about to split up, Pikachu wanted to know something important about her. \"Raichu, where are you living now?\"\n\n\"I'm staying in the nearest inn near here. But, I'm thinking of settling down near the orphanage, as I want to live with you from now on\" she said.\n\n\"Okay, you maybe prefer to live in your room here for some time, until you decide to buy your own house and move in. But don?t worry, because I'll be living with you anyway\" he said, trying to lighten up her mood.\n\nShe smiled at him, but quickly covered her mouth, as they heard somebody approaching them \"Is everything alright here?\"\n\n\"Oh Espeon! How was the day?\"\n\n\"It was great! Eevee seems to be quite confident about his evolution!\" she said, as the chu couple stared at her with a hopeful look.\n\n\"Good!, as long as he's happy...\" added Pikachu\n\n\"What is it, Espeon? Will he be an Espeon like you?\"\n\n\"Well... it's not one-hundred percent sure, but the chance seems pretty strong\" replied Espeon. \"However, he prefers to keep the secret. He only told it to me, because we are both from the Eeveelution family\".\n\nAs they said goodbye to each other, Pikachu soon went to sleep, thinking about the possibilities. He felt as if things will get even better for both him and Raichu, as he felt that he could live with Raichu forever. In the meantime, Raichu decided to go home and clean her room, so it will look as nice as the house she's going to live in with him. As soon as she was in her room, she began to clean it, and afterwards went to bed, imagining what tomorrow will be like.\n\nCHAPTER 28\n\nThe next weeks went by very quickly, the days blurred together, with Pikachu taking care of the cubs as usual, as he shared his life with his beloved Raichu mate.\n\nSoon, a very special day came! They couldn?t believe it when it was time for Eevee's 1st birthday party!\n\nThey were both excited as Eevee would discover what a birthday party was like. Both Raichu and Pikachu knew that, being a stray cub, Eevee didn?t had an exact birthday to celebrate, so they decided to place the celebration between Raichu's and his.\n\nPikachu woke up knowing that today would be a great day, and prepared to greet Eevee when he woke up. As Pikachu exited his room, he saw that Raichu had also just woken up. \"Good morning hon. Do you remember that today we are going to celebrate Eevee's birthday?\" asked Pikachu with his charming smile.\n\n\"Of course! I want him to have fun\" replied Raichu, giving her lover a warm hug. \"He deserves it, as he's a great Pokemon... I made sure he is getting the best gifts he can wish for!\" she added.\n\n\"Thank you for everything you have done for me, Raichu\" said Pikachu, giving her a small kiss on the forehead.\n\n\"You're welcome, Pikachu. It's the least I can do for him as he loves us too much... and the same applies to the love I have for you\" whispered Raichu as she gave Pikachu another love filled kiss.\n\nThey both began to head to the main hall, and greeted him as soon as he walked in.\n\n\"Eevee, do you know what a birthday is?\" asked Raichu\n\n\"Um... no, I don?t\" responded Eevee. \"Maybe you can explain it to him\" replied Raichu.\n\n\"Is it good?\" asked Eevee as she was curious.\n\n\"Well, it is a chance to celebrate a person's birth by throwing a party, and everybody eats cake and you get presents!\" explained Pikachu.\n\n\"Really?\" said Eevee, smiling. \"Yes, and we have presents for you too, Eevee!\" said Raichu.\n\n\"YEEEESS!! A PARTY!!!!\" he said as he started to barrel roll as he kept celebrating.\n\n\"We got you a good one, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the afternoon!\" said Raichu.\n\nEevee seemed to understand, as he went to get out his favorite toy, which was a rubber ball, and started to spin it.\n\n\"Look how happy he is, Pikachu\" said Raichu as she gave her mate a warm hug.\n\n\"That's the way to celebrate!\" added Pikachu.\n\nPikachu and Raichu left to go to the monthly staff reunion, as Eevee was still playing in the playground.\n\nAs they got to the meeting area, only Pidgeot, Espeon and Sceptile were there.\n\nBut as they were just sitting there, Ms. Millers came in.\n\n\"Hello! Good to see you!\" she said with a smile. \"I've decided to separate different staff by groups, so it's easier to manage. You all take care for the cubs in different ways. Sceptile, you are the Battle Instructor. Your work is perfectly done, as the cubs are undoubtedly successful, and most of them have received very high marks in battling abilities. Congratulations\".\n\n\"Thank you, Ms. Millers\" said Sceptile, as he was proudly showing off the badges he got.\n\n\"Well, next one is Pidgeot. You are the assistant. Your work is done very well, too. Working with he cubs is a bliss when you lend us a wing. Thank you!\" she finished as Pidgeot smiled.\n\n\"Next is Espeon, the Psychologist. Your work is really important when it comes to helping the cubs whenever they need it. You also know how to handle them in various ways, and are also very good at solving problems. Well done, I'm confident you are an excellent Psychologist.\"\n\n\"Thank you, Ms. Millers\" said Espeon, who was smiling, as she was proud of the cubs.\n\n\"And, in last place, Pikachu and Raichu, who are the Free Time Supervisors. Your work is to ensure that the cubs get along with each other. It's a really important duty, as if the cubs don?t get along, they may end up getting depressed and isolated. Well done, and I trust that you've done a lot to get them together and stay united\".\n\n\"Thank you, Ms. Millers\" replied Raichu as she was proud of the cubs as well.\n\nOnce the reunion finished without more important details, Pikachu went back to the playground again, to check out on Eevee, while Raichu went to Pikachu's room to set everything up.\n\nAs he was walking, they saw a group of cubs playing tag in the playground, Eevee among them.\n\n\"Oh, you're back\" he said with a smile. \"How was the reunion?\"\n\n\"It was great, Eevee!\" replied Pikachu. \"But how do you feel?\"\n\n\"I'm very happy! I'm getting a party! and presents! and cookies and games and cake and waah! I can?t believe I'm going to get so many things today!!\" he said with excitement, as he was bouncing up and down, almost trying to fly.\n\nPikachu smiled \"It's time to get going to my room, ok? Raichu is waiting you there, come on!\"\n\nEevee nodded and followed Pikachu after saying goodbye to the other cubs.\n\n\"Yeah, let's go!\"\n\nThey went to Pikachu's room, where Raichu closed the door and the three Pokemon were left alone.\n\n\"Alright, Eevee. I want you to close your eyes! Just don?t peek, ok?\" said Pikachu, as he was putting a cloth over the cub's eyes.\n\nAs soon as Eevee closed her eyes, Raichu came back with a big envelope.\n\n\"Alright, Eevee. Here is your present! Open it carefully!\" said Raichu, as Eevee opened the envelope the best he could, having in count he only could scratch it.\n\nOnce he opened it, he became very surprised. \"It's a Giga Petite Matronix!\" he shouted with joy.\n\n\"Do you like it! I was lucky enough to get the purple one!\" said Raichu, happily.\n\n\"Yea! It's great! Thank you! I'm so happy! You're my best friends!\" he said, as they hugged each other.\n\n\"Well, well, Eevee! I love to see you happy!\" said Pikachu, as he walked to Eevee. \"But there's more coming up!\" he said as he told Eevee to cover his eyes again.\n\nAs soon as Raichu saw him closing his eyes, she went to her room to search for the chocolate cake!\n\n\"Now's the time, Eevee!\" said Pikachu, after Raichu brought the cake. \"Open your eyes!\"\n\nEevee opened his eyes and he screamed with joy! \"It's the chocolate cake, my favourite! Thank you both!\" he said, as he took a big bite out of the cake.\n\n\"He couldn?t wait anymore!\" said Pikachu as he saw Raichu approach him. \"Pikachu, do you like to see Eevee happy?\" she said in a tender tone.\n\n\"Always!\" replied Pikachu. \"But there's still more coming up Eevee!\" he said, as he took a small toy crown and put it on his head. \"You are the king today!\" he joyfully chanted.\n\n\"Wow! Wow! Wow!\" replied Eevee. \"I'm shocked! I have a crown!\"\n\nPikachu just laughed, as he was laying on the nest, enjoying Eevee's fun. Once he ate the whole cake himself (He seems to be a very hungry cub) he said \"I'm the king!\" as he hugged Raichu first, then Pikachu, and then they all hugged each other.\n\nThey were finally complete and ready to get off to bed. Once Eevee left, Pikachu went to his nest, and Raichu followed him. Soon, the two were snuggling together.\n\nThe two kept hugging and kissing for minutes, remembering the sweet moments they had together.\n\nTheir snuggling continued, as Raichu kept lovingly licking Pikachu's cheek as he laid on his back, looking up at the ceiling with a big smile on his face.\n\n\"... aww, he looks so cute like that,\" thought Raichu, as Pikachu laid on his back with a smile on his face, seeing his mate sharing her love and affection.\n\nRaichu then smiled as she talked to Pikachu \"Pikachu... I would really love to know what you feel when you see a cub having fun\" she said, in a sweet tone.\n\nPikachu just smiled as he closed his eyes, enjoying her sweet words.\n\nThe two of them snuggled like this for a while, before Pikachu spoke \"Well, there's nothing like watching a youngster enjoy itself!\" he said as he held her, as they kept cuddling. Raichu caressed his arm as she spoke again \"But I want you to explain why do you enjoy it so much..\" she insisted.\n\n\"Well, I don?t know how to express it... But I'll try\" he said, not knowing where to start. \"When you see a cub having fun... The feelings inside my heart flames up... You want to share that joy with that cub\" he said, as she nodded. \"I feel so happy to be able to make them feel the way I would have loved to feel when I was myself a little Pichu... I never had my parents? love...I know you understand it... I never had the right support...\" he said as a single tear flowed down his cheek.\n\nRaichu hugged him tightly and kissed him passionately for quite a long time, until he stopped crying. She then looked at him with a smile on her face \"Do you still feel unattended?\" she asked.\n\n\"I can?t change the past... but I can at least try to make Eevee feel loved, so he never experiments the loneliness I suffered. I can?t change his past... but I can at least make a difference in his future\" he said, as he sat up.\n\n\"Well, I think we're ready to call it a night\" he said as he took her paw in his as he prepared to sleep but Raichu gently stroked his fur. \"You still haven?t answered me the last question\" she insisted.\n\n\"All right, what do you want to know?\" he asked, as he took her paw.\n\n\"Do you still feel so powerless?... And still feeling lonely?... Do you still feel like an outcast?\" she asked, in a tone that showed that she wasn?t asking in a whining way.\n\nPikachu looked at her \"Yeah, sometimes, I really do\" he said, with a soft voice. \"But I have you and Eevee, and that's all that matters.\"\n\n\"Pikachu... I am your mate, for life... I want to help you overcome these feelings of your past. I can?t stand being without you, and I know you feel the same... Love is what you need the most. We will be together, in the good and bad times. We can make a difference in each others? lives. That's what true love is...\" she said, with a happy tone.\n\nPikachu nodded \"I understand... Thanks\" he said as he caressed her fur, gazing deeply into her eyes. \"I love you\" he whispered, as he kissed her gently on the cheek. \"And I love you, too\" he added, as she caressed his paw.\n\nShe caressed his fur again, before asking another heartfelt question \"Pikachu... Please, can I ask you another question?\"\n\n\"Of course\" he replied.\n\n\"What do you feel when...\" she said as she starting blushing, but her voice didn?t lose its soft tone. \"We see happy families with young Pokemon, with two perfect parents in love with each other? Do you feel lonely, like an unfortunate pokemon, knowing that you will never have a mother or a father to share your life with?\" she asked.\n\nPikachu gently placed a paw on her cheek and said \"I know you feel sad about me... but... It's not your fault... Don?t bash yourself for something that can?t be changed.\"\n\nRaichu kissed him once again \"I know I already asked this question before, but let me repeat it from a different point of view. Is there anything in the world that can make you feel happy and complete?\" she asked, and he thought for a moment before replying.\n\n\"Hmm... I don?t think there's anything that can change my thoughts... But don?t worry. I've got you, and even though my past will never change, you can make our future better\" he replied as he placed his paw on her cheek.\n\n\"It will be better, Pikachu\" she assured him as she continued to caress his fur. \"What would you do, if it was your turn to enjoy a happy family life?\" she asked him in a soft tone, her eyes starting to tear up. \"Would you be able to leave behind your past?\" she asked.\n\n\"I don?t know what do you mean... But I won?t leave you. We will be together forever, I promise\" he replied, as he kissed her on the cheek.\n\n\"Thank you, Pikachu\" she said, as she put her paw on his as she continued to cry. \"Raichu, you don?t need to cry... I'm very happy now that I have you by my side!\" he said, feeling guilty for making her cry. But then, he was shocked as Raichu held him tightly, making him stare at her at eye-to eye level.\n\n\"Pikachu, I know how much you love me, and I don?t want you to be sad anymore. It's your time to be happy and live a happy life once at all\". She said as she started to cry harder and shake a bit. \"There's something very important you need to know\".\n\nPikachu stared at her in silence as she continued to cry, while he pondered on what she meant. He decided to let her talk, patting her on her shoulder as if to say her to be strong.\n\nThen, she stared deeply into his eyes, feeling his loving embrace around her, and his heart beating in sync with hers. She finally felt the strength she needed to tell Pikachu what he needed to know. \"Pikachu... It's time to leave our sad past behind and to enjoy a happy future together. For me, for us, the time has come\" she said, a small smile appeared on her face as she was about to finished her speech.\n\n\"Pikachu... I'm pregnant\".\n\nPikachu looked at her with shock and awe at her revelation. He couldn?t believe that it was happening! This was what he had wanted ever since he left his family behind. He just looked at her with pure joy, which made her cry even more.\n\n\"We are going to be parents!\" she said between sobs hugging him tighter \"We are going to have a litter!\".\n\nHe couldn?t believe it. It finally happened. They were going to bring a litter of baby Pichu into the world together. Finally, they kissed passionately as long as they could. \"I love you Raichu. You will be the best mother in the world!\" he reassured her.\n\nThey kept hugging each other, as Pikachu slid his paw to touch Raichu's already slightly inflated belly. Raichu wrapped her arms around Pikachu and held him close, before leaning forward and giving him another kiss. She then spoke once again \"And you'll be the best daddy in the world\" she said with the same big grin as before. He could tell by the look on her face that she loved the idea and would enjoy raising a bunch of baby Pichu.\n\nAnd just like this, the now expecting couple closed their eyes and drifted off to sleep, a new wonderful future in front of them to look forward to.\n\nCHAPTER 29\n\nAs Pikachu started to wake up, he lightly bumped on the sleeping Raichu beside him. Raichu was still fast asleep and didn?t even stir from the sudden bump. The sensation that Pikachu felt as he remembered the night before was so overwhelming that he started to cry silently, as he felt his eyes fill with tears. Moments later, he crawled to Raichu's belly and carefully and gently rubbed his face against Raichu's soft fur. It was the most romantic thing he had ever experienced in his entire life.\n\n\"Raichu, I love you\", he quietly repeated to her as he rubbed her white belly.\n\nShe felt the warmth of his touch against her and softly hummed back to him. \"I love you too Pikachu. I'm happy to be having cubs with you. You are going to be an amazing father, and a wonderful partner in life\".\n\nPikachu looked up to her, blushing a bit as she had noticed him staring at her belly. But he quickly shrugged it off and kissed her deeply. Once they broke apart, Pikachu was about to hop off the nest to start the day when Raichu suddenly nudged him back, and started to blush as she laid belly flat on the nest, smiling at Pikachu.\n\nAfter enjoying another intimate moment together, they decided to go to have breakfast. When they got to the dining room, Pidgeot was already having breakfast by herself. She winged at them as soon as she saw them. \"Hi! Raichu and Pikachu! How are you?\" she asked.\n\n\"We're great!\" Raichu replied as Pikachu rubbed his head against Raichu's body. \"Want some breakfast?\"\n\n\"I already had some\", Pidgeot replied \"I'm just waiting for the rest of you to show up\".\n\n\"Well, what are you doing today?\" asked Pikachu politely.\n\n\"Same thing we always do...\" replied Pidgeot with a smile \"And what are you doing today?\"\n\n\"Same as yesterday and the day before\" replied Pikachu \"I'm going to grab a few groceries and you?\"\n\n\"I'm going to enjoy a nice relaxing Sunday\" answered Pidgeot.\n\n\"Well, I'll see you later\" replied Pikachu.\n\nAs they stepped outside, Raichu first made sure nobody was around before telling Pikachu about their soon-to-be family. \"Pikachu, we have a decision to make. Where are we going to live?\" she asked.\n\nPikachu could only think of how was he going to get a place to live outside the Pokemon Society. He had spent all his life after Jake there, and he didn?t ever considered leaving. But some weeks ago, when they mated for the first time, he had to change radically his lifestyle for Raichu's sake, as for pokemon, accepting the mating ritual was equivalent to marriage. However, Pikachu didn?t knew how he was going to earn money, and he couldn?t earn enough income to live on, as he was a disabled Pikachu after all.\n\n\"Raichu... You're pregnant, and so, a new Pichu litter is on the way\" he said worriedly. \"I'm worried how we're going to raise a new litter if I can?t buy a house for ourselves\".\n\nRaichu looked into his face, and softly nuzzled him with her nose. \"Don?t worry, I've got it covered\". Pikachu looked at her with a shocked expression, as he couldn?t believe that Raichu would take care of him like that. \"What? Do you really think to buy a house just like that? It's worth a lot of money! And I'm broke after all! Because I'm useless...\"\n\nRaichu quickly turned to face Pikachu and said \"Never say that again! You are far from worthless! Everyone likes you! The cubs are always smiling because of you... I love you with all my heart! And you are soon bringing this world a litter of our own!\" She said as she started to rub her belly as if to reassure him that it was true. \"Now think about how much fun you'll have with a bunch of little kits running around. Do you think you are worthless after all?\"\n\nPikachu looked into her eyes and saw the love she was trying to convey. He smiled warmly at her \"I guess I'm okay after all\" he said.\n\n\"About our new home, would you like to move in with me already? It would save me the trouble of finding a house for you myself\" she asked.\n\nPikachu's mind was spinning at the idea that he would be sharing the house with Raichu. He had never shared a home with a Pokemon before, and he was sure he would have a hard time to adjust to the new environment. But he also wanted to look forward to the life ahead of him, so he simply answered \"Sure, that sounds great\".\n\n\"That's a yes!\" cheered Raichu with a huge grin \"Let's get going after having lunch, ok?\" she asked.\n\nPikachu nodded happily and both kissed again, and they went back to the house to have a leisurely lunch, but they finally decided to have lunch together at a reataurant. This was to be maybe their final meal with the Society being Pikachu's home, so he had a feeling of guilt for leaving Eevee there, even though he knew that he would keep working there.\n\n\"So tell me about your life with a pokemon trainer\" Raichu asked.\n\nPikachu could not hold his emotions back \"It's not always easy to live with humans. There are bad humans out there you can?t trust them to be around you. But, there are also some others who make that lifestyle worth it\" he said trying to avoid mentioning names.\n\nRaichu looked at him and smiled \"Tell me more. I want to hear everything about it!\". Pikachu looked at her, as he smiled. She had made him able to talk about these topics without losing his mind, and he was very grateful for that. \"Well, there are so many nice things about travelling with a pokemon trainer that cares for you\" he started. \"You get to know so many cool things, and you'll meet so many friends along the way. It's really great... And the people who are closer to you will help you during your toughest times. They may not be able to achieve the victory, but they're always there if you need them to be.\"\n\nRaichu looked at him, knowing that he must be referring to Jake \"Are you talking about Jake?\" she asked.\n\nPikachu nodded \"Yes. Jake made me feel like nothing could go wrong\". Raichu said nothing.\n\nPikachu looked at her, worried. \"So, that's it. Some Pokemon get to live a happy life with their trainer or special human for the rest of their lives\". He knew she had been wondering about his late friend. \"Why didn?t anyone tried to help Jake after... you know?\" Raichu asked in a sad tone.\n\nPikachu remembered the events very well. \"I tried to raise awareness, but no one would try to help an useless Pokemon to save its trainer from depression\" he said, almost a regretful look in his eyes.\n\nRaichu took a deep breath and looked at him, trying to comfort him once again \"He couldn?t get over it because he loved you. He made his decision, so you can try to think that, at least, he was free in his last moments.\"\n\nPikachu took a deep breath and the look on his face became a bit more hopeful. \"Maybe you're right... But we must start thinking on our future family. We are going to raise them until they grow up\", finished Pikachu as he started to blush.\n\nRaichu looked at him, her fur standing on end at the thought of the new lives they were about to create, as she put a paw on his shoulder. \"Do you think Eevee will be happy with us having cubs?\" she asked\n\nPikachu was still blushing \"I'm not sure...\" he started, not sure about Eevee. \"We might not be able to spend as much time with him than before, but we can introduce him to our kits once they are old enough. Hopefully he will be glad to meet them since the are babies, maybe forging a lifelong bond. And, at least he can still live a full life by himself\" he said smiling.\n\nRaichu looked at him, pleased with his answer, and looked forward to their future together. After talking for a bit longer, they paid the bill and soon were on the move. They were going to check on the house Raichu was more interested about, and perhaps even buy it.\n\nThe trip was going to take quite a while, the house was located in the other side of the residential district, so they had a quite long walk. The area was quite new, so there weren?t as many people. Raichu noticed that, but preferred it to be that way, as the cubs would need a relaxed environment.\n\nAfter a while, they finally reached the flat. As they entered the place, Raichu looked at the house, like she had already imagined what it looked like, but was pleasantly surprised. It was a really luminous space, with white and grey walls, with a very nice community garden and elegant furniture.\n\nThe inside looked just like what she had been imagining \"This looks lovely Raichu, this is a good place\" said Pikachu. \"Do you like this place?\" asked Raichu with a smile.\n\nPikachu smiled \"It's the best, but...\" he said softly \"I'm not sure about how are we going to buy it\" he looked at Raichu \"I can?t help you in these matters, you know\" he said. She didn?t say anything, as she nodded. \"Do you like this place to live with me and the cubs?\" she asked. \"Yes, I would love it\" he said, feeling confused about how was she going to pay for it.\n\nRaichu didn?t let him continue talking as she kissed him for as long as she could, making Pikachu relax with her, forgetting about the money. \"You deserve the best, and we are going to be together forever. In addition, you are the best Pokemon I've ever met\" she said happily \"I love you Pikachu\".\n\nPikachu nodded \"I love you, too\" and he let her kiss him more. Once they fininshed, Raichu smiled at him \"Ok! It's all said and done! I'll buy this place right now! I love you\" as she jumped into his arms and hugged him tight.\n\nAfter finishing the paper stuff, they were back to their new home, finally as owners! Now Pikachu had to think how he was going to tell the others about what happened between him and Raichu, especially Eevee. He had absolutely grown fond of the little cub, and he was worried he would be upset.\n\nAs he was wondering, Raichu grabbed his paw and told him \"Take a look at our new place! It's really nice, I love it here\" she said excited. \"There's a garden here, with people and pokemon! Come, we'll take a tour of the garden\" she said smiling.\n\nAfter walking around the area for quite a long time, it started to be late, and decided to go back to the flat. Once they were back there, they had dinner and then, went to the bedroom, thinking about the first night of their new lives.\n\nCHAPTER 30\n\nAs they got to the bedroom, it felt like they just had started their life together. Pikachu looked at her mate, and smiled. \"Welcome to our new home!\" she said as she hugged him tight. \"It feels really nice! We needed a good and comfy space, and here it is!\" she said as she planted a kiss on his cheek, then giggling.\n\nPikachu simply nodded, happy about what she had said. They laid together on the main dormitory bed, and Raichu switched up the big TV it had, as she switched the lights off, creating a quite relaxing ambience.\n\nNow the TV was playing Pokemon battles, even though they weren?t really paying attention to them. After some time, Raichu looked at her mate's eyes as she moved closer to him, to give him a friendly kiss.\n\nHe hugged her tight \"That felt really nice Raichu!\" he said with a happy voice. \"So do you\" she said back, then she laid down beside him. They started kissing again, but this time, it was a different kind of kissing. This one was slower, more sensual, almost making them both want to stay there forever.\n\nAfter some minutes after they kissed, Pikachu asked \"Raichu, I want to know something about you...\" Pikachu said. Raichu then smiled at him and said \"Go on\" she asked.\n\n\"Well...\" he started \"Raichu... I am really confused about something\" he said, as Raichu looked at him \"How did you get the money to buy the house?\" he asked.\n\nRaichu smiled and rubbed Pikachu's shoulder. \"Well, It's something a bit... let's say special\" she said as she kissed him, pressing her body close to him. \"Before continuing, I need you to swear me that you won?t, I repeat, you WON?T be afraid to talk to me, and tell me what you need to...\" she said, then he nodded \"Of course! We are partners for life, you know that!\" he said.\n\n\"Good! Now continue\" he said, making Raichu sigh a bit as she felt insecure about telling her secret to him. In fact, he was going to be the first to know about it outside her professional, isolated circle. \"I bought the house with my money... I bet you never knew that I actually had so much money, didn?t you?\" she asked, as Pikachu nodded.\n\nRaichu sighed \"Well, it may be a bit overwhelming for you to know this. I suppose you don?t know too much about battling, as you have been really afraid of battling for a long time since then. Do you remember Jake telling you something about the different championships out there?\" she asked.\n\nPikachu nodded \"Yeah, we were very interested in these topics back in the day, and Jake knew a lot about them. He told me that his desire was to be able to take part in some tournaments and be able to live from it\" he said.\n\nRaichu sighed as she though again in Jake's sad fate before continuing. \"Okay, let's continue, as you may remember, only the best contestants made it to the regional stage, then national stage, and luckily, they might get to fight their way to the World Championship.\" Pikachu nodded,as he remembered clearly that this year, this city had the great privilege of holding that contest. Pikachu looked at her. \"Literal millions of contestants from all over the world dread to enter this contest! How I'm not going to be aware of it's existance!\" he said in a shocked tone\n\nRaichu smiled and continued \"You see, the contest was an annual event, and it was broadcasted on TV all around the world\" she said as she looked at Pikachu with a hint of confidence in her eyes. She then thought that the best way to tell him would be to let him see the recorded battles in PokeTube to get him into situation. So she nodded and pointed her paw to the TV \"Look at this\" she said, as the video loaded.\n\nPikachu didn?t knew what was really going on in that video. But as he saw the first battle that had place that day, he started to freeze in fear, as he could barely stand to look at it. Raichu, noticing Pikachu's insecurity, hugged him from behind, and held him in her comfy embrace. She knew deep down that he didn?t want to watch the video, buy, again, telling him directly that she was the world champion would probably make him see things even worse. But, being the important figure in her life that he was, she wanted him to know about this no matter what.\n\nPikachu felt more relaxed by her intervention, making him feel secure. He knew that the attacks couldn?t hit him through the TV screen, but when she was hugging him, he knew that whatever would happen, he would be protected. As he relaxed, he was able to continue watching the video.\n\nRaichu held him tightly for the several hours of the video, all the way till the very end, when the final battle between Armando and her started.\n\nHe thought it was a fun coincidence that an independent Raichu made its way to the finals, but he didn?t suspect anything further. As the battle unfolded, Pikachu was first impressed by the legendaries? approval to take part in competition. But as Articuno fell, he immediately wondered how that Raichu managed to win that single battle! A regular Pokemon competing at such an high level was something unseen before!\n\nAs the battle progressed, he felt more and more amazement at the sheer power of the Raichu's attacks as they tore its legendary foes apart.\n\nWhen the last battle ended, he was confidently sure his whole body had turned completely white, as he somewhat felt the power of that blast flow through his body. It had been sure a hell of an attack to finish a hell of a battle.\n\nThat Raichu had beaten Armando, and in doing so, become the first independent fighter to win the title. Then the video finished and Raichu switched on the lamp on her mattress. \"What do you think about what you have just seen? Did you like it?\" she asked Pikachu with a sweet smile.\n\nPikachu only smiled, and answered in a soft voice \"It was amazing! I didn?t know that a Pokemon could fight at that level!\" he said, as he now understood that this was no ordinary Pokemon battle. Raichu thought about telling him just like that now, but she preferred to do something else, so Pikachu didn?t think it was a joke. Pikachu saw the trophy that she was given in the last seconds of the video, making it the perfect proof! She decided to tell him her secret that way.\n\n\"Okay! Now that you have seen the whole thing, I want you to close your eyes! Let me cover them with this\" she said as she wrapped a piece of cloth around his head, making sure it was loose enough to avoid making him uncomfortable.\n\nPikachu complied and closed his eyes. As he did so, Raichu quickly ran to the wardrobe where she kept the trophy. She knew that Pikachu would be very excited to see it in person, as he had been also a fighter in the past.\n\nShe returned a moment later and told him that he needed to grab something. Then, she carefully guided his paws to grab the trophy. Once he had a firm grip on it, she gave him a warm hug, and slowly took the cloth off of his head. He wasn?t sure what would happen as she was unfastening it, but he wasn?t expecting what happened next.\n\nAs she took the cloth away, Pikachu took a second to process what was the object that Raichu had brought him, until he could read something written thanks to the faint light of the lamp. \"Ginger Sparks, 2045 World Championship Winner\".\n\nAt that very same moment, Pikachu's jaw hit the ground. He was speechless. Pikachu had never expected that he would never meet anyone in his life who had ever made it to the regional finals, let alone the World Champion itself! He was just stuck in the very same pose for a while. \"WOW!!! Ginger Sparks, World Champion? Are you really... really... Ginger Sparks?!\" he said with a few tears in his eyes.\n\n\"Yeah I'm really Ginger Sparks, even though I don?t like that name, as it is just an strange name created for marketing...\" she said, as she felt upset that assessors went as far as manipulating a Pokemon's name to make a Pokemon seem more famous. \"I think it is kinda weird for you to discover that I am the World Champion, but I'm sure you will get used to it! Moreover, I hate to mix my personal life with battling, so, I'm more than happy to keep this secret between us, as it might be a bit embarrassing for you as well!\" she said with a playful tone in her voice, as she let go of Pikachu, and winked at him. Pikachu was still frozen in place in the exact position Raichu had left him, as his mind had exploded the moment he realized his mate's identity. \"Pikachu\" Raichu said as she caressed him with her paw, feeling his body temperature slowly rising. Pikachu started breathing heavily, and tried to digest it.\n\nAs she feared that Pikachu would enter in a breakout again, she started to panic. \"No, no! Please! I don?t want to make you feel bad!\" Raichu said, trying to relax Pikachu a bit again, but Pikachu stared at her and quickly jumped up, hugging her tightly, and said \"You are the most amazing Pokemon I have ever met! I always wanted to meet someone like you someday! I can?t believe this! This is too much!\" he said as he hugged her even harder.\n\nRaichu sighed, this time feeling a bit of relief, and felt as if she had at least helped, if not achieved her goal of making Pikachu comfortable with the news. She returned the hug, which made Pikachu even more excited.\n\n\"So, that's what was behind you all this time, isn?t it?\" he asked, making Raichu nod once again. If someone had told him who this Raichu really was the first time he saw her, he didn?t know what in the world could've happened to him.\n\nShe licked his face once again, causing him to purr on delight. Minutes later, when they were just lying on the bed, he noticed the trophy on his bedside table! He felt very bad for it, and quickly jumped off the bed, and took it from the table. He examined it for a moment before placing it in a random place of the room. \"That trophy is yours. I don?t deserve to have it near me. I... I don?t even think I deserve to have a single thing in the entire world.\" he said, rubbing a bit his eyes as he returned to the bed, and laid down next to Raichu.\n\n\"Pikachu!\" she said in a firm tone. But Pikachu didn?t even hear her. He was still thinking about his life. \"I don?t deserve that. I don?t deserve to be with you, I don?t...\"\n\nShe quickly stopped him and held him close to her, looking him deeply in the eyes. \"Pikachu, you deserve the world, so stop saying that! You have my congratulations! You are the most generous, caring, and loving Pokemon I've ever seen! You've made me so happy that I never want to be without you, so why would you think you aren?t a worthy partner?\" she said, trying to convince him once again.\n\n\"But... Raichu...\" he started. \"I... I just...\"\n\nRaichu started to passionately kiss him, as she pressed him slightly against her stomach. She loved it when they hugged like that, when they kissed, when they made love... With every thing they did, they would drift away from reality, and there was nothing else they could possibly think of, other than how much they loved each other. After kissing, they kept hugging each other, as they started to drift off to sleep. However, as soon as they prepared themselves to sleep, both Pokemon could feel a faint bump on her stomach. Pikachu opened his eyes as wide as possible, as he could feel a baby Pichu inside her.\n\nHe was so excited as he could finally sense the life he and Raichu had made together. He kissed her again as Raichu reassured him that she also could feel it. Due to the numerous kisses and hugs they had shared, Pikachu started to feel the effects of their love. They stared at each other lovingly, as Raichu laid on her back, spreading herself to him. As Raichu nodded to him one last time, they started to make love. Once they were both finished, they kissed one last time before they both fell asleep.\n\nCHAPTER 31\n\nAfter a few weeks after that day, the couple's life seemed to be the same. They were still in love, thinking about raising they family together, and loving each other. Each day, they spent time together, doing all the romantic things they thought about doing when they first started their relationship.\n\nRaichu also started to grow a more visible belly. It was time for the pair to start thinking about parenthood in an each time closer future. Raichu and Pikachu always knew that this wasn?t something to be taken lightly. So they tried to prepare for this new chapter of their lives and taking care of the Pichu the best they could.\n\nRaichu didn?t need a lot of thinking before deciding to take a maternity leave from battling, because she had a growing Pichu litter that needed her. Today, she would go to talk to the managers to see about taking her leave. However, she would have a hard time getting around in her current state, so it was up to Pikachu to help her out when she needed him, so he didn?t let her go by herself.\n\nAfter she got up, Pikachu took her paw and walked her to the bathroom to start getting ready. They stayed in the bathroom for a little while, but after a long time of grooming, Pikachu thought she was ready to go out and face the world. He wrapped his arm around her, and then they stepped out of the bathroom. Pikachu would have her try to walk around a bit, and then he would make sure she was steady enough to get up and around before going together to see the manager.\n\nRaichu felt a bit nervous as they steeped into the lobby, because she feared that she couldn?t walk around and do things as good as she used to do but she knew that she couldn?t let her partner see her like this, so she kept up the act as best she could, and Pikachu couldn?t help but to notice. He was used to seeing his partner with a little extra weight, but since Raichu's due date was only a couple weeks away, it was obvious that she was getting a little bit bigger every day.\n\nHe had to stop her sometimes from falling over, but as he would be there to help her get back up and continue with whatever she was doing, Raichu soon wanted to go to talk to the manager as soon as possible to ask about taking time off for when her babies would be born. Pikachu, witnessing her insistence, helped her walk a little more before stopping to wait for her to catch her breath.\n\nThey started to slowly make their way to the office, and Raichu was starting to get a little worried. She wasn?t sure if she would be able to do it. The babies were definitely growing to a point where she had to try as hard as she could to do any common task.\n\nAfter a few minutes of walking and struggling, they came to the entrance of the building they were heading to, and Pikachu went ahead to open the door for her. As she stepped in, the receptionist turned around from his desk, and smiled at the couple. \"Hello there. Do you need some assistance?\" he asked, and then, seeing Raichu's struggle, he motioned for her to sit down and rest a bit.\n\n\"I would like to talk to Mr. Wright, if you don?t mind,\" she asked, hoping that the young man wouldn?t be intimidated by her. She was a regular Raichu without any remarkable characteristics, so it was impossible to distinguish her from any other regular kantonian Raichu.\n\nThe boy's eyes widened as he looked at Raichu. \"Oh... I will tell him right now...\" he said as his skin turned pale. Mr. Wright was one of the most important people behind the establishment of the Pokemon Battling Center. He was a very important person who was always busy doing business all over the world, even though he was still in the city, packing everything up after the World Championship. It had over about two months since then, but he didn?t really knew his schedule too well yet.\n\n\"Thank you very much,\" Raichu said to the receptionist smiling in amusement. He talked to his boss through the line telling him that a Raichu wanted to talk to him. Pikachu could tell from her expression that she thought that their situation wouldn?t be too easy to explain to the man, but she hoped that he would understand it.\n\n\"Yes, of course, Miss Ginger\" the receptionist said as he put his hand on the phone. He then looked back at Raichu and said, \"He's now in the last floor, waiting for you. He was very happy to hear that you are there.\"\n\nRaichu quickly nodded, trying to smile to seem like she was brave, but in reality, she was beginning to get nervous as she stepped up into the elevator, but Pikachu reassured her by kissing her on her paw. Raichu smiled a little at his movement and hugged him, returning his affection.\n\nAs the elevator ascended to the highest floor, they soon faced a long corridor with a single golden door at the end. The door was open, and the man the boy talked about was inside, sitting on a large swivel chair in the middle of the room, as if he was reading a book.\n\nAs Raichu stepped into the room, the man stopped doing whatever he was doing and stood up to greet the couple. \"Please, come in,\" he said, motioning for them to take a seat in front of him. \"It's my pleasure to meet you, Ginger. Let me know how are you doing.\" He smiled as he let Raichu talk.\n\n\"I know that this might be a surprise for you, Mr. Wright,\" Raichu started, looking at him. \"But I just had to talk to you. My life has changed a lot in the past few months, and I really need you to know. I have married to Pikachu, and we are expecting our first litter soon. I know it's not what you wanted, but I really hope that you will understand and give me a maternity leave so that I can take care of my family.\"\n\nMr. Wright was stunned for a few seconds, but he couldn?t say anything in response to that. He just smiled in an strange manner. \"I see, I see...\" he said slowly, as if trying to process everything. \"But... I'm not going to give you any maternity leave, Ms. Ginger,\" he said coldly. \"I'm not giving you a single week to prepare the birth of your litter. I wish I could help you with that, but I am in a rush for business, and that's what really matters! Now, if you don?t have anything more important to tell me, you can go. I must get back to work now.\" He motioned them harshly to go away.\n\nRaichu looked at Mr. Wright for a few seconds, worried that he was getting too frustrated with her. She gave him a gentle smile and insisted \"Please don?t get upset by the situation, Mr. Wright. I know that you wanted to have me going to work everyday, but this is what we got and I'll do my best to be the best mother I can be. And I really can?t stress myself too much, as it may be dangerous for my pregnancy and my children\".\n\nMr. Wright smiled once again, giving the couple hopes of an apology, but he didn?t say a word. He just looked at them with a sarcastic smile in his face. \"Do you know what happens with your babies? I don?t think that you have though about it, Ms. Ginger. There's no point in getting pregnant! There's no point in having such deplorable beings inside you! All you're doing is bringing the lowest in life. But it's logical that you have gotten pregnant! You are a wild Poknemon at all, and a good fuck proposal from that yucky Pikachu was enough to make you lose your mind, as any wild, crazy Pokemon would! Congratulations!! Now that Pikachu banged you and got you pregnant, you get a litter, and what do I win with that?! Nothing! And everything thanks to you, useless yellow rat!!\" he said as he pointed angrily at Pikachu. \"I bet you are so weak that anybody could kill you if you receive the beating you deserve!!\"\n\nPikachu was really hurt by his comments, and started to shed some tears as he processed his words. Raichu started to feel a sheer anger inside her as she stared at Mr. Wright with a really upset face. She was used to receive hurtful comments. Being an independent fighter was already something that not many people accepted. In top of that, being a female only added to that, but she sadly was used to that too. Being a celebrity sure had its ups and downs, but she accepted it, and did her best to shrug it off. However, Pikachu was almost crying as he had been hurt right where it hurt the most, so she could tell that it had really hit him hard. And if Raichu couldn?t stand something, it was to see someone hurting her Pikachu!\n\nRaichu shook her head violently, as she fixed her gaze on him. \"What the fuck happens with you?! Don?t you have any compassion? You can?t see how horrible your words are? What the hell is that about! I won?t under ANY circumstance allow you or anyone else to hurt my Pikachu!!!\" she yelled as she started to growl, her body shaking. She could feel something inside her start to change. It was a sense of protectiveness. It was her first time feeling that emotion. It was, not only the thing that told her she was becoming a mother, but also the feeling she had felt when she saw one of her loved ones getting hurt.\n\nMr. Wright smiled again \"See, Ms. Ginger? I knew you were a brainless rat too after all!!!\" he said with a satisfied smile. \"You have chosen soooo well that I'm even allowing you to give him the beating yourself. Let's see if you can still give him what he deserves even though you're fatter than a fucking Miltank!\" he taunted her.\n\nRaichu stared at the man with confusion. This was new for her. She had met lamentable humans, that's right. But she could tell that this man was a monster. He was a man of pure evil, a pure psychopath. \"DAMMIT!!!\" she screamed \"HAVE YOU EVER LOVED ANYTHING IN YOUR FUCKING LIFE APART FROM MONEY?!?!\" she yelled in pure desperation.\n\nMr. Wright laughed \"Oh, I think that you've lost your mind, Ms. Ginger. Let's try to settle this down, so I can go back to worshiping my wallet. Don?t care about that stupid babies which aren?t even born and focus again in the only thing you know how to do.\"\n\nRaichu was shaking in rage as she exploded \"WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?? WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT YOU WANT TO BE?! I DON?T WANT ANY FUCKING BILLS FROM YOUR DIRTY HANDS, WHICH IS THE REVENUE OF THIS WHOLE SHITTY TV SHOW OF YOURS! YOU ARE A FUCKING MONSTER WHO ONLY THINKS IN MONEY!!! DO YOU KNOW WHAT?!?!?!\"\n\nMr. Wright slowly closed his eyes, and laughed. \"Oh, it seems that even you are a little more stubborn than you were before, the logic sense has returned to you\" he said.\n\nRaichu looked at him with a rage-filled look before finishing \"I'm RETIRING RIGHT NOW!!!! !!! I'm LEAVING YOU RIGHT NOW!!!! GOODBYE, FUCKING ASSHOLE!!!!\" she yelled, as she banged the table in front of her, causing it to break apart.\n\nShe then took Pikachu by his paw and walked out the place, carrying Pikachu behind. Mr. Wright just sat there in shock as he realized that now that \"Ginger Sparklight\", the super-strong Raichu character had quit, he had no one to make advantage of. Only after knowing that he would probably be ruined forever, he started to regret his words.\n\nRaichu walked to their home muttering in anger, as Pikachu started sobbing quietly, without articulating any words for the whole way back. Something deep inside him had been ripped out by this man. He didn?t want to look forward anymore, as he let those enraged words seep down his very core. It was the first time that he felt that way since long, long ago, and it was the first time he cried because someone laughed at his physical condition since Jake left him.\n\nBy the time she got home, she had decided that she would no longer be addressed \"Ginger Sparklight\" ever again. For her, idealizing strong fighters while ridiculizing weaker battlers was just wrong. Nobody should judge anyone without seeing their own flaws. Moreover, respect for others? wellbeing was as important as respect for one's own. Thus, she never thought of anyone as strong or weak. Everybody was equal. Just like her and Pikachu were equal. She still loved Pikachu fiercely, despite the fact that he was not even able to use his powers anymore. Now, her first priority was to calm down Pikachu and apologize to him for what happened before. As soon as she got home, she placed Pikachu on the bed and started hugging him as he sobbed, saying that he was so sorry, that he never deserved her and that he was the dumbest Pokemon in the world. Raichu couldn?t help to cry a bit as she saw her mate wailing like a little child. She then comforted him with a smile, and thanked him for giving her all that she loved. \"We're gonna be alright, Pikachu. You and me, Okay?\" she tried to comfort him. \"I'm sorry that you had to hear that monster...\". But Pikachu just kept his eyes shut as he kept crying. As Raichu was completely drenched of energy, she started to fall asleep, as she kept Pikachu in her paws.\n\nCHAPTER 32\n\nPikachu cried the whole night, remembering again and again what happened. He even could not take a single breath without thinking of what that man had said to him. He had always been the \"weakest\" of all the other Pokemon in the orphanage, but at this point, he felt so hopeless abut his physical condition that he did not even know what to do anymore. It was the most pain he had ever felt in his life.\n\nHe knew that Raichu would cheer him up again, telling him that it was clear that he was not useless, and then would hug him like she used to and tell him that they would be okay. But his severe health problems wouldn?t dissapear just because of a few words. He knew deep down that he couldn?t just work hard and take all that pain away. He wanted to be able to keep using his powers. He wanted to be healthy. He didn?t want to be that way anymore. As he lifted his head to see what time it was, he noticed that it was 4:30 AM. He sighed as he looked at Raichu sleeping soundly on the bed. He felt lonely. He never knew that somebody could feel the way he felt. He had never told anybody apart from her about that, because he didn?t want anybody to know. Not even Espeon or Eevee, who were very close to him. He cried more as he looked at her sleeping peacefully. He thought about how they could be so close, but so far at the same time.\n\nPikachu came to the conclusion that the problems caused by the important sequels he carried would make it impossible for him to live, much less lead a happy life. In the end, there was only one way to go from here. He thought that him being disabled had just one solution. He kissed Raichu lightly on the cheek as he stood up, then walked over to the door, and exited the house. He then walked around the city until he got lost somehow, after a while, he found an unfinished building that seemed to have no people inside, and since he was so lonely, he decided to go inside the building and cry until his tears ran dry. He was kinda tired of his life, and wondered why things hadn?t turned out better. He hadn?t wished to win any tournament or be famous. All he wanted was to stay with Jake, so that was why he had joined him. He only wanted to be a normal Pikachu like those who were loved by their trainers for the rest of their lives, having fun battling and travelling. He wanted to forget all the painful memories he had of the past, forgetting how weak he was and how sad he was. But now...there was too much sadness in his heart. Pikachu started to cry tears of pain, mourning of how to go on from here, knowing that there is only one choice left for him... To give up and die. He wouldn?t live his life without that option open to him. Maybe if he went through with his plan, he could pass away without feeling that horrible sadness.\n\nRaichu, who was still in their bed, woke up as she thought of him in her dreams, in order to calm him and tell that she loved him. However, she was surprised to witness that Pikachu wasn?t in bed. She flew off the bed and ran into the hallway. She started to search for Pikachu, knowing that something bad must have happened. As she didn?t found him inside their home, she started to worry.\n\nBut even though she was frightened, she didn?t feel like crying. If anything, the events of the earlier afternoon made her love for Pikachu grow more if possible. Although she thought that trying to find where he had gone might be pointless, the urge to check on him was so strong that she couldn?t stop herself from going outside, despite the fact that she was in the late stages of her pregnacy.\n\nShe made a big detour around the city in order to try to enter some area where maybe he could have gone. Eventually, she landed near the berries park. Looking around the place, she didn?t find any trace of him. This worried her even more, hoping the worst case scenario was possible. She continued searching around the city, although she felt the coldness of the night and the stress of the situation forcing themselves deep into her soul. She searched around in many places where they had been together before, but in vain. Maybe he was lying unconscious somewhere, or... no. She wouldn?t think like that. He was probably somewhere, maybe without food or water or shelter, but probably alive, although it was true that she couldn?t help to doubt.\n\nShe kept moving forward, looking around everywhere. As it was getting dark, she had to go back home. She tried to think if perhaps he hadn?t walked too far from the house. After two more devastating hours of searching, Raichu was starting to lose hope when she divised a large construction area she hadn?t seen before. Curious about what this location may hide, she entered the place as she kept calling for Pikachu.\n\nAt the top of the structure, Pikachu was standing at the edge, ready to jump into the depths below. His expression wasn?t tense or determined, rather, he just smiled softly as he gazed upwards to the sky. It was six in the morning and it was cold, but still it was nice seeing the sky through which the moonlight shined one last time. Then suddenly, he stopped in his tracks as he could have sworn he heard Raichu's voice somewhere nearby, but he dismissed the idea quickly, since she should be still asleep, and she couldn?t probably walk far away in her state. But now that he had some doubts in his mind, he needed to find out if it really was her voice coming from afar. \"Raichu?\" He asked while he was climbing down, wanting to get into contact with her if she was there. A long moment later, he seemed to hear it clearly in front of him.\n\nAs Raichu detected it was Pikachu, she rushed towards the voice as fast as her body allowed her to, finding out that he wasn?t hurt. She hugged him excitedly, as Pikachu's tear-stained face wettened her belly. You are safe!! She cried in joy as she hugged him tightly. He rubbed against her belly, pushing his soft nose against her skin gently as she ruffled his fur with both paws. She finally relaxed a bit as he saw Pikachu safe and sound. \"I'm glad that you are fine.\" She said as she kept hugging him, making sure to keep herself stable as well, and wanting to reassure him that everything was alright.\n\nIt took them some time to separate, and after the heartfelt hug, she managed to sit down next to him and started to ask him why did he ran away. \"I don?t wanna talk about it...\" Pikachu sobbed. Of course, he refused to speak, because it brought back some memories that hurt him deeply. They spent ten minutes sitting silent on each other's side. The only thing that could be heard was the cold breeze as it blew towards them. The cold didn?t bother her since, in her opinion, it was worth it to save him. After this silent period, they started walking again and after half a hour of walking, they arrived home. Raichu gave a sigh of relief as she felt her feet tired enough to collapse. They both fell down on the bed, as Raichu started to talk to Pikachu again.\n\n\"Pikachu, why did you leave?\" She asked as she hugged his little body closer to her. Pikachu still crying, told her that Mr. Wright's words affected him a lot. And eventually, the whole situation itself made him insane. She understood completely his reaction, but at the same time, she was a bit upset with him for behaving the way he did. However, she didn?t tell him that. He has suffered quite enough. So with a gentle smile, she asked him what he pretended to do. Pikachu stared at her as he started to shyly tell her that he wanted to take a walk around some places, but Raichu wasn?t convinced by his argument. After much convincing from Raichu, he calmed down, saying that he wasn?t sure why did he do that. His weakness started to reestablish itself inside him.\n\n\"I've thought of nothing else since yesterday, I was scared...\" He confessed as he moved away from her, still staring at her with panic showing on his eyes. \"I don?t want to become a fucking pet to play with!\" He added as he wiped the tears away from his cheeks. Raichu started to rethink again everything that evil man said, and determined that the first step was helping him recover emotionally first. She would try to replenish again his emotional needs telling him that he was far from useless as he was a great Pokemon and a perfect soon-to-be father. She gave another seductive glance to support him as he made small moves towards her. As he got near her, Raichu gently pressed him to her inflated tummy and held him close to her. He closed his eyes as she brushed her long, lightning tail through his fur tenderly. As Pikachu listened her heartbeat slowly calmed him down. He started to sniffle as she hugged him again, welcoming him back. \"I'll never let anyone say such bullshit to you again! I promise!!\" She said as he wrapped her paws around him, telling her that he was her faithful partner forever, no matter how cruel the world can be. Her warm voice comforted him greatly, not just physically, but also mentally. But what healed Pikachu the most was the moment when, after they were done talking, one of the unborn cubs moved in her abdomen, making Pikachu felt another gentle bump right on his heart. He was in love with his beautiful couple that was carrying his children inside her. He forgot all his feelings, all worries, as he realized his new purpose in life: taking care of the cubs, feeding them when they're hungry, watching them when they're sleepy, taking baths whenever necessary, dealing with their messes and keeping their blankets clean.\n\nAs the new familiar thoughts started to flow in his mind, he started to fall asleep, and soon, Raichu fell asleep as well. That was until they were woken up by the alarm clock not so long after. The older female nuzzled against him affectionately and thanked him his will to quit on the idea of killing kimself. She wasn?t idiot, and knew he was so hurt deep inside that he seriously though about jumping the night before, but his love for his future family was definitely stronger. She decided to not tell him anything about it, as it was a very complicated topic. Moreover, he deserved happiness once in a while. They kissed and she held him tight against her, giving a small, grateful purr as she scratched his back lovingly with her tail.\n\nSoon they got ready to start the new day. Today, it was a very special day for them, as Raichu would undergo her last medical checkup before delivery. Actually, once he recovered from their early morning nap, he insisted to accompany her to go to the hospital (as he wanted to go with her obviously). That moment, just before they stepped out of the house, he grabbed her around the waist. He whispered into her ear how he loved her as he planted another kiss on her snout as she giggled happily. Soon after, they took a taxi, and were soon at the hospital. After some test were run on her, the nurse informed them that her due date was just about two weeks from now. Thus she had nothing to worry about. Now they just had to wait for the birth of their litter. Both Pokemon felt the same excitement in their hearts, filling them full of happiness. After leaving the doctor, they returned home, making sure to prepare everything for Raichu's upcoming delivery. After dinner, he began talking to her about what they should name the baby Pichu, as well as how wonderful the trip to parenthood was being, despite the truth that it did not bring him much pleasure, as there was very harsh moments for him to remember, even though his life was much more bearable with Raichu by his side. While relaxing on their couch together, they started talking about raising kids. They both concluded that helping their children grow emotionally was a must due to their caring personality. Needless to say, she also expressed her desire to spend more time helping around with their cubs as she was now retired from battling. As the time passed, the little chats between them came to an end, and thus they went straight to sleep, thoroughly exhausted from the day's events.\n\nCHAPTER 33\n\nThe next two weeks passed, and Raichu and Pikachu were about to meet their first litter. The female was more than excited about the whole thing. She even started to spend the last days lying on the bed, as her Pikachu partner would always care for her and keep her happy. There was only one thing left to worry about, the birth. The parents kept their hands busy with preparing everything they needed. The female even prepared everything she would need to give birth at home, as she wanted it to be more comfortable for her. But, despite the situation, the couple didn?t forgot to take good care of each other. Even though her belly was now very inflated, she would always be happy when he hugged her as they fell asleep. And, if by any reason they had trouble getting asleep, they would have a quick lovemaking session before going back to sleep.\n\nOne day, Pikachu decided to go shopping to buy more food for Raichu to be able to nurse their babies, as he knew the cubs would need a lot of nourishment. As usual, Raichu was disappointed that she had to stay at home, but she still tried to enjoy the days by herself. However, today, she felt something strange in her stomach.She smiled as she could tell what was going on in her belly. She turned her head and saw the crib her mate had bought. And, as he still wasn?t back yet, she decided to try and relax herself as she felt the baby Pichu strongly kicking her stomach.\n\n\"Come on, baby, don?t make your mother angry...\" she murmured to herself as she fell asleep in her bed shortly after. About an hour later, Pikachu arrived home. \"That was a long walk. I hope everything went well\", Pikachu murmured as he entered the door.\n\n\"Everything is going fine\", the female replied as he was surprised that Raichu heard him, \"Do you want to come and watch a movie?\" said Raichu as she gave Pikachu a warm smile.\n\n\"That would be great\", he said, and he joined Raichu in the bed. The two began to watch the movie that she had just switched to, and it didn?t take them long to get sucked into it. The movie talked about a Pokemon couple who had a strong desire to have a cub. They had to work hard to get the necessary things, but after one love-filled night they managed to get pregnant. The movie ended with the birth of the child.\n\n\"Oh my gosh\", said the female as she looked at Pikachu, \"We're going to start our own family very soon!\" she said as Pikachu placed his paws on her belly, \"You'll make a good mother. Look how much you already love our cubs!\" he said as he was content. \"Pikachu, do you hear our cubs? Can you feel them?\" she asked her mate.\n\n\"Yes, I can\", said Pikachu as he rubbed his face against Raichu's stomach and kissed it. \"I can even feel them kicking. It's hard to believe that, in just a few days, our babies will be born\".\n\n\"I know\", said the female, \"I can?t wait to see their faces. They're going to be so adorable and...\"\n\n\"Raichu, let's hug each other and enjoy the silence. Soon, our babies will be born and we'll have to start taking care of them. So, for now, let's enjoy this moment\" Pikachu replied, and he wrapped his arms around Raichu.\n\n\"Thank you, Pikachu. You're such a good and responsible mate\" she said, \"I love you with all my heart.\"\n\nA couple of hours passed and the two began to have a discussion about the cubs and how they were going to name them.\n\n\"Pikachu, I've been thinking about it for a while now. I think it's a good idea if we call a female Joulie and a male Zappy. Do you agree?\", asked the female.\n\n\"I do\", said Pikachu as he thought about it. \"I also like Spark, Shocky and Jolty.\"\n\n\"Well, that's settled then\", said the female as she hugged her mate. \"I love you, Pikachu\".\n\nAs they continued to enjoy the private moment, they kissed once again and fell asleep. As usual, the two didn?t make a big deal about the things to come and agreed that they would just let the time do what it would. After the two had finished their talk and their kiss, they noticed the sun was already setting down. They were a bit startled that they had spent an entire day only staring at each other, but the two were greatly satisfied with what they had done. They both had butterflies in their stomach as they began to think about the good things ahead. As Pikachu brought the sweetest berries he carefully treasured to the bed, the two had dinner and as they both had dinner, Raichu stared at Pikachu with a very sweet look in her eyes. \"Alright, honey\", she said to him as she kissed Pikachu's cheek. \"Time to go to sleep\".\n\n\"Yes, my darling\", said Pikachu as he prepared to get into the bed. Raichu then turned off the TV and took Pikachu's arm as the two got under the sheets. Raichu kissed Pikachu once more as they lay together in each other's arms. After about two hours of lying together, they fell asleep together as they cuddled. As Raichu was about to close her eyes, she though to have seen a shooting star. She then wondered about it, but she was too tired to think anymore.\n\n--------------\n\nPikachu was only seeing blackness in his eyes. As he couldn?t discern anything of interest, his mind soon was returning to sleep. Then, he felt again something pushing him harshly and he began to feel a strange wet sensation, as if the bed was soaking wet. When he started opening his eyes, he was suddenly awake when his small frame was shaken from side to side. As he started to regain awareness, he noticed that Raichu was shaking him awake and all the sheets were soaked.\n\n\"Pikachu! Pikachu get up! Now!\" Raichu was screaming at him. \"You have to wake up NOW!!\" Pikachu quickly sprang alive as he realized what was happening and a feeling of urgency overcame him. The moment of meeting their babies had finally come.\n\nPikachu jumped out of the bed and he looked at her breathing heavily. \"Pikachu, hurry up, our babies are arriving right now!!\" It was then that Raichu felt another sharp pain, this time in her abdomen, which brought an even higher urgency to her voice. Pikachu's eyes opened wide as her body stiffened and became completely limp as it started to leak some fluid from her vagina as she was being held down by the pain, \"Pikachu...\" Ra ichu cried as she began to feel her uterus contracting and with each contraction a bit of blood came out of her and onto the sheets. The babies inside her also started to move again as soon as her uterus started to contract.\n\nPikachu, was getting a little anxious, but he held back the urge to scream as he held Raichu's paw tightly to help her deliver the litter. He helped Raichu to lie down belly up on the bed, with her feet wide apart and her long tail resting in front of her.\n\nRaichu was crying as her body was starting to tighten up again. She tried her best to relax as her body did its job. A few seconds later, another contraction came as her body began to stiffen even more. She had to fight the pain as her babies were nearing birth.\n\nPikachu ran to her side and held strongly her paw. She was pushing as hard as she could, her body paralyzed by the strong, piercing pain, as she was trying to get the first baby out, \"Pikachu....I. ..\" She started to shake as her body started to tremble and her paws started to shudder as she was crying more and more, as she had been struggling to push out in severe pain for already a while, \"Pikachu...\" Raichu's eyes opened a little, as she felt Pikachu's body close around hers. \"Pikachu. ..\" Raichu started to cry out in a shocked gasp, as she felt the babies inside of her start to move forward. As soon as Pikachu felt her belly start to tense and relax, he knew that there were minutes left.\n\n\"Pikachu!\" Raichu yelled. Pikachu gently licked her cheeks as he sensed her struggle to breathe. Pikachu stood closer to her side and held her paw tightly as her body kept on shaking with each contraction. \"Come on Raichu! Keep pushing!\" Pikachu said in a caring voice as he helped Raichu push as hard as she could.\n\nRaichu was crying hard now as her body continued to shake and convulse. She couldn?t do anything as she kept on delivering the litter. She was trying to push, while her uterus was contracting, trying to to push the cubs out. The contraction was unbearable, but she had to keep pushing. All of her efforts were about to bear fruit.\n\n\"Raichu... I'm sure you can manage it, don?t worry.... I'll do anything to help you up\" He began to gently massage her inflated belly with his paws, causing Raichu to shake like a leaf as she continued to push the group of small Pichu out of her. \"It's coming out!!!\" she cried out, as she felt the first Pichu begin to slowly travel down her vagina. As Pikachu heard her, he quickly turned to look closely at his mate's vagina and told her that the first cub was about to be born, \"Raichu... go on, push...I can see the little ears of the first cub!!\" Pikachu said, trying to give her some encouragement, as Raichu got a second wind in her, \"OK...Pikachu... I'll push as hard as I can, I'm almost there!!!\" Raichu yelled out.\n\nAs soon as she yelled that out, Pikachu saw his first Pichu slowly slide down Raichu's vagina. \"Raichu...! You are doing it great! The Pichu is in there! The ears are starting to come out!\" Pikachu said, as his mate cried at top of her lungs. After feeling a really big stretch in her body, Raichu felt the first of her newborns slide out of her. Raichu looked down at her crotch and saw that the first cub had just come out, in a clear stream of amniotic fluid.\n\nPikachu ran between Raichu's legs where the newborn Pichu was laying. He immediately grabbed it and began to lick the newborn Pichu clean and gently took it in his arms. When he heard the little squeaking of his newborn cub, he smiled as he thought to himself that it was the start of his new family.\n\nBut another ear-piercing cry of Raichu brought him back to Earth. She felt another wave of contractions coming on.\n\n\"AAAAHHH!!!\" Raichu cried out in pain as she began to push again.\n\n\"Come on! Keep going Raichu!!\" Pikachu yelled. As the contraction hit, he quickly placed the newborn Pichu in the crib as he shifted his position so he could help her push. Raichu pushed and she yelled as she pushed one more time, this time with all her might. Raichu screamed with an intense strain as she began to push the next Pichu out of her. \"Pikachu! I love you!!\" she cried out looking at him, as the next cub began to slide out of her. As Pikachu heard the sloppy sound of the second cub sliding out of his mate's vagina, he began to slowly stroke her belly, telling her that everything was going to be alright. With a last strong push, the second cub slid out into the world.\n\nPikachu picked the second newborn up as it struggled to get it's breath and holding it tightly, while he whispered \"Welcome to the world little Pichu\". He was surprised to hear a little squeak come out of his new little cub.\n\nRaichu shed a tear of joy as she saw Pikachu grab the newborn, knowing that it was the start of a new life. But, then, she felt the next contraction and began to push again. Pikachu licked her belly, telling her that it was going to be okay, as she pushed. And just as she pushed her hardest, her third Pichu was slipping out of her.\n\nPikachu looked down in amazement as he saw his third Pichu being born. \"Wow, what a cutie! I think it's a female!!\" he said with happiness as he stared at the newborn finally emerging out, feeling the immense joy of becoming a father. He looked over at Raichu to see her once more pushing. She looked tired, but continued to push. She knew that, unlike other species, Pikachu and Raichu were seasonal breeders. That meant that she would only get one litter of cubs in a year although Pikachu kept inseminating her all the year round, and, after impregnation, the gestation period was a very long three months period, so her body was built to carry many cubs at a time in her womb.\n\nPikachu started to stroke her belly, while whispering \"I love you, you're the best mate in the world!\" Pikachu cried out as he felt her belly slowly expel the fourth Pichu. Raichu could feel the pinches and hiccups of the newborn Pichu's birth, as she felt a wave of warm amniotic fluid throughout her body being expelled as well. The wave of warm fluid started to flow out at the same time as the fourth Pichu, so Pikachu, as soon as the cub came out, licked him clean and placed him in the crib with his siblings. He looked up at Raichu with happiness as she gave him a loving smile, before feeling his nearly empty womb contract once more.\n\n\"Pikachu! I think this one is the last! Come and get it!\" Raichu yelled as she tried to push out the last cub. As the next contraction hit, she felt the last cub leave her belly and slide down her birth canal. The head started to poke out as Pikachu watched it come out, knowing that it was the last of the litter. Once the rest of the body was out, Raichu looked over and saw that she had finally got it out. Pikachu made sure he heard it cry, and carefully placed it with its four siblings. He smiled happily as he took the other newborns one by one, and gently placed them in an adequate position to suckle, and as he finished, he kissed her mate as passionately as he could, sharing the exciting moment with her. Raichu broke down in tears of joy as she listened to her newborns? cries, and she knew that it was finally over. She looked down at the Pichu over her and smiled softly as she looked at her newborns? pink furless bodies, as they all started to suckle happily on her teats.\n\nFinally, all five were finally ready to start the adventure of life.\n\nThe couple both stared at each other, as they now finally shared the purest form of love.\n\nPikachu sighed. The day he had always dreamed off had finally come. He was now the proud father of a litter of five Pichu. They drifted off to sleep, a feeling of contentment filling their hearts.\n\nCHAPTER 34\n\n\"Wake up, sleepyhead!\" Raichu said as she pounced on Pikachu, waking him up from his peaceful slumber. Pikachu stared at her with a shocked expression, visibly tired from last night's events. He lifted his head and verified that it wasn?t a dream. Raichu just laughed at his reaction, as she plopped down in his lap.\n\n\"Pikachu\" she said in a light sing-song voice. \"You just made me the proudest Raichu on the planet\" as she smiled happily. Even though she didn?t intended Pikachu to take it very serously, the truth was that he started to think about something he just hadn?t think of before.\n\n\"Raichu, tell me. What was the happiest moment in your life? please, be sincere\" he said.\n\nRaichu blinked and thought for a few moments. She couldn?t think of any single moment happier than today. She wondered where did Pikachu want to go from here.\n\n\"Well, definitely, the happiest moment in my life was last night, without a doubt\" she said as she gently caressed one of the asleep newborns on top of her stomach. \"Why did you ask that?\"\n\nPikachu was really surprised to hear her answer. \"Well, since I knew you won the World Championship, I thought that day would be the best for you. I mean, literally hundreds of millions of independent fighters as well as trainers dread to win that contest. You're the Ultimate Champion, and the symbol of success in the world, so why won?t you say that day would be your best day?\"\n\nRaichu looked down at the group of newborns on top of her. One of the newborns on her belly had her eyes shut as she slept peacefully, while another was sucking on her teats. The situation made her smile peacefully as she caressed Pikachu with her tail. \"I still think that winning the World Championship was a remarkable feat, but, for me, there's no way I?d be happier than at this very same moment, nursing my newborn offspring, with my Pikachu mate by my side. I wouldn?t trade it for anything, Pikachu. I love you more than anything.\"\n\nPikachu was still shocked.\n\n\"Well, now what, Pikachu?\" Raichu said as she sat up and adjusted the sleeping baby on her belly. She thought about the Society, and how to approach Eevee, Espeon, Pidgeot and the others. \"We must return to the orphanage to tell the others what happened. we just disappeared without telling no one!\"\n\nPikachu sighed. She was right. He had been too busy preparing themselves for the cubs? arrival that he had not thought of that.\n\n\"All right, we will do it. How about we go today, after breakfast?\" Pikachu said.\n\nRaichu smiled as she nodded in agreement.\n\n\"Okay, let's get a move on! We have a long day ahead of us\" Raichu said as she stood up and started get the cubs inside the baby cart.\n\nThey carefully covered the babies with blankets, and soon started to walk towards the orphanage. Pikachu looked at Raichu as she admired her strength. It had been just a few hours since she gave birth, and was already able to walk anywhere as if nothing happened.\n\n\"Raichu, I am truly impressed\" Pikachu said in an admiring tone.\n\nRaichu smiled softly as she glanced at him. \"You have just given birth! Shouldn?t you stay at home?\"\n\n\"No, Pikachu. I am prepared for this, so I can do this. Wherever our little Pichu go, I will go too\" she said as she looked at Pikachu with a big loving smile.\n\nAt that moment, Pikachu told her what he was thinking. \"Raichu, I will never grow tired of telling you that you are the sweetest pokemon I've ever met\" he said.\n\n\"It's not me, it's you, Pikachu\" she said as she leaned over to give him a big kiss on the cheek.\n\nThe two hugged and began to smile as they continued their journey towards the orphanage. As Raichu was pushing the baby cart, it took a while longer than usual to reach the orphanage, but Raichu was so determined to get there, that nothing could stop her.\n\nIt was in the afternoon by the time they arrived at their destination. Nothing seemed to have changed since the last time they were here. The very same cubs were still running around, playing with each other as they eagerly prepared for having dinner. The same people were still working there, and Pikachu's group were still in the same rooms.\n\n\"Raichu, let's go talk to them!\" Said Pikachu.\n\n\"Sure\" Raichu replied as she began to slowly make her way to the main hall.\n\nAs the two entered the door, they were greeted by a woman who both remembered perfectly.\n\n\"Oh! Hey guys\" She said. Just as she looked at them, she noticed the baby cart that Raichu was pushing. \"You look like you just had a litter! Congratulations!\" She said with a smile.\n\n\"Thank you, Ms. Millers\" Raichu said with a smile as she was handed a bunch of rare candies. \"I'm sure you'll give them very good use!\"\n\n\"Oh, I will! They will certainly make them very happy in the future!\" She exclaimed. Then, Pikachu noticed some vintage pictures exposed in the main hall.\n\n\"What's that?\" asked Pikachu.\n\n\"Oh, those are some of the old pictures of this building when it was first built\" said the woman. \"You see, this place was first run by a group of scientists who decided to invest their efforts in trying to provide young Pokemon a loving home instead of researching in war with the military. They sure were very brave to do that, as those days were so different. And that's how the ?Pokemon Society? was founded\".\n\nPikachu was shocked by this revelation. He had never heard that this place was created to help out cubs who suffered wars long, long ago.\n\n\"Today, the only surviving member of that group is Carl Welby. He created himself the charge you two are currently holding now\". The woman continued.\n\n\"Yes, I have heard of him once\" Raichu replied.\n\n\"Well, he rarely comes around anymore due to his very advanced age, so you haven?t met him, but he has been visiting this place since its inauguration nearly ninety years ago\".\n\nPikachu and Raichu looked at each other, looking very surprised and in awe.\n\n\"Wait, how is that possible? How can someone be that old?\" said Raichu.\n\n\"Well, I don?t really know, but he always says that caring for others is the most important thing in life\" the woman said. \"So whatever he does to be true to his ideals works for him, that's for sure. About this exposition, we prepared it because the president of Kanto himself is going to be here in a few days to award him with honors, and also would like to meet the people who are working here. You can also assist the ceremony if you like, just be sure to arrive on time\".\n\nAs someone called her to go, Ms. Millers left. In that very moment, they decided to go to their rooms to remember the start of their relationship.\n\nWhen they were walking towards the rooms, they saw outside the door of one of the rooms a pink-purple figure talking to another smaller brown-colored Pokemon. The two looked engaged in a conversation. But, as the Eevee cub spotted Pikachu, the brown-haired pokemon ran to him.\n\n\"HEY!!! IT's PIKACHU AND RAICHU!!!\" exclaimed the cub excitedly.\n\n\"Yes, it is\" said Pikachu as he opened his arms. \"I'm so glad to see you again!! And I'm glad you are both doing well!\" The cub said as he began to barrel roll on the floor again.\n\nMeanwhile, as Espeon also approached to greet them, noticed the baby cart Raichu was pushing. \"CONGRATULATIONS!\" said Espeon as she gave Raichu a big, fluffy hug. The orange-haired pokemon gasped.\n\n\"Oh, thanks, Espeon\" Raichu said, surprised as Espeon let go of her.\n\n\"I was wondering what happened to you since you vanished for a while! So you have been doing romantic things, I see...\" Espeon inquired with a mischievous look on her face, but soon smiled again at them again.\n\n\"Yes, we went to live together to start a family\" said Pikachu. Espeon knew that these two were meant for each other, so she couldn?t help but admire their relationship.\n\n\"Do you want to see them?\" Raichu asked. Espeon nodded, so Raichu and Espeon walked inside her room and affectionately watched the Pichu cubs sleeping peacefully.\n\nWhen they came out again, they saw Eevee in the corridor with a confused expression. As he was still young to understand relationships, everyone decided to just go out of the corridor and talk.\n\n\"Hey, do you know about Pidgeot and Sceptile?\" asked Pikachu, as there were no trace of them left.\n\n\"They are both running errands together for the entire month\" Espeon replied as she giggled. \"After they had a strong discussion, Ms. Millers punished them by doing everything together. It's already been over two weeks since then\".\n\n\"Oh, I see\" said Pikachu with a faint smile on his face. He though that the whole situation was really fun.\n\n\"And do you plan to return here?\" Espeon asked.\n\n\"Yes, I'll keep working here!\" answered Pikachu. \"Great! That would be great!\" said Espeon with joy in her voice. Raichu looked at Pikachu in admiration. Even though he knew now that she would take care of him and his offspring for the rest of their lives, Pikachu's will to help everyone around him was so strong that he would keep working there no matter what.\n\nAfter sharing a very good time with their peers, Espeon and Eevee said goodbye to the chu family, as they returned home.\n\nAs they walked towards back home, Pikachu and Raichu kept talking about all the memories they shared together. Raichu was talking with her partner and it really made her feel a lot better. Once they got home, Pikachu decided to relax and go to their room to have a nap. Raichu followed him to their room. The Pichu were also pretty sleepy, so the whole family took a quick nap.\n\nHours later, Pikachu started to wake up, noticing that it was later in the day, as the warm, orange sunset light shone through the window. He also noticed that Raichu had already woken up earlier as she wasn?t sleeping in the room anymore, so he also decided to get up, but a weight kept him laying down.\n\nThen, a very calming emotion came over him, as he saw his five newborns sleeping on top of him, being bathed by the cozy sunset light. Then, as he thought to himself while watching the lovely scene, he understood perfectly Carl's advice to always care for others. He had been left without anything but his loving soul. However, by being always supportive and working as hard as he could to make everyone around him happier, he was able to make his life became fulfilling and pleasant, and definitely recover his will to live to see another day.\n\nAs his family slept, he realized that all the things he could have wished for came true. He was loved by her mate to no end, and now he was the father of five beautiful living beings. For all his worrying in the past, everything was perfect now. As he shed a single tear of joy, he realized that now, finally, he was the happiest Pikachu alive.\n\n - ------- THE END - -------\n\n",
"writing_bbcode_parsed": "Electric touch
A story by Coercer1730 (Male Pikachu x Female Raichu)
CHAPTER 1
It was a warm autumn evening in Kanto. The birds playfully chirped, flying over the trees, as a warm breeze blew all across the place.
A group of people walked along the city, chatting happily as they walked to one of the city's biggest parks, where lots of people and pokemon enjoyed their sunday off.
As it was to be expected, the kids played happily with the pokemon as the adults entertained themselves with a variety of activities.
One of the pokemon that was at that place was a Pikachu, who didn?t have as much energy as the baby pokemon who ran without rest here and there, so he preferred to enjoy the peaceful moment unfold from the comfortable branch he was sitting on. He was pleased to witness the harmony with which humans and pokemon lived together, and the respect everyone had for the "independent pokemon", who were trainerless pokemon who lived a regular life at the city, as same as humans did.
As the last minutes of daylight came to an end, he decided to come down from his branch, and return to the place he lived, which was quite a distance away.
As soon as he reached to the "Residential district", where the vast majority of the inhabitants lived, he spotted the place where he was heading to.
It was a three-story four building complex of a considerable size, surrounded by a small fence which delimited it's domains from the rest of the neigbourhood. It was a good place to be, even if it wasn ?t particularly his private home. Said place was inhabited by a large group of pokemon, all of whom worked together, as well as other pokemon visitors who stayed for a while. On top of that, from time to time, this building was also occupied by some people working in it.
Upon walking from the main entrance to the dining hall, Pikachu was suddenly met with a large group of pokemon who were busy and talking, while enjoying a meal. They were gathered around different tables, while others were already finished, entertaining each other in some friendly competitions, or simply having a pleasant conversation.
Pikachu's eyes widened, thinking that he might have arrived a bit late, but was pleasantly surprised to find that the cooking group was still there, as he was able to hear their chatter about the various dishes they made, as well as a few other things as well.
Without time to waste, Pikachu quickly darted inside, to check the area where the order system was located. This time, Pikachu was just in time to get a hold of an standard menu. The only dish that he ordered from said menu was a "Salad", which consisted of two small cups of various vegetables and a small bowl of mixed berries, served with water, and as soon as he finished the order, quickly took a seat.
Just as the meal was cooked, a large, smiling Kangaskhan entered the area handing over a tray to Pikachu, who quickly grabbed it and thanked her for her assistance. "It looks like you arrived just in time. How are you, my dear?" Kangaskhan asked, in her usual, motherly tone. "Just fine, thank you for waiting for me!" said Pikachu as he took a few bites of the salad, enjoying the taste of the food. "Guess we were a bit hungry, huh?" asked Kangaskhan, smiling at him, as it was obvious that she enjoyed making him feel good. "Yeah, I guess you are right. I lost track of time in that place... Oh, and you were really nice to me. Thank you very much." said Pikachu with a grateful smile. "You're welcome!" said Kangaskhan as she smiled and left the place, letting Pikachu off to continue his meal.
A while later, when he finished his meal, he took the empty plates and placed them on the service area. Now that his duties were done, Pikachu left the large place and started to make the way back to his room, as he realized how late it was already. Pikachu steadily walked through the corridors, while being as silent as possible, to avoid disturbing others, as most of the residents were already in their rooms, resting after a long day's work.
He made at last his way to his room, where he was greeted by the sight of his small, but comfortable space, filled with the things that made him happy, such as his favourite books or photos, as well as other assorted objects. At the opposite end of his room, a small round bed (Even though he preferred to refer to it as a "nest") stood near the window. At one corner there was also a small table with a lamp, useful when he wished to read something at night-time.
He turned around, as he proceeded to close the door in front of him, before moving some blankets off the nest, in order to make a larger space for him to lay down. As he did so, a strong feeling of comfort started to come over him, as he snuggled in his nest, the moonlight bathing his small frame. He closed his eyes, and as he did so, quickly fell asleep.
The next day, Pikachu woke up as he heard the ringing of his alarm clock. He looked out the window, and admired the view that the new sunny day was bringing him. At last, he decided to get out of the room, and onto the patio, where he could enjoy the fresh air and the sunshine, as his duty couldn?t start to be done yet. Meanwhile, Pikachu decided to take a walk around the complex. He went over to the small, "community room", where he was greeted by some of his fellows. At that very moment, there were an Espeon, an Sceptile, and a Pidgeot.
Hey, Pikachu! How's it going, buddy?!" asked the Espeon, smiling at the young male, as he made his way into the room. "I'm doing fine, thanks, Espeon!" said Pikachu, making his way over to a small table with some assorted goods on it." I wanted to be sure to be in time to take breakfast!" Said Pikachu with a smile, as he happily hopped onto the chair.
"Oh, I see. Well, it looks like we have a full table this morning. Go ahead and come and get some, matey!" said the Sceptile, as he handed a tray with a few fruits on it to the yellow colored Pokemon, who happily took a piece from it.
"Thanks!" Replied Pikachu, as he took a cup of coffee from the table and mixed it with some milk, "It's good to have this extra caffeine!" he added with a happy tone. Pikachu then continued taking his breakfast, as everyone started thinking of what they should do today. After a little while, one of them came up with an idea: "I was thinking that we should go over to the city's famous shopping district, and see if we could get some potions, as we are running short of them" said the Pidgeot.
"That sounds great!" said the Sceptile, with an obvious tone of sarcasm. "Wouldn?t you mind if you take charge of this, Pidgeot? At least, you can fly all the way there!" said the Espeon. The Pidgeot looked around the area, being unable to come with an excuse, as Espeon's reasoning was quite logic. Damn psychics.
"I should be going because I must start the daily exercise routine." Pikachu said before leaving the room " Thank you for the company, guys!".
"Well, that's good a reason as any!" said Sceptile. "Remember to take your vitamins and not to overdo yourself too much, ok?" added the Pidgeot.
"Sure thing." Replied Pikachu, as he got up to leave the room. The sun had already risen, and it was about time for the group to get ready, so, before long, everyone was busy with their own business.
As Pikachu made his way out of the complex and down the road, he noticed that he still had time to go for a long stroll, so he decided that he should take the scenic route, as the road he was on was rather long and winding, but it would be more relaxing than the boring midday city center. As Pikachu's walk took him through the beach, he observed some children playing Frisbee. He noticed also some Pokemon watching curiously, as if they were considering taking it on for their own.
"Hey it's a Pikachu!" said a cheerful voice.
"What's up, little fellow?" replied Pikachu to the kid with a smile on his face.
"I've got an idea for you: We want to start our own Frisbee competition. But we need someone to throw the Frisbee, as we want to compete to see who is the best. Do you think you could do it? Just for fun?" said the kid.
"Sure!" said Pikachu. Pikachu liked that sport, so he started walking over to the group of kids.
"Hey! Thanks!" said the kid with a grin, "I was afraid that the competition turned a bit unfair. Go ahead and start the Frisbee game!"
"Ok! Get set up, guys!" The kids were able to get set up quickly, and before long, the Frisbee was flying through the air, as the first round started.
While the Frisbee was in the air, the group of kids sprinted, as if they were competing for the title of ?fastest frisbee catcher?.
After a while, one of the tallest kids was the first one to get a catch. He then returned the Frisbee to Pikachu, who then, proceeded to throw it again. After a good number of throws, Pikachu started to get a little tired, so he decided to end the competition, and as soon as the kids agreed, he recounted the wins and announced the winner.
As the kids thanked Pikachu for his attention, he continued his walk. Some time afterwards, the trip, he passed through the "Battling district", which, despite it's name, was also a place where people related to battling lived. It was one of the nicer ones, because it contained some battling arenas and the city gym, as well as a lot of hostals for trainers who were in town.
He then continued his way to the "Library district", where the university was located. It was strange that the university would be located in the same area as the military complex was before. As a city that values knowledge, and loathes the conflict, it was somewhat surprising to him that the government would invest a lot of time and money in the past into the military complex, leaving the inhabitants without an adequate place to learn. He liked to walk around the university area, as it was also a peaceful and quiet place, very different than the city center, where students of all classes and species shared a part of their lives in common.
Finally, deciding that it was time to return to his home, he headed to the bus station, so he reached there just in time for dinner. As he walked inside the dining room, he noticed that the place was busier than usual, so he just sat down at his regular table and began to fill the order sheet.
"Welcome back, Pikachu!" said the waitress, who always appeared to be having a great day.
"Oh hi! So, today what would you recomend me to have?" he replied. He wasn?t the best pokemon in taking decisions, so he let the Kangaskhan to decide what he would have today.
"If I were you, I would undoubtedly choose the trout, the pizza and the risotto. They're all great dishes here".
"So are they! I'll take that! And, you know what, if you didn?t mind, I?d like a berry bowl as well", he added with a smile.
After he checked in his order, he returned his sight to the table area, where he did spot an empty chair. Grabbing the chair, he sat down, as he shortly was brought his meal. He quickly ate, as he had no idea what he had chosen, but was soon pleased with the random choice.
As he put his plate on the table, he gazed to the clock on the wall, and immediately prepared himself to start his duties, as classes were finishing in about half an hour. After that, he would have to work until the evening, so he concentrated to enjoy his last minutes of the holiday as best as he could.
As the bell rang, Pikachu knew that he had to start soon, so he headed off to the "visitors" rooms as he was ready to start.
CHAPTER 2
Upon entering the area, a lot of young pokemon were already there. As usual, the first person he came across was the director of the section.
"Good afternoon, young man!" said Mrs. Millers. She always had a very special smile on her face, as he knew that she was usually in a good mood. "Good afternoon! So, what do I have to do today?" he asked.
"Well, today you will go see the coordinator Celeste, to get the weekly review of the students done. She will review the data that you will have to approve today. Next, you will go talk with the peer counselor, to see if she has any problems that need to be solved. You know she is not very good at it, so make sure to help her if needed", she answered with a smile.
"So, when do we start?", he asked again.
"Oh, now is the best moment! The students are all starting to go back to their rooms after having lunch", she replied.
"Alright! Hey Ms. Millers, do you know a time when I could visit the coordinator Celeste?" he asked.
"Well, you know her more than me, so you know when it's best to meet her", she answered.
Pikachu said goodbye and gave Ms. Millers a happy smile as he left the area, and started to make his way to the front of the building. As he walked, he was almost hit by an Azurill, that he saw fly over his head, but as the encounter luckily had no consequences, he continued to move. After a few minutes, he arrived at the front-right building of the complex, and as soon as he got to the management area, spotted the assistant coordinator Celeste, in a big table inside the office.
When he walked in, he saw Celeste, shifting through different papers, as she noticed Pikachu's presence
"Alright, Pikachu! Please, take a seat!" she said, standing up and motioning towards a chair in front of her table.
"Thanks! That's nice of you!", replied the Pikachu.
As soon as they got to work, Celeste asked "What can I help you with, young man?"
"Well, as I understand, the week's reports should be all done, by now.", he said.
"Oh yeah, that's true!"
"Okay. So, do you have any worries about some students?", she asked.
"Well, I heard that there is a certain Eevee missing from the housing area at certain times", he responded.
Celeste immediately sat back down, and got a serious face. "What do you mean by missing?"
"Well, ever since he has been moved here, the Eevee has just vanished after I leave the students with the night manager", he explained.
Celeste did not want to believe the Pikachu's news.
"Are you sure? Do you think it's due to a natural cause? Could this situation be contributing?", she asked.
"Well, I can?t tell for sure, but he seems to dissapear a bit before the staff sends the students to their rooms for the night, but he is always here at time when the day starts", he answered.
"But why would a pokemon disappear like that? It's a living creature!", Celeste said.
"Well, I can only say that it's quite peculiar!", he said.
"Well, the way I understand it, maybe the staff put him here to study it? It could be like an experiment", she explained.
"But I still don?t buy it!", the Pikachu said.
"Well, I guess there is no other option, but to try to solve it yourself. If you can?t do it, nobody does".
"Yes, I understand, you are the coordinator after all!", he replied, with a slight smile.
Celeste got back into her desk, and soon, she saw the Pikachu walk back to his spot next to her.
"What a day so far, right?", Celeste asked, visibly bored.
"Yes, it is quite the adventure!", he replied in a dull tone.
"I just want to get back to the front-left building, and then to go back to my room, where I can relax and get some sleep!", he added.
Celeste realized that she was letting her mind wander, instead of focusing in all the stuff that was waiting for her on her desk.
"Well Pikachu, I'm afraid i must be back to work. Let me know any news on this topic, ok?"
"Sure, yeah. Take it easy!", the Pikachu replied, as he crossed the office's door.
Celeste could only nod in agreement, and continued with her work.
As soon as Pikachu exited, his face dropped a bit when he thought on his next task, as it would be "a bit" more intense. He had to check on the peer counselor's work, and see if she was doing something wrong. He preparred himself mentally by giving a long walk through the corridors, instead of going directly to her office, as he feared she could be a little "blunt" to him.
Once he stood at her office's door, he raised his head and said "Shall I, Clefable?".
The door opened, and a Clefable wearing a long yellow dress, with a floppy hat, and a pair of goggles appeared at the other side of the door, staring firmly at Pikachu.
"Huh?", she replied, startled by the visitor.
"Hello. I am the student's free time supervisor. I have been assigned to you, to join you today in your work, in order to make sure that the students solve their conflicts swiftly and efficiently. Is this correct?", he asked.
Clefable widely opened her eyes, as she grunted "I am sorry, I do not know who you are".
"I am Pikachu, the Pikachu that is with the students, do you really don?t recognize me?"
"Well, I can?t say that I do, but I suppose there is no need for me to answer your silly questions", she answered.
"Well, why don?t we put aside our differences, and just get on with the work?", he asked.
"Huh?"
"The student's don?t have time for silly misunderstandings, now do they?", he asked.
"Hey look! The know-it-all has finally arrived to the city! Woohoo!" Clefable repied with a sarcasm-filled grin.
Pikachu just ignored this taunt, and turned to Clefable.
"Oh yes, sorry. I just thought that I should know who you are counselling, in case there were any problems", he explained.
"Hmm, well, there shouldn?t be any, at least, not today", she replied.
"Are you sure about that?", he asked.
"Of course! I wouldn?t just ask the students to get in fights only to go give me work in the office after, would I?"
"Well, I suppose you can?t do that anyway. Tell me, what are the problems that are already going on with these students?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary problems of some pokemon kindergarten elsewhere" she responded.
"But, what kind of problems?"
"Well, most of them started when the school started", she stated.
"So do you mean you don?t need me to help you deal with a known confrontation?".
"It doesn?t matter that you know about them", she said.
As Pikachu was quite upset at her attitude, he moved the tone of the conversation.
"Please", he whispered to Clefable. "I know you are just a peachy Clefable, but there is no need to talk to me in that manner. I could be very direct with you. As you might have guessed, I have a direct approach to problems, and I will do my best to solve the problems that the students have with each other".
"Oookay", she said. "Good. It's so nice to finally see someone actually taking interest in these students? conflicts, instead of turning away like all of the others." Clefable laughed at him.
"What do you mean?", he asked.
"Now you are going to do the counselling work you seem to love so much" she told him, coldly, as she turned her back to him and slammed the door.
"So you're leaving me?", he yelled from the other side of the door.
Pikachu just sighed, as he leaned on the door, which was closed.
"What a mood!", he thought.
After some time, Pikachu heard a gentle knock on the door.
"Oh, hello!", Pikachu said, as he motioned the other pokemon to enter.
"Pika... chu?", a Charmander asked.
"Yes, hello", Pikachu replied.
"I heard you talkin? bout solvin? problems", he told him, pointing to the door.
"Ah! Yes", Pikachu answered, and motioned the other pokemon to go inside.
"Come on, Charmander, Vulpix, this way", he said, gesturing with his paw, as he pointed to the door, to open it.
Once the door was opened, the other pokemon slowly entered, and looked around the room.
"The room seems quite nice", the Charmander stated.
"What's nice?", the Vulpix questioned. "The joke you played on me before isn?t. There is no way I'm accepting an apology!"
"I'm really sorry about that", the Charmander apologized.
Pikachu then intervened in the conversation "Hey, why don?t we try to talk the problem calmly?"
"What do you mean?" the Vulpix said.
"I mean, rather than both of you getting angry and shouting", he explained.
"You're right", the Vulpix said. Pikachu asked what was the problem and Vulpix explained: "We fight constantly, and I hate it! You pretend to be nice when I don?t see you but, when I do, you give me a direct order and ask me to do something and then throw it in my face when I don?t do it!"
"Well, I get it, and if you have a problem you should have come to me first, instead of talking to your classmates like that", Pikachu said.
The Vulpix, who seemed a bit calmer, explained that he tried to talk Charmander about it, but he was so "rude" and "insensitive" about the problem that he couldn?t.
"So, why are you two here?" Pikachu asked.
"Well, I did think about it, and I thought that this is a good opportunity for me to try and settle this, as I think it's the right thing to do", the Vulpix told him. "But I'm not sure if Charmander will take it seriously, since he's a bit hard to deal with sometimes, and I want to make sure he doesn?t play rude jokes on me again".
Pikachu then talked to Charmander: "So, now you've made your apologies? Is that right?"
"Yeah", he said.
"Well, then I think you should listen to what he has to say, and we'll both try to work it out together", Pikachu told him.
"Well, let's get this over with then", the Vulpix said, as he looked to Charmander and asked him "What do you have to say?"
"I'm sorry", Charmander said.
"Well, do you think you can try and get along with me and your classmates?", the Vulpix asked.
"Sure, I can", he said.
"Good, then I guess we are finished, is it true?" the Pikachu asked.
"Yeah", the Vulpix answered.
"Then I guess we have successfully completed this meeting", the Pikachu said.
"Ok, it was nice meeting you!", the Vulpix added before exiting the room.
As soon as Charmander was scurrying off, Pikachu told him "Charmander, I suggest that you try and change your ways a bit, if you want to stay friends with your classmates."
"Ok, I'll try, and you know I'll do my best to get along with my classmates too", he said, a bit calmer than before.
"Great", Pikachu said, as he gave a big sigh.
"Well, it was nice meeting you", the Charmander added as he walked away.
Pikachu thought perplexed that he did actually nothing to have the duo's problem solved. "They're kids at all...".
CHAPTER 3
The rest of the day went as expected, as there were no more remarkable problems for Pikachu to solve, at least not today.
As the night arrived, the students had dinner and soon retired to sleep. As the last students went to their rooms, it was time for the staff to have dinner, as well as clean up the buildings and make it ready for the next day.
As soon as Pikachu entered the dinning room, he headed to the table where he usually sits. When he arrived, he saw that some of his peers were there, namely Pidgeot, Hitmonchan, Natu, Diancie, Espeon and Carracosta.
"Hi guys!, how's going?" Pikachu said in a cheerful voice.
"Pikachu, do you think you could sing for us like you did last week?" Hitmonchan asked, laughing as he remembered the funny incident.
"So funny" Pikachu said with irony.
"It was funny, we sure did laugh" Diancie added.
"Of course we did, I'm happy that you had fun again" Natu added.
"Yeah, it was fun!" Espeon said.
"Well if you say so" Pikachu said, blushing slightly.
"Alright, what will it be this time?" Pidgeot asked, looking around the table.
"I think it should be..." Pikachu started as everyone stared at him, waiting for him to continue.
"I think I should do a classic song" Pikachu finished as everyone cheered and congratulated him.
"Alright, well that's the end of the dinner, we're going to have a whole new subject for tomorrow, so why don?t we get some rest" Natu said before the conversation topic diverged.
"Sure, I guess, why not?" Hitmonchan answered.
"Alright then, let's go to our rooms so we can sleep before tomorrow" Diancie said, followed by Pidgeot and Carracosta.
"By the way, why doesn?t Pidgeot just fly to her room's window? asked Carracosta, as the group exited the dining room, earning a bored sigh from the bird. "That joke is getting old...".
Minutes after, the three pokemon who were still at the table, looked at each other.
"You know, I think they are all some lazy poke. It's only 11 PM!" Hitmonchan added.
"Yea, but someone has to wake up early tomorrow to do their tasks" Diancie replied.
"We can?t all be early bird types!" Hitmonchan added in.
"Whaaat?" Carracosta asked.
The three looked at each other, then turned to look at Hitmonchan. He stared back at them, as if reassuring himself for answering truthfully.
"Guys, what's up with the birds?" Pidgeot asked a bit startled, as she misheard the conversation.
"Well I guess it can wait until tomorrow" Espeon said, hoping to change the subject.
"It's late, let him get some sleep before he gets angrier" Hitmonchan answered, staring at the pokemon, as the exiting group forcefully took Carracosta away to avoid the conflict.
"Hey! Come back here you little punk!" Carracosta yelled as the group walked away.
"Burgly! What's up with that jerk?" Hitmonchan said, as he returned his gaze to Pikachu and Espeon.
"Hey! It's nothing, we're going to have a little problem with him tomorrow" Pikachu commented in a carefree voice, as he used a little humor to cover up the incident.
"I guess you are right" Hitmonchan said as he added "Well, I'm going to the gym to train, g-night fellas!"
"OK" Espeon said, before Hitmonchan disappeared.
Now Espeon was the only left there, and Pikachu then remembered the little Eevee's mystery, so he decided to talk to her, as he took a seat by her side. "Hey, Espeon, you are the only one here now, isn?t it", he said to her.
"Well, I am, as all the others went off to do their own things", she replied.
"Oh, so it's just me, then", Pikachu said.
"Yep, and I'm fine with that", Espeon replied.
Pikachu recalled the Eevee incident, because he thought that maybe talking about it with someone of "nearly" it's same species could enlighten him a bit. "Have you heard about the little Eevee that leaves the bedroom at night?" he asked her.
"Oh, yeah, I've heard about that boy", she replied.
"Yeah, it's really strange that such a little boy could be so mysterious" he said. "Do you know where could he go at night?"
"Umm... I'm not sure, but I think he might hide in a secluded place, when he's frightened, of course!", Espeon replied.
Pikachu thought deeply, as the idea didn?t convince him.
"Can you help me understand?" he asked her. "The only thing I know about this mystery is that the Eevee is afraid at night, and he tends to escape his bedroom, when he's scared".
"It could be, but I've heard of quite a few Eeveelutions, so I don?t think that it's just the tiny ones who can?t hide their fears", Espeon said.
Pikachu was a bit surprised about what she had just said. "By the way, why do you say that I am the only one that was close to him?", she asked him. Pikachu was surprised as he didn?t remember saying that though out loud.
"Don?t overthink it, I just read your thoughts" Espeon answered.
"Well, that wasn?t necessary", he said, a bit dumbfounded, making her giggle.
"Do you know why he might be scared?" Asked to her again.
"Oh, I think that maybe it has something to do with his parents", she replied.
"So, do you think it's related with that?" Pikachu said.
"Well, I can?t know for sure, but I suppose it's a logical guess", she said.
"Ok. Thank you for telling me your point of view", Pikachu thanked her.
"No problem", she replied as she picked used telekinesis to lift up her fork as she finished eating.
"You see, there's always someone willing to help a Pokemon in trouble" Espeon said. "Well, now, if you don?t mind, I think I will call it a night. It's been a long day, and I'm tired", as Pikachu got up, getting ready to leave.
She stared back at him. "You're not alone there, I guess I'll head to bed as well" she said, as she also got up to leave. As Pikachu left Espeon at her room, he proceeded to head to his own room, but before going to bed, he decided to take a look into the little Eevee's room. He walked with a silent pace through the hallways, being unnoticed by the other workers who were already sleeping. He passed through the last corridors, and finally got to the students? rooms. As he walked past the night monitor without being seen, he was able to find Eevee's room, and stepped in the doorway, as the door was slightly open.
He couldn?t see him, as the lights were turned off. Then, Pikachu decided to be completely still, and tried to use his developed hearing to listen for breathing sounds. Nothing. As he got ready to get out of the room, he got a great idea. As he checked that the bed was empty, he grabbed the sheets as much as he could, and took a deep sniff at them. As there were traces of Eevee's scent on them, Pikachu memorized it. Then, as fast as he could, he ran through all the complex, trying to match the smell to the one in the sheets, to no avail. After searching for one hour, he still couldn?t detect the Eevee. Finally, he came to the conclusion that Eevee must be outside.
"How can he be gone?" he said to himself, as he opened the window, in case he decided to come back. He sat on the window, staring through it, hoping that he would soon see the little Eevee, but he could not find him anywhere.
"He has been gone too long already" he said, with a saddened face. He let out a loud sigh.
"I hope he's safe, and not scared", he thought.
Suddenly, as he continued to stare at the moon, something clicked on his mind. Eevee might be in serous danger, and he had to ensure his safety, independently from the tasks he could take charge of.
So Pikachu quickly went outside, and started to walk through the cold streets.
At first, he didn?t find anything that could look like an Eevee. There was no one around the streets, so he couldn?t ask anyone. He started to walk around in small circles, trying to figure out where Eevee might be, but he couldn?t. He was so depressed, so he just kept walking further and further away. After searching for another hour, he came across a park in the district, when he finally came to a scent that matched the one he had memorized before. As he followed it, he would be eventually able to figure out where Eevee might be!
"I'll be with him soon", he thought, as he quickly ran through the night, trying to reach the Eevee as quickly as he could.
Finally, he arrived at the edge of the woods. As he got close, he heard soft breathing as he came to a grassy plain, where a still, brown figure sat down on the grass. Pikachu went up to it, and as soon as he reached his side, started to talk with him: "Hello, little Eevee".
The Eevee quickly jumped up in surprise, as he tried to adjust his sight.
"Wh-- Who are you?", he asked. "I'm sorry for scaring you, Eevee, I'm Pikachu, would you mind to be my friend?" But Eevee stood still on the ground, without pronouncing a word.
"Eevee, what is the matter? What do you want?", Pikachu asked.
Eevee didn?t move, as he kept staring at the ground.
"What is wrong?" Pikachu asked.
Eevee slowly stood up and got closer to Pikachu. "Please.... please..." he started to say.
"Eevee, I won?t hurt you", Pikachu said, as he tried to pat his back.
"Don?t touch me!", Eevee screamed. The sudden reaction made ikachu took a step back.
"Please..." he kept on saying. "I want to be alone..."
Pikachu saw tears in his eyes, and as the situation started to get worse, he decided to think of a solution to the problem. He tried to soothe him "Eevee, I can?t help you if you don?t trust me. If you trust me, I will do my best to help you out."
Eevee was still crying as he finally stood still, with a sad look on his face.
"I want to leave this place!", Eevee cried. "I want to be happy."
Pikachu went to him and gently rubbed his back.
"But... But I'm your friend, isn?t true?"
"No, I don?t want to to see you ever again", Eevee said between hiccups, as he continued crying.
Pikachu looked at him, shocked.
"But we are all your friends, you know?", he tried to comfort him. "Just tell me... What happens?"
Eevee finally lost his words as he broke down. "You work there, so you must know", as Eevee kept crying, each time taking him more effort to talk between sobs.
Pikachu felt his heart crumble. Nobody argued that he was very good in his job, but these moments were definitely overwhelming for him. "I... I know what you're going to say!", he tried to give him words of comfort, "But you have a lot of friends in here who are waiting to have fun with you."
"Don?t lie to me!" Eevee screamed, "You all lie to me... I hate everybody!"
Pikachu looked at the Eevee in the eyes.
"Eevee, nobody put you in this situation on purpose", he tried to calm him down.
Then Pikachu decided to express his feelings wordlessly, by giving the little Eevee a big, heartfelt hug. However, as he was about to touch him, Eevee thought he was going to trap him, and began to run from him with all his speed. Pikachu was shocked to the sudden turn of events.
"Eevee, come back!" he called after him, but Eevee kept running.
Pikachu was confused, and was a bit scared. He couldn?t leave the poor cub on the streets alone, so he chased after him as fast as he could.
"Eevee, I'm trying to do my best to help you out! Stop!!"
Eevee continued running away from the park, and onto the streets, not stopping to listen to the latter, with teary eyes.
"Eevee!", he yelled, "I'm sorry, I know how much you want to see your mother again!" as he felt gradually becoming short of breath. But he couldn?t feel defeated. Not now.
Pikachu kept chasing the Eevee through the bustling city streets, and almost got to him before he could escape.
"Eevee, stop!", he screamed as he tried to tackle the little Eevee to the floor. He was already far away from his "home", fact that made him even more scared, if possible.
"Eevee, I will do my best to help you!!", he assured the cub, as he finally felt his body started to give in. He really wanted the Eevee to come with him, so he could be able to help him, but he wasn?t sure how he would manage to do it. He couldn?t raise his voice anymore, and was at a good bit of a distance from Eevee, so he decided to take a shortcut, hoping that Eevee would run through the longer route.
Pikachu, panting from his long journey to catch up with Eevee, finally exited the dark alleys that led to the most outer street of the city, the motorway standing on the other side. He hoped that he would find Eevee there. And he did.
"Eevee!!"
Eevee looked up and saw the Pikachu right in front of him, out of breath from running after him. He panicked instantly, and did the only thing he could think of, which was to jump to the other side Pikachu came from, to avoid being caught.
"GAAHHH!!", screamed Pikachu in defeat, as he missed Eevee by a mere inch. But nothing could have told him what was about to happen next.
Eevee turned his head around to look at the defeated Pikachu, who stared at him with his pitch-black eyes open wide before collapsing from the extreme tiredness, as a hopeful grin formed on Eevee's face, as he was already running to the other side of the motorway, off the city's limits.
But as soon as he turned his head to the front, his sight was blinded by a very bright white light, mixed with a deafening screech, as his world turned black.
CHAPTER 4
The next morning, the Pikachu sprang back to life, and looked around, feeling very dizzy, but breathing normally. As he started to slowly regain his senses, he found himself in a small, cozy room, that looked almost like his own room.
He looked out the window of his new home, It was a sunny day, and the walls of his room almost looked the same too, except for the one that he was staring at, as it was a different color. He walked over and took a good look at it. It was a very nice room, but he couldn?t help feeling a little bit awkward.
There was a television set above the far wall, and, sitting in front of it, was a small black and white Pokemon plush with orange whiskers. He somewhat recognized it, but couldn?t put his finger on why. He had never seen that Pokemon plush before, or so he thought.
Then again, he had never been in this room, so who could be the owner of this room?
As he looked to the ceiling, he heard the door slowly opening, revealing an elegant, thin, pale purple haired figure.
"Aaaah!" screamed Pikachu, as Espeon walked in. He was almost surprised, but welcomed her presence, even if he still couldn?t recall what had led him to this situation.
"Welcome to your new home, Pikachu," said Espeon with a smile, as it was evident that she was joking him. "We must say, we didn?t expect you to be able to sleep in such a hard, cold floor for so long..." Added Sceptile, as he could guess to who belonged the voice.
"Well," said Pikachu, slightly embarrassed, "I don?t really know why I've ended up here" he said with a shrug, looking around the room with a confused expression.
"Well," continued Sceptile, who seemed a bit shocked by Pikachu's statement. "I don?t really know, but, if I am sure about something, it's that you are sleeping in the ladies? room." As he said this, he winked at him and pointed a thumb to the door of the room, still being held open by Espeon. As Sceptile had told him, he could finally match the number on the door with the owner, who turned to be Espeon herself.
Pikachu stuttered as his embarrassment went off limits, as he was laying down on Espeon's nest. He then fixed his gaze on her.
"W-wait!" he said, shocked, " I-I don?t know why I'm here, I promise!" He looked back at Sceptile, trying to convince him of his actions, as he was returning him a miscievous look. "I promise, You have my word! I promise!"
"Oh, that's right!" giggled Espeon. "I was who found you, Pikachu, and you don?t need to convince anyone of nothing, as I was the one who finally got you in this room." As she said this, she pulled his sheet off of him, exposing his striped, yellow back, as he slowly got up, and turned to look at his side, and was shocked once again to see the alarm clock, as it was already 5 PM.
"Ahhhh!" he screamed in frustration. "Why did you not just come sooner? Ahhhhh!"
Then, Sceptile walked up to him and said "It's not really your fault, dude." As he said this, he took the alarm clock out of his left hand, to show to him that the time wasn?t relevant right now. He knew that Pikachu had an habit of accepting everyone's responsabilities, and was so hard with himself when things didn?t come out as expected. However, now Pikachu needed to rest, so he did what though was best for Pikachu, and in this moment, it is what he was doing.
"Listen, the fact is, that you're okay, and we shouldn?t really worry about other unimportant matters" said Sceptile as Espeon put a calming hand on his back, and looked towards the female, who answered to him. "I'm sure that Pikachu will be fine, but still, he's supposed to rest, as he had to work hard yesterday night, so, I'm sure you understand that, right?"
"Yep" said Sceptile, as he helped Pikachu out of the nest.
As Pikachu slowly walked out, he looked back at Espeon and Espeon looked back at him. He stared at her, still a bit astonished by how she cared about him.
"Don?t look so surprised, you have a tendency to show up everywhere, Pikachu." Said Espeon, with a smile. "But, no matter how good you get at avoiding me, I always manage to find you somehow." She said this with a hint of sarcasm, as she was still smiling.
"Thank you so much" he said to her, as he went to his room to tidy up his room before having dinner.
"Of course. Just for now, I'll leave you on your own" said Espeon as she turned back to mind her own business.
As Pikachu entered in his own room, he first set up his usual bed for the night. He knew that he had a few free hours to spare, so it would be good to finally take his mind off of everything and relax. He was not physically exhausted, as he had "slept" for nearly all day, but he was mentally tired of his sudden lack of memories, as he was still hoping for another chance for his brain to come back to him and remember what had led him to that situation. Meanwhile, he would relax himself by staring at the animated street that his window led to, while the sunset light warmed up his fur. As night arrived, he preferred to have dinner in his own room, as he wasn?t feeling well enough to go to the dining room, thinking that it was caused by the strange turn of events today. After eating half a dozen of berries, he curled asleep on his nest, and was soon asleep.
-----------------------------
Everything was black. His entire vision was black, as he had no idea what was going on, he also couldn?t hear anything around him.
There was silence.
Silence.
Silence.
With every second that he was in this silence, a strange sensation began to grow inside his brain. It was a very familiar feeling, as if a breeze was gently caressing his head.
If death felt this peaceful, Eevee was more than happy to take his place at the final curtain, after all, he didn?t feel like he was living, anyway, so, maybe this death thing was the solution to his grieving.
"Why am I here? Who am I?" he asked himself, as he tried to open his eyes. They wouldn?t open, though, but he did feel more details around his body.
He was in a rather fluffy place, and the temperature was also comfortable. He started to feel more peaceful with this new experience, as if he was finally achieving some peace after assuming that his life had ended.
Then, he began to feel like he was slowly being lightened with a white-ish light, as if someone was trying to signal him. He wondered if this faint light that traveled in the dark and was focusing on his eyes was supposed to reveal something to him, as he started to feel warm. After a few minutes, he could swear he was able to hear a distant conversation, or so he thought. He felt a buzzing sensation in his head, as the peacefulness started to fade, and then he felt something else. A cool breeze passed through his body, as he felt his body move very slightly, and then he began to think of these new revealings. However, his doubts would soon be solved, because just when he was about to give up finding a solution, His entire vision began to brighten, before he opened his eyes.
It was indeed what he had guessed. He was laying in a bed, but he didn?t know what he was doing there. There were curtains covering the left window, so that his vision would not be affected.
Then, he suddenly realized that even he didn?t know where he was, this place didn?t belong to the "complex", so he thought that he could had been moved, or so that's what he wanted to think. He thought that this might be the end of his desperate search for a better place, so he thought to himself that maybe he could finally rebuild his life again with ease, as he was just a cub. Looking around again, he discerned that the room looked a bit similar to the nursery room from the "complex" but this one was definitely bigger, and packed with strange machines on the walls.
As he was absorbed in his thoughts, the door opened, and he saw someone enter. He couldn?t see well the figure behind the door, as his sight was still not the best. However, what he did see was something that made him extremely curious, as he hadn?t seen that pokemon species in his life.
His attention was suddenly drawn to the eyes of the visitor, who were pitch black with a small white pupil. He could also guess by the way the visitor stared back at him that he wasn?t expected to be awake.
"Who are you?" he asked, as he tried to figure out who this mysterious figure was, as he was still trying to clarify if it was friend or foe.
As if his body was suddenly took over by a sudden force, he couldn?t help to quickly clos his eyes, and whisper, "Please, dont hurt me...", as he saw the figure getting nearer.
"Don?t worry. You are alive and safe. You were just resting., the figure said before quickly leaving, as the cub slowly opened his eyes.
Soon after, the nurse came into the room to check on his condition, and he was too tired to say anything.
However, she noticed that he had his eyes red like a flame and only a few words were said.
"Please, can you tell me what happened?"
As he just stared blankly at the nurse, she decided to wait until he was finally able to explain some parts of the incident that he remembered.
Fortunately, the nurse had some quick thinking, as she decided that she would run a complete examination to see what his vitals were, as she couldn?t determine what his condition was at the moment.
She ran many checks on his body, while the little Eevee stood still, and she soon came to the conclusion that he was safe and sound, with a healthy vitals, but she still needed to make a few quick notes in the record.
It was confirmed that he didn?t fall victim to the night outside the complex, as he only collapsed by the sudden shock of the events that he was involved in, but she also found out that he was extremely tired, so she decided to allow him to rest in there for the night, and then, decide tomorrow if he was able to return back to where he came from.
However, she needed to contact someone in charge of him, as he was just a little Eevee after all.
After some fine searching, the young nurse finally came to a possible answer.
She was in luck, as not every unidentified patient could be matched with such a personal contact.
However, as there was no one more suitable for the task, she decided to personally talk to the number she had just found.
After dialing the number in the hospital's computer, and waiting a couple of seconds for it to connect, she spoke up, saying, "Hello, am I talking to Mrs. Millers?"
After a short silence, the voice at the other side answered, "Yes, you are speaking to Mrs. Millers, the director of the section of..."
"Ok, listen, we have received an Eevee cub in shock yesterday night, and the only person who we could contact regarding him was yourself."
After a little longer of waiting, the voice answered, "Yes?, Is that right?" As Mrs. Millers was unaware of Eevee's story, so she was somewhat surprised at hearing what she said.
"Yes, we have checked that he lives in there. We thought that you could give us some information about this matter."
"Yes, of course. However, I'm not the person in charge of these things, so I need to contact the actual employee in charge. Would you let me half an hour to speak to them?"
After a long second, the employee responded, "Um... yeah. Sure. But don?t worry, he's fine. As it's too late, we have no problem on letting him sleep here for the night. Moreover, it's always been a pleasure to help out a young cub, so we'll definitely do our best to help him."
"Thank you so much. Tomorrow without fail, an employee will come here to check on him, and then, he will return him to his place." Mrs. Millers firmly stated.
"Fine." After a few seconds of silence, Mrs. Millers finished, "Thank you for informing us. Good night!"
"Good night. Bye bye!" After the connection was broken, Mrs. Millers decided to call Celeste, to check if she had idea who could take the Eevee back in. But that would happen tomorrow, as she remembered that Celeste's workday had ended. So, with a sight, she decided to shut down for today, and go home. Tomorrow would be another day.
CHAPTER 5
"Hello?" Pikachu said, a bit surprised that there was a personal call to him.
"Pikachu?" the voice responded, as she carefully thought what words to choose, to avoid getting Pikachu stressed. "I'm Celeste, the coordinator. I wanted to talk about Eevee. Yesterday, I received a phone call from Mrs. Millers, saying that she received a call from the hospital. They said that an Eevee from here was sent there, and asked me if I know what happened to him."
Pikachu thought about it a little, but didn?t remember nothing. "Hello?, are you there, Pikachu?" Celeste asked again, a little stressed.
"Yeah? Yes, I don?t remember an Eevee at all". "When did he go to the hospital?" asked.
"It seems that he came from the city's outskits last night".
Then, Pikachu suddenly became paralyzed, as a cold chill ran down his spine, and his face turned pale and frightened as the fateful night's events returned to his mind. He then jumped up from the chair and started to frenetically ask questions "How's going? Is he alright? How much time has been since he was sent to the hospital? Who called? Will you send someone there? Did he get healed? Is there..."
"Relax Pikachu, Eevee's fine. He was sent to the hospital in shock, but after his symptoms had subsided, the doctors told us that he will be returning home today. I had though of you going to the hospital to return him to his place, but I need to be sure it's okay with you."
Pikachu answered: "Yes, yes!, no problem", Pikachu said.
"Ok, don?t be too late. See you on monday!" Celeste said.
"See ya" Pikachu said before hanging up. He had to go to the hospital, and he had to do it as soon as possible.
When he finally felt the reality that Eevee had been in the hospital and that he will be coming back home, he immediately darted from his room to the hospital. But as soon as he was running out the "complex", he bumped into Sceptile and Espeon, who were now talking about him, about how much he had to go through these days.
"What's with Pikachu?" Sceptile asked, as he saw the Pikachu running on a rampage through the hallway.
"Hey Pikachu" Sceptile said, as Pikachu waved back at him.
"What's with you?" said Sceptile
"I remember all about that night!!" said Pikachu.
"Sceptile! What's up with you?!" Espeon scolded him, as he seemed to interrupt Pikachu.
"I know nothing about that night! I don?t know what happened!" Said Sceptile, wanting Pikachu to tell them everything.
"There's nothing to tell, nothing" said Espeon, giving Pikachu a "Don?t care what he says" look.
"Well, It was definitely a night. I couldn?t believe how fast that little guy was!" Pikachu shouted, while pumping his fists in the air.
Espeon and Sceptile looked at each other, as they didn?t thought that Pikachu was telling the full story.
"There's a simple explanation for everything. He was too excited that day, that it caused him to panic... That's all" Pikachu replied nervously.
"I must go, bye!", before running off to the city, earning a new dumbfounded look from his two peers.
After a short while, he finally reached the bus station. He disliked having to go by bus, as he always ended messing it up with the lines and directions, but he hadn?t had another way to get to the little Eevee, as he didn?t really knew where the hospital was, because only pokemon who needed other special treatments were derived to that place. Once that he finally discerned what bus he should take, and having a bit of a hard time paying the ticket as the coins were a bit big for his paws, he sat down and tried to relax as he was on his way to the hospital.
Finally, he reached the hospital, having to wait a short while, due to the crowds and no staff being available. Finally, after what seemed like a few hours of waiting, he was finally able to find someone who tell him where his little Eevee had been sent. That nurse turned to be who was looking after the Eevee. As soon as he presented himself as the one that Mrs. Millers sent there, she went to a table, and motioned him to sit.
Pikachu really had a good set of questions for her, so, as the nurse stopped talking, he would ask her everything.
"Well Pikachu, I'm glad that you came here to visit Eevee. He's doing really well, he's at my diagnostic office right now. And in just a few minutes, his caretaker will bring him to the main hall to see you. Is there anything else you?d like to know? " Asked the Nurse.
"Well, to begin with, could you please let me know how he got hurt?"
"Well, it was just one of those 'miracles?. We give credit that his caretaker was the one who actually saved him, as she pulled him out of the way of a car that would have hit him, risking her own life. But if she hadn?t taken action, he should have been hit by the car, and the results would have been much, much worse."
"I see..." Pikachu answered.
"On a personal note, I've also observed that he doesn?t remember too much about what happened." The nurse added. "He was unconscious for a while, and hasn?t been eating or drinking much, probably because he just woke up yesterday night."
"But why has Eevee ended in the hospital? Is he injured?"
"Well, he was unconscious when he arrived here, but only sustained very superficial bruises, caused by the rough landing, but he's doing very well. The scratches on his paws and limbs will dissapear in very few days"
"Good. Well, I'll be leaving now, after picking him up. Thank you for your time." Pikachu thanked the nurse.
"Pikachu, I'm sorry about what happened, but remember that Eevee has a better chance of getting healed properly if you check on him, so, surveillance is never an unnecessary plus. If there's anything I can do to help, please don?t hesitate to ask". As the nurse walked away, Pikachu left the room to go back where he waited before.
Pikachu took a relaxed sigh, as he waited for the Eevee to go to the main hall to bring him back home.
Minutes passed by, only for him to stare back at the still slightly crowded hall, as he waited for Eevee to arrive. But with each minute, Pikachu could feel his heart become heavier, until he finally decided to go for a short walk around the hall, to see if he could spot him.
"Hey, Eevee! Come here!" He shouted, hoping to catch him on his way. "Eevee!" He called out again, but his efforts were in vain, as he coudn?t spot any trace of him, so he sat alone, on a small chair at the edge of said hall.
Pikachu decided that he had to end this duty no matter what, so, if the nurse told him that Eevee would be brought to the hall, he would wait there, until it was time to him to appear.
A little while later, as Pikachu was starting to lose the hope to see him safe and sound, the Eevee came, and started walking towards the hall.
He couldn?t feel a better sensation run through his mind. This was what he was waiting for, as he could match the Eevee's scent, even though they were a couple hundred feet apart. As soon as he came to an stop, Pikachu could clearly see him safe and sound, as he sat down on a chair, and seemed to wait for someone.
"Eevee!" He cried, the sound of his voice so weak to be perceptible. "Are you all right?"
The Eevee, as it was supposed, didn?t even hear him. Pikachu could have walked to him, but, after remembering his bad reaction when he first met him, he decided to wait for his caretaker to re-introduce Eevee to him in more friendly terms. But as the seconds passed, he couldn?t spot any caretaker at all.
"What's going on?" Pikachu tried to keep calm, although he wasn?t so sure if he was doing the right thing. "Hey, Eevee!" Pikachu called again, but Eevee wasn?t responding, and Pikachu, after several tries, decided to slowly walk to him.
However, of the possible events that could take place in the mere twenty seconds that separated him from Eevee, the one that was about to happen was definitely going to be the one he least expected.
As soon as Pikachu stood up from the chair, his body became still, his breath turned shallow, his skin went pale and colorless, and his eyes went wide open, as he nearly lost his balance. The caretaker walked into the hall, and toward the little Eevee. But that was definitely the least important detail. The explanation of such a strong shock resided more in ?who? resulted to be Eevee's caretaker. He couldn?t believe it. He couldn?t. From all the possible Pokemon who could have saved the poor Eevee, it turned out to be a Raichu.
"No! It can?t be!" Pikachu thought. Shivers kept running through his body as he realized Eevee was talking with a Raichu. It was over. He would have to leave the hospital, as his mind wouldn?t let him take the risk of the Raichu seeing him. So, before his mind blocked him completely, he had to get away, and so, he did. Pikachu quickly ran as fast as he could, his eyes watering at the thought of Raichu talking to Eevee, until he left the hospital behind, out of sight.
Then, his body started to shake as he stopped running. The coldness of the night started to play it's toll on him, as he felt himself getting colder. Luckily, he managed to spot the bus that led to the residential district without wait, and before long, he was on his way back at the "complex". He though while sitting in the bus what excuse could he give to Eevee not coming with him. He had to think fast. Or, more specifically, think efficiently.
As he sat on his own seat, he realized there was no way he could tell the truth to anyone, so he finally decided to lie telling them that they needed to run more checks on him. As a result, he would have to spend a day more in the hospital. So, that way, he could scurry off inside the hospital tomorrow, and, hopefully, take Eevee back without that Raichu noticing.
Once back in the "complex" Pikachu had dinner with Sceptile and Pidgeot. As they ate, Pikachu told then the story he had just "tuned", so that they wouldn?t be upset with his actions.
Once he finished talking, everyone had finished dinning, and slowly waked toward esch one's rooms. Just before splitting, Sceptile talked to Pikachu.
"I know it's hard for you, with everything that happened these days. But, you need to take care of yourself, even if you do like helping other Pokemon so much... Just, try to take it easy, so we don?t receive more bad news, Okay? That's all I ask" he said, finishing the sentence with a firmness he had not shown anytime earlier, as he's confident about his words.
"Thank you for looking after me. You're great, guys" he said softly, as he waved up on his paw. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to get some sleep. I promise I'll be a good boy, okay?" he said to them, and went to his room. As soon as he stepped on his nest, a long yawn escaped him. "Oh my, What a crazy day!", he thought as he quickly fell asleep.
CHAPTER 6
Pikachu started to wake up. As he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see that it was still at night, hours before the sunrise.
He jumped from the nest thought about walking through the silent building, to assess his thoughts.
On one hand, Eevee deserved to be as happy as possible. He is supposed to be the one to care of Eevee. He was responsible for the kind of life he was making Eevee live.
On the other hand, he just couldn?t make it. It was just too much for him to continue, as he probably had to talk to the Raichu before taking Eevee back.
He sighed, and looked around for anything that may be of help. He found a pencil, not the kind that writes with, but a kind that does arts, and started to think. He loved to draw, so he relaxed himself a bit while sketching some of his happy old memories. Once he felt the tiredness come over him, he returned to his room, and fell asleep again.
"Aaaah!!!!" Pikachu screamed as he suddenly awoke. His eyes were wide open, and he could feel himself drenched in sweat, his heart was pounding so fast he thought he was going to die. He looked around to stabilize himself a bit.
He had been dreaming again. Pikachu wasn?t the type of Pokemon who disliked things in general, but he couldn?t help to hate dreaming, as it made him relive the painful past, so he would be happier if he could go to sleep every night without fearing what would he dream of.
As the sun was starting to rise, Pikachu decided to end his sleeping time, and prepare himself to take Eevee back. But first of all, he would have breakfast, as he didn?t feel very hungry before. As soon as he got up, he went to the dinning room and grabbed a thick juicy grape from the bowl on the table.
He swallowed it all, and just when he was about to leave, Espeon came in. For one time, Pikachu hoped that he would remain unnoticed by the polite Espeon, so he hadn?t had to give explanations. On top of that, it was really difficult to lie to her, as she could hear every thought, and read the expressions, so he didn?t have to think much for her to, if not reveal the truth by herself, be aware of his elusive intentions. Nevertheless, he was positive that she wouldn?t notice him if he waited for her to pass by, so she wasn?t facing in his direction.
Espeon went straight to the door, where she looked around to make sure there were no annoying Pokemmon around, and then she walked inside the dinning room, in order to have breakfast. Pikachu stood still in a darker corner, and hoped as hard as he could that she would just not notice him, and just go get her food and eat it.
Pikachu had luck, as Espeon was having a bit of a hard time waking up, and needed a little extra energy, so she just did as Pikachu thought, and when she sat in a chair to eat her breakfast, he ran as fast as he could to the door. When he was crossing the door, Espeon noticed him, but still wasn?t expecting to see him leave that way. As she then knew he was inside, and had to run through at least, a few tens of feet from the nearest tables to the entrance in the direction she saw him dissapear, came to the conclusion that there was an high probability that Pikachu saw her in some moment on his way out, so she was a bit confused of him leaving without saying nothing to her. It's not that she was the typical Pokemon who felt the center of the universe, rather the opposite, but it was strange for Pikachu to ignore any known face, due to his cheerful personality. As she couldn?t guess more than that without talking to him, she resumed her breakfast.
Pikachu then ran away from the "complex", and got the same bus line he rode yesterday night, so, in a short while, he was back at the hospital. He came through the same route, and entered the same waiting room he was in yesterday. Since it was still so early, nobody was there yet, and it would be easier to him to turn back Eevee where he belonged.
When he got to the entrance of the little Eevee's room, he feared to see 'someone? he had seen before sitting there. But, as if today was Pikachu's lucky day, only the Eevee was there.
"Eevee, are you okay?" He whispered to the cub, as he was standing very close to the door, to avoid anyone who was walking by to get curious.
"Y-Yes, I'm fine. Just leave me alone, please" said Eevee as he started to shake again.
"Sorry, but I can?t let you in here anymore" said Pikachu with a grin on his face, knowing that he needed a bit of psychology to get Eevee to come with him in friendly terms.
"Wha... what are you talking about?" said Eevee, very confused by his sudden appearance.
"You have to return back home, okay? I should have come yesterday."
"But... what about Raichu?" asked Eevee.
At the single mention to the Raichu, Pikachu's body stiffened again, as a very uncomfortable pressure packed up in his gut. Once he confirmed that there were no Raichu around, he continued talking to the cub.
"I'm sure Raichu is fine with you being discharged from the hospital"
"But... why? I don?t want to go back!"
"Just trust me, okay?"
"But I'm not even a good student, and I'm not very valuable for you."
"I don?t care about those little things" Pikachu sighed. "I know we're not in what everybody would call a "perfect" place, but now I'm going to ask you something. If you don?t come back to your room, where are you going to?" Pikachu asked.
"I... I don?t know. Maybe some trainer's house?" Eevee answered, looking at the floor, as if the answer were obvious. At the only mention of battling, Pikachu tried to get the idea out of his mind.
"It isn?t that easy. You see, powerful Pokemon like Raichu battle wildly for fame and money. If you aren?t really well prepared, they aren?t going to give you an opportunity to back up, so, for your own safety, you have to always avoid pokemon battling. Always" affirmed Pikachu.
"But Raichu seems nice, because wh..."
"NO!" Pikachu said in a loud tone "There are no nice pokemon who are made for battling. Only those who are dedicated to their helpful jobs alone are worthy of getting your thrust. So you are NOT staying here anymore. It's time to return home. It's for your safety."
"But... I...I... don?t want to, Please, Please" Eevee said as he started to sob uncontrollably.
"Look, I don?t want to hurt your feelings, but I just can?t let you continue to suffer like this. And by staying here, you aren?t going to achieve nothing."
Eevee got up, and as soon as he did, Pikachu felt a distressing feeling in his mind, as if it was about to happen something really disgusting.
"Eevee, we want to help you. We know you can do so much better, so we want to make you feel at home, bec..."
"My mother died!!", Eevee interrupted him, hurting his throat a bit by the sudden reaction. Pikachu closed his eyes sympathetically, as Eevee continued to talk in his sorrow: "Mommy really wanted to find me a new home, but she was already so sick that she wasn?t able do so. The last thing she said was that whatever happened to me, she would always love me..." As he kept shedding tears, heartbroken.
"I'm sorry, Eevee."
"Why, Pikachu?, Whyyy...?" Said Eevee between hiccups.
His job was what a lot of people would think of as a "too easy job". However, working in a Pokemon orphanage had his very noticeable downsides. How could him tell an Eevee cub that his mother isn?t going to return? How could he bring happiness to some stray cubs who shared such tragic backstories? It definitely wasn?t a job for the lighthearted.
"You need to calm down and rest Eevee. It's going to be alright, okay?"
"No..." The cub replied in an echoing voice.
Pikachu knelt down and, as if he knew what the cub wanted, whispered something in Eevee's ears: "It's okay. I'll always be here to support you and I'm going to work night and day to find you a new family. But now, I need you to trust me. You aren?t the first one in here, and many pokemon who lived here ended living a happy life. So let's see where this path takes us. That's what your late mother had wished for you, isn?t it?"
Pikachu stood up, gave his buddy a long embrace and gave one last shout of joy:
"Eevee! We are going to find a new family for you! Come on!"
Eevee whimpered, but slowly nodded his head. He knew that he had no chance other than wait for the events to occur. With that thought, he too smiled, although it was a much sadder smile than Pikachu's.
Pikachu then turned around and, after giving another sigh, he motioned Eevee to follow him, and in a hour, they were both back at the orphanage. Pikachu felt that he had done a really good job, so he could relax and take care about another issues.
However, later that day, in the evening, Espeon was taking a calm stroll around the entrance hall, when she spotted a particularly worried Raichu looking for somebody. Espeon quickly got closer to her, and, as she got nearer, Raichu fixed her look at Espeon, as if telling her that she needed to ask her something.
"Hello, how can I help you?" Espeon asked.
"Well, the other day, while I was volunteering at the hospital, an Eevee cub came in and I was asked to supervise him until he was discharged. But when I got there in the morning, he wasn?t in his room anymore. His direction in the registry matches with this building, and I wanted to make sure he is okay." Raichu spoke quietly, almost too quietly, trying not to draw attention.
"Wow, that must have been awful. Did you do a search for him around the place? Or perhaps a little...?" Espeon slowed down and didn?t finish the sentence as she remembered the other day's events. She had an idea about this, as she knew that Pikachu was involved in this Eevee's care.
"I don?t know where he is now, but if you prefer, I'm going to find the employee in charge of him." Raichu paused for a while, then said "Thank you, really."
Espeon just smiled and left the place. She didn?t know if the cub was in class or not, but she knew that she had an urge to try to find Pikachu, so she decided to search for him. Now, she used her psychic abilities to try to locate Pikachu with success, as he wasn?t too far away. She just went up to him and in a while, finally saw him teaching a game to a group of cubs. She approached him.
"Hi, Pikachu!"
Pikachu turned around, and then she knew she had him.
"I'm sorry to appear here all of a sudden, but I've been asked for the little Eevee who was at the hospital" She told him.
Pikachu didn?t want to continue with that issue, and decided to continue the teaching. He pointed to the little cubs, who were busy playing with each other.
"They are just testing how strong they are with each other, you know?"
Espeon just laughed at his answer. "There is more to training than testing. It's a really good activity, but you didn?t answer my question"
Pikachu scratched his head. "How am I supposed to know where he is? this is my first time working with Eevee"
Espeon was atill a bit confused. "Are you sure you haven?t seen him?" She insisted.
"I've met other Eevee in my life. If I were to see one, I'm sure I could remember him" He said without thinking. That was an important issue, because that was the only way to keep Espeon's powers at bay.
"It's okay, if you don?t remember, tell me when you see him, ok?"
"Yes, don?t worry" replied Pikachu while playfully poking the little cubs.
Espeon was surprised at his answer, but knew that she just couldn?t ignore Raichu, as she took her responsibility so seriously that she even went there to the orphanage to make Eevee's return less traumatic for him.
As Espeon made her way back to the entrance, she was surprised to see that the Raichu stood there, waiting for her. As soon as Espeon entered to the reception hall, Raichu quickly walked to her, and asked if she had found him.
She shook her head, but let Raichu in so that she could search for him herself. "Thank you so much!" she said, as she ran in to find Eevee.
"Thank you so much!" she said, as Raichu ran in to find Eevee.
CHAPTER 7
Raichu, knowing the cub's nature, knew that she had to find the one in charge. Raichu didn?t think the little Eevee was ready to be with other kids, as he is undergoing a difficult moment, and she just couldn?t let him suffer.
She started to look for the caretaker, knowing that he was a Pikachu. But it was difficult to search for someone who is rather small, having in count the size of the building and the lots of cubs that ran all over the place, as today's lessons were over.
She headed to the receptionist, and asked her about the caretaker. "Please" she started, "can you help me find the nurse or the caretaker of Eevee?"
The receptionist couldn?t give her an answer. She knew that all the cubs were taken care of, but there were so many that it was impossible for just one worker to watch all of them.
That's when Raichu was informed about different caretakers, but she was told by the receptionist that she remembered who could inform her about them in depth, so she could discover who had taken the little one in.
"Thank you so much!" exclaimed Raichu, as she looked around to find the director of the residence section, where the cubs? rooms were. As she walked in the main hall of that building, she could spot Mrs. Millers.
"Excuse me, but I have something to ask you" She said, hoping that Mrs. Millers would hear her.
"Oh, hello! have you been here before?" the director replied, as she didn?t remember any Raichu.
"Well, I haven?t been here before. I'm looking for is Mrs. Millers. My name is Raichu, and I'm looking for her" she explained.
"Oh, that's so nice!" exclaimed Mrs. Millers, as she shook Raichu's paw, and introduced herself. "I don?t recall seeing you before, but maybe you've seen me earlier. I'm Mrs. Millers. Nice to meet you, Raichu" Responded in a polite tone. "What brings you around?"
"I'm here to visit an Eevee cub who was discharged from the hospital earlier today. I was told that someone came to pick him up, but nobody informed me." answered Raichu as she rubbed her cheek with her paw.
"Well, how about I show you around. Come along. You can say hello to the rest of the cubs" she said, as she opened the door to the residence section of the building, and motioned for Raichu to follow her.
As they were walking through the halls, the director pointed out the many different cubs in the residence section.
"Now this is Litten. He's only two years old, but he's already so amazing. He's like a lion, except he is a little smaller." the director said in an humorous tone as she pointed to a little baby Litten, who was playing with a thread.
"And this one's Dedenne. He's only a year old, but he can already open doors." As they approached the cubs? rooms, Mrs. Millers showed Raichu how the cubs liked to play with each other.
"And that's Millie, Marbles, Dilbert and Robbie. Now these four are all siblings, and they live together. This one's like a mother hen, while the one next to her is like a son, and the one next to him is like a daughter. And that's Bogles. He's just a baby, but when he grows up, he's gonna be an even more powerful leader. We had to give names to identify each one of them."
"Oh, I see" She smiled, as she looked at the numerous Rattata in a group. As they slowly walked through the building, Raichu kept looking here and there, searching for an Eevee, but it was hard to find him in a place packed of baby Pokemon.
"And that's one Eevee that was in a catatonic state" explained Mrs. Millers, as Raichu's attention was quickly draw to the Eevee cub. "I think he had some emotional trauma. He was really sensitive to the touch. We had to wait until he fell asleep to transfer him here. It's not what we would have liked for him, but we had no other choice."
"Oh, that's so nice! it must be hard to be so traumatized" Raichu responded, as she saw him sitting against a wall. After checking that he was the cub she was looking for, thanked Mrs. Millers for her help, and she leaned against the wall beside the cub, and he suddenly opened his eyes, and looked at Raichu.
"Hello. I'm Raichu, do you remember me?" she said. "I'm here to visit you."
"Oh, so are you the same one that I talked to yesterday?" he responded in a shocked tone. "I haven?t seen anyone like you before, so I remember you."
"Oh yeah, well, when I arrived to the hospital, the nurses told me that you?d been transferred here, so I decided to visit you" She said. "What happened to you, Eevee?"
"Well, Pikachu just took me out, and told me that..." Then, Eevee remembered that Pikachu had told him to keep away from Pokemon species that were made for fighting, for example Raichu.
As soon as he processed the talk Pikachu gave him, he just stopped talking, and kept silent.
"What did Pikachu told you?" She asked, as she looked at the frightened Eevee. As she looked at him, she noticed a brown bandage on his head.
"H-how did you get hurt?" Raichu asked in a shocked tone.
Eevee was frightened to talk to Raichu. But, as he was so near to her, he thought that if he didn?t answer, Raichu could hurt him badly before he was able to run away from her. "Well, Pikachu said it was dangerous to fight other pokemon, and then he took me away from the hospital" He said with a blank stare "When I came back, I saw tho other cubs playing, and I wanted to play too, but they told me to leave" He said in a serious tone " And, I was scared, and, I didn?t want to do it, so, I just... I ran away... And hit my head on a door." He said with a teary eyed face. "Pikachu was right. Pokemon like me and him can?t fight anyone."
"That's really hard to hear." Raichu said in a depressed tone, as she realized that the Eevee's caretaker must be a Pikachu. "Would you like to tell me where is the Pikachu who helped you to come back?"
She asked, as she looked at the cub, who felt very pressured by her.
"Ok" Eevee said. "He is coming back in five minutes" as he looked towards one of the back doors. "I will wait here. I will stay here until he arrives, okay?"
"Ok, Raichu." Eevee said as he started to walk away. Raichu thought about asking the Eevee to stay, but as he seemed to be so nervous and scared, preferred to let him do as he pleased.
As Eevee said, five minutes later, Pikachu entered the room. At first, he stared searching for Eevee and started to search for him, but he found someone who wasn?t expexted to be there.
As soon as he saw a Raichu standing there, he felt an immense fear, which made him freeze in place. He then tried to talk to another cub to show him a game, hoping that the Raichu wouldn?t notice him, but this time, he wasn?t so lucky, because as soon as he started to talk to a random cub to face backwards her, the Raichu saw him and quickly ran to his side, and presented herself.
"Hi, Pikachu." Raichu said as she looked at him with a warm smile. Pikachu felt the terror run through his veins, as she didn?t just spotted him, but went straight to talk to him. Pikachu felt a strong pressure in his chest, as he realized that this Raichu really wanted him to talk to her.
"Hi" he said to her as he sat down, put his ears down and his tail laid on the ground. He tried to hide his fear and talk to her, as he needed to be seen as a cheerful leader by the little cubs, but he just couldn?t do it, as he was completely terrified by Raichu.
"You're Pikachu, right?" She asked him. Pikachu was so afraid, that he felt like a small child, because he was still unable to talk to Raichu properly.
"Yes" Pikachu replied.
"Well, do you know anything about Eevee? He seems to know you very well" Raichu said, giving a small pat on the shoulder to the smaller Pikachu, trying to ease him into the conversation.
"No" Pikachu said, as he couldn?t talk to Raichu at all, as she was too much for him.
He didn?t know how to respond to her, so he just sat there and stared at the ground.
"Well, Eevee just told me that he knows you very well." Raichu said, as she looked over at Pikachu, as she noticed him looking down.
She just looked up to him and smiled "Do you now remember who Eevee is?".
Pikachu started to squirm. It took him a second to process what Raichu had just said. He started to feel uneasy, because she had just implied that she knew him very well, as Eevee told her about him.
He was scared of the possibility that she was going to ask him to battle, to train or something like that. But Raichu smiled, and just looked back at him, as if she was trying to make him feel better. However, he didn?t have the courage to talk to her as he felt his lips stick together. Finally, he could just answer "Yes".
"So Pikachu, I just want to say thank you, as I know it was hard for you to care for Eevee, and I know you really love him." Pikachu started to nod and he gave his head a shake.
Raichu just looked at him and smiled. She felt very special in this place, she felt good and comfortable there. She felt like she would be one with the cubs, one of the ?family?, and she felt she knew how to comfort them and give them the company they needed.
"You know Pikachu, it is very nice to meet you" Raichu said, before turning back to leave the room. She didn?t notice it, but he looked at her with a very sad expression on his face.
Before leaving, she spotted Eevee again, running behind her, and a smile on his face. "Oh, there's Eevee!" Raichu said in a playful tone as Eevee stopped, looking back at Raichu, a confused look on his face.
"Will you visit me again someday?" Eevee asked, his eyes fluttering. Raichu had to think about this for a second. She really liked Eevee, he was a very cute little boy, and it seemed she was his friend. Raichu was sure she would do whatever she could to keep Eevee happy. She just couldn?t imagine him being so alone. She knew that Pikachu did his best to try and help him, but there were so many cubs that, in the end, it was too much for him to handle. "Of course I will!" Raichu said, not wanting Eevee to be alone in his time of need.
Eevee looked at Raichu with a look of wonderment on his face.
As she waved goodbye and left the room, Raichu searched for Mrs. Millers, trying to find her, and when she finally found her, she was surprised to see that she gestured her to come. Raichu followed her down the hallway, as she led Raichu to the entrance hall, where Mrs. Millers talked to Raichu "I have seen how well you have done with Eevee, and I am happy to see that he has finally found someone who he can confide in. I think we can make the best of this by allowing you to visit him weekly. He has never really been allowed to exit the building by himself, but, with you and Pikachu by his side, he is sure to be able to go for a walk and go to the movies or play with you when he feels like it. It will be a pleasure to have you around, Raichu."
Raichu couldn?t feel better. Raichu felt a huge amount of happiness as she was accepted to volunteer in a place where she really could help Eevee. Raichu's eyes got big as she nodded to Mrs. Millers, as she smiled back at Raichu. Soon after, the paperwork was done, and Raichu officially became a member of the team.
CHAPTER 8
Soon, days went by, and Pikachu was kept occupied with new tasks, like finding more Pokemon and giving advice to Eevee and all the other Pokemon, as well as being a second pair of eyes for the other staff as the cubs were being taught at classes. The rest of the week went by with Pikachu checking on Eevee almost every day. As Saturday came, Pikachu awoke peacefully and yawned, as he walked through the streets of the residential distict, wondering what could he do today to help the cubs to feel a little better. As he kept walking, he came to the conclusion that the best thing to do would be to go into the city and take a walk through the commercial district, as the cubs were surprised by the large amount of shops, making them feel very excited about the new surroundings. As he got closer to the cinema, Pikachu thought about going with the kids to the cinema. Definitely worth a chance. As he finished his daily walk through the city, he came back to the orphanage.
"Hello!" Pidgeot said. "Hey guys, Pikachu has returned!" informed to his peers "I hope you have had a good day, Pikachu" added Espeon.
"Thank you guys!" replied Pikachu. "Are there any news today?"
"We have had quite a lot of news this week, Pikachu." Espeon said "It seems that Eevee is doing really well. He hasn?t been spending too much time in the corner, and he's been around the cubs a lot more than we had expected. He's even asked to go the cinema with a few of them to see Pokemon: Ultraheroes, which the staff are happy about, as they want Eevee to feel a little more comfortable. Another good thing has happened as well, a new volunteer will help the cubs on a weekly basis. The name will be revealed in the afternoon, after having lunch, but we know she is a female!"
Pikachu was incredibly happy with this news. It was finally revealed that he will finally be helped out with helping to improve the orphanage's performance, as she would be part of the team. "Awesome." he said, smiling and raising his head "Can I see her? Oh wait, she's coming later!" Pikachu said in utter excitement. Everyone knew he takes his job seriously, hence the cubs always had a great time with him. Having someone new here would entice Pikachu to instruct her, so he could take his needed rest more often.
After they had left to have lunch in the dining room area, they met Mrs. Millers at the hall. When she was sure everyone interested had arrived and were seated, she began.
"Good day everyone. Welcome to the general meeting I have urgently convoked" Mrs. Millers announced, "Well, I have very important news to tell you, which is that you all are getting a new volunteer!"
There was a big round of cheers, as the cubs were incredibly happy. After silence was made again, Mrs. Millers contunued her speech. "She's a very nice Pokemon, who likes to play and be active, and she loves to be around cubs and adults. She is also very friendly and will always be a good friend to you all." she said, "And yes, she is very much the type of Pokemon that isn?t afraid to help others, regardless of who they are or the needs they have. Without further ado, let's give our new volunteer a cheerful welcome!".
The room was filled with cheers and excitement, as Mrs. Millers proceeded to call said volunteer. "Give a warm welcome to Raichu!"
Pikachu just couldn?t believe what he was hearing, "Oh my god!" he muttered, and his eyes widened in horror. "Why a Raichu?" he then asked to himself.
A seconds later, he heard the very loud roar from the room subside, as the camera in the room zoomed to the direction of the Raichu. The cubs were a little bit scared when the cameraman first appeared, but they recovered quickly. It could be seen at a glance that Raichu is an energetic pokemon which loved to play and was very eager to interact with everyone. "Hello." said Raichu, giving a cheerful smile.
"Hello, Raichu." replied the cubs.
"Can I have a hug?" she asked, still smiling, then she opened her arms, as lots of kids ran to her to hug her tightly. She seemed to had tears of joy in her eyes. "Thank you!" she said, as her face turned red in embarassment.
"You're welcome, Raichu." answered Mrs. Millers, the contagious smile already in her face. "Now, I've arranged for all the employees to help me give you some of your well-deserved welcome party!" Mrs. Milles said to Raichu and motioned her to come, once the cubs had ?crushed? her a bit.
"All right." said Raichu, as she followed her new boss. She and Mrs. Millers, along with the young ones, walked to the dining room and enjoyed the delicious buffet lunch that was set up. It was a huge feast, with lots of dishes for all types of tastes, which were explained by Mrs. Millers to the cubs who weren?t able to tell what they were. "See those plates there?" she asked, indicating a tall table full of fruits and vegetables. "Those are some of the most common types of fruits and vegetables, which we try to add some variety and freshness to our diets." As the cubs were amazed at the sight of huge amounts of food.
"There are a lot of different vegetables, both for regular diets and special diets, for example, grass species which are suited for light foods tend to get sick if they eat spicy food" continued Mrs. Millers. "Those nuts are high in vitamins, they're also high in fiber and calcium and are great sources of fat and protein. The best food for an energetic lifestyle!" She then started picking some fruit which was on the plates. "These apples and oranges here seem like pretty good choices." The cubs didn?t really know what a carrot or a bunch of celery was, but didn?t have any objections. This way, she ensured that the cubs ate healthy food before desserts, and taught Raichu how to convince them to eat what they need, instead of what they want.
"Now, Raichu, would you like some of those?, I'm sure you're quite hungry by now" asked Mrs. Millers, as the cubs ran to the table and ate their food. Raichu looked around her, and decided on a bunch of bananas. She then walked towards the table, and picked one, and then jogged back to the camera. "Bye!" she shouted, and waved to the camera, as it was shut down. It wasn?t a TV show, but it would be a nice memory to remember by the time she grows older. She then went over to the staff table and sat down, where tens of humans and pokemon who worked there shared a meal with one another. She had a nice time there, as she also met Celeste, and so many others. She also heard about a retired volunteer named Carl. Apparently, he was very loved by many of the employees and had a lot of great times with the pokemon who resided there, and visited the orphanage frequently while he was able to.
After the meal was done, Raichu told her new peers in a cheerful voice "That was nice, wasn?t it? You all have a good appetite, it seems" she said as everyone laughed at the fact that there were no food left.
Once the night fell, everyone said goodbye to each other before going back to the residential section, leaving the staff alone. "So, Raichu, how was your first day?" asked Mrs. Millers, as she didn?t have any obvious chance to ask the new employee.
"It was great. I really liked it here. So many baby Pokemon who are all so nice, playful and full of life." Raichu answered, surprised at the great welcome she was given. As Mrs. Millers knew that Raichu listened very seriously what she said, decided to motivate her to do her best.
"We want them to go to loving and caring homes, but, for now their life depends on us. They're still very young, and only a handful of them might walk the correct path in life if we don?t teach them the right values. You, Raichu, have a very bright future as a caretaker. I'm sure that with the training you'll get here, you'll definitely change the life of everyone here."
"But, how do you believe in me? I haven?t done anything to deserve that." replied the Raichu, remembering that she was offered the position after visiting only once.
"A wise man taught me once how to discern who can really enjoy this job, and you definitely do. But, what really matters is that you keep coming back here, and care for all the pokemon here on weekends, so they can have fun with you, instead of letting their minds focus on their past memories. That's what really matters." Said Mrs. Millers.
"I'll do my best." Said Raichu, who was truly touched by the words.
"Well then, I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of you, and your pokemon family in here, Mrs. Millers." said Raichu.
"Do yo want me to show your new room?" Said Mrs. Millers, who smiled at her.
"Yes! Thank you!" Raichu shouted, with a big smile on her face.
A couple of minutes later, they got to her new room.
"Here it is, Raichu! Your new room! Since you don?t obviously don?t have to work all night long, this is your own personal place to relax, exercise, or whatever you feel to do in your free time. Feel free to come here anytime you want, this is your second home. Oh! and I nearly forgot it! There are also staff rooms, where you can talk between yourselves without some pesky cubs overhearing you. There's nothing bad in it, but maybe you prefer to talk to the other employees in a more private environment." Mrs. Millers finished. "If you have any doubt, don?t hesitate to ask me".
Raichu said nothing. She felt so lucky, being given a chance to feel comfortable doing what she liked the most, and not have to worry about other's hurtful opinions. This made her emotional, and she felt so happy.
"That's all Raichu. I hope you enjoy this new chapter in your life. Now it's a bit late, so get some rest and get ready for tomorrow, okay?" Mrs. Millers said, and Raichu gave her a smile.
"Okay Mrs. Millers." Raichu said, before saying goodbye to each other.
She entered the room, went to her bed, lay down on it, and stared at the ceiling for a while, thinking about the events that happened today. It was a very happy day for her, and she enjoyed her day in all its beauty. But there were some things that she wanted to do next weeks, like finding Eevee a new family, or learn more about her colleagues.
CHAPTER 9
Even though she wouldn?t visit daily, Raichu thought that it would be good if she spent the day here today, in order to properly learn the place, the rules, and meet the rest of her peers.
As soon as she woke up, she prepared herself and waited outside her room, until someone else appeared. Soon, she saw a pokemon entering the corridor. It was Espeon, who was the only one awake at the moment, as she had been training.
"Good morning, Espeon! I see you're awake already." Raichu said.
Espeon gave her a cheerful nod. "Good morning, Raichu! How's your night going so far? You must be tired after the events yesterday, huh?" Espeon replied.
Raichu blushed. "Espeon, I can?t believe that we're in the same place at the same time." She said, with a nervous laugh, as she scolded herself for saying such a silly thing.
"Well, it's a bit surprising, but what can I say?" Espeon replied. "We had a great time together, and we might be working together in the future. You're in a pretty good place, Raichu. Don?t give up on it. I know you can do it, and I'll do anything to help you."
Raichu was a little bit awestruck. She didn?t expect Espeon, to be so nice.
"Thank you, Espeon!" Raichu said, with a big smile on her face.
Espeon continued talking to her, as Raichu seemed to eager to know everything she needed.
"Well, the first place you want to know is, well, are the staff rooms on each building in the complex. Another place the cubs like so much is the special gym in the center. They also have different types of training charts. From battle to training to simple social activity. Also, from the looks of things, there's going to be a tag tournament with the Pokemon around this time." Espeon explained, excitedly, as she continued describing the place.
Raichu turned her head to her left, and saw Espeon's pokemon food, which looked so delicious. After seeing Espeon's food, she began to feel hungry, and Espeon noticed that she was surprised by this.
"I know, you're probably thinking what Espeon had to eat today. Well, don?t worry about food. There's a great cooking team that cook good food for everyone in each day, and the vegetables and meat are cooked by a man named Mr. Wallbanger, who even makes the roast himself. His recipes are really good." Espeon told her. Raichu was a bit shocked as she didn?t though it out loud.
"And what about the other workers in our group?" asked Raichu.
Espeon gave her a carefree look.
"Sceptile is the most outgoing of the group. He doesn?t hesitate to throw jokes around with any of the co-workers. Even kids that are a bit older are usually comfortable with him. He's so tiring sometimes, but it's worth it. Pidgeot is a bit naive pokemon. While she cares a lot about her peers, she likes to act like she's more immature than others. However, she's a really good pokemon and very smart." Espeon added.
"And Pikachu is... Just the sweetest of them all. He is really very lovable. No matter how you act around him, he always gives you a warm and happy smile. Everyone here agrees that Pikachu is a very unique pokemon."
Raichu thanked her for the introductions, and asked Espeon to lead her to the dinning room.
"Follow me, Raichu!"
Espeon didn?t even turn her head to look at Raichu as she walked toward the dinning room.
When they got there, they saw the cooks cooking up the food for their fellow workers. After the cooks finished serving their first meals, Raichu couldn?t help but stare at them in wonder, as the food that was being served looked delicious! Without hesitating, Raichu went to the order area, and, after being served and receiving Espeon's permission, she started eating.
As soon as they finished breakfast, they saw a large group of pokemon starting to order, Pikachu among them.
Espeon soon spotted him and quickly headed towards him.
"Pikachu!" Espeon said, excitedly, as she approached him. Pikachu was also ordering a rather good breakfast, as he woke up rather hungry.
"Good morning!" Pikachu replied with a smile, as he looked at Espeon.
"Good morning, Pikachu! I see you woke up a bit late today. Any good breakfast here?" Espeon asked as she sat down next to him.
Pikachu frowned to the floor with an angry expression, after hearing her making fun of his sleep habits, but soon, his eyes lit up with a huge smile, and he turned his head to Espeon.
"Anything it's served today is good for me! I'm starving!" He said, as he ordered two large breakfasts and a plate of bacon.
Espeon stared at Pikachu for a while, wondering how can he be so hungry already.
Raichu was also staring at them, wondering about what were they talking.
"Come here to sit with us. We're having a great time together!" said Espeon, as Pikachu became confused. The others were still up in their rooms, hence, no one should be accompanying Espeon.
"Us?" replied Pikachu.
Espeon then replied "Yes silly, Raichu is already at the table! We're having a great time together!" She added with a smile.
She looked back at Raichu, who was sat down at a distant table, staring at them.
"See! Your breakfast is ready! Come with me and sit with us!" Espeon said, as she used telekinesis to take Pikachu's order to the table.
Pikachu's personality turned rather cold at the thought of having to share table with Raichu for minutes.
He sat down at the table, but only looked at Espeon, as he started to eat his meal really fast. "Hi Pikachu!" Raichu greeted him.
He just stared at the table with a blank expression.
Espeon smiled and waited for Pikachu to respond.
"Hi Raichu! Great to see you!" He said as he returned to staring at the table.
Raichu insisted a bit "Don?t be shy! I'm happy to see you!" She added with a friendly smile.
Pikachu didn?t answer anymore, so Raichu tried again "Are you okay?" She asked as she got a little worried.
Pikachu just shrugged as he continued to eat his breakfast, but soon he felt Espeon's presence in his mind. He was left in a more relaxed state of mind, so he could at least answer something coherent without panicking.
"I'm fine. Thank you for asking. Are you comfortable here?" He answered as he looked at Raichu, and she smiled back to him.
"Oh yeah, I like the atmosphere! But where are you guys from?" She said with a smile
She looked at the others, seeing that they too seemed quite at ease.
"I am from the Kanto region!" Pikachu replied, and the others nodded in agreement.
"Hmm...So, where are you from?" He asked, curious to know more about the new people around him
Raichu nodded "Kanto forests are also my home, where I spent my cubhood."
Pikachu and Espeon nooded in agreement, before they heard Raichu continue.
"But now I'm staying this city. It's a nice place, especially its colorful ever-changing views through the year." She said.
"Hm...so you're a new resident?" Espeon asked.
"Yup!" Raichu answered "I just came here a few weeks ago."
"Really? Are you enjoying your stay so far?" She asked.
"I am, and I am very excited about what's to come." Raichu responded with a grin.
"I see! Well, you will enjoy this experience for the long haul! If you have any doubts of what to do, you can always ask Pikachu or me to help!" Espeon nodded afterwards, then she began to walk away, leaving the chu duo alone.
"Well Pikachu, what are you doing now?" Raichu asked, as he stood still. "I'm heading to a nearby park where I think there might be some Pokemon in need" Pikachu stated.
"Can I help?" Raichu asked.
Pikachu was then again really uncomfortable with Raichu's request to help. Pikachu then turned to Raichu and started to shake. "Y...Y..." he whispered. Raichu was starting to get nervous, as if something might go wrong. The male then decided that he would just let her go, fearing he might get hurt. "Alright," he said, and headed to the park, looking at the floor the entire walk.
Raichu soon began to think why Pikachu was acting so nervous, as he couldn?t articulate what he was thinking. A little later, the two finally came to a really large and crouded park, with several hundred PokA(c)mon playing there. "So, whats this?" Raichu asked, walking up to the entrance.
The entrance of the park was a small red-lit pathway, and there were a small waterfall. Raichu walked up to there, where a few water pokemon were bathing. What she didn?t expect was that as soon as she turned back, Pikachu dissapeared.
"Pikachu!" she shouted. Raichu then looked back, but there was no Pikachu. " He got away!" she thought. After a long time searching for him, she realized that the area was too large to find Pikachu, and he wasn?t coming back to her, so she decided to go back to her home, thinking on what to do the next weekend to entertain the cubs, but a bit annoyed with herself because she couldn?t find Pikachu.
-------------------------
Later that day, once night felt, Pikachu came back to the orphanage, and, as soon as he entered the main hall, found Sceptile standing there, throwing paper balls in a bin, or more accurately, near a bin. "Ouch! that one was near!" Sceptile groaned.
"Hi guy! How's going" Pikachu asked him.
Sceptile sighed. "Meh. Just an average training day. But I just saw a paper ball and decided to sit here until I get it in the bin. Why is it so hard?!"
"I dunno, I just can wish you luck," he replied, and with that he made a cute OK sign with his paw. "Whatever" Sceptile replied. "How about you?"
Pikachu nodded his head, but then, he remembered what he did to escape from Raichu, and, logically, he shouldn?t tell it to Sceptile, since he is another member of the team, and would probably use that information to make some fun of him. "Today, I had an acceptable day. I went with Raichu to the park, and taught her how to solve some of the common cubs problems, you know, like sharing a meal or playing harsh games" Pikachu replied in a playful tone, trying to hide his feelings. "Sounds like fun" replied Sceptile.
As Pikachu left him playing ?basketbin?, he decided to end this day as soon as possible, so he went directly to his room, laid down on his nest, and slowly went asleep, remembering the bitter memories lived today.
CHAPTER 10
Pikachu woke up in a comfortable bed. It was a sunny day, and he was in the backyard of an old house. He could see the trees outside, and could smell the sun on the freshly plucked grass.
The Pikachu slowly walked out the door and saw the entire backyard. He saw a tree next to him with a small opening in it. "That is where I come every morning when it is sunny outside. I came here because there is a nice view and I can take some rest." A boy in his late teens said.
The Pikachu nodded. It was a good way to start the morning. "Do you know what are we doing today? I just thought about it, and I think it would be a nice idea to have some outdoor training."
"Yeah, I know what you mean buddy" The boy answered. "Don?t worry, we're going to the city today, where we will be fighting against different trainers and Pokemon."
Pikachu smiled happily at his trainer. He definitely likes it when his trainer takes him out. But, what he really loves is the peaceful and good vibe his friendly relationship with that human was.
"Make sure to be finished with breakfast in time, so we don?t have to go walking, like last time" Pikachu's trainer asked.
"You got it" the Pikachu replied.
As soon as they had finished, Pikachu and his trainer started to walk towards the train station, which laid near the gym they had previously met. After an hour of swift walking, they got to see a impressive building surrounded by railways.
"It's pretty high!" he exclaimed. "Have you been here before?"
"Well, I haven?t". Pikachu was excited for the adventure he was about to start. The young trainer also felt the same way. After all, being able to travel to the capital city of the region was the best thing he could've wished for.
As he sat on the train, he watched through the window the changing landscapes until they reached the city.
However, as he left the train station, a rush of memories started to come to him. They all flowed, flooding his mind. Soon, he started to panic, thinking about what was to come. Soon, he felt everything turning black.
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He immediately jumped on his nest, realizing that he was having his typical nightmares again. They always happened every time he thought he was able to leave his past behind.
The Pikachu sat, shaking. He knew that something bad would happen to him in the future. A heavy weight hung on his chest, as he tried to regain his consciousness.
"RAAHH!" He groaned in frustation, as he felt his angst pushing down on his chest, making it hard to breathe.
After half an hour the Pikachu finally felt a feeling of calm through him, as he came to the conclusion that it was only a nightmare.
But, just as he started to relax, he noticed that it was almost time to wake up.
"Time to have breakfast" He exclaimed, as he jumped to the table, and opened a tupper with some berries he took weekly from the nearby park. It wasn?t as good as the breakfast menu from there, but it was still good enough for Pikachu's standards, and it was also a good way to start the day without unwanted company.
As soon as he was done eating, he sat on his nest, and started to thing how the last five days after Raichu left had been. He soon smiled as he remembered what had happened.
One day, he had started to talk to Eevee about the place people called "The Cinema". It was a really big room, which was decorated with a massive white curtain. Then, a good movie was usually shown there every Saturday. Eevee looked interested, but he couldn?t talk back to Pikachu as he didn?t know what a cinema was, so he decided to go to the cinema this Saturday with the cubs. He then waited a bit until wake-up time, and as soon as the cubs finished to have their breakfast, Pikachu got out of his room and went to search for Eevee. As it was weekend, he would be probably in his room.
When he arrived at Eevee's room, he could see him lying in his nest, and he had a big bowl of chocolate milk on the table. Eevee was just drinking, and the Pikachu took a few steps forward.
"Hey, Eevee" he said, "I'm going to the cinema this Saturday. Want to come with me?"
"Yeah!" Eevee replied happily.
"Awesome! There's only one question I need to know" Pikachu continued. "Do you want to invite someone?"
Eevee looked surprised, and he asked for a moment. He was a shy cub and didn?t had a lot of friends. But, Pikachu knew that he had to try. So, he smiled and tried to convince him "Think about it, if you talk with other kids about the film, you'll have some more friends".
Eevee considered the idea, then nodded. "Sure" he said, "I guess I'll invite a few peers!".
"Alright, then, I'll leave now, and we'll meet in the front hall to go there".
"Okay!" Eevee replied.
Pikachu thought for a moment. He liked Saturdays, as it was a lot easier to interact with the cubs in a more relaxed environment.
With that, he walked outside, and walked around the park. He was thinking about the day that was to come, until Pidgeot saw him. Pidgeot was a friendly bird, so she didn?t thaw to the idea of staying at home on her own on Saturday.
"Hey, Pikachu" she shouted.
Pikachu immediately answered "Hey, Pidgeot" with a smile, and he waved at her. She then flew to him, and landed in front of him.
"Hey, Pidgeot" He said happily. "Wanna go with me to the cinema with Eevee?"
Pidgeot nodded "Sure, I'll come with you. Are you inviting the others?" she added.
Pikachu then though about Espeon, Sceptile, Carracosta, Hitmonchan, and others who worked with him more or less frequently. "Of course, I will tell them as soon as I find them."
"Alright" Pidgeot replied happily, and then she flew with him back to the complex.
As soon as they landed back in their place, Pikachu invited one by one to all the people he worked with, and also some kind cubs who could chat with Eevee.
But then he remembered today was Saturday. Raichu was visiting the place today. So, Pikachu decided to go out for a walk again until it was time to go to the cinema. Luckily, he would be able to avoid Raichu for this week.
"Ok" he said "I'm going to take the tickets now. If anyone else shows up, you can go with them."
It wasn?t more than ten minutes until he left, thinking that he would now enjoy a Raichu-free Saturrday evening. However, he was soon surprised. "Hey, Pikachu!"
Pikachu turned, and saw that it was Raichu. "Oh, hi Raichu" he said, thinking as fast as he could to come up with something. "I didn?t see you there, you look like you're in a hurry. Is it true?"
Raichu smiled "Not really. I was looking for you, I've been thinking about some things we could do to entertain the kids today."
Pikachu felt very frightened to tell her that he already planned something to do. Something to avoid HER, to be more precise.
"You mean you'll play games with the kids?" He said, trying to make her talk more, so he could think of a better way to convince her out of his plans.
"Yeah"
Pikachu's eyes widened. "That's a really nice idea, Raichu"
"It was, but Espeon told me that you were going to the cinema today. She said that you'll invite some of your friends."
Pikachu thought about what to do now. She didn?t just discovered his plans, but was also invited to join them. The look in her eyes showed that she was very keen on the idea, so he tried to come up with another excuse. But when he noticed Raichu staring at him, he thought that the best idea was to try to make her loathe to come, so she won?t want to get into it.
"You don?t have to come if you don?t want, Raichu" he said with his most cheerful voice. "We are going to see a kids movie, which isn?t the best type of thing for adults to watch."
Pikachu felt really scared now. He really wished to convince Raichu, because he had run out of arguments by now.
Raichu was quite pleased by this offer, and nodded. "That's perfect. I'll go to the cinema with them. I know you want the cubs to have fun, so that's a great choice!"
Pikachu was very stressed to hear this, because he felt very pressured around Raichu, but Pikachu came with an excellent idea to stay at home himself. "Well, it's better if you are the one who goes with them. If there are a lot of us in there, the cubs may get distracted, and nobody wants that, right?"
"Of course" Raichu replied. "But you can come as well, since you are the one who invited me. I don?t like to know you are spending time alone, and Eevee will sure be very happy."
"Ok.." Pikachu said shyly. He was impressed how Raichu seemed to care about him, and wanted to make his friendship with her stronger. Even though she probably had already noted his shyness towards her, she kept trying to be close to him.
"Just let me go to the tickets" he said. Raichu smiled and said "Yeah, of course. See you later!".
She left, leaving him alone. Pikachu's mind was upside down right now. He had found everyone in the complex today, but as he went out to be sure he missed Raichu, she appeared right behind him, asking him to join.
His plan had failed, and he started wondering what to do next. He decided to buy the tickets, as he had to do it anyway. As he went to the kiosk, he noticed that the tickets for the kids movie were about to be sold, so he hurried up to get them.
Soon, he was back in the dining room, having launch with everyone who were going to the cinema. He bought the tickets, and waited for everyone to pick them.
"Thank you for inviting us" said Eevee, his tail wagging happily. He looked at the ticket in his paw and giggled, looking at the title of the movie.
"It's called "Mew", and I have no idea why we are going to watch it" he said, hiding his giggles. "It's ok. I think it's a great movie" a litten cub answered him.
Pikachu decided not to reply. He might had found an excuse to keep himself from attending the movie.
"Well, the popcorn is free. You can have as much as you want" said Vixie, looking at him. The Vulpix cub had been to the cinema before, and her favourite part was the popcorn.
"Oh" said Pikachu, smiling at her. He got up and started to walk towards the door.
Vixie followed him and asked "where are you going?"
"I have a small errand to do" he said. "I will be back in a moment".
Vixie nodded and walked behind him.
Pikachu watched Vixie follow, and as soon as he noticed, told her to go play with Eevee and the others.
Pikachu really wanted to be as cheerful as he could, but his fear of Raichu was taking the best of him. After sitting down, he put his head in his paws and closed his eyes. He was so nervous about what would happen, he felt that he would freeze and die right then and there.
He had to get out of there. After all, he couldn?t avoid this situation. Now Raichu was going to spend time with him and his friends.
"Pikachu?" he heard Espeon's voice say. He opened his eyes and found her behind him.
She had guessed his thoughts, and was smiling encouragingly at him. "Well done" she said. "You are trying to overcome your fears to help the others." Pikachu stopped thinking, to prevent Espeon digging deeper into his memories.
"What is going on? Why are you so afraid of Raichu?" Espeon asked.
"Why?" said Pikachu, confused. "She doesn?t even know me." Trying to sound confident, he said "I'm just afraid that she would find out how I feel about her".
"But it's not natural for you to be afraid of Raichu" said Espeon, frowning.
Pikachu opened his eyes and saw Espeon's expression. Then, a thought struck him. She knew all about Raichu's feelings, didn?t she? So, maybe she knew about her intentions.
"Espeon" he said, worried. "Do you think Raichu hates me?"
"Of course not!" Espeon said, jumping in front of Pikachu. "She isn?t as bad as you think. You don?t have to be afraid of her. I promise. We can have fun with her, and I can help you forget about your fear."
Pikachu didn?t know what to say. All he could think of was his fear of Raichu. "Thank you" he said. He was shocked that Espeon knew about his fear, but she knew so well that she could only say this to try and comfort him.
"Come" Espeon said, and she grabbed his paw and helped him up. "We will go and find Raichu."
"I'm not afraid" said Pikachu to himself.
As they walked through the corridor, Espeon noticed Raichu sitting on a bench. "We will have a chat" Espeon said, and she walked over to Raichu and sat down next to her.
"Hi Raichu! how are you?" she said cheerfully.
"Hello Espeon" Raichu answered.
"How it's going?" asked Espeon.
"Fine, I was just waiting." she said.
"So do you know why Raichu is here?" asked Pikachu in a very afraid voice to Espeon.
"She is waiting for you" said Espeon telepatically.
"For me?" said Pikachu.
"Yes" said Espeon. Pikachu felt a very strange sensation. He didn?t expect anyone caring for him, and not the other way round. But on top of that, a Raichu was the one who was caring for him now.
"Hi Raichu" said Pikachu quietly.
"Hello" said Raichu in a friendly voice. She tried to be as slow as possible, as she knew that Pikachu was startled easily by now.
"Are you ready for this evening plan?" Asked Raichu to Pikachu.
"Yes, I'm ready" said Pikachu, nodding. "Are you ready too?"
"Yes, I think so" said Raichu. "Do you want to go to the hall?"
"Yes" said Pikachu. "We all better go there now. We can?t risk getting late!"
As they both started walking to the hall, Espeon noticed the rest of the invited group already waiting where they all had agreed.
"They are here" she said telepathically. "They've come to go with you!"
Pikachu felt excited. Even though Raichu was still a drawback for him, the good feeling he had from knowing that everyoe waiting cared for him overpowered that part of his mind. He couldn?t help but feel happy.
"So" said Pikachu to Everyone. "Ready to have a movie?"
"Yeah!!" said everyone in unison. "Let's go!" cheerfully said Pikachu.
CHAPTER 11
As they walked out toward the cinema, Pikachu felt very excited. Raichu walked by his side, like a loyal friend should.
"What are we going to see?" Asked Eevee.
"It's a film called Mew" said Pikachu. "It's a Mew being cared for by an evil woman."
Eevee didn?t know what was going on, but he though that it was a good choice, as he thought that Pikachu knew a lot about films.
As they continued walking, Vixie and Eevee started to have a small conversation with each other.
"So where did you start to battle?" asked Eevee.
"I started in the Johto region" said Vixie.
"Which region is that?" asked Eevee.
"I'm not sure, I think it's a place that has a river in it and a small forest" replied Vixie. I was soon taken from that place, as someone called ?trainer? made me travel with her. I battled with her for a while, until she said that she wanted to take me to this place."
"But why did she want to take you here?" asked Eevee.
"She thought I would be happy here, because I had food, and a warm bed and everything. She said she wasn?t successful enough to be able to care for us anymore."
"Why did you agree to it?"
"I knew she was a good person, so she wouldn?t lie to anyone of us. Plus, if I didn?t agree, she would probably had a harder time trying to feed all of us, so I said yes."
"Then what happened to her?" Eevee asked.
"I haven?t seen her for a long time" replied Vixie. I don?t know where she is now. Last thing I knew, she was trying to find someone who could lend her some food."
"Oh" said Eevee. "Maybe she has found a better place to live by now" as he smiled.
"But I'm very worried that she might not make it out" said Vixie.
Raichu had heard this last conversation from afar, and though that it was unfair for some trainers to give up their dreams because of some bad situation.
"We should keep walking" Pikachu said to Vixie, who had started to think for herself.
"All right" said Vixie "I had distracted myself, oops" She added, laughing a little.
As they walked, Pikachu felt a rather painful sensation on his foot, but he tried to ignore it. It wasn?t the time to worry about something as small as that, having in count that they had the exact time to reach to the cinema.
As soon as they reached the cinema, everyone was impressed by the big building, which looked like a classical roman or greek temple. The building was made out of marble, which made it look very elegant.
They walked up to the box office, where they took the tickets that they bought, and entered the cinema.
As they walked in, they saw the whole cinema was filled with people and Pokemon of all ages and race, all had a wide smile on their face.
"Wow" Eevee said, amazed by the scenery. He was clearly impressed by the immensity of the cinema.
"They are all going to watch Mew?" asked Eevee.
Espeon heard him and replied "Yes Eevee. This cinema is sure a popular place" as she turned to look at him.
"We have to sit down here" said Pikachu.
The cubs looked around, but coudn?t see the numbers on the tickets
"What about here?" said Eevee.
"I don?t know" Replied Vixie.
But the confusion was short-lived as they felt a force that pushed them to a seat at the left side of the screen.
As soon as they sat down, Espeon sat by their side. She didn?t need any psychic powers as her cat sight allowed her to see in the dark. But it would suffice for the cubs to start admiring her.
They looked around, and saw the cinema was filling up fast. Soon, the lights went out and the film started.
As they watched the film, Eevee was surprised to watch a Mew fight some powerful Pokemon, trying to break free from an evil woman, who seemed to be a queen herself, everything in the same room they were sitting!
"So- You like it?" said Vixie.
"Yes" Eevee replied.
Eevee and Vixie were enjoying the film, but they couldn?t help to spy on the others to see what they were doing.
Espeon saw the movie with a neutral expression in her face. "How could such an intelligent pokemon not to be surprised to see a legendary Pokemon, a queen and such powerful heroes just in front of her!"
Pidgeot also listened to the movie, but her childish attitude never let her stop caring about the characters, even though it was just a movie. "Pidgeot at least seems to be very impressed. So strange" thought Eevee, clearly confused, as he hadn?t seen a movie before. Eevee turned to look at Pikachu, but as he looked at him, he saw a fear expression on his face, clearly afraid of the movie.
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"Amazing" said Vixie. "I really liked the ending. "
"Espeon? Pidgeot?" said Eevee. "Can you please explain to me what was going on there?" he asked them.
"Yes" said Espeon. "In a film, they usually include all of the main heroes in the end, so the audience is more satisfied."
"But why did such powerful Pokemon come here?"
Espeon started to process his words, and soon started to burst in laughter.
"The people in the film aren?t real!" Espeon shouted.
"What do you mean?" asked Eevee.
"The people in the movie weren?t in that room when we were watching the movie!" laughed Vixie.
Espeon started to laugh more, and explained to the cubs what was going on. Once Eevee understood that the movie wasn?t a real story, he felt a bit depressed, but also excited to come again someday to see another movie.
But Pikachu had a very bad experience with the film. Of course that Pikachu knew it was a movie, but he couldn?t stand Pokemon battles. "What happened?" asked Eevee. " You really were scared?"
Pikachu stared at Eevee, his face was expressionless. "I wasn?t feeling well, thats all."
Eevee didn?t understand. "I thought you would like the movie."
"But I liked it!" he replied.
Eevee sighed. "You can?t expect that from someone who doesn?t like battles." thought Pikachu.
Then, he felt a pat on his back, and turned to see Raichu. "How was the movie? Did you like it?" asked Raichu.
"Sure." said Eevee. "But I want Pikachu to tell us why he didn?t like it."
Raichu then sighed, and told the cubs to go to play somewhere else. "Eevee, you and Vixie can do whatever you like, but stay together OK?" he said.
"All right!" said Eevee, and they both started playing tag.
"Pikachu, what happened?" Asked Raichu.
"I'm sorry, but I don?t understand your question" replied Pikachu in a robotic-like fashion.
"Why didn?t you enjoy the movie?" asked Raichu as she stared curiously at him.
Pikachu started to look at Raichu like he was in a trial. "Why did you like the movie then?" Pikachu said, trying to change the conversation's direction as quickly as he could. As Raichu though for an answer, Pikachu said loudly "Who wants to have dinner at a restaurant?!!"
Raichu almost fell to the ground by the sudden impulse. "ME, ME!!!" heard Pikachu from afar, relieved as Raichu would forget the previous conversation. He knew that the cubs would be eager to visit a restaurant after going to the cinema. However, he was the one who was shocked to observe that Pidgeot was flapping her wings happily and jumping in joy.
"Pidgeot, It's supposed to be the cubs the ones that are happy to have dinner outside" said Raichu.
Pikachu started to laugh. "Yeah, well, Pidgeot just likes to express very heartfully her feelings, isn?t it true?"
Pikachu laughed, as Pidgeot looked at them with an edgy look. "Yes" replied Pidgeot. "But only for a little bit..."
Then, Espeon started to giggle a little. "OK, we will go get some food. But don?t tell the other cubs."
"We won?t" said Pikachu.
"It's time to go" said Pidgeot.
Pikachu then saw Sceptile walking away.
"Hey, Sceptile!" he shouted.
"Hey" replied Sceptile.
"Where are you going?" asked Pikachu.
"I am going back home to train" said Sceptile.
Pikachu was surprised. "Train? Seriously?"
"I've been wanting to train so badly." Sceptile answered.
"Well, I'm also going to watch over Hitmonchan and Carracosta, who left long ago, even though any of you noticed. Those two can?t be left alone, as they aren?t exactly best friends... Well, see ya later!" Said Sceptile as he left. "Oh! And don?t forget to order a bucket of birdseed for our little Pidgey!" he said as he went off.
"I'm NOT A LITTLE PIDGEY!!! YOU IDIOT!!!!" yelled Pidgeot at him.
Espeon tried to calm her down "Pidgeot, is it OK to speak like that to the others?"
"I'm sorry" said Pidgeot in a sad voice.
"Don?t do it again. You're not a Pidgey anymore, so try to act a little more relaxed, like me, OK?"
Pidgeot then nodded a little, and did a little pose. "Now, it's time to go to the restaurant!"
"OK, lets go!" said Pikachu.
Everyone started to walk behind Pikachu, as Pidgeot shouted "I'm hungry, so hurry up! I'm not much of a patient bird!" She said as she was feeling hungry.
"Then, why don?t you fly us to the pizzeria we're heading to?"
"That is a great idea! But it would be more comfortable if *someone* lost a little weight" she said happily.
Eevee started to make fun of Pikachu, but then, he quickly realized that Pikachu was a bit embarrassed.
"Stop it!" he shouted at Eevee, and started to walk faster. "You want to lose weight?" asked Vixie laughing too.
"Please, let's try to calm ourselves a bit" Raichu said, as she tried to soothe Pikachu.
Finally, they arrived at the pizzeria, and as soon as they entered, everyone felt like heaven as the smell of freshly cooked pizza entered their nostrils.
"Welcome to the best pizzeria in town" said the chef.
Eevee, Vixie and Espeon tried to spot the best place, but as they couldn?t decide, they sat down in the nearest table to the kitchen.
Meanwhile, Raichu and Pikachu were told to make the order.
"Hey Pikachu, do you know what to order?"
"I... I... will order the cheese one" said Pikachu in a very low tone. Raichu knew that Pikachu was a bit shy when she was around, so she decided to help him by ordering the menu, because Pikachu wasn?t really paying attention, as he was thinking how to relax a bit with Raichu by his side.
"Well, I'll take that and a large pizza with pepperoni, please!" exclaimed Raichu. "And my friend will take a cheese pizza too."
"Oh! And three of fries for the kids!". As Raichu finished ordering, she took Pikachu to the table where the other were sitting. "Now let's take a seat, and relax", but Pikachu, before heading off with Raichu, tried to pay, but she kindly asked him not to do that. "It's on the house, Pikachu", she smiled.
Pikachu was astonished as he had just witnessed such kind acts from a Raichu no less.
"That is wonderful, Raichu" he said, while he was trying to relax. "But it isn?t necessary to pay."
"Yes, it is" said Raichu. "It's also the job of a good Pokemon to do good deeds for the ones she cares about."
Raichu was such a sweetheart to him, and that just made him to start felling rather bad, as he felt he had been such a jerk to her for the past weeks.
"Hey, you two! Wanna play a game?" asked Espeon, as she tried to make them sit on the table once at all.
"As the pizza is only a few more minutes away, let's play some cards for a bit." Vixie said.
"Fine", said Espeon, and soon, they were all having a good time, until the dinner was served.
As soon as they finished eating, they decided to go back home, as it was really late already. The cubs were very amused by their trip and couldn?t help but smile.
Not much later, they got the bus back to the residential district, and arrived to the orphanage. Pikachu was very satisfied as he saw everyone so happy, and was even more surprised by the Raichu, who was very polite with him, and he even seemed to calm down more with Raichu by his side.
As everyone dispersed to their rooms, Pikachu felt another sharp pain, this time in the stomach. It was so intense that made him flinch. He then hurried up to his room, as he tried to fall asleep, trying to forget the pain. Once he took a painkiller, he was slowly able to fall asleep.
However, there was a pokemon who saw Pikachu suffer this strong pain and run to his room. This time, Raichu would leave with a bittersweet sensation, after witnessing Pikachu's fragile health.
CHAPTER 12
For the next days, Pikachu's pain diminished and dissapeared, allowing him to feel better. During the week, he also noticed that last weekend he wasn?t as nervous around Raichu than before, and slowly started to loosen up a bit.
Vixie, Espeon, and the others also witnessed Eevee's improvement as well. In a short time, he started to socialize with more and more cubs, and would soon start the battling lessons, which made him ever happier.
Pikachu knew that tomorrow, Raichu would come to visit again, and hopefully, it would also be more pleasant than the first time. He also thought that it would be good to take the cubs somewhere again, as it was good for them in various ways. As he selected the cubs that went on trip, he could control in someway who did each cub befriended, so it was easier for them to have fun and to meet new friends, but it was also beneficial for them to walk around the city, so they knew better the location where they lived, and also learnt how to manage different situation by themselves. But for him, the most important condition was that he wanted to have a stress-free day, so everyone could forget, even if it was for only a few hours, the hard reality that the destiny had brought them to.
As he saw all the happy cubs, he thought that today was a good day for everyone. He was soon brought back to Earth when he felt an orange peel fall over his head.
"If you're gonna do the statue, you'll have to do it in another place!" shouted a voice, that obviously was Sceptile.
"What the hell?" he said, looking up.
"Well, it's my late birthday gift for you. They are leftovers, a good item to battle!" Sceptile shouted.
"You're kidding me! " he shouted back. "As much as I liked it to be a joke it's true, why? I don?t know. Ask Arceus"
"Fine, if you insist, I will talk to Arceus about it tomorrow" Pikachu responded in a sarcastic tone. "Well, your Majesty, now, if you're done tormenting your loyal subjects, I would like to resume my thinking. Thank you."
The Sceptile saw the Pikachu's irritation in his eyes, and decided not to mess with him anymore. "My loyal subject, I'm going to try luck in the ladies? place today. You are free to go". He said as he turned around.
Pikachu just stared at the Sceptile's back, before standing up and walked away. He then rememebred that the cubs haven?t visited the mountain district! The day before, he read a newspaper worshipping the great snows that had took place last week, and the pretty sights all over the place. So he decided to go there tomorrow.
As it was still a bit soon, he went berrypicking to the nearby places. What's better than the freash flavour of just-picked berries? While he was walking, he saw a huge crowd around a poster on a wall. As it caught the small pokemon's attention, he headed off to the multitude, wondering to know what was the source of all the fuss. He noticed that the poster contained a bunch of names which he didn?t remember at all. "Hey guys! Look! I can?t believe it! A team of six legendaries!" "And it's a 6 vs 1!" "When did that happen? How could they get such a team in so short amount of time?" These questions were all that he could hear from the people around him. Suddenly, his ear twitched as he noticed that the commotion was also caused by such contestant. "I can?t believe Ginger Sparklight agreed to do this" "Isn?t it too hardcore even to be in the finals?" "I can?t wait for these remaining two weeks!" he heard people say.
"Are you serious? One Pokemon against a team of six legendaries?" thought Pikachu. He didn?t know who would be that "Ginger", but the only thought of a battle send shivers down his spine. "In my opinion, this is the most stupid decision ever conceived. I hope I will not see this battle at all!" he said to himself. But he couldn?t tell if he was acting like this from his irrational fear for battling, or because of envy of the apparent Ginger's extremely powerful attacks. Because it's the only explanation to why would anyone battle a team of legendaries, isn?t it?
He decided to shrug it off, and continue with his berrypicking routine. As soon as he got to the outskirts, he started to happily wander through the berry trees fields, as he was looking for the best berries there were. While he was walking, he noticed a familiar shape.
"What the!? Another one!? And it's my own!" he shouted as he came closer to an specific tree. "A pecha berry! It's my lucky day!" he exclaimed happily as he collected it. After a while, he had filled his little basket to the brim "That's the last one!" As he was preparing to go back home, he suddenly heard a noise in a nearby tree. As he got nearer, he could discern it was a watering noise. Before he could react, he was drenched by a water jet pointed at his face. "What the? Who the heck is this guy!? What do you want?" he screamed as he saw an Oshawott laughing his ass off. "Hahahaha! It was funny! Look at his face!!" "Oh god, this is the silliest thing I've ever seen!" he said as he looked at the Oshawott. He just shrugged it off and laughed at it was clear that the little guy was just joking. As he went back home, it was already lunch time. "What a nice relaxing day! I'm starving!" As he came closer to the dinning room, he could see his fellows waiting in the usual team table. He sat down on his spot after ordering launch. "Hi guys!" He said with a smile. "I hope you're hungry because a good lunch is how you better recharge energies!". As he said so, Kanghaskan smiled as she gave Pikachu his combined cereals plate. Once he was finished, he felt a strong wave of tiredness even though he had just had lunch, but he couldn?t help but go back to his room, and soon fell asleep.
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Pikachu felt confused as he woke up already walking, but as soon as he turned his head, his doubts were solved. He was still in the same spot he had left before, just outside of the local train station.
He looked around in front of him. He had no idea where his trainer was, and he started to worry. "How am I supposed to take the train if I don?t know where my trainer is?!" he asked himself. While trying to think about a solution to his problem, he suddenly heard a loud whistle.
He jumped at the noise and looked up, where he saw his trainer calling for him. "Come on Pikachu! Let's get our battles started!" he said as he waved at him. He couldn?t wait any longer, and happily followed his dear trainer.
As they left the station, they walked around the city. It was a large town, and a tourist hotspot. As they walked around, they passed by a lot of impressive places. Apart from battling, that was their main focus on their travels, and they had a lot of fun exploring different places.
However, after walking around for some time, they were too tired to continue walking. Pikachu knew that if he travelled in his pokeball, he wouldn?t have to deal with so much walking, but he preferred to share the once in a lifetime experience of a pokemon journey with his favourite human. Soon, they had found a modest inn. Pikachu looked in amazement as he saw an elegant looking hall. "Wow... this is amazing!" he said excitedly. His trainer just smiled at him, and then looked at the doors.
"I see that they're open. Let's go in, I'll pay for it!" he said as he grabbed the doors and opened them. Once inside, he paid for one night and let Pikachu on to the bed as he started to think what to do tomorrow. "Hey, what should we do tomorrow?" "We can go shopping!" he said with a bright smile. "Ooh, I like shopping!" "Maybe we'll even go to the city's spa! I've never been there before. Let's try there! But tomorrow, We'll go battling, of course!" he said with a satisfied expression.
Pikachu was so happy to be spending the time he always had desired with his trainer. He felt so fulfilled that he just didn?t care about the slight adversities that could arise. He just loved him so much, that he would do anything that he would want to. The next morning, as the sun came up, they got ready to spend the day in the city. First, they started to walk to the shopping centre where they could buy some supplies not available on the other cities Pokemarts. While walking, they had a few laughs and enjoyed the beautiful day. They passed by different shops and buildings that looked like a patchwork from the vibrant colours of the advertsing posters. After finishing thir initial stroll, they decided to go battling first, as it was better to have the deed done.
They headed to the nearest pokemon battling arena, where they fought their first battle in the town. The visitants took turns to battle another local traners, and after a few minutes, it was their turn to battle.
"Pikachu, are you ready?" the trainer said, as he patted his cheek, "I'm ready for some battle fun." The trainer called him trying to act brave, but he knew this battle would be a hard one. The first Pokemon the other trainer sent out was a strong Fennekin, as if to match his trainer.
"Pikachu! Use tackle on the Fennekin! He seems pretty strong!" the trainer ordered, eager to start his battle.
Pikachu nodded, and ran towards the opponent, as he put all his energy into a ball and unleashed it, hitting Fennekin's face. The Fennekin showed no signs of feeling pain, and grinned evilly at his opponent, who was surprised by his strategy. However, Pikachu had a plan in mind and proceeded to launch a thunderbolt at Fennekin, with the determination to hit the powerful opponent. He felt rewareded by his force of the attack, as the Fennekin was knocked back by the impact. The opponent was visibly weakened and tried to retreat, but then suddenly he felt his body being hit by a bone-shattering body slam by the yellow mouse.
Fennekin was knocked to the floor by the hit, and was unable to battle.
"We did it!!" Pikachu panted as he was finished. The trainer was surprised, because he had won this battle, but he had a second pokeball in his hand, so he sent out that Pokemon to battle.
As the second pokemon was revealed, everything seemed to start fading, as a hatred sensation started to burn his heart from beneath it's core. He let out an ear-splitting cry as everything went black.
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! Pikachu screamed as he woke up from his dream. He was sweating profusely again, as his body stood petrified in his nest. As soon as he regained mobility, he quickly jumped out of his blankets, and ran out of his room, as he felt fear and a dread from the place in which he was dreaming, but his actions quickly stopped when he crashed with Pidgeot.
"OW!" she yelped as Pikachu was sprawled on the floor.. Pidgeot looked down at him in confusion. The little yellow rodent heard Pidgeot's bird-like voice, and he began to get alarmed.
"Pikachu! Why are you so scared?" Pidgeot asked in an slightly annoyed tone. "Are you not used to the dark yet?".
"Oh... I'm sorry Pidgeot. I guess I just... just haven?t gotten used to it." Pikachu said. The little mouse hoped to talk to his peer trying to sound confident. But with his voice trembling, he could barely form words.
"It's ok Pikachu. If you have a problem with me, you can tell me, but don?t worry, I'll leave you alone for now. If you feel better later, we can play together, OK?" she said as she giggled to get a reaction out of him.
"I'm sorry, I'm just not used to these scares..." Pikachu answered. As Pidgeot left, he headed off to have breakfast.
Half an hour later, he was having breakfast alone, as he tried to forget the dream. He tried to focus on the fact that he was actually safe now, and nothing could harm him anymore. He would try to make his dream go away.
While eating his cereal, he noticed Eevee running towards him in utter excitement. "Hey Eevee! How's going!"
Eevee shouted in delight. "Today is Saturday!" as he started to do a barrel roll. He stopped after a while, as he looked at Pikachu. "Raichu is coming, right?"
Pikachu quickly froze up in place. "Yes..." he muttered.
Eevee cried in glee, and quickly did a one-eighty, before hitting the ground. "Where are we going today?" asked the cub.
Pikachu made his way back to the room, Eevee following behind, making him sigh at the persistance of the Eevee. "We'll go to the mountain!" he yelled in excitement.
"Weeeeeeee!" Eevee screamed in joy as he ran outside. The little yellow mouse laughed in reply. Some minutes after he started to relax in his room, he heard a knock at the door. But he couldn?t have guessed who was at the other side. As he opened the door, he came face to face with Raichu.
"Hello, Pikachu!" she said cheerfully. "I came a bit earlier to see how things were going. I also heard that you were scared of the dark. But do not worry, I am here, so it won?t happen anything to you. Let's go Pikachu!"
Pikachu sighed, as he discovered that Pidgeot couldn?t keep her beak shut, even though she didn?t really knew what had actually happened.
And so, the three of them went out to spend a more familiar Saturday evening to the mountain.
CHAPTER 13
As the three of them walked out to the mountain mountain district, Pikachu was feeling more confident.
"I'm really glad to have a place like this Pikachu!. I mean, it would be nice to have a bit of a family!" Raichu said as he walked beside him.
Pikachu thought for a moment. She said it would be nice to have a family. Doesn?t she have a family? Pikachu thought.
Then, he remembered his own situation, and felt a bit of a warmth in his heart. And even though he didn?t have a family anymore, he still had the trust in his friends to rely on them. Even Raichu seemed to care for him.
"Pikachu!" Eevee said, as he ran up to him.
Eevee then jumped up and down, in an excited state. "So, how are we going to the mountain?" he asked
Pikachu laughed and shook his head. "Well, we won?t walk all the way there! I have three bus tickets!" he said excitedly. So we just have to wait for the bus to come.
After waiting for a bit, they were finally sat on their places, and after hearing Eevee describe everything he saw for two whole hours, they got to their destination.
The three of them walked to the mountain district, looking around them as they walked.
"What a pretty place!" Raichu said.
Eevee nodded in agreement. "Wow! This looks like a great place for us to be!" he added.
Pikachu blushed slightly, as Raichu walked up to him, giving him a hug. "It's wonderful!"
"This reminds me of a story I was told when I was little!" Eevee said excitedly.
"It talks about a Glaceon who went out on an adventure to find itself. And it found a place that seemed to have the right kind of people!" Eevee explained.
Pikachu thought it was a cute story, but soon his attention was drawn to a skiing competition.
Raichu and Eevee started to check the maps on the snow. "Alright, let's give it a try!" Raichu said.
Eevee grinned as he jumped over the snow on his rump. "Whoo! Nice!" he yelled as he took a big jump.
Then, Raichu walked over to the slope. "Come on Pikachu! lets try it!" she said, starting to run up the slope.
"Are you sure?" Pikachu asked.
"Of course! I'm a great racer! " she said.
After a few seconds, Pikachu came to the top, and they started skiing down the slope.
"Ha! You're fast! " Raichu laughed.
Pikachu blushed. "Yes, I've learned from the best!"
When they had finished to ski down the slope, Eevee asked what Raichu wanted to do next.
"I'm not quite sure. We should go to the area where the saunas are." Raichu said.
"OK! It'll be great!" Eevee said excitedly.
They then walked over to the sauna, and they went inside. It was pretty warm inside, but it didn?t really bother Eevee.
"Pikachu, can I ask you a question?" Eevee whispered, once inside the sauna.
Pikachu smiled and said "Sure. What is it?"
Eevee then whispered "Does Raichu really mean it when she says she wants to take care of you?"
Pikachu blushed. "I uh, I hope so."
"I know so! And I hope that she does that!" Eevee said, then leaning in close to him. "I think she likes you."
Pikachu blushed even more, but answered to him that in no way she could love someone like him. (And also scolded him for saying inappropriate things)
Eevee then smiled and hugged him, saying "OK! I think we should go out and swim in the warm swimming pool!"
"Ha! I bet you can?t win me!" Pikachu said excitedly as he ran to the swimming pool, Eevee running behind him. Meanwhile, Raichu stood in the sauna, thinking about herself.
As Eevee jumped in the pool, Pikachu dove in as well.
After swimming around a bit, Eevee started a water war with him. Of course, Pikachu wanted him to have as much fun as possible, and so he decided to take on Eevee.
The water war didn?t last long, as Eevee was soon about to drown the poor Pikachu. Later, Raichu dediced to join them in the pool, and had a good time swimming together.
As they decided to call it a day, it was time to return to the orphanage. As they all waved goodbye to the receptionist and were heading back home in the wayback bus, Pikachu started to feel a sharp pain on his tail.
"What's that?!" Pikachu thought. He desired to be Eevee messing with him. He really desired to me Eevee the one who caused that pain. But his soul fell to his feet as he saw Eevee calmly talking with Raichu about the day. It couldn?t start again. Not now.
As he tried to calm down, he grabbed the armrest as hard as he could, hoping that it wouldn?t attract Raichu's attention. It seemed to work, as he felt the pain subside a bit.
Just then, Raichu looked at him, and smiled.
"I'm sorry to disturb you from your thoughts, but Eevee wants to tell you something!" Raichu said.
"What's that?"
"Well, it turns out that Eevee and I both want to say that we'll be friends forever." Raichu said as she smiled.
Pikachu looked confused.
"I mean, you're my friend too! We all care for each other" Raichu said.
Pikachu blushed a bit at this statement.
"I mean, I'm Y-your adopted... uh... friend Y-you! But I guess it's nice to have friends! I mean, it's not everyday you get an Eevee to choose to be your friend!", Eevee exclaimed, trying to spit as many words as possible in his excitement.
Pikachu laughed a bit, and then thanked them both. Then, the bus informed the passengers that they had arrived to the bus station. Soon, they walked back home.
As the day was about to come to an end, he made a quick summary of the day. It had been a perfect day in all ways. Not only he had finished to open up Eevee to the world, but started to see Raichu as a friend. Of course, she hadn?t done anything that could change his deep, intimate feelings about himself, but at least, she accepted him as he was. In any way he expected someone like her to be so supportive. As he walked into the building, it was time for Raichu to leave until next week.
"Do you guys have any plans for tomorrow?" Raichu asked them as she was about to split up.
"On Sundays, all the cubs are given chocolate cookies!" Eevee exclaimed. Raichu smiled at the sheer amount of happiness that flowed from him only at the thought of sweets. Being a cub was sure a magical experience in life.
But Pikachu started to worry, as there was one thing left to do. His ankle started to hurt like hell, that it became difficult for him to stay up on his feet, and he had to make sure Raichu didn?t discover his weakness, as there was no way that she wouldn?t start to taunt him about it. He had to get to his room, and he had to do it soon.
"I should be going now, Raichu. Bye!" Pikachu said as he tried to stand up.
"Wait!" Raichu said as she dived towards Pikachu. "Eevee, you can go to have dinner. You must be starving!". Eevee said goodbye to her, and soon ran towards the dining hall.
Pikachu watched as Raichu stood in front of him. At that very same moment, the pain he was feeling combined with Raichu's presence made his confidence start to crumble. He could only face her with a crouching posture.
"Don?t be so sad! I'm not scolding you, Pikachu!" Raichu said, a smile playing across her lips. She pulled him up to her feet, and tried to cheer him up.
"You don?t have to feel so bad! Eevee loves you. I love you. So does everyone else! Please, don?t act like this", she said, smiling at him.
"Thanks. I... I guess... That is..." Responded Pikachu as he tried to hide his pain, even though it was harder now.
"It's okay, Pikachu. I wanted to ask you if I could give Eevee a gift", Raichu asked.
"I, uh, think so. Why? " questioned Pikachu, trying to come up with something that didn?t sound stupid.
"He has never received a gift before. This will be his first. It will be something that he will treasure for years to come", answered Raichu, trying to get an answer for Pikachu.
Pikachu found it quite an absurd question. However, he wanted her to finish as soon as possible, as he couldn?t bear the pain much longer, and he didn?t want to feel like a weakling in front of her.
"There isn?t any inconvenient. Just a small present, like a small ball of rubber, or..."
"I already have it, but he'll like it, I promise", Raichu assured him.
"He sure will", said Pikachu, trying to walk to his room and finish the conversation.
However, he was grabbed by Raichu again, making him really start to panic.
"Can we go to the beach next week?" she asked. He didn?t know what happened with her, but today she was as sticky as glue.
"Oh, yeah, sure. Is that alright? The cubs have some next week, so I can?t miss those days, as the cubs tend to worry and get angry if I leave them alone," he said, trying to relax his body, as his muscles were still burning in a soaring pain and tense from the recent scare with Raichu.
"Great! Are we still good friends? I still like you, Pikachu, OK?" Raichu said a bit worried, as she didn?t know if she had hurt Pikachu's feelings in any way.
"Yeah. We're still friends", he replied. He was still suffering a physical nightmare, and also fearing that Raichu was nearer and nearer to unveil the truth.
He was relieved that Raichu let him go, and was ready to leave, but before she left, she gave him a last very quick hug.
"OK. Now I can leave in peace. Bye, my friend", she said, as she ran out of the orphanage.
Pikachu exhaled as he had never before, as the wave of relief allowed him to forget for a moment from the pain, which now had spread a bit to his tail. "That was very near" he thought, still in the main hall, rubbing his sore tail. Of course, he skipped dinner and headed directly to his room.
As soon as he entered, he started to pant in agony, as he took some pills from his medicine set and drank a glass of water. As soon as the pain started to subside minutes later, he started to calm down, and was finally able to sleep.
CHAPTER 14
As Pikachu woke up, he couldn?t believe that he was dreaming of ?that? again. He loathed that memories, but he was still reliving them again and again. But his thoughts were gradually shut down, as his dream started to feel more and more vivid.
He was laying down in a big bed, which seemed to be made for all types of Pokemon. It was a cream colour, and the window let the warm sunset light in. He felt a bit relieved to see the blue sea with white clouds in the horizon, a mere few kilometres from the place he was currently in. But, what was the only thing that mattered right now, was that he was able to wake up again.
He didn?t exactly remember what led him to that place, but he could feel a warm sensation all around his body. The warmth brought back cubhood memories that made him close his eyes, and start to remember his family. Even though he barely remembered them, it was still so comforting, so wonderful to reminisce.
Next thing he noticed as he wake up, was the different machinery around him.
Pikachu was surprised to see that he was in what seemed to be an hospital. He tried to get up, but he noticed that his body felt incredibly heavy, and was forced to lay down. His body was extremely sore, as if his muscles were tearing apart.
"Maybe I just need more rest", he thought, as the pain gradually died away. He was adrift in his thoughts as a female nurse came near, with a serious face. She had a lab coat with golden stripes on her clothes, and had a badge with the letters A and W on her shoulder.
"Hello. I am Doctor Allison Wert. As you have woken up by yourself, I need to run some checks on you, before calling your trainer."
The doctor had a serious voice, and was looking at Pikachu with a stern face. It seemed to be a serious issue with him, so he started to feel a bit afraid.
"Do you know what happened to you?" She asked, as she looked at him with an emotionless look.
"I dunno. All I remember is that I was about to battle, and then, I woke up here". The nurse was very surprised to hear Pikachu confirm his trainer's story. She let out a sigh before pulling out the sheets, uncovering his body to start checking his vitals.
He just didn?t know what to think. That couldn?t be his body, no. He was an average healthy Pikachu. There was no way that scars all over his chest and back are now part of him. They can?t be. He couldn?t neither stand the trimmed patches of fur, nor the tail with blood stains.
Pikachu was lost in thought, just staring at his lacerated body.
"The first thing I need to check is your health", she said, as she started to take his vitals on a monitor. "You seem to be as healthy as possible in your condition, but I must inform you that you will carry some injuries for life. However, we don?t know the extent of your injuries at this point in time.
She checked some more things, before she finally had some news for him.
"You seem to be ready for being visited by your trainer". Pikachu heard the words, but he still didn?t register what she was talking about. "I'll send him an urgent message now". Pikachu wasn?t sure what a pokegear was, but he was too afraid to see her pull one of those things from her pocket.
"Pikachu has woken up! After we took some time to stabilise him, we think it's time for you to visit him". She said in a sympathetic tone, finally smiling at Pikachu. "We will provide you with some room for you to recover, before you go back home".
An hour later, the door was kicked open, and a familiar figure came into the room. His hair was slightly shabby, as if he hasn?t combed it. His clothes were a bit wrinkled, but at least he didn?t look like a homeless vagabond.
"Pikachu? What happened? Are you okay? It's me!".
Pikachu tried to jump to him, but a severe wave of pain kept him sitting down. It seemed to be logical, due to his bad physical state.
The Doctor told the trainer to inform Pikachu about something that she had told him, and left, leaving them in a more private environment.
"I.. I am sorry. I have done something terrible to you." The trainer said, while trying to apologize to his friend, but he didn?t understand any of what he said.
"What.. What happened?"
The trainer gave a sorrowful look at his old friend.
"I took advantage of you. I used you, just like the other trainers did. I was just greedy and want to become stronger. However, I failed. I am sorry Pikachu. I won?t ever battle again, or else I will soon be left with no one in my life".
"What do you mean? You haven?t beat me in any Pokemon battles. You are not weak, you have been the greatest and kindest trainer that I've ever. I've always felt a connection to you, so I had no doubt that you can?t do anything bad for anyone".
"I had no right to do that, but I'm sorry for what I did, I just... I don?t deserve your friendship".
The trainer's tears started to fall.
"It's all my fault. Now, you have to carry on with the consequences of what I've done."
Pikachu started to worry, as he knew that if his friend started to cry, there was a really serious problem. His trainer wasn?t the crying type at all.
"I was too selfish and irresponsible. I feel so sorry for hurting you Pikachu" continued the trainer.
Pikachu wanted to know the truth. He looked at his trainer's eyes, as he started to talk "I know you love me. I know you love everyone, because it's a trait rooted in the deep core of your soul. But now, I need you to use your own strength to overcome your fear, and tell me what are the sequels I will face from now on. Please, tell me everything".
The trainer was afraid to break the silence. He had to admit that he was so hurt inside that he couldn?t hold on anymore.
"I'll always be your friend, never forget it ok?" Pikachu insisted, wanting to know what was happening to him.
"I...I need to tell you... You were instantly rushed to the hospital in critical condition. You lost most of your blood, and there might be severe brain damage. At first, we didn?t think you would make it. However, your strength and will to live was stronger than your physical damages. We fought for your life and managed to bring you back to the land of the living".
Pikachu felt such deep sympathy for his old friend. He motioned him to continue.
"But...but your body isn?t well anymore..." He said as he started to sob uncontrollably.
"Your organs suffered massive damage, so, the only way to save your life was to take a very hard decision. After hours of intense debate... We had to remove most of them." The trainer started to cry, not because he lost his dear friend, but because he hurt his old friend by telling him about the hard decision he had to make.
"You were left with the basics to live, but.. but..." It was each time harder to continue. "I am so sorry Pikachu, but you won?t be able to use any attacks ever again".
The trainer was crying so hard that he couldn?t continue, and he couldn?t talk anymore. Pikachu was completely defeated. Soon, his trainer continued, once he could speak again.
"I know it's hard to accept, but you are a very strong Pokemon inside your hearth, and that's exactly why I love you the most. You're my best friend and I will never be able to forget that. I will always be here for you. You're my best friend and I love you so much".
The little Pikachu fell into his arms, and they started to cry together.
"I love you Pikachu" said the boy, while hugging his beloved friend, as Pikachu started to feel the world around him fade out.
--------------------------------
Pikachu opened his eyes, and found himself curled into a ball on his nest.
He felt his tears pouring down his face. His mind was unable to think, but his heart knew the reason perfectly. He fell into a deeper depression, and no help could make him feel better. He hated it.
He kept crying. Tears flooded his thoughts. He didn?t understand why things were so unfair. He thought that good people in the world always get rewarded, and bad people get punished. But it wasn?t the case for him.
Pikachu had no one, except for his best friend. But destiny gave him a devastating blow. He wasn?t able to use any attacks anymore, and his emotional suffering was unbearable, as his trainer wasn?t around him anymore.
He saw the walls of his nest, and remembered his trainer's words as he looked around him. His room now was a terrible mess. His nest was torn apart, and the medicine box was broken.
"I wish he was here to protect me" He thought, as he looked around. He felt even more ashamed about himself, as he had suffered a psychotic outbreak, and couldn?t avoid it in time.
"I feel terrible. I'm useless now."
As Pikachu kept looking around, he noticed his vision was blurry. He had been weeping for hours, and had given up all hope of being able to continue living a normal life.
But then, he thought he heard a voice that he had heard many times before.
"Raichu, I think Pikachu is sick today. He hasn?t still woken up." Eevee said.
A soothing warm fuzzy feeling flowed through his body. He felt a small little heat coming from his chest. Even though any of his long-time relationships were with him anymore, he loved his work, as it was the only activity that made his life worth living. He absolutely loved to care of the cubs in there, and to make their lives better. They had also suffered so much in their short lives, and deserved something better, that he was able to provide. As his positive thoughts started to fill up his mind, he decided to give himself a little more time, before making a wrong, irreversible decision.
"Hey Eevee, buddy!" he said, trying to sound normal. Nobody could know about his secret.
"Are you okay?" Eevee asked at the other side of the door.
Pikachu started to feel better.
"I'm sorry" he said, "I overslept today. I will come out in a minute, OK?"
"No problem buddy" Eevee replied.
"Can you wait for me in the corridor's entrance?" Pikachu asked, as he didn?t want them to witness the huge mess he had made.
Eevee nodded "Ok, no problem. Let's go, Raichu!"
Pikachu rushed to get ready for the Saturday that was to come. He almost forgot that today, Raichu was staying for the whole day, and only remembered it when he heard Eevee talk to her. He though for a moment, but finally decided to go out and try to resume his life as best as he could.
As he reached Eevee and Raichu, he felt a huge emotional weight coming from their presence. Although Raichu and Eevee had been a huge dread for him, each one due to different reasons, he didn?t expect them to become his friends. He had never liked anyone but his trainer and family, and all of his relationships ended so horribly, that he had lost his trust for love. But Raichu and Eevee were slowly building up a connection with him, and he hoped to see how far they could take it.
"Hey there, Raichu! So you're staying here for the whole day? I'm happy to see you" Pikachu said as he tried to make small talk.
"Actually, Pikachu, I already knew you would come with us" Raichu said. "I told Eevee that I would come and check on you today before going out, to make sure everything is OK".
"I'm OK, see? Anyway, Did you want to go to the beach today? The weather can?t be better! And besides, we will enjoy it" Pikachu said, trying to sound cheerful to get a conversation started.
Raichu nodded happily before they headed off to have a beautiful day together.
CHAPTER 15
As they got to the beach, Pikachu noticed a few other Pokemon and humans around the beach. Most of them were enjoying the lovely weather or the sea breeze. His eyes were soon fixated on a tall cliff that overlooked the beach. As he was too focused on the sights, he didn?t notice Eevee approaching the beach.
"Eevee! What are you doing? Where are you going?" Raichu shouted at him.
Eevee didn?t reply, so Raichu just ran after him.
"Eevee, wait!" she shouted again, as she got closer to the escaping Eevee.
But thee Eevee reached the sea, and started to laugh as the water started to drench him. "Woohoo" he said, as he started swimming.
As Raichu saw he was having fun, decided to join him.
"Wanna come to swim?" Eevee asked her in utter excitement.
"Yeah!" Replied Raichu as she got closer.
The Pikachu didn?t pay attention to what was happening, as he was thinking in personal thoughts as the pair of Pokemon swimming in the sea, finally got out of sight. When he came back to heart, those two were nowhere to be seen!
He immediately hurried to go find Eevee and Raichu, but since they were in the sea, he couldn?t find them in the sand. He frantically began to look around, but no Eevee or Raichu. As he couldn?t find them from his spot, he started to walk around the nearby streets trying to find them.
Meanwhile, once Eevee started to get cold, Raichu helped him get back to land. "Next time try to tell me you are getting cold earlier OK? You can catch a cold!" Raichu said to Eevee as she wrapped a little towel around him.
As Eevee smiled, he answered that he wouldn?t do it again before getting back to playing with the Raichu. Eevee felt so lucky to have Raichu as a friend, he couldn?t thank her enough.
By the time Raichu and Eevee finished playing in the sand, Eevee started to walk towards the tall cliff. "Eevee! Eevee! Don?t go there!" Raichu shouted.
Eevee turned back. "Come here Raichu!" she said.
As Raichu got to Eevee's side, she became too mesmerized by the beautiful sights in front of her. The sparkling ocean, the tall cliffs, and the warm oceanic breeze were too amazing to her eyes. "Who knew that walking near the ocean could be so fun?" she thought to herself.
She started to talk to Eevee. "Eevee, I can?t believe how beautiful this place is! Look at all those water Pokemon!" she said. "We should come here to explore more often!"
Eevee couldn?t hold his own as he couldn?t stop looking at the sea. "Wow! You're right Raichu! This place really is cool!" he said, looking at the sea.
As the two Pokemon talked, the time passed by very quickly, and soon, they headed back to the beach. "Raichu, do you know where is Pikachu?" Eevee asked.
"I hope he hasn?t gone back to his room feeling upset" Eevee worriedly replied.
"We must go find him" replied Raichu. "You'll search around the beach, and I'll search in the streets. Then, we'll reunite in this spot, OK?" Eevee happily nooded and ran off to find his Pikachu friend.
As Raichu made his way through the streets, she didn?t feared Eevee getting lost, as all the cubs were localized with a small chip as soon as they ingressed the orphanage. As Raichu was the most similar pokemon to Pikachu, she could naturally take the same decissions as him, so she easily followed the same route Pikachu had walked earlier, and soon found him. "Pikachu! Pikachu!" she called him. "Where were you? What happened to you?"
Pikachu didn?t understand what was going on, as he was too surprised to realize that he had been walking aimlessly alone for a good amount of time. "I was just thinking about some things. Don?t worry!" he said as he patted Raichu's cheek.
Meanwhile, Eevee had reached to a beach bar. As he paid close attention to the people who were around having a drink, he spotted one pokemon who seemed very familiar.
"Pikachu!" he yelled as he ran over to the bar to reunite with Pikachu. He was so proud of himself as he was able to find Pikachu all by himself!
"Hello there!" he said to Pikachu. "I've been looking for you for a while now! I was really worried that something happened to you!"
The Pikachu gave him a dumbfounded look, before looking to the human who sat on the same table. The human also had the same expression on his face. "It's me, Eevee! By the way, who's your friend right there?" he asked, as his curiosity got the best of him. He knew Pikachu was very popular, as there were lots of people who liked him, so, he wanted to know why he was talking to the boy by his side.
"I'm sorry, but I don?t remember you at all" said the Pikachu, with an upset look on his face.
"We've walked to the beach together before! You can?t remember me?" replied the Eevee. In the very same moment, the Pikachu started to laugh as hard as he could as he became aware of the situation.
"Eevee, did you know that there are many Pikachu in the world?" asked in a more calmed voice. "No." the Eevee replied. "I only know one Pikachu".
"Yes, you might only know a Pikachu, but there are more Pikachu apart from your friend! I'm an example of that. I have also met some Eevee before, but you aren?t one of them either!"
Eevee then asked "And do you know who Raichu is? Pikachu and Raichu are my best friends". The Pikachu then replied again "I don?t know Raichu, as there are also many Raichu in the world! I've never met one though. Did you know that Raichu was a Pikachu before?"
Eevee's brain exploded at the very same moment. Raichu was a Pikachu before!
The Eevee said "That's impossible! Raichu is different!"
"Do you think?" asked Pikachu as he cracked a smile.
"Yes, it's impossible!" responded the Eevee. But then, as he was going to reply, a long tail grabbed him, and pulled him back to the aforementioned Raichu. "Sorry for the inconvenience!" the Raichu said in concern. "I hope he hasn?t disturbed you!" Replied the Pikachu standing by the Raichu's side. Eevee's jaw dropped as he saw two identical Pikachu in the same place, and was unable to proccess it for the whole time that they spent together.
Once they departed, it was starting to get late, and they decided to get the day finished as they headed back to the orphanage.
It wasn?t long until they were back at their destination, and as soon as they were going to say goodblye to Raichu until next week, Raichu smiled at Eevee. "Eevee, do you know what a gift is?" Eevee shook his head. "Well, it's not something that you give to everybody. It's something that you can only give to good kids like you!" Raichu said. Eevee said "Thank you for being nice with me."
"That's what friends are for!" replied the Raichu, as she handed him a medium-sized package. "Come on! Open it!"
"Are you sure this is for me?" replied Eevee.
"It sure is!" replied the Raichu. Eevee opened the package to find a set of Eeveelution figures. "Hey, how did you know that I love to collect figures?!" replied Eevee.
"It was easy!" said the Raichu. "I've seen you collecting them!"
"But Raichu, it's not fair that I get them for free!" Eevee said. "They cost money!"
"But they are for the kids like you!" replied the Raichu. "Do you like them?"
"Yes! I love them!" replied the Eevee.
"I love when he is cheerful" thought Raichu. "Now it's time to go. See you next Saturday! Bye!"
"Bye!" replied the Eevee.
As soon as they parted, Pikachu and Eevee both walked into the main hall, where they realized that they hadn?t had dinner. But Eevee was lucky that Pikachu still had some of the berries he picked up the other week, so, after inviting Eevee to his room, they ate them, and, once they were full, Eevee went back to his own place, leaving Pikachu alone.
Once he was about to go to sleep, he felt again a sharp pain in his stomach, which he quickly knew wasn?t caused by the berries. These pain attacks were one of the sequels he would carry the rest of his life. So, before they could get any worse, he took his medicine as fast as he could, until he managed to fall asleep.
CHAPTER 16
He awoke again, this time in a bed that wasn?t his. It was so vivid, that he could remember inmediately that it was the last part of his journey.
As he tried to get up, he saw his trainer looking at him, with a sad but comforting expression.
"Pikachu, How are you?" he asked, as he put his hands on his shoulders.
"I'm sincerely devastated. I know you do your best, but there's just no way for me to live a normal Pikachu life anymore."
"What can I do for you?" the trainer asked heartbroken.
"Can you promise me that you won?t give up your dreams? I don?t want you to suffer anymore."
"Of course I'll do it." the boy said with a determined face.
"That's awesome!" Pikachu shouted.
Then, the boy hugged him.
"I'll help you through this too." he said as he put his hand on Pikachu's shoulder.
"But, Pikachu, you also have to promise me one thing."
"What?" the Pikachu asked with an astonished look on his face.
"Please, never blame yourself for your past."
"What are you talking about?" Pikachu asked.
"You've lived a very though life. You've done many things, and faced many challenges, everything with bravery and courage. Despite everything, you managed to help the people in need, even when others said that you had no chance" He then paused a little before concluding:
"And most of all, you always tried your best. You tried to protect everyone you could from the reality of our world. You tried to build a new and better one, just by yourself, in an act of pure generosity, just to make everyone around you happy. So, you have the right to live a happier life now. It's not your fault that things went the way they did."
"Thank you for your encouragement, but where do you want to get with this?" Pikachu asked in his confusion.
"I think that I have a solution to your problem." the trainer replied.
"Even though your battling career has ended, there is still a wide array of ways for you to make a better life." The boy replied.
"I'm listening."
"You have always wanted to make things better for everyone. The world may never be perfect, but you sure can make it better by dedicating your live to making others happy."
"And how do I do it? How do I become a better Pokemon if I can?t even light up a single bulb?" Pikachu asked in a hint of frustration.
"I've thought about it." the trainer said. "I thought that maybe you could search for a place where the only motive is making others happy. You can come up with a solution for it."
"Yeah...that's...what I?d like to do..." Pikachu answered.
"So, please, do that."
"Okay, but..." he replied as he took a deep breath.
"I need to tell you something first." Pikachu asked him in a serious tone.
"Yeah?"
"Since you are left with no Pokemon now, you have to grow up and be an adult from now on."
"What? How come?" the trainer asked in shock. But soon, he realized the sad truth.
"There's no way around it."
"I'll do it." the boy answered confidently.
"I know you will."
"But, I'm gonna miss you, Pikachu"
"I'll miss you too. You are gonna do great on your own. Make the world remember you for being the caring person that you were."
"You're right." the boy agreed. "I'll be fine. I'm sure of it."
Pikachu nodded.
And so, the boy put his hand on his shoulder again.
"Then, let's do this." The boy said to Pikachu. He then went to his room, and started to search in the computer.
Later that afternoon, the boy asked Pikachu to go to the city with him.
Pikachu still couldn?t wrap his mind about the sudden turn of events last week. On Monday, he was in his way to become a professional Pokemon fighter, and on Saturday, he was supposed to wander around trying to find a place where he can live without battling ever again. In his whole life, he never experience something like this, but he had to stay positive to help his friend now, as his injuries hurt his trainer as much as it did to him.
He agreed to go with the boy. They sat off together in the bus stop, in silence.
"How do we get to the city, though?"
"The bus will arrive soon".
"You mean the city isn?t even a nearby?"
"No, that's a big city where we are going."
Soon, they got on the bus, and, before sunset, they had reached the city. It was a big city, actually, quite different from the one that Pikachu was from.
"So, where is the place we are heading to?"
"It's near here. The people there are the ones who are in need of our help. They're people who need someone to make them happy."
"We will be helping them with the best of our powers." Pikachu said in a encouraging tone.
"I know you will. You are a very caring Pokemon, you can do anything if you are determined".
After about ten minutes, the trainer said "Here it is!" as he pointed to a building, or more precisely, a complex of not-so-tall buildings. Pikachu couldn?t figure out what it was a first sight. After all, the place looked quite out of the place in the middle of a residential district. As he got to the main entrance, he waited for the receptionist there to greet them. After a few minutes, the staff opened the door for them and took them inside. Pikachu was quite surprised that there was so many cubs around that place. All around the foyer, cubs were running around, playing with each other. Seconds later, a woman greeted them.
"Hello there! My name is Samantha Millers, even though I'm known as Mrs. Millers".
"What's your role here?".
"I'm the Assistant Manager of this place. I organize the people who work here. By the way, Is the Pikachu on your shoulder the little one you talked about before?"
"Yes, this is Pikachu." Said the boy as Pikachu waved at her. "Hello, Pikachu" said Mrs. Millers, trying to be as friendly as possible.
"Hello, Mr. Millers" Pikachu replied in a cheerful voice, sensing that she had something to do with his new life.
"Right, well, let's go upstairs, and you'll be introduced to all of our staff".
As she got there, a group of Pokemon who had just arrived at the place stared at them with a mixture of curiosity and happiness.
"They are the ones you are working with. They are Espeon, Sceptile and Pidgeot", she told them. "They all help us to take care of all the cubs in need. You Pikachu, must be sure that there are no cubs unhappy or depressed, ok?"
"Yes, I'll do that", said Pikachu, eager to meet them.
After that, Mrs. Millers pointed to a door that stood at the end of a corridor. "That's the room you will live for now on. Please, feel free to make this place your home!"
When they got to the room, the Pikachu sat in the small bed that was by the window. He turned back to stare at his trainer, as his eyes started watering. Pikachu knew what was to come now. The boy had thought that by starting to help homeless cubs in an orphanage would make Pikachu happy again, but in any case, the departure turned out to be a very hard moment for both.
"Pikachu, it's time to go now. From now, you will meet your new friends. I really hope you live a fulfilling life." The boy said as he waved goodbye at him. Pikachu wordlessly returned his wave to him.
"Bye, Pikachu", the boy said as he began to walk away from the room. Pikachu then looked through the window, where, a minute later, saw his trainer one last time, walking out of the orphanage, before dissapearing behind some other buildings. He started to cry as the orange sunset light seeped in his room, warming a little his small frame.
As he started to regain consciousness, Pikachu ?awoke? to find himself staring at the same window, crying, as he remembered his late trainer. He had been daydreaming all day long. Fearing the other's comments if he got out of his room, decided to stay there, opening a little golden box, where he stored old photos of his journey, and spent the rest of the day reliving all of the memories with him in the past. Hours later, he felt himself getting sleepy, and decided to sleep in the nest, till morning.
CHAPTER 17
It was the time. The wait was over.
The one and only topic of discussion in the whole city for months had finally arrived to the city.
Pikachu woke up peacefully this Saturday morning. After having a peaceful and long sleep, he was looking forward to this new day. He got out of the room, and went straight to the dining room, where he found his peers. "Hi Pidgeot! Hi Sceptile!" waved Pikachu.
"Hello, little buddy", the Espeon answered. They all wore their usual smile, and enjoyed a nice breakfast.
"Why are you so happy?", asked the Pikachu.
"Well, do you live under a rock?" Pidgeot said in a very surprised tone. "You know that the World Championship is taking place in the main stadium tonight, right? The Champion will be decided. And all of us want to be there!"
Pikachu was then terrified by the idea of battling and instantly became mute. He then glanced at Sceptile, who was busy with the taste of a delicious pudding, but he took the opportunity to brag about himself.
"World Championship? I'm the best fighter in this place! Don?t even think of beating me! Don?t be foolish", laughed Sceptile, his attitude making Pidgeot upset. "Listen, there is only one way to become champion, and I don?t see you on the list, mister Pokemon Champion. Now, shut up and continue eating!"
The two were glancing at each other, as Pikachu was in the middle of the confrontation, without knowing what to say. A poor attempt of speech was then made by Pikachu, which did not help the situation.
"Well, that was some decent speech you gave her", said Sceptile. He then gave Pikachu a look, which made him more nervous. Trying to avoid the possible confromtation, Pikachu quickly decided to leave. "Oh, don?t worry, you won?t have to fight against me, bye!", he said as he fearfully ran off. Nobody knew his deep, personal secret, but, if he had to make use of his electric abilities, everyone would discover it.
As Pikachu ran from the place, he crashed with someone. "Ow!" said Espeon. "What happens?" she asked worried, as she knew that Pikachu wasn?t the type of pokemon who acted like that. "You must help me!" he exclaimed, as she ran behind him. Pikachu was about to cry, as he knew that he has left two Pokemon battling in rage with each other, and could not solve the situation by himself, because of his lack of power.
As Espeon got there and saw the confromtation, she used her powers to hypnotize the two rivals. Her attempt was successful as neither of them were aware of Espeon's presence. She then erased the confromtation from their memories, and the four sat down completely still, without remembering anything that had happened.
"Alright, what's up with the Championship?", asked Espeon.
"It starts at seven o?clock at the stadium, in the Main Arena. But the Final Battle will take place around eleven o?clock."
"Have you bought the tickets, guys?" asked Sceptile. Pikachu was too afraid to say that he wouldn?t be going, as he was really scared of battles.
"I really hope to see Armando Cavarone, the actual Pokemon League Champion, in the final battle, as it's the most important battle", said Pidgeot.
"Well, he is the Champion who has been facing the most toughest opponents, but managed to win them all. It's logical that he's winning this year again" added Espeon.
Pidgeot smiled, as she was watching her friends having a good time, and also thinking about the Final Battle. Armando Cavarone, for her, was one of her biggest heroes, as he had managed to get the Unova League Champion title, only to use it to help creating a peaceful region, along with his longtime friend Shauna Nara, also a worldwide reputed elite trainer.
Espeon also liked to see the independent fighters, who were regular Pokemon who battled without being told what to do, as they trained themselves, and still gained fame all over the world. She was a fan of some of them, as well as legendaries who decided to fight alone or with a trainer who they loved. Independently from who reached to the later stages of the competition, exciting moments were guaranteed.
As they finished eating, everyone in the place got ready to do their chores, so by the time the tournament started, they were already watching it on TV, or were in the arena watching the show live. Pikachu decided to do the opposite, as he wanted to avoid going to the Championship or watching it from TV, so he preferred to relax now, and go buying groceries later.
"Pikachu!" shouted Eevee, as he spotted him, "Are you going to the Championship?"
"Actually not" he answered, putting a finger to his lips.
"Are you sure?" Eevee asked in shock. He was the first one he met who wasn?t going!
"I'm sure that I don?t want to go" he answered. As Eevee was very sad that Pikachu wasn?t going, he went to Espeon, and told her what he said. Eevee was almost crying, as she told Eevee what Pikachu had told him.
A while later, Eevee appeared again. "Eevee! Are you ok?" asked Pikachu, worried about him.
"I'm ok, Pikachu" he answered, "I'm sad that you don?t want to go to the Championship, but I will feel better if you are more comfortable."
Pikachu sighed "Ok, thanks for understanding me" he answered.
Then Espeon appeared there too. "Pikachu, I'm a bit impressed that you decided to stay home instead going to the Championship" she said.
"Yeah" he answered, "I was feeling nervous thinking that I won?t be able to survive against them in a fight! It's so scary!". For any other Pokemon, that sentence lacked any common sense, but, for him, it was another whole story.
"Pikachu, I still have to tell you something" she said. "I understand that you really want to avoid battling, but I think that it's best to think about them in a more positive way. We have all lived some nice moments in the arena, and there have been some battles we'll never forget. In addition, battling can also be a great opportunity to meet some new people". Espeon was really trying to convince Pikachu to go to the Championship.
"Espeon, I appreciate what you're trying to say, but it's just that..."
"Pikachu, if you really suffer from anxiety, don?t force yourself to go. If you really don?t want to go, I'm sorry. I really want you to go, but I understand your feeling" Espeon said. She hugged Pikachu with one of her arms and her tail, and the other one she put on the side of Pikachu's face, trying to comfort him. It was a very touching moment, even for Eevee, as he always disliked overly sweet moments like this.
Pikachu looked at Espeon, and smiled. "Thanks, Espeon. And thanks for telling me that it's ok if I don?t go to the Championship. I'm very happy that you understand it."
As Eevee finally desisted, he went to his room, and prepared himself to go to the Main Arena at evening. He tidied up his room and packed his bag, went to the playing room and took a toy camera, to take pictures of himself in front of the door of that place.
Once the time was coming, everyone reunited at the main hall. It sure was an exciting event for everyone, and Eevee was just as nervous as the others. It would be amazing to see all the competitors going into the arena, watching them as they competed for the title of Champion of the year.
When it was only two hours before the finals of the championship started, everyone left the orphanage, leaving the place desert. Pikachu was always used to Eevee leaving with him, and the sensation of him alone in the big and peaceful place was starting to get to him. It has been ages since he was completely alone, like now. He walked to the main entrance, and stood there thinking about his unlucky past, and now slowly improving present.
Eevee was so excited that he preferred to jump all the way to the arena rather than walk like the rest. "Espeon! Espeon! Do you know who is battling today?"
"Today are the finals" So the best fighters!" Answered Pidgeot from afar. "Are you excited?"
"I sure am! But I was asking who contestants were battling today".
"I think you should see who they are in that poster" answered Espeon. Eevee was so curious about the upcoming battle that he ran as fast as he could to read said poster. The contestants were named Armando Cavarone, Christine Lovelock, John Stein, Ginger Sparklight, Hideki Tanizaki, Susan Hertz, Nikki Hamilton and someone called ?The Volcano?.
"Wow! There are more finalists than I thought" Eevee said. "Oh my gosh, it's so awesome" he imagined Armando commanding the most powerful Pokemon in the world.
Espeon, Pidgeot and Sceptile's eyes were very wide open, as they recognized all of the names, which belonged to very famous people and also a couple of independent fighters! "Eevee" Espeon said. "It's time to go to the Main Arena! Come on, we're gonna get behind the group!"
"Oh, yeah!" Eevee said as he ran away. "Let's go!"
After about tho hours later, everyone got to the place where the event was taking place. Eevee couldn?t believe how many people came to see this event happen. As they took their seats, Eevee saw that they were really far from the stage, as the attacks could be so poweful that the espectators had to sit in a place which was covered with thick bulletproof glass about 1000 feet away from the battling field. However, everyone had in their seats a VR set where they could see the battle from a nearer perspective, which was really amazing!
And just at seven o?clock, the announcer exclaimed "Welcome to the Main Arena, where it's going to take place the 2045 World Championship! I am Mr. Anvil, the announcer of the event, and I the locutor of the final battles!"
"I would like to welcome all the participants who are going to battle today!" announced Mr. Anvil. "Just a short note before each fight, let me inform you that none of the contestants are allowed to use more than six Pokemon against each other. If someone faces an independent fighter, it must start first, and must restrain from using status-infringing techniques to them."
"Alright, here is the first round of the final battle! Please give your all to reach your goals! Fight in the Spirit of winning!" Anvil announced as the contestants appeared. "Everyone give a warm welcome to Hideki Tanizaki and Typlhosion.... ?The Volcano!!!?" The crowd cheered as Tanizaki and Typlhosion appeared on the battlefield.
CHAPTER 18
For a while, the battle went well with for the Typhlosion, as he wss able to knock out three of his opponents without suffering considerable damage, but, as the trainer had figured out that this alignment might happen, the next Pokemon were water Pokemon. The Typhlosion wasn?t so fortunate, because by the time he beat the fourth opponent, he had already received numerous water-based attacks and so, was easily defeated by the fifth opponent. After this, the trainer helped the Typhlosion to get up, and they finally shook hands in a deportive manner.
The public was already in a state of excitement, as the deafening roar that was emanating from all the people confirmed it.
Next battle was the battle between Christine Lovelock and John Stein.
The public became crazy again as both trainers began to walk to their places.
Soon after, the battle began, the first Pokemon who battled were a Garchomp and a Sceptile. "Hah! I knew we are the best!!!!" Shouted in amazement the Sceptile who sat by the seats. "Look who's talking! Mr. Modest!" Responded Espeon in a sarcastic tone.
But sadly, after cheering for over ten minutes, the Sceptile battling was beaten. "Noooo!!!" He said as his frustation overcame his body. "And that's how you make him shut up" added Pidgeot.
Afterwards, it was the battle between the weakened Garchomp and a Haunter. It was impossible to the Garchomp to defeat the Haunter. The battle continued for a long time, until John Stein achieved a very close 5-6 victory.
The third battle was between Armando Cavarone and Nikki Hamilton. This time, the public started to cheer frenetically as Armando made his way to the battlefield. The man, somewhere around his mid or late fourties, was also very famous due to his elegant looks, his long hair, and his refinated manners, apart from his battling career.
The man turned to the crowd and made a gesture of affection as he made it to the side of his part in the battlefield.
A moment later, Nikki Hamilton also entered in the arena, as she cheerfully thanked everyone for the support. She knew that there was a very slim chance that she would win the battle, but she was determined to make the most of it! She made a signal indicating that she was ready to start, and Armando responded in a confident way.
The first Pokemon Nikki sent to the battlefield was a shiny Charizard, but everyone in the public was inmediately awestruct as Armando made a gesture to the sky, and an Articuno arrived to the battle. Legends told that it was a powerful and extremely fast fighter. As the battle started, Articuno quickly flew through the air, the Charizard standing still concentrated on its next move, to parry it with a flurry of counter-attacks. But the legendary's vast experience allowed it to detect Charizard's intentions, and, as soon as it got about twenty feet from him, it instantly changed direction, and flew upwards. The Charizard quickly took off, chasing the ice bird trying to catch up with Articuno, but, as the altitude started to rise, the Charizard started to feel a penetraring cold, chilly wind that made the fire Pokemon feel weaker.
This cold had the opposite effect on Articuno, who continued flying up until it was miles above the ground, and then, dived down to the ground, reaching an impressive speed. The Charizard, who was still flying, trying to spot Articuno, was only able to realize what was going on when the Articuno shooted a powerful ice-beam to the fire type, before landing its claws at full-force on Charizard's back.
The Charizard lost control and soon landed head-first to the ground. As the Articuno landed swiftly, the Charizard was revealed to be unable to battle.
Next battle, Nikki Hamilton took out her second Pokemon, a Rotom. Now, Articuno and Rotom were the only active Pokemon on the battlefield.
As soon as the battle began, it became apparent that the Articuno was powerful, as it avoided Rotom's electric attacks, and even countered the clever Pokemon's long-ranged attacks, before countering with an intense blizzard. The Articuno made sure there was no way the Rotom could escape it.
The battle went on for a while, but the Rotom couldn?t get past the Articuno's defense, and every attack seemed to make the bird more resistant to it, as if Rotom's attacks were completely useless. After putting on an incredible show, the Rotom was left exhausted by Articuno's continuous dodging, and, with a very quick evasive maneuver, the bird soon managed to make his opponent collapse in sheer exhaustion.
"Rotom is unable to battle!" yelled the commentator.
Nikki Hamilton proudly displayed her third Pokemon to the audience, which was a Poliwrath. Since the Articuno was the only revealed pokemon on Armando's side, many of the crowd believed that the Poliwrath would lose the battle, which would turn out to be the true, due to the latter's being rather slow.
The Poliwrath was incredibly strong nevertheless, and it attacked the bird with a vicious front kick, before making a devastating overhead smash with a powerful, yet elegant powerful kick. The attack was extremely powerful, and, although the Poliwrath couldn?t defeat the Articuno when it was weak, it inflicted serious damage on the blue and white bird.
Nikki's fourth Pokemon turned out to be a rather large Lapras. People started to think that there was no way that any of Nikki's Pokemon was able to win to Articuno, as legendaries are known to be the toughest pokemon in the world.
Lapras started using Frost Breath, which turned to be very effective in the battle, as it suddenly changed the air temperature near the surface, making the air suffer a sudden change of density, unstabilizing the Articuno's flight enough to disorientate it.
Then, Lapras continued with Ice Shard. When the attack hit, it hit hard, especially on the left wing, and, when another shard struck it again, the right wing was also affected, as well as the back. This forced Articuno to dive down in order to avoid further attacks, but it was a bad decission.
Lapras appeared on top of the bird, using a devastating water gun at a close range. Articuno withstood the mighty attack, but, unable to take much more punishment, it started to weaken rapidly, and after a few seconds, Articuno fell unconscious.
"Articuno is unable to battle!" The commentator proclaimed, while the audience cheered for Nikki, as Articuno was regarded as a pokemon which nobody could defeat.
Lapras, who had won the battle, gave a salute to the audience, before Articuno was carried away from the battlefield by Armando himself. "Thank you, Articuno, for fighting with us. It was a pleasure!"
The audience then were struck in awe, as Armando made another signal, and the floor beneath him started to crack down. Seconds later, the almighty Entei appeared on the field. People started to raise their hands, screaming out loud.
"You're welcome, Entei, show everyone what are you capable of". Armando said.
Entei roared as if taunting the Lapras to attack, but, the latter showed restraint, as it looked at Entei with an emotionless look on its face. As that tactic didn?t yield any results, Entei decided to take the initiative, and let out an ear-piercing roar, trying to intimidate its foe.
Lapras then, without hesitating, headed for the fire beast, who was obviously not expecting such a move. As Lapras tacked Entei, it used a powerful water cannon attack. Entei was not harmed by the attack, but, instead, it was able to react quickly, and wildly dug its extremely powerful claws on Lapras? underside, before using an equally powerful flamethrower to the face.
As a result, Lapras toppled over, and was unable to continue.
"Lapras is unable to battle!" The commentator exclaimed.
Nikki's fifth pokemon was a giant Ursaring. People started to consider that Entei should probably win this battle, as the last encounter was a clear victory for the large fire legendary.
Nikki's Ursaring then, without hesitation, used Bite. The attack was very powerful, and, although it was able to pierce the Entei's thick skin, it wasn?t strong enough to seriously injure it.
The legendary didn?t flinch, and instead, threw a large fireball at the Ursaring, creating a large explosion near it.
Nikki's Ursaring was simply not expected to survive that attack.
However, Nikki's Pokemon's extraordinary will did not fail it. Even though Ursaring took the explosion to the face, it managed to resist it, and then used Silver Wind. The attack left the Entei a bit more confused than before. But Entei, making good use of his overwhelming close combat skills, was able to lift up its foe in the air, and then slammed the Ursaring against the arena's rock-hard floor.
The impact was so hard, that the Ursaring was knocked out.
At that time, Nikki was obviously a bit tense. She knew that it was difficult to defeat a legendary like Entei, but she also knew that she was a really strong trainer anyway, with her pokemon not even having a single weakness.
The audience started to worry, thinking that Nikki was not able to win, but, she wasn?t going to let the audience down, as she called in her last pokemon, Umbreon.
"Umbreon! It's time to show everybody why you're such a powerful pokemon!" Nikki shouted.
The dog-like pokemon, who rose from its default, statical possition, prepared to attack.
"Umbreon, go, use disable!" Nikki commanded.
Suddenly, Umbreon's eyes lit up. A blue light formed at its head, and then a black and blue aura surrounded Entei. Then, the aura faded, and Umbreon started to run towards Entei.
Entei, however, wasn?t fazed, and was, in fact, waiting for Umbreon to attack it. When the dog-like pokemon passed close by Entei, the legendary was about to strike another deadly scratch, but an inner force stopped it.
As it stared into Umbreon's eyes, it noticed something.
Umbreon's eyes went blank, and, for some reason, its tail started to glow a silvery color. Then, it started to generate an intense, white light. And, as it continued to generate the light, Entei was absort from reality. Umbreon's hypnosis had succedded, and soon, Entei found itself sitting on the floor.
The audience gasped, and the commentators, shocked, couldn?t pronounce a single word.
"Umbreon! use Shadow blast!" Nikki called out. The umbren then emanated a dark, dense energy, which exploded on Entei's back, causing it to flinch. But as the Umbreon got near the legendary, it was revealed that the hypnosos effect had already worn out when the legendary counterattacked with a brutal blow, using its paw as a punch, delivering a sheer amount of force straight to Umbreon's face.
"OHH! Entei has been acting! Impressive!" The announcer commented.
The attack paid its toll on Umbreon, as its condition deteriorated. It managed to stand up, but was barely conscious.
Then, Nikky commanded her Umbreon to use another Shadow blast. The attack was powerful, and, it hit Entei directly, causing critical damage.
Having nothing to loose, Umbreon quickly used quick attack to strike Entei again, but, as Umbreon striked, Entei's paw came out from behind, and pushed Umbreon back, making it roll over a large distance backwards.
Entei was noticeably exhausted from the battle, and so was Umbreon. As they exchallenged a respectful glare, both Pokemon collapsed.
"Entei and Umbreon are unable to battle!" The announcer announced.
Nikki's eyes went empty of emotion, but she soon rallied up, and looked towards the audience, who cheered at them.
"Armando wins by 2-6!" The announcer shouted, as the announcer proceeded to introduce the last battle, Susan Hertz again Ginger Sparklight.
CHAPTER 19
People was euphoric to have witnessed Armando's victory. His fighting skills are very strong, and even though his opponent was strong he had no problem dealing with her.
The next battle was a bit of an incognit. People knew that Susan was a genius fighter, and her opponent was known to be an independent Pokemon fighter. But, when the battle ended, anyone could believe that she was defeated, as the independent Pokemon she was fighting defeated all her team members, without receiving any damage at all.
So, from the contestats, only Armando, John, Hideiki and Ginger got to the semifinals. The semifinals were randomly selected by the judges. Armando vs Hideiki and John vs Ginger. The first round was a pretty interesting battle, where Armando won against Hideiki with an astonishing 6-0 win, ensuring once again his way to the final.
The other battle was a bit of a surprise. It was actually a lot of fighting, with a lot of the people cheering for Ginger, as it turned into an epic showdown. Slowly but steadily, one by one, after the hard fought battles, Ginger managed to defeat such powerful foes such as Tyranitar or Salamence. After defeating the last opponent, everyone started to cheer for Ginger, who managed to fight its way to the final.
The announcer exclaimed "The best is yet to come! The final battle between Ginger and Armando will take place in two hours!" After that, the Pokemon who were going to be involved in the final battle were brought to the infirmary, where they were fully restored to a perfect state. Meanwhile, Eevee was having the time of his life, as he kept cheering "Ginger!! Ginger!!" with each and every move of the Pokemon!
Pidgeot was also excited to watch this final battle between Armando and Ginger, as she was amazed by the strenght of the Pokemon! Her enthusiasm was so strong that she didn?t noticed that the announcer had given a two hour countdown time for the contestants to rest.
At that point, Sceptile shook one of Pidgeot's wings. "Hey! Someone there? We're bringing some drinks and snacks! But I need you to move!" As he finished, Pidgeot let him pass, and as he was facing backwards, she pecked him on the head "NOBODY TOUCHES MY WING WITHOUT PERMISSON!!". He just stared at her and sighed as he went to grab the snacks. "Eevee, do you like the battles?" Asked Espeon "Of course! I love watching those battles! " Excalimed Eevee as he jumped on the seat. "And who will be the champion?" He asked. "There's only one way to find out!" Sceptile said as he came back with plenty of drinks. As they reviewed the battles, time passed by quickly and soon, the announcer had made the announcement everyone waited for.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come! The finalists are ready! Give them a really heartfelt, warm welcome!!" The announcer said in a louder tone than ever before. "On the right side... The current champion Armando Cavarone!!!" Everyone cheered Armando as he walked toward the stage, giving the public a reverence as he headed towards the stage. He was definitely a true gentleman, nobody had any doubt about that.
"Aaaaaaand, on the left side... The aspirant, Ginger Sparklight!!!!" Everyone cheered again as Ginger stepped onto the stage. Everyone cheered for Ginger, because nobody thought that a regular kantonian Raichu could make it to the world finals.
But Ginger was now concentrated on Armando's previous performances, as it analyzed the patterns in his moves and then proceeded to look at him, a determined look on its face.
It took Ginger a moment to decide how to react as soon as its first opponent was finally revealed. Shortly after, Armando made one of his characteristic poses, and the wonderful Articuno flought to the stage. It was as if there was nothing more in the world to the Raichu, who decided to let the Articuno make its first move. The ice bird flew full speed towards Ginger, sending out two powerful ice projectiles. Ginger dodged both projectiles without any trouble, and counterattacked them with a great thunderbolt, which made the public's fur stood on end, despite the great distance between them. A loud screech sounded as Articuno was hit by the powerful thunderbolt, causing its body to shake. The spectators gasped as the bird temporally lost control, and its eyes were closed tightly. But it was able to shrug off the blow, it began to attack with a large, powerful gust towards Ginger. Ginger had a moment to think, and quickly dug a hole, with the exact depth to avoid the intense wind's effects, so it was able to avoid the gust. As the Articuno stopped flapping its wings, it looked down, and felt relieved as the Raichu was nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile Ginger knew that Articuno was still confused, and took advantage of the situation as it blasted through the ground just below the Articuno and threw a hard punch right at its stomach. The Articuno screamed in pain, as it started to fly as high as it could, to prepare a dive and attack move. Meanwhile, the Raichu stood still on the ground, waiting to the right moment to synchronize its next attack with Articuno's actions.
As Articuno turned to the opposite direction, and began diving at an impressive speed, Ginger kept an still pose, as if preparing to attack, waiting for the Articuno to get as closest as possible. As Articuno kept moving in a downward direction, Ginger knew that it was a good idea. Soon, the distance between the two was cut to a couple hundred feet. Due to the Articuno impressive speed, it only took about half a second to the Pokemon to collide, as a dense ball of dust tens of times their own size covered all of their surroundings, making impossible to discern any movement from the audience's perspective. But Ginger, who had been timing the next action, managed to execute the plan correctly. As soon as Articuno got to a range of not more than two times the Raichu tail's length, Ginger jumped and did a quick backflip, as the tail hardened as much as diamond at the same time it was launched foward like a whip, and just as it had been calculated, the time it took to Articuno to reach its supposed target made the bird to crash head-first with its hardened tail, receiving a devastating blow to the face. As the dust cleared off, the public started to applaud as the Articuno laid still on the ground.
"Articuno is unable to battle!" the announcer exclaimed.
The crowd kept applauding as the Articuno regained a bit of its balance, just enough to leave the battlefield.
A few seconds later, Armando gave a small gesture of approvement to Ginger, then proceeded to do the second set of signals, as Entei entered the arena the same way it did with Nikki. Ginger knew that, unlike Articuno, this Pokemon was much more resilient, and relied on its physical strength to inflict a great deal of damage. But its downside was that it was slow, and as Ginger was way faster and agile, it would be easier to predict its moves, and counterattack with long-ranged moves.
And as Ginger made the decision, Entei was already running toward the Raichu, his mouth expelling smoke and flames as it sped forward trying to start a close combat battle against Ginger. But as Entei tried to tackle, Ginger jumped several meters in the air, and as soon as Entei's back was just below, released a powerful thunder which flashed a blinding light, stunning Entei as millions of volts flowed through the legendary's body. In just seconds, Entei was scarred with a black scorch on his back, which seemed to hurt like hell, but, nevertheless, was able to continue, as it tried to attack with a scratch, imprinting a massive amount of strength in it. Raichu quickly dodged it laying on the floor, making Entei immediately lose balance, taking a second to balance itself, that Ginger wisely took advantage of by using a quick attack in the opposite direction, opening a long, safe distance between them. Entei immediately turned its head back, to see Raichu a few hundred feet away. Entei couldn?t understand why did the Raichu did such a thing, but, as the legendary ran towards it, the Raichu ?greeted? it with another electric attack, this one consisting in a large electric blast, and Entei immediately felt a huge electric surge as it roared in pain, forcing to stop his run. The Raichu instantly realized this, so, instead of being prepared to defend itself, it began to prepare another attack, which left no one indifferent. The Raichu struck the ground with the tail in an inclinated position, and, a couple seconds later, a water wave twice as tall as Entei appeared, and due to the sheer speed of the attack, it struck Entei before it could even react, making a huge amount of smoke and steam. The Raichu quickly looked around looking for any trace of movenent, and found none, only to see Entei's immobile frame lying on the ground as the blast dissipated.
"WOW!! A Raichu that has learnt Surf! It's been really impressive!! Entei is unable to battle!" The announcer narrated struck in awe at the sight of such an unusual attack for an electric Pokemon. Ginger felt a relieving sensation though its body, as it had been possible to take down two legendaries without receiving any damage, and also felt proud of itself, as nobody had managed to beat two of Armando's legendary opponents without succumbing in the process.
As Entei also recovered slightly and abandoned the arena, Armando though about the extraordinary strength this Raichu packed. However, the battle for the crown of the Pokemon Champion was far from finish. Armando then made a pose before moving his hand forward in a very quick movement, and, faster as anyone could see, a Latias appeared on the battlefield and stared firmly at the Raichu. "How many legendaries does Armando know?" asked Ginger to itself, not realizing that it was logical that the most powerful champion in history, Armando himself, could only rely on such a great team to achieve the huge success he?d had so far.
But the self-thinking was short-lived, as the Latias flew at such speed that Ginger was barely able to dodge, even though Latias started moving from the opposite side of the arena. As any human or Pokemon who dedicated to battle in a rather professional way knew, the Eon Duo were the legendaries known for their extreme speed, enough to break the sound barrier in a diving flight. The movement of Latias was really fast, which led to Ginger to rely on Latias? own speed to use it against her. As soon as Latias charged again, Ginger made an attempt to get Latias to fly lower, as it would be rather easy to land a hit and crash her to the ground. As Ginger predicted, Latias would eventually fly lower and lower after each avoided tackle, until Ginger was able to touch Latias with its paws. Then, the next time Latias charged, Ginger went to intercept it, by throwing an electricity-packed thunder punch. The hit was powerful enough to stop Latias in her tracks, sending a brutal shockwave which resonated throughout the arena. Latias felt an unbearable pain in her head, as the punch was a perfectly clean blow, but not enough to defeat her. As Ginger was dragged tens of feet backwards from the recoil from the first hit, Latias quickly launched a Solar Beam at the still balancing Raichu, who was quickly struck by the energy of the attack and was sent flying backwards. Ginger knew that it would be impossible to win a fight against a legendary team without taking this kind of damage, but for now, she simply continued fighting Latias as if nothing had happened.
Latias, which had discerned that the flying tackle wasn?t effective enough with Ginger, had made an additional change. When she got close enough to Ginger, she would launch another Solar beam or Ice Beam, trying to hit the Raichu as hard as possible. But the Raichu was so skilled that, each time Latias tried to launch an attack, it could read her movements and guess the direction of the attack. With every passing second, Latias grew more and more frustrated with her own performance, making her suffer the psychological toll of her feelings.
Ginger did not care about failing strategies, as negative feelings in a foe's mind could kill any fighter's performance, due to the lack of concentration. So, once Ginger felt that Latias? performance had fallen further behind its own, decided to play a trick which luckily, would make the Raichu win this battle. As Latias was a psychic Pokemon, it would have been wise to read the Raichu's thoughts to find out what it was thinking. However, the inexperience handling this very difficult challenge fogged her mind, losing such abilities. Ginger decided to use her state to its advantage by taunting her, getting as near as it could from her barrage of attacks, until the Latias? powerful mind was taken over by her feelings, and started to try to tackle again, just what Ginger was looking for. Once the Raichu positioned itself in the perfect position, waited for the Latias to get nearer, and as soon as she was going to deliver the impact, Ginger jumped at a precise height and launched a perfect flying kick, striking Latias? wing at full force. Ginger's plan bare fruit as it felt something give in, causing the Latias to scream in agony, before she landed harshly on the ground, being paralyzed by the pain and unable to flight due to the broken wing. Then, Ginger just ran to her, and launched an array of fast-moving punches for some seconds, until Latias was rendered unconscious.
"Latias is unable to battle!" the commentator shouted, before the Latias was taken out. Ginger wasn?t keen on status-inflicting attacks, but she knew they sometimes were the only option left.
Armando felt really impressed with Ginger, as nobody could beat half of his team before, let alone an independent fighter. His victory over Ginger wasn?t ensured, and for him, this battle really was nothing compared to his previous ones. He had been dreaming of a battle like this for ages.
CHAPTER 20
But Armando hadn?t still been defeated. He was in fact into the battle as never before, enjoying the challenge.
Then, Armando made a new pose never seen before, and a huge blast of water sprayed over the battle ground, as the wonderful Lugia emerged from below. "Wow!" The announcer cried out, "Lugia, the mytical sea legendary".
Ginger was also amazed by Armando. Having lived a quite regular life, Ginger had never witnessed any legendaries before, and now, it was fighting an amazing trainer with a team full of them.
Lugia stared at Ginger, its body completely devoid of movement. Some seconds later, Ginger had to duck down as a really powerful Water Blast was launched with an impecable precission. Ginger had no doubt that the Lugia's strategy was based on aiming from long distances, such as it had done right now. But as a flying type, it was weak to electric attacks, so Ginger's attacks would follow the same tactic as with Articuno.
As the Raichu dodged the attack, it did exactly as same as Lugia, and stood still on all fours to reduce the natural trembling of its body as it started to aim. Lugia moved around far from the Raichu, as it knew that if it stood still, the Raichu would have increased chances to land an attack on its body.
Ginger watched with a very serious expression as it tried to decypher the Lugia's movements. Seemingly, the preferred movement of the Lugia was to fly upwards about three hundred feet more or less, did a zigzag in the air, flought near the ground, did another zigzag at a low altitude, and repeated. So, as a new cycle began, the Raichu charged a massive thunderbolt, charging the time the Lugia needed to fly low. And just then, the attack was launched. It was a direct blow that hit the Lugia's face, but it wasn?t enough to defeat it.
The legandary then flew up to attack. The Lugia's body moved at high speed towards Ginger, who watched the legendary getting nearer, and, in a moment it wasn?t seeing it, the Raichu launched a thunderbolt, which struck the Lugia's stomach. Ginger hoped that Lugia would be stopped by the attack, but, unfortunately, it wasn?t the case. Even though receiving damage, the legendary got close to the Raichu, and in a moment, performed an Aeroblast attack. Ginger's body immediately flew away and soon, its body hit the floor with a colossal force. It was a big hit which hurt in a considerable manner, but still wasn?t enough to defeat Ginger. Detecting that Lugia's accuracy was beyond the limits of Ginger, it decided to change the strategy, and looked for an easy path to reach Lugia. However, there was only one way to do it. As Lugia attacked, Ginger kept dodging attacks by a very narrow margin, until an Hydro Pump attack was launched. Just then, Raichu jumped above the attack, hoping that the plan yielded a good result, or the damage received would be probably enough to be knocked out. As the Raichu started to fall, tilted its body a little, so it was parallel to the water stream Lugia was shooting. As soon as the Raichu's paws were about to touch the water, it started to move all its extremities frenetically, action that turned out to be effective, because as soon as the ?landing? took place, the Raichu started to run over the Hydro Pump attack towards Lugia at full speed, and before the legendary could react, the Raichu delivered an unforgiving Iron Tail straight to the face. As a result, Lugia was almost knocked out, and took a bit of time to recover. But a legendary Pokemon wasn?t easy to defeat, and so, Lugia continued to try another attack, this time trying to hit Ginger with the wings. With this, Lugia quickly threw its attack, which seemed to strike Ginger, making an action that would surely end the battle. Lugia felt relieved as there was no way that Ginger could have endured such an attack, but, to its dismay, Ginger's speed was such that it was able to run over the wing and onto the legendary's back, without the Lugia noticing!! The Raichu took advantage of Lugia's confusion, and started to release electric shocks as hard as its body would, making Lugia scream uncontrollably. However, Lugia tried to free itself from the trap Ginger had used, and quickly started to fly, doing complex acrobatic moves to try to drop the Raichu off and avoid being further shocked. Ginger felt its stomach bouncing up and down due to the reaction forces, as it kept a firm grip on Lugia's back, while sending enormous shocks to the legendary which could be heard from the public's seats. Lugia kept maneuvering impossible moves, trying to make Ginger lose its grip, but, each shock the Raichu delivered made Lugia to lose its remaining strength progressively, making the legendary's body slowly start to fall off. The effect on Lugia was like it was being injected a powerful venom that made its body shut down a little more. After an extenuating exhibition of over twenty electric shocks, the Lugia started to fly slower and slower, until it finally landed on the ground in exhaustion, and fell unconscious. Finally, Ginger let go, and jumped off Lugia's back.
"Lugia is unable to battle!" the announcer shouted over the roar of the crowd.
Armando was starting to consider this battle as a possible defeat, but he didn?t dare to accept it, so, with a determined look on his face, Armando made the call to invoke the fifth member of the team. Just then, the sky started to fill with dark clouds and lightning, as a snake-like pokemon descended from the sky.
"I can?t believe this is happening! Rayquaza is about to start battling!!" commented the announcer with a very shocked tone.
Ginger knew that Rayquaza was a rather troublesome foe, as no one can predict what Rayquaza will do when starting a battle, so, the only option Ginger had left was to wait again for the legendary Pokemon to make a move. The wait was very short, as the Rayquaza suddenly began to form a white ball of energy in his mouth, quickly launching it towards the Raichu, who had the exact time to sidestep it. Ginger saw the snake-like Pokemon, and immediately threw an electric attack in response. The Rayquaza couldn?t dodge it, and was hit at full force. Being a Dragon-Flying type, electricity wasn?t the worst option to use against Rayquaza, as it was too risky to engage in close combat, considering Rayquaza's possible constricting abilities.
As Ginger knew that Rayquaza would eventually strike again, another powerful attack of its own was launched. Both attacks were incredibly powerful, and when they clashed, they made a rather large explosion, with both Rayquaza and Raichu having their bodies blasted away, receiving some damage. However, Ginger knew that it had to rely on its other abilities to defend itself, because as any Raichu, it would only withstand a limited amount of damage.
Rayquaza charged again, this time breathing out an entire wall of fire, forming a Fire Spin. While Rayquaza was doing so, it didn?t notice that Ginger was crawling under the ground, making the attack dissipate without dealing any damage. Just then, Ginger appeared from behind and threw a large, large ball of electricity reached the long serpentine form of Rayquaza, which quickly turned into a smokey fireball as soon as the attack collided, causing Rayquaza's body to flinch a bit.
But before Ginger could continue, Rayquaza charged up again, this time making its body glow white, trying to do a special tackle attack to the electric mouse. The attack landed hard on the Raichu's body, causing great damage to Ginger, leaving it without resistance to resist many more attacks. At this point, Ginger's body hurt like hell, as its whole body was burned out, scratched and scarred. Rayquaza, soon after, turned to face the electric rodent again, before finally releasing its claws to deliver a final blow. The electric mouse looked over at Rayquaza, struggling to think of some way to counterattack. Ginger had to be extremely careful, as any attack from now would be fatal. Soon, as the Raichu guessed, Rayquaza quickly dived towards Ginger's position, but, to everyone's surprise, the Raichu stood completely still, waiting for the legendary to get nearer. Then, Ginger made a backflip, and started to spin in the spot as fast as possible, as the Rayquaza tried to smash with its claw. But just before the claw touched its body, the Raichu's tail hit the ground slightly, lifting its body a bit, just enough to jump over Rayquaza's head. Then, Ginger started to smash the snake-like legendary with its tail over and over again, as the electric rodent's body kept spinning at an incredible pace, managing to land tens of iron tails all over Rayquaza's body, leaving it paralyzed. Once Ginger checked that Rayquaza couldn?t counterattack, delivered a massive electric punch, which knocked out Rayquaza completely.
"Rayquaza is unable to battle!" the announcer cried out in utter amazement. "The battle is about to end! The last round is about to begin! Will Ginger defeat this legendary, or will Armando Cavarone be able to stop this amazing Raichu?"
Ginger did not know how long had been waiting for this moment in its whole life. But, as its heart beat faster, Ginger decided to make it its goal, and focus at two-hundred percent to defeat the last legendary. It was a very though situation, as Ginger's body was about to collapse. One more hit, and it would be all over.
Armando started to pray, and then, he took a golden stone by his and set it on fire! The flame burned brightly in the arena, as everyone waited to see who would fight the final round. It would be logical to be a fire type, as the stone was being consumed by a very vigorous flame.
As soon as the stone burnt completely, some ashes were the only trace left of the precious stone. But, as the flame died, the ashes started to glow in a bright red, until a figure started to form. The figure was a bird-like creature, and was quite big. As the figure finished growing, a pattern of red, white, green and gold lights started to flash throughout the arena, until the last legendary was finally formed by Armando's side.
"The last Pokemon is no other than Ho-oh!" The announcer screamed. As the public's roar grew louder, the air around the arena was filled with a very warm, refreshing feeling, that cheered Ginger to fight once again. As Ginger though of the best strategy for this battle, it had in count that its body couldn?t receive any more damages under any circumstance, thus, the battle must be short, and the attacks used had to be the strongest ones. Then, Ginger remembered it. That attack. The attack. Ginger had been reserving it for a moment like this. Now, the time had come. In fact, mastering this attack in a way that left the user unharmed costed months, if not years to master. However, Ginger knew that it was in fact, the strongest attack a Raichu could ever do, by far. But first, the Ho-oh must be paralyzed, in order to ensure the last attack hits.
As it was already a common trait in all Armando's battles, Ho-oh quickly flew toward the Raichu. After a long battle, Ginger was starting to feel the pressure of the time, but resisted well, as whatever would happen, it would unfold in the next minutes.
After a few moments, Ho-oh was already about to strike, as its body became engulfed in flames. Ginger heard once that he attack was known as "Sacred Fire", and could only be used by Ho-oh itself. Then, as the bird was about to hit, stopped completely, and launched a mighty amount of fire through its beak, trying to incinerate the Raichu. Ginger, using its agility, managed to dodge the attack, and get to the legendary's underside. Then, Ginger ran the tip of its tail all over Ho-oh 's length, as the sound of static electricity could be heard. Furious, Ho-oh tried to peck the Raichu on the head, but the Raichu had already been able to create a safe distance between them. If Ginger was correct, the attack should paralyze it, but it didn?t. Without losing its cold-headed sate of mind, Ginger shugged it off, and tried to repeat the maneouver.
As soon as Ho-oh flew to the place Ginger was standing, a new paralyzing attack was prepared by Ginger, but, again, it failed. Ginger feared that Ho-oh managed to land a hit.
The Raichu instantly lost its cold-headed feelings, and it took some time to recover. Luckily, it all happened before Ho-oh charged again.
Ginger's light sparkled on its mind, as it finally found the explaination why the attack didnt work. So, next time Ho.oh charged, Ginger did the same, but ran its tail in the opposite direction. The feeling of feathers being pushed apart was clearly felt this time on its tail, until the legendary's flesh started to touch the tip of the tail. Just then, another electric crackle sounded, and Ginger finally managed to do what it was looking for.
Ho-oh gave a loud screech as its wings stopped moving, landing harshly on the ground, just besides one scattered rock from a previous round. At this point, the Raichu knew that no real damage was inflicted, so, the Ho-oh was still as resilient as before.
Before the paralyzing effect wore off, Ginger pressed the bird against the rock using its tail as hard as possible, and then, it was the time where everything would end. Good or bad, the whole Championship would finish after this final attack.
Ginger opened its mouth, and started to condense a bright, white sphere inside its mouth. Ho-oh tried to escape the Raichu's tight grip, but failed. Second after second, the ball got brighter and brighter, until it started to blind Ho-oh completely. A minute after Ginger started the attack, the sphere glew so bright that not only the whole quarter-mile-wide stadium started was lit completely, but the whole district. Some seconds after, the Raichu's body started to tremble, near to be teared apart from the whole amount of energy the attack packed. That was the signal Ginger waited for. As Ginger gave an almighty scream the energy was finally released all at once.
The size of the blast was something probably never witnessed before. A deafening explosion made all the one-foot-thick security barrier to tremble and crackle, as the obliterating shockwave quickly spread all through the whole city, even shattering some windows a long sitance away. It was such a huge blast that it could probably be faintly heard tens of miles away.
All the arena was then covered in a very, very thick black dust. While the spectators's senses were coming back to them, they patienly waited about a minute in absolute darkness, until something could be seen in the middle of the arena through the thick dust. A devastating wide crater now covered the central area of the battlefield, two figures being visible in it.
One, a Raichu still standing on its hind legs.
Another, a legendary bird, which stood motionless on the ground.
Absolute silence filled the whole arena. Ginger, as the dust dissipated enough, got near its foe, and touched it for about ten seconds. It couldn?t be real. It had worked. As Ho-oh had been defeated in a single blow, there were no more opponents in Armando's team. It was finally over.
"HO-OH IS UNABLE TO BATTLE!!!!! THE BATTLE HAS FINISHED!!!!!! EVERYONE, GIVE A WARM WELCOME TO THE NEW WORLD CHAMPION.... GINGER SPARKLIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Then, the public went absolutely crazy. People cheering for Ginger could be heard all over the place, making it feel so good that if felt as if all the damages sustained in the battle seemed to have healed. This was probably being the best day in that Raichu's life.
Even though all the commotion around them, Ginger helped to get Ho-oh out of the battlefield, and then, walked to Armando, who was waiting for her with a proud smile. "Ginger, it's been a great fight. You are the first rival who has managed to take down my entire team. And I thank you for your heroic effort and the courage that you gave. Congratulations".
"You have been a very powerful rival too!" Ginger exclaimed, looking at Armando. Then, the man held Ginger's paw as everyone stood up in respect.
"The podium is ready! Now it's time for Ginger to receive the medal, the trophy, and the 100 millon Poke prize!!" told the announcer. "Finally, I want to thank all the staff and volunteers who made possible this special day for us, as well as the millions of contestants from all over the world who have competed in any stage of this 2045 edition! That's all eveyone! Mr.Anvil logging out!" he finished before disconnecting the microphone.
Then, the staff guided Ginger and Armando to the podium. Once there, Armando took off his champion medal, and handed it over to Ginger. Soon after, it was given a trophy nearly as big as its own body, making the Raichu feel a bit startled. Just then, hundred of cameras flashed all over the place. Once after the cameras left, Ginger handed the trophy to some volunteer staff to take it to the car that would drive Ginger back to where it was staying the last weeks previus to the competition.
The public gradually left the Arena, and kept partying and cheering all over the city for the rest of the night. Others decided to call it a day, and go back to their homes. This was the case with Espeon, Eevee, Sceptile and Pidgeot. "Eevee! Did you like the battles?" asked Espeon.
" Yeah! It really was amazing!" replied the little Eevee as he started to jump in circles all around her. Eevee was really happy to have witnessed such a battle.
Meanwhile, Pidgeot kept thinking about the wonderful attacks that Ginger was able to perform during the competition. Even though she replayed them over and over again in her mind, it kept amazing her. Pidgeot was also so happy that she remembered all of the things that happened during the competition.
And Sceptile kept pouting for a long time abut the Sceptile who lost that battle in the quarters. He was also dissapointed to think that Ginger wasn?t a Sceptile. Nature is unfair! About halfway back to the orphanage, Sceptile found Hitmonchan, who had also went to the championship with other friends. As the two started to taunt each other, both soon became enraged and started a duel in the nearest park they found.
"Hey guys, wanna take a flight back home?!" Pidgeot asked to Espeon and Eevee. "Aren?t we too heavy for you? That's what you have been telling everyone for a long time". Then, Pidgeot started to laugh hysterically. "IT's FAKE HAHAHA Don?t tell Sceptile, as he is idiot ok???" Eevee and Espeon looked at each other with a mixed look of confusion and fear from the sudden turn of events, but, as they turned their heads back to the battling Sceptile, they reasned that the Pidgeot was somewhat true, despite the childish attitude. They nodded, and Espeon jumped on top of Pidgeot's back, holding Eevee tight in her arms. "It's time to go!!" Pidgeot said as she took off fast enough to remain unnoticed for everyone else.
As they floght back home, Espeon could see a black car of those who brought the finalists to the Arena on the road. It was the exact same vehicle that one of those parked outside the battlefield, making her curiosity take the best of her. After about five minutes, Pidgeot's incredible flying speed allowed them to reach their destination, and as soon as the bird landed, Espeon and Eevee got down. "Thank you Pidgeot!!" Said the little cub as he hugged her tightly. Then, Eevee ran at full speed to see Pikachu. He couldn?t go with him, which made him feel a bit sad, but now, he had lots of cool things to tell his Pikachu friend!! He just couldn?t wait any longer.
"What a bundle of energy, isn?t he?" Espeon told Pidgeot. "Yeah! But he is soooo cute isn?t true??"
"Yeah, he is sure a pretty cute little thing!"
Then, the memory of the black car on the city's roads struck her mind again. She had to know where did it go. Maybe she could even discover where did one of those ultra powerful fighters came from! Without thinking it a second more, she told Pidgeot what happened, and so, the bird had no problem to lift her again in order to search for said vehicle. Due to Pidgeot's excellent eagle sight, it only took a couple minutes to locate the car they were looking for. When said car started to move slower through the city streets, Pidgeot landed in a near area and Espeon kept chasing the vehicle throguh the city's streets by foot, as Pidgeot flought back home. Espeon was determined to follow the car to its destination. She ran over fifteen minutes chasing it until it seemed to stop... in a bus station?
Espeon was awestruck with this nonsense. What was going on there!? It took her a lot to restrain herself from running to the place to see what was going on by herself, but decided to wait. Another ten long minutes passed until a bus arrived. Then, the men who were inside the vehicle laid a black blanket all over the mysterious figure, as they lifted it into the bus, before driving off the place. Why was the contestant going back home by bus, when a luxury car could drive directly to the desired destination?? She had no doubt that the human or Pokemon covered by the blanket had indeed been a very important character that night, but she couldn?t guess who it was.
As soon as the bus started to move, Espeon started a second chase to follow the bus, checking at each stop if the lonely contestant stepped out. After what seemed a long, long time, she saw which seemed to be the only traveller in the bus get down, still covered in the black blanket. Espeon stood hidden in a near corner, waiting for the figure to unveil and reveal itself. Espeon stood still, trying to remain unnoticed, while she had her sight fixated on the figure, which, after some more seconds, started to take off the blanket that had been covering it for such a long time.
Just a second later, the blanket fell on the ground, as Espeon saw in awe that the figure was no other than Ginger Sparklight!! She wasn?t able to take a look at the Raichu. She couldn?t believe that the most powerful Pokemon in the world was standing a mere fifty feet from her! Espeon's heart sank to its core. "What the heck is Ginger doing here??" Espeon thought to herself as Ginger started to walk away. Espeon, being a cat-like Pokemon, excelled at moving around in a sigilous manner, making her able to walk at a relatively close distance without being caught. After some minutes, Espeon noticed that Ginger started to walk a bit faster, forcing her to move also at a quicker pace to follow the Raichu, until, suddenly, Ginger came to a complete stop. Espeon's heart skipped a beat as she feared that Ginger had discovered her. She knew that, if Ginger were to actually attack her, it would definitely end with her death.
But Ginger didn?t turn around or move away. It seemed to stay there until it finally turned around to face what semed to be a long street, and then, ran at full speed through the street!. Espeon came to the conclusion that Ginger's destination must be very close, and soon, her doubts would be answered. She peeked around the corner to see the orange-glowing figure moving further and further away, still running in a perfectly straight line. As soon as Ginger was at a safer distance, Espeon started chasing the Raichu again. After some more seconds, Ginger turned left. She soon followed. Nearing the end of this street, it turned again, this time to the right. She followed the electric rodent again. After some seconds running down the street, it turned left again. She followed. Then, she saw Ginger finally run full speed through the last street of its route, as it ran inside a big building. Espeon got nearer. And nearer. And nearer. Then, she finally saw the place Ginger had entered in, her doubt being instantly solved.
Espeon's body froze completely, making her fall to the ground in shock. It couldn?t be. This wasn?t happening. This definitely WASN?T happening. Ginger Sparklight, the World Champion, the MIGHTY fighter who took down SIX legendaries by itself... had just entered into the VERY SAME orphanage she LIVED in.
Her mind was blocked by the extremily strong sensation running down her body. Ginger Sparklight wasn?t a regular Raichu, she already knew. But she could have never imagined that it was THE SAME Raichu that had been working with her those last weeks. She felt really lucky to have met her in this place. Ginger wasn?t only an excellent fighter, but it turned out that she also had a heart of gold. Espeon could guess without thinking too much that Ginger had made way more money than she needed to retire and live a very comfortable life for the rest of her days. But she didn?t just continued battling, but, in addition, she spent all Saturdays helping and playing with the cubs at the orphanage. She had even saw her and talked with her before!
She stood still outside the main entrance, as her body trembled from the each time stronger cold that reigned in the area, as it was now already way past midnight. "Espeon! Come on, enter at once! You're going to catch a cold out there!" Pikachu shouted from the window. "Espeon, don?t get sicky!" added the little Eevee by his side. As she was about to enter, she saw the Raichu talking with Pikachu and Eevee, both unbeknownst of her real identity.
Half a minute later, Espeon stepped out of the door, her face grimacing as she stood in the hall, still processing the shocking news. Pikachu, Eevee and Ginger ran to the hall to greet her. "You finally came! Why did you take a walk at night?" Asked Pikachu with a puzzled look "It's so cold now to do anything!".
Espeon had to think of something right now. It would be bad to say that she was spying on someone. It would be worse to say she was spying on one of the contestants. It would even be worse to say that she was spying on the World Champion. But the worse part was that said World Champion was also staring at her with the same puzzled look than Pikachu and Eevee.
Espeon had already thought of erasing their memories, so they would stop asking, but then, she remembered Ginger's psychological strenght. There was no way that she could use any trick on her. "I was just making sure I had already bought the groceries of the week". What a shit of excuse! she thought.
"Haha! You don?t need to do that!" said Eevee. "Pikachu has already done those boring things today, while we were at the Championship!". Espeon remained silent, staring at the ground to avoid eye contact with Ginger. "By the way, why didn?t you came with us, Raichu?" the Eevee asked, as he looked at Ginger with a sad expression.
"I just couldn?t buy the tickets in time!" She quickly answered. And that was the last proof Espeon needed to ensure that the Raichu eveyone knew was, in fact, Ginger Sparklight. As she told that lie to the Eevee cub, Espeon could sense her aura weakening, as she was commiting the unfair act of lying. Of course, the truth was much more complex than that, and Espeon knew that Ginger wasn?t the type of Pokemon who lied deliberately, and the very strange occasion when it ocurred, there was a very good reason behind, like it was happening now.
As Espeon verified that Ginger wanted to keep her true identity hidden from everyone, she just decided to think of her by the generic name "Raichu", to avoid commiting an irreversible mistake. Even though she was a psychic type, anyone was free from these kind of things, so it was better to be safe than sorry.
As Espeon was going to talk again, she started to shake from the cold that she had been experiencing before, and sat on the ground, waiting for it to dissipate. But seconds later, Raichu came back with a big, thick duvet, and enveloped her with it. "Oh my god! You are so cold! Please, take this warm thing with you for a minute, ok?" Raichu said, as she started to cover her body with it.
Espeon felt a shiver run down her spine as she felt Ginger's paws pressing the warm envelope around her body. She just couldn?t wrap her mind about it. "Yeah, okay, that's good" Espeon said, as they all started to walk to their rooms. She walked a bit slower due to the unusual ?coat? Raichu had made her, and soon, Eevee and Pikachu were a few meters ahead. "Espeon" the Raichu asked. Espeon felt very pressured for being addressed by Ginger herself. "Do you mind if I stay here tomorrow? It was impossible for me to be here today. Are you OK with it?" "No problem" Espeon said, with a slight smile. "Thank you!" Ginger said, as she pulled the warm coat a bit tighter to the Espeon's body. Soon everyone got to their rooms, and said goodbye to each other. Espeon laid on her nest, thinking of everything she?d been through. Soon, she felt asleep in her thoughts.
CHAPTER 21
Next day, Pikachu awoke from his sleep as a sharp pain in his arm started to hit him. As he looked to his right arm, he couldn?t notice any external injuries. "Why can?t I live one single day without a chronic pain like this?" asked Pikachu to himself as he went to get the healing meds from his damaged medicine box.
Half an hour later, the pain had reduced its intensity a bit, letting Pikachu move his arm again. Then, he could hear slight knocking noises from the door. "Hi! Pikachu!" "Hi!" "Hi! Hello?" said an high pitched voice.
"Hi Eevee! I'm going to have freakfast right now!" Said Pikachu trying to calm the cub waiting for him. It seems that he had a very good memory when it came to remember the path to his room. "Alright! Bye!" Eevee said as he went to have breakfast. But, as he walked, he bumped into Raichu, who also was feeling hungry after waking up. "Hi Raichu! What's for breakfast?" Eevee asked as he walked by her side.
"Chocolate! Go figure!" said Raichu smiling. "I'm going to have some right now too, thanks for telling me!" said Eevee as both went to eat their chocolate.
Soon after, Pikachu went down, and joined Raichu and Eevee.
"Are you OK?" asked Raichu as she looked at Pikachu's face with worry. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking" said Pikachu
"Where were you while we were at the Championship?" asked Eevee. "Didn?t I already told you? I was buying things at the commercial distict" said Pikachu.
"Yeah, but I don?t know what did you do there! I wanted to know why didn?t you came with me..." said Eevee, looking down.
"I had to do it yesterday! You know I'm your friend, and I don?t like being separated from you" said Pikachu. Of course he would have joined Eevee to any other activity, but Pikachu was really afraid of the idea of battling.
"Well... I'm so sorry! We can do anything today!" said Pikachu trying to cheer up the suffering cub.
Eevee then looked to Raichu, and felt even sadder to recall that Raichu wasn?t with him either. Then, she felt a warm sensation in her heart. "Hey! I've got an idea!" Raichu announced happily. "Why don?t we go to the theme park today?" asked Raichu. Eevee smiled, and nodded enthusiastically.
Pikachu then had an idea to do some of his favorite things today. He just went to his room, and started packing things for them to go.
"Woo! ! I'm going to the theme park!" said Eevee excitedly. "And you're coming too! How did you know that I was really looking forward to going there with you!" said Eevee smiling happily. "It's a surprise! But we need to get going fast" said Raichu as she started to pack her things for the theme park too. As they were about to go, Espeon found Eevee running up and down the corridors. "Where are you going?" said Espeon curious as she stopped Eevee from running. "Hey Espeon! I'm going to the theme park with Pikachu and Raichu! Weee!" said Eevee happily. Espeon then remembered Ginger's battle, and wondered how could she be battling legendaries one day, and going to the theme park with an Eevee cub and a shy Pikachu another day. In fact, she couldn?t understand how did Ginger spent the rest of the day after winning the World Championship. She didn?t celebrate it, or have a party, or go to any other important event afterwards.
"Do you want to come?" asked Eevee.
"Oh! Sorry! I already have other tasks to do today!" said Espeon. Eevee though how boring must be working on Sunday! "Okay don?t worry! Will you play with me another day?" said Eevee.
"Oh, that's okay" said Espeon, as Pikachu finally entered the room, finding Eevee. "There you are! Let's get going, or we'll be late!" said Pikachu cheerfully. Eevee smiled and nodded happily.
"Are you coming too?" said Espeon.
"Yeah! It seems that Eevee was a bit frustated from my abscence yesterday." said Pikachu. "Well, it's time to go! Bye, Espeon!" said Pikachu happily. Espeon returning the gesture. Once they reunited with Raichu, they went to have a wonderful day to the theme park!
Once they got there, they were amazed by the great amount of rides there were, and also the breathtaking effect of the huge rollercoaster and the rollercoaster cars. They were in the main stage of the park. As Raichu made sure that Eevee didn?t run away alone, Pikachu decided to introduce Eevee to one of his favorite rollercoaster rides there.
"Eevee, I want to show you the Rock Tunnel!" said Pikachu excitedly. "You want to ride this ride? It's a roller coaster that drops really fast! Pikachu continued as he grinned at Eevee. Eevee was scared, but excited at the same time.
"You can count on me, Pikachu!" said Eevee happily. Soon, the trio was ready to go! They went to the queue, and in a short time, they were on their way to the coaster car. "Here we go!" said Eevee, as the roller coaster started. The ride was really exciting, as Pikachu had warned Eevee. Suddenly, the coaster car was in the air. "Woohoo! We're in the air!" shouted Eevee, as he enjoyed the ride. The ride seemed to last a very long time, as they slowly got back to the ground.
"Wow! That was the best ride ever!!" added Raichu.
After the roller coaster, the trio decided to do some other rides and games in the park.
"Uhhh... What about ice cream?" said Raichu, suggesting something they all wanted.
"Great idea! Let's go!" replied Pikachu excitedly. The trio made a trip to the ice cream shop, and got lots of ice creams. Once they finished, Eevee wanted to ride on "The Sky Tower" and see the ocean.
"Okay! Let's go!" said Pikachu. The ride wasn?t in fact a rollercoaster, but rather a very tall elevator with a small platform on top, from where it could be seen the city from afar.
"Eevee, look at the city! It's so beautiful!" added Raichu.
"It sure is." added Pikachu happily.
"Aww... Eevee, look! What an amazing look!" added Raichu.
"I see it! And... That's the ocean! " answered Eevee.
They kept staring to the great views for quite a long time, until they decided to go back down, feeling refreshed.
"We'll have to come here again, won?t we, Raichu?" said Eevee happily.
"Uh-huh, let's do it!" replied Raichu.
Once they were done, they decided to go to the ?Tilt-a-whirl? for some more fun. Raichu then decided to get a pizza for Eevee, and took him to one special ride for cubs. As she made sure that Eevee couldn?t see her, she turned to Pikachu.
"I haven?t talked to you that much, that's for sure." said Raichu "Do you want to talk about ourselves now?"
"Of course. Let's have some fun!" replied Pikachu excitedly. "Well, I didn?t really mean to get into a ride. In fact, I would prefer to talk with you here, in a relaxed place. Are you okay with that?" said Raichu.
Pikachu started to feel a fear which he didn?t feel since the first times he saw Raichu. He felt frightened that Raichu would attack him if she didn?t like his answers, so he started to build a bit of an adrenaline inside him.
"Pikachu, it's okay." said Raichu. "I only want to know you a bit better, that's all. Do you want to sit in that bench over there?" She said as she pointed to an empty bench.
Pikachu walked to the bench, thinking what to say. He was afraid of what she would say to him. Really afraid. He walked over and sat down.
"Are you comfortable there?" said Raichu, as she looked at him.
"Well, um... Yes." said Pikachu, as he started to feel a bit of relief. "Good. Then what is it that you want to know about me?" said Pikachu in a really low volume.
"Well. I was wondering why didn?t you want to come to the Championship. I know that it's a bit overwhelming to see all those people and Pokemon, but would you have done it if only your friends were there?" asked Raichu.
Pikachu though deeply about what to answer. Of course, the real answer was obvious. The fact he couldn?t battle scarred his mind deeply, making him develop a fear for battling ever since the incident. He was afraid that Raichu might get very angry with him for not wanting to battle, and even lash out at him. He didn?t want to tell that to Raichu, of course.
"Well, I guess I'm just a bit unlucky with dates! Just that day I had to go shopping! There was an important discount on potions!"
Raichu thought for a moment. She knew that Pikachu worked hard for the wellbeing of the cubs. But she also knew that he wouldn?t let those things get in his way of living his life like he wanted to. She knew it was his choice, after all. Raichu didn?t understand his meaning, but accepted what he said. She gave him a smile. She was quite confident that Pikachu had a deeper problem, but didn?t want to rush to get any hints.
"What do you like to do in your free time?" asked Raichu.
"Oh, you mean like what I did before you came?" replied Pikachu with an scared tone again.
"Yes. Do you have any friends out here?" asked Raichu.
Pikachu thought deeply. Did he like to be alone, or did he want to have someone around that cared for him? It should be a clear question to anyone, but, for him, his previous experiences made him feel like he was worthless, not deserving anyone's attention. "Oh, um. I actually don?t have friends, as I spent all my time checking on the cubs! They are all my friends in a way" said Pikachu. "But I guess I do like to be alone sometimes, or with the cubs, when I go to the places that they enjoy visiting."
Raichu smiled. It was a bit saddening for her to confirm that Pikachu didn?t have a life outside of the orphanage.
"Did you make any friends?" asked Raichu, trying to think of ways to help Pikachu to feel better.
"Yeah! I had a friend named Jack! He was always there! I had good times with him..." He said as he started to think about Jack. He was his trainer, the one who helped him to be stronger, but, most important, to care for the others before oneself. Jack gave him lots of advice on how to improve himself. He even trained him personally a lot, helping him become the loving soul he was. But it was so unfair that everything ended that way!
"I... I think I need to go..." said Pikachu, as he started to feel his eyes start to water.
"I'm sorry Raichu, but I need to go. I really need to be alone. I know you wanted to talk for a longer time, but I really need to go" said Pikachu, trying to hold back the tears. He always tried to be strong for his friends, but he just couldn?t deal with reviving his past, happier memories. He knew that it wouldn?t be fair to Raichu if he left without telling her anything.
"Hey, don?t cry! I'm sorry! I understand you really want to be alone, okay?" said Raichu.
Pikachu tried to hold back, but as he couldn?t keep himself from crying, he quickly ran from her and left.
"Pikachu! Pikachu! Come back!" shouted Raichu. She grabbed her handbag and though about running after him, but she decided against it. She had hurt Pikachu! What a fatal mistake! She knew that she might have messed up greatly her progress with Pikachu's friendship, and felt really guilty, even though she did it with her best intentions.
Raichu turned back around and saw Eevee staring at her. "Where's Pikachu?" asked Eevee.
"I... I don?t know... I think he left. I'm sorry Eevee. Pikachu isn?t very well right now, and needs to rest alone. I didn?t want to tell you because I didn?t want you to worry. He is okay, and will return soon, so, don?t worry, okay?" explained Raichu.
Eevee hesitantly nodded.
"Here, I will give you this" said Raichu, handing Eevee a tiny envelope.
"What's that?" asked Eevee.
"I have something for you." replied Raichu, taking someting from a box which he didn?t noticed she had.
"What is it?"
"Open it and see!" said Raichu, holding the envelope close to her.
Eevee slowly opened the envelope and pulled out a photo. The photo was a cheerful image of the trio enjoing one of their previous rides!
"Awwww, It's wonderful! I love it!!" Replied Eevee.
Raichu smiled as she loved to see Eevee happy. She hugged him as she couldn?t help herself.
"Eevee, I want you to keep this photo with you forever, okay?" said Raichu.
Eevee nodded. She knew that this photo was special to Raichu, and felt so loved when he was gifted it.
"You're welcome, Raichu. Thank you!" said Eevee as he trasured the photo.
Raichu smiled. It was a great moment that they had experienced. He had enjoyed their company a lot, as he still felt a bit alone in the orphanage.
"Hey, Eevee...I need to go for a bit, but I'll be back as soon as I can. Don?t worry about me, ok?" said Raichu.
"Don?t worry, Raichu!" Answered Eevee. Then, Raichu darted off to search for Pikachu.
It wasn?t long before Raichu found Pikachu as he was resting on the grass, his head against a nearby tree. Raichu ran to Pikachu and began to softly talk to him.
"Hi, Pikachu! How are you? Are you feeling better?" asked Raichu.
Pikachu quietly smiled, as he had started to feel better after a good rest.
"Remember that I'll be always here if you need me" said Raichu.
Pikachu, then, smiled and nodded.
"I won?t let you down, Pikachu!" promised Raichu.
Raichu then guided Pikachu to Eevee, and as the trio reunited, they noticed that it was getting late, so, they decided to call it a day, and return to their places.
"That was a good run, Pikachu" said Raichu.
Pikachu then grined and nodded.
"Alright, let's go back to our spot." said Raichu, as he and Pikachu began to head back to the orphanage.
Once there, they waved goodbye until next weekend, and returned to their respective homes. Of course Raichu had a room, but decided to go back to her own place. As she took part in the World Champinship, she had several weeks of free hotel, so she went back there, wondering what to do for the rest of the week, now that she had no real duties now that it was already over.
Pikachu and Eevee had dinner, and soon, they both fell asleep, exhausted by their long adventures of today.
CHAPTER 22
Next Saturday Pikachu woke up feeling weaker than normal. He sat up, and felt the floor spinning around him. It took several minutes to regain stability, and walk out from his room.
He knew that today, Sceptile and the others wanted to do something special for today. He had absolutely no idea what they were going to do. "I don?t know" he muttered as he walked down the stairs, thinking about his friendship with Raichu. Of course, he had never trust a Raichu before because he had his reasons. On the other hand, she had always been very open to him and liked how he did things, and she always cared for him, because she firmly defended he was her best friend, even though he would get scared when she tried to talk to him. She always loved to make him feel good when he was hurt, especially when he had to work hard to hide his secret. However, that didn?t stop him from getting angry with himself. He sworn the day he was separated from Jack that he would never befriend anyone like her for the rest of his life.
However, Eevee soon got him out of his thoughts. "Pikachu Pikachu!" said Eevee. "Hi Eevee!" he waved at him excitedly. "We are having battles today!" he told his friend as he started to do barrel rolls on the ground, as Eevee liked to do when he was excited. Pikachu couldn?t believe it. He had avoided fighting in order to increase his chances of surviving longer with his health issues. He also had an underlying psycological problem associated with all the suffering he faced after his last battle. All that made him refuse to go to the championship, and now that he had managed to convince everyone that he couldn?t go because other issues required his attention, the Pokemon who were keen on fighting in the orphanage decided to do a tournament by themselves?? It wasn?t his lucky week, it seems.
"Are you going to go?" asked Eevee as he rolled out and stood up, wiggling his tail in excitement. "Well I..." As he was going to tell Eevee that there was no way he could battle, he saw Eevee's eyes start to sadden. He seemed to be his biggest fan, as he already was sad last week when Pikachu didn?t attend to the tournament with him. So, he couldn?t just tell Eevee that he wasn?t going. "I'll be there, ok? Don?t be sad" he said with a grin as Eevee started to jump in excitement again.
"I'll see you at the tournament if that's all right. It starts after launch!" As he said that, Pikachu understood what was all about. Probably, Sceptile wanted the kids to get familiarized with battling in a friendly environment, so, it seemed a good idea to battle between us, to do some sort of competition. He felt relieved to infer that it wasn?t a real competition, but, anyway, he stil wasn?t able to launch or receive any attack, as it would have fatal consequences. Pikachu knew that the others cared about him enough to not to kill him on purpose, but never told anyone about it! He would have to find a way out of this without hurting anyone's feelings. So, he thought he would just dissapear from the crowd before it was his turn. Easy peasy.
The rest of the morning passed without a hiccup for Pikachu. He also discovered that every pokemon in the staff was participating. Even Kangaskhan the waitress! Pikachu really wasn?t expecting that.
Once we all had launch, everyone gathered in the big playground in front of the complex. There were several hundred cubs, and also some of the human staff in the place, who watched quite interested the event unfold from the windows.
As the time came, Sceptile walked in front of everyone. "Welcome to the first tournament of the Pokemon Society" he said. Even though "Pokemon Society" was the name of the orphanage, it seemed that it was more of a secret conspiring organisation. As expected, Sceptile was delighted to see everyone. "First of all, I want to thank all the contestants for taking part in this experiment, starting by me, of course..." he said, earning a sigh from some of the audience. " Secondly, I really hope you guys are all prepared to fight! I know that..."
As Sceptile kept reciting his speech, Pikachu looked around, searching for the best way to escape when no one was watching. It was quite easy, as he sat behind the cubs, far away from the majority of the other contestants. "Thank you guys for listening to me!" Sceptile ended.
"Now, let's go on with the battles! The first one is Kangaskan versus Hitmonchan!!" The cubs then applauded as both pokemon appeared. Of course, it was a completely different level from the one in the Championship, so the strenght of the attacks were way way lower, being safe for the cubs to watch from a regular distance. As both opponents were engaging in a fight, he saw clear the occasion to flee. But, as it seemed that only bad luck was on his side, as he stood up to leave, he felt someone touch his back. "Pikachu!"
He turned out, and closed his eyes in sheer terror, as it turned out to be Raichu. "Pikachu, where are you going?" she asked in a very polite and comfortable tone. "I... was going to get a drink!" Pikachu immediately started to walk away from her, thinking that once he got inside the complex, he just wouldn?t come out until everything was all over. But, bad luck was still there, right at his side. "Oh! I am also feeling thirsty! I'm going with you!". Pikachu sighed in defeat, as Raichu went to take some cold drinks with him. Some minutes after, they were both back to the ?tournament?. Soon, the battle finished with Kangaskhan's victory. "Ok! Next battle is Espeon versus Pidgeot!"
Pikachu felt bad for them, as they were both friends, and were now forced to fight. Eevee, as opposite as Pikachu's point of view, was so excited to see the battle, as he wanted to know who was stronger!
As the battle started, Espeon just kept avoiding Pidgeot, as she just tried to tackle her. Then, she remembered that, if she got to the next round, she might be aligned to fight versus Raichu. Of course, nobody else knew, but Espeon did. Logically, she wasn?t very interested to fight against the world champion, so, she preferred to act weak, and let Pidgeot do her thing. After a long time, Espeon finally decided to lay on the ground and play dead, as she got tired of Pidgeot's useless tactics. "Espeon is unable to battle?" said Sceptile, as he really didn?t expect Pidgeot to be able to win against such an intelligent pokemon as Espeon. "What a surprise! Nobody expected her to win..." he added. Just a moment after, Pidgeot flew to him and pecked him on the head " What the fuck happens with you?!?!" she said, before flying off. Everyone started to laugh at the sight, and Pikachu knew it was the perfect time to escape! Finally, his efforts seemed to bare fruit, as he managed to get out of the croud, and started to walk away.
Everyone looked at Sceptile, as he continued to announce the next battle. "Next battle will be Raichu versus Pikachu!". As soon as Raichu knew that they were next, she turned her head to Pikachu, only to find him missing. "Pikachu! We are next! Where are you?".
Pikachu, even though he was walking away, could hear thet he had to battle against Raichu. Then, he started to cry frenetically as he started to sprint out of that place as fast as he could. He didn?t care about what might happen next, as he only kept running and running from everyone. He hadn?t felt so scared sice that fateful day, and wouldn?t hesitate to do anything to be safe, as he was fearing for his life again! He was so, so scared.
Meanwhile, Raichu kept calling for Pikachu, without receiving an answer. So, she decided to step on the battlefield alone, and talked to Sceptile about what happened, so he could postpone their battle. As she finished talking, she ran off to search for Pikachu.
Raichu didn?t knew where could Pikachu have gone. At first she went to the dinning room, and looked around. "Pikachu! Where are you?" she asked, to no avail. Then, she went out of the complex, and went to the park where Pikachu went berrypicking once in a while. "Pikachu? Please come back!". No response.
Raichu was starting to worry, as she couldn?t imagine where Pikachu had gone. She tried to look around, but she couldn?t find anyone. So, she decided to enter in the complex again, and search inside. She walked through the corridors, calling for Pikachu. Each minute it passed, each place she went, the tension inside her grew stronger and stronger. Eventually, she had only one more corridor to look in. The male staff rooms. She carefully walked, as silently as possible, trying to detect any noise that could be coming from Pikachu. Once she was at the end of said corridor, she saw that the last room was open, and what was more surprising, completely dark inside, as the windows were covered by thick curtains. She wondered why was that room like that, as she couldn?t get a clue as to what was going on. But, as she was about to leave, she heard something which caused her to get curious. It was like someone was breathing, or something like that. Wanting to figure it out, Raichu pulled the switch down, and the room was lit up. Her heart shrank as she noticed that almost everything in there was damaged or destroyed. She knew that something serious was going on. "Pikachu? Where are you?" she asked as calmly as she could, but she couldn?t spot him. Then, she noticed a relatively small bump on the nest, which emmanated sobbing sounds. "Pikachu? Are you there?" she asked.
As she had no response back, she decided to lift the blankets which covered the mysterious figure. But as she was about to take them off, she felt something grabbing them as hard as it could. "NO!" the voice said. Raichu jumped. "Pikachu. What happened?" She said, in shock. But she didn?t got an answer. Tired from the situation, Raichu pulled off some of the blankets, enough to reveal Pikachu's body. Now, her soul literally shattered into pieces as she saw him. He was covered in bloody scratches all over his body, and some patches of fur were missing. Bite marks could also be seen on his arms and tail.
"OH MY GOD PIKACHU! WHAT HAPPENED?!?!" she screamed, trying to figure out what exactly happened. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! GO AWAY GO AWAY! GET OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW!!" Answered Pikachu as Raichu started to shake and cry. "Pikachu! Please, tell me what's going on! I want to help you!" said Raichu, trying to calm him down.
"I KNEW YOU WANTED THIS!! ANYONE LIKE YOU HAS ANY HEART LEFT!!! YOU ARE KILLING MACHINES!!!" said Pikachu, as he started to break a part of the nest to use as a cover.
"Pikachu! Please let me take care of you!" Raichu begged, hoping Pikachu would come back to his senses, but it was impossible. "Pikachu, please!" said Raichu. Pikachu looked up and saw Raichu trying to help him, but he misinterpreted it as she was getting nearer to finish him off. "No Raichu! Please, please, Please! DON?T!" he begged her, his pitch-black eyes widened to a blinding, terrified face. As Raichu got nearer, Pikachu grabbed the sheets that were left in the nest, and ran to the opposite corner. "KEEP OUT!! PLEASE, DON?T KILL ME!! GET OUT!!!" he shouted out.
Raichu discerned that Pikachu had entered in a psychotic outbreak, and so, it was senseless to try to talk to him in that state. But, her worries about Pikachu's mental condition made her go as far as trying to take out the covers he had with him, so she turned around, and started to walk to him again. But Pikachu, terrified, did the first thing that his body attempted to do, and threw a small, golden box at her face with all his might. Raichu didn?t saw it coming, and hit her right in the nose, as it started to bleed a bit. "Pikachu! she cried, but as she crouched down to pick up the now damaged box, Pikachu had already left.
As soon as she was left alone, Raichu sat down in the flor and started to cry as she worried about Pikachu. She knew that he was shy, but this event revealed that Pikachu had some very serious problems that she was unaware of. As Raichu was going to leave the room, she saw the little box that Pikachu had thrown at her in his rage attack, and noticed it was open, so she decided to take a look in.
She noticed that there were a lot of photograps in there. She started to look at the photos, and saw a young boy with a Pikachu in some of these photos, who looked like he was having a good time with his partner. There were photos of different cities that she had never been in, and soon, her eyes were filled with all sorts of photos of Pikachu and that boy she didn?t knew at all. She then ordered all the photos, and carefully placed them again inside the box. Even though she didn?t really knew what those photos were, she figured that Pikachu surely trasured them.
After a moment, she decided to go out to search for Pikachu again, but as she was going to leave the room, she saw Espeon walking up towards her, but as soon as she saw Raichu's tear-stained face, Espeon ran toward her. "Raichu! Are you ok?" she asked, but, as soon as she asked, Raichu started to cry again. "Raichu, what are you crying about?" said Espeon as she also started to worry.
"It's Pikachu... He isn?t well". Espeon's face then changed and was now more serious than before. "He was bleeding all over his body, and it seemed he had a mental breakdown! He ran off before I could calm him, and now, I don?t know where did he go!" Raichu's face became even darker as she looked at her with worried eyes. "Please, tell everyone to help me find Pikachu! He might be in extreme danger!" Espeon, confused about everything that had happened there, helped Raichu by talking telepatically to everyone pleading to help them find Pikachu. Soon, Sceptile's tournament was dismantled, as everyone left to search for Pikachu all over the city.
CHAPTER 23
Eevee joined Raichu to search all though the residential district. They started to search for Pikachu from outside the building, and progressively increased the area around it. "Raichu" Eevee asked, as he looked up to the sky, "Are you sure that Pikachu will be okay?"
"Yes, that's why we are here. Raichu really wasn?t sure if Pikachu would be well or not, but she couldn?t scare the cub with such thoughts.
Espeon decided to search around the different parks scattered around the city. She decided to search there, as she knew that Pikachu liked to roam around the park, so she would look up anything she figured that Pikachu liked in there.
Pidgeot flought around all the places the others didn?t search in, so there were a lot of Pokemon searching for Pikachu all over the city. For hours, everyone looked for Pikachu, but nobody found him. They were all on the city to find Pikachu.
But, as the sun was setting down, nobody had found Pikachu. Espeon continued to search the parks in the daytime as Raichu searched at the bus stations. Meanwhile, Sceptile had decided to search at the hospitals in the daytime, and he quickly found that Pikachu's name didn?t belong on any of the registers. If he had found Pikachu, he would have said so. Even though he didn?t take most things seriously, when it came to save someone from danger, he took it very seriously.
As it got dark, Raichu and Eevee started to search in the beach district. As they walked, Eevee kept calling for Pikachu, but he saw nobody. Finally, Raichu told Eevee to rest, but he refused to stop until Pikachu was found.
Finally, after hours of searching, Eevee couldn?t take it any longer and started to fall asleep. Raichu, knowing that Eevee wouldn?t tell her to stop, quickly carried him back to the orphanage to sleep, and then, she resumed the searching.
After a while, Raichu went to the city center, and kept searching through the dark alleys. She looked at all the buildings, but she couldn?t find Pikachu anywhere.
Hours after, she refused to give up searching, and even though it was really cold that night, she kept searching for Pikachu. And when she was searching in a dead end alley, suddenly, she heard some breathing.
"Hey!" she said in a surprised voice. "Pikachu?"
Then, as she turned around, a pale and injured Pikachu was lying on the grund.
"Pikachu! It's you!" Raichu quickly picked up Pikachu in her paws, "Pikachu! Where have you been all this time? We've been looking all around the city for you. Are you alright?"
Pikachu's face turned to look her and he nodded, "I'm fine. Thank you" then Raichu's eyes widened "No, you aren?t fine! I'm taking you to the Pokemon center, right now!"
Pikachu tried to fight her off, but was so weak that he couldn?t even do that.
"No, Pikachu! Please, let me take you to the Pokemon center! I just have to take you there, then you can rest. We'll be back in the morning, okay?
"Alright..." Said Pikachu in defeat.
"You know, you're really cute when you're not struggling against me," said Raichu, trying again to calm him down. "Let's get you there."
Raichu took Pikachu to the hospital and they both ran to the desk to get help. After the nurse examined Pikachu, she started to spray potions in him, and bandaged his self-inflicted wounds. "He seems to be fine, but he must be exhausted. I'm sorry, but you can?t go home just yet. We'll let him rest for tonight"
"Thank you so much! said Raichu,
"Is there anything you can tell me about what happened to him?" said the nurse.
"Well, I?d be happy to help, but I don?t have much to tell you. When I found him, he was already like that in his room. When I entered to take care of him, he ran off".
Raichu quickly ran to the door the nurse told her, and saw Pikachu laying in the bed.
"Pikachu!" said Raichu.
"Raichu!" said Pikachu, but then he turned to Raichu in shock, his body completely silent.
"Pikachu, are you okay?"
Pikachu looked at Raichu. Raichu noticed something in his eyes. It was a sad and familiar look.
"Pikachu...I'm sorry...I shouldn?t have pressured you...I should have just let you..." as she started crying.
"Raichu.." said Pikachu, but his face was still pale, and his eyes were nearly shut.
"Raichu...Please...Don?t kill me... I'll never bother you again." said Pikachu, as he started to shake uncontrollably. "Pikachu! Please... Please!" said Raichu desperately. "I just want to be your friend, I'm not going to hurt you..."
Pikachu turned his head back, tears falling down from his eyes.
"Please...I don?t want to die!"
Raichu tried to caress Pikachu, but he got further away in the bed. "Pikachu, you're not going to die. You have to get better, okay?"
Pikachu looked at Raichu and his eyes turned back to the bed. "I want to sleep..." He said, still sobbing. Raichu decided to let him do as he pleased, and she just nodded. Pikachu soon felt asleep, and Raichu decided to sleep on the floor next to him. She loved him too much to let him alone in that cold place. Moreover, if something happened to him during the night, she could wake up and check on him herself.
Finally she fell asleep, but she woke up just before dawn, trying to make sure that he was still alive. She whispered to Pikachu "Please, come back to me. I'm so sorry, I didn?t know how to show my love to you..." She then licked his cheek and left, for fear that the nurses may come in and try to take him away from her.
Pikachu woke up next morning, still remembering what happened. Luckily, the care he received last night helped to heal his injuries. He got out of the bed with ease and tried to walk. His vision wasn?t perfect, as he also lost a bit of vision since that day, but he was able to navigate around. Soon, she heard one of the nurses. "Good morning, Pikachu" and he turned to her.
"Good morning! I see that you're better!" said the nurse, who gave him some medicine to make him better, before she left.
"I'll tell your friend Raichu to return you home".
Pikachu looked at her with an scared look, but as soon as she left, Raichu entered the room again. "Pikachu...how are you feeling?" But Pikachu didn?t answer. She could see that he was better, but still had those bandages all over his body. "We need to go back" said Raichu. Pikachu decided to let it be and not fight back, as he thought again that it was useless. But as he started to look sadly to the ground, she got nearer to him and smiled.
"Hang in there, Pikachu!" she said. "I'll carry you, okay?"
Then she hugged him and Pikachu did nothing, knowing that he could not fight back. She would take him back to his room, where she would stay with him. Pikachu then fell asleep as she gently carried him to her room.
When Pikachu woke up, he was confused that he wasn?t in his room. Raichu couldn?t stand Pikachu living in his own room due to its deplorable state, and she decided to let Pikachu stay there while she replaced everything with things she bought herself. She knew that as long as she kept caring for him, he would never act that way again. Hence, she decided to stay everyday in her room there to check on Pikachu.
"Hi Pikachu!" Said Raichu as she saw him waking up. She sweetly smiled at him. He then looked at her and tugged her gray paw. She got closer and smiled as she rubbed his head "I'm sorry" he said.
"It's okay, Pikachu...you haven?t done nothing wrong!" She kissed him on the cheek and he looked at her in a confused face. He was still scared about being in a different room as he couldn?t stand seeing Raichu for more than a second after all. He tried to look at her, but his eyes kept staring at the nest.
"Pikachu?" said Raichu. He started to see that he was not being mistreated, and relaxed a bit.
"Can I go down to the patio? It's pretty out there" He softly asked her. Even though the place he was in wasn?t an hostile place, he didn?t like to invade another one's space. She got up, gave him a pat on the head and walked down the hall. She opened the door to the patio and saw the sun shining. She smiled and walked out there with Pikachu. They stood there in silence, enjoying the calming warmth of the sun, feeling good.
After what felt a long time, the cubs finished their lessons, and were now going to play. As Raichu figured that watching Pikachu with all those bandages was a very shocking experience, she decided to coerce Pikachu in going back to her room.
"You need to rest, Pikachu, so you need to go back to the nest" she said. He looked at her, confused, as she waved her paw at him. After some time, and more important, an explanation on why he couldn?t walk around in his state, he accepted to go back to her room.
As soon as Raichu put him down on her bed, he started to cry. "No...don?t hurt me..." But as soon as Raichu looked at him, he nodded his head. She smiled and sat in front of him. "Okay, Pikachu. I'll sit here to check on you while you sleep, ok?"
But then, both heard a gentle knock on the door. "Are you Pikachu? Can I come in?" Said the Eevee cub at the other side of the door. Raichu quickly came out. "I'm sorry Eevee, but Pikachu is sick. He'll need to be left alone, so he can recover as soon as possible." as she gave him a sad smile, before returning inside.
"Okay. Well, I'll better be in my room. I don?t want him getting in trouble" she thought. As she turned around, she saw that Pikachu's eyes had watered up, and he was all curled up in a ball. She was a bit sad about that as she knew that Pikachu didn?t like Eevee to suffer.
So Raichu decided to do something that Pikachu didn?t expect. She gave him a small smile, covered his wounded body except the face and ran outside the room.
Pikachu was startled at the sudden reaction of Raichu. What could she be thinking? Maybe she was planning something for him. But he knew that he didn?t deserve it. No one would care for a disabled Pikachu, he was completely sure about that.
But to his surprise, some seconds after, Raichu was back, but she wasn?t alone. Eevee was at her side! Why did she brought him there?! He tried to find a reason, but he couldn?t.
"Please don?t..." said Pikachu while looking at Eevee, finding it hard to come up with words.
"It's OK, don?t worry. I am here for you! And your partners are here with you too!" she said as she smiled. She wasn?t used to help someone psychologically, so she was slightly unsure, but she could tell that he needed her help. "We are here to listen you. If you tell me what are you afraid of, maybe we can try to help you get over your fears together!" she reassured him. Pikachu had very conflicting thoughts. He wanted to make everyone forget this embarrassing event, so he could return to his previous life. But one part of him also wanted to reveal the truth to her. What could be better to take over his fear for her than talking about it with her while she was there for him?
"What is it, Pikachu? Asked Eevee, a joyful smile on his face, as if trying to cheer Pikachu up.
"I'm afraid of..." He froze again. If he said the truth, she would be really concerned. But he didn?t have anymore the willpower to lie to her, so he simply said "Nothing."
"Well... Don?t worry! Whatever it is, I'll make sure you are safe!" she said, and ran her paw over his forehead. The mouse then felt her paw running over his fur, which gave him a relaxing sensation. He looked behind her and saw Eevee again.
"Eevee..." he mumbled, as he wasn?t expecting him to be there in this situation at all.
"I brought him here again" told Raichu "I wanted you to hear what he thinks about you. Listening to him maybe lets you open up a bit more, so you don?t need to hide it anymore." Then, she smiled again.
"Come on, Pikachu! What do you think he thinks about you?" Raichu asked in a comforting tone, while she sat next to the nest on which Pikachu was laying.
"Probably he doesn?t trust me at all..." said Pikachu looking down, feeling very bad.
"Are you sure about that? No wonder you are feeling so sad. But I can fix that!" replied Raichu, smiling again, as she told Eevee to start talking.
Eevee smiled "I do trust you a lot! You are really fun! Maybe you could be more positive!" he said excitedly as he started to do barrel rolls again in excitement.
"Really, Eevee? I didn?t knew you were so fond of me!" replied Pikachu, as he got a glimmer of hope again.
"Of course!, You're my best friend, really!" he replied. He was honestly trying to make things better for him, as he did everything he though that could make him like he was again.
Raichu then thanked Eevee and told him to go back to play with the cubs. As Eevee left the room, she turned back to Pikachu again.
"As you can see, a lot of people thrusts you!" said Raichu as she turned back and smiled at him. Then, she got closer, until their faces were only a couple inches apart. "How about you Pikachu? Do you trust me?"
Pikachu had just been asked the worst question she could have asked. Not one of the worse, but the worst. He didn?t know what to say, and he didn?t want to lie, but at the same time, he didn?t want to tell the truth either. It was hard, and very hard, to lie to someone that cared for him so much, as all of her hopes and dreams and thoughts were on him.
"Well..." he replied weakly. He though about that day. Shudders came through him, as he felt terrified about what happened, as well as sad about what to his important sequels. But, on the other side, Raichu... He thought as he stared at Raichu deeply in her eyes... She has always had a beautiful smile when he is around. She also didn?t hesitate to show her affection to him when he feel sad, or in need of some love. And yesterday, when he needed her the most, she wandered around in the cold streets at night just to find him, even though he had ?attacked? her before. At the end, he had no evidence to assume that she wants to do any harm to him.
Then, Pikachu held Raichu's paw. "Yes, I trust you..." he said shyly.
The two sat in silence for a moment. Then, Raichu carefully hugged Pikachu, as she held him close to her. "Thanks for making me feel better..." he said after a while. She kissed Pikachu on the cheek again, then said "Thank you for being sincere...I mean, you are a really good Pokemon...and I appreciate that... Please don?t be scared of me anymore, okay?" She got serious and looked him directly in the eyes.
Pikachu looked at her, deep in thought. For a moment, he started thinking about this new situation, then he decided that no matter what happens from now on, he would always trust Raichu...and he meant it.
Then, he smiled, and said "I know, Raichu. I won?t be scared of you, ever again. I feel you truly care about me, as a best friend would."
Raichu smiled and hugged him once again. "You're the best friend I could ever have. Ever." she said as she kissed him on the cheek again, this time holding the kiss longer.
"I feel the same way about you, Raichu. I really do...Thank you..." replied Pikachu.
"You're very welcome, my friend..." she smiled as she gently let go of him. "By the way... Who wants to eat berries!!" she said as she took out a little box with Pikachu's favourite berries!
Pikachu looked at them, smiling at her "Thank you!" he said, as they happily had dinner in the room. Once finished, they both fell asleep in the next together, as they hugged each other.
CHAPTER 24
As the days and weeks progressed, everything became a bit easier for Pikachu. He would still be nervous around Raichu sometimes, but with time he became more and more used to it.
It was in the late afternoon, when Raichu went downstairs to have lunch when Pikachu suddenly ran towards her. He was trembling in fear, as she feared that his thoughts flashed back to the terrible day he?d been a battler. As soon as Pikachu was close enough, she held him close to her. "Are you okay?" she asked, her voice calm and comforting.
Pikachu slowly nodded. "I'm...a little scared of something, but...but I'm okay..." he replied, nervously.
"Well... Let's go outside for some fresh air and then, you tell me, shall we?" Raichu suggested as she took Pikachu's hand and led him outside.
Pikachu didn?t have a choice but to follow Raichu, as she led him into the comfortable nearby park. After a short while, they walked into the small little stream next to the park, and sat down on the rocks. "Why don?t you tell me your problem, Pikachu?" asked Raichu, as she looked at him in the eyes.
"Uh... I...uh...well, I was going to see what you were doing ...but I got a bit scared" he answered, as Raichu noticed he was shaking.
Raichu nodded "And why are you scared? You're my best friend. I don?t want you to be scared of me..."
Pikachu looked at her for a few seconds, then he smiled. "Don?t worry, I'm not scared of you!" said Pikachu. "As I was going to leave the room, I heard a strong noise in the window!" he said, shuddering at the memory.
"Ok! Do you want to go back?" she asked as she smiled warmly. "I promise to solve the problem, ok?"
"Yes, I do" he replied as he stood up from his spot, followed by Raichu. As they walked back to the room, he ran behind her "I-I'm so sorry for being weak" he whispered.
She gently squeezed his hand. "Don?t say that Pikachu, it isn?t true. Where did you heard that noise?" she asked as she walked ahead.
Pikachu looked around and answered her question "In the window...It sounded like a Pokemon was coming to attack me." he said, as he started to cry a bit. "I don?t wanna... go through that again..."
"You're a brave Pokemon" said Raichu, noticing Pikachu was almost shaking with fear. "Don?t worry, Pikachu. We'll find out what is making that noise and we'll take care of it!"
"We will?" asked Pikachu, looking up at her.
"Of course!" she smiled as she reached the room.
"Thank you!" he said as he hugged her in the middle of the room, his head buried in her soft orange and grey fur. She knew that she was being too repetitive with her reassuring words, but she didn?t care. The confidence, and love in her voice gave Pikachu the self-esteem he needed, and he slowly stopped shaking.
Raichu peeked though the window, but she wasn?t able to see anything there. She was confused to where the sound came from. "Where did you hear the sound?" she asked, turning to Pikachu.
"It was outside...I thought it might be something attacking me..." he replied as he looked up at her.
"It is alright Pikachu" she reassured him. "I'm sure we'll find out what is making that noise soon. Do you want to check out outside the building?"
"Sure!" answered Pikachu.
Soon, they were outside the building, watching the window which belonged to Raichu's room, where Pikachu was staying, however, neither of them could appreciate anything strange or particularly different. "I'm sorry Raichu, it may be my imagination" said Pikachu as he looked at his feet.
"Don?t worry Pikachu" she replied, and gave a comforting hug. "Everything is fine, don?t be afraid of any noises. We'll figure this out together..."
Pikachu nodded. "Yes...you're right." He said as he looked at her. "Thank you for being so patient with me. If you hadn?t been here, I probably would've hurt myself again..."
"You're welcome! We'll get through this, Pikachu." she said, and smiled warmly at him.
But as they were going to head back to her room, the little Eevee ran to Pikachu. "Pikachu! Pikachu! It's horrible! We were in class with Sceptile and Pidgeot when... you must come with me!" said Eevee, his voice trembling. "It's all right Eevee, let's go!" said Raichu as the trio headed toward the classroom.
"It's the truth! Wanna hear it again??!" shouted Sceptile to Pidgeot, who was flying over him at the moment. "Why do you say that?? You are the one who makes silly comments!!" she answered as she flapped her wings forcefully trying to make Sceptile fall.
"Why do you say that?"
"You're a gurrrlll! You are envious ?cause you cant fly!"
Pikachu looked over the classroom, where the cubs were staring at the confrontation.
"Really? Can?t they wait for the cubs to be gone?" asked Raichu. She hated when the cubs witnessed such violence.
"I know you're the worst b-"
"ENOUGH!!" yelled the Raichu, who ran in and put herself between the two.
"Nooo...he's the really worst b-"
Raichu gave a loud scream that froze them in place. "You two are adults! If you can?t handle each other's bickering, then you better go back to elementary school!" she said, but to her dismay, the two continued to argue.
"Sceptile is going to regret his words! He insulted me!" said Pidgeot.
"You're a b-"
"ENOUGH!!!" screamed Raichu, and as the two got closer and closer to each other, she let out a powerful electric blast, enough for them to stop and turn around to look at her.
They both stood there, looking at her in awe.
"Wow..." said Pikachu in disbelief as he saw Raichu's electric shock.
Raichu walked toward Sceptile. "What have you done?!" she yelled angrily.
"Wait, I was about to teach the cubs how to do a quick attack when know-it-all said I was wrong!"
"Well, there was a huge mistake you made!" answered Pidgeot. "Then he told me I was an useless chick!"
Raichu and Sceptile got into a stare-down, and then Raichu came closer. "Sceptile, is it true?" she asked with a serious tone.
"I suppose it is" he replied with a cold voice, "but I don?t need her knowledge to win a battle. She doesn?t know anything, so she can?t help me. And if I 'm right, she will just trash around! She's so immature!"
"Actually," said Raichu, "you are making a mistake by ignoring Pidgeot. She may know interesting techniques for flying types."
"I suppose.. hmmm" said Sceptile. Then, Raichu turned back to Pidgeot "And you... You have very little patience! Any comment makes you look lose your temper!"
"Oh, now you're insulting my patience?" replied Pidgeot with a surprised expression.
"Can you see??" said Raichu angrily. "That's right... Sorry. But I tried to tell you about this before, but, as I flought to your window, I almost got hit! It was closed!" Then, Raichu started to giggle. "Pikachu! We've solved the case! The Pokemon you heard before was Pidgeot!"
Pikachu 's face was still red with fear. He looked at Raichu with that same worried expression as before "Why don?t they try to settle the matter?"
Raichu nodded slowly. "Sceptile! Apologize now to Pidgeot! What you said is very offensive!"
Sceptile then patted Pidgeot's head " Sorry Pidgeot..."
Then, Raichu talked to Pidgeot "And you should apologize to Sceptile for attacking him without permission!" Pidgeot hesitantly said "I'm sorry for being so impulsive".
Once the discussion was finished, Raichu remembered what had to show Pikachu. She almost forgot! Raichu couldn?t believe it!
"Pikachu, wanna come with me?" Asked Raichu. "Sure!" said Pikachu. Soon, they were walking back to their room together. Raichu looked at Pikachu and looked at him "I really want to make you feel good! I can see that you're still struggling with staying in another place, isn?t it?"
"Well, I can get used to live in your room I guess..." Replied Pikachu feeling a bit uncomfortable by the fact he destroyed his own furniture. "It's good to know! But I want to show you something! I know that you'll love it!" Said Raichu feeling an unexpected warmth in her heart. Pikachu looked at Raichu and felt also a sensation of happiness maybe? He was unsure about what was he feeling in that moment.
Once they were back to the corridor, Pikachu stopped walking at Raichu's room, but Raichu continued walking. "Raichu! Where are you going?" Asked Pikachu in confusion.
"We are going to your room! I hope you find it okay!" Raichu answered as she motioned him to come.
"Alright" said Pikachu as he walked behind her. When they got to their room, Raichu opened the door, and Pikachu was starting to feel bad again for what he had done.
But his eyes went wide open when he saw his room. He couldn?t believe his eyes! A perfectly decorated room with a nice, light-colored furniture, a cream- colored desk, a light-orange nest and a few little chairs were all just lying around. Suddenly, a feeling of happiness filled his heart. Raichu could see his face and immediately she knew how he must be feeling.
"Welcome to your room Pikachu!" said Raichu as she hugged him tightly. She couldn?t help but feel also a new sensation as his body touched hers and their bodies were held tightly together.
Finally, a whole minute after, they finished hugging, and then, Pikachu looked at Raichu, as his eyes started to water again "Thank you for everything! You are amazing! You really are my best friend here! Thank you for taking care of me!"
"Thank you for accepting me" Raichu answered to him. She knew that he was very reticent to her for months due to some circumstances he hadn?t still told her. Even though she had been really suportive since they first met, she didn?t manage to get Pikachu to tell her about what happened. It must have been a really important thing for him as it seems he had a trainer and battled in the past. It also was strange to her, as she still hasn?t witnessed him fighting. In fact, she hasn?t seen him making any use of electricity yet.
Her face was still looking at him with surprise as she saw the smile on Pikachu's face as he looked at everything. He was amazed about the fact that his room was restored in such a short time.
"Raichu" asked Pikachu "How did you got all these things? There's a nest, a table, a bed lamp... And even a medicine box..." He said, the last words with a sadder tone.
"Well, that's what friends are for, right?" Raichu said with a grin. "Everyone here loves you" she added. She tried to make him feel better about everyone, even though she had paid for everything herself. The money she won at the world Championship was more than enough to live in a well-to-do home and be carefree about money for the rest of her life, so, she didn?t doubted in helping him out and was glad to see her generosity rewarded.
She also knew that, as she kept helping Pikachu, he also gained more and more confidence in her, so, she was each time nearer to find out what troubled Pikachu the most.
But as she thought about that, the sky had already turned black and she knew that maybe they had prolonged they conversation for too long. So, after another heartfelt hug, the duo separated, and went to sleep to their respective rooms.
CHAPTER 25
Next Saturday, Pikachu woke up in his ?new? room, and then, he did his usual morning routine of waiting for Raichu, who would wake up early as well. Once they greeted the new day to each other, they walked together down the street to the park, where they would play with each other for the day.
But today, it was an special day! The cubs were having their final battling tests! Eevee was so excited today! He would finally be able to improve his skills and advance into next level! After two months of training, all the cubs were ready to take the battle test!
As the chu duo was returning from their rutinal walk, the little Eevee finally saw them and went to them jumping in excitement. "Hi Pikachu!" he said excitedly, with a happy tone in his voice. "Do you know what I must do today?"
"Well" responded Pikachu "You must be about to do the tests, is it right?"
"Yeeeah" he said as he started to barrel roll on the floor again "I want to be the best!"
Shortly after they finished talking, Ms. Millers called all the staff to be explained the ?testing? ceremony. The cubs were being divided into two groups, and then would compete between them in different games. All the test were little games where the winner team would be rewarded points, and, in the end, the winner of that contest would be declared the top tier battlers and receive a prize!
Eevee was surprised. He really didn?t expect to be in such competitive activity! Raichu, on the other hand, knew very well the futility of being in a group like that. So, she was happily surprised to see how Eevee was so excited about it!
Ms. Millers was continuing on with the introduction. "All right everyone, let's begin the test!" She finished before reuniting all the cubs in the playground.
After about half an hour, the ball game finished, with Eevee's team winning! Eevee was so happy that he jumped high in the air, and he proudly gave Raichu a hug. "You motivate me!" he said, with a proud tone in his voice.
"Wow!" said Raichu, surprised at her friend's behavior. "Well done!".
The second game consisted in some sort of maze where all the cubs had to run as fast as they could to be the first to escape!
Some of the cubs were very quick, while others took their time, trying to think of what they were going to do. All of the players tried to do their best but some cubs weren?t able to finish in time, Eevee being one of them "Ouch!" he said in frustation, as the other team won the game.
The third game was a race, with each cub trying to reach the other side of the district first!
They all went through and Eevee was so happy as realized that he was a very speedy cub! He soon crossed the line first! he then stood on his hind legs and gave a high-five to Raichu, who was standing next to him. "You rock!" he said with a very positive tone.
The last game was the obstacle battle! In that particular obstacle course, the cubs were to stay on those lines as long as they could, while attacking the adversaries on the other side of the field.
A while later, the cubs had finished the course and Eevee managed to beat two of the adversaries. However, his team lost, as the last cub of the team stepped out the area.
After that, it was time for the prize giving ceremony, which surprisingly consisted in free pizza tickets for the winner team. Eevee, seeing that his team didn?t win the race, was a little disappointed. But, he had a good time anyway.
"Blue team, you won!" Ms. Millers said with a big smile, as the team was all standing there together. "Congratulations to all the winners, who we gathered here today!" She called out a bunch of names and the cubs all cheered, and applauded.
Eevee looked up and saw Raichu and Pikachu, and he felt his mouth slightly opening up in shock. He shook his head and grabbed Raichu's hand, with a faint smile on his face "I had fun, nevermind" he said politely.
"Well, you certainly had a good time" said Raichu, giving him a pat on the shoulder. However, Pikachu didn?t like the idea of being called a loser, and he wanted to teach Eevee that he was a great cub. "Eevee, it doesn?t matter what other people say about you! What matters is what you think of yourself! Come on, let's go back to your room" he said, cheerfully.
Eevee looked a little surprised at what his partner had just said. "Ok!" he said, as he joined Raichu and Pikachu with a huge smile on his face.
Pikachu then felt a very strong pain running down his chest, making him feel as if he had just been attacked. "Ouch!" he said as he flicked his ears, making them stand up straight "I'm feeling quite a bit of pain right now". He turned to face Raichu, and noticed that Eevee started rubbing his hand over his chest.
Raichu gave a worried look towards Pikachu. "Pikachu, what's wrong with you? Are you sick?"
Pikachu quickly shook his head as he started to take a very slow step backwards "No. No, it's nothing serious" he said in a somewhat comforting tone.
Raichu looked back to her friend, worried about his health. However, she decided to wait for Eevee to go to his room to talk with him, and hopefully get to tell her what really happened.
But as she was still thinking, they bumped into Espeon, who was walking to her room. "Hey guys? How's going? I heard that the cubs had a competition today? Did you have fun, Eevee?"
"Yeah! It was fun" he replied as he rubbed against her. Espeon laughed a bit at the circumstance and then smiled slightly.
But Pikachu wasn?t keen on the idea of the cubs competing to win something, as he thought that type of competition didn?t help the cubs to befriend each other.
"But it's unfair that Eevee's team lost! They all did their best! No one deserved losing at all!" Pikachu added.
Eevee smiled a bit at Pikachu's comment.
As the trio continued walking and got to Eevee's room, they left him playing with Vixie and other cubs that were friendly to him. Afterwards, the chu duo returned to Pikachu's room.
As they entered, Pikachu kept talking to Raichu. "I didn?t like the competition at all! Some cubs were very stressed and didn?t had fun! Moreover, no cub should be told that they are worthless!"
Raichu looked at him and answered. "I don?t think its too serious! Eevee didn?t care about losing!"
"I know that Eevee didn?t care, but I saw some other cubs who were ashammed of themselves! I don?t want them to give up their dreams at such a young age!" He contined as Raichu nodded "This is an important matter. What if, for example, some cubs refuse battling because they arent encouraged?" He was terrified by the idea of battling, but he knew that Raichu gave importance to it.
"Hmmm... You're right! It's really important for them to be motivated!" She said and paused her speech. She had a great idea!
"What about giving the losing cubs what they gave to the others?" Raichu said after a while.
"I don?t get it, Raichu" replied Pikachu.
"I guess that the cubs will be really motivated if we take them to the pizzeria where the other team is going!" She said with a cheerful smile.
"But... Are you crazy? They are over one-hundred cubs! It's too expensive! I sadly can?t afford it". He said with a sad tone.
Then, Raichu smiled and whispered to him "Don?t worry. I've got it covered". She knew that even before winning the World Championship, she had way more money than what would be possible to her to spend in her lifetime, so, she didn?t have any worries about helping everyone without worrying about economic issues.
Then, Pikachu felt intense pain in his chest again. He already knew that it was caused by the sequels he carried, so he just went to the medicine box, and took the painkiller.
"Pikachu, is that medicine box yours?" Asked Raichu. "Yeah, it's mine. I need to take the medicine, but don?t worry, I'm fine with it, see?" He said as he tried to convince her about the medicine, but had to act as best as he could to hide the pain in his chest, which was slowly increasing.
"That's good!" Said Raichu, as she saw that her friend was alright.
"What about having dinner? Said Pikachu as he started to walk to the dining room. "Count with me!" She said as she followed him close.
Soon, they were having dinner with Espeon, Sceptile, and Pidgeot. "Guys! My team absolutely killed it!" Said Sceptile as he looked at the others, as if to say that he was invincible.
"Well, Mr. Miracle, you only managed a very close victory!" Replied Pidgeot as she gave a stern look at him. "What about calming a little?" Said Pikachu, as he took a deep breath and sighed. He had to admit that he was very pleased with his ability to end conflicts.
After finishing dinner, everyone went back to their rooms, and Raichu and Pikachu did the same. Raichu watched his friend with concern as he walked way slower than before. "Are you really sure you are okay?" She asked again, but Pikachu just shrugged his shoulders, and repeated what he had already told her.
Soon, it was time to split up, however, Raichu wanted to stay with him a little longer, so she asked Pikachu to enter in his room.
As they entered, Pikachu sat in his nest, and Raichu sat on a chair, as both looked to each other. Then, they felt a strange sensation, as there was absolute silence everywhere. There was something in just staring at each other's eyes in silence that neither of them had really felt before.
"Raichu, I really want to tell you that you are a very generous Pokemon who wants to help all of us. I really feel very honored to have you in my life. Thank you". Raichu felt her own tears coming down her face as she was told these words.
Raichu nodded and then she responded with a warm smile "You are also a very loving Pokemon despite your fears. Thank you for pushing yourself forward so hard". She answered to Pikachu.
Pikachu couldn?t still completely believe that a Raichu was able to be so kind, to the point that she hadn?t made fun of his fears even though she didn?t knew the sad truth behind them.
Raichu then climbed to his nest and hugged him tightly, feeling his warm fur pressing against hers.
Pikachu also felt it was the best feeling he could ever experience, and so, he just closed her eyes in joy as he kept hugging Raichu.
But after some minutes, the pain in his chest returned, this time way stronger than never before. He didn?t want to disturb the moment, as he also thought that probably there wasn?t better ailment to his sequels than the warmth and care that Raichu was giving him, so he remained in a calm state.
But, sadly, seconds later, he felt his world start shutting down. He looked in silence at Raichu, as he knew that this time, his hearth couldn?t keep up its injuries anymore. Then, he focused again on Raichu's face, thinking about how beautiful she was. He had very bad luck that his previous life was cut short by one of them, but now, he finally felt in peace, as she did everything she could to make him happy again, showing him that not every Raichu were cruel. Just after finishing these last thoughts, Pikachu felt his heart definitely stop beating, and soon, he felt his world completely turn black.
CHAPTER 26
After a minute, Raichu decided to finish their time together and return to her room. "Pikachu, come on! It's time to sleep" she said in a gentle tone. However, Pikachu didn?t reply, so Raichu took a deep breath before talking to him again. "Don?t worry! Tomorrow we will spend more time together, okay?" She sais as she looked at Pikachu again, who remained silent.
"Pikachu, are you hearing me?" Raichu asked, but Pikachu did not respond. So she started to worry about him again, wondering if he was even awake at all. "Pikachu!" she said this time shaking Pikachu's body trying to wake him up. Raichu felt something was really wrong, and decided to press her paw on his waist to check his pulse.
Then, she started to shake in fear as she didn?t detect Pikachu's pulse. "Please.. Please.." She said while shivering. Everything seemed to occur in slow-motion, and it felt like a nightmare. Pikachu didn?t deserve to die so young! "Pikachu, please wake up" she screamed while shaking him. Raichu was scared for Pikachu's life!
"Pikachu!" Raichu screamed again. Then, she realized that she had to act by herself. She was an electric Pokemon, so she could maybe return his heart to its usual state by shocking him in a specific way.
Raichu knew she could do that, and then, placed her paw over his hearth and started to send electric shocks down his body. "Pikachu! Please wake up! Don?t leave me this way!" she yelled, trying to spring him back to life.
Raichu was about to stop trying, when she felt his heart start to beat. She started to cry uncontrolably as she made sure that his heart could work again by itself. Then, the door opened with a strong sound and saw Espeon enter with a worried face "Raichu! What happens!" Espeon was confused as to what happened.
"Pikachu has just suffered a severe heart attack! He almost died!" She screamed, still crying in shock. Espeon was taken aback and tried to calm down. "Is he alive?!" Espeon asked again as she still couldn?t believe what happened. Everyone knew that Pikachu's health wasn?t good enough, but she just couldn?t believe he almost died in his room.
"He's still unconscious, but his heart is working fine. I'll check on him for the night!" Raichu said as she made sure that his heart kept working.
Pikachu kept on sleeping peacefully, and Espeon got worried over the Pikachu's health. "I wonder if he's doing well!" She thought out loud, trying to find an answer to the question.
"He's fine Espeon, but you are still worried for him aren?t you?" Raichu said, looking at Espeon with a comfortable look. "I have to say I'm really worried, and I don?t think he is okay." Espeon said with concern. "I'll be sure to make sure he wakes up in the morning, I promise!"
Raichu sighed and gave Espeon a reassuring look "It's not your fault, and he will be okay. Everything will be fine tomorrow, okay?" She reassured Espeon, who still had her head in her paws as she nodded "Yeah... No... I don?t know. This is all just..." She started to cry, this time because of how much she was worried about him. Raichu had enough experience to tell that Pikachu was alright, and knew he didn?t need additional supervision, at least for today.
"He's not going to die Espeon. Trust me, I know about this" She smiled, as she wiped Espeon's tears "You can always ask me about him, okay?" Raichu said as she helped her friend up.
"Well... Thanks for your help Raichu" Espeon said, rubbing the back of her head. "You definitely deserve to be trusted, after all" She giggled and shook her head "You're a true friend".
"Always and forever" Raichu said, hugging her one last time before she went to her room.
Raichu kept looking at Pikachu, as she processed everything that just happened, and soon, she was thinking of her feelings towards Pikachu again. "He's cute, and I like him..." She thought, in a daze. She really didn?t though that she could think that about Pikachu.
While still thinking, she got a strange feeling in her stomach. She remembered all the times Pikachu had helped the cubs in different situations. She then though of how kind he was to Eevee, and also that he would surely make a good father to a litter. So maybe... He was actually starting to affect her in a way. Was it possible that she was starting to like him? After a long time wondering, everything seemed crystal clear. She... loved him. She finally realized that she was in love with Pikachu.
Minutes after, she heard stirring sounds from the nest, and was so excited to see that Pikachu was waking up!
"Pikachu!" cried Raichu, jumping into the nest. "Look at you! You're awake!"
"Yeah..." replied Pikachu, with a tired expression, but a smile as well "I'm awake. Are you okay?" He was really confused about what happened. He only remembered hugging her as they fell asleep.
"Yes! You're awake!" Raichu was really happy with the results of her intervention. "Don?t worry about it Pikachu. I will definitely take care of you."
"Raichu, what happens? you are acting so strange!"
"Pikachu! Please be more serious! You almost died!" She scolded. "You had a heart attack when you fell asleep, and you are still really weak, so you aren?t going to be able to be by yourself for now. I'm going to take care of you."
"You want to adopt me or something?" asked Pikachu with a confused face.
"Well, not really, but now, I want you to answer me a question. A very important question." Raichu said. "Please, Pikachu, do you REALLY trust me?"
"Yes, I already told you!" answered Pikachu, his confusion increasing.
Raichu stared firmly right at his eyes. "Pikachu. This is now a matter of life and death. PLEASE, tell me what happened to you to have these aches and be so fearful of battling, and also what do you really, deep, deep down, think about me and my species."
"O-okay..." replied Pikachu, his eyes moistening with tears. "Fine... I just... I just... will tell you now. You are the best friend I've ever had in my life. I think you really deserve to discover once at all everything about my past".
Raichu stared at him, amazed at what he said. After a minute of silence, she took in a deep breath and looked at him. "Okay. Are you ready to start?"
"Yes, I finally am." ansered Pikachu as he started to tell her his story.
"Years ago, I was a Pokemon who lived in the wild." said Pikachu. "I had a lot of brothers and sisters, hence I was able to do whatever I wanted without anybody scolding me. I always had curiosity about what was in the city, as I was always a very curious Pikachu. Then, one day when I couldn?t keep my curiosity at bay any longer, so I walked down the road, and entered the city. It was a grand city, filled with many people. I had never seen so many humans in my life, and, even though I liked everything the city, I wanted to go to the local battling gym. As soon as I entered there, I instantly noticed all the pokemon battling each other. It was beautiful! I was filled with curiosity. I looked around, and I saw a lot of people surrounding a battle scene. So I walked there as I definitely wanted to see more. But before I could reach there, I noticed someone in a very sad situation near me. A boy was bleeding and falling down, hiding from everyone's sight. I felt so sad for him that I couldn?t help to walk to him and start talking to him. He told me that he had been alone for years since he failed the "initial test", making him unable to have a Pokemon with him, and could only live by stealing and other terrible things. I realized that the boy needed my help.
He told me that his name was Jake, and that he had lived there for all his life. I asked him why he didn?t get help when he first needed it, and he told me that it was because he was ashamed of himself. I then told him that I would be there for him, no matter what, and he agreed. I helped him stand up, and he thanked me for it, and, since then, we forged a very close bond. After a long while, I noticed that he had managed to leave his old life behind, and he now lived the life of an average trainer. We even took part in tournaments, battled other trainers and traveled to different cities by ourselves, only him and me."
Raichu nooded in amazement, as she finally discovered what the photos she saw were. "But... I still don?t understand why you are afraid of battling now."
"That's the next part of my story, and it's not only the answer to that question, but also explains almost, if not all, of my current problems. After about three years together, we got to a really large city, which, when we arrived, was full of trainers training at the beach. Soon, we were training with other trainers, as usual, to get stronger for the next gym battle, which turned out to be an electric-type specialized gym, but fire types also took part on the leader's battles. Once we were ready, we went to the gym leader. We managed to defeat the assistants of the leader without much difficulty, and soon, the battle for the gym badge began. The first Pokemon the trainer used was a Fennekin, but the battle didn?t go well for him, and, just like that, I managed to defeat the Fennekin without trouble. Then, I saw him smiling at me as if I had done something good. But, in reality, he was thinking about wiping me off as soon as possible, and then, he released his second Pokemon, which turned out to be a Raichu. I was really shocked by this, seeing that I didn?t know any Raichu even though it was my direct evolution. The battle was on his side this time, as that Raichu was a lot stronger than me, and also was unnafected by my attacks. I knew that I would lose the battle, but... I couldn?t have guessed what happened after. After I was defeated, Jake was going to pick me up, as he couldn?t buy pokeballs due to being an ?illegal? trainer, but that Raichu launched a thunderbolt just in front of him. He wasn?t struck, but couldn?t get me out of the battlefield. Then, as I laid unconscious, the Raichu walked over to me. Jake started to worry about me, as it was to late for him to pick me up. As the Raichu stood by the side of my unconscious body, he lifted me up with his tail, and then, pressed me on a wall, or that was what Jake told me. Finally, in some fatidical seconds, he launched a full-power hyperbeam to me at a very close range, leaving me shattered, wounded, and humiliated. Then, after that, the Raichu and the gym leader turned back and left. Jake ran to me and didn?t know what to do. All he could see was that I was bleeding all over my body, and my rib-cage was shattered. A terrible sight."
Raichu started to tremble, tears running down her face. "After a while, he managed to reach the hospital, and so, I was rushed to the critical care unit. That night, I was admitted in the ICU, where I was hooked to several machines. But, even though my chances of survival were slim, I managed to make it out. But after being in the hospital for about a week, I was discharged home, only after a nurse gave Jake a letter that he had to explain to me. I know it must had been the hardest day in his life, as he had to explain to me that my electric-type organs were damaged beyond repair, and, in order to save my life, they had to be removed. I was able to live but I was only left with the basics. There would be no more electricity, or any attacks in general. Our battling career was over, and both Jake and me were devastated. Soon, however, Jake came to the conclusion that he had to be strong for me, and worked night and day to find me a new place, where I could continue to be of utility to other people. We searched for quite a while, and, finally, Jake managed to found a place for me, which turned out to be this orphanage. But... the end of this story is really unfair..." he said as he sobbed "As he left me here, he was left with no Pokemon, and would have to return to his previous life... But, after all the experiences he lived with me, he couldn?t adapt to the new situation as he thought that I was a part of him... I know he tried to overcome his depression but... he finally lost his final battle, and departed this world after taking his own life... So... I was left without family... or friends..." he finished telling as he definitely broke down.
Raichu was left completely speechless. She stared at him as he told the story that she wanted to hear for so long. Finally, she spoke up "So... you're saying that it was a Raichu who took you away from your hobby and your trainer?"
Pikachu looked down, embarrassed "Yes".
"Pikachu... please... I... I'm really sorry that I asked..." Raichu said "It wasn?t meant to make you sad or anything... I didn?t mean to..."
"Oh... it's okay. I understand" said Pikachu, as Raichu started to cry as never before. She cried and cried as her heart was aching for what she had just heard. Now, everything made sense. The reason why he was different from all the other Pokemon, the reason why he always acted so oddly around her, even though he had always been a cheerful Pokemon... This was a tragic story, a very sad one at that. Now that she finally understood what was behind him, her feelings about him would never be the same. She felt so many emotions, for the loss of his friend, and his depression, she felt rage towards that evil Raichu, a feeling she didn?t know existed. She also felt sadness for that poor kid. She had no idea what he had to go through, but, even though she was a famous battler and all, she wouldn?t have hesitated to help him out and give him a shoulder to cry on. In fact, after that, she would've done anything to be with him. No one should ever feel the way he did. But it was too late, as he died depressed and alone.
After a couple minutes, she looked over to Pikachu, still crying. "So... what do you want me to do?" she asked. She would do anything for Pikachu. Anything. But she didn?t expect the next word out of his mouth.
"Nothing".
She paused for a second.
"Nothing...? What do you mean by that?" she asked him.
"Well... I'm saying that I understand how you feel, but there's nothing that we can do about it".
"What do you mean?" she asked "After what you just said... That trainer... Jake... If there's something that we can do about it... we'll do it... For example, we can go on a journey together if you want!" she said as she leaned forward and hugged him.
Pikachu hugged her back, and as he did, he started to regain his emotions. "You don?t need to do that", he said to her. "You have, in fact, helped me to get over my depression, and I am extremely grateful for that" he said to her. "You don?t have to seek out revenge about the fact that Jake is gone. It won?t bring him back" he continued. "No matter what we do, nothing will bring him back. The only thing we can do is to live our lives, so he feels proud of ourselves wherever he is right now".
Pikachu hugged her again and as he did so, he felt a warm feeling spreading through his heart, one that he never felt before. He felt happiness and friendship, and a joy that he never felt before. The depression he felt over the past few years seemed to have completely faded away.
Pikachu felt a sense of serenity and happiness as he felt this warm feeling in his heart, a feeling he had never experienced before. Raichu was smiling a big smile as she looked into his eyes and felt the same feeling. At that thought, she started crying, as the tears started to trickle down her cheeks. "I know you have had a tough life... but you are a wonderful pokemon. You are the bravest pokemon I have ever seen". Raichu felt a strong sadness in her heart. She didn?t know how to express it, but she knew that this was something that had affected her heart and soul. She felt a huge regret over what had happened, and as she continued to cry, she felt a huge urge to protect him "I will stay with you, no matter what" she finished.
"This means so much to me Raichu... I... I know it is very hard for you to care of me, standing by my side. I have lost my parents... I lost all my friends... But I never lost your optimism. Your sense of adventure, your strength and your love for helping everyone out. Your kindness to strangers, and your patience with me."
The female finally gave her Pikachu a hug. She had never hugged anyone like this before... "Thank you Raichu for everything..." She looked up to him and said. "I will do whatever it takes to protect you, so I can keep you safe... I promise I will protect you forever" Pikachu then squeezed her in a warm embrace as well. It was a very peaceful moment as both pokemon just held each other for a few minutes.
When they finished their hugs, they finally said goodbye to each other, and Raichu got up and started walking out the door. But as she was about to leave, something kept her back. She looked up at Pikachu, who was staring at her with a look of admiration, as if she had seen some incredible miracle in front of him. She then looked down at herself, as if she was wondering about something. She thought about everything that had happened between them... "You are a really good friend, Raichu... It really feels like we have known each other forever...", Pikachu murmured.
Then, silence dominated the room, as they soon realized that everyone was asleep at the moment. Raichu started thinking again in her head about what she should do... She thought about a lot of things. She had realized that Pikachu had a good heart, and that she was trying as hard as she could to be the best friend to him that she could. Nevertheless, the relationship between her and him had evolved, as she had noticed that her heart had grown stronger than ever... And it was because of her that Pikachu was able to accept himself more. She then realized that he wasn?t just a good friend, she really desired to live her life by his side, just as much as Pikachu was willing to be with her. Then, she remembered the way that Pikachu looked at her, and it gave her a sudden feeling of comfort. She felt secure around him... She knew that the words that she had said had affected his life, and had made him feel happy again. She also realized that she had been seeing Pikachu in a different light. When she looked at him again, she came to the conclusion that he had become not just a friend, but the one she desired to spend the rest of her life with. She had at last realized that she wanted her Pikachu not to be just a friend anymore. Raichu thought of how that would change her life, and it made her really happy. She decided at last to become Pikachu's mate.
And so, firmly decided, she slowly walked back towards Pikachu as he stood still, seeing the admirable Raichu walk towards him. She then looked at Pikachu deeply, as for her, there was no turning back now. The time had finally come.
When Pikachu looked up to Raichu, she returned a love-filled look, as she began to speak, "Pikachu, you know, there might be some things we don?t know about each other. We know what our differences are, but we still love each other unconditionally. We can?t always agree with each other on things, but we still try to understand each other. Whatever happens in our life, we still try to care for each other. You have a very long history of fighting against your sadness to be able to make the best of yourself. You are a special pokemon and I'm proud of you."
And then she put a big, heart-warming smile on her face and gave Pikachu a peck on the cheek. She then looked up at the little guy, as she made him stand up on the nest, and continued: "I think it is time to confess myself to you. This is something that I have been thinking of, and I have wondered about it for a long time. But, now that I am totally sure, it's time to tell you the truth."
She then hugged Pikachu firmly and held his paw with hers as she began to speak again. "Pikachu, I love you with all my heart. You are the only one I can?t live without, and you are a friend that I will never, ever lose. I will always love you and care for you forever. Pikachu, I want to be your mate".
Pikachu was left speechless by her confession. He had known that she cared about him a lot, but he had never known that she wanted to be his mate, but now that he had heard her out, he knew that she truly loved him and wanted to be with him. Pikachu suddenly couldn?t help but smile. He then held her paws as she held him up so they were staring each other eye-to-eye.
He then whispered back to her. "I love you too Raichu. Thank you so much for making me your mate. I really love you so much Raichu". After some seconds in silence, they began to kiss each other. And for a long time, they just kissed deeply, lovingly, and with tender love. They felt like the happiest Pokemon in the world. If Pikachu was sure about something, it was that he loved Raichu very much, and would always love her no matter what. After a while, their lips parted and they both sighed in happiness. And that's how they shared their first kiss.
They kept staring and caressing each other for a long time. They were both waiting for the other one to make another move. But no one did. It was a bit awkward for both of them as they both knew that they wanted more of each other. So, Raichu, due to her more natural leader attitude, slowly broke the silence and began to speak, as she began to hold Pikachu's paw with her own, and started to speak:
"Pikachu, I know that you love me, and I also love you very much. We have known each other for so long, and we want to be with each other forever. And that's why I think it's time to seal our relationship forever". She was sure of what she was about to do, but, in the end, it was still a bit challenging to find the right words, so she decided to just tell Pikachu what she wanted to say.
Raichu looked at Pikachu with a watery but determined look. "Pikachu. Do you... want to make love with me?" she asked him in a soft tone. And then she softly gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek. She smiled to him and waited for her most loved pokemon to answer.
Pikachu looked up at her seriously. "Yes, Raichu. I want to make love with you, as my mate" As he returned her a warm smile. Just then, they started kissing again, this time more passionately. As they kept kissing, Raichu closed her eyes. Her heart was beating fast as her proposal had just been accepted. They kept kissing for minutes, until they were both blushing and panting in each other's arms.
As they laid down in their nest, both Pokemon looked at each other and smiled, as they had finally accepted to share their most beautiful and intimate moment tonight. Raichu decided to take the first step, as she placed her paw on his chest and gently pushed him to get him to lay belly up on the nest. She then softly rubbed his body up and down, gently caressing his belly and thighs. Eventually she laid on top of him and put her mouth around his, as they softly kissed, moving their tongues up and down, enjoying each other's bodies and senses. As they continued to kiss, the two slowly became more in love with each other, as their feelings were so strong and passionate, as well as their desires. Eventually, their bodies slowly became more sensitive, as they felt each other's hot body against them, as well as their breaths in and out. As they continued to touch each other, they slowly became more aroused until they could feel each other's arousal. Finally, after a while, when Raichu stopped to look down between Pikachu's legs, she saw a long thin rod poking out of Pikachu's crotch. He quickly became embarrased, as it was his first time, and he didn?t know what to do. On top of that, the fact that he still feared her species a bit was causing him anxiety. "Pikachu!" Raichu called out, as she slowly lifted Pikachu to his feet, and gently placed him standing up on his nest. "Don?t worry, Pikachu, remember that I'll never hurt you, ever." Raichu smiled, placing a kiss on his head, as she turned herself to face her back to Pikachu. Raichu took a deep breath, as she took a small step forward, and slowly crouched down until her paws rested on the nest, with her rear facing Pikachu. At last, she lifted her tail, and moved her hips back a bit. "Pikachu, it's time to breed with your mate." Raichu smiled, as she gently lifted her rear, exposing herself to him.
But Pikachu was still being a bit hesitant to enter the female. Raichu, who was enjoying the moment, decided to give the male Pikachu some more encouragement by telling him how much she will love to feel him inside her. It seemed to work, as Pikachu's cock slightly throbbed upon hearing her words.
So, Raichu to be a bit more firm in her attempt to get him to mate with her, gently pushed him nearer to her softly with her tail, until their hips were just touching. Raichu told him to try and put his penis in her vagina. However, he was still a bit scared and uncomfortable at the thought of doing it with her. So he reunited a lot of courage to tell Raichu to help him out, as he had no idea how to do it. Raichu then lowered herself, as she used her tail again to lift Pikachu a little, so he could lay on her back, with his erect penis aligned with her crotch. Afterwards, she told him to hold her hips with his arms and to start thrusting in and out slowly and gently.
Pikachu was then shown what he was told when she started to motion him, pushing his hips in with her tail, so he could understand what he was expected to do. Meanwhile, his rod started to softly enter inside Raichu, finally making Pikachu realize how amazing it felt! He was enjoying to be inside his partner, so he kept telling her to push him deeper so he could get all of it in, so, as soon as she was ready, she pushed his hips in a little more, just enough to get his penis fully inside her.
Raichu then reassured Pikachu to relax as he started pushing his penis in and out a bit without her help, so they could enjoy it together. After some time, Raichu decided to make Pikachu push harder inside her, so she started to slowly rock her body back and forth to try to speed up the penetration. She was determined to make him enjoy the night, so she pushed forcefully her body backwards, to make sure that he would go all the way in by himself. Pikachu felt his penis completely sink in, and as soon as he dug his final section, he was surprised to hear Raichu squeak in pleasure. It was a real pleasure to hear Raichu's voice, because it was so sweet. It was definitely a lovely experience. Feeling more confident with himself, Pikachu started to thrust his penis in and out, a bit faster each time. At that point, Raichu started moaning in her charming voice, as well as her vagina begin to relax and tighten rhythmically. Raichu felt his penis enter her deeper, as her whole body began to relax and her juices began to drip out of her pussy and onto Pikachu's penis.
She was amazed at how smooth and hot his penis felt inside of her, as well as how he was pulling her vaginal muscles and opening her up to feel his warm, soft penis in her. Raichu felt her body begin to tighten, as she was getting more and more close to the orgasm she had hoped for.
The mixed feeling of his penis being inside of her and the tight grip that Pikachu had on her, made her tense up, as her body got ready to climax. Her tail shook, her legs trembled, and her vagina convulsed uncontrollably as she came. The sound of her juices squirting onto the nest as her pussy was being squeezed by Pikachu's penis caused Raichu to scream out in ecstasy as her body went into overdrive as she kept splashing her juices all over Pikachu's thighs, drenching him with her love fluids.
A few seconds after this orgasm she started to rock herself back and forth again, and was beginning to try to get her body to relax and not get too wild about it, to avoid startling Pikachu out of his trance. The feeling she got in her legs while she was being fucked and his rod being pushed in and out so much was causing her to become somewhat sore. She could feel Pikachu pushing himself inside of her as she continued to shake and moan, her pussy quivering with a pleasurable shiver. Her eyes were slightly closed as she was enjoying Pikachu's dick sliding in and out of her, as the sensation kept feeling great.
Pikachu smiled as he felt himself relax again. It was as if he felt being lifted into the sky, as he could feel his weight on her back combined with the feeling of his cock pressing against her pussy. He felt her body relax and her breathing return to a normal rhythm. As he decided to speed up the lovemaking, he started to thrust into her more forcefully, her pussy beginning to spasm again, the feeling of the tip pushing against her caused her to gasp out in ecstasy once again. Pikachu thought as he slid his entire length into her how the pleasure from his actions was almost overwhelming for her. He wondered what it would be like to fill her with the warmth of his sperm while firmly grabbing her from her back with his paws. Pikachu sighed as he felt his body loosen up, his mind filled with the sensations of riding her as he focused on the wet sounds of his hips slamming into hers.
Shorly after, he felt a chill down his spine as his hips spasmed at the sudden new and foreign sensation that started down in his balls. As a consequence, some seconds later Pikachu felt a little pressure building in his penis, wondering if it was his own orgasm coming. He was almost ready to explode inside of Raichu, so he stopped thrusting to concentrate on the pleasure. Raichu, aware of the situation, knew exactly what to do to send her mate over the edge. As soon as he stopped thrusting, she started to moan loudly, as if she was enjoying another orgasm. Pikachu began to feel the pressure inside his penis increase as a result of hearing her mate's arousal, causing his hips to tremble from the sudden sensation. As soon as Raichu felt it, she began to give her partner's penis a gentle squeeze as she continued to moan louder. This made him feel like he had to ejaculate inside of her. The feeling of her cunt clamping down on his penis sent a jolt of pleasure throughout his entire body as his body began to tense up a bit as a result of the cumulative pleasure. His whole frame started to paralyze as his orgasm was reaching it's peak. Finally, being unable to hold it any longer, Pikachu's entire body twitched, as he thrusted as deep as he could one last time. That was all that he needed. Pikachu started to cry her mate's name as his malehood started to ejaculate a thick stream of sperm inside Raichu's vagina, which caused her body to become tense as she started to scream in delight. Pikachu was surprised at how much pleasure his orgasm sent him as he continued to pump his cum into her belly, while she started to feel the effects of his seed shooting up into her, which began to feel as a tickle in her uterus. Raichu reached a state of pure ecstasy as he continued to spray his sticky semen into her. Her womb started to ache as Pikachu's liquid love that poured into her continued coating her insides. Pikachu just kept moving his hips a bit, as he kept enjoying the repetitive feeling of sperm loads being pushed into her, as she felt his powerful jets of warm cum shooting into her womb. As Pikachu's orgasm started to subside, he felt his seed stop flowing from his penis, and a strong feeling of tiredness caused him to become extremely exhausted. He collapsed onto his stomach, on top of Raichu's back, his body unable to react as he lay there in total exhaustion, starting to quickly fall asleep.
Raichu, sensing that his lover could not keep himself awoke any longer, began to gently crouch herself, to allow Pikachu to climb out, her entire body going rigid as Pikachu's quickly softening erection left her body, making some of his seed to run out of her as it started dripping from her vagina to the nest. Raichu, being so tired, let out a sigh of relief as she dismounted Pikachu from her and laid him on the now sperm-covered nest.
After letting the already asleep Pikachu on the nest, she cleaned him by licking off the last drops of combined fluids that were remaining on his crotch and legs, and then, she proceeded to clean herself off, leaving a little bit of Pikachu's semen on her fur, as a reminder of what they had just done to each other, and at last hugged him one last time as she gave a final, loving kiss to him before going back to sleep to her place.
Just before leaving, she looked back at him, her eyes watering again as she recalled once again all the harsh moments in Pikachu's life, and all the times that he had felt lonely. It has been very hard to him to find a love, someone who would accept him as he was.
Then, with a sigh, as she was exiting the room, she stared at Pikachu once again, as her fur stood on end at the thought of everything that they had done to each other. As a strong wave of tiredness came over Raichu, she fastly left to her home, and slowly drifted off to a peaceful sleep.
CHAPTER 27
Next day, as soon as he awoke, he blushed as he remembered what had happened the night before. He slowly looked up at the ceiling, thinking of what had happened the night before, from beginning to end. He felt so grateful for being with her, that he could not keep himself from tearing up. The whole experience that they had just had really made the bond between them stronger than ever, as he finally knew what it felt like to be loved.
He slowly moved his hand to his chest, where she had placed her hand earlier that night, and gently rubbed the area. He could still feel her touch in his body, almost as if he was in a dream. He let out a tearful sigh as he sat on his bed and slowly looked around the room.
Then, he looked back at the nest where they had spent the night together, and the many happy memories that had been made with each other last night. He quickly jumped out of the nest and started the day by having breakfast. As he walked towards the dining room, he saw Espeon and Eevee talking to each other.
"Hi guys! Is that a box of pokeyummies?" said Pikachu, pointing at the box that was sitting on the table in front of the two Pokemon.
"Yeah" replied Eevee as he ate. "I see!" replied Espeon. "I bet that the cutie will get mad if I eat any of those!". Then, both smiled as they saw Eevee stuffing his face with one of the pokeyummies.
Then, Pikachu slowly walked towards the dining room table, and once he ordered his breakfast, he noticed that Eevee was very happy about something.
"Eevee! What's the matter?" said Pikachu.
"I... I..." said Eevee. "I'm confused!" he shouted in a cheerful tone as he jumped from his seat and ran next to Pikachu. Once he got near him, he started to barrel roll on the floor again. "Eevee! Stop doing that! You are going to dry your fur!" said Pikachu, making him stand up and keep jumping. Eevee was sure a very energetic cub! In addition, he didn?t really knew why being confused was a good thing.
"I can evolve to a lot of different Pokemon!" he shouted as he jumped into a ball. Then, he uncurled himself and kept jumping. "I can become... an Umbreon! I can become a Leafeon!" He kept running and jumping in a ball. "I can become an Espeon! I can become a Vaporeon!" He kept running and jumping in a ball.
"Hey, Eevee!" shouted Pikachu, not giving him any rest. "Why don?t you relax a bit?" Eevee was much too hyper for him right now.
"But..."
"You can tell me while you stay relaxed, eating your pokeyummies, okay?"
"OK!" he replied, making Pikachu give him a nice hug. Then, he sat up and kept telling Pikachu. "I can become nearly anything I want!"
Pikachu knew about the very unstable genetics of Eevee as species, allowing them to evolve in many different ways, and that is why many Eevee never really knew what to do when it came to evolution.
"I know it's very exciting to evolve!" Pikachu said excitedly. "But... do you know what evolution are you going to do?"
Eevee looked at Pikachu in shock. He had never been asked that before. Then, he took a deep breath and looked at Pikachu. "I will become..." he said as he started to think to a level that Pikachu didn?t knew a cub was able to.
"I will become......"
Then, he just stared at Pikachu. Espeon thought that maybe, he was a bit reluctant to say that he wanted to become an Espeon as she was there. Another option would be to read his mind, but she preferred to not spoil the surprise! It was an exciting moment for them, and when Eevee looked back at Pikachu and gave him an adorable grin, she thought that Eevee had decided it already!
"When I grow older, I want to become a Pikachu!!" he said as he pointed to Pikachu with his little cute paw.
Espeon and Pikachu couldn?t help but start laughing as hard as they could to the sudden, unexpected answer of the cub. "Yes! I will become a Pikachu! I will shoot lightning from my body!"
Pikachu just couldn?t stop laughing! He couldn?t help himself, it was just so funny!
"I know it's very good news! I will be very fast! I will fight for justice! Then, I will win many medals! And when I feel ready, I will evolve to Raichu! So I can be like her!"
After a whole minute laughing, they stared at Eevee with big, surprised eyes "Eevee, unfortunately, you can?t become a Pikachu! You can only select one of the evolutions in the paper the teacher gave you!"
"Oh... I have it in my room! It's the poster called Eeveelutions, isn?t it?"
"Yes, it is" answered Espeon, still trying to hold her laughter inside of her.
"I'm bringing it here right now!" said Eevee as he ran off the table.
"He is such a cutie when he gets excited, isn?t he?" asked Espeon as he saw Pikachu looking at him as he ran out the door. "Yes, he is!"
They continued laughing until they saw someone entering the dinning room. They thought that Eevee was already back with the Eeveelution poster, but, instead, they saw Raichu, who started walking to the table. "Hello, Pikachu, Hello Espeon!" he said as she looked at Pikachu with big, bright, happy eyes.
"Oh, come here, Raichu!" He said as the memories of yesterday flashed in his mind, making him feel a bit embarrassed.
"We need to tell you a very funny thing that happened just a moment ago!" Pikachu said as she sat with them.
After telling her what happened with Eevee and laughing for another half minute, they saw Eevee come back with the poster, in which could be easily read the word ?Eeveelutions?.
"Here it is!" said Eevee with a smile. "I got it back from my room!" But as he was about to sit down with Pikachu, he saw that Raichu had just appeared from nowhere!! "Wow! Raichu has very cool powers! She teleported right now like that!!"
"Hahaha! No silly, I just came while you were at your room!" Raichu said, pointing at the poster "It's an Eeveelution poster! Do you know which of them do you want to become?"
"Are you sure I can?t become a Pikachu or a Raichu? I like both of them!!" he said in a bit of a whisper.
"No, no, silly! You can only choose one those in the poster! Espeon is right there, so you see?" Raichu said as she pointed at an image in the Eeveelution poster. "Just like her!" then, she pointed to Espeon.
Raichu thought for a moment, then, she looked at Espeon as she just smiled to Eevee. "I don?t dislike Espeon, but, if in the future I am an Espeon, how is people going to distinguish me and her??" he said as he looked at Espeon with his wide open black eyes. "But if I become Raichu, it's much easier. People will automatically know who I am!" he said, as he kept desiring to be a Pikachu.
"Well, I'm a Raichu, so you will have the same problem!" Raichu said to Eevee, trying to dissuade him from his original idea, so he could make a valid decision without any anxiety. She laughed a bit as the argument she used didn?t make any sense, as there were many pokemon of the same species in the world. Even legendaries aren?t one of a kind!
"OW! It's right! I can?t become a Pikachu or a Raichu! It would be a big problem! I will think it out better! Bye!" he said as he ate the last contents of the pokeyummies box, and left the table with a smile on his face.
"He's such a child!" said Pikachu as he saw Raichu also smiling and happy while waving goodbye at him "But he's such a nice cub! I would be happy if I were him!" she added. "Well, anyways, we should now get ready to do our deeds! It's so late! Espeon said as she also left the table, leaving the couple alone.
Then, they looked to each other tenderly, and, for the first time today, they smiled a bit.
"Pikachu" she said as she licked his cheek "Are you alright?"
"You know that I am" he said with a smile. He then laid her head on her chest, and took a deep breath, as Raichu whispered at him in a barely audible tone.
"Did you enjoy it?"
"It was amazing" he told her.
"You really are special" she whispered back.
Then, they held paws, and, after a few minutes, decided to go shopping, as today, Pikachu was in charge of buying the food. They both enjoyed their first walk together as a mated couple, holding hands as they slowly walked to the biggest mall in the commercial district, where they started to buy things for the annual festivity of the city!
The Carnival, as it's called, was one of the biggest events of the year, and it was a great chance for the commercial district to attract customers, mostly by selling new and latest fashion products.
On top of that, everyone was ready to have a good time. As soon as the two arrived at the entrance, they both could smell the aroma of the roasting pork, as the smell of chicken wafted by them, so they decided to buy some sausages to munch on while they did their usual activities.
"So where do we start?" he asked her as they walked around the stalls.
"Well, as we are here! let's have a look at what's here!" she said, pointing at the different booths "We can buy some things for the cubs as well!"
"Okay, that sounds like a good idea!" he said as he couldn?t deny it.
Then, after a few hours, they bought everything they thought they needed, such as food, drinks, and Raichu also got a fur polish, as she wanted to look really good for her partner.
"Pikachu" she said with a happy smile "Do you think I'm pretty enough?"
"You know that I love you very much, Raichu" he said, which made her blush slightly, as she blushed a bit at his compliment "And you're beautiful as well!"
Then, neither of them could help to kiss each other, as they both didn?t get tired of looking at each other's faces, as always. "I love you, Raichu" he whispered as he put his arm around her.
"I love you too, Pikachu" she whispered as they touched each other's faces.
Then, as the day was nearing its end, they decided to call it a day and returned to the orphanage. As they were about to split up, Pikachu wanted to know something important about her. "Raichu, where are you living now?"
"I'm staying in the nearest inn near here. But, I'm thinking of settling down near the orphanage, as I want to live with you from now on" she said.
"Okay, you maybe prefer to live in your room here for some time, until you decide to buy your own house and move in. But don?t worry, because I'll be living with you anyway" he said, trying to lighten up her mood.
She smiled at him, but quickly covered her mouth, as they heard somebody approaching them "Is everything alright here?"
"Oh Espeon! How was the day?"
"It was great! Eevee seems to be quite confident about his evolution!" she said, as the chu couple stared at her with a hopeful look.
"Good!, as long as he's happy..." added Pikachu
"What is it, Espeon? Will he be an Espeon like you?"
"Well... it's not one-hundred percent sure, but the chance seems pretty strong" replied Espeon. "However, he prefers to keep the secret. He only told it to me, because we are both from the Eeveelution family".
As they said goodbye to each other, Pikachu soon went to sleep, thinking about the possibilities. He felt as if things will get even better for both him and Raichu, as he felt that he could live with Raichu forever. In the meantime, Raichu decided to go home and clean her room, so it will look as nice as the house she's going to live in with him. As soon as she was in her room, she began to clean it, and afterwards went to bed, imagining what tomorrow will be like.
CHAPTER 28
The next weeks went by very quickly, the days blurred together, with Pikachu taking care of the cubs as usual, as he shared his life with his beloved Raichu mate.
Soon, a very special day came! They couldn?t believe it when it was time for Eevee's 1st birthday party!
They were both excited as Eevee would discover what a birthday party was like. Both Raichu and Pikachu knew that, being a stray cub, Eevee didn?t had an exact birthday to celebrate, so they decided to place the celebration between Raichu's and his.
Pikachu woke up knowing that today would be a great day, and prepared to greet Eevee when he woke up. As Pikachu exited his room, he saw that Raichu had also just woken up. "Good morning hon. Do you remember that today we are going to celebrate Eevee's birthday?" asked Pikachu with his charming smile.
"Of course! I want him to have fun" replied Raichu, giving her lover a warm hug. "He deserves it, as he's a great Pokemon... I made sure he is getting the best gifts he can wish for!" she added.
"Thank you for everything you have done for me, Raichu" said Pikachu, giving her a small kiss on the forehead.
"You're welcome, Pikachu. It's the least I can do for him as he loves us too much... and the same applies to the love I have for you" whispered Raichu as she gave Pikachu another love filled kiss.
They both began to head to the main hall, and greeted him as soon as he walked in.
"Eevee, do you know what a birthday is?" asked Raichu
"Um... no, I don?t" responded Eevee. "Maybe you can explain it to him" replied Raichu.
"Is it good?" asked Eevee as she was curious.
"Well, it is a chance to celebrate a person's birth by throwing a party, and everybody eats cake and you get presents!" explained Pikachu.
"Really?" said Eevee, smiling. "Yes, and we have presents for you too, Eevee!" said Raichu.
"YEEEESS!! A PARTY!!!!" he said as he started to barrel roll as he kept celebrating.
"We got you a good one, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the afternoon!" said Raichu.
Eevee seemed to understand, as he went to get out his favorite toy, which was a rubber ball, and started to spin it.
"Look how happy he is, Pikachu" said Raichu as she gave her mate a warm hug.
"That's the way to celebrate!" added Pikachu.
Pikachu and Raichu left to go to the monthly staff reunion, as Eevee was still playing in the playground.
As they got to the meeting area, only Pidgeot, Espeon and Sceptile were there.
But as they were just sitting there, Ms. Millers came in.
"Hello! Good to see you!" she said with a smile. "I've decided to separate different staff by groups, so it's easier to manage. You all take care for the cubs in different ways. Sceptile, you are the Battle Instructor. Your work is perfectly done, as the cubs are undoubtedly successful, and most of them have received very high marks in battling abilities. Congratulations".
"Thank you, Ms. Millers" said Sceptile, as he was proudly showing off the badges he got.
"Well, next one is Pidgeot. You are the assistant. Your work is done very well, too. Working with he cubs is a bliss when you lend us a wing. Thank you!" she finished as Pidgeot smiled.
"Next is Espeon, the Psychologist. Your work is really important when it comes to helping the cubs whenever they need it. You also know how to handle them in various ways, and are also very good at solving problems. Well done, I'm confident you are an excellent Psychologist."
"Thank you, Ms. Millers" said Espeon, who was smiling, as she was proud of the cubs.
"And, in last place, Pikachu and Raichu, who are the Free Time Supervisors. Your work is to ensure that the cubs get along with each other. It's a really important duty, as if the cubs don?t get along, they may end up getting depressed and isolated. Well done, and I trust that you've done a lot to get them together and stay united".
"Thank you, Ms. Millers" replied Raichu as she was proud of the cubs as well.
Once the reunion finished without more important details, Pikachu went back to the playground again, to check out on Eevee, while Raichu went to Pikachu's room to set everything up.
As he was walking, they saw a group of cubs playing tag in the playground, Eevee among them.
"Oh, you're back" he said with a smile. "How was the reunion?"
"It was great, Eevee!" replied Pikachu. "But how do you feel?"
"I'm very happy! I'm getting a party! and presents! and cookies and games and cake and waah! I can?t believe I'm going to get so many things today!!" he said with excitement, as he was bouncing up and down, almost trying to fly.
Pikachu smiled "It's time to get going to my room, ok? Raichu is waiting you there, come on!"
Eevee nodded and followed Pikachu after saying goodbye to the other cubs.
"Yeah, let's go!"
They went to Pikachu's room, where Raichu closed the door and the three Pokemon were left alone.
"Alright, Eevee. I want you to close your eyes! Just don?t peek, ok?" said Pikachu, as he was putting a cloth over the cub's eyes.
As soon as Eevee closed her eyes, Raichu came back with a big envelope.
"Alright, Eevee. Here is your present! Open it carefully!" said Raichu, as Eevee opened the envelope the best he could, having in count he only could scratch it.
Once he opened it, he became very surprised. "It's a Giga Petite Matronix!" he shouted with joy.
"Do you like it! I was lucky enough to get the purple one!" said Raichu, happily.
"Yea! It's great! Thank you! I'm so happy! You're my best friends!" he said, as they hugged each other.
"Well, well, Eevee! I love to see you happy!" said Pikachu, as he walked to Eevee. "But there's more coming up!" he said as he told Eevee to cover his eyes again.
As soon as Raichu saw him closing his eyes, she went to her room to search for the chocolate cake!
"Now's the time, Eevee!" said Pikachu, after Raichu brought the cake. "Open your eyes!"
Eevee opened his eyes and he screamed with joy! "It's the chocolate cake, my favourite! Thank you both!" he said, as he took a big bite out of the cake.
"He couldn?t wait anymore!" said Pikachu as he saw Raichu approach him. "Pikachu, do you like to see Eevee happy?" she said in a tender tone.
"Always!" replied Pikachu. "But there's still more coming up Eevee!" he said, as he took a small toy crown and put it on his head. "You are the king today!" he joyfully chanted.
"Wow! Wow! Wow!" replied Eevee. "I'm shocked! I have a crown!"
Pikachu just laughed, as he was laying on the nest, enjoying Eevee's fun. Once he ate the whole cake himself (He seems to be a very hungry cub) he said "I'm the king!" as he hugged Raichu first, then Pikachu, and then they all hugged each other.
They were finally complete and ready to get off to bed. Once Eevee left, Pikachu went to his nest, and Raichu followed him. Soon, the two were snuggling together.
The two kept hugging and kissing for minutes, remembering the sweet moments they had together.
Their snuggling continued, as Raichu kept lovingly licking Pikachu's cheek as he laid on his back, looking up at the ceiling with a big smile on his face.
"... aww, he looks so cute like that," thought Raichu, as Pikachu laid on his back with a smile on his face, seeing his mate sharing her love and affection.
Raichu then smiled as she talked to Pikachu "Pikachu... I would really love to know what you feel when you see a cub having fun" she said, in a sweet tone.
Pikachu just smiled as he closed his eyes, enjoying her sweet words.
The two of them snuggled like this for a while, before Pikachu spoke "Well, there's nothing like watching a youngster enjoy itself!" he said as he held her, as they kept cuddling. Raichu caressed his arm as she spoke again "But I want you to explain why do you enjoy it so much.." she insisted.
"Well, I don?t know how to express it... But I'll try" he said, not knowing where to start. "When you see a cub having fun... The feelings inside my heart flames up... You want to share that joy with that cub" he said, as she nodded. "I feel so happy to be able to make them feel the way I would have loved to feel when I was myself a little Pichu... I never had my parents? love...I know you understand it... I never had the right support..." he said as a single tear flowed down his cheek.
Raichu hugged him tightly and kissed him passionately for quite a long time, until he stopped crying. She then looked at him with a smile on her face "Do you still feel unattended?" she asked.
"I can?t change the past... but I can at least try to make Eevee feel loved, so he never experiments the loneliness I suffered. I can?t change his past... but I can at least make a difference in his future" he said, as he sat up.
"Well, I think we're ready to call it a night" he said as he took her paw in his as he prepared to sleep but Raichu gently stroked his fur. "You still haven?t answered me the last question" she insisted.
"All right, what do you want to know?" he asked, as he took her paw.
"Do you still feel so powerless?... And still feeling lonely?... Do you still feel like an outcast?" she asked, in a tone that showed that she wasn?t asking in a whining way.
Pikachu looked at her "Yeah, sometimes, I really do" he said, with a soft voice. "But I have you and Eevee, and that's all that matters."
"Pikachu... I am your mate, for life... I want to help you overcome these feelings of your past. I can?t stand being without you, and I know you feel the same... Love is what you need the most. We will be together, in the good and bad times. We can make a difference in each others? lives. That's what true love is..." she said, with a happy tone.
Pikachu nodded "I understand... Thanks" he said as he caressed her fur, gazing deeply into her eyes. "I love you" he whispered, as he kissed her gently on the cheek. "And I love you, too" he added, as she caressed his paw.
She caressed his fur again, before asking another heartfelt question "Pikachu... Please, can I ask you another question?"
"Of course" he replied.
"What do you feel when..." she said as she starting blushing, but her voice didn?t lose its soft tone. "We see happy families with young Pokemon, with two perfect parents in love with each other? Do you feel lonely, like an unfortunate pokemon, knowing that you will never have a mother or a father to share your life with?" she asked.
Pikachu gently placed a paw on her cheek and said "I know you feel sad about me... but... It's not your fault... Don?t bash yourself for something that can?t be changed."
Raichu kissed him once again "I know I already asked this question before, but let me repeat it from a different point of view. Is there anything in the world that can make you feel happy and complete?" she asked, and he thought for a moment before replying.
"Hmm... I don?t think there's anything that can change my thoughts... But don?t worry. I've got you, and even though my past will never change, you can make our future better" he replied as he placed his paw on her cheek.
"It will be better, Pikachu" she assured him as she continued to caress his fur. "What would you do, if it was your turn to enjoy a happy family life?" she asked him in a soft tone, her eyes starting to tear up. "Would you be able to leave behind your past?" she asked.
"I don?t know what do you mean... But I won?t leave you. We will be together forever, I promise" he replied, as he kissed her on the cheek.
"Thank you, Pikachu" she said, as she put her paw on his as she continued to cry. "Raichu, you don?t need to cry... I'm very happy now that I have you by my side!" he said, feeling guilty for making her cry. But then, he was shocked as Raichu held him tightly, making him stare at her at eye-to eye level.
"Pikachu, I know how much you love me, and I don?t want you to be sad anymore. It's your time to be happy and live a happy life once at all". She said as she started to cry harder and shake a bit. "There's something very important you need to know".
Pikachu stared at her in silence as she continued to cry, while he pondered on what she meant. He decided to let her talk, patting her on her shoulder as if to say her to be strong.
Then, she stared deeply into his eyes, feeling his loving embrace around her, and his heart beating in sync with hers. She finally felt the strength she needed to tell Pikachu what he needed to know. "Pikachu... It's time to leave our sad past behind and to enjoy a happy future together. For me, for us, the time has come" she said, a small smile appeared on her face as she was about to finished her speech.
"Pikachu... I'm pregnant".
Pikachu looked at her with shock and awe at her revelation. He couldn?t believe that it was happening! This was what he had wanted ever since he left his family behind. He just looked at her with pure joy, which made her cry even more.
"We are going to be parents!" she said between sobs hugging him tighter "We are going to have a litter!".
He couldn?t believe it. It finally happened. They were going to bring a litter of baby Pichu into the world together. Finally, they kissed passionately as long as they could. "I love you Raichu. You will be the best mother in the world!" he reassured her.
They kept hugging each other, as Pikachu slid his paw to touch Raichu's already slightly inflated belly. Raichu wrapped her arms around Pikachu and held him close, before leaning forward and giving him another kiss. She then spoke once again "And you'll be the best daddy in the world" she said with the same big grin as before. He could tell by the look on her face that she loved the idea and would enjoy raising a bunch of baby Pichu.
And just like this, the now expecting couple closed their eyes and drifted off to sleep, a new wonderful future in front of them to look forward to.
CHAPTER 29
As Pikachu started to wake up, he lightly bumped on the sleeping Raichu beside him. Raichu was still fast asleep and didn?t even stir from the sudden bump. The sensation that Pikachu felt as he remembered the night before was so overwhelming that he started to cry silently, as he felt his eyes fill with tears. Moments later, he crawled to Raichu's belly and carefully and gently rubbed his face against Raichu's soft fur. It was the most romantic thing he had ever experienced in his entire life.
"Raichu, I love you", he quietly repeated to her as he rubbed her white belly.
She felt the warmth of his touch against her and softly hummed back to him. "I love you too Pikachu. I'm happy to be having cubs with you. You are going to be an amazing father, and a wonderful partner in life".
Pikachu looked up to her, blushing a bit as she had noticed him staring at her belly. But he quickly shrugged it off and kissed her deeply. Once they broke apart, Pikachu was about to hop off the nest to start the day when Raichu suddenly nudged him back, and started to blush as she laid belly flat on the nest, smiling at Pikachu.
After enjoying another intimate moment together, they decided to go to have breakfast. When they got to the dining room, Pidgeot was already having breakfast by herself. She winged at them as soon as she saw them. "Hi! Raichu and Pikachu! How are you?" she asked.
"We're great!" Raichu replied as Pikachu rubbed his head against Raichu's body. "Want some breakfast?"
"I already had some", Pidgeot replied "I'm just waiting for the rest of you to show up".
"Well, what are you doing today?" asked Pikachu politely.
"Same thing we always do..." replied Pidgeot with a smile "And what are you doing today?"
"Same as yesterday and the day before" replied Pikachu "I'm going to grab a few groceries and you?"
"I'm going to enjoy a nice relaxing Sunday" answered Pidgeot.
"Well, I'll see you later" replied Pikachu.
As they stepped outside, Raichu first made sure nobody was around before telling Pikachu about their soon-to-be family. "Pikachu, we have a decision to make. Where are we going to live?" she asked.
Pikachu could only think of how was he going to get a place to live outside the Pokemon Society. He had spent all his life after Jake there, and he didn?t ever considered leaving. But some weeks ago, when they mated for the first time, he had to change radically his lifestyle for Raichu's sake, as for pokemon, accepting the mating ritual was equivalent to marriage. However, Pikachu didn?t knew how he was going to earn money, and he couldn?t earn enough income to live on, as he was a disabled Pikachu after all.
"Raichu... You're pregnant, and so, a new Pichu litter is on the way" he said worriedly. "I'm worried how we're going to raise a new litter if I can?t buy a house for ourselves".
Raichu looked into his face, and softly nuzzled him with her nose. "Don?t worry, I've got it covered". Pikachu looked at her with a shocked expression, as he couldn?t believe that Raichu would take care of him like that. "What? Do you really think to buy a house just like that? It's worth a lot of money! And I'm broke after all! Because I'm useless..."
Raichu quickly turned to face Pikachu and said "Never say that again! You are far from worthless! Everyone likes you! The cubs are always smiling because of you... I love you with all my heart! And you are soon bringing this world a litter of our own!" She said as she started to rub her belly as if to reassure him that it was true. "Now think about how much fun you'll have with a bunch of little kits running around. Do you think you are worthless after all?"
Pikachu looked into her eyes and saw the love she was trying to convey. He smiled warmly at her "I guess I'm okay after all" he said.
"About our new home, would you like to move in with me already? It would save me the trouble of finding a house for you myself" she asked.
Pikachu's mind was spinning at the idea that he would be sharing the house with Raichu. He had never shared a home with a Pokemon before, and he was sure he would have a hard time to adjust to the new environment. But he also wanted to look forward to the life ahead of him, so he simply answered "Sure, that sounds great".
"That's a yes!" cheered Raichu with a huge grin "Let's get going after having lunch, ok?" she asked.
Pikachu nodded happily and both kissed again, and they went back to the house to have a leisurely lunch, but they finally decided to have lunch together at a reataurant. This was to be maybe their final meal with the Society being Pikachu's home, so he had a feeling of guilt for leaving Eevee there, even though he knew that he would keep working there.
"So tell me about your life with a pokemon trainer" Raichu asked.
Pikachu could not hold his emotions back "It's not always easy to live with humans. There are bad humans out there you can?t trust them to be around you. But, there are also some others who make that lifestyle worth it" he said trying to avoid mentioning names.
Raichu looked at him and smiled "Tell me more. I want to hear everything about it!". Pikachu looked at her, as he smiled. She had made him able to talk about these topics without losing his mind, and he was very grateful for that. "Well, there are so many nice things about travelling with a pokemon trainer that cares for you" he started. "You get to know so many cool things, and you'll meet so many friends along the way. It's really great... And the people who are closer to you will help you during your toughest times. They may not be able to achieve the victory, but they're always there if you need them to be."
Raichu looked at him, knowing that he must be referring to Jake "Are you talking about Jake?" she asked.
Pikachu nodded "Yes. Jake made me feel like nothing could go wrong". Raichu said nothing.
Pikachu looked at her, worried. "So, that's it. Some Pokemon get to live a happy life with their trainer or special human for the rest of their lives". He knew she had been wondering about his late friend. "Why didn?t anyone tried to help Jake after... you know?" Raichu asked in a sad tone.
Pikachu remembered the events very well. "I tried to raise awareness, but no one would try to help an useless Pokemon to save its trainer from depression" he said, almost a regretful look in his eyes.
Raichu took a deep breath and looked at him, trying to comfort him once again "He couldn?t get over it because he loved you. He made his decision, so you can try to think that, at least, he was free in his last moments."
Pikachu took a deep breath and the look on his face became a bit more hopeful. "Maybe you're right... But we must start thinking on our future family. We are going to raise them until they grow up", finished Pikachu as he started to blush.
Raichu looked at him, her fur standing on end at the thought of the new lives they were about to create, as she put a paw on his shoulder. "Do you think Eevee will be happy with us having cubs?" she asked
Pikachu was still blushing "I'm not sure..." he started, not sure about Eevee. "We might not be able to spend as much time with him than before, but we can introduce him to our kits once they are old enough. Hopefully he will be glad to meet them since the are babies, maybe forging a lifelong bond. And, at least he can still live a full life by himself" he said smiling.
Raichu looked at him, pleased with his answer, and looked forward to their future together. After talking for a bit longer, they paid the bill and soon were on the move. They were going to check on the house Raichu was more interested about, and perhaps even buy it.
The trip was going to take quite a while, the house was located in the other side of the residential district, so they had a quite long walk. The area was quite new, so there weren?t as many people. Raichu noticed that, but preferred it to be that way, as the cubs would need a relaxed environment.
After a while, they finally reached the flat. As they entered the place, Raichu looked at the house, like she had already imagined what it looked like, but was pleasantly surprised. It was a really luminous space, with white and grey walls, with a very nice community garden and elegant furniture.
The inside looked just like what she had been imagining "This looks lovely Raichu, this is a good place" said Pikachu. "Do you like this place?" asked Raichu with a smile.
Pikachu smiled "It's the best, but..." he said softly "I'm not sure about how are we going to buy it" he looked at Raichu "I can?t help you in these matters, you know" he said. She didn?t say anything, as she nodded. "Do you like this place to live with me and the cubs?" she asked. "Yes, I would love it" he said, feeling confused about how was she going to pay for it.
Raichu didn?t let him continue talking as she kissed him for as long as she could, making Pikachu relax with her, forgetting about the money. "You deserve the best, and we are going to be together forever. In addition, you are the best Pokemon I've ever met" she said happily "I love you Pikachu".
Pikachu nodded "I love you, too" and he let her kiss him more. Once they fininshed, Raichu smiled at him "Ok! It's all said and done! I'll buy this place right now! I love you" as she jumped into his arms and hugged him tight.
After finishing the paper stuff, they were back to their new home, finally as owners! Now Pikachu had to think how he was going to tell the others about what happened between him and Raichu, especially Eevee. He had absolutely grown fond of the little cub, and he was worried he would be upset.
As he was wondering, Raichu grabbed his paw and told him "Take a look at our new place! It's really nice, I love it here" she said excited. "There's a garden here, with people and pokemon! Come, we'll take a tour of the garden" she said smiling.
After walking around the area for quite a long time, it started to be late, and decided to go back to the flat. Once they were back there, they had dinner and then, went to the bedroom, thinking about the first night of their new lives.
CHAPTER 30
As they got to the bedroom, it felt like they just had started their life together. Pikachu looked at her mate, and smiled. "Welcome to our new home!" she said as she hugged him tight. "It feels really nice! We needed a good and comfy space, and here it is!" she said as she planted a kiss on his cheek, then giggling.
Pikachu simply nodded, happy about what she had said. They laid together on the main dormitory bed, and Raichu switched up the big TV it had, as she switched the lights off, creating a quite relaxing ambience.
Now the TV was playing Pokemon battles, even though they weren?t really paying attention to them. After some time, Raichu looked at her mate's eyes as she moved closer to him, to give him a friendly kiss.
He hugged her tight "That felt really nice Raichu!" he said with a happy voice. "So do you" she said back, then she laid down beside him. They started kissing again, but this time, it was a different kind of kissing. This one was slower, more sensual, almost making them both want to stay there forever.
After some minutes after they kissed, Pikachu asked "Raichu, I want to know something about you..." Pikachu said. Raichu then smiled at him and said "Go on" she asked.
"Well..." he started "Raichu... I am really confused about something" he said, as Raichu looked at him "How did you get the money to buy the house?" he asked.
Raichu smiled and rubbed Pikachu's shoulder. "Well, It's something a bit... let's say special" she said as she kissed him, pressing her body close to him. "Before continuing, I need you to swear me that you won?t, I repeat, you WON?T be afraid to talk to me, and tell me what you need to..." she said, then he nodded "Of course! We are partners for life, you know that!" he said.
"Good! Now continue" he said, making Raichu sigh a bit as she felt insecure about telling her secret to him. In fact, he was going to be the first to know about it outside her professional, isolated circle. "I bought the house with my money... I bet you never knew that I actually had so much money, didn?t you?" she asked, as Pikachu nodded.
Raichu sighed "Well, it may be a bit overwhelming for you to know this. I suppose you don?t know too much about battling, as you have been really afraid of battling for a long time since then. Do you remember Jake telling you something about the different championships out there?" she asked.
Pikachu nodded "Yeah, we were very interested in these topics back in the day, and Jake knew a lot about them. He told me that his desire was to be able to take part in some tournaments and be able to live from it" he said.
Raichu sighed as she though again in Jake's sad fate before continuing. "Okay, let's continue, as you may remember, only the best contestants made it to the regional stage, then national stage, and luckily, they might get to fight their way to the World Championship." Pikachu nodded,as he remembered clearly that this year, this city had the great privilege of holding that contest. Pikachu looked at her. "Literal millions of contestants from all over the world dread to enter this contest! How I'm not going to be aware of it's existance!" he said in a shocked tone
Raichu smiled and continued "You see, the contest was an annual event, and it was broadcasted on TV all around the world" she said as she looked at Pikachu with a hint of confidence in her eyes. She then thought that the best way to tell him would be to let him see the recorded battles in PokeTube to get him into situation. So she nodded and pointed her paw to the TV "Look at this" she said, as the video loaded.
Pikachu didn?t knew what was really going on in that video. But as he saw the first battle that had place that day, he started to freeze in fear, as he could barely stand to look at it. Raichu, noticing Pikachu's insecurity, hugged him from behind, and held him in her comfy embrace. She knew deep down that he didn?t want to watch the video, buy, again, telling him directly that she was the world champion would probably make him see things even worse. But, being the important figure in her life that he was, she wanted him to know about this no matter what.
Pikachu felt more relaxed by her intervention, making him feel secure. He knew that the attacks couldn?t hit him through the TV screen, but when she was hugging him, he knew that whatever would happen, he would be protected. As he relaxed, he was able to continue watching the video.
Raichu held him tightly for the several hours of the video, all the way till the very end, when the final battle between Armando and her started.
He thought it was a fun coincidence that an independent Raichu made its way to the finals, but he didn?t suspect anything further. As the battle unfolded, Pikachu was first impressed by the legendaries? approval to take part in competition. But as Articuno fell, he immediately wondered how that Raichu managed to win that single battle! A regular Pokemon competing at such an high level was something unseen before!
As the battle progressed, he felt more and more amazement at the sheer power of the Raichu's attacks as they tore its legendary foes apart.
When the last battle ended, he was confidently sure his whole body had turned completely white, as he somewhat felt the power of that blast flow through his body. It had been sure a hell of an attack to finish a hell of a battle.
That Raichu had beaten Armando, and in doing so, become the first independent fighter to win the title. Then the video finished and Raichu switched on the lamp on her mattress. "What do you think about what you have just seen? Did you like it?" she asked Pikachu with a sweet smile.
Pikachu only smiled, and answered in a soft voice "It was amazing! I didn?t know that a Pokemon could fight at that level!" he said, as he now understood that this was no ordinary Pokemon battle. Raichu thought about telling him just like that now, but she preferred to do something else, so Pikachu didn?t think it was a joke. Pikachu saw the trophy that she was given in the last seconds of the video, making it the perfect proof! She decided to tell him her secret that way.
"Okay! Now that you have seen the whole thing, I want you to close your eyes! Let me cover them with this" she said as she wrapped a piece of cloth around his head, making sure it was loose enough to avoid making him uncomfortable.
Pikachu complied and closed his eyes. As he did so, Raichu quickly ran to the wardrobe where she kept the trophy. She knew that Pikachu would be very excited to see it in person, as he had been also a fighter in the past.
She returned a moment later and told him that he needed to grab something. Then, she carefully guided his paws to grab the trophy. Once he had a firm grip on it, she gave him a warm hug, and slowly took the cloth off of his head. He wasn?t sure what would happen as she was unfastening it, but he wasn?t expecting what happened next.
As she took the cloth away, Pikachu took a second to process what was the object that Raichu had brought him, until he could read something written thanks to the faint light of the lamp. "Ginger Sparks, 2045 World Championship Winner".
At that very same moment, Pikachu's jaw hit the ground. He was speechless. Pikachu had never expected that he would never meet anyone in his life who had ever made it to the regional finals, let alone the World Champion itself! He was just stuck in the very same pose for a while. "WOW!!! Ginger Sparks, World Champion? Are you really... really... Ginger Sparks?!" he said with a few tears in his eyes.
"Yeah I'm really Ginger Sparks, even though I don?t like that name, as it is just an strange name created for marketing..." she said, as she felt upset that assessors went as far as manipulating a Pokemon's name to make a Pokemon seem more famous. "I think it is kinda weird for you to discover that I am the World Champion, but I'm sure you will get used to it! Moreover, I hate to mix my personal life with battling, so, I'm more than happy to keep this secret between us, as it might be a bit embarrassing for you as well!" she said with a playful tone in her voice, as she let go of Pikachu, and winked at him. Pikachu was still frozen in place in the exact position Raichu had left him, as his mind had exploded the moment he realized his mate's identity. "Pikachu" Raichu said as she caressed him with her paw, feeling his body temperature slowly rising. Pikachu started breathing heavily, and tried to digest it.
As she feared that Pikachu would enter in a breakout again, she started to panic. "No, no! Please! I don?t want to make you feel bad!" Raichu said, trying to relax Pikachu a bit again, but Pikachu stared at her and quickly jumped up, hugging her tightly, and said "You are the most amazing Pokemon I have ever met! I always wanted to meet someone like you someday! I can?t believe this! This is too much!" he said as he hugged her even harder.
Raichu sighed, this time feeling a bit of relief, and felt as if she had at least helped, if not achieved her goal of making Pikachu comfortable with the news. She returned the hug, which made Pikachu even more excited.
"So, that's what was behind you all this time, isn?t it?" he asked, making Raichu nod once again. If someone had told him who this Raichu really was the first time he saw her, he didn?t know what in the world could've happened to him.
She licked his face once again, causing him to purr on delight. Minutes later, when they were just lying on the bed, he noticed the trophy on his bedside table! He felt very bad for it, and quickly jumped off the bed, and took it from the table. He examined it for a moment before placing it in a random place of the room. "That trophy is yours. I don?t deserve to have it near me. I... I don?t even think I deserve to have a single thing in the entire world." he said, rubbing a bit his eyes as he returned to the bed, and laid down next to Raichu.
"Pikachu!" she said in a firm tone. But Pikachu didn?t even hear her. He was still thinking about his life. "I don?t deserve that. I don?t deserve to be with you, I don?t..."
She quickly stopped him and held him close to her, looking him deeply in the eyes. "Pikachu, you deserve the world, so stop saying that! You have my congratulations! You are the most generous, caring, and loving Pokemon I've ever seen! You've made me so happy that I never want to be without you, so why would you think you aren?t a worthy partner?" she said, trying to convince him once again.
"But... Raichu..." he started. "I... I just..."
Raichu started to passionately kiss him, as she pressed him slightly against her stomach. She loved it when they hugged like that, when they kissed, when they made love... With every thing they did, they would drift away from reality, and there was nothing else they could possibly think of, other than how much they loved each other. After kissing, they kept hugging each other, as they started to drift off to sleep. However, as soon as they prepared themselves to sleep, both Pokemon could feel a faint bump on her stomach. Pikachu opened his eyes as wide as possible, as he could feel a baby Pichu inside her.
He was so excited as he could finally sense the life he and Raichu had made together. He kissed her again as Raichu reassured him that she also could feel it. Due to the numerous kisses and hugs they had shared, Pikachu started to feel the effects of their love. They stared at each other lovingly, as Raichu laid on her back, spreading herself to him. As Raichu nodded to him one last time, they started to make love. Once they were both finished, they kissed one last time before they both fell asleep.
CHAPTER 31
After a few weeks after that day, the couple's life seemed to be the same. They were still in love, thinking about raising they family together, and loving each other. Each day, they spent time together, doing all the romantic things they thought about doing when they first started their relationship.
Raichu also started to grow a more visible belly. It was time for the pair to start thinking about parenthood in an each time closer future. Raichu and Pikachu always knew that this wasn?t something to be taken lightly. So they tried to prepare for this new chapter of their lives and taking care of the Pichu the best they could.
Raichu didn?t need a lot of thinking before deciding to take a maternity leave from battling, because she had a growing Pichu litter that needed her. Today, she would go to talk to the managers to see about taking her leave. However, she would have a hard time getting around in her current state, so it was up to Pikachu to help her out when she needed him, so he didn?t let her go by herself.
After she got up, Pikachu took her paw and walked her to the bathroom to start getting ready. They stayed in the bathroom for a little while, but after a long time of grooming, Pikachu thought she was ready to go out and face the world. He wrapped his arm around her, and then they stepped out of the bathroom. Pikachu would have her try to walk around a bit, and then he would make sure she was steady enough to get up and around before going together to see the manager.
Raichu felt a bit nervous as they steeped into the lobby, because she feared that she couldn?t walk around and do things as good as she used to do but she knew that she couldn?t let her partner see her like this, so she kept up the act as best she could, and Pikachu couldn?t help but to notice. He was used to seeing his partner with a little extra weight, but since Raichu's due date was only a couple weeks away, it was obvious that she was getting a little bit bigger every day.
He had to stop her sometimes from falling over, but as he would be there to help her get back up and continue with whatever she was doing, Raichu soon wanted to go to talk to the manager as soon as possible to ask about taking time off for when her babies would be born. Pikachu, witnessing her insistence, helped her walk a little more before stopping to wait for her to catch her breath.
They started to slowly make their way to the office, and Raichu was starting to get a little worried. She wasn?t sure if she would be able to do it. The babies were definitely growing to a point where she had to try as hard as she could to do any common task.
After a few minutes of walking and struggling, they came to the entrance of the building they were heading to, and Pikachu went ahead to open the door for her. As she stepped in, the receptionist turned around from his desk, and smiled at the couple. "Hello there. Do you need some assistance?" he asked, and then, seeing Raichu's struggle, he motioned for her to sit down and rest a bit.
"I would like to talk to Mr. Wright, if you don?t mind," she asked, hoping that the young man wouldn?t be intimidated by her. She was a regular Raichu without any remarkable characteristics, so it was impossible to distinguish her from any other regular kantonian Raichu.
The boy's eyes widened as he looked at Raichu. "Oh... I will tell him right now..." he said as his skin turned pale. Mr. Wright was one of the most important people behind the establishment of the Pokemon Battling Center. He was a very important person who was always busy doing business all over the world, even though he was still in the city, packing everything up after the World Championship. It had over about two months since then, but he didn?t really knew his schedule too well yet.
"Thank you very much," Raichu said to the receptionist smiling in amusement. He talked to his boss through the line telling him that a Raichu wanted to talk to him. Pikachu could tell from her expression that she thought that their situation wouldn?t be too easy to explain to the man, but she hoped that he would understand it.
"Yes, of course, Miss Ginger" the receptionist said as he put his hand on the phone. He then looked back at Raichu and said, "He's now in the last floor, waiting for you. He was very happy to hear that you are there."
Raichu quickly nodded, trying to smile to seem like she was brave, but in reality, she was beginning to get nervous as she stepped up into the elevator, but Pikachu reassured her by kissing her on her paw. Raichu smiled a little at his movement and hugged him, returning his affection.
As the elevator ascended to the highest floor, they soon faced a long corridor with a single golden door at the end. The door was open, and the man the boy talked about was inside, sitting on a large swivel chair in the middle of the room, as if he was reading a book.
As Raichu stepped into the room, the man stopped doing whatever he was doing and stood up to greet the couple. "Please, come in," he said, motioning for them to take a seat in front of him. "It's my pleasure to meet you, Ginger. Let me know how are you doing." He smiled as he let Raichu talk.
"I know that this might be a surprise for you, Mr. Wright," Raichu started, looking at him. "But I just had to talk to you. My life has changed a lot in the past few months, and I really need you to know. I have married to Pikachu, and we are expecting our first litter soon. I know it's not what you wanted, but I really hope that you will understand and give me a maternity leave so that I can take care of my family."
Mr. Wright was stunned for a few seconds, but he couldn?t say anything in response to that. He just smiled in an strange manner. "I see, I see..." he said slowly, as if trying to process everything. "But... I'm not going to give you any maternity leave, Ms. Ginger," he said coldly. "I'm not giving you a single week to prepare the birth of your litter. I wish I could help you with that, but I am in a rush for business, and that's what really matters! Now, if you don?t have anything more important to tell me, you can go. I must get back to work now." He motioned them harshly to go away.
Raichu looked at Mr. Wright for a few seconds, worried that he was getting too frustrated with her. She gave him a gentle smile and insisted "Please don?t get upset by the situation, Mr. Wright. I know that you wanted to have me going to work everyday, but this is what we got and I'll do my best to be the best mother I can be. And I really can?t stress myself too much, as it may be dangerous for my pregnancy and my children".
Mr. Wright smiled once again, giving the couple hopes of an apology, but he didn?t say a word. He just looked at them with a sarcastic smile in his face. "Do you know what happens with your babies? I don?t think that you have though about it, Ms. Ginger. There's no point in getting pregnant! There's no point in having such deplorable beings inside you! All you're doing is bringing the lowest in life. But it's logical that you have gotten pregnant! You are a wild Poknemon at all, and a good fuck proposal from that yucky Pikachu was enough to make you lose your mind, as any wild, crazy Pokemon would! Congratulations!! Now that Pikachu banged you and got you pregnant, you get a litter, and what do I win with that?! Nothing! And everything thanks to you, useless yellow rat!!" he said as he pointed angrily at Pikachu. "I bet you are so weak that anybody could kill you if you receive the beating you deserve!!"
Pikachu was really hurt by his comments, and started to shed some tears as he processed his words. Raichu started to feel a sheer anger inside her as she stared at Mr. Wright with a really upset face. She was used to receive hurtful comments. Being an independent fighter was already something that not many people accepted. In top of that, being a female only added to that, but she sadly was used to that too. Being a celebrity sure had its ups and downs, but she accepted it, and did her best to shrug it off. However, Pikachu was almost crying as he had been hurt right where it hurt the most, so she could tell that it had really hit him hard. And if Raichu couldn?t stand something, it was to see someone hurting her Pikachu!
Raichu shook her head violently, as she fixed her gaze on him. "What the fuck happens with you?! Don?t you have any compassion? You can?t see how horrible your words are? What the hell is that about! I won?t under ANY circumstance allow you or anyone else to hurt my Pikachu!!!" she yelled as she started to growl, her body shaking. She could feel something inside her start to change. It was a sense of protectiveness. It was her first time feeling that emotion. It was, not only the thing that told her she was becoming a mother, but also the feeling she had felt when she saw one of her loved ones getting hurt.
Mr. Wright smiled again "See, Ms. Ginger? I knew you were a brainless rat too after all!!!" he said with a satisfied smile. "You have chosen soooo well that I'm even allowing you to give him the beating yourself. Let's see if you can still give him what he deserves even though you're fatter than a fucking Miltank!" he taunted her.
Raichu stared at the man with confusion. This was new for her. She had met lamentable humans, that's right. But she could tell that this man was a monster. He was a man of pure evil, a pure psychopath. "DAMMIT!!!" she screamed "HAVE YOU EVER LOVED ANYTHING IN YOUR FUCKING LIFE APART FROM MONEY?!?!" she yelled in pure desperation.
Mr. Wright laughed "Oh, I think that you've lost your mind, Ms. Ginger. Let's try to settle this down, so I can go back to worshiping my wallet. Don?t care about that stupid babies which aren?t even born and focus again in the only thing you know how to do."
Raichu was shaking in rage as she exploded "WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?? WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT YOU WANT TO BE?! I DON?T WANT ANY FUCKING BILLS FROM YOUR DIRTY HANDS, WHICH IS THE REVENUE OF THIS WHOLE SHITTY TV SHOW OF YOURS! YOU ARE A FUCKING MONSTER WHO ONLY THINKS IN MONEY!!! DO YOU KNOW WHAT?!?!?!"
Mr. Wright slowly closed his eyes, and laughed. "Oh, it seems that even you are a little more stubborn than you were before, the logic sense has returned to you" he said.
Raichu looked at him with a rage-filled look before finishing "I'm RETIRING RIGHT NOW!!!! !!! I'm LEAVING YOU RIGHT NOW!!!! GOODBYE, FUCKING ASSHOLE!!!!" she yelled, as she banged the table in front of her, causing it to break apart.
She then took Pikachu by his paw and walked out the place, carrying Pikachu behind. Mr. Wright just sat there in shock as he realized that now that "Ginger Sparklight", the super-strong Raichu character had quit, he had no one to make advantage of. Only after knowing that he would probably be ruined forever, he started to regret his words.
Raichu walked to their home muttering in anger, as Pikachu started sobbing quietly, without articulating any words for the whole way back. Something deep inside him had been ripped out by this man. He didn?t want to look forward anymore, as he let those enraged words seep down his very core. It was the first time that he felt that way since long, long ago, and it was the first time he cried because someone laughed at his physical condition since Jake left him.
By the time she got home, she had decided that she would no longer be addressed "Ginger Sparklight" ever again. For her, idealizing strong fighters while ridiculizing weaker battlers was just wrong. Nobody should judge anyone without seeing their own flaws. Moreover, respect for others? wellbeing was as important as respect for one's own. Thus, she never thought of anyone as strong or weak. Everybody was equal. Just like her and Pikachu were equal. She still loved Pikachu fiercely, despite the fact that he was not even able to use his powers anymore. Now, her first priority was to calm down Pikachu and apologize to him for what happened before. As soon as she got home, she placed Pikachu on the bed and started hugging him as he sobbed, saying that he was so sorry, that he never deserved her and that he was the dumbest Pokemon in the world. Raichu couldn?t help to cry a bit as she saw her mate wailing like a little child. She then comforted him with a smile, and thanked him for giving her all that she loved. "We're gonna be alright, Pikachu. You and me, Okay?" she tried to comfort him. "I'm sorry that you had to hear that monster...". But Pikachu just kept his eyes shut as he kept crying. As Raichu was completely drenched of energy, she started to fall asleep, as she kept Pikachu in her paws.
CHAPTER 32
Pikachu cried the whole night, remembering again and again what happened. He even could not take a single breath without thinking of what that man had said to him. He had always been the "weakest" of all the other Pokemon in the orphanage, but at this point, he felt so hopeless abut his physical condition that he did not even know what to do anymore. It was the most pain he had ever felt in his life.
He knew that Raichu would cheer him up again, telling him that it was clear that he was not useless, and then would hug him like she used to and tell him that they would be okay. But his severe health problems wouldn?t dissapear just because of a few words. He knew deep down that he couldn?t just work hard and take all that pain away. He wanted to be able to keep using his powers. He wanted to be healthy. He didn?t want to be that way anymore. As he lifted his head to see what time it was, he noticed that it was 4:30 AM. He sighed as he looked at Raichu sleeping soundly on the bed. He felt lonely. He never knew that somebody could feel the way he felt. He had never told anybody apart from her about that, because he didn?t want anybody to know. Not even Espeon or Eevee, who were very close to him. He cried more as he looked at her sleeping peacefully. He thought about how they could be so close, but so far at the same time.
Pikachu came to the conclusion that the problems caused by the important sequels he carried would make it impossible for him to live, much less lead a happy life. In the end, there was only one way to go from here. He thought that him being disabled had just one solution. He kissed Raichu lightly on the cheek as he stood up, then walked over to the door, and exited the house. He then walked around the city until he got lost somehow, after a while, he found an unfinished building that seemed to have no people inside, and since he was so lonely, he decided to go inside the building and cry until his tears ran dry. He was kinda tired of his life, and wondered why things hadn?t turned out better. He hadn?t wished to win any tournament or be famous. All he wanted was to stay with Jake, so that was why he had joined him. He only wanted to be a normal Pikachu like those who were loved by their trainers for the rest of their lives, having fun battling and travelling. He wanted to forget all the painful memories he had of the past, forgetting how weak he was and how sad he was. But now...there was too much sadness in his heart. Pikachu started to cry tears of pain, mourning of how to go on from here, knowing that there is only one choice left for him... To give up and die. He wouldn?t live his life without that option open to him. Maybe if he went through with his plan, he could pass away without feeling that horrible sadness.
Raichu, who was still in their bed, woke up as she thought of him in her dreams, in order to calm him and tell that she loved him. However, she was surprised to witness that Pikachu wasn?t in bed. She flew off the bed and ran into the hallway. She started to search for Pikachu, knowing that something bad must have happened. As she didn?t found him inside their home, she started to worry.
But even though she was frightened, she didn?t feel like crying. If anything, the events of the earlier afternoon made her love for Pikachu grow more if possible. Although she thought that trying to find where he had gone might be pointless, the urge to check on him was so strong that she couldn?t stop herself from going outside, despite the fact that she was in the late stages of her pregnacy.
She made a big detour around the city in order to try to enter some area where maybe he could have gone. Eventually, she landed near the berries park. Looking around the place, she didn?t find any trace of him. This worried her even more, hoping the worst case scenario was possible. She continued searching around the city, although she felt the coldness of the night and the stress of the situation forcing themselves deep into her soul. She searched around in many places where they had been together before, but in vain. Maybe he was lying unconscious somewhere, or... no. She wouldn?t think like that. He was probably somewhere, maybe without food or water or shelter, but probably alive, although it was true that she couldn?t help to doubt.
She kept moving forward, looking around everywhere. As it was getting dark, she had to go back home. She tried to think if perhaps he hadn?t walked too far from the house. After two more devastating hours of searching, Raichu was starting to lose hope when she divised a large construction area she hadn?t seen before. Curious about what this location may hide, she entered the place as she kept calling for Pikachu.
At the top of the structure, Pikachu was standing at the edge, ready to jump into the depths below. His expression wasn?t tense or determined, rather, he just smiled softly as he gazed upwards to the sky. It was six in the morning and it was cold, but still it was nice seeing the sky through which the moonlight shined one last time. Then suddenly, he stopped in his tracks as he could have sworn he heard Raichu's voice somewhere nearby, but he dismissed the idea quickly, since she should be still asleep, and she couldn?t probably walk far away in her state. But now that he had some doubts in his mind, he needed to find out if it really was her voice coming from afar. "Raichu?" He asked while he was climbing down, wanting to get into contact with her if she was there. A long moment later, he seemed to hear it clearly in front of him.
As Raichu detected it was Pikachu, she rushed towards the voice as fast as her body allowed her to, finding out that he wasn?t hurt. She hugged him excitedly, as Pikachu's tear-stained face wettened her belly. You are safe!! She cried in joy as she hugged him tightly. He rubbed against her belly, pushing his soft nose against her skin gently as she ruffled his fur with both paws. She finally relaxed a bit as he saw Pikachu safe and sound. "I'm glad that you are fine." She said as she kept hugging him, making sure to keep herself stable as well, and wanting to reassure him that everything was alright.
It took them some time to separate, and after the heartfelt hug, she managed to sit down next to him and started to ask him why did he ran away. "I don?t wanna talk about it..." Pikachu sobbed. Of course, he refused to speak, because it brought back some memories that hurt him deeply. They spent ten minutes sitting silent on each other's side. The only thing that could be heard was the cold breeze as it blew towards them. The cold didn?t bother her since, in her opinion, it was worth it to save him. After this silent period, they started walking again and after half a hour of walking, they arrived home. Raichu gave a sigh of relief as she felt her feet tired enough to collapse. They both fell down on the bed, as Raichu started to talk to Pikachu again.
"Pikachu, why did you leave?" She asked as she hugged his little body closer to her. Pikachu still crying, told her that Mr. Wright's words affected him a lot. And eventually, the whole situation itself made him insane. She understood completely his reaction, but at the same time, she was a bit upset with him for behaving the way he did. However, she didn?t tell him that. He has suffered quite enough. So with a gentle smile, she asked him what he pretended to do. Pikachu stared at her as he started to shyly tell her that he wanted to take a walk around some places, but Raichu wasn?t convinced by his argument. After much convincing from Raichu, he calmed down, saying that he wasn?t sure why did he do that. His weakness started to reestablish itself inside him.
"I've thought of nothing else since yesterday, I was scared..." He confessed as he moved away from her, still staring at her with panic showing on his eyes. "I don?t want to become a fucking pet to play with!" He added as he wiped the tears away from his cheeks. Raichu started to rethink again everything that evil man said, and determined that the first step was helping him recover emotionally first. She would try to replenish again his emotional needs telling him that he was far from useless as he was a great Pokemon and a perfect soon-to-be father. She gave another seductive glance to support him as he made small moves towards her. As he got near her, Raichu gently pressed him to her inflated tummy and held him close to her. He closed his eyes as she brushed her long, lightning tail through his fur tenderly. As Pikachu listened her heartbeat slowly calmed him down. He started to sniffle as she hugged him again, welcoming him back. "I'll never let anyone say such bullshit to you again! I promise!!" She said as he wrapped her paws around him, telling her that he was her faithful partner forever, no matter how cruel the world can be. Her warm voice comforted him greatly, not just physically, but also mentally. But what healed Pikachu the most was the moment when, after they were done talking, one of the unborn cubs moved in her abdomen, making Pikachu felt another gentle bump right on his heart. He was in love with his beautiful couple that was carrying his children inside her. He forgot all his feelings, all worries, as he realized his new purpose in life: taking care of the cubs, feeding them when they're hungry, watching them when they're sleepy, taking baths whenever necessary, dealing with their messes and keeping their blankets clean.
As the new familiar thoughts started to flow in his mind, he started to fall asleep, and soon, Raichu fell asleep as well. That was until they were woken up by the alarm clock not so long after. The older female nuzzled against him affectionately and thanked him his will to quit on the idea of killing kimself. She wasn?t idiot, and knew he was so hurt deep inside that he seriously though about jumping the night before, but his love for his future family was definitely stronger. She decided to not tell him anything about it, as it was a very complicated topic. Moreover, he deserved happiness once in a while. They kissed and she held him tight against her, giving a small, grateful purr as she scratched his back lovingly with her tail.
Soon they got ready to start the new day. Today, it was a very special day for them, as Raichu would undergo her last medical checkup before delivery. Actually, once he recovered from their early morning nap, he insisted to accompany her to go to the hospital (as he wanted to go with her obviously). That moment, just before they stepped out of the house, he grabbed her around the waist. He whispered into her ear how he loved her as he planted another kiss on her snout as she giggled happily. Soon after, they took a taxi, and were soon at the hospital. After some test were run on her, the nurse informed them that her due date was just about two weeks from now. Thus she had nothing to worry about. Now they just had to wait for the birth of their litter. Both Pokemon felt the same excitement in their hearts, filling them full of happiness. After leaving the doctor, they returned home, making sure to prepare everything for Raichu's upcoming delivery. After dinner, he began talking to her about what they should name the baby Pichu, as well as how wonderful the trip to parenthood was being, despite the truth that it did not bring him much pleasure, as there was very harsh moments for him to remember, even though his life was much more bearable with Raichu by his side. While relaxing on their couch together, they started talking about raising kids. They both concluded that helping their children grow emotionally was a must due to their caring personality. Needless to say, she also expressed her desire to spend more time helping around with their cubs as she was now retired from battling. As the time passed, the little chats between them came to an end, and thus they went straight to sleep, thoroughly exhausted from the day's events.
CHAPTER 33
The next two weeks passed, and Raichu and Pikachu were about to meet their first litter. The female was more than excited about the whole thing. She even started to spend the last days lying on the bed, as her Pikachu partner would always care for her and keep her happy. There was only one thing left to worry about, the birth. The parents kept their hands busy with preparing everything they needed. The female even prepared everything she would need to give birth at home, as she wanted it to be more comfortable for her. But, despite the situation, the couple didn?t forgot to take good care of each other. Even though her belly was now very inflated, she would always be happy when he hugged her as they fell asleep. And, if by any reason they had trouble getting asleep, they would have a quick lovemaking session before going back to sleep.
One day, Pikachu decided to go shopping to buy more food for Raichu to be able to nurse their babies, as he knew the cubs would need a lot of nourishment. As usual, Raichu was disappointed that she had to stay at home, but she still tried to enjoy the days by herself. However, today, she felt something strange in her stomach.She smiled as she could tell what was going on in her belly. She turned her head and saw the crib her mate had bought. And, as he still wasn?t back yet, she decided to try and relax herself as she felt the baby Pichu strongly kicking her stomach.
"Come on, baby, don?t make your mother angry..." she murmured to herself as she fell asleep in her bed shortly after. About an hour later, Pikachu arrived home. "That was a long walk. I hope everything went well", Pikachu murmured as he entered the door.
"Everything is going fine", the female replied as he was surprised that Raichu heard him, "Do you want to come and watch a movie?" said Raichu as she gave Pikachu a warm smile.
"That would be great", he said, and he joined Raichu in the bed. The two began to watch the movie that she had just switched to, and it didn?t take them long to get sucked into it. The movie talked about a Pokemon couple who had a strong desire to have a cub. They had to work hard to get the necessary things, but after one love-filled night they managed to get pregnant. The movie ended with the birth of the child.
"Oh my gosh", said the female as she looked at Pikachu, "We're going to start our own family very soon!" she said as Pikachu placed his paws on her belly, "You'll make a good mother. Look how much you already love our cubs!" he said as he was content. "Pikachu, do you hear our cubs? Can you feel them?" she asked her mate.
"Yes, I can", said Pikachu as he rubbed his face against Raichu's stomach and kissed it. "I can even feel them kicking. It's hard to believe that, in just a few days, our babies will be born".
"I know", said the female, "I can?t wait to see their faces. They're going to be so adorable and..."
"Raichu, let's hug each other and enjoy the silence. Soon, our babies will be born and we'll have to start taking care of them. So, for now, let's enjoy this moment" Pikachu replied, and he wrapped his arms around Raichu.
"Thank you, Pikachu. You're such a good and responsible mate" she said, "I love you with all my heart."
A couple of hours passed and the two began to have a discussion about the cubs and how they were going to name them.
"Pikachu, I've been thinking about it for a while now. I think it's a good idea if we call a female Joulie and a male Zappy. Do you agree?", asked the female.
"I do", said Pikachu as he thought about it. "I also like Spark, Shocky and Jolty."
"Well, that's settled then", said the female as she hugged her mate. "I love you, Pikachu".
As they continued to enjoy the private moment, they kissed once again and fell asleep. As usual, the two didn?t make a big deal about the things to come and agreed that they would just let the time do what it would. After the two had finished their talk and their kiss, they noticed the sun was already setting down. They were a bit startled that they had spent an entire day only staring at each other, but the two were greatly satisfied with what they had done. They both had butterflies in their stomach as they began to think about the good things ahead. As Pikachu brought the sweetest berries he carefully treasured to the bed, the two had dinner and as they both had dinner, Raichu stared at Pikachu with a very sweet look in her eyes. "Alright, honey", she said to him as she kissed Pikachu's cheek. "Time to go to sleep".
"Yes, my darling", said Pikachu as he prepared to get into the bed. Raichu then turned off the TV and took Pikachu's arm as the two got under the sheets. Raichu kissed Pikachu once more as they lay together in each other's arms. After about two hours of lying together, they fell asleep together as they cuddled. As Raichu was about to close her eyes, she though to have seen a shooting star. She then wondered about it, but she was too tired to think anymore.
--------------
Pikachu was only seeing blackness in his eyes. As he couldn?t discern anything of interest, his mind soon was returning to sleep. Then, he felt again something pushing him harshly and he began to feel a strange wet sensation, as if the bed was soaking wet. When he started opening his eyes, he was suddenly awake when his small frame was shaken from side to side. As he started to regain awareness, he noticed that Raichu was shaking him awake and all the sheets were soaked.
"Pikachu! Pikachu get up! Now!" Raichu was screaming at him. "You have to wake up NOW!!" Pikachu quickly sprang alive as he realized what was happening and a feeling of urgency overcame him. The moment of meeting their babies had finally come.
Pikachu jumped out of the bed and he looked at her breathing heavily. "Pikachu, hurry up, our babies are arriving right now!!" It was then that Raichu felt another sharp pain, this time in her abdomen, which brought an even higher urgency to her voice. Pikachu's eyes opened wide as her body stiffened and became completely limp as it started to leak some fluid from her vagina as she was being held down by the pain, "Pikachu..." Ra ichu cried as she began to feel her uterus contracting and with each contraction a bit of blood came out of her and onto the sheets. The babies inside her also started to move again as soon as her uterus started to contract.
Pikachu, was getting a little anxious, but he held back the urge to scream as he held Raichu's paw tightly to help her deliver the litter. He helped Raichu to lie down belly up on the bed, with her feet wide apart and her long tail resting in front of her.
Raichu was crying as her body was starting to tighten up again. She tried her best to relax as her body did its job. A few seconds later, another contraction came as her body began to stiffen even more. She had to fight the pain as her babies were nearing birth.
Pikachu ran to her side and held strongly her paw. She was pushing as hard as she could, her body paralyzed by the strong, piercing pain, as she was trying to get the first baby out, "Pikachu....I. .." She started to shake as her body started to tremble and her paws started to shudder as she was crying more and more, as she had been struggling to push out in severe pain for already a while, "Pikachu..." Raichu's eyes opened a little, as she felt Pikachu's body close around hers. "Pikachu. .." Raichu started to cry out in a shocked gasp, as she felt the babies inside of her start to move forward. As soon as Pikachu felt her belly start to tense and relax, he knew that there were minutes left.
"Pikachu!" Raichu yelled. Pikachu gently licked her cheeks as he sensed her struggle to breathe. Pikachu stood closer to her side and held her paw tightly as her body kept on shaking with each contraction. "Come on Raichu! Keep pushing!" Pikachu said in a caring voice as he helped Raichu push as hard as she could.
Raichu was crying hard now as her body continued to shake and convulse. She couldn?t do anything as she kept on delivering the litter. She was trying to push, while her uterus was contracting, trying to to push the cubs out. The contraction was unbearable, but she had to keep pushing. All of her efforts were about to bear fruit.
"Raichu... I'm sure you can manage it, don?t worry.... I'll do anything to help you up" He began to gently massage her inflated belly with his paws, causing Raichu to shake like a leaf as she continued to push the group of small Pichu out of her. "It's coming out!!!" she cried out, as she felt the first Pichu begin to slowly travel down her vagina. As Pikachu heard her, he quickly turned to look closely at his mate's vagina and told her that the first cub was about to be born, "Raichu... go on, push...I can see the little ears of the first cub!!" Pikachu said, trying to give her some encouragement, as Raichu got a second wind in her, "OK...Pikachu... I'll push as hard as I can, I'm almost there!!!" Raichu yelled out.
As soon as she yelled that out, Pikachu saw his first Pichu slowly slide down Raichu's vagina. "Raichu...! You are doing it great! The Pichu is in there! The ears are starting to come out!" Pikachu said, as his mate cried at top of her lungs. After feeling a really big stretch in her body, Raichu felt the first of her newborns slide out of her. Raichu looked down at her crotch and saw that the first cub had just come out, in a clear stream of amniotic fluid.
Pikachu ran between Raichu's legs where the newborn Pichu was laying. He immediately grabbed it and began to lick the newborn Pichu clean and gently took it in his arms. When he heard the little squeaking of his newborn cub, he smiled as he thought to himself that it was the start of his new family.
But another ear-piercing cry of Raichu brought him back to Earth. She felt another wave of contractions coming on.
"AAAAHHH!!!" Raichu cried out in pain as she began to push again.
"Come on! Keep going Raichu!!" Pikachu yelled. As the contraction hit, he quickly placed the newborn Pichu in the crib as he shifted his position so he could help her push. Raichu pushed and she yelled as she pushed one more time, this time with all her might. Raichu screamed with an intense strain as she began to push the next Pichu out of her. "Pikachu! I love you!!" she cried out looking at him, as the next cub began to slide out of her. As Pikachu heard the sloppy sound of the second cub sliding out of his mate's vagina, he began to slowly stroke her belly, telling her that everything was going to be alright. With a last strong push, the second cub slid out into the world.
Pikachu picked the second newborn up as it struggled to get it's breath and holding it tightly, while he whispered "Welcome to the world little Pichu". He was surprised to hear a little squeak come out of his new little cub.
Raichu shed a tear of joy as she saw Pikachu grab the newborn, knowing that it was the start of a new life. But, then, she felt the next contraction and began to push again. Pikachu licked her belly, telling her that it was going to be okay, as she pushed. And just as she pushed her hardest, her third Pichu was slipping out of her.
Pikachu looked down in amazement as he saw his third Pichu being born. "Wow, what a cutie! I think it's a female!!" he said with happiness as he stared at the newborn finally emerging out, feeling the immense joy of becoming a father. He looked over at Raichu to see her once more pushing. She looked tired, but continued to push. She knew that, unlike other species, Pikachu and Raichu were seasonal breeders. That meant that she would only get one litter of cubs in a year although Pikachu kept inseminating her all the year round, and, after impregnation, the gestation period was a very long three months period, so her body was built to carry many cubs at a time in her womb.
Pikachu started to stroke her belly, while whispering "I love you, you're the best mate in the world!" Pikachu cried out as he felt her belly slowly expel the fourth Pichu. Raichu could feel the pinches and hiccups of the newborn Pichu's birth, as she felt a wave of warm amniotic fluid throughout her body being expelled as well. The wave of warm fluid started to flow out at the same time as the fourth Pichu, so Pikachu, as soon as the cub came out, licked him clean and placed him in the crib with his siblings. He looked up at Raichu with happiness as she gave him a loving smile, before feeling his nearly empty womb contract once more.
"Pikachu! I think this one is the last! Come and get it!" Raichu yelled as she tried to push out the last cub. As the next contraction hit, she felt the last cub leave her belly and slide down her birth canal. The head started to poke out as Pikachu watched it come out, knowing that it was the last of the litter. Once the rest of the body was out, Raichu looked over and saw that she had finally got it out. Pikachu made sure he heard it cry, and carefully placed it with its four siblings. He smiled happily as he took the other newborns one by one, and gently placed them in an adequate position to suckle, and as he finished, he kissed her mate as passionately as he could, sharing the exciting moment with her. Raichu broke down in tears of joy as she listened to her newborns? cries, and she knew that it was finally over. She looked down at the Pichu over her and smiled softly as she looked at her newborns? pink furless bodies, as they all started to suckle happily on her teats.
Finally, all five were finally ready to start the adventure of life.
The couple both stared at each other, as they now finally shared the purest form of love.
Pikachu sighed. The day he had always dreamed off had finally come. He was now the proud father of a litter of five Pichu. They drifted off to sleep, a feeling of contentment filling their hearts.
CHAPTER 34
"Wake up, sleepyhead!" Raichu said as she pounced on Pikachu, waking him up from his peaceful slumber. Pikachu stared at her with a shocked expression, visibly tired from last night's events. He lifted his head and verified that it wasn?t a dream. Raichu just laughed at his reaction, as she plopped down in his lap.
"Pikachu" she said in a light sing-song voice. "You just made me the proudest Raichu on the planet" as she smiled happily. Even though she didn?t intended Pikachu to take it very serously, the truth was that he started to think about something he just hadn?t think of before.
"Raichu, tell me. What was the happiest moment in your life? please, be sincere" he said.
Raichu blinked and thought for a few moments. She couldn?t think of any single moment happier than today. She wondered where did Pikachu want to go from here.
"Well, definitely, the happiest moment in my life was last night, without a doubt" she said as she gently caressed one of the asleep newborns on top of her stomach. "Why did you ask that?"
Pikachu was really surprised to hear her answer. "Well, since I knew you won the World Championship, I thought that day would be the best for you. I mean, literally hundreds of millions of independent fighters as well as trainers dread to win that contest. You're the Ultimate Champion, and the symbol of success in the world, so why won?t you say that day would be your best day?"
Raichu looked down at the group of newborns on top of her. One of the newborns on her belly had her eyes shut as she slept peacefully, while another was sucking on her teats. The situation made her smile peacefully as she caressed Pikachu with her tail. "I still think that winning the World Championship was a remarkable feat, but, for me, there's no way I?d be happier than at this very same moment, nursing my newborn offspring, with my Pikachu mate by my side. I wouldn?t trade it for anything, Pikachu. I love you more than anything."
Pikachu was still shocked.
"Well, now what, Pikachu?" Raichu said as she sat up and adjusted the sleeping baby on her belly. She thought about the Society, and how to approach Eevee, Espeon, Pidgeot and the others. "We must return to the orphanage to tell the others what happened. we just disappeared without telling no one!"
Pikachu sighed. She was right. He had been too busy preparing themselves for the cubs? arrival that he had not thought of that.
"All right, we will do it. How about we go today, after breakfast?" Pikachu said.
Raichu smiled as she nodded in agreement.
"Okay, let's get a move on! We have a long day ahead of us" Raichu said as she stood up and started get the cubs inside the baby cart.
They carefully covered the babies with blankets, and soon started to walk towards the orphanage. Pikachu looked at Raichu as she admired her strength. It had been just a few hours since she gave birth, and was already able to walk anywhere as if nothing happened.
"Raichu, I am truly impressed" Pikachu said in an admiring tone.
Raichu smiled softly as she glanced at him. "You have just given birth! Shouldn?t you stay at home?"
"No, Pikachu. I am prepared for this, so I can do this. Wherever our little Pichu go, I will go too" she said as she looked at Pikachu with a big loving smile.
At that moment, Pikachu told her what he was thinking. "Raichu, I will never grow tired of telling you that you are the sweetest pokemon I've ever met" he said.
"It's not me, it's you, Pikachu" she said as she leaned over to give him a big kiss on the cheek.
The two hugged and began to smile as they continued their journey towards the orphanage. As Raichu was pushing the baby cart, it took a while longer than usual to reach the orphanage, but Raichu was so determined to get there, that nothing could stop her.
It was in the afternoon by the time they arrived at their destination. Nothing seemed to have changed since the last time they were here. The very same cubs were still running around, playing with each other as they eagerly prepared for having dinner. The same people were still working there, and Pikachu's group were still in the same rooms.
"Raichu, let's go talk to them!" Said Pikachu.
"Sure" Raichu replied as she began to slowly make her way to the main hall.
As the two entered the door, they were greeted by a woman who both remembered perfectly.
"Oh! Hey guys" She said. Just as she looked at them, she noticed the baby cart that Raichu was pushing. "You look like you just had a litter! Congratulations!" She said with a smile.
"Thank you, Ms. Millers" Raichu said with a smile as she was handed a bunch of rare candies. "I'm sure you'll give them very good use!"
"Oh, I will! They will certainly make them very happy in the future!" She exclaimed. Then, Pikachu noticed some vintage pictures exposed in the main hall.
"What's that?" asked Pikachu.
"Oh, those are some of the old pictures of this building when it was first built" said the woman. "You see, this place was first run by a group of scientists who decided to invest their efforts in trying to provide young Pokemon a loving home instead of researching in war with the military. They sure were very brave to do that, as those days were so different. And that's how the ?Pokemon Society? was founded".
Pikachu was shocked by this revelation. He had never heard that this place was created to help out cubs who suffered wars long, long ago.
"Today, the only surviving member of that group is Carl Welby. He created himself the charge you two are currently holding now". The woman continued.
"Yes, I have heard of him once" Raichu replied.
"Well, he rarely comes around anymore due to his very advanced age, so you haven?t met him, but he has been visiting this place since its inauguration nearly ninety years ago".
Pikachu and Raichu looked at each other, looking very surprised and in awe.
"Wait, how is that possible? How can someone be that old?" said Raichu.
"Well, I don?t really know, but he always says that caring for others is the most important thing in life" the woman said. "So whatever he does to be true to his ideals works for him, that's for sure. About this exposition, we prepared it because the president of Kanto himself is going to be here in a few days to award him with honors, and also would like to meet the people who are working here. You can also assist the ceremony if you like, just be sure to arrive on time".
As someone called her to go, Ms. Millers left. In that very moment, they decided to go to their rooms to remember the start of their relationship.
When they were walking towards the rooms, they saw outside the door of one of the rooms a pink-purple figure talking to another smaller brown-colored Pokemon. The two looked engaged in a conversation. But, as the Eevee cub spotted Pikachu, the brown-haired pokemon ran to him.
"HEY!!! IT's PIKACHU AND RAICHU!!!" exclaimed the cub excitedly.
"Yes, it is" said Pikachu as he opened his arms. "I'm so glad to see you again!! And I'm glad you are both doing well!" The cub said as he began to barrel roll on the floor again.
Meanwhile, as Espeon also approached to greet them, noticed the baby cart Raichu was pushing. "CONGRATULATIONS!" said Espeon as she gave Raichu a big, fluffy hug. The orange-haired pokemon gasped.
"Oh, thanks, Espeon" Raichu said, surprised as Espeon let go of her.
"I was wondering what happened to you since you vanished for a while! So you have been doing romantic things, I see..." Espeon inquired with a mischievous look on her face, but soon smiled again at them again.
"Yes, we went to live together to start a family" said Pikachu. Espeon knew that these two were meant for each other, so she couldn?t help but admire their relationship.
"Do you want to see them?" Raichu asked. Espeon nodded, so Raichu and Espeon walked inside her room and affectionately watched the Pichu cubs sleeping peacefully.
When they came out again, they saw Eevee in the corridor with a confused expression. As he was still young to understand relationships, everyone decided to just go out of the corridor and talk.
"Hey, do you know about Pidgeot and Sceptile?" asked Pikachu, as there were no trace of them left.
"They are both running errands together for the entire month" Espeon replied as she giggled. "After they had a strong discussion, Ms. Millers punished them by doing everything together. It's already been over two weeks since then".
"Oh, I see" said Pikachu with a faint smile on his face. He though that the whole situation was really fun.
"And do you plan to return here?" Espeon asked.
"Yes, I'll keep working here!" answered Pikachu. "Great! That would be great!" said Espeon with joy in her voice. Raichu looked at Pikachu in admiration. Even though he knew now that she would take care of him and his offspring for the rest of their lives, Pikachu's will to help everyone around him was so strong that he would keep working there no matter what.
After sharing a very good time with their peers, Espeon and Eevee said goodbye to the chu family, as they returned home.
As they walked towards back home, Pikachu and Raichu kept talking about all the memories they shared together. Raichu was talking with her partner and it really made her feel a lot better. Once they got home, Pikachu decided to relax and go to their room to have a nap. Raichu followed him to their room. The Pichu were also pretty sleepy, so the whole family took a quick nap.
Hours later, Pikachu started to wake up, noticing that it was later in the day, as the warm, orange sunset light shone through the window. He also noticed that Raichu had already woken up earlier as she wasn?t sleeping in the room anymore, so he also decided to get up, but a weight kept him laying down.
Then, a very calming emotion came over him, as he saw his five newborns sleeping on top of him, being bathed by the cozy sunset light. Then, as he thought to himself while watching the lovely scene, he understood perfectly Carl's advice to always care for others. He had been left without anything but his loving soul. However, by being always supportive and working as hard as he could to make everyone around him happier, he was able to make his life became fulfilling and pleasant, and definitely recover his will to live to see another day.
As his family slept, he realized that all the things he could have wished for came true. He was loved by her mate to no end, and now he was the father of five beautiful living beings. For all his worrying in the past, everything was perfect now. As he shed a single tear of joy, he realized that now, finally, he was the happiest Pikachu alive.
- ------- THE END - -------
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