I was inspired to write this after reading the original story, 'The Good Life' by "Equestrian HorseWrangler"

And hats off a bit to the first volume of V-Tamers Digimon, Cowboy Bebop and a fanfiction writer whose name I can't think of at the moment, heh, and maybe a tiny bit of Kingdom Hearts.

Don't own pokemon.

And of course, thank you to Farla for your inspiration as always.

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I'm not here to tell you why my teammates are almost always content to spend their off time as stored energy in easy to carry containers.

Nor am I here to tell you why I wanted to repeatedly deep-fry Pikapi the day we met.

I'm not here to tell you why I consciously and willing fight 'my own kind' so they can share my fate.

I'm also not here to tell you why I never electrocute him during the times He's given almost all the credit for Our wins.

I just want to you that I don't hate the fights, I don't exactly love them either mind you, but I'm not going to take out a little picket sign with the peace mark and march back and forth across the arena floor anytime soon. After all, I've been fighting since the day I was hatched.

'Wait' you say, 'there no possible way that pokemon battle in the wild, that's what humans make them do.' Well that's right and wrong. While it's true there's no human on both sides giving tactics, and no ref in the middle to call foul on low blows, and no Pokemon Nurse to heal us after each KO, we fight oh right. We fight tooth and nail plus any way to win, whether it's over territory, a mate, or we just want the other as lunch meat, we fight oh right. And the fighting is hardly limited to separate species or evolutions.

I doubt you know this next part, not many outside the pokemon professors circle does. If a Raichu has too many Pichu in a litter, she'll eat the surplus. I'm sure this is where you say, 'no way that can be true! The Pichu would zap'em in self defense.' Guess again, Pichu don't know the first thing about any Attack Move, right after they're hatched, what do you think this is, a video game? Or were you thinking further back, 'no way a mother pokemon would do that to her own babies!'

Ha. There's a little thing called 'survival.' What? Did you think we lived in some dreamy idealistic society before Man entered the forest and spoiled all he touched? When you're not having food handed out to you in a bowl on a daily basis, you have to make choices of the next generation starving, or taking back some of your investment. I really am glade 'Pikapi' didn't come across that tribe of Pikachu during birthing season. I couldn't bear to see that idealism of his broken, though I know I'm only delaying the evitable.

I'm sure you've guess I'm not telling you all this just because. Soon after fighting my out of that constricting black place I was grouped together with my brothers and sisters. None of us of course had a clue what was going on, not that it matter, it wasn't like any of us were strong enough to do anything on our own yet, which was the point. After the tally, Mom got to work, my nameless little sister (I hatched five minutes before her) went first. None of us were really scared at this, only confused, in spite of what you'll hear, there's nothing quite as selfish as a baby pokemon. Then came my turn. Remember what I said about Pichu not knowing the first thing about attacks right after hatching? Let's just say, I've always been both a quick study, and a little freak of nature.

Mom was too surprised rather than hurt by my 'outburst' to do much of anything as I ran for my life. Don't ask how I didn't knock myself out from that shock, amazing what an adrenalin rush from your parent wanting to devour you can do. Yes I got away, and I managed somehow not to get 'unborn' by something big and nasty on my first day out of the egg. –Hey, I spent all that time getting out, I didn't want to go back in anytime soon.- For the big ones, I was too much of a small fry to bother with, and for the ones whom I was cost effective, well, after I came to, I had more than I could use. What? Did you think these canines were just for show?

It's real funny how I got happy or rather 'friendly' enough to evolve. I was captured. Yep, my freedom ended in a red blur of light and I was turned into mass less energy inside a white and red ball. When I was let out, I was in a white polished place, for a short time I thought I had died and gone to meet with Raiko and Zapdos. But I doubted that they let old humans in lab coats within electric pokemon heaven.

My luck had been running low, and I had been ready to give a run for the money for whatever made a meal out of me. That human came across me, myself too drained to shock him. He looked at me confused then sympathetically and threw the ball. Yea, the cliché 'weak pokemon found by kind human' motif, I never said all of my life was original and interesting.

Truth was after I realized I wasn't the main course on anyone's menu, I was relieved, when I was healed and fed, I wondered if I really had gone to heaven. That was before the poking and probing. I would later hear of similar experiences when Pikapi related a tale referred to as a 'check-up.' You can guess where the final elements of my original winning personality came from and now that I could zap anything or anyone without giving myself a shock in return, I wasn't about to hesitate. I guess I kinda answered that question I said I wasn't going to huh? I met Pikapi, and the rest is history, and in a way, I found myself back where I started, except no one was trying to eat me this time.

Yes, the fights can be savage sometimes, but never as savage as out there: never any more brutal, never any more desperate, and here at least, I have the option to walk away, though I never take it like the brute charmander became. There is one more difference, one more important detail that splits this world from my old one. Here, I know, without a doubt, he'll always be waiting for me, I can fight to my fullest, because I know he'll be there to hold me when I fall, and when I open my eyes, I know he'll be the first thing I see, waiting there besides me.

Flames, comments, suggestion, rants, praise, insults, reactions, corrections, and occasional constructive criticisms all welcome.