Electric Return

Pikachu woke up in the middle of the night. His room was dark, the only bit of light coming from the moon behind the curtains. Pikachu stood on all fours and shook the sleep away, his tail darting upwards and his eyes trying to focus in the darkness. He was never able to sleep soundly. The Smash Mansion was creepy enough in the day. But at night...

The curtains began to move, gracefully dancing in the breeze. Someone left my window open? Pikachu thought to himself as he ran up to window and shut it quickly. The noise from the window slamming shut was louder than he expected. Before he walked away from the window, he thought he saw movement outside. A shadow, darting across the green field and hiding behind a bush. Surely he was just imagining it...

"Stop being scared," Pikachu mumbled to himself. "I'm just imagining things. There was not a shadow outside. There was not a shadow outside. There was not..." He then heard the creaking of his door. He jumped two feet in the air, his entire body shuddering with fear. "Is there...somebody there!?"

The door creaked open, until a blob poked into the room, circular eyes looking back at Pikachu. Pikachu screamed at the top of his lungs, running to the corner of his room while in the process swiping the blanket from his bed. Cowering in the corner, Pikachu his his head underneath the blanket, hoping that whoever was at his door hadn't seen him.

"Go away..." Pikachu whispered under his breath.

"Pikachu..."

"Aaaah!" Pikachu yelled, crawling deep into the blanket and shaking even more. "It knows my name!"

"Pikachu?" Wait. Pikachu recognized the voice. Was it...? Pikachu poked his nose out from under the blanket to see that the light to his room was on. Standing at the entrance to his room was the pink puffball, Kirby. "Pikachu...it's only me. Don't be scared."

Pikachu sighed in relief and scampered out from underneath the blanket, standing on two legs as he cautiously approached Kirby. "Hey Kirby, thank goodness it's only you!" Pikachu squealed out, but all Kirby understood was "Pika, pika chuu!"

Despite Kirby not being able to understand the Pokémon, he smiled and patted his stubby hand on Pikachu's head. "I heard you're squeals from my room." Pikachu nodded, remembering that Kirby lived right next door. "Can't sleep again, huh?" Pikachu shook his head. "Me neither."

"Kirby," Pikachu said, face suddenly turning serious. "I was probably imagining it, but I saw a shadow outside my window." Kirby tilted his head in confusion. "Great. You still can't understand a word I'm saying. You'd think after many years of being around each other, the people around here would start to understand me."

Pikachu instead ran to the window and started frantically pointing at it. As he was doing so, he stole a glance at the field outside. He thought he saw a bush shake, causing him to squeal and back away.

"Kirby!" Pikachu shouted, standing on all fours and pointing his nose towards the window.

"The window?" Kirby asked, walking towards the window and moving the curtains out of the way. He studied that grassy field outside. "There's nothing out there. And you know Master Hand doesn't let us leave after midnight."

"But, but, but!" Pikachu shouted turning towards Kirby, pointing his tail at the window. "Kirby, there's something out there!"

"Pikachu, go back to sleep," Kirby said with a concerned face. He then let out a huge yawn, opening his mouth as wide as it could go. "I'm gonna go head back to sleep. Want to join me so you're not lonely?"

Pikachu sadly nodded, standing tall on two legs and pressing his paws against the glass surface of the window. "Maybe I was just imagining things..." Pikachu muttered. As he said that, a pointed ear poked out from a bush. "What..." A closer look told him that a pair of eyes were looking back at him. "I knew it!"

Kirby jumped from Pikachu's sudden outburst. "What is it?" Pikachu opened the window suddenly. "What the heck are you doing? Stop!"

"The Smash Mansion is in danger!" Pikachu said, grabbing hold of Kirby by the shoulders. "I'm the only one who sees that thing out there. That thing's scaring me but...I can't let it come and hurt anyone. It's up to me! You stay back, I don't want you to get hurt. In a few seconds I'll jump out of the window and attack it. I'll try to ward it off back to wherever it came from. Kirby...I'll see you if I make it out of this alive."

"Pikachu..." Kirby muttered with a frown. "I didn't understand any of that."

"Thought so," Pikachu growled, and then launched himself out of the window.

"Pikachu!" Kirby yelled, running out of the room to go and inform Master Hand.

Pikachu landed on all four legs on the grassy surface below. He wasn't sure what world Smash Mansion resided in, but the mansion was in the middle of an endless grassy field with nothing else for miles. Pikachu crouched, looking onward at a bush that was shaking. Finally, the shaking stopped. A creature rose from behind it. Pikachu shrieked. It was definitely taller than him.

"Wait..." Pikachu said, recognizing the look of this creature. "You're...a Raichu!" The moon shifted a little in the sky, the moonlight hitting the creature perfectly. This was in fact a Raichu, the evolved form of Pikachu himself. "You must have gotten lost...which Pokemon world did you come from? I'll get Master Hand to bring you back-"

"I'm not lost, Pikachu," Raichu growled back stepping over the bush and walking closer to Pikachu. "I'm exactly where I want to be." Pikachu raised an ear in confusion. "It's been so long since I've seen you...Master Hand thought he banished me. But no...I've been plotting my fantastic return!"

"Your return?" Pikachu asked. "What does that mean?" Suddenly an orange bolt of lightning shot his way. Pikachu jumped to the side, just as lightning struck the ground, sending blades of grass and pieces of ground into the air. "What was that for!?"

"He chose you over me," Raichu bellowed. "He chose someone who didn't even think to evolve! Someone so weak, so inferior to me! Why wasn't I the one!?" Another bolt of lightning struck the ground seconds after Pikachu jumped out of the way. "What did I do to deserve this!? I'm just as amazing as the great number-one-Pokemon-of-the-year is!"

"What are you going on about, Raichu?" Pikachu asked. He held his hands up in surrender. "Let's just talk about this. There's no need to—" He jumped out of the way of another lightning strike. "Okay then."

"Master Hand cut me out...banished me from the Smash Mansion...but why?" Raichu asked. "I was perfect! And then he has the nerve...the NERVE to reinvite Mewtwo and even Roy! I...I...I want this place to burn. Master Hand is a monster with NO sympathy! He lifted me out of bed one day and threw me out the window like some worn out piece of Trubbish!"

Pikachu shook where he stood. What is he talking about?

"But I got stronger...SO MUCH STRONGER than you, Pikachu!" Raichu began to laugh maniacally. "Remember the weak little nothing, Pichu?" Pikachu's ears perked up. "I AM Pichu, here to make my electric return!"

Thunder crackled somewhere in the distance, and it began to rain. Pikachu could hardly believe what he was hearing. "You mean..." Pikachu muttered, taking a few steps closer to Raichu. "You mean that the same Pichu that was in this competition years ago...that was you? I always wondered whatever happened to you."

"You didn't care about me...if you did you would've come looking," Raichu sniffled. Was he crying?" And now I'm going to end you and this entire competition!"

Sparks started to fly around Raichu's cheeks.

"Pikachu!" came Kirby's voice. Kirby grabbed Pikachu's arm and yanked him out of the way of a huge explosion of lightning. Pikachu and Kirby fell over. When they got to their feet, there was a massive crater where the thunderbolt hit.

"Kirby, you saved me!" Pikachu squealed in joy. Pikachu looked to where Kirby had come from. Floating a few feet above the ground was Master Hand, his form bobbing up and down and his fingers wiggling in the air. "Master Hand! It's Pichu! He's back!"

"I got rid of you for a reason," Master Hand's voice boomed, shaking the ground beneath their feet. Raichu cowered, taking a few steps back. Master Hand flicked his wrist, and a gray-white mist circled around Raichu.

"What are you doing to me?" Raichu asked. "Stop! What are you doing? Don't do this to me!" As he was yelling, his voice began increasing in pitch. His form shrunk down. He was now shorter than Pikachu. "Stop..." When the mist vanished, now standing in front of them was Pichu. "How...how could you?"

Pikachu turned on Master Hand. "How could you get rid of him? He's like my brother. You hurt him."

"He was going to hurt you," Master Hand said. "Since the beginning...since he was chosen...he was aiming to take you out of the game. He wanted you gone so he could take your place."

"What!?" Pikachu yelled in shock. He glanced sadly at Pichu. "Is this...true?"

"You...and me...we were too similar," Pichu mumbled. "We were like clones...why they needed both of us, I have no idea. So I tried to get rid of you for good. Mewtwo and Master Hand caught on to my plan and they banished me. It took me years, but I'm finally back." He spit in Master Hand's direction. "You shoulda killed me when you had the chance." Master Hand groaned in annoyance. "You know what, I think I like Crazy Hand more than you."

"Step aside, you two," Master Hand said, the ground beginning to shake. Pikachu and Kirby instantly ran towards the Smash Mansion, stopping to look back at Master Hand and Pichu who were now both staring at each other.

"What are you gonna do, huh?" Pichu asked with a smirk. "Kill me?"

In one swift motion, Master Hand lunged at Pichu. Pichu attempted to jump out of the way, but Master Hand reached him first. His fingers wrapped around Pichu's tiny body. Master Hand felt the tiny Pokemon's body crunch in his palm as Pichu shrieked in pain. Eventually the shrieking died out. Master Hand then threw himself downward, releasing Pichu towards the ground. The electric Pokemon slammed into the ground and then rocketed upwards towards the sky.

Pichu vanished beyond an invisible barrier, just as an explosion of light erupted in the sky.

"Pichu only had one stock," Master Hand muttered quietly. "Pathetic." He looked to Pikachu and Kirby. "You two, go back to your rooms and go back to sleep. I am sorry for all the commotion tonight. It was my mistake for not ending him for good the last time."

"So is Pichu...dead?" Kirby asked.

"We characters never really die," Master Hand said, and then yawned. "He probably spawned in a far off world somewhere...it's going to take him years to even find this place again. I'll be ready then."

Pikachu sighed and plopped down, breathing hard. "Glad that's over. I really miss him but...he would have killed me. Wherever he is now I wonder..." Pikachu looked up at the sky where his former friend had disappeared.

…

Pichu didn't know where he was. He was in the center of a vast, dark void. "Where am I?" Pichu asked aloud, hoping someone would hear him. "I can't see!" A purple light began to glow underneath him. Suddenly the world began taking shape before his eyes...he now knew where he was. "This is...Final Destination." The exact Final Destination where Pichu had battled on a few times before, many years ago. The Smashers of today had an entirely new Final Destination to battle on.

"Hello, Pichu." Pichu whipped around to see a person standing there at the edge of the platform. Pichu didn't recognize him, but his style did remind him of two others.

"Are you...related to Fox and Falco by any chance?" Pichu asked.

The person in front of Pichu kneeled and petted the Pokemon on the head. "My name is Wolf." Pichu nodded and purred at the feeling of Wolf's hands caressing the top of his head.