A/N: When I first started writing my Raichu Chronicles it was because there were not near enough stories that focused on raichus. This is for all the raichu fans out there. All my characters and plotlines are my own. I have my own interpretations of what pokemon reality is and it may differ slightly than what you believe. For those who have read my previous Raichu Chronicles, this will be their replacement. They will be deleted and incorporated in to this one. Let's see if anyone can guess who my characters will become later in life. So, sit back and enjoy.
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Three raichus stalked through the forest under the full moon that followed them overhead. In front was a large, muscular male and behind him walked a yellowish male who was speaking with a female whose color leaned more towards red. It was that color that was the topic of their conversation.
"I don't want to be called Rose," the female was saying.
The male beside her, again, tried to persuade her otherwise. "It fits you. Red, feminine..."
"Thorny," the lead raichu added in.
The female snorted at both of them. "Pick something else. I just don't like that one."
"Too bad," the yellowish male retorted. "You asked me to pick a name for you and I pick Rose. Don't like it then you think up something."
"I picked something good for you," Rose said. "Ace is a cool name. Me going by Rose would be the same as us starting to call you Yellowface like the rest of the forest calls you."
"And I like Ace," Ace stated, "and Rose is totally not the same."
The female was about to protest further but the lead male stopped suddenly. "Hush you two," their leader commanded.
The yellow male failed to be quiet as he questioned the other male. "What is it, Boss?"
"See, there's a name," the female stated, also ignoring the command. "Something like Captain or Killer or Death would be a good name for me. What do you think, Boss?"
Boss put his paw over his face. "I think I'm going to start calling both of you Mister and Miss Shut-the-hell-up. Now, quiet." Faintly in the distance he could hear something scurry off through the forest. "I think I heard them. We should be able to pick up their scent again just over that ridge."
Ace's stomach gave a low growl. "Good, I missed a meal back there. How long have we been chasing these three anyways?"
"Well if you wouldn't have used your thunderbolt - like I told you not to - you wouldn't have burnt our feast and that half of the forest to a crisp. Its too dry for our electricity to do anything but start a fire." Boss shook his head and looked at one of his front paws as he took another step. "At least this part of the forest looks like it had some rain recently."
Rose was looking around with concern. "I thought we would have seen some other pokemon by now. This part of the forest is as empty as the one we just left."
Ace nodded. "That's why most of us headed towards the edge of the forest instead of deeper into it. Before we left, I heard rumors that some were even looking for humans to capture them."
Rose and Ace looked forward to see Boss standing on his hind legs with his ears erect with a smirk on the side of his face. "I just heard a lot of movement and it smells like we just stepped inside another pikachu territory." Excitement wiped over the faces of the other two raichus. "Stay quiet and follow me. And I mean actually quiet this time."
The three soundlessly slipped into the shadows.
In a den deep inside the territory of the pikachu clan a young pichu was born. With her eyes tightly shut she cried for her mother. The pikachu who nursed her was getting older, her face was clouded with both joy and pain because she knew the little one had no chance at life.
The father looked sadly at his mate and her newborn then turned to call forth his son. "Come, Rain," he called in a hoarse breath. "See your newborn sister."
The pikachu that entered the den was still young, just at the age he would begin showing interest in finding his own mate, and he looked at the young pichu with worry. "But," he protested, "she looks so fragile."
"Don't worry, you won't hurt her," the father promised. Rain was the only surviving child they had. It was not because of his strong will but only the fact that he was male that kept him alive. It was a fact that the father decided his son should finally know about.
The young son approached with caution to peer down at his little sister. She was so beautiful but as he watched her she began to cough. He could see the pain and tears welling up in his mother's eyes and his father sighed as he rose from beside her. "Wh-what did I do?" The little male backed away, afraid he had hurt her by being so close.
"You did nothing." The father walked from the den, urging his son to follow. "Come, we need to talk." There were things his son needed to know and now, as his son was just reaching maturity, was finally the time to tell him. Rain hesitated at first but then turned to follow him out of the den and into the night.
Quietly they walked for a while before the father spoke again. "We have a poison in our blood. It is passed down through our sons and it takes the lives of our daughters. It has been passed down the generations and will always follow our family. The newborn will surely die from it as well." They sat down on a hilltop beneath the full moon and the father looked down at his son. "When you find a mate, make sure she has a strong heart like your mother's. One that can't be broken easily. There will be so much heartache that she will have to go through that she should love you, not just the children you can give her."
The young pikachu let his father's words sink in. He now understood his mother's pain and that his sister would die. However, his mourning would have to wait. A pikachu with black front paws came running up the hill, he was our young pikachu's best friend and he came bearing gossip.
"Hey!," he gasped out. "I heard strange pikachu were just caught trespassing in our part of the forest." The blackfooted pikachu paid no mind to the conversation he was interrupting as he belted out his news. "And," he added with another heavy breath, "they have raichu scent all over them!"
Rain looked back at his father but the elder had already turned away. "Raichu, huh?" The elder said. "You two go on, but be careful, raichu are dangerous. I must be getting back." He started the walk back to the den without looking back, worried that maybe this time his mate's heart would finally break.
His son turned to his friend and they walked down the other side of the hill towards the center of their territory. He was thankful for something to take his mind off the tragedy he had just been informed of. "So, what happened?"
"My father is the one who caught them," the little blackfooted pikachu boasted. "They were running through the forest and they didn't listen when he warned them about our territory. He said it took nearly a dozen to catch them!" The youngster strutted as if he had a hand in catching the intruders himself. "He wants to find out what they are doing here before he even let's them eat." The pair approached a circle of pichu and pikachu gathered to watch the trial of the trespassers. "If he thinks they have led raichus to us then he may run them out of the forest for good."
Looking worried, our pikachu questioned his friend. "What good will that do if the raichu have already found us?" The thought of any pikachu being out in the forest alone was bad enough, but when there were raichu scented in the area... They stopped at the edge of the circle, looking at the pikachus in question. "Two of them aren't any older than us. He can't chase them out!"
A father with two daughters stood at the mercy of another, older blackfooted pikachu. The daughters hid behind their father as best they could. They were both pale yellow in color and the younger daughter shook with fright. "Please," the father began. "My daughters are starved. Just let them eat a bit from your forest."
"No," the older blackfooted pikachu shouted. "You have invaded our territory." He spoke with authority and no trust in these outsiders. "No food will be given to you tonight."
"That's not fair," Rain shouted from the crowd. He was not well versed in politics, but this did not seem right to him. His friend stood beside him, shocked that Rain would stand up against an elder like that.
The older blackfooted pikachu looked at the youth who had spoken out, glaring at him and his own young child beside him. "Fair? You talk to me about fair when a hungry raichu is hunting you down! They-" he spat towards the trio behind him, "may have led them here!" Even as he spoke so fiercely, a chill ran down his spine and unknown shadows passed behind them.
"But everyone deserves to eat..." our brave youth muttered, unaware of the danger descending upon them.
From out of the night, a blood churning cry from a hungry raichu shattered the activities of the group of pikachu. The rodent killers had indeed followed the scent of the three rogue pikachu to the territory full of 'chu families. The raichu had been watching the trial and had pounced directly for the young blackfooted pikachu.
The daughters of the intruder and Rain, who had tried to stand up for them, dashed into the forest. The father of the girls stayed back to help fight for those who had offered him no kindness.
"Hold still, my mousey morsel," the raichu called Boss teased as he held his prey under his paw. The wild raichu's claws were long and the young pikachu whined in his grasp.
The father of the blackfooted pikachu tried to run to his aid. "You get away from him," he shouted, jumping towards the much larger predator.
"Oh no you don't," Rose chuckled as she plucked the pikachu out of the air by biting his tail in her strong jaws. Struggle was out of the question.
As the fight for life ensued behind them, our three youngsters who had ran tucked themselves into the cave-like base of an old tree that was hollow but still standing. "I think we lost them," Rain announced as he tried to sound more confident than he felt. Only then did it sink in that he just lost his best friend.
"Were there just the two of them?" The older sister stuck her head out beside him, visibly scared, while the younger shook as far back in the tree as she could manage.
"No," another voice said. "Actually, there were three." A yellowish raichu head poked around the tree with his tongue lolling to the side in a hungry smile.
Pure terror wiped over the faces of the young pikachus before they gathered enough sense to make another run for it. Their speed might have been a match for the raichu in a few years, but as it was, the young mice were as easy a catch as the raichu had chased in some time. "Hurry!" The young male shouted, as useless as it was.
But his cry had been heard. Rain's pounced from the forest and bit as hard as he could on the raichu's leg. The girls' father jumped in from the other direction to deliver a headbutt into his side. One on one - or one on three youngsters - the raichu had the upper hand, but raichu evolve their young at an early age and their speed is little match for that of a seasoned pikachu. Sparks flew from the raichu's cheeks as he turned to face his attackers.
"Run," Rain's father shouted as he and the other father prepared to battle the foe. "We'll handle this. Go!"
"I sure hope you have a plan," the other father replied. This wasn't going to be an easy battle. Even as they prepared themselves, they could hear the cries of pikachu around them being slaughtered.
"Where are we going to go?" The older sister asked as they ran through the forest, never looking back. Tears for their lost loved ones would have wait for their own lives still weren't guaranteed.
"There is another pikachu territory not far from here. Maybe they haven't been found by the raichu yet." Rain said. "We should be safe there. They are very strong."
"I sure hope they are more kind than this territory," the older sister said. Just as she did, she realized that she was talking about the male's family that he had just lost. In an effort to correct herself she tried to change the subject. "My names is Snow, by the way. This is Spring," she gestured to her smaller sister. "She doesn't talk much when she is scared."
Rain wanted to be angry at the moment but he couldn't help but realize that she was in the same situation. "I'm Rain, and we will be safe soon, I hope."
"How far is the other territory," Snow asked. She was already visibly tired and Spring was starting to drop behind.
Rain slowed a bit and looked around the forest. Slowing a bit more to a steady trot he could hear the sounds of a creek as it wound over the forest floor just out of sight. "I have only been to the edge of their territory once but I remember it took us a long time to get there. Maybe we should stop here for the night."
The two females nodded, they had caught the scent of the water as well and panted heavily as they approached it. Just as the three of them looked down they saw a pink light fade into their reflections. Thirst overcame curiosity and they drank until the light was forgotten. Although still hungry, the three laid down at the base of a tree under some bushes that would hopefully hide them from predators. Snow and Spring were quickly asleep but Rain looked around nervously.
The shadowy form of a spearow was sitting in the tree just beside the one they had taken shelter under and Rain froze as he and the bird locked eyes. "Be careful," the spearow said in a voice so soft and calm that Rain felt his tense muscles relax. "There are many trials yet to be faced in this forest. Rest here and you will be safe tonight."
Rain felt himself falling asleep and tried to shake it off. He wanted to talk to the spearow and ask him what he was talking about, but the lure of rest overcame his tired body. The red sky of dawn began to filter through the trees and the forest was as quiet as it had ever been.