Fun fact: Pokemon was what got me into Nintendo in the first place. Heck, it was what got me into Smash Bros, after I saw that Pikachu was in the game.

I had fun writing this. Hopefully my writing reflects that.

Trails of orange and yellow light slid over the city, and the sunset overtook the sky. In the windows overlooking the streets, the lights began to flicker on as people returned to their homes. A musky scent, like that of wet Raticate fur, drifted over the cracks in the sidewalk. By this time, most people would be settling in for the night, ready to rest after a long day in the sun.

Pikachu was not most people. (Technically he was a Pokemon, but who's counting?)

In the wonderful world of Pokemon, most had trainers to order them around, to tell them what to do. Not this one, however-this particular Pikachu had been trainer-less for a year now.

There was a rockslide. He and his trainer's only other Pokemon, a Jigglypuff, were lucky enough to escape. Their trainer had not.

It was an accident; a result of unfortunate circumstances, as the police called it. But his Pikachu had not been so easily convinced.

For the past year, he made himself busy picking up scraps of food to bring back to the Jigglypuff, his only companion. Weaseling his way through the trash, looking for the few bits that seemed somewhat palatable took up most of his days.

As the sun fell, however, he immersed himself in a world of conspiracies and murder. Pikachu bent every effort in finding the people responsible for his trainer's death, sniffing out clues, putting together evidence, coming up with theories.

And now? Now, it seemed as if he had finally reached the end of the trail. His latest set of leads had led him here, into an alleyway offset from the road, far beyond the sun's reach as it slowly began to disappear over the edge.

There was a big 'R' on the door he stood in front of, half-hidden by the thick shadows set in the alley. Faint light leaked out from underneath, mingling with the soft muttering inside. The door barely made a sound as Pikachu opened it a tiny bit and slipped through.

Rattling cages greeted Pikachu as he closed the door behind him, hanging from chains on the ceiling. A metallic clink followed him as he crept forward, and the cages swung in the air. Behind them, he found two people-a man and a woman-discussing over a piece of paper in their hands. A Meowth stood behind them.

Criminals expected to see policemen burst through their front door when they slipped up. But a single Pikachu? That was always a surprise.

The shocked faces on the man and woman brought Pikachu a tiny bit of satisfaction, before he threw their Meowth off his perch with a thunderbolt.

It only took a moment for their shock to pass. The two humans unclipped two pokeballs on their belts, and in a flash of light, an Arbok and a Wheezing appeared, the former, a purple cobra-like Pokemon, and the latter, two purple orbs strung together, spewing poisonous gas from the various pores on its body.

The Arbok attacked first. It lunged forward, fangs bared as it attempted to snap down on Pikachu. He jumped out at the last moment, and the Arbok ran headfirst into a wall.

The Wheezing sprayed a toxic cloud in his direction, its choking scent curling into the air as it ambled towards him. Pikachu dove under it before it could engulf him, and launched himself into the Wheezing with a headbutt. It let out a cry as it flew through the air, breaking through a wall of cages. The cages toppled over, burying it under a pile of misshapen metal. As the last of the cages crashed onto the pile, a thick purple fog began to cover the area.

Distracted, the Arbok gave Pikachu no time to react when it came barreling into him again, wrapping its coils around his smaller body. He could hear the woman cheering it on as it tightened its grip, slowly squeezing the air out of him. It didn't help that the toxic fumes were strangling the very same air he was trying to breathe.

So he unleashed a burst of electric energy into the room.

The resulting explosion shook the ground, leaving scorch marks all over the walls. As the smoke dissolved into the air, Pikachu untangled himself from the Arbok, throwing the unconscious snake onto the ground.

Police sirens rang out, but they sounded far off. Someone had heard the ongoing battle, it seemed. Pikachu took a minute to take in his surroundings. For one, the man and woman were sprawled on the ground, still breathing but unmoving. Ash covered their clothes.

For another, these two had only used Pokemon of the poison type. They couldn't have been the people who killed his trainer, as their Pokemon couldn't have possibly started an avalanche.

A piece of paper fell at his tiny feet. A list of buyers, Pikachu noted as he stared down at it.

Then he remembered the cages. He had dismissed them before. But now that he took the time to pay attention to them, they were everywhere. Surrounding him, rustling in the wind. Chained to the ceiling, chained to the walls. There was a bloodstain in the corner. How had he missed that?

The buyers, the cages, the blood-these people were doing something very illegal.

He thought back to the 'R' on the door. Looking back to the unconscious humans, he saw that they had the same 'R' on their clothing as well. Did the 'R' represent some kind of organization?

Pikachu knew he had uncovered something. Only now was he realizing that it was something big.

"The flagship Pokémon, and the cutest electrical engineer in the world, is probably one of the strongest characters in Super Smash Bros. Not only is the little guy fast, but he is an expert jumper whose Electrical Attack works at a distance. When Pikachu calls down the thunder, stay back or you'll be in for a real shock." ~ Super Smash Bros site on Pikachu