Part I, Chapter I – A Rude Awakening

It was evening in Serene Village. Most of the villagers were at home, enjoying another quiet night. With his eyes closed, a Pikachu was peacefully resting against an imposing oak tree at the top of a hill overlooking the village. A small Pachirisu appeared out of nowhere and approached him silently. Then he suddenly hollered in the Pikachu's ear, "C'mon, Louis! Dinner's almost ready!" The Pikachu, Louis, yelped and jumped back, nearly tumbling down the hill.

Collecting himself, he calmly scolded the giggling electric squirrel. "Sparky, I told you not to do that."

"I know, but it's so hard not to when you always react!" the Pachirisu named Sparky returned, unsuccessfully trying to keep a straight face.

Louis was about to respond, but he was interrupted by the growling of his stomach. It was then that he noticed how hungry he was. Swallowing his frustration towards the Pokémon, he muttered, "Just promise me you won't do it again. I don't want to go deaf while I'm still young."

Sparky smiled innocently. "Okie dokie."

Louis rolled his eyes, not believing that he would really cease his mischievous antics. But he couldn't seem to stay mad at the EleSquirrel Pokémon for very long, so he just let it go, and followed his jumpy friend home.

Louis was about sixteen, and looked like an ordinary Pikachu. Being almost completely covered by yellow fur, he had long ears of the same color that were tipped with black; two brown stripes ran across his back; his large tail was shaped like a lightning bolt. On his cheeks were two red circular pouches used for storing electricity.

Generally, he possessed a business-like mien and disliked expressing his emotions openly. On sunny days like today, he often napped or played with Sparky and his friends. He himself had few friends in the village, but to those few he was ferociously loyal. Sparky was one of those friends.

Sparky, five, was an energetic Pachirisu, which was a squirrel-like Pokémon. Like all Pachirisu, his fur was white with a faint blueish tint and a light blue stripe that originated at his forehead and extended to the tip of his bushy tail. He had a large white tooth that stuck out of his mouth. His eyes were a deep gray; his cheeks were like Louis's, and served the same purpose, but they were yellow instead of red; his tail was twice the length of his body, with three spikes around the middle. Though his arms and legs were quite short, he could still run incredibly fast, a trait he shared with Louis.

He had the same bouncy and flamboyant personality as his mother, but because he was still young, it usually got out of hand, often ending in him accidently breaking something. The only thing he seemed to have acquired from his father was his love for adventuring.

The two electric-type Pokémon passed by several one-story houses on their way home. Fashioned from sun-dried mud, they had thatched roofs which somehow kept the rain and snow out. As the two reached the little hut they called home (it was very much like the others), Louis asked, "So, what are we eating tonight?"

"Just wait and see," Sparky replied excitedly, entering the building. Mumbling to himself—he was obviously still a little ticked off about earlier—Louis entered after him.

The room into which they came was circular; in the middle, there was a table set for four; at the far end from the entrance was a small stove and sink. On both sides of the entrance were doorways, the left one leading to Louis's and Sparky's room, and the right to that of their parents. A Pachirisu was setting a large bowl full of Chesto berries (Louis's favorite) onto the table, and a Buizel was already seated, chatting with the squirrel Pokémon.

The Pachirisu, Pachi, appeared to be nearly identical to Sparky, except she was larger and her light blue head stripe was a little shorter, which marked her as a female. She had the same bouncy, optimistic attitude that her son had, but she tended to hide it. Her mate, however, was adventurous, serious, and not very sociable in public. He was a Buizel named Tails, and was a weasel-like Pokémon, with some traits that made him look less like an ordinary weasel. He had brownish-orange and bright yellow fur, and he also had two tufts pointed away in the back of his head and blue fins on the sides of his arms to use for swimming. His mouth, stomach and the two small, oval-shaped spots above his eyes were bright yellow, and four other spots of the same shape, located on the sides of his cheeks, were black. He had three fingers on his forepaws, two fangs in his mouth, and short hind legs and long three-toed feet, along with bright yellow paw pads on his palms and feet.

After exchanging the usual greetings to their parents, they sat down also. While nibbling on a berry, Sparky asked Tails, "How was adventuring today, Dad?"

"It went well, I guess," he replied, "but one has to be cautious these days, with the Shadow Knights skulking around."

"Well, I'm sure you won't have to be careful, because you can beat them all without any problem!" his son proclaimed enthusiastically.

"I don't know about that..." he mumbled, but aloud, he said, "Still, it doesn't hurt to be careful." But Sparky continued to praise his skill in battle.

Meanwhile, Louis was silently eating, absorbed in his own thoughts. He never knew his father, and his mother died when he was young, leaving him an orphan. Tails and Pachi kindly adopted him, and while he does consider them and their only biological son family, it just wasn't the same. "Is everything all right?" a voice asked concernedly.

He snapped out of it and noticed Pachi was speaking to him. "Yes, Mom," the Pikachu replied, pulling a fake smile. "I think I'll go visit the orphanage, now," he added, leaving a half-eaten berry on his plate, and exiting the hut rather hastily and before anyone could object.

Pachi sighed. "He seems to be going to the orphanage a lot, lately."

Tails nodded, and opened his mouth to say something, when Sparky exclaimed, "It's because his girlfriend Flopsy lives there!"

"Flopsy is not my girlfriend!" Louis yelled from outside.

"She is, too!" he insisted. However, Louis didn't respond to that. He must have thought it useless to argue, or something.

"Sparky, dear," Pachi scolded softly, "you mustn't say things that are not true."

"But why does he always want to be with her?" he asked.

This time, Tails spoke up. "Just because he likes to spend a lot of time with her, it doesn't mean they're dating."

"But, Dad..." Sparky argued.

Tails rubbed his temples. "I think I shall go to bed early," he interjected. "I've had a very long day." And with that, he stood up and sauntered into his room.

Baffled, his son blinked a few times, then shrugged and went outside to play with his friends. Pachi just sighed and began cleaning up.


Words: 1,191

Published: Nov. 11, 2019