A pikachu life

I woke up. I looked around the nest. I smelled familiar smells. Mama, daddy, my three brothers, and, of course, my own! It was so nice and cozy I wanted to stay sleeping here forever... But something told me to get up and go out. I opened my eyes and got up slowly. I looked around. Nobody here... I went outside. The sun was already high in the air and I slowly made my way out. Mom and dad were setting right in front of the nest. I slowly walked towards them. I yawned.

"Good morning Xylia, you took a long sleep!"

I only nodded, still half asleep. I'm Xylia. I'm a pichu out of a nest of four, and I'm the only girl in our family... Besides mom. I'm bright yellow, just as my mother. I am a gentle Pokémon (according to my parents), and I can handle my brothers very well. Spike is very tempered and also the oldest. He's the most brutal and also very exploring. He does everything as first of us all, sometimes hurting himself. But he doesn't seem to care. Then you got know-it-all Mark... Annoying as hell, he tries to know everything better than us. Not such a good battler, but he knows a lot... And Lewis... He is a bit like me, and a bit like Spike. Very exploring but also very gentle. I like him a lot, he seems to understand me a lot better than the other two...

I shook my body. It was like I was shaking all the remaining sleep off me. I suddenly felt a lot brighter and more alert. I watched to a mess of pichu playing around. I could not discover any of my brothers, until I suddenly heard Spike.

"Hey sleepyhead, come and get me!"

Although Spike always wants to be the best, we're still good friends. We're family, after all. I looked around and saw him. He was taunting me and pointed at me. Then he ran off. I quickly followed him. He started running through the mess of other pichu that were playing. I had a hard time keeping up with him in here, but after he went out I got speed and slowly I got closer to him.

He saw me coming closer and closer and he changed his mind. Instead of running, he tried to climb a low tree. I'm an excellent climber, so I quickly followed him. We arrived at the first branch at the same time, and he looked at me provocative. Then he charged to my left side. I quickly charged a tackle to intercept him halfway, but it was a fake and he changed direction halfway. I quickly turned around 180 degrees, and charged a quick attack in the opposite direction. He hadn't seen that coming and tried to slow down so I would miss him. I took my chance and hit him with my quick attack. He fell out of the tree, but it was low and he landed on the ground safely.

"Gotcha!" I shouted out of the tree and quickly climbed down. He looked surprised at me. "I never expected you to do that! You sure got me there!"

We looked each other and laughed. Although I was a girl, I was one of the strongest of our family. We used to train with each other a lot. Mark didn't bother training, he only wanted to know stuff. Dad said he would be a pilofist... Or something like that. Lewis trained with us more regularly, but yet we trained with each other the most of the time. Lewis loved to groom me and I loved to groom him, and then fall asleep lying in the sun doing nothing at all. Spike did not really like that… He liked being more active all around our colony. We started walking back to our mom and dad. It would be breakfast time soon and we didn't want to miss it.

"That was a quick attack!" he said. "Yes, well, you are surprised? A quick attack isn't that special!"

"No, I mean, that you suddenly turned around and intercepted me." he laughed. "I never expected that to happen... I'm sure if we keep this training up we will evolve in no-time!"

Evolving was the most important thing in the world. At least for Spike it was. I didn't really care that much about evolving yet. But still, with all the training I did I sure would evolve quickly. I was a happy pichu and I loved to cuddle with my mom when my brothers did boy-stuff and when I was alone for a while. Other pichu from the group were a lot older than me and didn't like to play with me that much. I think it is because we are born in the middle of the winter and not in the spring like most of the pichu here.

I'm also pretty lazy... I like being in the nest for the whole day, eat something and get back to my nest again for the night. My mom always says I should get out, but I just don't want to. It's all so nice and comfy... But 9 out of 10 times Spike comes in, drags me out, and says we should go training.

We grew up happily and we trained very hard when I wasn't asleep. My mom and dad learned me a lot... Berries, I should watch my back, all that kind of stuff. But they thought it would be a good idea to learn us more when we grew older. Maybe it would be too much for us. And I could only agree with them, I wanted to play... Play with my brothers, play with other friends. Grooming Lewis in the warm and nice spring sun, licking him all over his fur. Something mom learned me. And Mark... Well, I couldn't really go on with him quite well. He was always busy with other things... Learning more about life and the dangers. I didn't care... Lewis, Spike and I were always playing and training, Mark wasn't - he was busy learning new stuff... Well whatever. I don't care.

Then the day came Spike evolved. It was a nice spring day and we were training our agility when he suddenly started glowing. A couple of seconds later a strong-looking pikachu stood before me.

"Wow, Spike! You evolved!" I said while I moved towards him. Spike looked around excited, checking his new body out. He moved his tail a bit, and walked to the left and right while I watched him. "This is so cool!"

"How do you feel?"

"I feel great! I feel... I feel... So powerful!" he squeaked from enthusiasm. And he charged a Thunderbolt. I backed off and gave him some room - you might never know - and then he released his new attack. A powerful thunderbolt shaved through the sky and I could feel its power from a distance. "Wow, that's a powerful move, Spikey!"

"It sure is... And I don't feel pain anymore when I use it! That will come in handy when I'm fighting you next time..."

"It sure is handy... For you! I cannot use my Spark on you anymore... I doubt you would even feel it right now."

I moved closer and charged my Spark move. Spike remained where he stood and got ready to absorb my attack. I released it with a fierce "PICHUUUUUUUUU!" and after I was done I watched. He stood there like nothing happened. "Well I sure can feel it... But it doesn't hurt that much as it did before." he exclaimed.

I felt all happy inside. Maybe I stood a chance against my brother, I happily thought. We held a battle about every two or three days. Spike won most of the battles, but last time I beat him. He never expected that Skull Bash.

"Shouldn't we tell mom and dad you evolved?"

"Yeah, maybe that's better." he said. I could hear in his voice he wanted to try out his new form for a little bit more. But he walked towards me and back to our nest, where mom and dad were. Lewis was in front of the entrance and looked up when he saw a small pikachu going in.

"Hey!" he said, while he got up. "You don't live here!" but he soon noticed the scent on the pikachu.

"Spike? Wow, this is so cool!" he said while he walked around his brother, checking him out from every angle. Spike enjoyed all the attention and showed off another thunderbolt. Lewis was clearly impressed and Spike moved inside the nest.

"Where is Mark?"

"I don't know, he said he was in the colony somewhere. I hope he'll see Spike soon!"

I nodded, looked around, but couldn't find Mark. Whatever. I went inside.

"Mom? Dad?"

They were both busy cleaning our nest... Last night storm hadn't really make things better. All kinds of clutter were in it, like little twigs, some stuff you could see trough that was really hard to tear apart and also was uneatable, and more of that kind of stuff we couldn't use.

"Look!" Spike said. Suddenly they noticed there was a pikachu standing in front of them.

"What are you doing in here? This is not you... Spike...?" stopping mid-sentence when he also smelled the scent on the pikachu. "Yep! I evolved!" he said while he smiled. "Wow... That's quick. I never expected you to evolve so quickly! Even with all that training. An average pichu evolves after 3 springs! You merely did it in... Well, just one winter... I'm really proud of you." He said smiling while he hugged his son. Mom also hugged her son, taking him airborne while she did so. Although Spike had evolved, he was still smaller than his parents. He would still grow for the years to come. "Well, you look really nice darling... Did you already try some attacks?"

"Yep! He said. I already tried Thunderbolt twice and they feel so much more powerful... I really like that."

"And he could barely feel my Spark anymore!" I said. "Our next fight won't be as exciting as the last one, I guess..."

Dad laughed. "No, I don't think so. I think Spike will overpower you easily." he laughed while patting my back. I sighed. He noticed that and came closer to me and grabbed me and held me before me. "Don't be disappointed. I'm sure you will also evolve. Until then I want you to just train the best you can. Even if Spike is stronger, it doesn't automatically mean he will also WIN the battle..." he said and gave me a cuddle. It felt great and it cheered me up. "Don't give up and keep training. I'll help you if you need it."

"I don't need help..." I said while I grinned. "That's my girl..." he said while he winked at me.

Dad turned to Spike. "Well, your dream of joining our defending team could come true quicker than we expected, Spike!" he said. He laughed again. "Still can't believe you evolved so quickly. It took me over springs to manage that. Again, I didn't have such a lovely sister that trained with me all day." He and Spike smiled at me. I blushed.

"Breakfast time!" mom said. "Saved by my mother…" I thought. Lewis and Mark rushed inside. Mark looked oddly at the third pikachu. "Who is that?"

"Well, you should know! You know everything!" I replied. "Oh, shut up..."

"I'm Spike!"

"SPIKE? But how the hell you could already evolve!" he asked with his eyes wide open. You practically can't be evolved yet!

"And yet I am." he smiled. And I got a feeling that Xylia will evolve in no-time when we keep on training. I blushed again. "Don't get shy, Xylia... You're the strongest pichu of all now! We trained the hardest, we trained the most, don't be shy. I really think you're strong. Spike said with a sweet voice. "I really do. After that beating from last time I really think you're about as strong as I am, well, was." he said while he rubbed his cheek against mine. I kept blushing and returned the little hug he gave me. Then mom came back.

Oh, yummy, fresh apples and berries! I forgot we went searching for them yesterday! I happily grabbed one mom put down in front of us and started eating like there was no tomorrow. All that training early in the morning makes you hungry! Spike did the same, and now he was a pikachu, he ate a lot more than he used to do. Everything was gone before we could say "Thunderbolt".

"Errrmm... Well, I think we need to find more food today." dad said. "Spike, don't you have enough already?"

"No." Spike simply said. I'm hungry... Don't we have more...?

It was just before dusk. The sun stood above us and was about to disappear behind the horizon.

"START!" Lewis yelled. Mark stood near Lewis and watched.

We both waited. Looking at each other and predict what the other was going to do. Especially for me this was important; otherwise I could not dodge his more powerful moves... He dashed. A quick attack. He came running to me with incredible speed. I pretended to go left - no, right, or left, or right. I made him guess. At the last moment, I jumped out of his way and evaded his attack. I quickly ran behind him while he stopped, and charged a skull bash. HIT! I hit him in his back and he flew about 5 meters before he landed on his feet. He charged again, a thunderbolt this time. I ran away from him, and I could hear his cry. I could hear and feel the electricity catching up on me. Just before I reached my shelter - an old fallen tree - I was hit. A lot of electricity went through my body - I could feel myself getting drained. I wanted to avoid using electrical attacks so I had all my powers left for normal attacks, which didn't hurt me. But this attack did hurt a lot. I fell down as the thunderbolt stopped. I lied on the grass and could feel pain at my cheeks. I got up and watched him, he grinned.

"Done already?" he said with a fake smile on his face. "Or you want more?"

"Keep it coming...!" I said and I ran behind the tree just in time to evade another Thunderbolt. It almost fried it. Some parts were burning, some parts were completely black. On top of that, Spike was gone. I watched around the battlefield and saw him coming at me with high speed, disappearing to the left and to the right. Agility…

He was coming at me a lot quicker than he used to when he was a pichu. Faster than his last quick attack. I was still hiding behind my tree trunk (which turned into ashes) and had no clue what to do next. I ran for a tree and hid myself behind it, barely avoiding his agility attack. He ran past the tree, turned around, and lost me out of sight. I turned around the tree as he walked around it so he would not see me. What should I do next? I couldn't launch an attack just like that… That would surely mean he would absorb it or at least evade it… Suddenly I had a plan. I climbed the tree and sat on one of the lower branches. I hid myself so he could not see me. He was slowly walking back. Looking around for me, wondering where I went so quickly. He didn't bother looking up.

"Where is she?" I heard Lewis asking, while he walked up to Spike. "I don't know, maybe she gave up after that thunderbolt?" he said to Lewis.

"Oh you… I did not give up!" I thought.

He turned around again and I could see his back. "I don't know…" he said, still looking around. I took my chance. I jumped out of the tree, head down. Just before I hit him I sent out a battle cry. He turned around, saw me, but I was to close and my attack was impossible for him to dodge. My skull bash was super effective, that was for sure. Lewis, who stood with his back to Spike, jumped away from us when I hit Spike hard with my head. "WHAT THE HECK" he shouted, when I jumped from Spike and stood next to him. "Will you do me a favor and never scare me like… Spike…?" He went silent and watched his older brother. Was he out? Did my attack surprise him so much he was out in only two hits? It appeared so. He wasn't moving, at least. I patted his shoulder. "Spike?"

No response. "SPIKE!" I asked again. Mark came walking up at us and looked at Spike.

"Nice job Xylia, that hit made him unconscious." he said looking at Spike. "Unconscious?" I asked slowly while I wondered what that meant and if that would mean I won the battle. "Yep, unconscious. I think he'll wake up soon with a big headache. As you can see, you hit him right… here." he said while he pointed at Spike's head. At the place where Mark pointed was a big bump, which wasn't there before. "If a hit is hard enough, everyone goes out. You hit him just right."

"But did I win the battle?" I asked nervously. "For sure!" Mark said. "A pokémon wins the battle if the other one either gives up or is unable to battle. As you can see, Spike cannot battle anymore. At least, I think he cannot."

"Of course he cannot." Lewis said. "He's unconscious! Nice job Xylia, you won!" he almost squeaked while he smiled at me. "But next time don't scare me like that. I thought you were attacking me and not Spike." he said while he looked at me. I happily jumped. I won the battle against my evolved brother! Hooray for m…" I stopped mid-sentence when I suddenly started glowing. I felt all warm and nice. "Whoa!" Lewis said. I could feel my body changing and before I knew what exactly was happening, it stopped.

"Wow!" Lewis said.

"You TOO?" Mark said. I could see disbelieve in his eyes.

"What happened?" I said. I still wasn't exactly sure what happened with me. "You evolved, didn't notice?" I looked at them. They were… Smaller… Or I was… Bigger. I indeed evolved into a pikachu! I looked at myself. A bright yellow pikachu body was standing under my eyes… I couldn't believe it. I moved around a bit and waggled my tail. This felt so good… I could feel electricity flowing through my cheeks. Something that would hurt me when I was a pichu! But while I was checking myself out, I saw Spike still lying around. "Will he be all right?" I asked with a concerned voice. "Yes, he will." Mark said.

I'd better get mom and dad... I whispered. "Yeah, you'd better do..." Lewis said. "No need to, he'll wake up soon!" Mark said. "But maybe he's badly hurt!" "So what? The nest is not too far away, he can walk that little bit."

Their voices faded as I ran back to the nest. I entered. "Dad? Mom?"

They were both lying inside the nest, and looked at the strange pikachu. "Spike, what's the matter?" dad asked. "No, I'm not Spike... I'm Xylia!" I whispered. "Wh... Wait, that means you also... Well holy thunderbolt, two on one day... I didn't expect Spike to evolve already at all, but you... Even though you trained hard..." he said to himself...

Mom looked at me. "You also look great... When did you evolve?" she asked. "Just a couple of minutes ago... I battled Spike and I won – "Well that explains it" dad said - but I need you to come with me. Spike is hurt... Mark says he's un-con-sci-ous or something like that." I said slowly while I tried to make it sound like I actually knew the word. "Unconscious?" dad asked me sternly. "What were you doing?"

"We were having a battle dad... I won! That's why I evolved... But I did a skull bash and I hit Spike on his head." I said like it was absolutely normal. He got up and followed me, just as my mom.

We arrived back at Spike were Lewis and Mark were having a little fight. "He'll be fine! We don't need to get mom and dad to come over to help him!" Mark shouted to his brother. "Yes we do! He could be seriously injured!" Lewis replied, also shouting. "Don't fight guys!" mom said. They both looked, realized that their parents already arrived, looked at each other and then looked at Spike, who was still lying on the ground not moving.

"He'll be fine..." dad said after looking at him. He has been worse. How long is he laying here now?"

"I think about 5 minutes now..." I replied. "Well do not worry too much about him, he'll be fine. He will wake up soon I guess... We will just have to wait. That's the best we can do for now!"

Just after he said that, Spike moved. His ears twitched, like he heard familiar noises. I walked up to him and patted his back. "Spike...?" He moved his head to the left and right and moaned. "Owww... My head..." he said as he opened his eyes. "What happened? The last thing I can remember was Xylia... Ohhh..." he closed his eyes again and laid back down, moaning. Mom and dad came up to us. "Spike, are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere except your head?" they asked him while I moved away.

"I think I am..." he said whispering and talking at once. It was just between. After they checked him, he got up slowly. He wobbled back and forth as he tried to stand. I walked up to him. "Sorry Spike..." I started. But he waved away my excuse. "Not now, please... I have such a... HAVE YOU EVOLVED? Ouch..." he said enthusiastic and pretty pathetic while he got up again looking at me and his paw holding his head. "Such a headache... Congratulations Xylia..." He shook his body back and forth and also shook his head, but stopped immediately and groaned. "Well, thanks I guess... How are you feeling...? I am really sorry about that skull bash..." I said slowly. I really felt sorry for my oldest brother. He looked pretty sad. "No problem... Can happen, can it..." he mumbled. "Ehm... Well, I guess so... But it was a really big h-" "ENOUGH Xylia. Spike needs some rest. You can talk about this with him tomorrow." mom said. Then he started walking back slowly to our nest. Mom helped him and dad followed us.

Spike snapped visibly by walking. Mom didn't need to help him anymore, and together with dad she walked behind us, while we were playing around on our way back to the nest. Lewis and Mark were still arguing about Spike and if he was injured bad enough to get mom and dad. Halfway our nest he already acted almost normal and he wanted to ask me, in the name of the holy Thunderbolt, how I managed to kick him KO with a skull bash. "I don't know, I suddenly saw my..."

*BANG*

Suddenly there was a loud bang. In a flash I looked around me, looked at Spike, and then around me again, but I saw nothing. "HIDE YOURSELF!" dad shouted. I got the fright of my life and I quickly hid between some bushes, not knowing what the others did. I just saw a tip of Spikes tail disappearing *BANG* when I turned around. Another bang. I heard someone screaming. BANG. Then everything went silent... I could feel my heart beating like mad, while I kept silent as I could. I looked around and saw two yellow things lying on the ground about 25 meters from where we came. It were pikachu… They both moved on the grass with strange movements... They didn't keep quiet like we were told to... They both groaned painfully and slowly rolled on the grass as if they were badly hurt.

Suddenly I heard noises... I saw two men coming from the bush, holding some grey sticks. "Humans were not trustable. You cannot trust them." dad learned us. "If you see one, flee whenever you can. If you cannot flee, try to keep as silent as possible. If they see you - attack them if you're able to. But if they don't see you, keep as silent as you can and wait until they're gone. Humans are dangerous, remember that. Never trust one, whatever he gives you, promises you, or whatever they try."

"We were lucky. The wind stood exactly right." one of them said while he walked over to the two pikachu on the ground. "It may be called a miracle that they didn't notice us." he continued while the other one slowly made his way over to the pikachu. "Yeah... And lucky we managed to hit two of them. Those are some nice pikachu..." He grabbed one of them at its scruff and pulled it off the ground. I gasped - it was dad... Bleeding... Groaning... Blood dripping out of his belly and his fur on the ground... He looked painfully to the two men and growled. The other grabbed the other pikachu. "And how about you?" he said while he raised it of the ground by her scruff. I gasped again - it was mom... She was also moaning and bleeding... Her side was all red and blood dripped down from her body. I gasped again... Mom and dad caught by two humans with some strange sticks... I had to help them... But how...?

"Well, at least today's hunt has given us something..." the one said to the other. "It's not much, but pikachu are valuable. Maybe we can sell their skins for a good price." I looked at dads face. He was shocked... This weren't pokémon trainers or anything related, no, these were poachers! He tried to escape from the grip of his attacker. "What the heck, keep quiet, freaking idiot!" He succeeded to squirm free and felt down to the grassy forest floor. But as soon he touched the ground he was unable to move... His body hurt all over... He couldn't move... A firm grip grabbed his scruff again. "So, you tried to escape me, didn't you? Well I've got news for you: you cannot. Now behave or I'll have to hurt you!" I gasped again... I still was in shock about the fact my dad who always noticed every danger and every threat immediately now was caught by two humans, but the fact he was actually scared of them even made me feel more uncomfortable or even scared.

The men took off in the opposite direction of our nest. I decided to follow them (and my parents) to see what was going to happen... I kept as low as possible in the high grass and tried to be as quiet as I could. Meanwhile mom decided she wouldn't let them take her without any sign of battle. She charged a thunderbolt and released it, shocking the man that held her. Nothing happened. "I'm glad we have those rubber work boots... They are ideal. No water in, no mud, fireproof for a short time, doesn't conduct electricity... If I count all the times an electric pokémon tried to electrocute us we would have been death at least twenty times now."

"They're handy for sure... Where did we leave the car again...?" the other said while they kept walking. We reached the dirt road running through the forest. There are people here regularly walking from city to city, most of them are pokémon trainers. But we came here just once... Just to show us this road and to teach us it was dangerous here. I still followed the two men, but I had to stop because the grass became shorter and shorter. I stopped and waited which direction they would go. They turned left and I quickly followed through the bushes on the side of the road. I saw them reaching their target... Their... What was it? Something standing on four round black things. It was metal all over and it had no roof. He just called it "car". I had no idea what a "car" was.

They walked up to the car and opened it. On the back they had attached some cages and they were about to put mom and dad in there. If I wanted to help them, now was the moment. A part of me said I should keep low and stay, but another part said me that if I didn't help them now, they would be gone forever. These men were not planning on releasing my parents anywhere soon. Tension built up inside me. I had to do something... I felt energy flow through me, adrenaline rushing through my veins. Suddenly I decided. I launched a quick attack. In a blink I was at the two men who quickly looked at me, but where too late. I hit one of the men in his leg. He lost his balance, tumbled backward and felt on the ground, releasing my mom. I looked at her, then looked at the other man, and launched another quick attack. I was quite close to him and jumped and aimed for his chest to ensure maximum impact.

But that was a wrong decision... He didn't move, I saw his legs moving a bit - BANG - I hit him with full force - but he didn't move. He absorbed the attack easily and as soon I hit him, he attempted to grab me, missed, but grabbed my tail. I squirmed and launched a thunderbolt, but that didn't work either. He laughed at me. "You call that a thunderbolt? Even without these boots I wouldn't even feel that!" Dad looked at me. "Xylia... Run... They want to... Kill you!" The man looked at dad, put him in a cage and closed it and grabbed my scruff with his free hand. "That lady has got temper!" the other said while getting up his feet, grabbing mom from the ground. She looked at me like she had never done... Scared and terrified. She closed her eyes again and moaned when the man picked her up from the ground. "Let's take her to. If she wants to get caught, she can be caught." They put me inside a cage and closed it. I tried to open it, but it was locked. They put mom in the cage next to me and closed it. "MOM! MOM are you ok?" I shouted. "pika-pika-pika-pika-pika!" one of the men said on a bullying tone as he held his head before my cage. I looked angrily at him and growled. "You got yourself into deep trouble, young lady!" he said.

They got in the car and started it, laughing about me. And while I peeked at the moving surroundings trough the little peek hole, the car drove away to a unknown destination...