DarkFoxKit: Hello everyone! So this chapter is inspired by Pikachu's Goodbye from the anime, but it's written in my own way. I just couldn't not include such an emotional episode. TwT And everyone really wanted more Mew Games, so here ya go. XP This also expands on Storm's back story from back during the Lt. Surge's episode in the first arc. And I got a lot of people saying they like the inclusion of the hybrids, that's good, I'm glad so many of you like that. I originally wasn't going to put in hybrids in the story at all, funny where the story takes you. ^^' Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, it's mostly about Storm for obvious reasons.

Chapter 38: Clash of the Chus

Blue looked around the region as he was closing in on Viridian City. Ash told him it would be best if they landed in the Viridian Forest so as to avoid a lot of eyes seeing the Latios.

"It's been a while since I was in Viridian," Ash said. "Last time I was here, Memma announced she wanted to make me her biological child, and I was traveling with Misty back then."

"You should call her and Brock at some point, see how they're doing, you know?" Storm suggested.

Mew clutched onto her child's shoulder, lazily leaning on him. Seems she was just about ready for another nap.

"Yeah, maybe I should. We can stop by the Pokemon Center and see if we can video chat with them," Ash said with a smile.

"Brock and Misty… weren't they Gym Leaders of the Pewter and Cerulean city? You traveled with them?" Blue asked as he began landing into the forest.

"Yeah, but at some point in Celadon City, we went our separate ways," Ash answered. "And that was when I met you."

Blue landed into the Virdian Forest, letting Ash and Storm down before reverting back to his human form.

"I think my sister's nearby," Blue said. "She and Andreas might be coming here soon, we should wait here for them, shouldn't take too long."

Mew perked up as her ears twitched. Storm's ears twitched too, both of them looking at a direction of the forest. Storm looked rather uncomfortable about something, while Mew gave a small, mirthful smile.

"Ashy, Blue, how about you two explore the forest as one of the chus?" Mew suddenly suggested.

"What?" Blue looked at the giggling Mew.

"You mean turn us into a Pichu, Pikachu or Raichu?" Ash asked.

Mew nodded and smiled, "I have a feeling things are about to get very interesting for our little Storm~"

Before Ash could ask, Mew's psychic powers covered his and Blue's body. The two boys shrunk down. Storm blinked as he watched his trainer and friend turning into Pokemon.

Ash was now a Pichu, pretty small with a head spiky hair similar to his Eevee. Blue was a Raichu instead, being the oldest human here. Mew herself didn't join them, instead she winked at them and disappeared.

"M-Memma! Where are you going!?" Ash yelled.

"I guess she wants us to experience this without her," Blue grumbled as he looked down at himself. "This… feels weird… I'm not used to being this… small… or an electric rodent."

"Hey Ash… I don't think I ever told you about where I came from…" Storm said nervously to his now smaller trainer.

Before Ash could even ask, his bigger ears twitched when he heard what sounded like Pokemon singing… or chanting, and little footsteps coming closer. A lot of little footsteps. Both Ash and Blue felt their bodies tingle with electricity as they felt Electric Pokemon coming closer to them. Before long, they found themselves surrounded by a lot of wild Pikachu. There were a few Pichu and Raichu among them, but one Raichu was bigger than the rest of them, and had a scar on its forehead. He was a brute of a Raichu, who looked just in his prime, and had clearly seen more than his fair share of battles.

"What brings a couple of outsiders to our part of the forest," the large Chu spoke. But after scanning the three, his eyes settled on Storm, and he gave an odd, unsettling smile. "Or not. It's been a long time, runt. What brings you back here?"

Ash and Blue looked at Storm in curiosity. Storm himself was looking down.

"I was just… passing through…" Storm answered slowly.

The Raichu smiled again. "Well, why don't you join us for the night. We've got a nice little competition planned. Who knows? Maybe you can earn your way back into the Chu Clan."

"I'm not…" Storm hesitated, he wasn't sure if he wanted to tell the leader of the Chu Clan he was not a wild Pikachu anymore. "... Well… I'm not alone anymore…" Storm's tail gestured to the Pichu and Raichu beside him

"Yes, I see that. You aren't thinking of starting your own pack, are you? Because you know whatever you cook up can't compete with us."

"No, it's not a pack, we're just traveling together."

"Then they are welcome as well. We'll get one of the Clan's broodmothers to take care of the child."

"H-hey! I'm older than I look!" Ash spoke up, feeling his face heat up from being compared to a pre-schooler.

"Ash, you're ten years old, almost eleven, that's a child even in human standards," Blue said to him.

"I still travelled and battled on my own pretty well," Ash grumbled.

Storm looked at them and said, "Guys, please don't argue right now. Are you two… interested in checking out the Chu Clan and… my old home?"

"You lived here?" Ash perked up, now interested.

"Yeah, we should check it out, I'm pretty curious what this Chu Clan is all about," Blue said with a nod.

The Raichu frowned at Ash. "Ten years and you still haven't evolved?" He snorted. "You've been hanging around this runt for too long," he said, nodding his head at Storm.

"H-hey, Pichus need a lot of happiness to evolve, so age doesn't matter," Ash grumbled.

"So you're saying you're not happy?" Blue facepawed.

The Raichu shook his head. "Well, if you think you can handle it, you can compete as well. I'll just have to find some way to convince the broodmothers that you aren't a hatchling."

"So Chief, why don't you lead the way then and we'll follow?" Storm said.

The Raichu, apparently called Chief, nodded. "Just don't stray too far. The Spearows have been restless ever since some idiot trainer antagonized them."

Storm and Ash cringed at this, but luckily it went unnoticed.

It took a minute for Ash to get used to walking as a Pichu, while it took Blue a little longer to get used to walking as a Raichu. The wild Pikachu and Pichu were looking at them as they wobbled around.

"They're just really tired from the long trip," Storm quickly said. "They should get their second wind soon, don't worry."

The Chief Raichu lead the pack and Storm and his friends deeper into the forest. They went in so deep that Ash was sure no human ever came to this part of the forest before. It was protected by small and narrow paths that only small Pokemon like themselves could squeeze through, not to mention they passed a Beedrill hive along the way. There they found a huge area with a nice, clean pond, full of wild Chus playing around each other.

"Volt?" A feminine voice called out of the crowd of Chus. "Is that you?!"

Storm turned to the voice, his ears and tail perked up. "Is that…?"

"What is it?" Ash asked his first partner curiously.

Behind them was a female Pikachu, easily indicated by the dent in her tail. She also had a red flower pinned to her ear. Ash never knew wild Pokemon could accessorise themselves.

Storm and the female Pikachu stared at each other for a minute. "... M-Memma?"

The Pikachu bounded over and enveloped Storm in a hug. "I'm so glad you're home, Volt," she said in a teary voice.

"Volt?" Ash blinked.

Storm couldn't help but tear up himself as he returned the hug. "Memma… it feels so long since I last saw you… How's life been treating you, Memma?"

"It's been so hard without you, but I've managed to live." She looked to Ash and smiled. "But never mind me. You must've been busy! It looks like you brought me back a grandchild!" Then her eyes turned to Blue and she gave a coy smile. "And who's your handsome friend?" She asked flirtatiously.

"M-MEMMA! IT ISN'T LIKE THAT AT ALL! I didn't mate, okay!? The Pichu is my friend, not my kid! And stop looking at Blue like that. That's just weird, Memma!" Storm all but shouted in embarrassment.

Blue himself was sheepishly rubbing the back of his head as the Pikachu gave him that flirty look while Ash was just laughing at Storm's flustered expression. Memmas always have a way to embarrass their kids.

"Is something going on here that I should know about, Elecha?" Chief asked as he sauntered over.

Storm's mother gave her own sheepish smile. "Sorry Chief. Couldn't resist the chance to tease my son and his friends."

Chief laughed. "Good," he said, nuzzling her. "I'd hate to think you were sneaking around behind my back."

Blue and Ash looked rather shock when they saw Storm's mother, Elecha, nuzzling with the leader of the Chu Clan, but Storm's reaction put their's to shame. His jaw dropped to the floor as he stared at his mother nuzzling with the Chief.

"M-Memma…? W-w-what's the meaning of this? Th-this is just… a friendly nuzzle, r-right?" Storm stuttered and nervously asked.

Elecha shook her head. "Nope. Chief and I are together. We're not quite mates…" She looked over and gave Chief a coy smile, "...yet."

"B-but w-why? HOW? If you two DO become mates, wouldn't that make the Chief m-my… s-step Memma!?" Storm looked like he was going to either pass out or freak out.

Elecha looked at her son concerned. "Is there something wrong with that?"

Storm put his tail around his mother and lead her a bit away from the Chief and whispered, "Memma, don't you remember? He was the reason I left the clan in the first place. You even supported me to get stronger so I can prove myself to him."

Elecha sighed. "I know, my little spark. And I was angry at him for the longest time after that. But… I eventually learned something pretty shocking." She looked Storm in the eyes. "He did that for you. He took one look at you and knew that you had so much potential. Too much to keep you chained to the Clan forever. He wanted to give you the motivation to get stronger. To come back and… and succeed him."

Storm gave her a shocked look. "W-what? M-me? But… he said I was weak… w-why would he want me to be his successor?"

Elecha smiled. "You might not have been much back then, but… you come from a strong family. You know I'm no slouch in a fight, and… you've heard all of the stories I've told about your male Memma before he left. He was the most powerful Pikachu in the Clan, but he never wanted to be the leader. With two Memma's like that, Chief knew that you were probably next in line to lead the Chu clan."

"Y-yeah, I remember those stories about my male Memma… but I never got to meet him, and… I don't know if I should become the next leader… I've been away too long." Storm looked back to see Ash and Blue were already having a conversation with the Chief. "And what about my friends? They're not part of this Clan…"

Elecha smiled even wider. "That only means you'll be more worldly wise as a leader. And as the leader, you can make your friends members of the Clan."

Storm gave his Memma a smile, but inwardly he knew he couldn't do that, because his friends were not even Chus to begin with. Still, he wasn't sure if he wanted to stay and become the new leader with his experience or continue his journey with Ash.

"So, what's this competition you were talking about earlier with Storm?" Ash asked the Chief, who gave a confused frown.

"Why do you keep calling him 'Storm'?"

"Uh… that's what I usually call him. I guess his name is actually Volt here, but he never told me his real name, so I've just been calling him Storm."

Chief nodded and smiled surprisingly warmly. "Well, every year or so, we have a series of battles between all the members of the Clan. It serves to help gauge their power and decide what their job in the Clan should be. And outsiders, so long as they aren't branded enemies of the Clan, are welcome to participate. It actually helps. And finally, during this time, any member of the Clan has the right to challenge the Clan leader to battle for the right of leadership."

"A battle of Chus, huh? That sounds very interesting, actually," Blue said. He had never watched a wild Pokemon competition before. Usually it was between human trainers and their caught Pokemon.

"Did Storm- I mean Volt used to battle here too before he… uh… left?" Ash asked curiously.

Chief nodded. "He did." Strangely, he didn't say anything else on the matter. "So, what should I call you and your friend? I'll need to know in case you decide to participate."

"I'm not sure if we will since we're… not much for fighting ourselves," Blue said sheepishly, though he mostly said this since he is not at all used to his Raichu body. "But my name is Blue."

"I'm Ash," The little Pichu said.

Chief tilted his head a bit in curiosity. "Strange names for Chus. But I suppose other packs do things differently."

"You could say that," Blue chuckled.

The Chief nodded. "Well, I have to go prepare for the event. Feel free to socialize as much as you like." With that said, he walked away, disappearing into the crowd.

As soon as the Chief walked away, Blue and Ash found themselves surrounded by Pikachu and Pichu. They were more than excited to greet the new faces.

Blue yelped when one of the Pikachu touched his tail with their own, making sparks fly. The Pikachu gave a squeak of enjoyment and Blue sighed.

"Maybe we should go find Storm."

Ash yelped when one of the Pikachu picked him up and nuzzled him. The Pichu felt his body tingle with electricity.

"Y-yeah, that would be nice!"

"Heh, looks like they think you're a baby," Blue laughed. "Though I wonder if Yellow and Andreas have shown up by now and are wondering where we are…"

Ash and Blue had to survive the clan until later that night. Thunder clouds began rolling into the forest. Storm spent all his time catching up with his Memma, but right now he was looking up at the cloud filled sky with determination.

"I can't believe after all this time… I've come back to this… What happens if I win this time? I'm no longer Volt… I'm Storm now… but being the Chief of this clan had always been a dream of mine before I met Ash…" Storm sighed to himself as his cheeks sparked, sensing the lightning within the clouds above. The thunder clouds always felt nice to Electric types. It was almost time for the competition to begin. Storm had yet to tell Ash and Blue about this.

Storm headed on over to a big open field where the competition was to take place. There he found Ash and Blue on top of a tree.

"Ash? Blue? What are you two doing up there?" Storm called up to them.

"We're hiding. Apparently these Chus aren't used to new faces around here," Ash said in a deadpanned tone.

"Is there a storm coming? Is it safe to have this out in the open?" Blue asked.

Storm was chuckling, "Yes, 'I' am coming, and I'm going to participate in this competition. I'll use everything I've learned in our journey together, Ash. And we of the Chu Clan of the Virdian Forest don't get a lot of new clan members outside of here, so they're always so excited to meet new Chus."

"I guess these Chus don't get out a lot." Ash climbed down from the tree. "So Storm, are you going to rejoin the clan after you battle here?"

"I… I don't know… Pokemon that are caught by humans are forbidden to join the clan, but nobody knows I've been caught or trained by Professor Oak and you, Ash. This could be my chance to do what I've always wanted to do since I left this clan."

"What did you always want to do, Storm?"

"To be the Chief of the Chu Clan."

Ash and Storm looked at each other in silence, both knowing what that meant. Ash would have to say goodbye if he wanted to let Storm live out his dream.

"O-oh… I see… is that what you really want, Storm?"

"I… I don't know. It was all I ever wanted for the longest time, but… now I'm not so sure anymore."

Ash didn't know what to say to Storm. Of course he'd rather Storm stayed with him, but if his partner truly wanted to stay then who was he to take away his happiness?

"Well the competition is starting soon. You better hurry over there, Storm. Ash and I will be rooting for you," Blue spoke up as he came down the tree himself.

Storm gave them a nod before running over to the field with the rest of the battling Chus.

Ash turned to Blue with a sad expression. "Do you think I'll have to say goodbye to Storm? He was my very first partner when I started my Pokemon journey…"

Blue hesitated to answer, but he patted the Pichu's back gently. "Let's just see what Storm will decide, okay?"

Storm made it into the field, just as the dark clouds began swirling over the place. Lightning flashed in the thunderclouds while the Pikachus gave a loud cheer. There were a few Raichus in the mix while the Pichus were being cared for by a female Raichu. Storm looked over at where the Chief would be sitting and watching the competition. His Memma was sitting beside him.

"Ladies and Gentlemon of the Chu Clan! Let the annual Clash of the Chu's begin!" Almost as if on cue, a bolt of lightning struck dead center in the field, accompanied by a massive clap of thunder. The Chu's roared in applause.

Storm watched on in anticipation, it felt so long since his last battle that it was almost like a dream. The first duel began. The battle between two Pikachus were mostly about speed as that is their strongest point, however none of the Pikachu had any real skill that Storm had gotten used to over his journey with Ash. They fought wildly, no strategy whatsoever, it was more of a battle of endurance than anything else. Who can hold the longest Thundershock or use the fastest Quick Attack is all it takes for one Chu to beat the other.

Finally, it was Storm's turn. Just his luck; he was facing a Raichu instead of a fellow Pikachu. Storm wondered if the Chief did that on purpose to see how much he's learned since he left. The Raichu wasn't as big or as high leveled as the Chief, or Lt. Surge's Raichu, and this one seems more about power and stamina than speed and strategy.

As soon as the lightning struck, the Raichu charged at Storm. Storm remained on spot until the Raichu was right up on him, before Storm sidestepped away and used Iron Tail to slam his head. The Raichu hissed in pain, but wasn't out. Storm jumped away from the Raichu before it could grab him. The Raichu charged up a Thunderbolt and released it at Storm. If Storm tried going for power to power, he might be evenly match, but instead of tiring himself out he decided to use Quick Attack to dodge out of the lightning bolt's way, and tackling the Raichu's stomach, knocking him down.

The Chu Clan gave noises of shock and awe when they saw Storm taking down a Raichu so quickly like that. No other Chus fought like Storm did.

The competition was slowly but surely coming to an end. Storm just knocked out a fellow Pikachu and was the last one standing, all that was left was the Chief.

Ash and Blue had been watching the battles, both of them were quite intrigued at how wild Pokemon battled each other. Trainers often don't notice how sloppy wild Pokemon fought with their own Pokemon, they naturally just become stronger with their trainers after a while. But watching all these wild Chus battle each other compared to with Storm, it was easy to see why people say trained Pokemon were often considered stronger than those in the wild.

"You've raised Storm well, Ash, and it shows," Blue said proudly to Ash.

Ash nodded and smiled proudly himself. "After all the Gym Battles, that crazy survival battle with Hunter J and our journey in general, I'm not surprised at how far Storm's come."

Storm looked over at Chief and nodded to him, it was time. His Memma tossed him an Oran Berry to get his strength back so he'll be at 100% when they battled.

"You've come quite a long way since you left, Volt," the Chief said. "As the victor, you can claim your prize. You get the first shot at fighting me for leadership of the clan."

"As you wish, Chief," Storm said before he started off with a Quick Attack, coming right at the Chief, but instead of hitting him head on, Storm jumped behind him and strike Chief's back with his Iron Tail.

The Chief let out a shout, more out of surprise than pain, and countered with a powerful Discharge.

Storm braced himself as he was hit by the Discharge. The Pikachu hissed in a bit of pain. It may not have been very effective, but Chief wasn't the Chief of the Chu Clan without a good reason. He could give even Lt. Surge's Raichu a good run for his Poke. Storm was also glad he was an Electric type, any other type would've been gripped by paralysis.

The Pikachu burrowed underground, retaining his training with Mew when he and Remi were learning moves to counter Brock's Rock/Ground type Pokemon.

Chief stopped moving and stood where he was, closing his eyes and flicking his ears, focusing on whatever he could hear or feel from the ground below him. As Storm erupted from the ground just behind him, the Raichu whipped around with an Iron Tail straight to the Pikachu's gut.

Storm cried out in pain, but refused to give up. Instead of being sent flying, Storm grabbed onto Chief's tail and charged up electricity into his cheeks before he let loose a Thunderbolt.

Chief shouted out as he swung his tail in an attempt to fling the Pikachu off. He eventually opted to use Quick Attack, running straight for a nearby tree, stopping just before it and swinging his tail, Storm still attached, into the trunk.

Storm let out a shout of pain as he let go of the Raichu's tail, before Chief strapped down his body with it. Storm glared and growled, this situation was just like when he was a Pichu and challenged the Chief. How did it come to this again? It was like everything he learned was blown away in an instant.

Chief just glared at Storm, but there was something… odd behind his eyes. "After all this time and the runt's still a runt in the end. How disappointing."

"Ash, go to him. Storm may have gained a lot of experience in battling, but he still needs his partner," Blue said to Ash.

Ash gripped his paw and frowned, "But this is Storm's battle. I shouldn't interfere…"

"If you don't do anything, Ash, Storm will lose. Do you want him to lose?" Blue asked the Pichu.

Ash looked away. Although he didn't want his best friend to lose and be humiliated, he didn't really want Storm to win either, because it would mean they'd have to say goodbye.

"Ash… think about how Storm feels," Blue said in a serious tone, almost reading Ash's mind.

Ash sighed and ran over towards Storm. He heard some of the Chus yelling at him for running on the arena like that, but he ignored them and hurried to his partner.

"Storm… Storm, you can't let this beat you. Come on now, what was all that training for? I know you can do better than this. You're not that little Pichu who got beat up anymore. You defeated great and mighty foes, and I know you can win this. Come on Storm, don't let everything you've learned go to waste, you can shake this Raichu's tail off you!" Ash all but yelled to his partner.

Storm gritted his teeth as he moved his own tail at the Chief's tail, and turned it into an Iron Tail before infusing electricity with it, causing a bit of an explosion that caused the Raichu to slide back a few feet.

Chief coughed and rose up, electricity sparking dangerously, not just from his cheeks, but off his entire body. "That's it kid," he muttered, barely loud enough for Storm to hear. "Give it your all. Show me I was right. Make me proud." Then he dashed forward, the electricity gathering around him, violently sparking as the Raichu performed the signature move of his evolutionary line, a move that only the strongest of the Chus could learn. Volt Tackle.

"Storm, jump now!" Ash's trainer instincts had already taken over.

Storm didn't hesitate to jump as Ash had commanded. But Chief jumped after him.

"Roll in the air with Iron Tail!" Ash quickly said.

Storm quickly curled into a ball and spun as much as he could in the air with his Iron Tail in front.

Too late the Chief realized that he'd collide with the Iron Tail, but he didn't falter. He pumped his body with more and more electricity, lightning roaring around him as he grew closer to closer to impact, and then… the collision. And a great flash of lightning, a clap of thunder, as dust was thrown into the air at the sheer power and force of the impact

Ash, Blue, Elecha, all of them waited, watching with baited breath as the dust began to settle.

DarkFoxKit: Mew turned Ash into a Pichu because that's how she sees him as; her little baby. Anyways, you can see how far Storm's come in the story, and now he'll have to make a choice if he should leave or stay with his old pack. Pretty tense, huh? :P Anyways, I am DarkFoxKit and I look forward to hearing from you!