I was at the lake together with the pichu. About one month later summer had come and the temperatures were around thirty degrees celcius, which meant it was hot. Unfortunately, the humidity was very high and that meant that everyone was having trouble staying cool, including me.

We were at the side of the lake where I kept an eye on some pichu playing at the waterside. It was one month ago that Lukas had been chosen as leader. They made him leader by doing an enormous thunder attack which was summoned by all the important pikachu, before they obeyed him as a leader. Also, some pichu from last year had evolved into pikachu which made my task a little easier because you were expected to look after yourself if you evolved, but in fact most evolved pikachu remained with me and the 'mature' pikachu didn't care. And I didn't care either. I trained them a bit to look after the pichu as well. However, you could spot a clear difference between pichu and pikachu minds. Pikachu were much more grown up, less playful but at the same time always in the mood to play.

But not today, because every pikachu was lying in the shade to prevent overheating. Some took a swim every now and then. I was lying under my parasol (gotta thank Oak for that) near the waterside to be able to quickly do something when anything happened. My head was in my hands while I watched at the pichu, which were half in the water and half on the side romping everywhere. They loved it. Between my elbows were two pokémon: Lukas and a newborn pichu, just four weeks old. It had just left the nest for the first time and it was still a bit scared to get outside so it was near me most of the time.

Both pokémon were asleep and softly snoring. I looked down at the pichu who was lying against my arm and purring softly. It was a surprise for me that this pichu had been born, yet I should have known that pichu are born all year long, yet not in the same numbers as in the spring. I felt movement at my arm and the pichu had opened his eyes. He purred softly when I moved my finger across his back. He tried to grab my finger when I came close to him. I let him grab it and he played with my thumb. I smiled at him and nuzzled him with my nose. He smiled and hugged my face. I grabbed him with my hands and cuddled him close to me. He closed his eyes and purred softly. I smiled.

"Hehe, I like this too. You're all nice and warm, it's better than this stinky weather." I smiled. He looked at me and smiled. I put him down. He then some steps forward before looking at the other bigger pichu. He smiled a bit and took off towards them. I watched as he joined their games in running around and shocking each other. I checked the sun. It was almost noon and almost time to eat. I had to gather the food for the pichu. The younger ones were still fed by their moms which suckled their kit. We were about to return to the nest when a pikachu came running towards us. He came running straight towards us and I could immediately tell something was wrong. He stopped before us. I woke Lukas up by gently jabbing him and I scooped some water from the lake and threw it over the pikachu since it looked quite overheated.

"Pika-pikachu-pi!" it said quickly to Lukas. Lukas eyes widened a bit when and he and the pikachu talked a bit. He then looked at me.

"Pikachu pika-pi." he said.

"Raichu? There are raichu around here?" I said. My pikachu-language skills had improved very much the last month. Espeon and Lukas had helped me with understanding it and with making it clear for me to spot the different heights in the sounds and the different meanings of pi, ka and chu. The result was that I could identify the different meanings much easier. Although it wasn't perfect, I could understand simple sentences and simple words, if spoken slowly and clearly. If I wanted to be able to fully speak pikachu, I had to practise a lot longer. Lukas nodded at my response and I quickly gathered the pichu and gave them to the other babysitters. I would follow Lukas to check if there really were raichu around our colony. If so, they had to be scared away or at least they had to know they weren't welcome. The pichu automatically followed me and everyone went back to the colony.

Every year in the summer, a group of raichu came close of this colony. The pikachu didn't know why or when exactly, but they came and they always seem to attempt to mate with the pikachu from our colony. According to other pikachu groups around, the raichu also threatened their colonies every year around the time of summer. While raichu also appeared in the pikachu colonies, mostly as their leaders, they also were known to travel around in groups. Probably they were one of those groups which traveled around in some sort of set pattern. We quickly walked back towards the colony and immediately looked out for raichu, maybe we could see them and tell them they were not welcome around here.

"Pika pikachu?" Lukas asked to the pikachu that had called us. Both talked a bit. We didn't encounter the raichu on our way back to the colony and I quickly told them to get inside until we at least knew where those raichu were. We wanted to be sure none of them could get their paws on one of the pichu. Fortunately it was cool underground, cooler than above the ground.

After thirty minutes of looking around the colony we allowed the pichu back outside since there was no raichu to be seen.

"I wonder if they're still around here." I said to Lukas. Lukas nodded before he looked around and sighed.

"Let's head back. If they're here we'll see them soon enough." I said while I smiled at him. The leadership had made Lukas very tired since he had to manage a lot of things. Pikachu disturbed him all day long with questions or other stuff. Since I couldn't understand the pikachu perfectly, I couldn't answer those questions. Lukas also had to manage the fighters and he also had to keep the area around the colony free of pokémon that we couldn't use. Noctowl and others that ate pichu and pikachu, dangerous pokémon that could be a threat to the colony, all that kind of stuff. He had to patrol the whole area (or let others do it for him) and also had to make sure there was enough food for the entire colony. He didn't have to search food for the entire colony though, they had to manage to get it themselves.

Except the message that the raichu were spotted the day went on like usual. When the evening fell we heard rumbling in the distance. There were thunderstorms coming... I looked to the sky in the long and hot evening and saw pitch black clouds coming our way. Lukas also looked at them and he looked at me.

"Pikachu..." he said slowly.

"I won't go away. I'll stay." I said with a small smile. "I'll get my stuff packed a bit so they won't get wet..." I said. When the clouds came hell broke loose. I had secured myself under a couple of trees and a small roof which kept me dry (again gotta thank Oak for that). Lukas had hidden himself inside the nest and I didn't blame him, an immense cloud-burst almost flooded the area while lightening flashed multiple times per second. But as soon the clouds came they were also gone. The whole forest dried quickly and the temperatures had dropped to normal so everyone could at least sleep without sweating like crazy. Most of the pikachu even got outside to cool down a bit. It was funny to see them rolling through the grass and getting their fur wet to shake everything off afterwards. When it was dark I went to sleep, at least, as far as it was possible. It was still quite hot and I couldn't really get to sleep. I took another gulp from my water bottle and removed some sweat from my head when I heard a rustle. I was used to it by now, different pokémon were around the colony and most of them weren't dangerous. Ratata's commonly walked by to quickly flee when they noticed me. But this time... It was different. I heard something bigger heading this way. I listened to the sounds, trying to identify the unknown sound. This couldn't be a ratata. It had to be something different. A raticate? Maybe, maybe not. But it wasn't something small, that was for sure.

I looked to my right, where the sound seems to come from. I slept just outside the colony. If I would stand up and look over the bush, I had an overview of the entire colony just like that. I listened and looked to the blackness. Suddenly, I heard something.

"Rai, rai rai." it whispered. I listened again. Could it be...

"Raichu." I heard another, higher voice. Since I now understood how to listen to pokémon (now I had to understand it) I could hear it was a female. Could this be...

"Raichu rai." I heard another voice, this time lower and heavier. Why were they wandering around this place at night? Not to look for food, I suppose. I heard another rustle and one raichu came through the bushes. I could see his shadow. It was clearly a raichu, and he hadn't spot me yet. It didn't take long though, as soon he looked in front of him instead of his mates, he froze in his tracks, looked at me for a second, and then quickly retreated towards the forest. I could hear them walking away quickly, scared of what I could possibly do.

The next morning I told Lukas I had seen the raichu and that they fled away. Lukas looked at me and immediately ran towards my bag and tried to get their scent. He said something before he and some other pikachu quickly followed the trail towards the small river where I had first seen Lukas. There the trail was gone. They looked around, discussed something and then headed back towards the colony. But on our way back we heard something. It was a scream, high pitched and pikachu...ish. I looked at the pikachu and they looked back at me. As fast as we could we made our way back to the colony, but nothing seemed wrong there. Espeon was there after a week of absence and she looked at me.

"Did you hear that scream?" she asked.

"Yes I did, we thought someone here was in trouble." I said.

"No, we heard it coming from the forest. We thought it was you!" she said.

"From which direction did it come?" I asked.

"There." she said, pointing towards the forest with her tail.

"Thanks." I said before the whole group turned and ran into the direction of the forest Espeon had pointed, she with us.

"I wonder what is happening down there..." I said. The mystery was quickly solved when there was a pikachu on the ground. It was a female, and around her were three raichu.

"This is exactly what happens every year." Lukas said with an angry tone. "They think they can just do this to anyone."

"Exactly." Volt said. His paw had healed and he was back on guarding duty. "I'm still happy we banned them from our colony."

"Hey you, leave that pikachu alone!" Lukas said, charging towards the raichu with Iron Tail. He hit the raichu spot on, which didn't even move after Lukas' attack, but was clearly annoyed with our presence.

"Hey, can't we have a nice time here, like we do every year?" he said while looking at Lukas.

"What happened to that old guy? Is he sick or something?" the second male laughed. Lukas' cheeks sparked dangerously.

"Oh, wo, wo, the little guy is angry... Did I say something wrong?" he said.

"Leave that pikachu alone and move somewhere else or I'll have to hurt you!" he said while sparking his cheeks again.

"Really?" the raichu said. "Well go ahead, attack me."

Lukas sparked his cheeks and released a thunderbolt. The raichu didn't even flinch, he just scratched his cheek and didn't bother.

"I didn't even feel that." he said. The third raichu, which must be the female, was now looking at me.

"Who is that?" she said, looking and pointing at me.

"That's that guy that we saw tonight..." the other said.

"Indeed, it is. What is he doing with you?" he asked.

"That's none of your business." Volt said, before releasing a strong thundershock on them. This time the raichu did flinch, and he went aggressive.

"So, you want to play?" he said. "Take this!"

Before I knew it, he also did a thundershock, back to Volt and the others. Lukas didn't even try to evade but he certainly had a hard time absorbing the power from the clearly stronger raichu. The attack of the raichu triggered the pikachu to attack him and a couple of them ran towards him while the others attacked with thunderbolt. After a while they managed to kick two pikachu out. Only Volt and Lukas were still fighting, but because Lukas was the leader (I don't know how they knew it, but they did) they waited with attacking him until the end. Espeon was also taken out by a powerful double thundershock which immediately ended her battle role.

After Volt was also taken out, two raichu were worn off by the battle that lasted for about three minutes. Lukas had plenty of energy left and he managed to overpower the two raichu because they were completely worn out. The last raichu that had to be taken to reach the pikachu was the female raichu. I took a step forward and together with Lukas I attacked her. She was very agile and managed to confuse me with agility. However, she didn't confuse Lukas and he managed to hit her with a Iron Tail. When the female saw she was losing she tried another strategy. I was running around like crazy evading all attacks. Since it was now so many months since I joined the pikachu I had developed some pikachu skills which included some battle strategy. I could sense what attack to use and since I couldn't do electric attacks I just kept being annoying for the enemies. I couldn't attack them anyway, only pinch them or pull their tails. This combined with Lukas was an excellent combination so that's how we fought.

The female raichu was losing so she tried a new attack. Lukas jumped out of the way for something, but I didn't know what. I looked at the raichu and... And... It was like... I stopped in my tracks.

"Isn't she the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?" I said to Lukas, my eyes on the raichu. Lukas also stopped and he looked at me and pulled a face.

"Pika-pi? Pikachu!" he exclaimed.

"Don't talk to her like that!" I said while I gave Lukas an angry expression. Lukas looked at me and then at the raichu. The raichu seemed to be just as surprised as he was, although I didn't know why. I walked over to the raichu. However, before I reached her Lukas launched a Iron Tail. I quickly jumped in front of her and grabbed Lukas and diverted him into another direction before getting mad at him.

"LUKAS! DON'T YOU DARE TO ATTACK HER!" I screamed to Lukas. He had just drilled his tail into a nearby tree and was trying to get it out, hanging upside down with his tail in the tree trunk. I stepped towards him.

"Bad, BAD PIKACHU!" I said while I gave him a angry face. He just looked at me with a surprised expression. I turned around and walked over towards the female raichu. I sat down next to her.

"I like you..." I said. She looked at me with surprised face but quickly understood it must be the attract attack that did this.

"Rai... Rai rai!" she said while pointing towards Lukas.

"I'll assure you he won't attack you anymore." I said, still looking towards her. She was really the most beautiful thing on this planet. I already imagined myself in a house with her at sea... It would be perfect... Her, the sea, maybe children... BAM.

I received an enormous slam from something and I fell sidewards. I looked at a female pikachu that looked at me with a angry and demanding expression and she called for me. I looked around confused before I saw the raichu and I quickly got back and I stood up. I saw Lukas stuck upside down with his tail.

"What the heck was I doing?!" I said to Lukas while I got him from the tree. He said something before we were hit by a thunder attack which made me fall to the ground. It was way too strong to be blocked by my shoes. I groaned and I saw Lukas and the female pikachu finish the raichu. After they were done I got up, still groaning, and got back to the colony with the two pikachu and the rest of the fainted pikachu. The female looked quite impressed by Lukas, or so it looked. They talked a bit while we were walking back and any ask for help by me (carry three pikachu and an espeon at the same time and you'll understand) were completely ignored. When we returned in the colony Lukas said goodbye to the female which kissed him on the cheek. Lukas rubbed his paw behind his head and blushed before the female ran off leaving him kind of paralyzed.

"Hello...!" I said to him, but no response.

"Hey, LUKAS!" I said. Still no response. Lukas was still watching the female running away. I kicked him with my shoe, gently of course, but enough to push him over.

"PIKA PIKA PIKACHU PI! (what the heck was that for?!)" he shouted angrily.

"A little help would be appreciated." I said while putting one pikachu in front of him to carry. Lukas sighed and then helped me. I smiled at him.

"So, you have a mate now?" I said on a sly tone.

"Pikachu-pi." he said firmly, which sounded as "No I have not.".

"You're popular around, aren't you?" I asked, smiling widely.

"Pikachu-pika." he said, a lot less firm but still quite as-a-matter-of-fact.

"Pika! Pikachu-pi." he then said, giving me a warning glare.

"Alright, alright, I'll stop..." I said. "I'm just curious, sorry." I said.

"Pika, pikachu-pi." he said while we arrived at my bag. I placed the pikachu and Espeon near it and checked them over quickly. They were fine, they would probably get back to senses within minutes. While I was checking them, Lukas was mimicking me proposing to someone.

"Don't you dare..." I said, but Lukas just continued.

"You jerk!" I said smiling widely while I tried to catch Lukas and to tickle him. He laughed, did another proposal and then quickly ran a few meters away from me to prevent him getting caught by me. He laughed at me and I rolled my eyes.

"Let's not talk about that." I said. Lukas smiled and nodded.

"So the raichu, do you think they'll return again this year?" I said. Lukas shook his head. Probably not.

"Alright then..." I said while Espeon got up and shook herself.

"That was one giant attack..." she said while she shook her head once more. "Did you guys win?" she asked.

"Yep, we won, and Lukas has a girlfriend." I said, pointing at him.

"Really?" she said. Lukas shook his head and blushed.

"I'll take that as a yes." she said, chuckling. Lukas started proposing to me and looked at me with a challenging glance.

"Oh, that's really interesting." Espeon said. "You were in love with a raichu?"

"Lukas, quit it!" I shouted before I ran after him towards the pichu, because it was time for lunch.