Gem: Oh, yeah. That big group of pikachu. *frowns* I hope Trix's Pikachu doesn't actually leave.

Omega: Wh- what?

Faux: I, uh- I know what he's talking about. But, Gem, we are way past the point of worrying about something like that. Heck, Trix, Brock, or Misty may be adding a pikachu to one of their teams.

Gem: … Oh. Right. *nervous chuckle* Sorry.

I don't own Pokémon or Ben 10.

.

.

Pi ka Chu Chu
(It's a Chu's Life)

.

"You- you're all-" Electra stuttered as she looked around the humans-turned-pikachu in shock, "You- b u- bu- I- how- hu- pi- you-" She grabbed her head, "Words- Not- Working!"

Soot glared at Brock, "Nice one Slate."

Brock slumped forward and groaned in shame; ears drooping, "crag…"

Ash frowned, ran over to the Electric-type having a mental overload, and put a paw on her shoulder; making her flinch, "Electra, please hear us out. I promise we can explain."

Electra looked at him warily then glanced at Brock and Misty. She nodded slowly, "O- okay."

Ash took a deep breath before starting, "For starters, there's this." He slapped the watch's symbol on his stomach.

Lockdown Mode in-effect. Approximate time until release: one-hundred and five hours and eighteen minutes.

Misty sweat dropped, 'That long? Seriously?'

Electra stared at the symbol in pure shock, "Wha-"

"Five years ago," Ash continued; making Electra look him in the eye, "I found this thing in a meteor. I don't know what is or where it came from, but it's the reason I can turn into," He gestured to his Mouse Pokémon form, "this … as well as ten other Pokémon." He pointed back at Soot, "Like mightyena and banette."

Soot nodded, "Yeah. We weren't lying about me being his daughter."

Electra continued staring in shock before setting her sights on Brock and Misty, "But then…" She trailed off.

Ash smiled softly, "It's something similar." He turned towards the pair and nodded.

Brock and Misty caught on and slapped the Lens symbols on their stomachs. Though, not at the same time.

LockLockdowndown Mode inMode in-effect-effect. ApproxApproximateimate timetime untiluntil release:release: one-hunone-hundreddred and fiveand five hours andhours and sevenseventeenteen minutes. minutes.

Misty sweat dropped as she looked down at the Lens, "We probably could have timed that better."

Brock sweat dropped as well, "Yeah."

Electra just stared in shock; unable to say anything.

Ash smiled softly, "I call them Change Lenses. They let other humans turn into the Pokémon forms I have and were just finished a few days ago. I thought letting Brock and Misty use them to mingle with the tribe would be a good test run."

Electra stared at the Ash in shock again before slowly turning to look at Pikachu and Clefairy, "Then … does that mean your-" She trailed off again.

Pikachu waved a paw, "No. The two of us aren't human."

Clefairy pointed at the hat wearing pikachu, "Ash is our trainer."

Electra jerked and looked at Ash in pure shock, "You're a trainer?!"

Ash blinked in surprise, "Uh, yeah." He gestured to Brock and Misty, "All three of us are."

Electra's jaw dropped before rapidly looking at Brock and Misty in shock and back Ash and so on. This continued for the next eight minutes.

Clefairy frowned, "Do you think she's okay?"

Brock's ears drooped, "Hard to say."

Soot sighed, "Regardless, this'll probably be the knockout."

Everyone looked at her in confusion -or, in Electra's case, shock- right as stood back up. Everyone jerked slightly when Brock and Misty's bags, and Ash and Brock's pokéball belts fell out of her and landed on the ground.

Electra stared in pure shock before she fell back and slipped out of consciousness.

Soot smirked, 'Called it.'

Pikachu and Misty looked up at Soot; deadpanned, "Seriously?"

Soot shrugged, "We were past the point of no return, anyway. Now, if you'll excuse me," Her eyes shifted back to their natural design, "I haven't eaten in over twelve hours." The Dark-type walked through the bushes and deeper into the woods before anyone could respond.

Clefairy raised a brow, "Huh?"

Ash looked back at the Fairy-type, "Soot's had most of our gear in her body all day and had to keep most of her organs intangible to do so. She wasn't able to eat without the food falling through her stomach. Or her throat, for that matter."

Brock sweat dropped and frowned, "So, when she said she's built up a tolerance, it was for hunger pains?"

Ash shook his head, "Doubtful. She usually shuts off the parts of her brain that identify hunger when she does this. Forty-eight hours is how long she can hold her intangibility before her energy supply runs dry. Odds are the battle yesterday put her down to her limit."

Misty sweat dropped, "Sure…" She looked over at the unconscious Electra, "Would I sound like a jerk by asking to wait until morning to wake her up?"

Brock looked up into the night sky, "I think it's justified, this time."

Pikachu yawned and laid back, "Ditto."

.

*The following morning

After waking up from a long night's sleep … in the middle of the afternoon, and finding Electra still unconscious, the group moved a little deeper into the forest to make sure they were out of earshot from the rest of the tribe.

They made the right call.

"Trainers!" Electra said in shock as she paced around the clearing; everyone just sat and watched as she did, "Actual, genuine, human trainers!"

Brock raised a digit on his paw, "Technically, I'm-"

"That can understand- NO! That can Turn! Into! Pokémon!" Electra continued before turning to and pointing at Pikachu, Soot and Clefairy, "And you're their Pokémon! With pokéballs and trainer battles and … everything!"

Pikachu sweat dropped, "Just Ash is our-"

Electra cut him off with an overjoyed squeal, "INSANE!" and smiled brightly, "This is the best day of my life!"

Misty sighed before looking at Electra with a raised brow, "So, you're not mad?"

The Electric-type looked at her in shock, "MAD?! Of course, I'm mad! Why didn't any of you tell me sooner?! Did you not hear any of what I was saying yesterday?! You are literally the humans I was talking about! And, seriously! There are THREE of you?! What the Yvel?!"

Ash rubbed the back of his head and chuckled nervously, "Yeah. Sorry." He smiled sadly, "We're just afraid of how the tribe would react if they found out. You know how they feel about humans."

Electra frowned, "Well, sure. But-"

Soot deadpanned, "And can you say without a doubt that you wouldn't have -in a burst of excitement- let the secret slip if we told you when we first met?"

Electra glared at her, "Of course I-" She stopped and looked downward thoughtfully. She sighed and crossed her arms with a pout, "Okay, fine. You have a point." She looked at the group with a worried frown, "So, what do you say?"

Clefairy tilted in confusion, "What?"

"Can I join you guys?" Electra asked; still frowning worriedly, "You were really unsure before, and I've been hoping for something like this for a long time, and- and-" She clenched a fist and bowed; eyes closed tightly, "Please say yes! I'll do whatever you say! I'll start training to battle like your other Pokémon! I'll- I'll even change my name if-"

"Hey! Hey! Electra!" Misty blurted out while waving her paws. She frowned, "You don't have to do any of that."

Electra's eyes shot open and she looked at them in surprise, "R- really?"

Brock smiled sadly, "Of course. What kind of friends would we be if we forced you to change everything about yourself?"

Electra's eyes widened, "We- we're all friends?"

Everyone jerked and shared a surprised look. They looked back at Electra and Pikachu asked, "What the Yvel did you think we were?"

"I- I-" Electra stuttered in shock.

Ash smiled softly, "We'd be happy to have you join us, Electra. Exactly as you are."

Everyone else nodded; also smiling, "Yeah."

Electra started to tear up as she stared at the group in awe, "You guys…" She smiled softly, "Thank you." She sniffled and wiped away the tears, "You have no idea how much this means to me." She looked around hopefully, "So, it'll really be okay if I don't battle?"

Ash nodded, "I promise it will. We're not going to force you to do anything you don't want to."

Electra smirked and raised a brow, "Anything?"

Ash snickered, "Anything within reason. We'll have to be a little strict every now and then."

Brock smiled a raised a digit on his paw, "Like with stuff that includes your health and well-being. Which will include some exercise to keep you in shape and maybe a little target practice to keep you in touch with your abilities."

Electra blinked in surprise, "That's it?" She smiled, "Okay, yeah. Deal."

"Sweet." Soot said happily before shifting to a sly smile, "Still. If you ever want to start battling, we're not going to say no."

Electra smiled up at Soot, "Never gonna happen." She perked up upon realizing something and looked at Brock with a raised brow while pointing at Soot, "Wait. Did she call you 'Slate' before?"

Brock perked up, "Oh, right." He smiled and put a paw to his chest, "My last name is Slate."

Electra blinked in surprise. She sat down where she stood and stared at the group intently, "Go on."

Misty chuckled before smiling, "My full name is Misty Waterflower. No middle name."

Electra blinked in surprise, "Humans can not have a middle name?"

Ash gave an unsure expression, "Sometimes." He smiled, "Although, they can also have multiple middle names."

Electra stared at him in bright-eyed awe. She shook it off and looked at them with an excited smile, "Go on."

Brock raised a paw with a smile, "Brock Slate. Also, no middle name."

Ash smiled, "Ashton Satoshi Ketchum."

Electra looked at him in surprise, "Ashton?"

"Sometimes humans shorten one of their names for the sake of convenience." Soot said with a smile, "And my name Soot Ketchum."

Electra blinked in surprise, "You and Ash have the same last name?"

Soot snickered, "Well, duh. I'm his daughter."

Ash smiled, "A last name can also be called a 'family name.' As the term implies, it's shared by everyone in a family. Mother, father, son, daughter, and sometimes other relatives."

Electra pointed at him, "Okay, we're coming back to that 'sometimes' part later." She raised a brow; still looking at Ash, "So you're the only one here with a middle name?"

Ash smiled slyly, "Not exactly." He glanced at Soot. Electra perked up and followed his gaze. Pikachu and Clefairy blinked in surprise.

Soot glared at them, "No."

Ash pouted, "Aw come on, sweetie." He jumped up and put an arm behind Electra's back, "You've seen how much she loves this stuff."

Misty smirked slyly, ran over to Electra as well, and put an arm behind her back, "Yeah. We're all friends here. Why don't you just tell us already?" Misty looked at the other female pikachu with a smile, "You wanna know too. Don't you Electra?"

Electra looked Misty with a nervous smile and sweat dropped, "Um. I- I guess?"

Pikachu raised a brow, "Soot has a middle name?"

Clefairy smiled brightly, "What is it?!"

Soot glanced around the group with an annoyed glare. She groaned and mumbled, "lil…"

Misty put a paw to her ear, "Sorry. We didn't hear th-"

"LILIUM!" Soot shouted angrily, "My middle name is Lilium! Alright?!"

Brock stared at her confusion, "…That's it? That's the name you've been so embarrassed about?"

Misty sweat dropped, "Yeah. That sounds pretty normal."

Clefairy smiled, "I like it. It sounds pretty."

Soot grumbled and her eye started twitching.

Ash snickered, "It was mom's idea. It's the technical term for a lily. In this case, a black lily known as the 'Lilium Night Rider'." He glanced at Soot with a sly smirk, "When she was a poochyena, mom called her 'little Lily pup'." He raised a digit on his paw, "Not to be confused with the actual species."

Ohirume: Credit goes to Wizzer96 for suggesting 'Lilium'. They were also the one who did the research to find it.

Misty snickered, "Okay. Now that's cute."

"That's the problem!" Soot said angrily, "It's freaking embarrassing! What the Yvel kind of name is Lily anyway?!"

Misty deadpanned, "Soot, that's my sister's name."

Soot glared at her, "I mean for a mightyena."

Electra glanced around anxiously, "Um." She looked at Ash, "So, about that 'sometimes' thing."

.

*One and a half hours later

Eventually, everyone left the clearing and made their way back through the tribe grounds; en route to Electra's tent.

Electra led the way with a bright, overjoyed smile and a dreamy look in her eyes.

Soot looked at her with a smirk; eyes back to their inherent state, "I guess you're just a little bit excited?"

Electra spun around to look at the Dark-type as she started walking backwards; her smile never faltering, "How could I not be? After so long, I'm finally going off with tra-"

Ash started coughing. He recovered and cleared his throat, "Sorry. I think I just slipped up for a second." He shot Electra a glance.

Electra grimaced, 'RIGHT! Secret!' She perked up and forced a smile; albeit a nervous looking one, "Y- yeah. I get it. No worries." She recovered and shifted to a kind smile, "I'm just really excited to join a pack of beings who really get me. It's like a dream is coming true."

Misty smiled softly, "I know what you mean." She moved a paw to the Lens on her stomach, "Sometimes life can surprise you like that."

Ash glanced at her and smiled softly, "Yeah."

Electra spun back around and closed her eyes; back to her bright smile, "I'm so happy that I don't even mind everyone whispering this time."

Brock raised a brow, "What whispering?"

Electra blinked in surprise and she looked back at him with a raised brow, "Do you seriously not hear all the-" She stopped in her tracks -as did everyone else- and her eyes widened in surprise.

Pikachu looked around before his ears drooped, "Now that you mention it, everyone's actually looking at us."

Electra looked back at him in surprise before looking around the tribe.

All of the pikachu and raichu around the tribe grounds were giving her strange looks. And not the 'annoyed to be in the same clearing as her' strange that she was used. Everyone seemed more … unsure? There were a few of the regular annoyed or wary glares mixed in but they didn't seem as harsh as usual. Regardless, none of them said a word.

Electra blinked in surprise as she continued looking around and mumbled, "What the-"

"Sibling!"

Everyone looked over to see Raichu walking over to them with a raised paw and a smile.

Electra perked up, "Hey brother."

Raichu made his way over to them and smiled, "Where are you all heading?"

"Back to my tent." Electra stated matter-of-factly before glancing around again, "Hey, what's going on with everyone?"

Raichu frowned and crouched down in front of her, "Electra, it's like I said before. Don't let them get to-"

"No. Not that." Electra interrupted while shaking her head. She looked around again, "I mean- no one's saying anything this time."

Raichu perked up and looked around in confusion. He blinked in surprise, "You're right."

Misty stared in confusion before leaning closer to Pikachu and whispering, "Do you have any idea what they're talking about?"

Pikachu sweat dropped, "Nope."

"I might have an idea." Ash said sorrowfully.

Everyone looked at the hat-wearing Electric-type.

Ash looked back at Electra with a frown, "You saved them all with the soldering iron. With stuff you got from humans. Given the way they've treated you and all your stuff up until now, that had to come as a surprise to them. They might be not sure what to think anymore."

Electra's eyes widened slightly in realization. Raichu stared at Ash in surprise.

Clefairy blinked in surprise before pouting angrily, "What do you mean they don't know what to think?! They should feel bad for treating her bad and should be treating her better now!"

Misty nodded with a glare, "Yeah! I'm with Clefairy! They should be grateful!"

Soot nodded, "Agreed." She glanced at a pair of pikachu and her eyes narrowed; making them flinch slightly, "But pride's a real son of a glitch."

Pikachu pouted and crossed his arms, "Well that's stupid."

Brock frowned, "No kidding. Even a simple 'thank you' would be better than nothing."

Raichu looked around the group in surprise. He looked down thoughtfully before his eyes narrowed.

Electra smiled sadly and waved her paws, "Guys. It's okay. Besides, soon I won't have to worry abou-"

"HEY!"

Everyone flinched at and looked Raichu in surprise.

The larger Electric-type glared at surrounding tribers, "Is this seriously how you're going to treat the being who saved you yesterday?!" Raichu put a paw to his chest, "My sibling is the reason any of us are even here right now! She stuck her neck for all of us and you're still treating her like this?! You should all be thanking her!"

The surrounding tribe's looks seemed to soften in shame. Most started rubbing the back of their necks or looking downward shamefully.

Ash, Brock, Misty, Soot, Pikachu, and Clefairy looked at him with soft smiles.

Electra stared at Raichu in awe, "b- brother…"

"Sure," Raichu continued with a frown, "humans aren't something most of us are comfortable with and the idea of their stuff being useful isn't something we like to think about." His eyes narrowed further, "But if that's actually going to keep you from thanking the one who saved your sorry tails, then just go back to your nests already! Leave my sister alone!"

The surrounding Mouse Pokémon flinched slightly. Most left the clearing immediately. Others lingered behind and glanced at Electra warily. But, eventually, they left as well.

Soot glared, "Cowards."

Clefairy pouted angrily, "Rude."

Electra smiled sadly and her ears drooped, "Really. It's okay."

"'xcuse me."

Electra jerked slightly, turned around, and looked down to see a male pichu looking up at her curiously. Specifically, the same one that spoke to her during the attack.

Electra blinked in surprise, frowned, and crouched down, "Hi. Y'know that your pa- um, meema might not want you talking to me. Right?"

Pichu tilted his head in confusion, "But, meema's okay with it." He looked back and waved, "Hi meema!"

Everyone followed his gaze and found a male pikachu a few feet back. The pikachu chuckled softly before waving back. Electra's eyes widened slightly.

Pichu looked back up at Electra with a kind smile, "I wanted thank you for saving us." He walked closer and hugged her, "So, thank you."

Electra looked down at him in shock before hugging him back, "Y- your welcome."

Pichu let go and ran back to his meema. The male Electric-type crouched down to pick them up. The pikachu looked back at Electra with a soft smile and nodded. He then started walking out the clearing with the hatchling in his arms.

Electra stared in awe as they left, "in- insane."

Brock smiled, "Well, it's a start."

Ash walked up to Electra and patted her shoulder; snapping her out of it, "That's something you'd have to get used to if you were staying."

Raichu looked at him in surprise, "Wait, what?"

.

*Shortly later; Electra's tent

"Wait! What?!" Raichu blurted out while staring at Electra in shock.

Electra smiled brightly, "Isn't it great?! I'm even gonna get to bring along my stuff!" She stopped, blinked, and looked back at the group, "Right?"

Ash chuckled, "Yes. You can bring along your stuff."

Misty glanced around at all of the items and sweat dropped, "Still. You might want to be a little picky. There is a lot in here."

Electra chuckled nervously and rubbed the back on her head, "Yeah. You might have a point."

Raichu continued staring at Electra in shock, "Y- you're really leaving?"

Electra looked back at him and smiled sadly, "Yeah. I've been thinking about it for a while and asked them last night." She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "I mostly came back here to pack." She looked up at her brother worriedly, "Are you mad?"

Raichu jerked and crouched down in front her, "No. No. Electra, of course I'm not mad. I knew you'd leave the tribe someday. I just- I didn't expect it to be so sudden."

Electra smiled sadly, "Yeah … me neither, I guess. So, you're really okay with this?"

Raichu smiled softly and pulled her into a hug, "I promise I am. Everyone has to leave the nest someday. And I'm happy you found a pack like this, sib- sister."

Electra smiled softly and hugged him back, "Thank you, brother."

"Although, if I'm being honest," Raichu continued with a sly smirk, "I always kind of expected you to go off with a trainer."

Electra flinched slightly and glanced to the side, "Uh … yeah."

After a few more seconds, the pair separated and Raichu walked over to the group.

Raichu looked at Ash and crossed his arms, "Is it safe to assume you're the leader of this pack?"

Ash blinked in surprise, "Um." He looked back at Brock and Misty. The pair shared a look and shrugged. Ash looked back at Raichu, "Yes."

Raichu held out a paw to Ash, "Then I guess you already know what I'm going to say."

Ash nodded with a smile and shook his paw, "Yeah. I promise to keep Electra safe. You have my word." His smile softened, "And, if it's any consolation, we weren't planning to leave today. We can stay for up to three more days."

Raichu's eyes widened slightly before he smiled softly, "Thank you."

.

**Short Time Skip**

A little while later, everyone decided to split up again. Ash, Electra, and Raichu chose to stay back in the tent.

Misty, Brock, Pikachu, Clefairy, and Soot decided to head back into the tribe grounds. Although, they hadn't left just yet.

Pikachu looked back at Ash, "Are you sure you don't wanna join us?"

Brock looked at them as well and frowned, "Yeah. Aren't you worried about missing out on anything?"

Electra flinched slightly and looked at Ash. Her ears drooped as she frowned.

Ash smiled and waved a paw, "Guys, I promise it's fine. I want you all to enjoy yourselves while we're here."

Clefairy frowned, "Are you sure?"

Ash nodded with a soft smile, "Positive." He set his sights on the Water and Rock trainers "I know you were excited to do this and I don't want you to miss out on anything." He slung an arm across Electra's back and grinned, "Besides, who else is gonna help Electra pack?"

Raichu sweat dropped and raised a paw. He stopped and looked around the tent before sweat dropping, "Okay, yeah. Fair enough."

Misty chuckled, "Alright. Have fun, you two."

Soot smirked, "See ya."

Everyone left through the tent flap.

Raichu glanced at Electra before perking up. He ran up to Ash and Electra, "Sorry, but I'll be back in a bit." He ran out of the tent before they could respond.

Ash sweat dropped, "Okay?"

Electra looked at Ash; ears still drooping, "Hey, uh- they kind of have a point. You don't have to miss out on anything for my sake."

Ash looked at her with a raised brow and a smirk, "Is that what you think I'm doing?" Electra's eyes widened slightly as Ash looked back at the flap and continued, "Don't worry. I've done this kind of thing before when I was younger. Brock and Misty haven't. All of this is a brand-new experience to them, and I want them to enjoy it as much as possible." He looked back at Electra with grin, "Besides, I've got something I wanna show you before we leave."

Electra perked up in surprise, "Wait, really?!" She smiled brightly and started trembling with excitement, "Well, what are you waiting for?! Show me!"

Ash chuckled before pointing a thumb at a large box in the tent, "Well, it involves that."

Electra looked where was pointing and blinked in surprise, "That thing?" She looked back at Ash, "Soot called it a microwave, right?"

Ash looked at her with a smile and nodded, "Yeah." He looked back at the box before something occurred to him. He back at Electra with a raised brow, "Have you tried opening it by chance?"

Electra looked at him in surprise before pouting angrily, "Okay, for real. How much of my stuff could open all this time?"

Ash chuckled, "I'll take that as a no. Come on." He made his way over to the microwave.

Electra followed him. As she did, she looked around the inside of the tent. She soon spotted something that made her stop in her tracks.

Ash stood in front of the microwave and looked back at Electra with a smile, "So, we'll be-" He stopped and blinked in surprise, "What is that?"

Electra smiled sadly as she stared at a AA battery in her paw, "It's just the battery I was talking about." She looked around the inside of the tent and her ears drooped.

Ash looked at her worriedly, "Are you okay?"

"Y- yeah." Electra said before looking back at the battery in her paws with a sad smile, "I think it's only just hitting me about what's going on." She looked around at the holes in her tent, "Just yesterday, we were working on finding a way to fix this thing. And now I'm getting ready to leave it all behind." She jerked and looked at Ash with panicked expression, "Not that I'm second guessing going along with all of you! I just-" She glanced to the side, "It's a lot to take in all at once."

Ash smiled softly, walked back over to her, and placed a paw on her shoulder, "Trust me. I understand. I only left home a few months ago."

Electra stared at Ash in surprise, "How did you deal with it?"

"I made sure I was prepared." Ash responded; still with a soft smile, "And I had my friends there to help." He put a paw to his chest, "Just like how you'll have us."

Electra stared at Ash in awe before smiling and pulling him into a hug, "Thanks Ash."

Ash hugged her back, "Your welcome."

And then, Raichu came back.

"Hey." Raichu said as he pushed through the tent flap; making Ash and Electra flinch, "Sorry about th-" He stopped and stared in surprise, "Am I interrupting something?"

Ash and Electra quickly separated.

The female pikachu waved her paws defensively, "I- it's nothing brother." She ran up to him and grabbed his paw, "Come on. Ash is gonna show us how the microwave works."

Raichu raised a brow, "MicrowAAH!" He cried out as Electra started pulling him over to the appliance. Ash walked over to it as well.

Electra sat down and smiled brightly, "Alright! Now show us!"

Raichu stared in confusion before sitting down next to his sibling.

Ash smiled sadly, "First, I should probably say this. We can't use the microwave."

Electra flinched and looked at him fearfully, "What?! What's wrong with it?!"

Ash waved his paws, "There's nothing wrong with it." He gestured to the machine, "Microwave ovens are powered by electricity. And not in a way that we can supply." He walked around the back and reappeared a moment later with the power cord in his paw, "This is how you get power to them."

Raichu raised a brow, "What is that?"

Electra looked up at him, "An electrical cord. There's a lot of copper wire in it." She perked up and looked at Ash excitedly, "Are we making another soldering iron?!"

Ash chuckled, "Actually, we're not making anything."

Electra pouted, "Aww."

Raichu sweat dropped, "So, uh, what does that cord-thing do?"

Ash smiled and held up the end of the cord, "See these shiny parts at the end? They're what you feed the electricity into to power the microwave. Countless human-made machines are powered like this." He focused on Electra, "Including human-made soldering irons."

Electra smiled brightly and her tail started wagging, "Insaaaane."

Raichu just stared in confusion, "So, why can't we just do that? It sounds like we just need to shock it like that heating-thing you made."

Ash smiled sadly, "That's easier said than done. The soldering iron we made was only powered by a single continuous stream of electricity. Machines that run using electrical cords aren't as straightforward." He held up the end of the cord again, "The silver parts each stand for something. Positive. Neutral. And ground since this one has three."

Raichu raised a paw, "Um-"

"Not ground as in Ground-type or dirt." Ash stated, "In this case, ground means inorganic metal that take in electricity and safely get rid of it. Similar to the Lightning Rod ability."

Raichu put his paw back down.

"Each part of the plug needs a specific electrical charge and/or lack thereof." Ash continued, "Without a power supply that can sync up with this cord, we can't turn on the microwave." He put a paw to his chin, "Technically, we could train ourselves to create condensed jolts of electricity of the exact electrical charges required and set up a kind of stand to act as the ground." He sighed and shrugged, "But, that would require an amount of work that would ultimately defeat the purpose."

Electra looked down sorrowfully, "Aww man."

Ash smiled, "Don't worry. Turning it on was never our goal."

Electra looked back at him curiously, "So, what are we doing with it?"

Ash smirked, "We're tearing it to pieces."

Electra and Raichu's eyes widened in shock, "…huh?"

.

*Meanwhile; Brock, Misty, Soot, Pikachu, and Clefairy

The quintet made their way to the tribe's training grounds for a little … well, training. Luckily, they had the entire area to themselves.

Omega: *eye roll* Because of course they did.

"So," Misty said, "now that things have settled down a little bit." She looked around the group with a bright smile, "Can we talk about how awesome yesterday was?!"

Soot gave with a small smirk, "I didn't think you liked Team Rocket attacking us that much."

Misty glared at her; deadpanned, "You know that isn't what I meant." She smiled again and held out her paws, "Just look." Her eyes narrowed slightly as a ball of white energy appeared in her paws. Misty smiled brightly as she stared at the ball in awe, "Hidden Power! We can actually use an attack!" She held out the sphere to Pikachu, "And mine's even Water-type!"

Pikachu flinched and pushed her paws away, "Please don't point that at me."

Brock smiled and held out his paw too, "I know what you mean." His paw became engulfed in red energy and his smile brightened, "It's unbelievable. I've never felt a rush of energy like this. I almost can't believe we pulled it off."

Soot smiled, "It's not as surprising as you may think. Hidden Power is one the most common and easy to learn attacks in existence. Out all Pokémon, only sixteen species can't be taught the move. And in most cases, that's only before their final evolution." She glanced upward thoughtfully, "The only real exceptions to learning it … sort of are ditto, smeargle, the wynaut line, pyukumuku, and unown. Ditto can only know Transform. Smeargle can only learn Sketch; which can lead to Hidden Power. Wynaut and wobbuffet can only learn defensive, delayed reaction, and retaliation-based moves. Unown know Hidden Power from birth and can't learn anything else. And pyukumuku…" She raised a brow, "No one really knows."

Soot looked back at the Gym Leaders with a smile, "It was even the first move dad figured out how to use after getting the watch … before Power Integration." She shifted to a sly smirk, "Even without any primary move training, it'd be incredibly embarrassing if you guys couldn't even draw on the power to use it. Especially since it was already in your move set."

Misty glared at the canine. She sighed, dispelled her Hidden power, and crossed her arms with a cocky grin, "Y'know what? I don't care. I can use a Water-type attack and nothing you say is going to ruin that for me."

Soot snickered, "Alright. Fair enough." She straightened up and smiled, "So, training. How do you wanna-"

"SOOT!"

Everyone flinched and looked over to Soot's pichu friend running over to her excitedly.

Soot smiled, "Hey, Pichu!" She laid down and, almost immediately, the Tiny Mouse Pokémon jumped up and climb onto her head. Soot sat up and smiled up at her, "What brings you out here?"

"That would be me."

Everyone looked over again to see Raichu standing there with a raised paw as he glanced at Soot warily. To clarify, it's the raichu that intercepted them at the tribe's entrance yesterday … Guard Raichu.

Raichu looked back at them with a stoic expression, "I brought her here to practice Thunder Wave. I didn't expect anyone else to be here."

Soot blinked in surprise, "Thunder Wave? Really?" She looked up at Pichu and smiled, "Well, look at you learning some big girl moves."

Pichu raised a paw and cheered, "Yeah! I'm gonna be super duper strong even before I evolve!"

Soot chuckled softly before perking up and looking at Raichu with a smile, "Hey, how about we help? She can spar with Misty."

Misty perked up and looked at Soot in surprise, "Huh?"

Raichu frowned, "Are you sure that's a good idea?" He glanced at Misty warily, "They seem a little out of her league."

Soot smirked, "I wouldn't worry. Misty's only attack is Hidden Power and it's Water-type."

Raichu blinked in surprise and stared at Misty in shock, "Seriously? You don't even know Thunder Shock?"

Misty crossed her arms and pouted, "Hey. Everyone learns at their own pace."

"Still," Raichu said a raised brow, "our kind know Thunder Shock from the moment we hatch. Even if you've forgotten that attack, Hidden power can't be the only thing you can use."

Misty and Brock jerked and shared a nervous look, "Ummmm…"

Clefairy flinched, ran in front of Misty, and gave a nervous grin, "Well, there's a really good reason for that. It's- uh-"

"She's out of practice." Soot jumped in with smile, "Remember? We spent a lot of time around humans and some of us fell out of practice." She gestured to Brock and Misty, "Namely these two. They have other moves but Hidden Power's the only one they really remember how to use."

Brock and Misty sweat dropped as they looked at the Dark-type; deadpanned.

Raichu blinked in surprise, "Wow. That is… really… really sad."

Misty's eye twitched, "Yeah. Sure."

Soot snickered before looking up at Pichu with a smile, "So, what do you say kid? Wanna spar with Misty?"

Pichu smiled brightly and pumped a fist, "Yeah!" She moved around and slid down Soot's back; laughing the whole way. She landed and looked up at Soot excitedly, "You're gonna stay and watch right?"

Soot smiled, "Of course." She perked up upon and frowned realizing something, "Oh, uh- Actually, there's something I need to do first. I'll be back soon." She vanished on the spot.

Pichu frowned and her ears drooped, "Awwww."

Raichu blinked in surprise and looked at Misty, Brock, Pikachu, and Clefairy in confusion, "What was that about?"

Pikachu raised a brow, "Honestly, no idea."

.

*Meanwhile; Ash, Electra, and her brother

"Bu- but how-" Raichu stuttered as he stared at the detached microwave window in shock. It was currently propped up against the outer shell of the microwave. Every so often he poked it and flinched, "How does this even work?" He looked back at Ash, "You swear this isn't a screen style Reflect, Barrier, ice or some kind of rock?"

"Yes." Ash responded; deadpanned, "The only attacks that may have been used in making that were Fire-type attacks. It's molten sand that's been cooled down."

Raichu blinked in surprise before staring back at the glass pane, "Insane…"

Ash sweat dropped, "I expected you guys to be impressed. But I really didn't think your brother would be this mesmerized by glass."

Electra looked at him with a bright smile, "Yeah, but come on! A human made material that you can see through, looks like ice, and is made out of sand?! That's so freaking awesome!"

Ash looked at her with a smile, "Well, get used to seeing it. Humans use glass all over the world for all sorts of projects. The odds of going to a town or city and not finding any glass are slim to none."

Electra started trembling excitedly right down to her tail and looked up dreamily, "Insaaaane."

Ash chuckled softly. He jerked and his ears shot up when he heard something touch the ground. He turned around and flinched slightly when he saw Soot poking her head through the tent wall and place his and Brock's belts on the ground next to Brock's bag. She then stuck her head in further and Misty's bag fell out of her neck.

Soot took a deep, slow breath before mumbling, "Arceus, I missed breathing normally." She glanced over at Ash and flinched when she saw him looking back.

Ash blinked in surprise before looking around at the others in the tent. Raichu was still distracted by the window and Electra was still staring off into space dreamily. Ash looked back at Soot and shrugged.

Soot smiled nervously before disappearing back through the tent wall.

Ash glanced at Electra and sweat dropped, 'Good timing, I guess.' He shrugged it off and shook Electra's shoulder.

Electra snapped her out of her trance looked at him curiously, "What is it?"

Ash smiled, "Partially making sure you're okay." He walked over to the microwave and pulled out a gray box-looking thing, "That and I need help pulling apart the magnetron."

Raichu jerked and looked at Ash in shock, "We're doing what to a magneton?"

Ash snickered, "Magnetron not magneton." He put the box down, "This thing. It's the heart of a microwave." 'Thank Arceus Franz let me stare at everything in his kitchen.'

Raichu's eyes widened in shock and he glanced at the stripped microwave warily, "heart?"

Ash sweat dropped, "Not literally. The microwave was never alive to begin with. Even before Electra found it." He sighed and patted the magnetron, "What I mean is that this thing is what makes a microwave a microwave. Without the magnetron, it'll never work."

Electra smiled brightly as he said all that. She leaned in closer, "So how do we pull it apart?"

Ash smiled and removed his paws from the device, "I just need you to hold it steady." He held out his paws as lit up with Brick Break, "I'll take care of the rest."

Ohirume: Caution! All of the steps that Ash, Electra, and Raichu will and have gone through require electrical protection.

These precautions are ONLY being ignored in this story because the ones doing everything are Electric-types.

If you want to even consider trying this, look up a video like I did.

Electra ran over excitedly. Raichu followed suit; albeit much slower.

After a few awkward seconds of the two of them putting their paws all over the magnetron and trying to figure out how to hold on to it-

"Stop." Ash jumped in with a raised, glowing paw, "That'll do. Just stand still."

Electra and Raichu nodded.

Ash walked up and clamped his paws onto the inside and outside of the side and started grunting. Electra and Raichu stared in awe as the metal started warping outward slightly. Ash let go and sighed in relief.

"Insane." Electra muttered; still staring in awe.

Raichu blinked in surprise, "Woah. I'm impressed."

Ash looked at him with smile, "Thanks, but I'm done yet. Just hold it a little bit longer." He shook of the glow on his paws, grabbed onto top of the box, and yanked as hard he could.

"WAH!" Ash cried out as he immediately fell back with the cover still in his paws; making Electra and Raichu flinch. Ash blinked in surprise, looked at the cover in confusion, and mumbled, "Huh. Looser than expected."

Electra ran over to him with a worried expression, "Are you alright?!"

Raichu ran over as well; equally worried, "You're not hurt, are you?!"

Ash raised a paw, "Don't worry. I'm fine." He sat back up and tossed the cover to the side, "I was just caught off guard."

Electra sighed in relief before smiling, "So, what's nex-" She stopped and blushed when her stomach started growling.

Raichu chuckled, "How about we stop for lunch?"

Electra frowned, "But-" Her stopped and held up her paws, "No, wait, right. Vale wasn't built in a day."

Raichu blinked in confusion, "Huh?"

Ash snickered, "It's nothing." He walked over to the tent and looked back, "Come on. We can collect some berries."

Electra looked at him with a bright smile, "Can we have Pokémon food too?!"

Ash smiled, "Of course. I'll get it out when we get back."

Electra pumped a fist, "Yes!" She ran through the tent flap immediately, "Let's hurry!" Ash chuckled and ran after her.

Raichu flinched and ran after them, "Wait! What's Pokémon food?!"

.

*Tribe Training Grounds

Soot and Raichu sat off to the side as Brock, Misty, Pikachu, Clefairy, and Pichu got some training in.

After Misty got thrashed by Pichu … four times, Brock took over sparring with the hatchling. This gave Misty the chance to finally start learning how to walk on all fours. Pikachu stood to the side to observe give her pointers, and Clefairy was cheering her on the whole time.

Raichu stared at Misty and the others in shock, "She- she doesn't even know how to walk properly?"

Soot snickered while stilling looking ahead, "Humans are exclusively bipeds." 'more or less' "Like I said, we spent a lot of time around them."

Raichu sweat dropped, "Freaking Yvel. I didn't really think human influence could have this much of an effect on our kind."

Soot snickered again. She shifted to a sad smile and glanced at Raichu, "So, uh, are you still on the fence about me."

Raichu looked at her in confusion, "Fence? Like offense or defense?"

Soot chuckled, "No sorry." She smiled sadly again, "I mean- are you still worried about me being here? You said you'd be keeping an eye on me."

Raichu stared at Soot warily for a moment. That broke when he groaned in annoyance and put paw to his forehead, "No. I gave up on that when I saw you with the hatchlings yesterday." He glanced up at Soot, "I admit it. You really aren't a threat. You proved that even more by helping us all last night." He sighed and looked down shamefully; ears drooping, "And I'm sorry for treating you like that before."

Soot smiled softly, "Thanks. Still, I understand where you were coming from." She looked down sadly; ears drooping, "My kind aren't exactly in the top ten list for loving and easy Pokémon."

Raichu looked up at Soot sorrowfully. He looked back at Pichu -who was currently giggling wildly at Brock as he twitched from Paralysis- and smiled softly, "Then I suppose its lucky that you're the mightyena who's visiting our tribe."

Soot smiled softly before following his gaze, "Yeah. I guess it is."

Brock had just gotten back to his feet. After a moment, Pichu into her natural fighting stance and Brock took up a fisticuffs-like fighting stance.

Pichu smiled slyly before putting their paw to their mouth and looking at Brock cutely with a twinkle in their eye, "Pichu…"

Brock smiled softly, "aww- AHHH!" That was interrupted by the immediate Thunder Shock. He fell back in a daze; eyes in swirls.

Pichu laughed wildly.

Pikachu overheard, looked over, and sweat dropped; deadpanned, "Brock. For the last time. Stop. Falling. For Charm."

Misty snickered before she slipped again and fell onto her face. "Crag!" Misty cried out; voice muffled by the dirt.

Clefairy smiled with a determined glare and clenched her hands into fists, "Don't worry, Misty! I'm sure you'll get it on the next try!"

Misty pushed off the ground and glared at her, "You said that the last thirteen times."

"And at some point, I'll be right!" Clefairy reassured happily.

Misty groaned and her ears drooped.

Soot snickered before looking back at Raichu, "Hey, one more question. Why, exactly, were you the one who brought Pichu here?"

"I'm her sibling." Raichu stated casually.

Soot blinked in surprise, "Oh."

.

*Electra's tent

"Sho good!" Electra squealed happily while devouring the bowl of Pokémon food.

Ash chuckled before popping a piece into his mouth and biting into a Pecha berry, "Yea'. An' da berries really add some ex'a f'avor." He gulped, "Sorry. I meant extra flavor."

Raichu glanced at the pair curiously before looking back at his own bowl. He picked up a piece and sniffed it curiously. He tilted his head, "Huh…" before eating the piece.

Raichu squeaked and his eyes widened in shock.

Ash and Electra looked over at him.

Electra blinked in surprise, "What the Yvel?" She stood up and ran over to him. Electra looked up at her sibling in confusion, "Are you alright, brother?"

Raichu just continued staring off into the distance.

Ash sweat dropped with a smirk, "I think the Pokémon food made his brain short circuit." He squinted, "Luckily, figuratively."

Electra blinked in surprise while looking back at Ash before looking back at Raichu. She cocked her head, "Huh. So, that's what it looks like from the other side." She looked back at Ash, "By the way, why are we taking apart the magnetron?"

"I thought you might like to keep the magnets." Ash said before he bit into the Pecha berry again.

Electra jerked and frowned worriedly, "Like from a magnemite?"

Ash snickered, "Well, yes. But the magnets I'm talking about aren't from any Pokémon. They're an inorganic, human-made kind."

Electra jumped and stared at Ash in awe, "Humans can make magnets too?!" She smiled brightly, "Insane! How do we get it out?!"

Ash smiled, "At this point, pretty easily." He stood back up, ran over to the magnetron, and started pulling at a thick, metal ring that was around a copper-looking pole. With one final grunt Ash yanked it out and stumbled a bit as he tried to keep his balance.

As Ash pulled out the ring magnet, a pair of washers flung off the pole. One of them hit Raichu in the head and snapped him out of it.

Raichu looked around in shock, "What the-"

Ash recovered, sighed in relief, and held up the ring magnet, "And here we are."

Electra stared in shock, "That's really a magnet?!"

Raichu looked over in surprise.

Ash nodded with a smile, "Yeah. And there's actually one more to get out."

Electra stared trembling excitedly. She shot over to what was left of the magnetron and held it in place, "Well what are we waiting for?!"

Ash chuckled, "Alright, alright." He ran over to his bag and pulled out Calm Mind tool case. He pulled the wire cutters, "But we will need these."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever! Come on already!"

Ash chuckled and ran over.

Raichu looked at the pair curiously as Ash shook the center … thing in the magnetron and started pulling at it. After a few second Ash pulled out the thing; leaving behind two long, curled stretches of … brown, metal string? The final evo noticed the 'washer' that looked like it was covered in gold flakes and stared at it intently. He glanced at Ash and Electra before reaching over and picking it up.

Raichu failed to notice Ash glancing back at him from the corner of his eye.

Electra perked up and stared at the 'string' in surprise, "Wait! Is that copper wire?!"

Ash looked at her with a smile, "Actually, yeah. I probably should have mention that you can find it in almost anything electronic. Not just cords." He grabbed the wire with the digits on his paw and started rubbing it between them, "And this kind isn't as sharp as the kind in wires. But you still have to be careful at the tips."

Electra's eyes started sparkling as she stared at the wires in awe, "insaaaaaaane…"

Ash snickered before looking at her with smirk and raised brow, "You really like that word, don't you?"

Electra snapped out of it and looked at Ash in confusion, "Huh? What do you mean?"

Ash blinked in surprise before sweat dropping and glancing to the side, "Uh, nothing."

The male pikachu quickly cut the wire as close to each end as he could. He removed the second magnet before he picked up the first again and held out both to Electra, "And here we are. Two ring magnets."

Electra looked at them with a massively bright smile, "So cool." She reached out to them slowly, "C- can I-"

Ash chuckled before handing them to her, "Of course. They're yours, after all. We got them out of your microwave."

Electra squealed happily before quickly taking them and stared at them in awe, "Awesoooome!" She held them a little too close to each other and they snapped together; making Electra flinch. She stared in awe, "Woah." She smiled brightly again, "So insane."

Ash smiled happily, "I know, right?" He raised a finger, "And they can attract a lot more than each other." He pointed toward a pile of Electra's stuff, "I bet a lot more of your stuff would be drawn to them pretty easily." He walked closer and whispered, "But please stay away from mine, Brock, and Misty's bags; Soot brought them here earlier. There's stuff in them that can get really messed up if magnets get too close to them."

Electra nodded excitedly. She immediately ran towards a pile with the magnets still in her paws.

Ash smiled softly before frowning, turning towards, and walking over to Raichu.

Raichu noticed and looked over at him in confusion, "H- hey. Is everything alright?"

Ash crossed his arms, "Possibly. Though, that depends on why you took that ring."

Raichu flinched. He frowned and pulled the piece in question out from behind his back "I was … curious. I- I thought it seemed pret-."

Ash sighed, "Stop it. A know a lie when I hear one."

Raichu flinched and glared at him, "I- I'm not-"

"And." Ash interrupted with a raised paw, "Even if that were true," He glared at the piece, "that's a magnetron gasket with beryllium in it. If it breaks it'll produce a powder that'll become airborne like a small Stun Spore. If anyone inhales that powder, they'll contract a dangerous illness and might not survive without someone who knows how to treat it. Namely, human doctors."

Raichu's eyes widened in horror. He looked at the piece fearfully before slowly putting it on the ground and pulling his paw away quickly.

Ash sighed and looked at Raichu sorrowfully, "Okay, look. You haven't given me a reason to not trust you, so just tell me the truth about why you wanted it. I promise I'll hear you out."

Raichu frowned and glanced at Electra worriedly. She was still testing out the magnets against everything shiny.

Ash caught on and nodded. He looked back at Electra with a smile, "Hey, Electra! Your brother and I are gonna head outside for a bit."

Electra waved back at them without looking, "Yeah, cool, have fun." She smiled brightly and thought out loud, "I wonder if the fork or spoon are magnetic."

Ash sweat dropped, 'She might not like the answer.'

He turned towards the flap and motioned to Raichu to followed. After they left, Electra pouted and her ears drooped, "Aww."

.

*Ash and Raichu; one quick explanation later

Ash blinked in surprise, "That's why you wanted it?"

Raichu rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Yeah. Misty suggested it." He chuckled nervously, "Although, I guess that ber- berry- uh"

"Beryllium." Ash stated.

"Yeah that." Raichu said before smiling sadly, "I guess it'd be a pretty bad idea to use that." He jerked and looked at the tent fearfully, "Wait! It is safe for Electra to be in there with that thing?!"

"You mean this?" Ash asked while holding up the gasket.

Raichu stared at Ash in shock, "Wh- when did you-" He shook his head, "No. It doesn't matter." He raised a brow, "How do we get rid of that without hurting anyone?"

Ash put his paw down, "Don't worry. I have a safe place to put it and a method to get rid of it after we leave the tribe."

Raichu sighed in relief before smiling, "Thank you." He frowned, "So … about that other thing." He looked at the tent worriedly.

Ash smiled and waved his paw not holding the gasket, "Don't worry. I won't tell Electra." He put his paw on his hip, "And I think I have an idea on how to help. Though, it'll take some work."

Raichu stared at Ash in surprise before smiling and nodding, "Alright, what do I have to do?"

.

*The next day; afternoon

"Why do we have to go the training grounds?" Electra whined to Ash and Brock as they walked beside her, "I told you I didn't wanna do any battling."

Brock smiled, "And you won't have to. But Misty said she wanted to show us something."

Ash smirked, "Besides, even if you won't be battling, you'll at least have to get used to sitting through everyone else training. Mine and Misty's teams are mainly battlers after all."

Electra perked up and looked at Ash in surprise, "Just yours and Misty's?" She looked back and forth between him and Brock, "But I thought all three of you were trainers."

Ash smiled, "We are. But, not all of us have the same goals." He put a paw to his chest, "My dream is to become a Pokémon Master. It's basically a title for a high-ranking trainer who's well-known for their battling abilities. Which often involves a league champion title." He looked ahead again, "Misty wants to be a Water Pokémon Master. It's like a regular Master but with that person mainly using Water-type Pokémon."

Brock smiled with a raised paw, "And I'm training to be a renown Pokémon breeder. We're trainers who focus a lot less on battling and more on caring for and raising Pokémon. We still train our Pokémon to be battle ready but that's mainly to keep them in shape or when the situation requires it. Most breeders rarely battle for sport."

Electra stared in awe as Ash and Brock said all this, "I- I didn't know there were different kinds of trainers like that."

Ash chuckled and crossed his arms, "Yeah. And there are still tons of other professions. Professor, coordinator, performer, connoisseur, watcher, and so many more that I can't even count them all." He looked back at Electra with a soft smile, "All of them have different interests and ways of training. Even among others of the same profession."

Electra stared at Ash in awe before looking ahead with a dreamy smile, "Insaaane."

Ash smiled softly, 'Good.' He looked back ahead, 'This should give Raichu plenty of time.'

The trio made it to the training grounds and found Soot, Pikachu, and Clefairy waiting for them.

Pikachu smirked and crossed his arms, "'Bout time."

Brock smirked with a raised brow, "Hey. We didn't take that long."

Electra perked up, blinked in confusion, and looked around, "Hey. Where's Misty?"

Ash looked at Brock with a raised brow, "Yeah. You said she wanted to show us something, right?"

Brock looked around in confusion, "I, uh- Good question."

Soot smirked, "She said she wanted to get a running start."

Brock perked up, "Oooh." He smiled, "Yeah. That makes sense."

Ash and Electra looked at Brock in confusion, "Huh- WOAH!"

They were cut off by a white flash zipping past them and shouting, "COMING THROUGH!"

Ash kept an eye on the flash as it zipped around the training grounds. It shot around the entire area while running in random, zigzagging directions and even ricocheting off the trees and rocks scattered around. Eventually, it shot back towards the group and skidded to a halt; kicking up a small cloud of dust.

It cleared to reveal Misty on all fours, grinning cockily, and panting softly, "So. What do you think?"

Electra blinked in surprise, "The thing you wanted to show us was you learning Agility?"

Ash looked at the long-haired pikachu and smiled, "Also her running on all fours." He looked back at the viridian-eyed pikachu; still smiling, "I have to admit, that was impressive. Especially for someone who's only been a pikachu for three days."

Misty smiled excitedly, "Would you say vaporeon-impressive?"

Electra titled in confusion, "Huh?"

Ash looked at Soot, "Has she been doing this all day?"

Soot nodded with a smile, "As well as a decent portion of yesterday and all last night." She snickered, "She's even been eating without using her hands."

Misty glared at Soot, "Hey, I wanted to make sure. Vaporeon don't use their paws to eat either." She looked back at Ash, "Soooo?"

Ash looked back at Misty with a grin, "Yup. I think you've earned it."

Misty smiled brightly, got back on her hind legs, and raised her fists in triumph, "YES!"

"Yay!" Clefairy cheered. She ran over to Misty and pulled her into a hug, "I knew you could do it Misty!"

The Water trainer smiled softly and hugged her back, "Yeah. Thanks, Clefairy."

When they separated, Misty smirked and pointed at the watch's symbol on Ash's stomach, "You hear that, Vaporeon?! You are mine in-" She slapped the Lens on her stomach.

Lockdown Mode in-effect. Approximate time until release: forty-six hours and three minutes.

Misty stared at the Lens and sweat dropped, "Two days." She shook it off and smiled, "Ah whatever. I'm gonna be a vaporeon in two days and nothing's changing that." She looked Ash in the eye and her eyes narrowed, "Right?"

Ash chuckled, "Yes. They're all yours. I'm a man of my word." He pointed at her, "Still, I'd like to ask that you practice switching back and forth between biped and quadruped for random occasions until we time out. That way, you don't become more comfortable with one than you do the other." He raised a digit on his paw, "If you're mainly going to be using a quadruped form, it's important that you don't forget how to walk in either fashion."

Misty blinked in surprise, "Huh." She shrugged, "Okay."

Electra looked around in confusion, "I, uh- I have no idea what you're talking about."

Pikachu smiled at her, "Vaporeon is one of Ash's other Pokémon forms."

Ash looked over as well, "And Misty's been wanting to use it ever since I finished the Change Lenses. Water Trainer, remember?"

Soot looked over too, "Vaporeon are exclusively quadruped so we wanted to make sure Misty was ready. Your kind's dual-pedal properties have been helping ease her into it."

"Oh." Electra said with a small nod.

.

*Back at the tent

Raichu sighed in relief while wiping the sweat off his forehead. He looked down with a smile, "Alright. It actually looks decent." He blinked in surprise and looked down thoughtfully, "Wait. Didn't Ash say something about-" He perked up and his eyes widened in realization, "Oh, right!"

He jumped to his hind paws and looked around the tent, "Where did he say-" He cut himself off by snapping and pointing at the destroyed oven, "Microwave!"

He ran over to the device and looked inside the cavity.

The large Electric-type smiled, "There you are." He looked around a bit and his eyes widened in surprise, "What the- He made those in a minute?!" He sweat dropped, "Freaking Yvel."

Raichu shook it off and reached into the cavity.

.

*Later; still at the tent

Electra looked over the sprawled-out, sleeveless sweater in confusion, "We're actually using this to carry my stuff?"

"Sort of." Ash said with a smile as he had the umbrella's completely bare pole over his shoulder, "We're gonna use these as a bindle."

Mizuro: The ****'s a bindle?

Seishin: Hobo sack. :I

Illavera: Wha- That's what they're called?!

Ohirume: Yup.

Raichu sweat dropped, "Uh, sure. Whatever that means." He looked back at the sweater, "Is there a limit to how much it can hold?"

Ash looked at him, "Not in terms of weight. Soot can lighten it as much as we need." He walked over to a pile and dug around for a moment, "But, in terms size," He pulled out a plastic bag. He stared at the bag intently before tying a small knot in the bottom of it.

Ash held the bag out to Electra with smile, "However much we can fit in this all at once."

Electra stared at the bag in shock, "That much?!" She looked Ash in the eye with a bright smile, "Really?!"

Ash grinned and handed her the bag, "Yup. Go nuts."

Electra took the bag excitedly and ran over to one of piles.

Ash chuckled before walking over to Raichu. He turned back to watch Electra right as she found the soldering iron. "Made any progress?" Ash whispered.

Raichu nodded with soft smile and whispered back, "Yeah. Tons. I really can't thank you enough for helping the way you did."

Ash smiled softly, "You're welcome. Where is it now?"

"Your hatchling is holding on to it for me. She and your sibl- sister came by and left before the two of you got here." Raichu replied, "Misty already helped me test the length and showed me how to put it on."

"Perfect." Ash responded; still smiling, "I'm sure she'll love it."

Raichu looked ahead with somber smile; ears drooping, "I really hope you're right."

Ash smiled softly and patted the larger Mouse Pokémon on the back, "Hey. She will. I'm sure of it."

Raichu took a deep breath before smiling softly again, "Thank you." He reached up to scratch his cheek nervously, "Still, I'm not sure what to do for the last piece."

Ash glanced at him, "What do you mean?"

Raichu sighed, "I mean what it should look like or what to make it out of." He smiled, "But, luckily, Soot said she'll be able to cut out whatever I choose."

Ash chuckled softly, "Yeah. She's a pro with intangibility." He looked back at Raichu with a soft smile, "Don't overthink it. Just make it something you that'll make Electra think of you. Something simple, but meaningful." He raised a digit on his paw, "As for the material, some kind of rock would probably be best."

Raichu looked at Ash in surprise. He looked down thoughtfully and mumbled, "Something, that'll make her think of me. Some kind of-" After a moment, his ears shot up and his eyes widened in shock.

Ash smirked, "You thought of something."

Raichu smiled brightly and jumped to his hind paws, "Yeah!" Electra flinched and looked over in surprise. "I'll be back later!" Raichu called out as he shot through the tent flap with Quick Attack.

Electra stared at the tent flap and blinked in surprise, "What was that about?"

Ash looked at the tent flap with a raised brow, "Uh … something about a Rock-type, I think?"

Electra raised a brow, "Weird."

Ash shrugged and looked back at Electra, "So, how's packing going?"

Electra smiled brightly, "Great!" She held out the bag, "Take a look!"

Ash walked over and looked into the plastic bag. Inside he found the soldering iron (obviously), the folding fan that Misty used to knockout Electra, the bundle of stainless steel rods from the umbrella, the leftover copper wire from making the soldering iron and that they extracted from the microwave, the ring magnets, three cassette tapes that seemed to have less cracks than most of the others, the fork, the spoon, the stainless steel thermos, and a small stack of the cut up nylon from the umbrella.

Ash smiled, "Alright. Nice work."

"Thanks." Electra said happily. She shifted to a sad smile and her drooped, "Still-" She looked back.

Ash followed her gaze and found the AA battery sitting on the ground. He smiled softly, "You're more than welcome to bring it."

Electra sighed, "But it doesn't do anything. It ran out of electricity a long time ago. All of them did." She looked down with a sad smile, "It's no more important than any of the others."

Ash smiled softly, before walking closer, and placing a paw on Electra's shoulder; catching her attention, "It's important to you, Electra. It has sentimental value and that's what makes that battery more important than any of the others." He shifted to a sly grin, "Beside, one little battery isn't gonna take up any space. You can even put it in the thermos if you're that worried."

Electra looked at Ash in mild awe before smiling softly, "Thanks."

.

*Tribe Training Grounds

Soot laid curled up near the edge grounds with a relaxed smile. Pichu showed up again and was currently curled up Pichu on Soot's back; sleeping peacefully. Guard Raichu rested up against her with relaxed smiled and his paws behind his head.

In the middle of the field, Misty continued practicing Agility by racing Pikachu. The score was currently zero to nine. But some of the races were admittedly close.

Brock worked mostly on Brick Break by sparring with Clefairy. He actually managed to win one on the matches … with Clefairy taking the other seven.

Soot took a deep, calming breath, "This is the life."

"Yeah." Raichu said happily.

"sooooot."

The Bite and Mouse Pokémon both blinked in surprise and looked off to the side. They found Electra's brother running towards them on his hind paws; looking like he had he had something in his forepaws.

Electra's brother ran up to them; panting with a bright smile, "I- I've got it."

Pichu's sibling raised a brow, "Got what?"

Electra's brother held up a jagged rock, "This. For Electra."

Soot's eyes widened in surprise, "Wha- where did you find that?"

Guard Raichu looked Soot in the eye, "It's from the caves where we go to collect Thunderstones. We find those weird of rocks sometimes, but they don't really do anything. So, we usually don't bother bringing them back to the tribe." He looked back at the other raichu, "They look neat, though."

Electra's brother nodded with a smile, "Yeah. That's why I want to use this." He focused on the Bite Pokémon hopefully, "Will it work?"

Soot smirked happily, "Yvel, yeah. It's- I couldn't imagine a better material for this." She stopped and reconsidered, "Well, within reason." She smiled at Raichu, "Have you thought of a design?"

The Mouse Pokémon nodded with a smile and raised a paw towards his head, "This."

Soot sweat dropped and deadpanned, "Yeah. I'm gonna need more of an explanation than that."

.

**Time Skip**

The next day came around seamlessly. The group's final day in the tribe and the day Electra leaves home.

Soot already had the bindle phased into her body … alongside her spine. The bag itself was halfway in her chest and throat; between Ash's and Misty's bags.

A few of the tribe members came to see them off. Well, five of them, really.

"I don't you to goooo!" Pichu whined while hugging Soot's foreleg and tears streaming out of her eyes.

Soot smiled softly and nuzzled her head up against the hatchling, "I know. But I have to." She licked her head, "It's just the way things are."

Pichu looked up at her with big sad eyes; ears drooping, "But why can't I come with you?"

Guard Raichu sighed and looked at her sorrowfully, "I'm sorry, sibling. But you're still too young to join a pack. No matter how big it is, you need to be at least a month old."

Brock stared at Raichu in shock, 'She not even a month old yet?!'

"It's not faaaiiir." Pichu whined before sitting down with very sad pout; ears drooping.

Soot crouched down to look her in the eye and smiled softly, "Hey. It's not that bad. Sure, I'm leaving, but you still have a lot of other friends here in the tribe."

Pichu looked down with her cheeks puffed in a pout, "I guess…" She jumped up to hug Soot's snout, "But, I'm still really really really really gonna miss you."

Soot smiled softly, "And I'll miss you too."

The other pichu hugged Electra while his meema stood off to the side with a soft smile.

Pichu looked up at the long-haired pikachu happily, "Thanks again for saving us miss Eleka."

Electra chuckled softly, "You're welcome."

The pikachu walked up and smiled sadly, "Thank you. I'm sorry to see you go with everyone else still … y'know."

Electra grinned, "Hey. It's fine. I'm just grateful you showed up."

The pikachu chuckled before picking up their hatchling and walking back a little.

"Electra."

The 1st evo Electric-type looked over at her brother and smiled softly. She started walking over and held up her paws, "Don't think I'd forget about y-"

Raichu raised a paw, "Wait."

Electra stopped and blinked in surprise, "Huh?"

Raichu smiled softly, looked towards Soot, and nodded. The Dark-type smiled and started walking over to him.

Electra looked around warily, "Wha- What's going on?"

Soot glanced at her with a soft smile and looked at Raichu, "Right foreleg."

Raichu nodded and held out his paw.

"No, my right. That means your left."

Raichu chuckled nervously, "Oh." He reached into the other leg and started feeling around. After a moment, he pulled out a-

Electra's eyes widened in shock, "B- brother … wha- what is-"

Dangling from Raichu's paw was a long necklace with a charm on the end the size of their Electric sacks. The cord was made of tied-together, multicolored wires that Electra remembered seeing in the microwave. They were all connected at the ends with the electrical tape -that Ash showed her yesterday- covered up ay exposed copper wire. At the tips of the cord were a tiny ring and a thin, bending hook; both covered in electrical tape.

The charm was made of a translucent rock that almost reminded her of glass. It was in the shape of a Kantonian and Alolan raichu ear attached at the inner, straight portion and in the shape of a heart.

Electra stared at the necklace in absolute awe, "Wha-"

Raichu smiled softly, "The others called it a necklace. Remember? You said that if you ever evolved, you'd want to become an Alolan Raichu. Since I already evolved, I thought making this for you would be good way for you to remember me."

Electra looked up at Raichu in awe, "you- you made this? for me?"

"I didn't do it alone." Raichu said before looking at group, "Misty gave me the idea to make a necklace, Ash taught me how to make it and made the hooks, and Soot cut out the charm."

Ash shrugged, "Still, Raichu put the whole thing together on his own."

Soot smiled, "And he chose the charm design."

Misty crossed her arms with a soft smile, "The most I really did was help make sure it would fit a pikachu."

Brock smiled and pointed at the charm, "The charm is made of a rock called quartz. It's very heat resistant, doesn't conduct electricity at all, and is a tough as concrete."

Clefairy smiled happily, "And it's really pretty."

Pikachu nodded, "Yup."

Electra looked around the group in awe. She looked back at the piece of jewelry; still in awe.

Raichu smiled softly and held up the necklace with an end in each paw, "Here. Turn around and I'll put it on you."

Electra looked at Raichu in surprise. She quickly turned around.

Raichu walked over and brought the necklace up the front of her neck, "Hold your hair up."

Electra complied without question. Raichu hooked on the necklace and let go. Electra let go of her hair and looked down at the dangling gem.

Raichu walked around and looked at her with a soft smile, "What do you think?"

Electra held up the charm and stared at it in absolute awe. She began tearing up and her lips stared to quiver.

Raichu grimaced and waved paws, "Oh no! Electra please don't cry! I know it could be better! I- I'll work really hard to make something el-"

He was cut off by Electra running into him lightly and pulling him into a hug. She smiled sadly as tears flowed down her face, "Its perfect."

Raichu stared at his sibling in surprise. He smiled softly and hugged her back, "I'm gonna miss you."

Electra sniffled and hug him tighter, "I'm gonna miss you too. I love you, brother."

"I love you too, sister." Raichu replied softly. He started tearing up as well.

After a solid minute, the pair separated and stared at each other with sad, tearful smiles.

Raichu put his paws on Electra's shoulder and licked her on the forehead, "Promise you'll stay safe."

Electra chuckled lightly before getting on the tips of her hind paws and licked Raichu on the cheek, "I promise."

The pair hugged again.

Everyone else smiled softly.

Soot laid down and rubbed her head up against Ash. Ash smiled softly and leaned his head against her snout. The rest of the group crowded around the canine.

Two more minutes passed, and the sibling pair separated again. They nodded and Electra started walking over to the group.

Ash smiled softly and held out a paw to their new teammate, "Are you ready, Electra?" Everyone else looked over at Electra as well; also with a soft smile.

Electra glanced back at the tribe. Pichu and his meema were both waving at her with happy smiles. Guard Raichu waved with a calm smile while his sibling waved with both paws.

Raichu was waving with a soft smile.

Electra smiled sadly and put a paw on her necklace's charm. She looked back at the group and grabbed Ash's paw, "yeah."

.

.

The new comment response will be posted on "Random-ish stuff on the side" on 3/25/2020 at approximately 11:00 p.m. Central Standard Time.

…

Omega: *Sniffles while holding a shotgun to Seishin's head* Bring up me crying again and we repeat that Britain Animal Shelter PSA.

Seishin: *gulps* Got it.