The Thunder Clan

by Giga Bowser NS

Roxy the Pikachu is not part of a Pokémon Trainer's team. She does not take part in Pokémon battles. No, she is happy to spend her days relaxing at home and enjoying the company of her loving human master. So when Roxy somehow ends up in the middle of the wilderness, surrounded by dangerous wild Pokémon, suffice to say her entire world is flipped upside-down.

6. No Choice

Chapter 6 - No Choice

"Makari?"

Roxy turned her head to look at the other Pikachu sitting next to her. "Where did you go today?"

He turned to meet her gaze, and she focused on his bold, hazel eyes. They shone in a strange way under the moonlight, but his warm smile was there to prevent his expression from looking sinister. She glanced up at the feather behind his ear. She liked the way it complimented his look, much the same way she adored her own flower.

"I was on patrol," he replied.

"What is 'patrol'?"

"It is a task that everyone in this village, again save for the cubs and our healer, contributes to," Makari explained, "We take it in turns to traverse the outer reaches of our Clan's territory, usually in pairs or groups of three. We watch for intruders, and fight off anyone who attempts to come in. Patrol runs for all hours of the day and night, and it is thanks to those on patrol that our village remains safe from attack."

Roxy listened to his words with wide eyes. "Y-you mean you were…on, like, guard duty?"

"I was guarding our territory, yes."

"Oh my gosh…Did anyone attack you?"

He shook his head. "Not today, no. I cannot speak for everyone, however. There are many who think they can sneak into our clan and grab a quick, easy meal. We ensure that such is never the case."

Roxy stared at him for a few moments, blinking occasionally, then slowly turned her head and looked at the ground beneath her paws.

"What is troubling you?"

She gulped. "Oh, nothing…I just…Well, you kinda reminded me that I'm not really in a totally safe place."

"Ah, do not worry about such things, Roxy. Foes that manage to reach the village itself are extremely rare, and they never fare well against the combined forces of the entire Clan. As long as you do not wander too far, then you are safe."

Roxy nodded slowly and said, "Yeah…I guess you're right."

"The Thunder Clan has consisted almost entirely of herbivores for generations. We did not survive that long by chance."

Roxy sat there for a moment in silence. "It sounds…dangerous," she murmured.

Makari paused before replying. "It can be…"

"Um…" Roxy fidgeted with her paws. "I think Miri said that…the Wise Ones…would want me to…go on patrol?" It was difficult for her to get the words out of her mouth, because she was afraid of what the answer would probably be.

"Roxy, no-one is going to put you in a dangerous situation until you are ready," he reassured her, "…but yes, this is the reason you must learn to fight. As a member of our Clan, you will share in the duty of protecting our village."

She whined loudly and reached for her tail, pulling it into a tight hug. "B-b-but…" she whimpered.

"Roxy, that is in the future. Do not concern yourself with it now."

"But I-"

"Listen to me. Focusing on what may come in the future is no way to live. What is important is what is here and now, okay? Right now, all you have to worry about is your training with Taka."

Roxy didn't respond, her lips quivering.

"Roxy?"

She felt his paw upon her foreleg, which caused her to turn and look at him. Again, she found herself lost in the way the moonlight danced in his eyes. Inexplicably, it had an immediate calming effect on her. If she didn't know any better, she would have suspected he was using a Psychic-type move on her.

"I…I'm sorry, Makari…I'm just so scared. No matter what, the fact is that I just don't belong here. I'm not a warrior like you guys are."

Makari smiled warmly and patted her back. "Just remain calm, okay? It will all work out."

She gazed up at him, feeling like a little cub looking up at a parent. "It will…?"

He chuckled. "Things do have a strange way of working out."

Makari then moved his paw up from her back to her opposite shoulder, pulling her towards him in a short, gentle one-armed hug. It was a simple gesture, but it managed to make her smile. Her tail slipped from her paws and fell back to her side.

Roxy closed her eyes. "Thanks, Makari."

"Thanks are not necessary, Roxy."

She smiled in contentment for a moment, and then opened her eyes and looked up at him again. "Um, by the way…" The question had been eating away at her and she figured now was as good a time as any to bring it up.

"Yes?"

"Why do you…y'know…say my name like that?"

Makari blinked.

"You say 'Ro-ka-si'. Actually, everybody here does…but my name's pronounced 'Rock-see'."

"Ro…" Makari muttered.

"I-it's okay," Roxy sputtered, "I'm not mad or anything. I mean, you can call me that if you want. I was just…wondering."

"Roxy…" Makari said, actually pronouncing her name correctly. When Roxy looked surprised in response, Makari chuckled. "You must forgive me, Roxy. I am afraid it may have been due to old habits."

She tilted her head. "Waddaya mean?"

Makari leaned back and glanced up at the stars, a reflective look upon his face. "You see, the names for all of the Pokémon in this forest come from the old language."

"The…old language?"

"Yes. From ancient times long, long past. It is a long-standing tradition among all of the Clans to be given names from the old language." He turned and looked at her. "The alphabet of the old language would speak your name as 'ro-ka-si'."

"Oh…" Roxy murmured, digesting this information.

"You see," Makari continued, "Each name has a meaning, every single one. 'Taka' means 'Quiet warrior', for example."

"Really?"

Makari nodded. "'Miri' means 'Friendly healer'. 'Karizu' means 'Friend and cunning warrior'."

"Wow…" Roxy was gazing up at him in awe. What he had told her was absolutely fascinating in her eye. She had never thought about names having meaning behind them before. "What does 'Makari' mean?"

He chuckled and continued to glance at the stars, perhaps a hint of bashfulness showing in his expression. "It means 'Brave warrior, kind heart'."

Roxy sat there for a moment, gazing at him, and then smiled warmly. "That's…really nice," she said softly, "I like it. It really fits you."

"You are too kind," he said with another chuckle.

Then, Roxy blinked. "You said 'warrior' a few times. I guess that's common for a place like this, huh?"

"Somewhat," Makari replied with a shrug, "You may notice that Taka, Karizu and I all have 'ka' in our names. You see, 'ka' means 'warrior'."

"Ohhh…I see." Roxy said with a nod. Then she paused. "Yeah, actually! I remember that…that Zangoose, his name was 'Kazaka'."

Makari frowned. "Indeed. I pity him."

Roxy frowned and said, "Why?"

"I believe he bestowed that name upon himself. Why else would he have 'ka' in his name twice? Such a name is considered a display of self-righteousness and arrogance."

"Oh…Because his name is trying to say that he's a warrior…twice?"

Makari nodded.

Roxy was about to continue this line of conversation, when something suddenly occurred to her. She furrowed her brow. "Wait a minute…" she murmured, "How do you…How would you get a name that knows who you are?"

For the first time since she had met him, Makari turned and gave Roxy a confused look. "…What?"

She shook her head. "I mean…how did Miri get named a 'healer'? I mean…she wasn't always a healer, right? What about when she was a cub?" She furrowed her brow, considering this naming paradox. She was reminded of the names of the characters on My Little Ponyta.

Now, Makari smiled knowingly. Instead of answering, he asked her a question. "Do you remember the name of Adi's son?"

Roxy thought back, recalling that Adi was the Luxray. She thought about the name of the little Shinx, and soon enough she remembered it. "His name was Adikai."

"Have you met any other cubs?"

"Uhh…Yeah, I met a few earlier. I think one of them was called…Nakakai?"

Makari nodded. "I trust that you see the similarity?"

"They both end in 'kai'. Was Adikai named after his father or something?"

"Not exactly," Makari said with a wave of his paw, "Newborn cubs are named as such, because 'kai' means 'child of'. Adikai is 'the child of Adi', his father. Cubs are known by this name until they grow up and prove their skills to the tribe, whereupon they receive a new name."

"Oh, wow. I see, I see," Roxy said with a nod, "That's very interesting. I guess it's a good thing that Pokémon rarely have more than one cub at a time."

"Indeed."

Roxy then chuckled. "I think my master just gave me this name because it was the name of one of her toys or something. Not quite as spectacular, haha!"

Makari laughed along with her, and then the two fell silent once more. Roxy sighed and rested her head. Sitting under the stars like this was rather peaceful. In truth, it was perhaps the calmest she had felt since she had arrived in this accursed forest.

Something jostled her slightly and she heard Makari say, "You should get some sleep. No doubt Taka will want you awake at the crack of dawn."

Roxy tilted her head slightly to look up at him. For a moment, her mind didn't quite understand what exactly was going on. It took a few seconds for her to realize that she was leaning her head against Makari's shoulder. She quickly bolted upright, embarrassed for having invaded his personal space like that without even realizing it.

"Y-yeah…" she muttered, "You're right." Her face turned a soft shade of red.

She then got up and moved over to the bed Makari had set up for her. She laid down upon the bed of grass and did her best to get comfortable. Makari padded over a moment later and got settled in his own bed.

"Have pleasant dreams, Roxy," he spoke softly, "I will see you tomorrow."

"Okay…You too, Makari," she half-whispered. After a moment, she quietly added, "Goodnight…"

---

"Again."

Roxy grunted in both exertion and pain as she swung her tail around once more to strike the wooden target.

"Again."

She uttered a whine of protest. "But-"

"Again!"

Roxy shut her eyes and hit the target once more. By this point, she couldn't even feel her tail through the aching pain coursing through it. According to Taka a Pikachu's tail was a versatile weapon, but to her this just felt like trying to win a boxing match with her ears or something.

"You are not hitting it with the flat side of your tail," Taka said to her in that emotionless tone of his, "And twist your body more to make it snap."

"I'm getting dizzy!" she complained.

"Then you are not performing the techniques I taught you to avoid dizziness."

"But you went too fast! I never got them right!"

"Stop complaining," he said simply, "If this were a real fight, complaining to the enemy will just result in a painful death."

Roxy's ears splayed back as she frowned, a tiny whine escaping her lips. Her second day of training with Taka was going no better than the first day. Apparently, Taka believed in learning through repetition. He would have her perform something over and over again and then, regardless of whether or not she had improved or even grasped the concept, he would move on to something else.

Or maybe he just liked seeing her suffer. Roxy was open to both possibilities at this point.

"Hurry up! Again!"

Roxy groaned and forced herself to try and hit the target with her tail once more. She had absolutely no motivation to do any of this, nor confidence in herself that she would succeed. After missing the target and ending up face-first on the ground, she groaned once more and gazed out at her surroundings. Makari wasn't there; he was off gathering berries.

"Now," Taka barked, "Go stand in the middle of the training area."

Roxy slowly pushed herself up off of the ground, wincing at her many aches and pains. "Here?" she asked, pointing to a spot.

"Yes," Taka replied, "And face away from me."

Roxy did as she was told.

"Now close your eyes."

She glanced over her shoulder and gave him a perplexed look. "What?"

"Close your eyes."

Roxy frowned in confusion, then heaved a sigh and turned her head back around so she was facing away from Taka. She closed her eyes and then simply sat there, wondering what this was all about.

The relative silence of the forest greeted her. There were the distant sounds of the wind in the branches, far-off bird Pokémon, and the vague chatter of the other villagers. All in all, though, it was rather quiet. When she shut herself off from the world like this, it was almost peaceful in a way. It allowed her to focus on the gentle, calming breeze that was drifting past, and the many interesting scents of the forest.

Whack!

Roxy's eyes bugged out and she yelped loudly in pain. She held both paws to the right side of her torso, seething and moaning. She whipped her head around to see what had hit her, and saw Taka standing nearby with a blunt wooden weapon in his paws. He had a disapproving look on his face.

"Ow!" she exclaimed, "What was that for?!"

"I am a predator," he stated simply, "You did not detect my approach, and now you are dead."

Roxy tried to turn and face him proper, but the painful tenderness in her ribs nearly made her double over. No doubt there was a glaring red welt developing under her fur.

"How was I s'posed to know you were coming?!" she shouted indignantly, "My eyes were closed!"

"You cannot always rely on your sight."

"Wh-"

"Your senses must be fine-tuned so that you can detect approach from any side. Sights, sounds, smells, movement, even changes in the way the air moves around you. Predators will not always walk right up in front of you. More often they will be sneaking up on your backside, and you must be prepared."

He then turned and stepped away from her, leaving her staring after him in disbelief. "What was I supposed to do?!" she shouted.

"Ideally?" he replied, "You should have ducked, jumped, or grabbed the weapon with your paw. At the very least you should have attempted to dodge or intercept, even if you had been unsuccessful. But you simply sat there and let me approach."

"Yeah, because you told me to!"

Taka just shook his head.

Roxy moaned in protest. "How much more is there today?"

"Close your eyes and we'll do it again," Taka commanded, ignoring her question.

"But I…I…" Roxy wanted so badly to just say 'No' to Taka and walk away, but found she didn't have the courage to do so. Even just delaying for a few seconds was causing Taka to give her a death glare. After a few moments of indecision, she sighed in hopeless defeat and closed her eyes again.

Predictably, the exercises continued to end in pain.

Soon, Roxy was lying on the ground and holding her paws towards the various sore spots Taka had given her. She felt absolutely miserable, on the verge of tears, and wanted nothing more than to just leave.

"Get up."

Roxy whined, as if someone were trying to wake her up early.

"Now."

She sighed once more. The only thing that was improving was Taka's motivation towards this whole debacle. Despite his earlier protests, he now seemed fully invested in trying to teach her how to fight.

Roxy bitterly wondered if this was due to a touch of masochism.

---

The lesson seemed endless. Makari showed up towards the end to offer his support, but honestly it didn't help very much. By the time Taka finally decided to let her leave, she felt like just collapsing on the spot. Makari helped her limp away, but her spirit felt crushed. She felt lower than the dirt she was walking upon.

"I'm hopeless…"

"Roxy, you have only just begun. Now is not the time to give up hope."

"I'm just a stupid pet. I can't do this."

Makari paused and then said, "I will talk to my brother. I do not think he realizes how rough he is being."

"I think he does…" Roxy mumbled.

For the rest of the day, Makari spent time with her and they did a number of relaxing activities. However, Roxy couldn't break out of her funk. Only two days of training under Taka, and she already wanted to give up on it forever. Aside from running for her life and fighting the Zangoose, it was probably the worst experience of her life.

"Do you think the Wise Ones can make an exception for me…?" she dismally asked at one point.

"I…I do not know," Makari had responded, but the tone in his voice suggested that the answer was 'no'.

It was only once the sun was setting that Roxy started to realize how gloomy she was acting. From up on the raised platform where they were sitting, she turned and glanced at the companion beside her. Immediately, she felt bad for being so grumpy in Makari's presence. A part of her was demanding to know why she had decided to ruin the day with him.

"I'm sorry," she muttered.

"For what?" Makari said, a hint of laughter in his voice.

"For being all mopey like this…"

"Ah, worry not. Your feelings are justified. Things are difficult right now, so it is quite understandable. You have not upset me or anything."

Roxy glanced up at him. "Really…?"

Makari smiled and reached his paw across her shoulders. "Really."

The young Pikachu smiled, subconsciously sidling a little closer to the older male. She let out a relaxing sigh and spent the next ten minutes simply watching the village and its residents go by. Watching these 'tribal' Pikachu was still a little fascinating to her. From an outside perspective, the village seemed quaint and peaceful.

Soon enough, she found herself lost in thought. "Makari?" she asked after quite a while of silence.

"Yes?"

"Can…Can I make Taka like me more?" She frowned. It was becoming clearer to her that she was going to be stuck with Taka for a while. Though she didn't much care for the brash Pikachu, she figured that improving their acquaintanceship could only help in the long run.

Makari laughed bitterly, making her spirits fall. "That is one of the unsolvable mysteries of life, I am afraid. Taka simply is not very social. If one is to become friends with him, then it is usually by his paw.

"Oh…" Roxy murmured.

Before she could say any more, the two were interrupted by the sounds of commotion coming from the forest floor below. They both glanced over in the direction of the noise and Roxy gasped in shock, covering her mouth with her paws.

"Maku!"

"Maku, are you okay?"

"Urgh…I will live. Do not panic."

"You! Fetch Miri!"

Roxy quivered slightly as she stared down at the warrior Pikachu that was limping towards the village centre. One foreleg hung limply at his side, and much of his fur was stained lightly with blood. He wore one of those 'packs' around his shoulder like Makari did, only this one had been roughly torn off.

Makari seemed like he was about to stand up, but then he paused and glanced in the other direction. "Miri is coming," he commented, "Everything is okay."

Roxy glanced over and saw that, indeed, the Audino was rushing towards the scene. "What…" she uttered almost silently, "What happened…?"

"Predators, no doubt," Makari replied in a low tone, "He may have been caught off guard. It looks like they managed to drive it off before he was too badly hurt."

"He…got attacked?" Roxy's quivering worsened.

"I may have to cover his patrol duties. He will no doubt need to rest."

"On…patrol? He got attacked while he was… But… But you were…!"

Makari slowly turned and gave her a sage look. "Roxy, those on patrol stop predator attacks at least three times every day. We are strong and formidable, able to fight off predators and keep our village safe, but…"

Roxy could only look at him in shock.

"I am sorry if I have caused you fright," he said, "but I did not want to lie to you."

"I, um…" Roxy muttered, slowly turning to look back down at the ground. Miri was down there, closing her eyes and focusing a Heal Pulse on the injured Pikachu, while others were wrapping some of his wounds in bandages made out of leaves.

She gulped.

---

"Not fast enough. You would be dead."

Roxy clenched her eyes shut and grimaced. It wasn't because she was in pain, though she was, but rather she was just plain exasperated and nearly fed up.

"Again."

She fought the urge to whimper as she got back on her hind legs. She gripped the blunt spear in her paws, but her whole body was beginning to tremble from a lack of energy. She weakly gazed up at her 'teacher', standing across from her with a blunt spear of his own. If it had been a real spear, it would have been coated in her blood considering how many times it had struck her.

"Taka, I…" she panted.

"We have not been training for very long," Taka spoke emotionlessly, "You should not be this tired."

She groaned. After failing his earlier tests, and at the suggestion of Makari, Taka had dumbed down this lesson to a mere three strike combo that she was meant to block with her own spear. Even this simple task she couldn't seem to grasp.

"Keep at it, Roxy!" Makari cheered from the sidelines, "You can do it!"

Roxy frowned, panting heavily. Her heart was beating furiously as she tried to catch her breath. She knew she wouldn't be able to do this again, successfully or otherwise. She was beaten and exhausted.

"Go."

Her ears perked as she heard Taka's command, scrambling to raise her spear up in time. Taka was swinging at her in the same directions each time, so she had learned how to block the first strike. It was moving fast enough to block the other two that was giving her trouble.

"Ngh!" she cried out as she held her spear down at an angle. It caught Taka's spear, but she already knew that she had moved too slowly. Given her awkward position, there was no way she would be able to move her spear in time to block the third blow. Instead, she just clenched her eyes shut and braced herself for the pain.

Roxy exclaimed loudly as the blunt spear caught her forcefully in the midsection. For a short moment she tried to steady her hind paws, but this soon became a lost cause. Instead, the force of Taka's attack pushed her back off of her paws and into the air slightly. She sailed back a few feet before landing in a painful heap on her back. The spear clattered from her paws and she let out a low moan.

"Unacceptable," came Taka's displeased voice as she heard him step away.

A second set of pawsteps reached her ears, and soon she saw the face of Makari looking down at her from above. He wore a concerned frown. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Ow…" she muttered weakly.

Makari gave her a sympathetic smile, then turned his head upwards to look in the direction of his brother. "Taka!"

"What?!" Taka snapped.

Makari was not fazed by the sudden outburst. "You are being too hard on her. You have to move at a simpler pace, or she will never learn anything."

She heard Taka scoff. "Cubs learn faster than she does."

"Cubs have instinct," Makari countered, "and that is not something she can rely upon." He then glanced down at her briefly. "I mean no offense by this."

Honestly, there was nothing to get offended about. Makari was only telling the truth, and Roxy knew it.

"Look!" Taka shouted, "I have no desire to be teaching this pet for a thousand moons. If I go any slower, then I will be training her until the day I die."

"Taka…"

"The fact remains that she is not skilled, and she is not trying!"

Roxy slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position. It hurt every joint in her body. She sat there silently, having nothing to contribute to the argument. She really just wanted to ground to swallow her up at this point anyway.

"The problem is," Makari continued, "that you are focusing on testing over teaching. You instruct her to do something, and then have her repeatedly do it until she gets better. Meanwhile, she has not actually learned anything."

"That is how I learned. That is how you learned, Makari. That is how every Pokémon in this village learned how to fight."

"She is not from this village."

Roxy frowned worriedly, glancing back and forth between the two other Pikachu. Now, they were just glaring at one another, though Taka looked furious while Makari just looked displeased. It seemed that neither of them was willing to hear the others' side.

Roxy didn't like the fact that they were arguing, but she was silently celebrating the fact that Taka wasn't making her do anything at the moment.

Makari sighed in defeat and leaned down next to Roxy. "I am sorry about him," he spoke, "Try not to get disheartened. The more punishment your body takes, the more your natural defences rise. He does have one principal understood, and that is that experience can only benefit you."

Roxy just whined and glanced down at the ground. She was exhausted, hurting, and desperately wanting to just give up. She had no motivation to speak of.

"It will be all right," Makari reassured her.

"I…" she squeaked, but no more words came out.

After a brief moment of silence, three sets of ears twitched as the sounds of approaching pawsteps reached the trio. Roxy glanced up, and the three turned to look at the young Pikachu that was approaching them. He gestured towards Makari, who gave Roxy a quick apologetic look before walking over to speak with him. Roxy watched them talk quietly for a moment, unable to hear what they were saying.

"Are you going to get up?"

Roxy yelped in surprise when Taka's voice was suddenly three feet from her ear. She whirled around to face him. "Ah! I, uh… I…"

Taka was giving her a condescending look that showed how little patience he was holding onto.

"I, um…I guess…?"

Taka merely rolled his eyes and walked back over to the edge of the training area. Roxy watched him forlornly, and then turned as Makari started walking back over to her.

"I need to go on patrol," he spoke, cutting straight to the chase. Upon seeing Roxy's disheartened expression, he continued and said, "I truly am sorry to keep disappearing like this. It will not be for very long. It is just that I am needed to pick up the slack as Maku is injured."

"Oh right…" Roxy murmured, remembering the Pikachu that had staggered back into the village yesterday. This did little to calm her nerves. Now, all she could think about was Makari returning to the village in the same state.

"If I could stay here while you trained, I would. I am afraid, however, that I must go for now."

"I know you would," Roxy replied. At this point, she didn't even have to think about it.

"Pet!" Taka spat, causing them both to turn their heads, "Stop wasting time!"

Roxy sighed. "Just…promise to come back soon?" she asked, "…And…to be careful?"

Makari smiled warmly. "Of course. I promise."

Roxy smiled demurely as well. The two bid each other quick goodbyes and before Roxy knew it, Makari was gone once more. An empty sigh escaped her lips.

"Well…?!"

She frowned. The young Pikachu slowly stood up on her hind legs, still feeling pain in all of her joints, and turned to look at the rather irate Taka.

"If you are done dawdling," he commanded, "then I would like for us to train your agility and dodging skills."

Her frown grew heavier. She knew what that meant. It meant getting hit a bunch more times in a desperate and seemingly futile attempt to make her body react faster.

"Taka," she whined, feeling like she had to finally stand up for herself before she really hurt herself, "I'm totally wiped out! I'm too tired to do any of that stuff…" She gave him a pleading look. "Can we please take a break? Even for just, like, three minutes?"

"That is humourous," Taka replied in a dry tone, "Do predators stop attacking you to give you a five minute break?"

"Taka, c'mon…"

After another moment of uncomfortable silence, Taka finally scoffed and threw up his forepaws in defeat. "Fine, pet!"

Roxy crossed her forelegs and gave him a sour look. "I do have a name, you know."

Taka narrowed his eyes at her. "No, you do not," he replied, his voice low and even, "You have something that those humans decided to call you. It is their word in their language. You do not have a name to call your own."

Taken aback, Roxy's jaw fell slightly. She was about to give a scathing retort to the warrior, but when Taka turned around without another word and walked off, she decided to just give up. Happy that he had at least given her a short break, she sat down on a nearby piece of wood and tried to relax.

With the pressures of Taka's training taken away, even for a short time, Roxy found she was able to breathe a little easier. Her whole body still ached and throbbed from the abuse she had been taking, but at least she was able to catch her breath. She sighed as she rested, trying not to let her negative emotions play with her. Makari had gone off and she was stuck doing more nigh-impossible tasks for Taka, none of which she wanted to do in the first place.

Roxy closed her eyes and sat there for a few peaceful moments, trying to blot out the unpleasant present and focus on some more tranquil moments from her past. Despite bringing up feelings of homesickness, it did seem to help a little. The sick feeling in her stomach from her anxiety seemed to abate.

It was bound to be short-lived, though. Roxy knew that Taka would only give her another minute at most before it was back to rigorous training. Roxy sent a silent prayer to Dialga that time would just stop.

The ambient light of the day grew noticeably dimmer, and for one ludicrous moment she thought that her prayer had worked. She opened her eyes and glanced up to the sky, noticing out the corner of her eye that Taka was doing the same. Through a small gap in the tree cover, it was hard to see much of the sky. Roxy could see well enough, though, and could see what had caused the disturbance.

Roxy's pupils shrunk to dots and her ears splayed back as a distraught expression plastered itself onto her face. A horrible, damning realization hit her hard and she felt her stomach sink right down into her gut. The thought hadn't even occurred to her, despite it now seeming as clear as the sky above her no longer was.

A thick layer of clouds had rolled in and blotted out the sun. Dark clouds. Rain-filled clouds.

A heavy sense of dread enveloped the little Pikachu. Roxy hated the rain. She couldn't stand it! At the first sign of raindrops, she would immediately scurry back into the house as quickly as she could. Getting caught out in the rain was an absolutely miserable experience to her, and one she tried as hard as possible to avoid. Rain to her meant a miserable, ruined day. Rain meant escaping to the warm embrace of her master, the comforting feel of towels to dry her off, or an umbrella over her and her master's heads.

A single drop of water impacted right on the bridge of her nose, and then all at once the heavens opened up.

Roxy raised her paws up over her head, but it was utterly futile. She was soaked within seconds. The heavy downpour of water cascaded upon her, making her a sopping wet mess of fur. The rain's chill soaked her to the bone, making her shiver. This was more than a mere drizzle, it was a full on storm. She had been so focused on her horrible training that she hadn't even noticed its approach. Roxy had thought training with Taka was the worst part of her day so far, but now she decided that she had been wrong.

Roxy whipped her head about, still uselessly holding her paws over her head, trying to think of a course of action. There were no houses or towel-hugs from her master to be found out here. Roxy grew frantic as she got wetter and wetter by the second, eventually deciding to flee to Makari's hut. She only hoped that the primitive huts' roofs were waterproof.

She turned and began to run towards the hut, so utterly flummoxed that she ran on her hind legs while still trying to cover her head. Nothing in the world mattered more to her than getting out of the rain as soon as possible.

The boomerang landed right in front of her, slightly embedded in the ground, making her squeak in surprise and come to a sudden halt. Moments later, Taka landed in front of her and picked it up. He was glaring at her with a half furious and half confused look.

"Where do you think you are going?!" he demanded, "Your training for today is not over!"

Roxy gave him a distressed look, frowning at him as if he were saying something insane. "It's raining!" she exclaimed, hoping this would get him to move so that she could spend less time getting drenched.

Taka raised an eyebrow and crossed his forelegs. "Are you serious?"

"C'mon, Taka! I'm getting wet!" she pleaded.

"Oh really?" he retorted, "Do you think that danger will stop hunting you down and leave you alone…just because it starts to rain? Is that really what you think?"

"But-"

"Do you think that a predator is going to just give up on chasing you because it gets a little bit wet?!"

"But…But…"

Taka gave a frustrated sigh. "Honestly, I do not even know why I bother. You have the instincts of a hatchling."

Roxy's wet fur was starting to droop in front of her eyes now. The added weight of the water felt like it was pulling her down, and she just felt disgusting. "I…B-but, I…" she mumbled, trying to come up with an excuse that would work.

Taka glared at her, tapping his hind paw impatiently.

She flashed back to the time she had accidentally been locked out of the house in the pouring rain, and no-one had been home to let her in. That had been a wet and miserable experience, but even then she had the house's awnings to hide under. Only the trees were above her now, and they made the rain worse because of how the water collected on the branches before falling.

"I can't…!" she muttered, but the words died on her lips under Taka's intimidating glare. The warrior, simply lifted up his forepaw and pointed commandingly back towards the training area. Roxy sputtered for a few moments, knowing that she would rather do anything else than continue to train in the pouring rain.

Ultimately though, she sighed in defeat and hung her head. She then turned around and sullenly marched back to the training area with Taka following behind her.

"It baffles me why this upsets you so much," Taka commented, "but you will learn to adapt. You have no choice."

Roxy just whined pitifully.

So, her day of training continued, though it was about five times worse. It wasn't long at all before Roxy set a new personal record for being outside in the rain, and that was not something she was happy about. The rain continued to pour down from above, getting heavier as time went on. Every drop that struck her only served to drag her mood further and further down. She wanted to cry.

Taka was undeterred by the rain. In fact, he acted as if it wasn't even there. Nothing seemed to slow him down. Roxy tried her best to do her exercises, but she just couldn't focus. She was too upset, growing more miserable by the minute as she got progressively wetter and colder. The air brought with it a chilly wind, dragging the raindrops at an angle to strike her right in the face, and her paws were getting uncomfortably water-logged from the wet grass she had to walk upon.

Roxy began to wonder which was worse, this or her encounter with the Zangoose.

It wasn't long before her fur was a complete mess, wetter than it had ever gotten before. The wet weapons kept slipping from her paws and it was hard to see anything through the heavy coating of rain both in the air and over her eyes. Roxy was slowing down more and more, withdrawing and wanting desperately to just leave and hide away.

Finally, Taka decided that he'd had enough of her behaviour, realizing that he wasn't getting any educating done anyway. With a wave of his paw, he dismissed her. It was as if Roxy were at the Rapidash races. She was off like a loaded gun as soon as he had said she could leave. She didn't say a word to him or take a single look back; she simply turned and ran.

Roxy's fur resembled a wet mop at this point. She was freezing, soaking wet, and felt horrible. She wanted nothing more than to get somewhere that was out of the rain. She zeroed in on Makari's hut and ran like the wind. Despite how wet she already was, Roxy wanted to get hit by as few further raindrops as she could.

Her agile paws barely touched the wet grass beneath her. She ran almost as fast as when she had run from the Aggron. All she cared about was reaching Makari's hut, though it was halfway across the village.

She offered herself a brief glimpse of her surroundings as she passed by. While she did not enjoy the rain, she did enjoy watching the rain. Even now as she practically ran for her life, she liked how the primitive village looked under a cloak of rain. There were a few Pokémon here and there, but it looked like most of them were hiding away inside of their huts.

"Pssh…" Roxy muttered, "Taka did it on purpose…"

Roxy zipped around a few more trees, getting nearer to her destination though not nearly fast enough for her. Thick droplets of water pelted her as she ran, making it difficult to see where she was going. Occasional splashes of water were flung up from the blades of grass, making her grimace.

Finally, she spotted her destination. Makari's hut sat a few trees away from her. Her ears perked up as she saw it, noticing that a familiar Pikachu was standing in the doorway. Makari was back! A small sense of elation swept through her. This was great. Makari was sure to know some way for her to dry off.

Roxy was panting at this point. Makari glanced up from whatever he was doing, seeing her running towards him. He smiled and held up a paw in greeting and, in spite of her condition, Roxy smiled back. She preferred to spend rainy days inside, but it was no fun spending them alone. She was almost there. Just a few more strides and she would be out of the rain.

That was the moment that the gods of misfortune decided to act one last time. Roxy's eyes shot open wide as she felt her paw slip out from under her. She had stepped on a particularly slippery patch of grass, making her forepaw slide backwards and under her. She cried out as she immediately lost her balance. She tried to compensate with her other three paws, but the ground in this area was just too slippery. With one final shout of surprise, she found herself falling face-first towards the ground.

Splat.

A great splash was thrown up around her as Roxy landed square in the middle of a big mud puddle. The force of the impact had managed to sink her rather deep into the goopy mess. She had essentially just been treated to an unwanted mud bath.

She lay there for a moment, almost completely surrounded by the thick mud. Then, she felt herself being pulled up and out of the mud by Makari's paws. She gasped for air once her mouth was free from the muck, and Makari helped her into an upright sitting position.

Roxy gingerly held up her forepaws, not even daring to look down at herself. Except for a small area of her back, she was completely covered in a thick layer of oozing, icky mud. It was all over her head and face, dripping off of her limbs, and even hanging off of her tail. She could feel it sticking to her, embracing her in an unwelcome, disgusting hug. The continuing heavy rain didn't help, as it just made the mud even more slimy and gross.

"Are you okay?!" Makari asked in concern.

Roxy just sat there in silence for a moment, mouth hanging open in shock and eyes staring ahead at nothing. Makari repeated his question, but she didn't answer. She couldn't. Finally, after everything that had happened, this had been the last straw. Roxy just couldn't take it anymore, so she broke down and started to cry.

Her forelimbs fell limply at her side, splashing in the mud a little, and she just sat there and wailed to the heavens. All of the frustration, anxiety and despair that had been building up finally had nowhere else to go, and all she could do was let it out.

"Roxy…" she heard Makari say, his voice a mixture of concern and compassion. She felt his paws gently grab onto her and try to pull her up out of the mud puddle, but she had lost the will to move. When it was clear that she wouldn't budge, Makari instead decided to step into the puddle and give her a hug.

Roxy's breath caught in her throat briefly as she registered this act of kindness, but ultimately it was of little comfort. She didn't even feel the strength to hug him back. There was a pain in her heart like she had never felt before, and she honestly didn't know how to deal with it.

"It is okay…" Makari spoke softly, "Everything is okay."

She didn't reply. She almost didn't hear him. Roxy was vaguely aware of Makari's paws clearing away some of the thick muck that was on her face. That still left a lot of dirty, filthy mud that was clinging to every strand of fur on her body. Roxy had never felt this dirty before, and she hated it.

But she was crying from hopelessness as well. It was as if the universe was throwing everything it could at her to prove that she didn't belong out here. She was tired and miserable, cold and wet, frightened and in pain. She wondered why she even bothered trying to survive out here, because she knew in her heart that she couldn't.

Roxy sat there crying in the rain and the mud for quite a while. Makari kept hugging her and trying to speak soothing words to her, but her anguish would not be abated. Finally, after a while, Makari managed to convince her to get to her paws and come inside of his hut. Tears were still streaming from her eyes, and she sat down as soon as she was inside, but at least she was finally out of the rain.

The little Pikachu sat there in her pool of misery, raising up a paw to wipe her tears before realizing too late that it was still covered with mud. This only brought about more tears.

Makari disappeared briefly, but he soon returned carrying something in his paws. Roxy finally felt a small reconnection with the world around her when she felt something drape across her back. Sniffling, she lifted her head and looked back. Makari had brought in what looked to be a 'sheet' that was made of woven grass and leaves. When he started rubbing it across her back, she realized that it was a sort of towel.

"Do you feel better now that you are out of the rain?" Makari asked in his soothing voice.

Roxy hiccupped as the tears returned to her, just as powerful as ever.

"Roxy…Please stop…" Makari spoke, a hint of sadness in his voice, "You are fine. It is only mud, it will not hurt you."

"I wanna go home!" Roxy suddenly wailed.

Makari stopped moving the towel for a moment, and Roxy grabbed her tail and started to hug it. "I wanna go home! I want my master!" It felt as if the hole in her heart had been ripped open even wider. She quivered as she cried, collapsing onto her side and clutching her tail as if it were her only source of comfort in the world.

She felt the towel on her once more. "Roxy…I…." Makari spoke softly.

A powerful tremble overcame the young Pikachu as a horrible, strangled whine escaped her throat. "I…I can't!" she half-shouted, "I can't do this! I can't handle this!" More sobbing filled the small hut. "I miss my home! I…I miss my house and my food…my books…my friends…a-and…I miss my master!"

Makari simply continued to dry her off. Soon, most of the thick clumps of mud had been removed from her. However, there was still a distinct layer of filth that clung to her fur and tinted her a dim shade of brown.

"I wanna go home…" she whimpered, cuddling her tail, "I wanna go home…I wanna go home…"

"I…Roxy, I do not know what to say…"

Roxy curled herself up into a tight little ball of stress and sadness. She felt Makari sit down next to her, his fur gently brushing against hers. "This is too much!" she wailed, "I can't do it! I can't! I'm not a fighter! I never have been and I never will! I can't do all this crazy stuff Taka wants me to do!" She sniffled and then shouted, "I'm gonna die!"

"You are not going to die," Makari said somewhat sternly.

"I'll never go home!"

"Roxy…"

"I'll never see m-master ever again!"

"Stop this…"

However, it seemed nothing could dam the river of tears that flowed from her broken heart. She felt lost and alone, and scared out of her mind. She felt like a little baby Pichu that was lost deep in the Viridian Forest. She had tried her best to be brave, but at some point something had to give. There was no other word to describe how she felt other than 'defeated'.

Roxy couldn't say anything else. The grief of such a bad day was just too much. She laid there and cried for a long time, unable to mend the pain she felt so deep inside. Makari sat with her the whole time, gently patting or stroking her. She was appreciative for his company, but even his unspeakably kind nature was not enough to pull her from the depths of utter despair.

Eventually, she fell asleep.