The Rainbow Gang
Chapter 12 - Momentum
By Mega Raichu

The older Raichu lifted himself up off the ground, the blood flowed freely from his mouth and nose. Mewtwo floated above him with a smirk on his face.

"Do you really think you are protecting them, you old rat?" Mewtwo asked.

Raichu remained silent as he got to his feet and regained his bearings.

"What do you hope to accomplish with this pointless battle?" Mewtwo asked again.

Mewtwo then felt a twinge in the back of his mind as Kadabra teleported into the mountain and teleported the other two brothers away.

"Ahh I see now. You had everything riding on that Kadabra. How interesting. But I'm afraid that he won't have time to get you out of here!" Mewtwo said as he focused his power on Raichu. "You should know that I'm going to do the same thing to your brothers as I will now do to you."

The younger Raichu stared at the floor, as Sabrina's words sunk in. Pikachu was on the edge of hysteria, but all Raichu could do was stare blankly at the floor.

"He can't... he can't be dead!" Pikachu cried weakly.

Pikachu's strength was all but completely drained. Everyone could see that. Pikachu looked over at Raichu, tears forming in his eyes.

"He can't be..." Pikachu could not finish the sentence.

Raichu looked away, not wanting to meet Pikachu's gaze. He felt the same grief that Pikachu felt. But Raichu was having trouble expressing it.

"Brother... what... what will we do now? What can we do without him?" Pikachu asked after a long silence.

"I don't know." Raichu said silently.

Raichu looked around him. Sabrina was applying a revive potion to Alakazam. Alakazam slowly picked himself up. Sabrina then handed the psychic an ether potion. Alakazam gratefully accepted the potion and downed it quickly.

"What will you do now?" Sabrina asked.

"There's nothing more that you can do Sabrina." Alakazam answered. "This is our problem, once again."

Alakazam approached the two mice.

"There must be something I can do to help." Sabrina asked.

Alakazam shook his head.

"This is a Pokémon issue, to be dealt with by Pokémon. Humans should not interfere with this." Alakazam said with an air of authority. "But if we do need help, we will go to you."

With that, Alakazam teleported himself and the two mice back to the Rainbow Gang headquarters. Sabrina looked over at her Kadabra.

"Kadabra. You need to train like there's no tomorrow." She said. "As will the rest of our Pokémon. Because if we don't get stronger... strong enough to help defeat Mewtwo, there might not be a tomorrow."

Alakazam, Raichu, and Pikachu appeared in front of the headquarters of the Rainbow Gang. Alakazam stepped back a few paces. Pikachu and Raichu turned to face the old psychic. There was a long moment of silence between the three Pokémon.

"I'm getting too old for this kind of stuff." Alakazam said, breaking the silence. "But nonetheless, Mewtwo is an immediate threat that has to be dealt with. I'm going to prepare my gang for battle. I suggest you do the same."

Raichu nodded, as did Pikachu, but the wheels in Pikachu's head were already beginning to spin. A plan was forming in his head. Even though Mewtwo had taken over his body and sapped him of his strength, there was one interesting side-affect of Mewtwo's presence. Pikachu's mind had expanded and was working at a much higher capacity than before. Alakazam looked over at Pikachu, but could not read the expression Pikachu wore on his face. Alakazam then nodded and teleported away. Raichu helped Pikachu into the headquarters. Once inside, they were immediately swarmed by other members of the gang. Raichu tried to order them away, but his voice was lost over the voices of the rest of the gang and Pikachu was too weak to even speak. Suddenly Pikette's voice shot out over the noise.

"Get away from them!" She shouted.

Instantly, the crowd thinned out and Pikette rushed to help the two brothers. She saw the condition that Pikachu was in, and immediately helped Raichu carry Pikachu into the gang's infirmary. Once they had Pikachu in bed and resting, Pikette turned to Raichu to ask the ominous question.

"Where's Raichu?" She asked.

The two brothers remained silent. Pikette didn't need an answer. She could tell what had happened by the expression on Raichu's face.

"Oh dear god." She whispered, and sat down in a chair.

Raichu sat next to her. She looked at his face. Tears were already streaming from her eyes. She buried her face into Raichu's chest and cried. Her sobbing continued for several minutes before she finally got herself together. She sat up straight, wiped her eyes and sighed.

"What are we going to do now?" She asked quietly.

"It's up to Pikachu now." Raichu said, motioning to his sleeping younger brother.

"What do you mean it's up to Pikachu?" She asked.

"He delivered the final blow to Mewtwo last time. By rights, he should do it again. He's going to want to kill Mewtwo for this."

Pikette stared at Pikachu and shook her head.

"Things are different now. Do you really think he can do it?" She asked.

"I have confidence in him, in his abilities. I'm sure he can do it." Raichu responded.

Without another word, Raichu got to his feet and left the room. Pikette looked over at Pikachu one more time before she too left the room. Raichu had not stepped one foot outside the infirmary, when he was nearly tackled by Pikelle.

"I.. I'm so sorry. I heard that Pikachu... can I see him?" She asked nervously.

"He's sleeping right now." Pikette said.

Pikelle met Pikette's gaze and then turned her gaze to Raichu. Raichu nodded and moved aside. Pikelle hurried into the infirmary as Raichu and Pikette walked away. Inside Pikachu's room, Pikelle sat next to Pikachu. Pikachu stirred and opened his eyes.

"Pikachu..." Pikelle said silently.

Pikachu turned his head and looked at Pikelle.

"Pikelle..." He said.

"Oh my god." She said. "What happened?"

"Raichu... he's... he's..." Pikachu could not find the words.

"Oh my god..." She whispered.

"I'm going to get Mewtwo for this... I'm going to... I'm going to..." Pikachu started, then looked over at Pikelle. "Say Pikelle? What are you doing here?"

She stifled a giggle.

"Because I... I... I'm your secretary... remember?" She said.

Pikachu closed his eyes and sighed.

"Yes that's right. I'm glad you're here. I need you to do something for me." He said.

Pikelle looked at him expectantly.

"Once I get my strength back, I need you to call a boss council." Pikachu said.

Pikelle smiled and nodded.

"I will. Is there anything else?" She asked.

"Yeah." He said slightly weakly. "Can you stay in here... until I fall asleep again?"

Raichu and Pikette headed for home where their children were waiting. The children were overjoyed to see their father return unharmed. But they could sense that there was something wrong.

"Papa? What happened? What's wrong?" One of the Pichus asked.

Raichu looked over at Pikette, but she had already turned away, with tears in her eyes.

"Your big uncle Raichu... he's... he's..." Raichu said, having trouble finishing the sentence.

"Did something happen to uncle Raichu?" Another Pichu asked.

Raichu closed his eyes and sighed to calm himself.

"He's... he's gone away on another journey." Raichu said.

"He did? How come he didn't say goodbye to us?" One of the Pichus asked.

"He... uhh, was in a terrible rush. He wanted to get an early start and asked me to tell you that he... that he loves you all very much, but he won't be able to see you for a very long time." Raichu said, with forced calmness.

"Will he bring us presents this time?" One of the other Pichu's asked with wide-eyed innocence.

Raichu couldn't help but laugh.

"I don't know if they have presents for children where he's going. But I bet he's going to try real hard to get you all something nice." He said.

Raichu looked over at Pikette, and she was smiling.

Three days passed. By the time Pikachu had recovered his strength, all the gangs had been notified of Mewtwo's resurrection and of the passing of the older Raichu brother. Many of the bosses sent messages of comfort to Pikachu and Raichu. Their words did provide some comfort. All the bosses had respected the older Raichu, and thus his death had sent shockwaves of grief through the gangs. The boss council had been called and now all the bosses sat looking up at Pikachu as he cleared his throat to speak.

"First off, I want to thank all of you for your words of comfort regarding the passing of my beloved older brother Raichu. It is a loss for all of us. You words have brought much comfort to me and my family, and for that I want to express my deepest thanks to all of you. Raichu tried to teach me what it means to really be alive. He lived his life to the fullest. He spent his every waking hour doing everything he could. And in the end, I believe that his efforts paid off in full. But you all know full well that his death should not be in vain. He faced Mewtwo alone to provide an escape for me and my brother. Had it not been for Raichu's sacrifice, I would not be standing here before you all. I know deep in my heart that my life was spared for the sole purpose of taking Mewtwo down, and I believe that Raichu knew that too. I did it before, and I damn well will do it again. But I can't do it alone. I called this council as a final effort to convince you to join me and my comrades. Here we all sit, each of us representing a different gang. Each of our gangs separated by type and ability. But the one thing that you all overlook is that we are all Pokémon! Only by working and fighting as one species, instead of many gangs separated by type and petty differences, will we be able to defeat Mewtwo. I know that some of you are planning to dig in and hide. But I can assure you, that plan is fruitless. If Mewtwo manages to defeat those that choose to fight him, he will then hunt down every single one of you who hide and kill you. He will not be satisfied until we're all dead. And I think that is the best reason for all of us to come together and fight as one. I won't hold it against you if you decide not to join. It won't matter if you don't. But fighting together is our best hope. And it's better to die in battle than to be killed while hiding. I for one am going to fight Mewtwo. So I'm going to ask you all one more time, one last time. Will you all join me? Will you put aside your differences and join me in this endeavor?"

"Hmpf. How did I know that this was going to be another shot at getting us into the Rainbow Gang?" Charizard asked with a sarcastic tone.

"Yes that's what I'm trying to do Charizard." Pikachu said. "But would it be so bad? Would it be a terrible thing if we lived, worked, and fought alongside each other, instead of against each other?"

"Pikachu poses a strong argument." Alakazam said.

"You would say that, you old goat." Charizard said silently.

There was a long silence.

"Alakazam's right." Blastoise said, breaking the silence. "Pikachu does make a strong argument. We all can't just turn tail and run from this. We all helped defeat Mewtwo before. I for one am not going to die a cowards death. But I also don't want to lose control over my gang."

"There won't be any loss of control." Pikachu said. "You will all still have control over the Pokémon in your territory. Think of yourselves as governors. All working together for the benefit of all Pokémon."

"So I'll still have my gang?" Blastoise asked.

"The only difference is that everyone fights under one banner. And that I make the final decisions." Pikachu replied.

"Then I'm in." Blastoise said. "As long as I have my gang, then I'm okay with this unified society."

"I will join you as well." Alakazam said.

"You can count on my gang!" Venusaur piped up.

"And mine!" Golem said.

The rest of the bosses, except for Charizard, gave Pikachu their full support. A silence fell over the congregation. Everyone was looking at Charizard.

"Hmpf. You just want to control everyone." Charizard finally said.

"That's not true Charizard. There will always be the council. The only difference is that I have the final say. I think you know me well enough to know that I won't be some kind of tyrant. I'm not Mewtwo." Pikachu said.

"You were!" Charizard retorted.

"I was, yes. But it was Mewtwo who inhabited my body. I had no control." Pikachu stated.

Charizard averted his gaze, but Pikachu could see that Charizard was battling with himself inside. He didn't want to be left out. He hated that. But Pikachu was making perfect sense, and he hated that as well.

"Damn you Pikachu! I hate it when you make sense!" Charizard shouted, slamming his massive fist on the table before him. "Fine... I'm in."

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