The Rainbow Gang
Chapter 13 : Finality
By Mega Raichu
Pikachu sat in his office, staring at a small box on his desk. He knew full well the contents of the box. It held a thunderstone. It was the last gift that his eldest brother had given him. As he stared at the box, his mind began to wander. Soon the memory of the older Raichu giving him the stone came to his mind. Before his eldest brother evolved, he had gathered three thunderstones. One for himself, one for his younger brother Pikachu, and one for his youngest brother Pichu. He gave one of the thunderstones to his younger brother Pikachu when he and Pikette got married. When Pichu evolved, Raichu gave the last thunderstone to him. He could almost see his eldest brother standing in front of him when he presented the stone.
"I want you to have this Pikachu." The eldest Raichu said.
"What is it?" Pikachu asked.
"It's a thunderstone."
"Like the kind you gave to our brother?"
"Yeah. Using this stone will make you evolve into a raichu as well."
"Then we could be like a raichu-trio!"
His eldest brother laughed.
"Something like that." Raichu said. "But you have to be absolutely sure that you need to use it. Using it will make you change into a raichu, but it will also change your perspective on a lot of different things."
"It'll make me stronger, right?" Pikachu asked. "Why shouldn't I use it now?"
"Because it can give you power, but it could take away other powers. You just have to be careful with this thing. Don't use it 'just because'. You need to be absolutely sure that you're ready to evolve."
"Okay brother. I'll think about it some."
Pikachu sighed as he stared longingly at the box. Then he looked up at the ceiling.
"You knew, didn't you Raichu?" Pikachu asked. "You knew about the power that I wield. That massive thunder attack that I used against Mewtwo during that big battle at the generator. My power both destroyed the generator and killed Mewtwo. And you knew that if I used a thunderstone, I'd probably lose that power. That's why you told me to think about it before evolving."
Pikachu opened the box and looked at the thunderstone. It glittered in the sunlight that shone in through the windows. Almost every day Pikachu would have the stone polished by a gang member that wasn't affected by it's radiation. He could see his reflected face in the flat surfaces of the stone.
"It's a huge gamble, brother. But do I take it? Do I become what you were and possibly lose my ability?" Pikachu asked silently. "Or do I close this box and not open it until peace reigns once again?"
Raichu sat on a fallen log near his home, looking up into the sky, searching for answers to questions that he could not find the words to ask them with. He was still grieving over the loss of his older brother. He had been much more than an older brother. He had been his best friend for most of his life. His older brother had taught him everything that he knows. Through his older brother's wisdom, he had become a better friend, brother, boss, husband, and father. Raichu sighed as he stared off into space. He sat there for a long time, feeling the wind against his body, hearing the sounds of the forest in his ears, and seeing the stars in the sky in his eyes. His contemplation was interrupted by the sounds of Pikette walking up behind him. But he did not turn to look at her. His eyes were locked onto the stars. She took a seat next to him and leaned close to him.
"They finally fell asleep." She said, referring to their children.
"Pikette..." Raichu said silently.
"Hmm? What is it?"
But once again, Raichu could not find the words to ask the question that was floating in his mind. So he just shook his head. She seemed to understand, and hugged him. After a long while, he finally broke the silence.
"It's come down to this." Raichu said. "We're going after Mewtwo. Pikachu wants to kill him."
"Do you think he can do it?" Pikette asked.
"Yes. I have no doubt that he can pull it off."
"And what about you? You're going to fight Mewtwo as well?"
"If it comes down to it, I will."
"But... you know that you can't beat him."
Raichu straightened himself and looked over at Pikette. Then he motioned towards their home.
"Tomorrow, they're going to wake up and I won't be here." He said. "I'm going out there to fight so that I will be able to see them again tomorrow. And the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that. I want to be able to see them every day for the rest of my life. I will not allow the 'rest of my life' to be limited to just tomorrow. If I have to fight Mewtwo, I'm going all out, short of killing myself."
"Raichu..." She started.
"I'm going to fight for my children. For their future. For our future."
She couldn't find any words, and so, instead of speaking, she hugged him. That was answer enough.
Mewtwo stood atop the peak of Mt. Moon. His army of pokémon roamed the inside of the mountain, waiting for the call to battle. Mewtwo was purposely holding his forces back. He knew that the other gangs were going to confront him here, and that was exactly what he wanted. He wanted them to come to him. It would make things much easier on him, instead of going out and hunting them all down. He could kill them all, here in one fell swoop. Then he would easily take over this dust-ball of a planet. He stared out over the landscape before him, his eyes glowing a deep red, while an azure blue aura surrounded his body.
"Come now my little 'friends'." Mewtwo said with a smirk. "Come, bring it on."
Then he started to laugh.
And so, as always the moon set and the sun rose and a new day dawned. The pokémon of each gang mentally prepared for the coming battle. Their bosses had worked together in council and had composed a strategy for all gangs to use in the coming battle. All the other pokémon in the gangs were skeptical about whether or not their old rival gangs would actually follow the strategy, but it didn't seem to matter. The fact remained that they needed to work together, one way or another, for victory to be reached. Everyone knew this. Even Pikelle. She thought of all this as she walked towards Pikachu's office. The door swung open and Pikachu stepped out. Pikelle stared at him, contemplating what to say to him. But before she could say something, he spoke.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Um. Nothing." She replied.
"Okay. I think we're all set to move out to Mt. Moon."
"Am I going too?"
Pikachu hadn't thought of that. He hadn't planned on Pikelle coming with him to fight. But just then, his older brother walked over to them.
"I have a better idea for you Pikelle." Pikachu said.
"Oh? What do you want me to do?" She asked.
"Raichu, Pikette is staying home isn't she?" Pikachu asked his brother as he arrived.
"Yeah. So?" Raichu replied.
"Pikelle. I want you to go over to Raichu's home and help watch over Raichu's children." Pikachu said.
"But..." She started.
"No buts. Get going." Pikachu said firmly.
She quickly nodded and ran off. Pikachu looked over at Raichu.
"I'm sure Pikette will enjoy the company." Raichu said.
"That's not the reason I sent her." Pikachu said, and walked away.
Raichu quickly followed him.
"Then why'd you send her?" Raichu asked.
"Because." Pikachu said firmly.
"Because you like her?"
Pikachu didn't answer.
"Ha! Pikachu has a girlfriend!" Raichu said in a childishly mocking tone.
"Oh grow up." Pikachu said quietly.
"Heh heh heh. You're the one who's growing up little bro. I mean it seems like only yesterday you were a just a little pichu who couldn't talk."
"And I ended up defeating Mewtwo."
"Yeah."
"And I took over this gang."
"Yeah."
"And I've finally brought all the gangs together as one."
"Well yeah."
"So I think it's safe to say that I'm a little more grown up than you think, big bro."
"I guess you're right."
"So, are we all ready?"
"As ready as we'll ever be."
"Then let's start moving out."
The fields around Mt. Moon began to fill with pokemon around midday. The sky was filled with clouds and the air was cool. The smell of rain was in the air, but no one seemed to mind. Pikachu looked over his gang and then looked out over the other gangs. As he had hoped, all of them had arrived for the fight. His gaze was suddenly met by Charizards, who spat a little fire to the ground and smirked. Pikachu shook his head and returned his gaze to his own gang. The pokémon were ready and waiting for the battle. Raichu came up beside Pikachu.
"So what are we going to do once this is over?" Raichu asked.
Pikachu knew what Raichu was trying to do. He was trying to make it sound like this was just another average, ordinary battle that they would simply win and walk away from. Kind of a way to lift his spirits. Pikachu smiled.
"I don't know. Maybe I'll go on a journey like our big brother did." Pikachu replied.
"Sounds fun." Raichu said.
Pikachu looked up at the mountain. Something atop the mountain was glowing. No one needed to ask what it was. Everyone knew that it was Mewtwo looking down on them all. And so he was. Mewtwo stood on a ledge near the peak of the mountain looking down on the gathering of pokémon at the base. A smile crossed his face. He could feel the eagerness to fight growing in those pokémon and the ones inside the mountain. Mewtwo then issued a telepathic command to charge. Pokémon began to pour out of the mountain. Pikachu and the other bosses began to shout commands to their own pokémon as Mewtwo's pokémon approached. Then there was a loud crash as the two armies of pokémon smashed into each other. As the two armies fought, Alakzam, Charizard, and Blastoise came together around Pikachu.
"This should hold his army for awhile Pikachu, but I don't know for how long." Alakazam said.
"I have to get to Mewtwo." Pikachu said.
"And how do you plan to do that? Take the stairs?" Blastoise asked.
"How about an elevator?" Charizard asked.
Pikachu looked over at Charizard.
"Can you get me up there?" Pikachu asked.
"If I can get some cover." Charizard said confidently.
Pikachu looked up at the peak of the mountain, then he turned to the other bosses.
"Make it happen." Pikachu said firmly.
Charizard grabbed Pikachu and lifted him onto his back.
"Hold on tight, this is gonna be a bumpy ride." Charizard said.
Blastoise readied his water cannons as Alakazam charged his psi powers. Charizard leapt into the air and pumped his wings and soon he was soaring in the air. Some of Mewtwo's bird pokémon tried to use fly attacks against Charizard, but were swatted away like flies by Alakazam's psychic attacks and Blastoise's hydro pump attacks. Charizard was soon out of the range of Mewtwo's pokémon, but soon after, he was within Mewtwo's range.
"This is your captain speaking, please fasten your safety belts, we are about to hit some turbulence." Charizard said in a sarcastic tone.
Pikachu tightened his grip on Charizard's back. Mewtwo started to launch some psy beam attacks at Charizard. But Charizard was able to dodge them. He made a few passes at the ledge, and once he was close enough, Pikachu jumped from Charizard to the ledge. Once Pikachu was safely off, Charizard flew back down the mountain.
"I must say that you have proven yourself to be quite an annoyance little mouse." Mewtwo said angrily.
"It runs in the family." Pikachu said as he launched himself at Mewtwo.
But Mewtwo predicted the move and dodged. Mewtwo then launched another psy beam at the spot where Pikachu would've landed but Pikachu had used his agility to overshoot that landing place and so Mewtwo missed. Pikachu turned and launched himself directly at Mewtwo. Mewtwo raised his hand for a psychic attack, but the Pikachu suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind him and hit Mewtwo from behind with a powerful tackle attack. Mewtwo then turned and launched his psychic attack at Pikachu. The attack hit home and sent Pikachu rolling to the end of the ledge. Pikachu got up and rushed over towards Mewtwo. Mewtwo smirked and then raised his arms. A shield of psychic energy surrounded the area around them.
"This should make sure that we are not interrupted." Mewtwo said.
"How considerate." Pikachu said sarcastically.
Mewtwo raised his right arm and pointed at Pikachu. Pikachu felt an invisible force take hold of him and lift him into the air. Mewtwo smiled as Pikachu was sent flying into the shield. Pikachu hit the shield with the full force of Mewtwo's telekinesis. Pikachu felt as though his body was covered in white hot fire. Every nerve in his body screamed in pain. Mewtwo laughed as he sent Pikachu flying into another section of the shield, and once again Pikachu's body was filled with the white hot pain. Pikachu cried out in pain.
"That's right! Scream! Scream! Feel the pain that I felt when you killed me! Do you like it? Do you!? Do you!!??" Mewtwo shouted over Pikachu's cries.
Mewtwo then brought Pikachu over to him so he could be face to face with him.
"To think that I, the most powerful psychic in all the universe, could be beaten by a mere CHILD!" Mewtwo shouted as he launched Pikachu into the shield again.
Then Mewtwo brought Pikachu away from the shield and then turned him so he could look down the mountain.
"Look at them Pikachu. They're fighting a losing battle. All of the pokémon in my army have been enhanced beyond anything anyone has ever known." Mewtwo said. "There's no hope for victory here. You have no chance for survival. You are dead."
Suddenly a psychic beam shot out from below and slammed into the shield, disrupting it and destroying it. Mewtwo and Pikachu looked down and saw that several human trainers were rushing to the aid of the gang pokémon.
"Sabrina! But even by doing this you are only delaying the inevitable." Mewtwo said.
"You mean this?" Pikachu asked as he released a thunder bolt at Mewtwo.
The attack hit home and knocked Mewtwo over. Mewtwo leapt to his feet and launched a psychic attack at Pikachu. But Pikachu had already vacated that spot. Mewtwo turned around just in time to catch a glimpse of Pikachu before he disappeared again and then reappeared behind Mewtwo and attacked once again with a tackle. Now enraged, Mewtwo threw Pikachu off his back, turned and used his telekinesis to lift Pikachu in the air. Mewtwo then began to put pressure on Pikachu's throat, effectively choking the young mouse. Mewtwo smiled a sinister grin as Pikachu choked and gagged, trying desperately to breathe. Suddenly Mewtwo's concentration was shattered when he was hit with a fireblast from above. He looked up and saw that Charizard was attacking him. With Mewtwo's attention now turned to Charizard, Pikachu was freed from Mewtwo's grasp and he fell to the ground, gasping for air. Pikachu looked up at Charizard. There was someone riding on his back. He focused his vision on the rider and saw that it was Sabrina. She then tossed a small metal object over to Pikachu. Pikachu lifted the object. It was a capsule, not unlike a pokéball. Pikachu had a good idea of what Sabrina had in mind. This capsule was made of the same materials that made up the collar they had used to disable Mewtwo when he inhabited Pikachu's body. Charizard moved out of Mewtwo's range. Mewtwo almost seemed disappointed, but then returned his attention to Pikachu. But now Pikachu was summoning all the energy he could. Mewtwo smirked and tried to fire a psybeam at Pikachu, but the beam bounced off of Pikachu's body.
"What is this!?" Mewtwo asked, surprised.
Pikachu didn't respond. He just kept charging his power. And then the skies opened up and the rain fell. The thunder rolled and the lightning flashed. Pikachu's body was acting as a lightning rod, and so he was struck by a bolt of lightning. Pikachu's body was surrounded by an electrical aura. Mewtwo summoned all the psychic power in his body. He then raised his arms and shot out a massive psybeam. Pikachu countered the psybeam with his own massive thunder attack. The two beams of energy met midway between the two pokémon. The beams pushed against each other, neither advancing on the other. But then another bolt of lightning struck Pikachu's body, and since Pikachu was releasing electricity already, the bolt was redirected directly into Pikachu's attack. That bolt of lightning gave Pikachu's attack enough of a boost to plow through Mewtwo's attack and slam into Mewtwo himself. Mewtwo's body was engulfed in the electricity of Pikachu's attack. After a few moments, his body began to disintegrate. Once the electricity dissipated, there was nothing left of Mewtwo but a small glowing ball of energy, Mewtwo's essence. Pikachu lifted the small capsule, opened it, and trapped Mewtwo's essence inside it. With the battle won and Mewtwo trapped, Pikachu collapsed. He stared up at the dark clouds and felt the rain pelt his body. Suddenly the rain stopped.
The capsule sat on the center of a table, surrounded by the bosses of Pikachu's gang. The council was about what to do with the capsule that contained the very essence of Mewtwo.
"I say we bury it." Charizard suggested.
"Yeah, but then you know some psycho is gonna dig him up." Blastoise remarked.
"Something like that always happens, I agree with Blastoise." Pikachu said.
"Then what should we do with it?" Alakazam asked.
"Maybe we could launch it into space?" Pikachu replied.
"That would be a good idea. Then we'd never see Mewtwo again." Charizard said.
Hours later Alakazam and a few of his most powerful psychics stood in a circle around the capsule. Pikachu and the other bosses were there to watch. Raichu sat next to his younger brother, while Pikette, Pikelle, and the children sat not too far off.
"I wish our big brother were here to see this." Pikachu said to Raichu.
"He is." Raichu replied, tapping his heart. "He's in here."
Pikachu smiled. Alakazam and the other psychics concentrated all their telekinetic powers on the capsule and launched it upward into the atmosphere. The capsule soared upward and away from the planet into infinity.
Thirty years later.
On the fourth planet of a very remote star system, a shooting star is seen in the distance. The object falls to the planet surface and there is a small explosion. A few of the native creatures inspect the crash site only to find a small alien capsule, with a large glowing crack in its casing.
Fin