Pokèmar Episode III: Thunder's Past

Message From Home

"Look, you're only making things harder for yourself. Just give us the bag and come with us." I say to a rather tense Weavile. She had stolen several golden scarfs from a Keckleon merchant with the intent to sell them herself. How she managed not to be pummeled into a furry, navy blue pulp is beyond me, but she somehow did. Thunder, Keldeo, Virizion and I tracked her to Ochre Quarry and cornered her, though it seems like she's not about to surrender her ill gotten gains.
"Look, I'll give you a scarf. But you have to let me go in return." She says, desperate to escape.
"We're not about to take bribes, Weavile." Virizion answers. "Either you come with us willingly and we see if we can't make your sentence easier, or we knock you out and drag you into your cell. What'll it be?"
"I'm not going to let some self righteous team do me in! I'll take you all down!" With that, she drops the bag and charges, claws bared. She leaps at Keldeo, who uses his horn to parry and block her strikes. Meanwhile I unleash a volley of razorleaves into her exposed back, quickly shifting her attention to me.
   Thunder is next to attack, letting loose several electric discharges before she can even land a hit on me. Once again, she turns her attention to her new attacker. However, the only thing she gets from it is another discharge to the face. Virizion leaps into action to continue the assault, smacking her around with several powerful kicks.
   "Had enough yet?" I inquire. "Or do we need to keep going?"
   "Shut it, Snivy!" She once again dashes for me carelessly. I simply sidestep as she jabs her claws into the wall behind me. She has basically immobilized herself, unable to remove her claws from the stone.
   "Look, we've dealt with far worse than you and came out on top. Just surrender." Her response is only an angry growl as she fights to yank her claws free. She's going to be at this for a while on her own.
   "You know what? Fine! I surrender! Happy now?!"
   "Alright. Good. Keldeo, Virizion, mind breaking her out?" The both nod as they ram their horns into the rocky wall, cracking it and freeing her claws.
   "You idiots shouldn't trust every word you hear." Weavile says as she turns to swipe her claws across my face. I however, anticipated the move and leap over top of her, nailing her in the back with vine whip. She is knocked down as a result, and Virizion is quick to pin her arms down with her hooves, preventing any retaliation.
   "And you really shouldn't call out when you deceived someone. It really doesn't work out that well." She struggles against her captor without success, yelling in frustration. I can't help but feel a bit smug. She was careless. Impulsive. Without much strategy to her attacks. And when going up against Pokemon who coordinated and fought with strategy in mind, it played into her downfall. "Alright everyone. We're done here. Let's get everything together and head back." Virizion quickly gets off the Weavile and I tie up the her arms behind her back with my vines. Thunder picks up the bag and quickly jogs over to me.
"You sure we can't come to an agreement? How about 20 percent? 50? I'll even go up to 80."
"I'll be sure to put 'attempted bribery' under your list of charges." Thunder responds.

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"That's another successful mission. You have no idea how much I missed this." I say to Thunder on our way back from the sheriff's department. It's been a little over a week since I returned. And every moment of it has been well spent. I missed the joyful and optimistic atmosphere that permeates the town of Pokemon Paradise. But I missed my friends most of all. It feels great to get back into the routine with them.
"I'll bet. I know you really enjoyed this." Thunder responds.
"Absolutely. Nothing like making the world better with your best friend by your side."
"I second that. Oh! Looks like the Pelliper came by." Thunder gestures to the mailbox out front. Pellipers are Pokemon that bear a resemblance to the earth pelican. Though the large mouth is significantly more exaggerated. On Pokèmar they are commonly seen delivering packages and letters using the aforementioned mouths to carry them. How they manage to not get it all wet with saliva is beyond me. Or if they even have saliva. Regardless, it is what it is.
   I open up the mailbox to check what we have. Most of it isn't very interesting. The usual stuff you'd get. But something catches my eye. One of the letters is addressed to "Pikachu Dova."
   "Looks like this one got sent to the wrong address." I tell Thunder as I hand him the letter.
   "No... It's for me. Dova is my pack name.
   "Pack name?"
   "Remember when we first met I told you my name was Pikachu. And that's true. It is. But that what every Pikachu is named. And since that makes it impossible to tell us apart we use what're known as pack names. Whenever a Pokemon addresses someone of the same species, or sometimes family, they use their pack name." How has this not come up before? This seems like something that I would probably hear about sooner than this.
   "I see. So... another Pikachu sent this?"
   "More than likely. Let's take a look at what it says." With that he rips the envelope open and takes out the letter. His eyes quickly scan through the writing, taking in the information it contains. Before long, his curious expression gives way to shock and surprise. "What? No... No it can't be..."
   "Thunder?" I ask, mildly concerned. "What's wrong?
   "Nothing's wrong. It's just... well... read for yourself." He hands the letter over to me, which I quickly take. I read through the lines of text to see what got Thunder all shook up.
   To my lost son, Pikachu Dova,
   I can't be sure that you remember me, but rest assured I remember you. You are the child that I helped to bring into the world. When you went missing I feared that if never see you again. But your picture in the newspapers proved me very wrong. Even as a Pikachu I can still recognize your face. And it brings me no end of joy to see you so well and happy.
   I cannot stand not seeing you. Please, come home. Come home so we may meet each other once again. I would love to hear what you've been up to.
   Sincerely, your father,
   Raichu Sadu
   Below the signature was an address in the Kanto Major region, probably the location of the Raichu's home. I stare at the letter, realizing the importance of it. Thunder never knew his family. I remember from the frism message. "I don't remember my childhood. I don't remember my parents or ever living in a real home." To get a message from his long lost father...
"He found me... After all this time... He finally found me." Thunder says, beginning to choke up. "I never thought I'd ever see him... But now..." I can't help but smile. This is a huge moment for him. I walk over to my friend and embrace him, giving him a shoulder to cry on. "I'm so happy, Alex... I actually get to see him!"
"I'm happy for you, Thunder. You wouldn't mind if I tagged along, would you?"
"Of course not! I'm happy to let you come!"
"Thank you, Thunder." I maintain our embrace, letting him calm himself. It's obvious what's next. Tomorrow, we're going to Kanto Major.