The Legend Thief - Part 5: The Cure

Chapter 23: The Lost Heir

Croissant landed on the sandy ground, around 6:00 PM. He was too tired to go any farther.

"It's okay, though," Raichu said. "We're making great progress. We traveled over ⅙ of the desert."

"ONLY ⅙!" Quinci cried. "I CAN ONLY TAKE SO MUCH OF BELL'S PUNS!"

"Relax, Quinling," Bell said. "If the blooberries are in the center of the desert, then we're already ⅓ of the way there."

"Oh..." Quinci realized. "Why didn't you just do that extra step, Raichu? Is your HUMAN calculator not FUNCTIONING?"

"Just because I didn't do an extra step doesn't mean I'm not ECSTATIC!" Raichu defended.

Shelly sighed, "Here we go again..."

"Honestly, I think my skills are ELECTRIFYING!"

"You might be above average," Bell admitted, "but there's only so far a HUMAN can go."

"Although you might not be a HUMAN calculator," Ravisu added, "you are still pretty good at music."

"Raichu," Bell continued. "You're always gonna be a GOOD CONDUCTOR. Your performances are so ZAPPY!" In truth, Raichu was a terrible musician. Bell only said that for the puns...

***

Pichu Human looked at the laughing friends. Although they included her, she didn't feel like part of their group. She was two years younger than all of them, part of Team Protego, and not part of their school. Even though they were always around her, she felt left out, alone. She felt like she didn't belong.

Even within her own family, she felt like an outcast. All of them were part of Team Instinct, but she was part of Team Protego. Her mother was always doing work or traveling abroad on missions. Her father had been always centered around Raichu, probably because he was the heir. And now, with him gone, she felt even lonier. She could never relate to any member of her family.

After thinking about it for a little longer, Pichu realized that these were the prices she had to pay for being on Team Protego. She couldn't relate to anyone, because she was part of a secret team. Nobody could understand her. And because she was so pure to her team and because she was heir, even her own team wouldn't understand her.

She felt alone.

She felt lost.

Pichu needed help.

But what did someone say? I know what you're going through. Let me help you... The words came back so clearly. But who said it? She recognized the voice. It sounded like Maap from Team Protego. But he didn't say that. Who was it...?

ASH!!! Pichu realized. That means MAAP IS ASH! THAT'S WHY HE USES ALL TYPES OF POKEMON! HE'S A PROTEGO TOO! THAT'S WHY HE IS SO DIFFERENT!

That's why he understood me.

He wasn't lying after all.

---

"The sun began to set, turning the sky molten gold and bronze. But then the moon came and plucked the metals out. She fashioned them into stars so her cloak of darkness would still have light."

"That's great. Now can you help us with camp?" Ravisu asked. Shell sighed and pulled out some food Rudia and she had gotten from the Pokecenter. Bell and Raichu were fighting again, and Pichu was trying to stop the two. Rudia and Quinci were using their pokemon to start a fire, with Ravisu and her ivysaur using leech seed for the fuel. Shelly took out her froslass which created some ice to melt over the fire.

"We need more fuel!" Quinci huffed, so Ravisu got out her servine and Rudia summoned her skiploom. The two pokemon added more leech seed to the pile. The fire quickly expanded as it engulfed more of the vines.

Quinci grumbled, "If I still had my powers, then I would easily be able to make this fire WITHOUT fuel..."

Shelly took out her poke-treats and fed her froslass, her friends doing the same with their pokemon. Rudia opened the bag of food from the pokecenter, and pulled out a giant bag of marshmallows.

"Did you guys get anything nutritious?" Quinci asked.

Rudia answered, "Of course! See?" She then pulled out a slab of chocolate.

"Great!" Quinci broke a square off and popped it in her mouth. Rudia continued to empty out the bag, Boxes of graham crackers, frozen sausages and potatoes, and iron rods with rubber ends tumbled out. Shelly took an iron rod and stabbed a sausage. Quinci made a face.

"Ew," she said, and took another rod and speared a marshmallow instead.

Ravisu carefully looked at the meat, "What type of meat is it?"

"Pork?" Shelly shrugged. Ravisu shook her head in dismay.

"You guys shoulda gone with us." Rudia said, "Then you could've chosen what you liked."

"Oh well," Quinci sighed, picking up another chocolate slice. "At least we have SOMETHING nutritious."

Shelly argued, "Chocolate is NOT good for you, Quinci."

"Yes it is," Quinci countered. "It's good for my TASTE BUDS!"

"OOOHHHHH!!!!" everyone shouted, except Pichu Human. Raichu saw this and went over to her.

"Pichu, what's wrong?" Raichu asked.

"Uummm," Pichu stuttered. She didn't want to tell him about that time in Hawaii that she reached for Ash's hand. She didn't want to tell him about that time when she gave in to Ash. She was confuzzled, and was still confuzzled.

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong," Pichu forced her best fake-smile.

Raichu rolled his eyes, "Of course something's wrong. You're my sister."

"Well..." Pichu lied. "I, um... My belly is hurting because I didn't eat anything yet. And... Rudia's hogging all the food."

"AM NOT!" Rudia disagreed, marshmallow and chocolate covering her face.

"Are too!" Pichu argued.

"AM NOT!"

"Are too!"

"STOP!" Raichu cried, zapping them both. "Rudia, hand over the marshmallows." Rudia reluctantly handed them over.

Raichu walked away from his sister. Something was definitely wrong with her. This is the first time EVER she had gotten into a fight. She was usually settling fights between people, not starting them. And Raichu knew she was lying about the hunger.

Pichu was hiding something from him. Something she didn't want to tell anyone. And as her big brother, Raichu needed to find out what it was. For her safety. For Protego's safety.

For the world's safety.