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Raikou’s Romance
Disclaimer: Probably obvious, but this is joke!fic. It's a reworking of a very cringe idea I had about ten years ago. The Suicune's Choice is not about Suicune picking between romantic options. It's about, uh, a boy who has a religious revelation at pretty much the worst possible time, I suppose.
Summary: Stuck in the form of a human and bereft of her powers, Raikou’s not expecting much from Ho-oh’s latest brainwave. But when she meets a certain electric-type trainer, the spark is undeniable. AN: So, Raikou’s adventures didn’t really fit into The Suicune’s Choice, but I thought I’d post a snippet of what she gets up to! Suicune’s not the only one to find romance, you know . . .
As yet another foul-smelling, two-legged flesh-sack jostled past her, Raikou cursed the Life-Bringer with every curse she knew.
‘I fear we still know too little about the humans,’ he’d said in his screechy voice, the old wind-bag. ‘My faithful servants, I have a new task for you. Go forth among the humans, learn their ways.’
Hah! Raikou thought bitterly. If he was so curious, why didn’t he do it himself? It would have been one thing to race through a human settlement, bright and dazzling as a shooting star for the feeble-footed creatures to marvel at, but nooooo! He’d insisted that they be sent down in the guise of humans. Raikou could feel her power still, but it was like a bright emblem buried in the back of her mind, out of reach. She couldn’t even fry these uncouth flesh-sacks into a crisp with a well-placed thunderbolt!
And as for this human form . . . it was simply too small. Thin bird-like wrists and slender fingers, skin smooth of any fur. Her hair was the only redeeming quality—it burst from her scalp like a star shower, a deep yellow streaked with black.
Raikou had asked the Life-Bringer to place her in the city she remembered most fondly from her world-travels, a city that glinted with a thousand lights in the evening. It was much less pleasing up close, with crude-gray walkways that stunk to Ho-oh’s heavens and humans packed thicker than magikarp in mating season.
Her gaze burning angrily into the pavement, Raikou did not notice that ahead of her, the crowd bottle-necked. She slammed into the flesh-sack in front of her and fell heavily to the oil-stained ground.
May he suffer the curse of the ninetails, which lasts for nine thousand years, Raikou vowed from her prone position.
“Are you all right, little lady?”
Raikou lifted her gaze to see a hand out-stretched. After a moment’s hesitation, she gripped it and allowed the human to pull her to her feet.
“I wonder what’s caused this ruckus,” the human said in a low, somewhat pleasing rumble. Certainly pleasant in contrast to the high-pitched screams rising from the front of the crowd.
Raikou followed the human as he pushed his way forward, making use of his considerable bulk to clear a path.
One of Raikou’s little cousins, a blue-and-yellow thunder dog, was huddled on the ground. Sparks leaped wildly from his spiked head. A miserable whining emitted from his throat.
“He’s over-eaten, the idiot,” Raikou commented, just as the human beside her murmured, “Poor lad, you’ve got surplus charge.”
They eyed each other in mutual surprise. Raikou hadn’t realized humans understood the complexities of an ion-based diet.
“Do you . . . like electric types?” she asked tentatively.
“I do!” rumbled the broad-bellied human. “Their beauty, grace, and power are unmatched in the pokemon world!”
If she’d had fur, it would have risen in pride at the flattery. Here was one human, at least, possessed of clear sight.
Raikou watched as he called out a tiny electric scavenger and approached the unhappy thunder dog. Crouching, he reached out a hand and rubbed it gently across the electric sacs on the dog’s cheeks. The touch seemed firm and skillful. Raikou let out a small sigh, wishing she was the recipient of what looked to be a very competent massage.
“My friend, calm yourself. Magnemite here can help you with your static charge.”
At his words, the little scavenger shot forward eagerly, beginning to drain power from the thunder dog. Raikou winced. That kind of draining was sure to leave a pounding headache.
But as she watched, she noticed that the scavenger wasn’t drawing at full capacity. It was taking just enough to ease the manectric’s pain, without depleting the sacs.
Raikou clamped down a surge of reluctant admiration. This human certainly knew how to please electric types.
She started when he spoke to her suddenly. “I’m Wattson, by the way. I don’t think I caught your name . . ?”
“Rai—” she began to respond, before catching herself. If she claimed her true name in this pitiful form, surely she’d be laughed out of town!
Wattson mistook her pause for completion. “Rai? An unusual name. Doesn’t that mean ‘heavens’ over in the Rosiya region? Certainly has a spark to it, that’s for sure!” He looked back at the thunder dog. “I need to get this one back to my gym for further treatment. If you’d like to come along—my tea’s not so good, but I make a shockingly tasty shortbread.”
He chortled, a deep sound that emanated richly from his full belly. Raikou noticed the becoming way his jowells quivered. They were coated with white, bristling hair. She wondered what it would feel like to rub her own cheeks against his.
As he stood, their shoulders gently brushed, sending a tingle down Raikou’s spine. She went stiff. That had felt like an electric spark!
Could—could this have been what the Life-Bringer intended? Was this the way to regain her coursing power?
“I will go,” Raikou decided.
As she followed him down the streets of Mauville, her heart was blazing thunder in her chest.
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