Raticate has a minion!

The Lost the Zodiac Rat Spirit

This was it. I couldn't see the outcome any other way... I was going to win the affection of that female Raticate today! She wasn't a typical Raticate; she was very mellow compared to most and only seemed to care about creating things with her ever-growing fangs, instead of destroying or chewing through things to just chew through things. So, I had taken the time to watch her from afar and picked up a thing or two. No one knew how strong she really was, as she never got into any fights, but that was a part of the pull for why so many male Raticates were trying to win her over. That, and they just didn't like being turned down.

Cradled in my paws was a carefully self-chewed wooden Rattata. It didn't look as immaculate as what the female Raticate was capable of, but, I had done my best on it. I was subconsciously grinding my teeth with nervousness as I approached the female as she sat at the edge of a small body of water. Upon hearing me, she briefly side-eyed him before gazing back into the water, fidgeting with some unknown item in her paws. I cautiously approached her, inching slowly towards her until we were almost side-by-side. She hadn't given me another look, and now that I was closer, I could see her using her claws to scratch some finer detail into an already gorgeous-looking carving of a Magikarp. A couple of bubbles rose to the surface of the water, at which point I noticed a Magikarp hovering near the surface, almost as if it were looking at the female Raticate expectantly. Then it dawned on me: she had probably been carving and etching details into this piece for said Magikarp. I didn't understand it at the time, but I let her finish her thing, toss it into the water, and see the Magikarp leap out of the water, swim circles around the sinking figure, and ultimately disappear. The female Raticate looked expectantly at the water for a bit, her whiskers twitching, before sitting back down with a sort of sigh. It was then that I cautiously stretched out my paws, holding my own figurine. It was my best attempt at a Raticate. I wasn't entirely satisfied with it, but I didn't have much practice. It took her a moment to notice, but she tilted her head slightly as she looked at what I held. I set it down and looked to the side, feeling my face warm up from embarrassment. However, she took the figure after a few more moments and hugged it, followed by a smile and a quick nuzzle. If it hadn't been for my fur, I'm sure I would have been considered an unhealthy shade of red for a few moments. She scampered off quickly; unsure of what to do, I continued to sit there, hoping she wasn't just taking my gift and running off. However, she paused underneath a tree, looked back over her shoulder and motioned with her tail for me to follow. Well, who was I to say no to that? This was going a lot more smoothly than I had planned -- of course I was going to follow her!

I know it's saying a bit much, but... it was almost like we were meant for each other. Some of the other male Raticates grew jealous and would oftentimes challenge me. In the beginning, I wasn't much of a fighter and wound up getting my tail beat pretty bad -- but she'd always bring me a stash of berries that would make me feel better. Just knowing that she cared enough about me any time another male would re-challenge me or a new one would pop up to challenge me, kept me going. It got to the point where we began using landmarks to mark our territory. Any time I'd find another Raticate or some unruly Rattata in the area, I'd engage them instead of the other way around. As my battle prowess grew, so did my ability to make better figurines. Though, I must say... my crafting prowess grew at a much slower rate than my battle prowess. But, it got to the point where what I made were more recognizable. She kept the first figurine I gave her in our den, alongside a figurine resembling me stuck in a large bubble -- to commemorate the time I got stuck inside a massive bubble attack from a stronger-than-it-looked Chinchou shortly after we met. She had to rescue me from that one, and she's never going to let me live that one down.

Things were going great! I remember sensing she was a little more moody than usual, so that night I slept outside the den and went foraging for some of her favorite berries to see if that would cheer her up. But, when I came back -- there was an egg waiting, and what I could only describe as the proudest female Raticate I've ever seen. We were going to raise a Rattata of our own! That was probably one of the happiest days of my life. It wasn't but a few weeks later when it hatched, and out came the cutest little Rattata I ever did see. She picked up on her mom's crafting, and wound up being almost a bit of a bully, but didn't know when she should pick fights, as on more than one occasion I had to step in to help her out and carry her back to our den. Thankfully, she outgrew that stage after a couple too many poor experiences with some of the local Spearow. Around the time I taught her to fish and she got her first catch, another egg appeared in our den. And, another few weeks later, we had another Rattata to add to our family. This time, a little male. I had high hopes for him, but he was neither interested in creating things with his teeth like his mother was, nor was he good at battling. Now, his ability was Run Away, and he used it every chance he could to avoid confrontation. This stunted his ability to look after himself and as we all grew older, he found himself being rescued by his older sister more and more. He did have a knack for befriending the strangest Pokemon, though. He was a lover, not a fighter. He made other Pokemon that felt like outcasts feel, well, not like an outcast. He'd help injured Pokemon and play with Pokemon much younger than him that were just looking for someone to play with.

But, this was not to last. We awoke early in the morning and there was just something different about the air. It was extremely tense and... ominous. It gave me the chills and I worried for my family's safety. I quietly peered out of our den and began sniffing and looking cautiously around. There was no wind and things were dead quiet. Not even distant calls from Pokemon that were up at all hours disturbed the air. I didn't like this one bit -- but wasn't sure what to do about it. Then, a sight in the distance caught my eye -- something glowing orange and.... purple? The more I stared, the deeper my heart sank and the more my stomach hurt. It looked to be like a massive ball of fire cloaked in psychic energy hurtling through the air, getting closer by the second. It was aimed in our general direction... no. There were others trailing behind it, each at a slightly different angle. What was the meaning of this?! Finally snapping out of it, I dashed back in our den and quickly woke up our children and the love of my life. I motioned for all of them to urgently follow me. Though they were all groggy, they caught the urgency in my actions and followed me to the entrance of the den, where they, too, were enthralled by the balls of fire surrounded by psychic energy in the sky. She gave me a look as to say, 'What do we do?' -- I didn't know. Something was very wrong about not only this, but the world around us in general. But, before we could devise a plan to escape or stay put, everything turned chaotic.

All at once, it was like the entire world woke up -- and began moving at full-speed. All at once, cries from every known Pokemon in the area erupted at once, causing us to cover our ears momentarily and shrink back from the sheer volume of it. Then, the ground began to tremble and the air began to stir -- Pokemon from every which direction began, as best as I can describe, stampeding. Not all of them were going in the same direction -- they were in a panic, going any direction but there. With one of the massive balls of flame nearing our location, all Pokemon were in a panic. Get out of here, somewhere, anywhere but here. At first, it was the smaller and swifter Pokemon. But soon, the larger Pokemon came frantically hopping, galloping, and running by -- and by then, it was too late for us to try to safely navigate away from here. I had to use a Quick Attack to get our Rattatas out of the way safely to avoid being trampled by a group of panicked Stantler. And that's when we decided to just dig our heels in our den. I could dig to an extent, but didn't know that as an actual attack, so I was considerably slower at it -- however, the female Raticate knew it, as did our male Rattata, so they both got to work with a mutual understanding of how dire the situation was. Someone, or something, was trying to cause mass destruction, and we didn't know when it would reach where we were. Surely digging a deeper den would shelter us a little bit? And be better than trying to navigate the masses outside? Our female Rattata was pacing and hopping back and forth anxiously, looking back to the entrance of our den and back to the tunnels the female Raticate and our male Rattata were making. They were fairly small tunnels, barely big enough to accommodate myself and the female Raticate, especially the ones made by the Rattata. But, we couldn't afford to be picky. As long as we could go one way down them, it should be sufficient. After what seemed like hours, we heard the cries of them feeling safe enough to call us down, and I immediately shoved our female Rattata in first. I glanced back at the entrance to our den and, after looking at it for a moment, dashed back and did some quick work on the entrance, causing it to collapse in on itself. I then used the only source of light I knew of -- my Flame Wheel -- and began heading deep into the tunnels to accompany the female Raticate and our two Rattatas.

I can't say how long we waited. Days, possibly? We hadn't thought to try to bring any food down with us, so we were starting to get pretty hungry. I was exhausted from using my Flame Wheel for light almost constantly and trying to help keep watch for anything unusual, be it Pokemon or otherwise. Despite how exhausted I was, I made my way out of the tunnels and back toward our original den. The rumbling and distant cries above us had faded long ago. I wasn't sure what to expect when I got to our original den, but... I was trying to prepare myself for anything. With a final heave, I made it back into the more spacious den. With a sigh of relief, I ceased my Flame Wheel, knowing our den like the back of my paw, and continued forward toward the earth I had caused to pile up in front of our entrance. After a few moments of digging, I managed to create a hole big enough for me to poke my head through, but froze as soon as I stuck my head out. What greeted my sight and nose was eerie and unusual; the sky was a medium purple color. Some of the trees around our den were on fire, almost like they were on a short loop of burning up, while others remained untouched. The ground was partially charred in some spots, but like the trees, also untouched in others. There was light in the sky, but I wasn't sure if that would be considered the sun. Though the sights were eerie, what greeted my nose was a mix of a lot of things -- the smell of things that had been burned, both plants and... Pokemon... but also the scent of berries would randomly waft my way from what seemed like every direction. There wasn't much sound and, from what I could tell, absolutely no wind. Things were very odd, but this time, not in an impending doom way like they had been. Snapping out of it, I wriggled myself out of the hole, and began cautiously wandering around. First and foremost, toward the small pond near our den.

The pond was in a sorry state. There were several dead and burned-up trees that had partially fallen in, and the water was an unusual tint. It did smell fine though, so I decided to test it out. I shuddered at the taste, but, it was refreshing. When nothing happened, I took some more sips and eventually was able to ignore the taste. Now that I had water out of the way -- I had my senses set on trying to find a viable source of food. And since things seemed to be out of whack for smell, I couldn't rely on following my nose like I usually did. Instead, I began wandering around our territory, looking for a non-burning tree or bush where any berries might be. As I continued, I found several Pokemon laying about, not moving, of various sizes and ages. It was almost like they hadn't found somewhere safe to be when whatever it was that happened, happened. I felt like I was trespassing and being disrespectful, but I wasn't going to take my time to pay respects to and bury each one -- something I was glad I decided not to do as I continued wandering. What I found strange though, was it was like all the bushes had been picked clean of fruit. Perhaps there were other survivors? But whether they were friendly or not was the real question. I was going to have to venture outside of our territory to find food.

I'm not sure how much longer I wandered around for a food source, but eventually found some berries that seemed like they hadn't been lost to the destruction and had not yet been touched by those looking for food. I grabbed as much of a handful as I could, shoved a few in my mouth, and quickly began scampering back towards my den, hoping to not run into any other Pokemon. Much to my gratitude, I did not confront any. However, the closer back to my den I got, the more I got an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach, almost like when I first saw the destruction in the sky ready to rain down upon us. It got to a point where I simply dropped all of the berries I had been carrying and used a Quick Attack to make it back to my den. I paused at the entrance, seeing a non-Raticate or Rattata set of foot prints outside of it -- and a much bigger hole than the one I had come out of. In a panic, I darted into the den, calling out for the female Raticate and our Rattatas. Silence. Once I made it to where they had been waiting, I was greeted with nothing by emptiness... and a bit of blood. I followed the trail -- leading down tunnels we hadn't made. Another Pokemon's doing? But what would it be doing here? And whose blood did that belong to? In what felt like was a race against time, I pressed on -- but was met with a dead end. A tunnel led out into the open and below was a small river, likely where the culprit went as an attempt to not be tracked. Outside this entrance and close to the river's bank, was the first figurine I had made for the female Raticate. Tears welled up in my eyes as I hurled myself down toward the bank in an emotional fit of rage. I picked it up and held it close to my chest, wailing loudly like the fool I was. I should have known better than to leave them alone. I should have not wandered as far. I was so stupid, stupid, stupid...

Despite trying to follow the river both ways for several days straight, I never found a trace of my family. I still hadn't eaten and was exhausted. I was going to have to come to terms that I would never see them again. I didn't want to, but what chance did I have of finding them in my condition, let alone alive? Slim to none, I would think. Emotionally and physically drained, I wandered like a zombie alongside the river until, eventually, I collapsed, grasping the figurine tightly. As I slipped into unconsciousness, it was the last thing I saw.

Much to my surprise, I woke up. But, I was in a very unfamiliar place. I jolted up and was immediately on edge -- things here seemed to smell relatively normal, and above I could see stone and a little bit of sky here and there -- and it wasn't purple. Where was I? Looking frantically around, I didn't see the figurine anywhere. I didn't care about anything else as, in that moment, that was all I had left of my family, and I was desperate to have it. I was approached quietly by a Grumpig, who cautiously held out his own hands; in them, was the the figurine. I quickly snatched it and turned on the defensive. However, the Grumpig bowed his head and began backing away, as though he meant no harm. Though I was confused, after watching him for a moment, I started looking around at things in more detail. There were a few other Pokemon here. A group of misfits at best from what I could tell -- Pokemon of various typing, stages, and ages. Come to find out, this was like a little oasis. One of the few places untouched or barely touched by the destruction that had gone on around us. It was protected by a few stronger Pokemon. There weren't many of us, but they all considered it home and would protect it as best they could.

It wasn't the family I had hoped to find in the slightest, but... maybe, just maybe... this group of Pokemon would be enough to help keep me from losing my mind to the darkness that had begun to cloud it after the loss of my other family. I couldn't help my own family because of my own failure to realize what was going on, but perhaps I could offer to be useful and help protect this new group of Pokemon.

the Mouse Pokémon

"Gnaws on anything with its tough fangs. It can even
topple concrete buildings by gnawing on them."

"It whittles its constantly growing fangs by gnawing on hard things. It can chew apart cinder walls."

"With its long fangs, this surprisingly violent Pokemon can gnaw away even thick concrete with ease."

"Its hind feet are webbed, so it’s a strong swimmer. It can cross rivers and sometimes even oceans."

"Its disposition is far more violent than its looks would suggest. Don’t let your hand get too close to its face, as it could bite your hand clean off."

"Its whiskers are essential for maintaining its balance. No matter how friendly you are, it will get angry and bite you if you touch its whiskers."

---

Gender: Male
Type: Normal
Level: 49
Ability: Guts - Attack is increased by 50% when induced with a status (BURN, PARALYZE, SLEEP, POISON, FREEZE). Burn’s effect of lowering Attack is not applied.
Attacks: Flame Wheel, Quick Attack, Pursuit, Crunch
Nature: Bold

BG found wallpapercave
Story by me
Layout by Lea
Adopted from PDG