I gotta know, was Raizy in a way a beta version of Rhea initially? There’s a buncha fun overlaps that make me think that from the ears, long tail, snake friends/heritage, etc!
Top: Tobias Denkou, Samantha Kailum, and Raizy from A Raichu's Tale, 2002
Bottom: Toby and Sammy Kailum with others in Slightly Damned page 523, 2012
Oh, Raizy is absolutely a prototype of Rhea. She even died and came back to life once in the fanfiction I wrote. Shortly after that happened, I lost interest in writing the series. It was becoming less about Pokemon and more like an original fantasy story, and stopped feeling fulfilling to create. Wouldn't you know it, just a few years later, my interest shifted to making a original story that was entirely my own-- Slightly Damned! Several characters and concepts from that old fanfiction were remixed and reused in Slightly Damned. Samantha Kailum and her Hukai friend Toby were the main Pokemon trainers in that old fanfic. It was fun to reference my old work so directly, even though only I and like one friend of mine would understand it.
