Chapter Text
He looked out through the window. Why had he agreed to this? Anyone else could’ve delivered this damn egg. Why’d the professor insisted that he had to be the one to bring it? It wasn’t fair. He’d just wanted to continue his journey. He’d just wanted to see Galar. But now he was stuck on an aeroplane, eighteen hours away from home, flying away from the place he wanted to be at.
They’d flown over the Galar region many hours ago, ever since then only flying above the ocean. Now he could finally see something other than water - islands. More precisely the Islands of Alola.
“See that, Pikachu?” The boy said as he nudged the Pokémon laying in his lap. “That’s where we’re going.”
“Finally,” The Pikachu said, moving a bit so as to not fall down onto the floor. The movement accidentally posted the egg onto its side, and Ash hurried to catch it before it had time to roll out of his lap. Putting it back in its spot beside Pikachu, he pet him, as if to tell him to stop moving around so much. The Electric Mouse Pokémon yawned as he pushed the boy’s hand away. He sounded tired; and rightfully so. Flying from Kanto to Alola took a long time. About 19 hours, and with the jet lag on top of that, it was a lot. He was tired as well, and even though he’d attempted to sleep multiple times, he’d failed each and every one.
Pikachu, on the other hand, had fallen asleep after just an hour, and was asleep again by the time they landed. So maybe it wasn’t that fair that he was the one acting tired. But Ash was too tired to care.
He threw on his backpack before he tried to pick up Pikachu as carefully as he could with one hand, whilst holding the Pokémon egg in his other. The raven-haired boy stepped out from his seat and into the aisle, falling in behind a lady with a long, blond braid and began the slow walk out of the aeroplane.
Once out of the airport, he began to look for his hotel. He thought back to Professor Oak, and how he’d said he’d booked a room for him. But what’d he called the hotel? The boy couldn’t remember. Melee Hotel? No, that’d make no sense at all. Melemele Hotel? Maybe… But then again, that was just the name of the island, so surely that couldn’t be right?
Lost in thought, the young boy walked straight into someone. Pikachu woke up with a yelp, and during a split second he looked like he could’ve shocked someone, before he gathered himself and resorted to just climbing up onto his trainer’s shoulder. Ash, not expecting to crash into someone, was startled as well.
“I’m sorry! Are you alright?” he blurted out.
“I’m okay,” the stranger responded, and corrected his clothes. He was a man, wearing a large, brown coat and a big hat that failed to cover up his pale purple hair. When Ash thought about it, he kinda looked like a detective.
“I’m gla-'' He started, but the boy was quickly cut off.
“But you know what you could do to make it up for me?” The strange man asked, looking far too intrigued.
“What...?” He was starting to regret ever talking to this man. He should’ve just kept walking.
“I kinda like that Pikachu of yours-” Ash could guess where he was going with this. And he was not going to comply.
“No way! He’s mine!” He could see how the strange man frowned before he sprung forward and grabbed Pikachu from his shoulder. Slow from sleep deprivation, and with the egg still in his hands, Ash could only watch as the man quickly ran off, shouting.
“I’ve got him!” Ash barely heard the confused response of “who?” before Pikachu used thunderbolt on the thief. The man lost his grip on the tired Pokémon with a scream, before collapsing onto the ground. A lady and her (he assumed it was hers, anyway) Meowth ran towards the man.
“James! What are you doing? Didn’t you say you had something?”
James... Why did that name sound so familiar? But he had no time to think about it, because he’d just lost Pikachu to the crowd. Panic flaring up in his chest, the boy ran away from the strangers and into the crowd, hopefully heading in the general direction of his lost Pokémon.
It didn’t take long for him to realise that it would be a lot harder to find his partner than he had originally thought.
— — —
He had not entirely caught onto what was happening before he was violently snatched from his trainers' shoulder. It took him a good five seconds before he remembered that he was, in fact, a Pokémon. Once he did, the solution became obvious, and he let out as strong a Thunderbolt as he could manage in his sluggish state. Naturally, whomever was holding him dropped him, but he was instead sent flying through the air, which, in his opinion, was equally bad.
Heaps of people moved around him as he desperately tried to straighten and land on all fours. Before he managed to, he somehow fell into in some kind of box, which was swiftly shut before he’d even had time to understand what’d happened.
Laying there, it was really uncomfortable, and that you kind of have to expect when you’re locked in a box, but he was really not in the mood right now. The floor was moving around, suggesting that he was laying on something , but it was almost pitch black in the box, and he couldn’t tell what. Still, whatever it was, it was not steady at all. The Pokémon stood up, barely managing to keep his balance as he futually tried to push up the cover of the box.
While desperately trying to set himself free, he felt how the box began moving - more than just the wobbly floor previously had. Strangely, it kinda felt like when he rode along with Ash on his Tauros. Just a lot more unstable. Irregular movement made him lose his balance, and he fell over with a yelp.
That’s when he decided that he would just resort to shouting. Not that he expected anyone to understand what he was saying, but they might hear him, and realise that he’d gotten kidnapped.
After what felt like hours of screaming, he had to stop and catch his breath. What was Ash doing? Had he not seen him get stolen? He hadn’t done anything to intervene, to try and save him. Or had he? Pikachu’d been too groggy to see.
Of course, the moment he went quiet was the moment when they finally slowed down. So, with a sore throat and a low mood, he resumed his screaming. To his surprise, it actually seemed to do the trick, because they slowed down to a halt.
Someone opened the lid of the box, and let out a surprised yelp when Pikachu immediately threw himself out of it, feeling like he should’ve almost sprained his ankle from the hasty jump off the unstable ground, and ran away in a random direction, sparing a glance behind him. It was indeed a Tauros, with the box he’d been stuck in attached to the side of its saddle. A girl stood beside it and stared, confused, after the Mouse Pokémon, seemingly wondering what events had led up to this point in her life.
Pikachu used Escape, he joked to himself, the enemy is confused!
Pikachu ran through a forest, with different shades of green and brown flashing in front of his eyes. He didn’t know where he was going. He just wanted to find Ash again.
The Pokémon silently damned himself from running away from the girl. And from the path. Maybe he could’ve followed it back. He supposed that he could just go back.
While considering whether or not that’d be a good idea, and whether he’d even be able to find his way back, the forest suddenly ended. He crashed out onto something akin a schoolyard.
It had a big house that resembled a school, seemingly with multiple floors, and a few small towers. The garden wasn’t that bad either. There was a pool with water next to a high tree with a ladder. He assumed you were supposed to jump from the tree. They also had something that resembled a baseball plan, just a tad smaller. And the Pokémon that just roamed around, either close to or literally on the schoolyard. He supposed he’d be welcome as well.
Hadn’t Ash said he was supposed to bring the Pokémon egg to a school? Then he’d probably come here as well. He hoped that there’d be someone willing to help him somewhere around here.
The yard looked more or less empty, spare for the Pokémon, a few children and maybe one adult, so presumably everyone was in class. Pikachu, swiftly making the decision to interrupt someone's class, began walking toward the big house.
Right as he decided to go into whichever classroom was the closest, he caught sight of a room, not too far away, with five humans, whom he assumed were students, sitting behind five individual desks.
At the far wall of the room was a man wearing an open lab coat, with no shirt underneath. The man Pikachu assumed was their teacher stood and wrote something on a board.
The wall towards the outside wasn’t a wall, but purely a fence. Great.
The yellow Pokémon slipped into the room between two fence poles, and started walking towards the man by the board. While weaving between the tables, he accidentally stroked against one of the students - a blond girl with two long braids, a white dress and a big white hat. At the touch of him she jumped up and screamed. Caught off guard, he quickly backed up. That, he was not prepared for.
“Lillie! What’s wrong?” The man without a shirt yelled. And Pikachu understood him fairly well. Ash’d taught himself and Pikachu Galarian, since he’d originally wanted to go to Galar, and the languages seemed similar enough. Ash’d also quickly started to try and teach himself whatever language they spoke here during the short time they’d had to prepare before their flight as well as on the flight. Pikachu hadn’t really cared that much, though. They were only staying here for a few days anyway.
And like all the other languages he’d learned, many words sounded similar to the other languages. It was helpful, you didn’t need to learn too much prior to moving.
“A- a Pokémon!” She stuttered while pointing at him, visibly panicking. Arceus, had she never seen a Pikachu before?
“It’s a wild Pikachu!” Pikachu swiftly turned his attention towards the new voice. It came from a short, ginger boy, wearing a yellow collar with a Pikachu tail. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. He shook his head at the thought of it. No, he couldn’t think like that. Ash was bound to come here, sooner or later. He just had to be patient and deal with those kids as calmly as possible. The ginger boy continued. “Those are rare!”
“Shouldn’t it be with its flock?” A girl with green hair had come up to look at him. Crouching down, she pointed an uncertain finger at the Pikachu.
“Do you think it's an outcast?” A blue-haired girl said.
“It might just be lost,” a tall, dark-skinned guy with black and red hair said. This boy wasn’t wearing a shirt either. Was that a thing about people in Alola? They refused to wear shirts?
The ginger boy who’d previously pointed him out came over, hands out as if he wanted to pick him up. Pikachu’s patience was running dry, and he sparkled threateningly at the boy.
“No one touch it,” the teacher warned his students. “Wild Pokémon are unpredictable, it might shock you.” Yeah. Yeah, I just might.
Not knowing what else to do, he walked over to the teacher's desk, jumped up on it, and sat down to await Ash’s arrival. He forced himself to calm down. Now was not the time to threaten people, especially people who might help him find Ash.
Now that he had a better view of the room, he saw that the girl who was apparently called Lillie had calmed down a bit as well.
“What are we going to do with it, professor?” the green-haired girl asked.
“Let’s leave it be for now, it might leave before long. And if it doesn't, it probably will after school’s over. It might have a flock that’s too scared to come and pick it up when we’re here.” Everyone seemed more or less content with this as they carried on with their lesson.
Sometime later the students went on break, leaving him alone with the professor. Why wasn’t Ash here yet? He was tired and hungry, and just wanted to reunite with his trainer. He missed him.
The break ended, and the students came back inside. Whilst wondering whether he dared take a nap or not, Lillie spoke up.
“Do you think it’s hungry? It might be staying here because it can’t find food by itself.”
“That’s a good idea! Can’t we give it something to eat?” Another student agreed. Kukui thought for a moment, before coming to his conclusion.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll go get some, and we can try. Now, don’t bother it- I'm looking at you two, Sophocles, Lana.” The teacher turned and left the classroom leaving him and the students alone.
As soon as their teacher was out of sight, they all walked up to him, with Lillie staying farther away, kind of behind the others.
“It’s so cute! Do you think it’d be nice to pet?”
“Of course! It’s all furry!”
“Should I do it?”
“Yeah, try it.” Right as the words were said, a hand reached out for him. He was conflicted about what to do. On one hand, he really didn’t want to be petted, but on the other, he couldn’t just shock these children. They wouldn’t allow him back in.
While he was busy thinking, the hand stoked down his back. He had to admit, it wasn’t that bad, but then again, he’d rather not have them do that again.
“It’s super soft! You should try it!” Pikachu watched in horror as four hands came towards him, stroking his fur and cupping his face. He writhed, trying to escape the hands of the children. Why were they like this? They couldn’t be much older than Ash, if they were any older at all. They all looked like they were between 14 and 16. Ash was better than this at ten.
Didn’t anyone teach you not to mess with wild Pokémon? It’s a miracle that you’re not dead yet.
Luckily for him, the professor returned at the right moment, taking one look at the students, sighing, and walked over to him, saving him from the children.
“What did I say about bothering the Pikachu?” He didn’t sound as angry as Pikachu had expected, but the children pulled away from him, so, mission succeeded, he supposed. The professor was holding a pack of some Pokémon food that he’d never seen before. Supposedly, it was some kind that only existed in the Alola region. Many regions had some food that was only common there. He poured it into a bowl, and put it onto the desk.
“Here you go, little guy,” the professor said as he put it down.
“ This Little guy could probably beat your entire team by himself, ” he grumbled, not liking how he acted like he’d just evolved yesterday.
Still, he picked up a pellet from the bowl, and hesitantly put it in his mouth. All the kids, and their teacher looked at him expectantly, as he slowly began chewing. Hopefully they hadn’t poisoned him.
But the food did taste good. Picking up his pace, he began eating the rest of the food, while looking at the humans' relieved faces.
“It looks like it was hungry,” Lillie said.
“It liked the food as well!” the green-haired one said.
“How could you not? It’s made from Alolan crops after all,” the ginger boy chirped in. After a few seconds of silence, the professor started talking.
“So. You were petting it?” The kids shuffled a bit awkwardly, before the blue haired one answered him, not looking as awkward as the rest.
“We had to! It was so cute!” Her eyes were basically sparkling. The professor let out a little laugh.
“It’s fine. I’m just surprised it let you.” No, it wasn’t fine. And he barely had a choice. “What did you think about it, then?”
“It was really soft!”
“Yeah! And squishy!”
“Girl, don’t call me squishy.” He was promptly ignored.
“Can’t you catch it? We can have it as our class mascot!”
“Yeah! Please?” No. Never. He belongs to Ash! They can’t catch him just like that!
“Now, now. It probably has a family and a flock. It’s probably only here to get some food.” Yeah, get your Arceus-damned Pokéballs away from me, he thought.
“But what if it actually is an outcast?” No.
“It’ll probably be gone in the morning anyways.”
“But what if it’s not?” Oh boy, he was going to be so gone. Ash must be close by now.
“Yeah! Can we catch it then?” No. Don’t. But, to him, it didn’t matter what they thought. He was convinced that he was going to be gone by then.
“Well see about that,” he laughed. Pikachu was kinda starting to get worried, suddenly unsure whether he’d be able to win over this guy without Ash. Hitting his Pokéballs away wouldn’t be much of a problem, but if he started fighting him...
— — —
The day had continued on as he assumed was normal for the students, apart from the Pokémon lying and taking up space on the teacher's desk.
The students had called out their Pokémon towards the last few lessons. Turns out they were all Pokémon trainers. All of them but Lillie. A bit strange, but he’d just shrugged and started inspecting the Pokémon.
The blue-haired one had one called Popplio, apparently a water type. It kinda looked like a tiny, dark blue, Seel. He recognized it from Ash’s Pokédex. His trainer had scrolled through it on the plane, looking at the different Pokémon in Alola.
Green-hair had a tiny one called Bounsweet, a grass type that looked like a berry. It also smelled amazing.
The ginger boy had a Togedemaru. It had looked at him with an interested look, kind of like Team Rocket's Meowth, but less dangerous. If you could call Team Rocket dangerous, that is. He’d glared at the electric type Pokémon and it’d left him alone.
The shirtless guy with black and red hair had a Turtonator, and once the students left school to go home, Pikachu’d found out that he also owned a Charizard. A fire type trainer, then.
All the Pokémon, except for the Togedemaru, had gone up to him, and started trying to talk to him. Unsure of whether he could trust them, he’d refused to spill anything.
(“ So, what kind of Pokémon are you? ”
“ A Pikachu, can't you see that? ”
“ Of course. Do you have a trainer or something? ” He glared at the Bounsweet. “ Or a flock? ” she continued. He kept his mouth shut.
“ He doesn't seem very talkative, ” the Popplio said. No shit. The Bounsweet didn’t seem bothered though, and kept on trying to make him talk.
After way too long she finally gave up, and left him alone with a disappointed face.)
Now, the day had ended and the school was more or less empty, apart from a few teachers and janitors. When the teacher without a shirt had left for the day, he’d shot him one last, almost apologetic glance before turning to leave and walking out of the classroom.
Where are you, Ash? He thought. The raven-haired boy hadn’t shown up under the day, and Pikachu was starting to get worried. The island wasn’t that big, was it? He remembered how he’d gotten lost from Ash in the beginning of their Sinnoh journey. Ash had found him then, though with the help of Dawn. He could do it again, Pikachu would just have to be patient. It’d be fine.
The mouse Pokémon began exploring the school in an attempt at calming himself down. Turns out there wasn’t a single window with glass.
Does it never get cold here?
The school was big, it did, just like he suspected, have multiple floors and, at the top of a tower, a clock. He thought about it and realised that he had heard it. It rang when the school day ended. He looked at the clock. How did it ring? It was empty, just hanging on a thick bamboo stick.
He shook his head. No, just accept it. Too confusing to think about. It could, and that’s that. Deal with it.
While walking around he accidentally came across one of the janitors. He fought to stay relaxed. He couldn’t afford to be thrown out, not now. Ash must come here soon. He was so close to reuniting with him.
Surely Pokémon came and went as they wanted here, he mused, trying to calm himself. They had open windows for Arceus sake. There’s no way that they kept all the Pokémon out.
But maybe at night- maybe this janitor doesn't like Pikachu. He shook his head. Stop. He quickly gathered himself (somewhat), and looked up at the janitor.
“ Hi” he said, expecting her to at least kind of get what he meant with it. Even though he’d never met anyone who could understand Pokémon like Ash, most people still got simple things. Kind of like how someone from Kanto could understand someone saying hello in Kalosian, even though the words were different. And it seemed like she did.
“Hi, little guy. What are you doing here?” She asked him. He scoffed. Little guy.
“Waiting for someone,” he answered, knowing very well that she wouldn’t get it. It was comforting in a way.
“You get on your way then,” she smiled. He smiled back, and kept on walking. Ash would be here in the morning. He had to be. Pikachu wasn't sure that he’d be able to survive with those annoying kids much longer. And he was thirsty. Why hadn’t that professor given him water as well?
Walking around a corner, he saw a door that looked like it might lead to a bathroom. There’d be water in there. He jumped and grabbed the door handle. Nothing happened. A pull door? He tried pressing his feet against the wall next to the door, slowly sliding down. Nothing happened. Probably locked then.
After trying this process three more times, failing each and every time, he finally gave up. No water for him then. He’d just have to wait until Ash came and picked him up.
Slowly walking back to the classroom, he looked out through the glass-less windows. It was dark outside, but still surprisingly warm. He supposed that’s what it was like in tropical places. The yard looked spooky and completely abandoned.
The Pikachu walked into the dark classroom, faintly making out a framed photo of the students he’d met and their teacher. They seemed to be having fun, with the photo being a bit chaotic. Ash could probably make friends with them.
No, he thought. Ash would never make friends with the people who considered catching you.
He became friends with Dawn, though. And they didn’t really hurt you. They took care of you, they fed you.
Still-
Why would you not want him to?
Why would I?
They kept you safe.
I could have kept myself safe. He stopped himself there. Arceus damn it. He was going crazy. Arguing with yourself? No way. The Pokémon slumped onto the professors’ desk, accidentally pushing a few things onto the floor, and tipping some others over. But he was too tired to care. Too tired and too thirsty.
---
“Look Mallow! The Pikachu’s still here!” Pikachu grumbled something before opening his eyes to stare at the blue-haired girl, who stood right by him, and at the green haired girl, apparently called Mallow, who was half-running towards him.
“Oh yeah! It actually is!”
Yeah. Yeah, I actually am. It’s too bad, really, he thought, though he said nothing out loud. The Pokémon stood up, stretching and yawning. His entire body ached. Getting tossed around and sleeping on a hard, cold, desk was apparently not good for him. As the two girls moved to pet him, he should have flinched back, trying to escape the hands that’d only make his pain worse, but he was too groggy to think that far, and simply sat down, almost falling asleep again.
Once he’d awakened a bit more, he noticed the shirtless guy with red-striped hair arriving on his Charizard. The boy landed right outside the room, returned his Pokémon and jumped over the fence into the room.
“Hi Mallow, Lana!” he greeted as he landed on the wooden floor.
“Hi Kiawe!” Mallow greeted back, turning from Pikachu, Lana standing beside her, waving and smiling. Kiawes smile faltered a bit as he shifted to look at Pikachu.
“It’s still here?” He questioned, although he clearly knew the answer. He was staring right at it, after all.
“Yup! Isn't it great? Now we might get Kukui to catch it!” Mallow looked so happy. Stop , he thought. You wouldn’t dare.
“No,” was the only thing he said aloud.
“Look!” Lana pointed at the Mouse Pokémon. “It agrees!” Were these kids stupid? Kiawe still looked doubtful, though.
“Right...” He responded at last. Mallow clapped her hands together.
“So. What should we call it?” Lana turned to look at the Pokémon again, seemingly thinking about a good name.
“Can’t we just call it ‘Pikachu’?” Kiawe said, looking a bit annoyed.
“No way! It’s special! It can’t just have a name like all the others!” Kiawe narrowed his eyes, before opening his mouth as if he was going to respond. But before he had time to utter a single word, the ginger boy with his Togedemaru arrived, although through the actual doorway. The Togedemaru ran over to the Popplio and the Bounsweet, both of which apparently standing on a desk further back, while the short boy joined in on the conversation.
“Who can’t just have a name like all what?” He leaned awkwardly against a desk. It was just a little too high for him to do it comfortably. Kiawe looked like he was about to answer as he called out his Turtonator, but Mallow was faster.
“We’re trying to figure out a name for the Pikachu!” She said, looking way too excited.
“Oh,” he said, and for a moment he looked like he was thinking, before he presented his name. “Can’t we just call it ‘Pikachu’?”
“That's what I'm saying! Look,” He pointed at the Ginger boy. “Sophocles agrees with me!”
“You boys are so insensitive,” Mallow accused. Pikachu glared at her. He didn’t want a new name. He wanted to be known as just ‘Pikachu’, as he always had been. But Mallow kept going. “Don’t you think it’d want a unique name? It’s a living thing for Arceus sake!”
“I bet Lillie will agree with us,” Lana added.
“What about Bounsweet and Popplio, then?” Sophocles grumbled. Mallow opened and closed her mouth a few times, probably unable to think of a comeback. Luckily she was saved by the arrival of Lillie.
The girl barely had time to put a foot into the classroom before she was dragged up to the others by Lana. She yelped as the shorter girl grabbed her arm, completely unprepared for the harsh treatment.
“You agree with us, right Lillie?” Mallow had formed it as a question, but Pikachu knew better than to believe that. She was demanding it. The blond girl had no choice. At least, she wasn’t supposed to.
So when the only response she received was a thoroughly confused look, Lana chirped in, explaining what was happening.
“We are trying to figure out a name for the Pikachu,” she said.
“Yeah, and those two guys over there,” she pointed an accusing finger towards the two boys, “think that he should just be called ‘Pikachu’,” the girl finished her sentence and marked it by pouting.
Lillie looked behind her as if she hadn’t realised Pikachu was still there. Upon spotting him she took an anxious step forward.
While waiting for her response he looked at the clock standing on the desk. How hadn’t he noticed it before? Almost 11 o’ clock. And their teacher wasn’t even here yet. What school started that late? This wasn’t a normal school, that was for sure. When Ash had been to school during the short periods they weren’t away journeying, he’d never been allowed to come with him.
His train of thought was broken as Lillie began speaking.
“I think he should have a name,” she said, looking more sure of herself than he’d ever seen her before.
“Yeah! Three against two! We win!” Lana said triumphantly
“Let’s figure out a name then!” The two boys muttered something Pikachu didn’t catch, but looked like they were seriously thinking about it.
After quite a few failed names ( No Sophocles, we’re not naming it ‘Peanut’) , Lillie made her first attempt at a name.
“What if we call it ‘Volt’, because, you know, it’s a Pikachu,” she trailed off a bit towards the end, but she still stood her ground. The others looked between each other, before simultaneously agreeing.
“That's... Actually pretty good.”
“It’s so simple, why didn’t I think about that?”
“That's a great name, Lillie!”
“Yeah! Hi, Volt!” Mallow said as she picked him up, holding her hands right under his arms, pointing him towards herself and lifting him up until he was at the same level as her face. She began to spin around, still holding him securely.
Oh no. This was not good. What have I done to deserve this? Pikachu saw the classroom flashing before his eyes. Fuck his reputation. If they wanted to throw him out because he didn’t like being spun around like he was in some kind of stupid merry-go-round, then so be it. He’d just have to hang around outside the school grounds in wait for Ash.
So, he began thrashing violently, squealing and waving his paws. Noticing this, she stopped and held him close to herself, presumably to try and comfort him. He squirmed, trying to get out of her grip, but she didn’t budge.
This time it was his turn to accidentally get saved by someone. The teacher, apparently called Kukui, stepped into the room.
“Alola, kids!” Hearing the professor's voice, Mallow carefully put him down onto the desk and turned towards the source of it.
“Alola, professor!” they all said, greeting him back. Kukui's gaze fell onto the mess on the floor, before following the desk up, finally locking it onto him. Pikachu had to keep himself from flinching. Man, just stop staring at me .
“Ah. The Pikachu’s still here,” he said, with a hint of- was that disappointment? But why would he look disappointed? He shook his head. It wasn’t important.
“Yeah! We named it as well!”
“Oh?” He looked about as doubtful as Kiawe had when they’d first told him about the whole naming thing. Good. Maybe he can talk some sense into them. “Is that so? What’d you name it to, then?” Of course. Someone being on his side was obviously too much to ask for.
“We decided to call it Volt, since Pikachu is an electric type. It was Lillie’s idea as well!” Mallow said, looking rather proud as she nodded her head towards the blond girl.
“I still think we should just have let it stay as ‘Pikachu’,” Kiawe added. Mallow glared at him and Pikachu snickered. He totally agreed with the boy, but the look she gave him was just too funny.
“Aww.” He felt how someone petted his head and looked up to see Lana standing by him. “It’s just so cute when it laughs.”
“Is it laughing at me?” Kiawe sounded rather offended, which only made his snickering louder. He had to take multiple deep breaths to calm himself down.
Once everyone was calm again, Mallow spoke up.
“So, you know what we talked about yesterday,” she said, fiddling with her fingers. “Can’t you catch it?” Kukui seemed taken aback by this, slightly stuttering while visibly scrambling for an answer.
“I don’t know about that-”
“But pleaseee...” Lana begged.
“It even stayed here. It might want you to catch it!” Sophocles added. “It had all the opportunities to leave, but it didn’t.”
And to Pikachu's dismay, Kukui brought out a Pokéball.
“I suppose it can’t hurt to try,” he said as he sized it up, the familiar sound ringing in the Pokémon’s ears. Even though he’d agreed, Pikachu could hear the uncertainty in his voice.
The mouse Pokémon readied himself, falling onto four legs and turning his entire body until he faced the professor. He had seen his trainer catch (and attempt to catch) Pokémon countless times.
The professor threw the Pokéball and he kept his eyes locked on it as it flew through the air, waiting until it was right by him, quickly spinning around and hitting the ball out of the way with his tail, accidentally knocking a multitude of things over, and onto the floor. Kukui stared at the things, looking like he wanted to comment on it, but then deciding to just shrug.
“Well, there you go. It doesn’t want to be caught.” The students stood with more or less disappointed faces, letting out sad squeals. But Sophocles had something else in mind. The boy stood unsettlingly still, his head leaning into his palm, a frown on his face. Then he suddenly lit up.
“Maybe it wants to battle you. Wild Pokémon does that sometimes, don’t they?” This seemed to catch the attention of Lillie.
“I think I read something like that. ‘Wild Pokémon battle trainers to test their strength before allowing themselves to get caught’. That might be what this one is doing.”
Arceus save me. But Arceus wasn't there. He’d just have to save himself.
“Perhaps...” He still didn’t look too sure about this whole thing.
Pikachu jumped down onto the floor in preparation for what was going to come.
“Look! It’s even preparing for a fight. It obviously wants you to battle it!” He didn’t care to find out who’d said it, because he’d suddenly remembered how thirsty he was.
Deal with it. You’ve beaten worse . He tried to convince himself. It wasn’t working. Because Ash had been there to help him.
The professor, apparently having made up his mind, brought out a Pokéball, resized it and tossed it into the air, out onto the floor, Pikachu never letting it out of sight.
Out of it emerged a Lucario. He stood in a battle pose, looking like he was ready to take on the world. Once he realised that there was no real threat, he calmed down and searched the room for something.
He soon spotted the small Pokémon on the floor, and stared down at it. Pikachu stared back.
“Are- are you my opponent?” It was an honest question. Pikachu glared at him.
“Lucario!” Kukui called out to his Pokémon. Lucario shot him one last glance before walking over to his trainer. The professor said something that Pikachu didn’t catch, and the Lucario nodded, before walking over to him, standing face-to-face. Or at least as face-to-face as they could manage with their height differences. Pikachu lowered his body even closer to the ground, waiting for the Lucario to make the first move.
“Lucario! Use Extreme Speed!” The Steel and Fighting type ran forward, too fast for Pikachu to be able to see him. But they were inside. Take advantage of your environment. Using Quick Attack, the Mouse Pokémon quickly jumped back onto the desk, shoving an old cup of coffee in the general direction of the Lucario, before jumping back onto the floor. The cup hit the target, distracting him for only a second.
“Take this!” He shouted at his foe, charging in, still with Quick Attack, before switching to Iron Tail, aiming for the Pokémons shoulder. But his opponent was too fast, as it sidestepped, and…
“Lucario, use Bone Rush!”
He heard how the students spoke among themselves, but it all blended together as he slammed into a bookshelf, which wasn’t good for his already aching body.
Great. Now he broke my back as well.
He didn’t know what was holding him back. He’d defeated legendaries, he’d defeated ground types with electric type attacks, defying physics . He’d beaten Korrina’s Mega Lucario.
Was he dehydrated? Was he sleep deprived? Was it how his body hurt before he even began fighting? But again, all of those things were stuff he’d gotten through before.
He thought back at how he, back in Kalos, hadn’t even been able to beat team rocket without Ash. How they’d called him weak.
No. He had to win this. For himself, and for Ash. But could he?
The Pokémon shook his head. A battle was no time to think about anything other than battling.
Pikachu narrowly dodged a Pokéball that came flying his way, before firing a Thunderbolt towards his foe, who countered with Dragon Pulse.
“Just give up already! Being caught isn’t that bad! We can end this!” Pikachu wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be a threat, a heads-up or some friendly information, but he knew what he’d take it as.
“Over my dead body!” The Lucario charged in with Close Combat, Pikachu fending off each hit with Iron Tail, using the counterforce to stay in the air. This was a game of endurance, the first one to make a mistake losing the round. But like most games, you had a chance of redemption. A chance of revenge. And as the Lucario finally got to him, hitting him like he was a punching bag, that was exactly what Pikachu was planning to do.