Work Text:
Wake Up
Pikachu could feel his whole world crashing down around him.
He looked at Ash, lying motionless on the ground, turned to stone by attacks from two strange and powerful Pokémon unlike any Pikachu had ever seen before, even though they seemed vaguely familiar. The whole scene was familiar. And yet, Pikachu couldn't even remember how they'd ended up there. All he remembered was that Ash had tried to stop the two Pokémon from fighting, but was hit in the process.
The boy lay stiff, eyes frozen open in fear, not breathing. His body felt cold and hard to the touch when Pikachu tried to shake him awake.
"Pika…" Pikachu whined desperately as he tried shaking Ash harder, but the boy didn't budge, his body was too heavy for Pikachu to even budge him.
Pikachu's paws began to tremble as he continued trying to wake Ash up.
No response.
The Pokémon's cheeks began crackling with electricity as he tried shocking Ash awake. That always worked. But Ash didn't move an inch. The attack had no effect at all.
But it always woke him up… Pikachu just had to try harder.
The two powerful Pokémon, as well as the dozens of other Pokémon around them, stopped fighting to look at Pikachu's petrified trainer.
He tried again, putting more force into the electric attack, like Ash trained him to do. But still nothing. A tiny bit of smoke rose up from Ash's petrified body, the smell of electricity filling the air.
Tears welled up in Pikachu's eyes. He wasn't waking up. What if… what if he…
Pikachu tried again. And again. Each shock stronger than the last. He would melt away the stone to free Ash if he had to. He would do anything to wake him up. Just like Ash would do anything for him, like he always did, even from the very start.
Pikachu didn't like Ash the first time he saw him. He never planned on taking orders from anyone, especially not from a ten-year-old in pajamas. He wanted freedom, not a life fighting for someone he didn't like.
Little had Pikachu known, the greatest freedom he would ever have would be beside this boy on his journey.
Ash wasn't like any other human he'd ever seen. The first difference Pikachu had noticed was that Ash still took him, even after he'd shocked him. Most trainers Professor Oak tried to give him to refused to take him after that.
Then he'd refused to get in his Pokéball. But Ash dragged him along anyway.
Because of Pikachu's disobedience, Ash tried catching a Spearow without his help by picking up a rock and throwing it at the Pokémon.
Bad idea.
The rock had been thrown and Spearow wasn't happy. And because of that, the rest of its flock wasn't happy.
Pikachu only remembered bits and pieces of what happened after.
He was hurt.
They were in a river.
Then on a bike.
Ash was running, breathless, holding him tight, refusing to let him go.
Then they ended up cornered.
Even when hope of escaping danger was gone, Ash still didn't leave him behind. He stood between Pikachu and the huge flock of Spearow, spreading his arms out wide, declaring to the world that he would be a Pokémon Master with such conviction that Pikachu couldn't help but believe him.
Ash, despite the danger, despite the way Pikachu had treated him, didn't leave him behind.
Right then, on that day, Pikachu decided that he would never leave that human behind. No matter what.
No matter what…
And he wouldn't leave him behind now.
By that point, Pikachu had tried shocking Ash numerous times, but to no avail. Pikachu's vision blurred as his head spun, body trembling like he was dying.
Because part of him was.
Pikachu's red cheeks sparked again despite the fatigue and despair building up inside him.
He wasn't going to leave his trainer behind.
Pikachu pushed as hard as he could to release the biggest Thunderbolt he could muster. He promised to both himself and his partner that it would be enough to wake him up. Turned to stone or not.
And, well, technically it worked.
Pikachu's eyes snapped open at the sound of a surprised scream from Ash as his body jerked in his sleeping bag from the shock.
Pikachu stopped his attack and looked around in a panic, breathing frantically. One second ago he was… But now he was…
In Ash's tent?
It was nighttime judging by how dark it was. Had he been dreaming? That couldn't have been a dream, it was all too real. Dreams weren't that vivid.
But if he were back in Ash's tent, then that would mean…
"Ugh," Ash groaned groggily, sitting up, hand on his forehead. "What the heck was that for, Pikachu? It's still nighttime," the boy said, annoyed, eyebrows furrowed.
Pikachu's mouth hung open in shock. Soon, the shock turned to relief. There was no more danger. Ash wasn't turned to stone. He was awake!
"Pika!" Pikachu cried, lunging into his trainer's arms, causing Ash to almost fall back as he nuzzled his face in his trainer's chest.
"Whoa, Pikachu, what's wrong?" Ash asked, his irritation quickly turning into concern as he comfortingly placed his hands on Pikachu. "You're sweating, buddy. Did you have a nightmare?"
Pikachu had a really hard time believing what he had just experienced was a nightmare. It was more like a memory, much too real for it to have just been fake. Could it really have just been dream?
Despite those thoughts, Pikachu just nodded, face still buried in Ash's chest, choosing to just accept it as a dream for the moment.
Ash picked up Pikachu and crossed his legs before setting him back down so that Pikachu was on his lap. When Pikachu looked up, he was smiling softly at him (even though he was still a bit confused) while petting his fur, dump with sweat. "Everything's ok, Pikachu. I'm right here."
"Kachu," Pikachu said, hugging his trainer, listening to him breath. Ash was no longer cold and hard to the touch. He was warm.
"Pikapi, pikachu pika," Pikachu said, gripping Ash's shirt, promising that he would never let him go. The same promise he made to himself so long ago when he decided that this was the human he wanted to spend his life with. Ash just brought Pikachu closer in response. He probably didn't understand the exact words, but he understood the emotion.
This was Pikachu's life. And he wouldn't ever let anything take it away again.
"Pika, chu."
"Haha," Ash scratched Pikachu's head. "Yeah, I love ya too, buddy."