Chapter Text
Pancakes! Who didn’t love pancakes? Swirly sure did! Why did he love pancakes? He had no idea! But did he love them all the same? Of course!
He assumed Lillie didn’t like them much, though. She had been looking at him funny since they had entered this “Hau’oli City” place, and he was beginning to wonder why.
“Swirly, I know this is your first time out in a large group of people, but could be a little more… courteous of your surroundings?”
Swirly cocked his head, confused. Was there something he was missing, or….
“Swirly, you have been bumping into people nonstop since we got here. I know you’re a bit… big … but could at least make an effort to try avoiding people?”
Swirly turned to face Lillie, accidentally swatting another person with his wing in the process. Swirly didn’t quite get what Lillie was saying, since he hadn’t felt anything the whole walk there. Surely if he was bumping into people, he’d notice, right?
Lillie sighed as Swirly turned around again, accidentally knocking another three people over. She made a mental note to work on issues with his personal space.
“Yo yo yo, so you’re that trainer we’ve been told to deal with, aintcha miss?”
Lillie paled as she saw a trio of Team Skull Grunts approaching her. She had heard stories of the gang, but she had hoped not to have to worry about a direct confrontation with them herself.
“Team Skull… what are you doing here?”
The apparent leader of the trio, a blue haired Grunt, pointed at Swirly. “We’ve come for this Pokemon, yo! It’s a rare one… it’s sure to make us some big bucks!”
Lillie grimaced as Swirly screeched in defiance. The three Grunts chuckled as they released their Pokemon, a Salandit, a Garbodor, and a Zubat. The three Pokemon rushed forward to strike Swirly, but before the bat could respond, the attackers were all struck from afar by a powerful Dark Pulse attack. Swirly and Lillie glanced at where the attack had come from, but found nothing there.
“Yo! They didn’t tell us these squirts had backup! Let’s get out of here!”
The three Grunts ran off, pushing past the crowd of people as they went. Lillie grimaced at the retreating Grunts, but looked up, longingly, at where the Dark Pulse had come from. There was something about it that…
Lillie turned, finding Swirly staring behind her. She gulped, and lightly patted him on the underside of his chin. He smiled, and Lillie smiled back. She turned to look back at the Dark Pulse’s origin, but found nothing behind her. Though concerned, she elected to shrug it off for the time being.
“Oh well, come on Swirly, we need to get going, or else we’re going to be late!”
Lillie began to walk forward, and from behind her, she heard several annoyed grunts almost certainly caused by a large bat-like Pokemon. She groaned internally. She had known taking care of a Pokemon had its ups and downs, but she really wasn’t expecting this to be one of her issues.
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Lillie entered the door of Hau’oli’s Pancake Parlor, where she was immediately greeted by an Alolan Raichu. It happily greeted her, but suddenly paled as it looked at the massive Pokemon behind her, who cast a shadow over the entrance of the store. It sheepishly motioned for them to enter, slowly slinking away from them.
Behind Lillie, Swirly struggled to squeeze through the door, awkwardly shuffling around his wings in an attempt to get inside. As Lillie watched his efforts with concern, she was tapped on the shoulder. Lille turned to find Nina, one of the store waitresses, who was also regarding Swirly peculiarly.
“Your Pokemon looks like it’s having a tough time…”
“Yeah… what should I-”
“We don’t normally do this, but since you’re a regular customer, we’d be happy to serve the pair of you outside.”
Lillie blinked. “Really? You’d do that?”
Nina smiled. “Of course! We’re always happy to help!”
Nina’s Raichu saluted, despite its nervousness, garnering a chuckle from her. She pulled out a notepad, and asked Lillie what she wanted. Upon getting her order- some basic pancakes for both her and Swirly- Nina returned to the kitchen, promising to bring the order to them when it was ready.
In the meantime, Lillie and Swirly sat on a bench outside. Though they garnered some looks from the local people, Lillie didn’t mind as much as she normally would, as Swirly himself seemed oblivious to the attention he was receiving. She lightly patted him on the wing, garnering his attention.
“Swirly, about before… I’m sorry if I brought out some bad memories in you.”
Swirly regarded its trainer with confusion, only to realize after a few moments that she was referring to when he passed out in front of her. Swirly sheepishly rubbed his head, making a motion that resembled shrugging it off, and Lillie breathed a sigh of relief.
“That’s good… I was just worried that…” Lillie stared somberly at the ground. “It’s nothing. It’s just… I don’t know… I feel like there’s something important I’m forgetting…”
The door opened next to them, revealing Nina’s Raichu, who carried a plate of pancakes in its hand. It handed them to Lillie, shyly regarding Swirly, before dipping back inside the restaurant. Swirly regarded the Pokemon curiously.
“Oh, Swirly, are you confused about something?”
Swirly nodded, pointing at the door. Lillie was confused, and tilted her head as she looked at the door. Swirly sighed, and pointed at the plate of pancakes, before suddenly unleashing a weak Thunder attack directly in front of him, nearly shocking Lillie into dropping the pancakes. Swirly wasn’t sure why he shot Thunder, but…
“Oh, a-are you confused about Raichu?”
Swirly drew its full attention on Lillie, fervently nodding.
“Well, Raichu are an Electric type Pokemon. In Alola, they’re part Psychic type… they have a unique form around here, you see, just like the one we just saw. They look a bit different in Kanto…”
Swirly motioned for Lillie to continue, and she paused, thinking to herself for a moment, before continuing.
“Sorry, I don’t know much… um…”
Swirly wasn’t sure why he needed to know about Raichu… why it sounded and felt so familiar to him… but it must have meant something important to him, right?
“Well, in the Kanto region, Raichu evolve from Pikachu, and one Gym Leader named Lieutenant Surge uses one… it’s a very mean Pokemon, from what I’ve heard-”
The moment Swirly heard the names Lillie mentioned- Pikachu and Surge- his memories lit up, and he felt brief flashes of what had been.
“A pathetic little Pikachu? You expect to beat me and my Raichu with that!?”
“You were too obsessed with strength, Surge. You evolved your Raichu so early that it never got to know any of the moves it got as a Pikachu.”
“Pikachu… we did it!”
Images of a small yellow mouse, not dissimilar from Raichu, flashed into his mind. Swirly put a wing to his head, and Lillie immediately reached a hand out for comfort. As the sudden flashes subsided, Swirly was left with a revelation.
“The Spearow… they’re coming… I can… save you…”
“Pikachu, it’s for the best… that you go with them. Live a happy life.”
“My best friend… in the whole wide world… that’s you, buddy.”
He remembered. He remembered Pikachu… he remembered a Pikachu… one that was his partner, one who was his best friend…
He looked to Lillie, who eyed him with concern, and he looked at the pancakes on her lap. He thought about Pikachu, and he sighed, bending down to grab one of the pancakes with his mouth. Whoever Pikachu was… it was someone important to him… someone he would find one day… he was sure of it.
He looked to the skies. He was sure that somewhere out there, Pikachu must be waiting for him as well… whoever he was. And he was sure that, no matter the situation, Pikachu was handling it just fine.
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“I have no idea what I’m doing!”
“Pikachuuuuuu-”
Pikachu and Talonflame narrowly dodged a raging Trevenant’s Forest's Curse, the spikes of its thorns barely scraping their backs. Talonflame stared at Pikachu hopefully as they ran.
“You have a plan, right!?”
“Of course not! That little pink demon led us the wrong way! Not my fault!”
As Pikachu ran, he suddenly realized he no longer felt the ground beneath his feet. He looked down, finding he was standing over pure abyss, and as he realized where he was, he groaned. Pikachu plummeted off the cliff, and Talonflame rolled his eyes as he dove after Pikachu.
“Here we go again.”