Chapter Text
It all started innocently enough, with Ash asking Professor Oak a question while visiting his other Pokémon, only a week or so after he and Pikachu had returned from Sinnoh.
"How'd you meet Pikachu anyway, Professor?" Ash had asked.
Pikachu had been sitting on Professor Oak's coffee table, eating some food the professor had prepared for him to taste-test (it didn't hold a candle to Mom or Brock, but it was still pretty tasty), but stopped to look up and pay attention to the conversation.
Pikachu's first clear memories were from after Professor Oak had caught him. There were some vague impressions of before, but as far as his memories were concerned he'd always been a Pikachu living at Professor Oak's lab.
"I found him hiding out under the lab," Professor Oak explained. "At first, I assumed he was there to chew on the wiring and absorb the electricity."
Pikachu placed a paw on his chin and tilted his head. Could he actually do that? He'd never tried it, chewing on wires seemed like an idea that would probably get him shocked.
"But I quickly realized I was wrong," Professor Oak said. "Pikachu was in a very poor state, he was overloaded on electricity, didn't seem to have been eating, and he was barely conscious. He didn't seem to know how to take care of himself, so I assume that he had evolved far too quickly and wasn't prepared to survive in the wild with his new form."
Pikachu rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. He really… hadn't known how to take care of himself. He'd had to learn everything from scratch from Professor Oak, and there was still a ton of stuff he didn't know about his own species.
"After I nursed him back to health, Pikachu chose to stay with me," Oak finished explaining. "I suspect he didn't have anywhere else to go."
Pikachu nodded to confirm that the professor was right.
"Oh, Pikachu…" Ash said, as he began petting Pikachu on the head.
Pikachu leaned into it. Not just anyone was allowed to pet him, of course, but Ash was special! And Mom. And Ash's other friends, sometimes. Mostly just Ash and Mom though.
"Why do you ask, Ash?"
"Well… I was thinking."
"(That's new!)" Pikachu chirped.
Ash rolled his eyes at Pikachu's comment. "Since we're not doing any training right now and we're back in town with Mom… Well, I was kind of wondering if you knew anything about Pikachu's family."
Oh. That warmed Pikachu's heart a bit. It wasn't something he'd really thought about much since meeting Ash, he was quite happy with his life now, but he had to admit that he was kind of curious too.
"I see… I'm afraid I can't tell you very much," Professor Oak said. "I'm not even sure how he got to Pallet Town in the first place… Pikachu are social creatures, and they only live in more forested areas. His group would never have let one so young wander off on its own."
"Weird…" Ash focused on Pikachu. "How'd you get to Pallet Town, buddy? Where's your group?"
Pikachu frowned. As far as he could remember, he'd never actually met another Pikachu before the Pokémon Center in Viridian City. "(I don't know…)" That was kinda weird, wasn't it?
Ash petted him again. "That's okay."
"It's possible Pikachu's parents were trained Pokémon," Professor Oak said. "If you want, Ash, I could take a DNA sample and try to see if I can discover anything."
Ash's eyes shone. "Really? Wow!"
Oak chuckled. "It's just science, my boy!"
"That's so amazing, though!" Ash said.
Pikachu piped up in agreement. Science was super-cool! That was one of the reasons he'd decided to stay with Professor Oak in the first place, apart from having nowhere to go.
"Pikachu thinks so, too!" Ash relayed. "So you can find Pikachu's parents?"
"Well, I can try," Oak said. "I should at least be able to tell what kind of Pokémon they were."
"You wanna try it, buddy?" Ash asked.
Pikachu tilted his head. What did taking a DNA sample mean, anyway?
"If you're worried about what you have to do, Pikachu," Professor Oak began, "It won't hurt, I just need some saliva, though I can't guarantee you'll like the taste of the swab." The old man chuckled. "Then you can go home, and I'll let you know once I've analyzed the results."
Well, okay then! Pikachu nodded – he really was curious about where he'd come from, and if Ash and Oak were willing to help him figure it out, who was he to refuse?
… Pikachu. He was Pikachu. He gave a little snicker at his own dumb joke.
"Well, come along then," Professor Oak said, as he led the way into the lab proper. "Now, I can't remember where I put the equipment, so this might take a while…"
It did take a while to find the equipment, and Professor Oak had been correct in that Pikachu didn't like having the swab in his mouth, but the promise of actually learning something about where he came from was kind of exciting.
True to Professor Oak's word, it did take a few days before it was ready. Ash and Pikachu spent most of the daylight hours in that time visiting and playing with Ash's other Pokémon in the Oak Corral, and they'd go home in the evenings for a nice home-cooked meal from Mom and fall asleep watching Pokémon battles or funny movies on the TV.
It was the first time Pikachu had really had a chance to wind down in Pallet Town after a journey, every other time they'd been off to the next one before even a couple of days had passed. As much as he loved battling, it was pretty nice to just spend some time with Ash and his other friends.
It was after having a race between Ash, Pikachu, and a number of other Pokémon (which Torterra won because he was the only one that actually bothered to check where the race was supposed to end) that Professor Oak came out, calling for Ash and Pikachu.
They bid farewell to the rest of the Pokémon, and followed Professor Oak inside the lab. Pikachu stood on one of the many tables in the research floor, while Ash stood next to him. Pikachu noticed that the professor looked… Pensive? Was he using that right? Ash seemed really excited, though Pikachu was feeling a bit on-edge with Professor Oak's expression.
"I'm sorry it took so long," Professor Oak apologized. "The results were rather difficult to understand."
"That's okay," Ash said. "So… What can you tell me about him?"
"Pikachu is very unusual." Professor Oak began. "In all my years studying Pokémon, I've never heard of a Pikachu quite like him."
Pikachu frowned. That didn't sound good.
"Is Pikachu okay?" Ash asked, mirroring Pikachu's worries.
"Pikachu's perfectly healthy," Professor Oak assured them, and both Ash and Pikachu let out sighs of relief. "There's things I think you should know, but they aren't health concerns."
"(Like what?)" Pikachu asked. That was a simple enough question that Ash didn’t really need to translate it for Pikachu.
"Genetically, you're neither male nor female, despite having the appearance of a male Pikachu," Professor Oak explained. "It's unusual, but not unheard of."
"There's a difference between boy and girl Pikachu?" Ash asked before Pikachu could really think about what Professor Oak had said. "Buddy, did you know that?"
Pikachu shook his head. No, that was news to him, too. He'd assumed that, like the majority of Pokémon species, there just wasn't any difference.
… Okay, he could probably stand to learn more about his own species…
Professor Oak chuckled. "Yes, Ash, they have differently shaped tails. If you didn't know that, I'm assuming you just asked Pikachu if he was a boy or a girl?"
Both Ash and Pikachu nodded. That had happened back when they were traveling through Viridian Forest for the first time, and Pikachu had just answered with what felt right.
"… What about Pikachu's parents?" Ash wondered, bringing the topic back to the reason Professor Oak had done genetic testing on Pikachu in the first place.
Professor Oak took a deep breath. "… I don't know."
"Did the… Deena thing not work?" Ash asked.
"DNA," the Professor said with a smile. "And it did work, the results were just… inconclusive. I wasn't able to narrow down what his parents were because Pikachu seems to have a little bit of everything."
Professor Oak leaned down to address Pikachu. "I'm sorry that I don't have answers for you, Pikachu."
"(It's okay.)" Really, it was. Pikachu… well, he hadn't really known anything about his family beforehand, and that had been fine. He had Ash and Mom, that's what really mattered, even if he had been kind of excited to learn more about himself and where he came from…
"Pikachu?" Ash said. "You alright, buddy?"
… Dang it, Ash! Why did he have to be so observant to Pikachu's feelings?
Pikachu sighed, and told Ash that he'd actually started looking forward to learning more.
Ash nodded in understanding, and turned back towards Oak. "Professor? Are you sure there's nothing we can do?"
Professor Oak closed his eyes and held his chin in thought. "Perhaps there is another option…" Professor Oak crouched down a little to look Pikachu in the eye and address him directly. "Pikachu, if you're still curious, you may want to try asking the wild Pokémon a little ways outside town."
"(Would that work?)" Pikachu asked, looking towards Ash.
Ash relayed the question to Professor Oak.
"It's difficult to say for sure," Professor Oak answered. "It has been nearly a decade, but many of the wild Pokémon in the area belong to families who settled down here before I was born. A Pikachu traveling alone would certainly be a sight to remember, so you might be able to learn something."
Ash nodded. "Yeah, we could do that! What do you think, buddy?"
"Actually, Ash, you should stay behind for this," Professor Oak said. "Pokémon who don't want trainers usually avoid humans. Pikachu will probably have a much easier time finding and talking to the wild Pokémon if you aren't there."
Ash frowned. "But I'm not going to catch them if they don't want me to…"
"I know that, but they don't," Professor Oak reminded him.
Ash sighed. "Yeah, okay, you're right…" Ash patted Pikachu's head. "So… What do you say, buddy? You want to give it a shot?"
Pikachu thought for a moment, and nodded.
He was curious, and, really, what harm could come from just going and asking?
The next day found Pikachu trekking through the woods outside Pallet Town on his own. Ash had followed the Professor's advice and not followed Pikachu into the forest, instead opting to spend the day with his other Pokémon. Pikachu kind of wished Ash could've come with him, it felt weird going on his own, but he knew that Oak was right.
The Pokémon closest to Route 1 were, for the most part, not too helpful. That wasn't so surprising, admittedly, and he didn't really want to stay there for long in case the Spearow flock he'd zapped on the first day of his and Ash's journey decided to show up when he didn't have a thunderstorm to throw at them. Well, he might be able to take them out anyway, but it'd be really annoying and he had a mission.
The first lead he got didn't come from a direct source, but instead a Rattata that mentioned that a Kangaskhan friend of hers had told her a story about a mysterious Pikachu she saw falling from the sky long ago. Pikachu thanked Rattata and used Thunderbolt to roast a berry for her to show his gratitude, and then he was on his way to meet the Kangaskhan herd that called the forests near Pallet Town their home.
Finding them involved more asking around, of course. Most of the Pokémon he asked didn't know anything about him, though a few of them did vaguely recall seeing a Pikachu stumbling through the woods years ago – nothing quite as solid a lead as what Rattata had told him. However, quite a few of them were able to point him in the direction of the Kangaskhan herd.
By the time he finally managed to find the herd of Kangaskhan, it was the middle of the day and the Sun was high in the sky.
"(Oh, hello, little one,)" One of the grown Kangaskhan said as Pikachu walked closer to the group. "(You've wandered far from home, aren't you?)"
"(I actually live in Pallet Town,)" Pikachu corrected. "(And, hello! It's nice to meet you!)" He held out a paw to shake.
Kangaskhan chuckled, and reached down. Her hand was as big as Pikachu's entire body, so he just ended up shaking her claw instead.
"(You're funny,)" The baby Kangaskhan (who was also bigger than him) said, giggling at Pikachu. "(What kind of Pokémon is that, Mama?)" the baby asked his mother.
"(My name is Pikachu,)" Pikachu introduced himself.
"(An electric mouse Pokémon,)" Mama Kangaskhan explained. "(They're quite rare around here. And this one… you're human-raised, right?)"
Pikachu nodded. "(Yeah… I was actually hoping to try and figure out where I came from. A Rattata said something about one of you seeing a Pikachu fall from the sky?)"
Kangaskhan's eyes widened. "(Wait…)" She leaned in closer, peering at him. "(It is you! Why don't you join us for lunch, and I'll tell you want I know?)"
Pikachu was quick to agree, and he was soon having a lunch of some nicely Thunderbolt-roasted apples (they hadn't been roasted when he got them) while Kangaskhan was telling the story. When she'd been younger, the equivalent of a human teenager, Kangaskhan and her friends had sneaked away from the group to explore and goof off.
They'd gotten stopped by a storm brewing, and had taken to sheltering under a tree at the bottom of a huge cliff. One of Kangaskhan's friends had spotted something yellow falling from the cliff above, and the three of them had scrambled to catch the falling Pokémon: a tiny Pikachu running a fever.
"(Me…)" Pikachu said.
Kangaskhan nodded. "(I think so.)"
She and her friends had done what they could to help with Pikachu's fever while hiding out under the tree. The storm didn't let up the rest of the day, though, so they ended up sleeping there. When they'd woken up the following morning, Pikachu had vanished sometime in the night.
… That was a bit embarrassing. The same thing had happened the first day he and Ash had gone to Hoenn, it seems that he had more of a history of just running off when he was sick than he knew about.
Pikachu had asked Kangaskhan if she knew how to reach the top of that cliff, and she had given him directions. So, after eating (and of course thanking Kangaskhan for the food and her help), he was on his way again. The path to actually get up there was pretty long and winding, the top of the cliff was a pretty secluded place that few Pokémon visited and even fewer lived in.
As he made his way closer and closer, his excitement grew. He wasn't sure why, but… something about this spoke to him. As he grew closer, he could almost swear that he could feel something calling to him, just on the edge of his mind.
By the time he finally reached the last stretch of the journey, the Sun was growing low in the sky. There wasn't any clear path up to the top of the cliff, but he'd arrived at the location where it was shortest and the slope was shallowest.
Pikachu climbed up, and took a moment to take in the view before he began walking again, towards… he didn't know what, exactly, but he knew there was something here he had to see, deep in his bones.
"(Whoa, stranger!)" A Pokémon's voice called out, and Pikachu paused his walk to look and find a pair of Nidoran, one purple and one light blue. "(What brings you over yonder?)"
"(I'm trying to look for clues about my past,)" Pikachu explained. "(And this is sort of where that led me.)"
The two Nidoran exchanged expressions, before turning back to Pikachu. The blue one spoke this time. "(Ya sure ya wanna do that, kid?)"
Pikachu nodded. "(I… feel like there's something here, something big. And I need to know.)" He couldn't explain why he felt that way, but he was far more sure than he'd been before. "(Have you two ever seen a Pikachu up here before?)"
"(Once upon a time,)" The purple Nidoran began. "(It was the darnedest thing, there was a storm, and this huge bolt of lightning struck. My sister and I rushed out to look, and right there was a tiny little Pikachu sparking up a storm.)"
"(Can you show me where?)" Pikachu asked eagerly. "(I'm pretty sure that was me!)"
The two exchanged glances again. "(Kid…)" The blue Nidoran began. "(You shouldn't go over there. I don't know if ya feel it, but… Where we saw ya, it was right outside the Den.)"
"(… Your den?)" Pikachu wondered what that could have to do with anything.
"(No, the Den!)" Blue Nidoran snapped. "(It's the home of… somethin'. Somethin' powerful. It has this… presence, some sorta pressure. No one up here gets close to the Den.)"
… So why was Pikachu there in the first place?
"(I'm pretty strong,)" Pikachu said, rapping a fist on his chest. "(I beat a Latios last month, I bet I can take whatever's in there! Just show the way.)"
"(… You know what, let's show 'im, Nidoran,)" the purple Nidoran said. "(Soon as he sees it, he'll know it's a bad idea.)"
The blue one sighed. "(Nidoran… I don't like it, but you're right. Come along, Pikachu,)" She began walking, her brother and Pikachu both right behind her.
As Pikachu walked, he noticed the two rabbits growing more and more nervous as they approached whatever the Den was. But Pikachu didn't feel it himself… Instead, he felt drawn towards it.
When he actually set eyes on the Den, it didn't look like anything special, just a random cave at the highest point of the little plateau they were on. But the feeling in the air was strong here.
"(Ya see what we mean?)" the blue sibling asked. "(This place… it ain't for Pokémon like us.)"
Pikachu stared in wonder at the opening, and took a step forward.
"(You're still goin' through with this?)" the purple Nidoran asked.
Pikachu nodded.
"(I still don't think it's a good idea,)" the brother continued. "(But I won't stop you.)"
The blue Nidoran didn't say anything for a moment. "(… Good luck finding what you're looking for, Pikachu.)"
"(Thank you, Nidoran and Nidoran,)" Pikachu said, and walked forward to take the plunge. Once he actually entered the Den, the feeling of being drawn towards it died down, but as he walked down the tunnel something about this place felt familiar, almost like he'd seen it in a dream.
Or a long-forgotten memory.
It didn't take terribly long for the tunnel to open up into a small cavern, hidden from the outside. Glowing crystals were embedded in the walls, bathing the room in soft light. Looking at this place, Pikachu was sure that no one had been inside in years. The only things in the room were a few scattered toys that looked like they'd never been played with… and a nest.
Pikachu approached the nest for a closer look. It was old, very old – the soft parts had long since degraded, but some of the harder sticks remained. There was a trail of some of these sticks leading from the nest towards the entrance, with the edge of the nest being messed up.
Inside the nest there were several pink-colored shards, and Pikachu picked one up and quickly realized that it was a piece of eggshell.
It was still faint and vague, but he remembered what this room was now. This was where he'd been born. He'd broken out of his egg, and then… he'd heard interesting sounds coming from outside, and began crawling his way towards them. He'd emerged into a world of pouring rain and lightning illuminating the sky, and then everything had gone bright and painful.
Given everything he'd heard today, he was able to piece together more-or-less what had happened. He'd been struck by lightning before he was even five minutes old, the excess electricity must have been what made him sick in the first place. The Nidoran had seen him, and then he'd wandered off in a daze to fall off the cliff. He was rescued by the Kangaskhan, and had gotten up in the night to continue wandering around in a daze until he reached Pallet Town. The events all lined up, and it all made sense, except for one tiny detail.
Shouldn't he have been a Pichu if he'd just hatched?
"(Hey, you, Pikachu!)"
The voice startled Pikachu out of his thoughts, and he spun on the spot to find a blue feline Pokémon about the same size as him floating in the entryway. A Mew? Obviously it wasn't the same Mew he'd met before, that one had been pink, but it was clearly a Mew. "(What are you doing here?)" Pikachu asked.
"(Hey, I'm the one asking that!)" It protested, flying over to get in Pikachu's face and pointing at him accusingly as Pikachu leaned back. "(The psychic suggestion should've stopped you from getting in here, intruder!)" The mythical feline paused for a moment. "(Wait… how are you here?)"
"(I felt like I had to come here, I don't know how to explain it,)" Pikachu said. "(I didn't know this was your den. Sorry, Mew.)"
"(It's not mine, I was just the closest. It's actually…)" Mew stopped itself. "(… Never you mind, intruder.)" Despite that, it did back off, a pensive look on its face as it muttered to itself. A few seconds later, it grew still, seeming to realize something.
It flew right back into Pikachu's personal space, but its demeanor was completely different than last time.
"(I've got it! You almost had me, but you made one mistake!)" Mew exclaimed as it giggled.
"(Mistake?)" Pikachu asked in confusion. "(I don't know what you mean…)" What was happening, why was Mew suddenly acting so different?
"(You recognized me~)" Mew sang as it floated upside down, spinning around Pikachu. "(You didn't even hesitate, you knew I was a Mew right away even with my colors! There's no way a real Pikachu should've known that, classic rookie mistake.)"
"(I am a real Pikachu!)" Pikachu protested.
Mew responded by grabbing his face to begin pulling and squeezing. "(I admit, this is a really good Pikachu.)"
Pikachu responded by zapping the encroaching feline with electricity.
Mew coughed and shook the soot off. "(Like I said, super-convincing! But I've already got your number, so why don't we just cut this short?)"
Mew grabbed Pikachu's paws with its own and pulled. Not just physically, but pulled at his mind and his powers.
And something… gave way.
Mew let go of Pikachu, letting him fall to the ground face-first. Pikachu tried to pull himself to his feet, but his entire body felt… wrong. His arms felt too short, he couldn't feel all of his fingers, his feet felt too big, his balance was way off…
"(There you are!)" Mew's voice said, and Pikachu could feel it pat his head. "(Wow, you really are a kid, huh?)" Mew gasped. "(Oh! This must be your nursery!)"
Pikachu ignored it, trying to push himself up, but froze when he caught sight of something.
His arm was pink.
"(Man, that was a great prank, using a transformation to trip the intruder detection!)" Mew giggled.
"(Prank?)" Pikachu squeaked in a voice that wasn't his. "(What did you do to me?)"
"(Your acting's great, too,)" Mew continued. "(I can almost believe you thought you were really a Pikachu!)"
"(I… I am Pikachu…)" Pikachu insisted, trying to convince himself. Everything had spiraled out of control so quickly, he had to hold on to that thought.
Mew shook its head. "(You gotta know when to throw in the towel, kid!)" It clapped its paws. "(I know! I can show you the ropes, if you'd like! There's this human in Vermilion City that's super fun to mess with, I had this idea involving a broken-down truck…)"
Pikachu screwed his eyes shut.
This was wrong. Everything was wrong.
He needed his family. He needed Ash.
He wished with all his heart to just go home.
Mew stared at the spot where the Mew that had been pretending to be a Pikachu had just vanished in a Teleport.
It crossed its arms. "(If you didn't want to, you could've just said no…)" it grumbled, even though the kid couldn't hear it anymore.
What a weird kid. If Mew didn't know any better, it'd think that it actually hadn't known it was a Mew, but that was ridiculous. It was a pretty fun prank, though it could get really annoying if the kid decided it wanted to try it again.
Actually, while it was here… Mew quickly extended its powers to the psychic field covering the nursery. It was a pretty standard affair for Mew eggs – hide them by a psychic field until they hatch, with a strong compulsion to keep other Pokémon away and a signal to alert the nearest Mew if any intruders happened to make it inside anyway.
A little psychic tinkering, and… There! No more intruder alert.
Now it could get back to its little truck scheme…