"Mister Clerke, what is that racket on the deck?" demanded James Cook, onboard the HMS Endeavour, walking into the fierce sunlight of the South Pacific. He, like most of the crew, had been having a poor time trying to sleep the past few nights near these uncharted isles, and was in a particularly foul mood. Ever since land had been sighted, crewmembers had begun seeing strange things. Seaman Gray continued to swear up and down that he had seen a real sea serpent two days before, while the Littleboy brothers both claimed to have seen a creature on the mainland breathing fire. To calm everybody down and to finally solve the mystery once and for all, Cook had sent a party of men to the nearest island in the archipelago to survey the land and see for themselves if anything strange inhabited the area.
"The landing party is back, sir, and they've brought something with them!" replied the midshipman excitedly. Looking past him, Cook could spot the party, with several men carefully unloading a cage from the boat onto the deck. Before he could get a closer look, Solander and Banks, the ship's naturalist and a member of the Royal Society, respectively, rushed up to him.
"Jim, it's amazing!" gushed Joseph Banks. "I've never seen anything like it! This creature—well, here, I'll show you." Grabbing Cook by the arm, the botanist charged through the mess of crewmen to the mysterious cage, with Solander, the naturalist, in tow. "I was inspecting these fascinating fruit-bearing trees- they seemed to carry these enormous gooseberry-like things, but- oh, I do get sidetracked!"
"Anyways, I suddenly heard this loud sound like a discharge from a voltaic pile, followed by the smell of burnt hair, and I looked around and I saw this peculiar little creature--" Pointing at the cage, which Cook now realized was covered, Banks continued. "…scuttling towards one of the berries which had fallen down somehow."
"When it spotted me, it merely growled at me and barked this strange bark, before- I assure you I am not joking- it had sparks fly from its head." The Royal Society member looked wide-eyed at Cook, expecting him to show shock and curiosity at his story.
Cook let out a brief snort of laughter. "Come now," he said, "How can any creature generate electrical sparks by itself?"
Frustrated by his skepticism, Banks snapped back "Dammit, Jim! I'm a botanist, not an electrical natural philosopher! How would I know? Here, have a look for yourself!" With a flourish of his hand he pulled the rough cover off the top of the cage, revealing the surprised creature underneath. Adjusting quickly, the animal attempted to attack the men surrounding it, indeed emitting small sparks from its face, which only managed to strike the cage bars and dissipate.
Cook turned to the botanist, and with an abashed look on his face apologized. "It seems you were right in your story, no matter how fanciful it seemed. I fear this makes the crewmen's stories seem all the more likely, however. Something here may prove to be a real danger to us all, and for that I am thankful we have not been hurt so far. With further study, though, these creatures may prove to be a breakthrough in the study of biology!" At that, the small animal in the box let out another bark and again let out another static discharge. Frowning, Cook wondered aloud: "It sounds almost like that thing speaks a word when it barks. Utter gibberish, of course, but it almost sounds like something. Oh, if only I could say it right!"
"Pikachu," answered the stoic Carl Solander.