Pikachu never needed a trainer.
It was fine on its own, and not once did it need help from a human. Though yes, it was fun to play jokes and pranks on them, the pokemon believed that it should not be owned by anyone, and that that would never change.
Then one morning, after Pikachu watched three kids come in and choose among his three friends - Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle - leaving him alone, it thought that it was just another "special" day for the humans and that was that.
But after a while, another human came bursting in, sweaty and panting.
"You're late, Ash," came the familiar professor's voice.
A slightly rough, and also slightly high-pitched voice apologized, then quickly asked, "Are there any left?"
Pikachu didn't need to watch the rest, knowing that it probably wouldn't mean anything to him. The boy would simply find the three slots empty, and leave disappointed.
"Aww!" It heard him say, and took a peek from the upper metal walkways to see the boy, with black hair and a sad look on his face, turn back to the professor, who was behind him.
"Are there really no more pokemon?" He asked, and Pikachu immediately ran to the other end in an attempt to hide. But the proffessor, seeing it as it ran, replied, "Well, there is one..."
As if on cue, Pikachu ended up slipping and fell off, but landed stylishly in an attempt not to embarrass itself.
"Ash, this is Pikachu. You can choose him, if you like, but..."
It looked up into the boy's eyes, which were now sparkling happily as he smiled. "Woah!" He exclaimed.
"Hi, Pikachu!" He greeted, and picked it up.
But Pikachu did not like humans, and it certainly did not like being picked up.
Ignoring the professor's protests and "wait"s, the electric mouse did what it knew best - and shocked Ash with electricity. It laughed excitedly at his expression - perfect for a painting. Did someone get that on camera?
Ash, ignoring the event, put it back down and after fixing his hair a little, brought out a pokeball. "How about it, then?" He asked, and threw it.
Pikachu deflected the ball with his tail, skillfully avoiding its button. He caught it clumsily, and with an exhausted face threw it again.
Again it deflected the ball.
And again.
And again.
And again.
Then it landed onto his face, and Pikachu bursted with joy.
"Aw, come on," it heard him grumble, and just then the door outside opened, and in came a short lady with brown hair.
"Ash, sweetie!" She called, and the electric mouse immediately knew she was his mother. Rolling its eyes, it wanted to walk away, but for some reason stayed put.
"Mom?! Why are you here?" The boy exclaimed dramatically. Again, Pikachu rolled its eyes. Why was this kid so surprised? Looking back to the woman, the mouse tuned back in to the conversation.
"You forgot your lunch," she smiled sweetly, and handed said lunch to him. A thanks was mumbled, and the pokemon shook its head.
It appears the woman still hadn't noticed the yellow creature on its paws beside her son because she asked, "Did you pick your pokemon yet?" With a calm air around her.
The boy immediately brightened. "Oh, yeah!" He remembered, and bent down to scoop Pikachu in his arms.
Surprised by the sudden contact just after what it had done to the boy a moment ago, the pokemon didn't make a move.
"Mom, this is Pikachu," he introduced. "Pikachu, say hi."
But again, Pikachu did not like humans.
And now he almost certainly hated being picked up.
The boy shouldn't have been so surprised that he was zapped with painful, higher voltage. With him frozen in place and the pokemon's humour starting to die down, Pikachu jumped free from the now burnt hands of his captor.
It watched as Ash just sighed, his mother and the professor looking a little worried for him. Grabbing the pokeball from the floor where it had landed after hitting his face, he bent down once more, a slightly tired, slightly nervous, but also truly happy expression showing on his face.
He brought the capture device in front of the pokemon, and held it there.
"Come on, please?" He asked nicely, an enticing smile on his face.
This boy seemed so genuine and sincere, the sparkle in his eyes revealing adventure and care, something that was saying that he was a good person - a real, loyal, and good-hearted trainer. Something about him just seemed...
Special.
Pikachu gasped inwardly, and roughly shook its head. It needed to snap out of these thoughts! This trainer was just like the rest, surely - one minute he'll be kind and happy, the next he'll be moving on to some other, better pokemon. Or even worse, he'd be the kind who's all work and no play, or even- even-
The pokemon struggled to even think about it. There were a lot of bad people out there, after all. No world was perfect.
"Aw, come on. It won't be that bad!" The boy said, bringing it back to reality.
What? Pikachu hadn't said anything yet. All it had done was just shake its head, and-
Ohhh.
Wait, why did it even need to think twice? What did Pikachu care whether it had agreed or not? The pokemon didn't even want to say yes.
But the boy still held the ball out to him.
Somehow, it was kind of amazing. Most trainers would have done away with him by now, even a few of the more patient ones.
But this one, he just refused to leave it behind.
Why was that?
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Second Christmas fic (which isn't Christmas themed), up! Honestly, I was thinking of making this a very long one-shot, but I realized I'd never get it up in time. So now I guess I'll just be posting it in parts. Also, you might've noticed that a lot of these details are wrong. I said this fic was for the I Choose You! Movie, right? Well, it's been a while since I saw it, so yeah, that explains why I got so many details wrong. I only realized it after rewatching some parts for research and junk, but then I got too lazy to fix everything, which is why I didn't fix it. Despite that, I hope you enjoyed it, and Merry Christmas!