Chapter 3: Double Trouble!

By the time Ash and Misty reached the Viridian City Pokémon Center, it was very late at night. Misty had listened to all of Ash's stories, every now and again offering comments. She was taking it fairly well - She seemed to find humor in most of his adventures, but every once in a while she was really impressed by something. Only once was she really skeptical, and that was during the whole story about Arceus and time travel.

Pikachu had tried to participate as well, but Ash missed things every once in a while, and Misty only had vague ideas of what he was saying. He'd mostly kept to just sitting on Ash's shoulder, thinking about their adventures. He'd had strange adventures before meeting Ash, of course, but he'd had at least ten times as many in the time since they'd met than in the rest of his life.

Once Ash and Misty had settled into a room, Pikachu began thinking back to how their journey had started the first time. He'd been in pretty bad shape for this part, and he was glad he wasn't terribly injured on his first day again. He'd be quite happy to live a long and happy life alongside Ash, thank you very much.

On that note, apparently Ho-Oh hadn't been a pain-induced hallucination, as he'd suspected at the time. He hadn't really believed it was anymore after a month or so of witnessing the combined power of his and Ash's luck, but it was nice to confirm that the first crazy thing that happened was not, in fact, crazy. Or something like that.

What had happened at this Pokémon Center, again? Oh, right. Officer Jenny on a motorcycle, Team Rocket attacking, and him accidentally blowing it up with ThunderShock.

"(Ash, do you think Team Rocket will attack again?)"

"Hm? Oh, I dunno, buddy. If they do, we'll pull through, like we always do!"

"(… Yeah.)" Pikachu said. "(Do you think they came back in time, too? If they hadn't, wouldn't they have shown up by now?)"

"… Uh… Them too? Maybe, I dunno. I guess they'd probably have shown up by now if they hadn't, huh? Well, they'll probably be around before too long…"

"(They're persistent.)"

"I guess so." Ash yawned. "G'night, Pikachu. Sweet dreams." As always, Ash fell asleep easily, and was quickly snoring away.

Misty was looking over towards Ash and Pikachu's bed. "… Wow… You two really get each other, don't you?"

Pikachu nodded, remembering Misty couldn't understand him.

"… He's changed so much since I saw him last, but he's still Ash." Misty sighed. "Pikachu, I really don't know what's going on, or what'll happen when we get through whatever this is. So, keep Ash safe for me, okay?"

Pikachu nodded. "(Always.)" Ash was like the brother he'd never had, after all. It didn't matter that they were different, because they were the same in the ways that counted.

Misty went to sleep, too, but Pikachu was having difficulty sleeping. Even if he wasn't freaking out anymore, having the last few years of his life just being undone, with nothing but memories to show for it, was a lot to take in. Having Ash around definitely made it better, if he wasn't…

Pikachu didn't doubt it would've been even worse than the months he'd spent alone before Professor Oak took him in. All those years ago, he'd really been too young to understand what he had left behind, but he'd built a lot with Ash.

Gosh, it wasn't like him to think this way. Ash was handling it fine, and they were probably right to think that they'd run into someone involved pretty soon. He really should try to get to sleep…

A few minutes later, something happened. Ash and Misty were still asleep, and Pikachu was finally starting to nod off, when the window opened. Something Pikachu's size darted in, pulled him into a tiny glass ball, and darted back out.

This was enough to wake Pikachu up, and by the time he was really processing what was going on, his kidnappers had taken place in front of his prison.

"Prepare for trouble, we're at it still!" Jessie announced.

"And make it double, forget we never will!" James continued.

"To protect the world from free Pikachu!"

"We're back in time, and we've got you!"

"To announce our presence from time and space!"

"To see the dumbfounded look on your face!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, faster than the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, you'll lose this fight!"

"Meowth! That's right!" Meowth jumped in to finish the motto.

Pikachu was mostly ignoring this, looking for a way out of his little prison. No way would they forget to electric-proof it… Would he still be able to use his other attacks? No, there wasn't really room to do anything.

"Do you think he forgot us, Jess?" James asked.

"Maybe so… This is our first meeting, I guess."

"I'll sort this mess." Meowth said. "Hey you, Pikachu! Remember us?"

"(Yes. I'm busy.)" Maybe there was a weak point he could hit? They couldn't have had too long to build this one.

"Apparently, he don't got the time for this."

"Oh, how ignorance is bliss!" James said.

"Nothing you do will make us miss!" Jessie yelled. "We've got you in the bag, no twerpish tricks!"

"No more Pokémon in this mix!" Meowth added.

Did they always have to rhyme? The container seemed pretty sound from the inside… He could try rolling it off the roof, but that might be painful.

"Aw, how cute," James said.

"There's no escape," Jessie added.

"We'd love to watch you try!" Meowth's contribution.

"But soon it's time to fly!" All three said in sync, and then proceeded to laugh smugly all at once.

How is this not waking anyone up? Pikachu wondered. Just as he had that thought, a gloved hand appeared at the edge of the roof, and a boy around Brock's age vaulted up to the roof. He was dressed like a plumber, wearing a green hat and blue overalls, with blue eyes so bright they seemed to glow and a comically large nose.

Team Rocket didn't notice him, they were too busy with their - incredibly long - laughing session.

The boy stayed low to the ground, and looked like he was planning, considering his options. That was good - Sometimes there was a time for Ash's type of heroics, and sometimes there was a time for something subtle and clever.

After about half minute - including a short break by Team Rocket to catch their breaths before resuming their laughter - He seemed to come to a decision. He pulled off his cap - Pikachu was just barely able to notice the Unown 'L' character on it, and wondered what that was about. The boy reached in, and pulled out… Nothing. He began silently freaking out, and trying fruitlessly to pull something out. When that failed a few more times, he placed the hat back on, and tried the front of his overalls, to the same results.

Team Rocket, amazingly, still hadn't noticed him. Pikachu wondered if they'd send out their other Pokémon just to have a laugh with them - It honestly wouldn't surprise him.

Mr. L - as Pikachu had decided to call the boy - slowly stood up and got into a pose that suggested he was just going to make a mad dash for Pikachu and hope for the best. Sometimes, it seemed, the clever solution was acting like Ash.

Mr. L never got the chance to, because Bulbasaur - of all Pokémon - suddenly vine-whipped up to the roof with a cry of "(Vine whip to victory!)"

"What the…" This actually got Meowth's attention. "It's the twerp's Bulbasaur!"

"That's off script!" James yelled.

"(Razor leaf, you hooligans!)" Bulbasaur yelled, promptly blasting them off with said attack.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" They yelled their usual catchphrase as they flew into the distance.

"Bulbasaur, what was that?" Mr. L looked uncomfortable. "… Are they going to be okay?"

"(They always are,)" Bulbasaur said, nodding. Mr. L seemed relieved. "(Don't worry about them. Hey, Pikachu! What are you doing back in Viridian City?)"

"(Well, we were planning on visiting with everybody, and then going to Alola,)" Pikachu explained. "(Then things got complicated. Long story short, time travel.)"

"(Time travel?)" Bulbasaur asked. "(… Well, that's interesting… I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. That explains why you look different…)"

"(Yep. Today's the day I first met Ash,)" Pikachu said. "(… Well, it might be past midnight by now, so maybe not.)" He ignored the bit about looking different, and took solace in the fact that he was still adorable no matter what age he was.

"(… Very interesting. So that's why Oak gave me to a new trainer…)" Bulbasaur said.

Pikachu gave him a look. "(Samuel gave you to a new trainer, and you're just now finding it weird?)"

"(Okay, I didn't question it, the guy seemed really lost and stressed out. I figured I'd help him out, see what was going on later.)"

"(Alright…)" Pikachu was still apprehensive, but that did make a sort of sense. "(I never knew you were at Oak's in the first place, and I lived there a long time.)"

"(I wasn't.)" Bulbasaur said. "(I lived in the Hidden Village my whole life.)"

"(… What?)" Pikachu asked. "(Okay… That's strange. So that means…)"

"(There's something weird going on here. Not just time, but space, too. Maybe more.)" Bulbasaur said. "(… Have you had any contact with legendaries that can do that?)"

"(Well, there was Arceus a couple of months back, but we didn't actually talk to him this time.)"

It was Bulbasaur's turn to give Pikachu a look.

"Somehow I feel like I'm missing something important…" Mr. L said. "… And I'd like to get to sleep before something dangerous happens."

"(That implies there was another time that you did talk to the Alpha Pokémon.)"

"(… We did. Long story.)"

"(They're all long…)" Bulbasaur said. "(… And of course you did.)"

"(Yeah…)" Pikachu rubbed his neck nervously. "(You know Ash…)"

"(I do… It's been good to see you, Pikachu. I think Luigi wants to get back to sleep, so take care, and don't let Ash do anything too crazy.)"

"(I don't think that's possible, but I'll try anyway,)" Pikachu said. "(Take care, Bulbasaur. See you soon.)"

Mario Mario leapt from tree to tree in pure bliss. Sure, he may not know where he was, or how he got here, but it was always fun to explore a new place. He'd already seen so many interesting creatures - This forest was a goldmine of new experiences. He'd even put on a bit of a pyrokinesis show for some local yellow mouse creatures, which they seemed to enjoy.

Honestly, it was a bit weird that he was suddenly be a teenager again, but it didn't really matter.

He looked up at the sky, noting the stars out and about. Looked like it was probably early morning by now - He should really find somewhere to camp out for the night, but it was just so interesting here.

He heard a noise - Very quiet, and something that most people would ignore if they didn't know what it was. Something large - Or, at least, human-sized - was levitating through the forest. Mario jumped through a few more trees, noting that the levitating creature was following him. He dropped out of the trees, on alert but making sure to keep his knowledge of the creature hidden.

Mario was strong, and he knew it, but he was also all too aware of his weaknesses. There were very few things he'd encountered able to stand up to him, but he attributed that to always being prepared to fight a stronger foe. Even with all his strength and wit, Bowser had come very close to beating him more than once.

He ran through the forest for a few seconds, as quickly as he could without tiring too fast. Whatever this thing was, it was still following him, and able to keep up an impressive pace. He couldn't out-speed this thing, but he might be able to catch it by surprise.

Mario quickly stopped and turned on the spot, just to be clocked on the head by a small metal object. Mario shook his head to clear the momentary pain and glared towards where he'd heard the wind. All he saw was a vague humanoid silhouette before his vision whited out, and he knew no more.

Author's Note

Chapter 3, here we go! So, I've been writing ahead... Re-writing a few things, too. This chapter changed quite a bit - originally, when Luigi showed up on the roof, it was from his POV, rather than staying with Pikachu.

Though Pikachu calls Professor Oak "Samuel", he hasn't made the connection with Celebi, he's simply known the professor for a long time.

As some things are the same, others are different. What lies in store?

Headcanon-y-thing: Mario's world uses, for the most part, different forms of writing than the Pokemon world, primarily the Latin alphabet. I mentioned Sarasa-land using different writing, which I imagined as a combination of ancient Chinese and Egyptian writing; those being the two cultures Sarasaland is mostly based on. The Pokemon world does have the Latin alphabet, too, but it's known as the Unown alphabet, because it looks like Unown. They also have Japanese writing, but by far the most common is the nonsense writing the show uses - It vaguely looks like several real languages, but isn't any.

Oh and here's Mario. He'll be back. He's different from his brother - Mario wears his heart on his sleeve, and is happy-go-lucky and sincere through and through. He's still got the instincts and skills of a hero and fighter, and is far more observant than most assume.