I do not own Pokémon or Pokémon: Detective Pikachu

Chapter One: Tim

Tim was standing in a tunnel, bright lights shining through directly ahead of him. He could hear the clangor of noise beyond it, feel the vibration beneath his feet, and sense the anticipatory energy in the air like a thousand Charges. This was it. His dreams ever since childhood. He took a deep breath in, and then stepped forward towards the light. He walked, his steps steady and sure, through the tunnel, getting closer and closer to the outside. When he passed the threshold, the abrupt change from entrenching darkness to stark light blinded him for a moment. He paused, fists clenched, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the sights before him.

He was surrounded by screaming crowds, thousands of people besieging him on all sides as they buzzed with excitement like a swarm of Beedrill. They were all in semi-darkness, like he had been in the tunnel, but now he stood in the spotlight, on the battlefield. Trimmed grass bent beneath his shoes, lines of white paint marked the boundaries. He allowed his gaze to fall on his opponent across the field, a trainer in red who looked just as ready for this as he was.

The other trainer was tossing his Pokéball in the air, up and down, up and down. But as he met Tim's eyes, he drew the Pokéball back and then pitched it onto the field. There was a flash of light where it landed, like an Electrode's Self-Destruct, and then an Aggron burst forth. The audience roared with glee and stamped their feet in thunderous claps. The Aggron's steel armor caught the rays of the spotlights as it lashed its tail and bared its fangs. Its horns and spikes gleamed with pristine sharpness.

Now it was Tim's turn, Tim's time. He took out his Pokéball, gripping it tightly. Inside, he could feel the warm energy of the living creature within, just as excited and ready for the battle as he was. This was his Pokémon. His partner, his friend, his companion. They had journeyed through so much together, he trusted it. He drew it back, and then, with all his might, flung it onto the field. There was a burst of light, and then, out of it came—

"Pika-CHU!"Tim lurched up in his bed, squealing not at all like a newborn Eevee as his father's Pikachu shocked him. Still partially in his dream, he thought the battle had somehow gone south and now the Pokémon were striking at him.He struggled, getting tangled in his blankets helplessly for a moment before he realized he was in his room.

Still trying to catch his breath, Tim turned to reproachfully look at Pikachu. The little Electric Mouse Pokémon was politely trying to smother his giggles as he watched Tim make a fool of himself with large, innocently adorable brown eyes. Pikachu was standing on his bedside table, having pushed his door open and bounded into Tim's room as he pleased.

"Was the shock really necessary?" Tim demanded. He doubted it had been more than a little static shock, but still, there was a horde of nonpainfulways Pikachu could have played as his alarm. Shouting, for example, or jostling him.

Pikachu waved his lightning-bolt tail back and forth playfully before he jumped onto Tim's bed. Before he could object, the Pokémon nestled himself against Tim's stomach, snuggling into his nightshirt. Tim instinctively put a hand on Pikachu's soft yellow fur, massaging the Pokémon's ears how he liked.

"Has anyone ever been able to stay mad at you for more than five minutes?" Tim asked aloud.

In response, Pikachu rolled over, presenting his belly for rubbing while blinking his twinkling eyes at Tim.

"I'll take that as a no."

"Tim! Are you up yet?"

"Yeah!" Tim shouted back. He turned his face back to look down at Pikachu. In a normal voice, he asked, "And who's fault is that?" before he rolled the Pokémon off his lap. Pikachu whined as he fell into the space between Tim's bed and the wall, stuck for a moment before he struggled out of it. Tim overturned his covers and began getting dressed as Pikachu searched the blankets for his detective cap, which had fallen off.

Once both Tim and Pikachu had their proper attires, they strode out of the room to Tim's Dad, Harry. Harry had already set them out breakfast, and was blowing on a steamy cup of coffee absently while he looked over a newspaper. Pikachu bounded up on the table and cheerfully began plopping Pokémon food pellets into his mouth. Tim drew out the chair across from his Dad and began to eat his cereal, his Dad already having poured in the milk for him.

"Morning, Kid," his Dad said, setting down the newspaper and digging his spoon into his own cereal. Many grown men would not eat Chocolate Charmander Cheerios, much less buy the box that had a toy inside, but Harry showed no loss of pride as he took a bite, and chocolate-tinted milk dripped down his chin. "How'd you sleep?"

"Great," Tim said, shaking off the memory of his dream. Every kid dreamed of becoming a famous Pokémon trainer, maybe even a Pokémon Master, and he had been no different when he was younger. Those dreams had vanished once his Mom had died, and he had no idea why they were back now. Perhaps his time in Ryme City, with Pokémon around every corner? Or maybe something to do with his time with his Dad and Pikachu?

He glanced at Pikachu, who was now drinking his own cup of coffee, because of course Harry had poured him some. It was strange how he had gotten so incredibly used to Pikachu talking to him. It had been three weeks since the PCL disaster, as he liked to think of it, and he still expected Pikachu to start shouting out-of-the-water theories about miscellaneous cases. Which was beyond ridiculous, because the Pikachu hehad known was on the other side of the table, his father. Tim supposed he had just gotten used to having a little buddy, his own companion.

His own Pokémon.

He was still overjoyed to have his Dad back, though. For so many years he had told himself he didn't need his father, that his Dad had left him behind. But in these short weeks, he was already certain that he had made the right choice by staying in Ryme City, with his Dad. They had gone shopping and remodeled his room so it no longer looked like it was for a ten-year-old, his Dad showed him around Ryme City, and taught him more about being a detective. Pikachu had taken an instant liking to him and he had to admit, the fast-paced city life had its perks.

Tim turned his wandering mind back to the conversation. "What's in the news?" Tim waved his spoon towards the paper.

Harry slid it over to him. "Your reporter friend wrote an article about all the trainers coming to Ryme City," his Dad said. "Great for a lot of businesses, but also causing a lot of trouble. She did a good job covering both the pros and cons."

Harry smiled as Tim choked on his cereal when he saw Lucy's chosen headline: "Mewtwo's Attraction."From the extremely minimal time Tim had spent with Mewtwo, he knew the prideful Pokémon would not appreciate that word choice. But Mewtwo had likely already skipped town and would never know about this.

Whether Mewtwo was still here or not, his presence had thrown Ryme City into the world's spotlight. For two decades, Mewtwo had been a rumor—an artificial Pokémon, supposedly the most powerful living creature on this planet? He had first been spotted in Kanto, but no one knew exactly where he had come from. Everyone knewabout him, there were plenty of witnesses here and there, but there was no solid proof.Until, that is, Howard Clifford had flown Mewtwo's body above a public parade and declared he was going to change the whole world, and then proceeded to display the legendary Pokémon's almost unconquerable psychic powers.

Although that hadn't exactly been Mewtwo,per se, it had still been Mewtwo.Scads of Pokémon trainers, researchers, and just people in general had come to Ryme City from all over the world for a glimpse, or more, of the legendary Pokémon. The scary thing was that some of those people had succeeded; there were quite a few reported sightings, even some photographs and videos. Yet as the last confirmed witness had been almost a week ago, Tim was starting to hope that the dangerous creature had finally moved on.

And now he reallyhoped, so that Mewtwo wouldn't have to see Lucy's facepalm-worthy title.

"Why would she do that?" Tim muttered.

Harry was still smiling mischievously. "I like her," he said, taking another sip of his coffee. "She's spunky."

"Can Mewtwo even usethe move Attract?" Tim asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer, unless it was no.

"No idea," Harry said with a shrug. "I didn't think Mewtwo could put people's souls into Pokémon, but that happened." He leaned over and scratched Pikachu behind the ears, who chirped pleasantly.

"She's really taken to being a reporter," Tim sighed. Lucy's confidence while being an intern had doubled once she became a reporter, slipping into the role without a Shadow Sneak of a doubt. Her dedication to the role was nonstop, and she had done an excellent job of reporting everything that had happened with Howard Clifford, Mewtwo, and R. Even with how busy she was, however, she still managed to steal a couple hours out of the last three weeks to hang out with Tim and his Dad. They grabbed coffee, or went to the park, or ate here. She yammered on and on about all she was doing and all her theories and conspiracies and this and that.

"Like a Goldeen to water," Harry agreed. He reached for the box of Chocolate Charmander Cheerios and pulled out the little plastic bag inside. After struggling with it for a moment, he triumphantly released…a small toy Chespin.

"Chespin?!" Harry cried, aghast. He held the small toy in the palm of his hand. "They gave me a Chespin?"He looked at the box accusingly. "How dare you."

Tim pursed his lips and smiled at the sheer horror on his father's face that he hadn't gotten a good toy from a cereal box. "Chespin's cool."

Harry looked at him as if he were stupid as a Rhyhorn. "Chespin's not even a fire-type—not even from the same regionas Charmander."

"But it isa starter Pokémon," Tim pointed out reasonably.

Grumbling, Harry set the little Chespin down on the table and shoved a spoonful of cereal into his mouth. Pikachu hopped over and picked up the Chespin curiously, but he quickly became uninterested and set it back down.

"So what are we doing today, besides being disappointed by cereal?" Tim asked lightly. "Any new cases?" His Dad had been letting him come along on cases for the past three weeks. Most of them were light, but still enjoyable, and were teaching Tim the fundamentals of investigation.

Harry glared at him for a moment before releasing a heavy sigh of mournful acceptance. "Actually, you might be staying behind for this one."

"What?" Tim sat up. "Why?"

"It's pretty serious," Harry said. He scooped up another bite of his chocolate cereal. As he chewed, he kept talking with his mouthful full. "Dare's been an in'fease of re'borts of ra'bid, bur'ble-eyed Pokémons aroun'da city," Harry swallowed, thankfully saving Tim from having another involuntary lesson in mouthful-ese.

Tim tensed a little. "The R chemical?"

Harry nodded. "It could all just be remains of the balloons—Mewtwo handled that, but we don't really know if he got it all. We also have no idea how much of the stuff Clifford Enterprises had." Harry clapped his hands. "So! I'm going to find out what's what."

"Why can't I go with you?" Tim asked, confused.

Harry took a sip of his coffee for a long moment. Then he sighed. "I need to go to the illegal battle stadium at the docks," he admitted finally. "That's a good place to get information, but it's not the safest."

Tim scrounged up his face. "You and I went there before, and we were fine!"

Harry scoffed. "'We were fine'? We both almost got trampled by a Charizard, and released a cloud of R into a crowded room. That was not'fine.'"

"That was you too—" Tim argued.

"Yes, me with amnesia and no ability to fight," Harry interrupted.

Tim leaned more onto the table, undeterred. "Still you. It's dangerous, yeah, but that's all the more reason I should come. I've been there before, I can help."

Harry watched Tim for a minute, and Tim could see the internal argument going on in his Dad's eyes. Adapting to be a father suddenly, especially to a son as old and independent as Tim was, wasn't easy.

"Pika, pi…" Pikachu whispered nervously. Then he hopped over to Tim's side of the table and turned to Harry.

Harry sighed. "It seems I've been outvoted. Fine, all right, you can come."

"Great!" Tim leapt out of his seat. "Let's go right now!"

[AUTHOR'S NOTES: Hello there readers, thanks for picking out my story! This idea spawned when my friends and I conversed "Man, that movie was so cool, but Tim should have a Pokémon partner, and now his partner is his Dad. The Pikachu really belongs to his Dad, and a big point of their bond was that they could talk to each other, so what partner will Tim have now?" And I said, "WELL what Pokémon do we know who can talk and is also very adamant about not having a partner and is already established in this universe?" And, also, he happens to be my favorite.

But I have to give you a couple little tidbits about this fic. 1). This story is a bit of an experiment for me writing-wise. I'm practicing with banter and other techniques, so some conversations may sound strange or awkward. I also want to expand my writing vocabulary, so there are a lot of big words here, especially in Mewtwo's chapters because Mewtwo is sophisticated and uses obscure dictionary words here. So if you learn a new word, that's what I wanted. If I used a word improperly, super sorry about that.

2). This fic contains references to Mewtwo Strikes Back, Mewtwo Returns, and Mewtwo's Origins (very small one for that).

3). I'm imaging Mewtwo's voice as the one from the first movie, done by Philip Bartlett/Jay Goede, and also Dan Green in Mewtwo Returns. That's just the voice I grew up with, and how I'll always see him. Feel free to use whatever head-voice you want.

4). Special thanks to Dippygamer64, who let me bounce off ideas and gave this story a quick look. Always good to have another set of eyes.

5). The cover image I used was uploaded by PokeDragon.

6). Rest easy! This story is COMPLETED. The last three chapters really fought me, but we're here now! More chapters coming soon.]