I spent the next hour circling the area around the treehouse, but I constantly reminded myself not to get carried away. Just because I could fly now didn't suddenly make me the king of the skies. If this forest housed giant boars and predators capable of making even a Level Twenty Pikachu hide beneath roots, then there was no reason to believe the air was any safer.
With that thought firmly planted in my mind, I deliberately kept the treehouse within sight at all times. Whenever I drifted a little too far, I immediately turned back before continuing my little experiments. There was no point exploring unknown territory with a brand-new Pokémon whose strengths and weaknesses I barely understood.
Speed Boost, however, turned out to be every bit as incredible as its description implied. The longer I remained airborne, the faster my body naturally became without me consciously trying to accelerate.
At first, the increase was barely noticeable, but after half a minute of uninterrupted flight, I was weaving through branches at speeds that would have left my human self screaming in terror. The sensation was exhilarating... right up until I almost introduced my face to a tree trunk.
"...Yan!"
I barely managed to jerk my body sideways in time.
That close call immediately made me realize the ability's biggest weakness. My body could continue accelerating, but my brain wasn't magically becoming faster alongside it.
My eyes easily tracked everything around me with their incredible field of vision, yet my mind still needed precious fractions of a second to process what I was seeing and decide how to react. At higher speeds, those tiny delays suddenly became terrifyingly important. Even my bug brain wasn't that fast.
The second limitation revealed itself only minutes later. My wings gradually grew heavier, while an uncomfortable burn spread through my entire body. Speed Boost might have made me faster and faster, but it certainly wasn't free. My stamina plummeted far quicker than it ever did with Pikachu, forcing me to glide back toward the treehouse before I exhausted myself completely.
If I had flown several kilometers away before discovering those limitations, I might have found myself stranded somewhere deep inside the forest with barely enough energy to stay airborne.
After allowing Yanma to rest, I returned to my human form before once again becoming Pikachu. Flying was amazing, but Pikachu remained my strongest partner by a considerable margin. But of course I needed to recover stamina.
So I took enough rest and then go for my hunting spree as usual. The following morning, I decided to indulge myself for the first time since arriving in this world.
There was no urgent reason to wake before sunrise anymore. My Card Storage contained enough Poké Blocks to keep me fed for several days if necessary, and there was no rush, as I could afford to just rest and laze around, my favorite pastime of my previous life.
Oh god, how I miss my bed.
The treehouse had proven to be an incredibly safe hiding place. Even the monkeys that occasionally wandered through the surrounding trees refused to come anywhere near it. I had no idea what Ace, Sabo, and Luffy had done to traumatize the poor creatures, but judging from the way they immediately changed direction whenever they spotted the treehouse, I wasn't about to question it.
Curled up comfortably in my Pikachu form, my tail wrapped around my body like a warm blanket, I happily continued sleeping.
That turned out to be a mistake. I was vaguely aware of something brushing against the wooden floor. Then came the faint creaking of ropes.
Normally I would have awakened instantly, but after more than a week without anything dangerous approaching the treehouse, my guard had unknowingly dropped. My instincts remained silent, probably because whatever was climbing toward me wasn't considered a predator.
A grinning black-haired boy no older than 15 or 16 beamed directly into my face while holding me high above his head as though he had just discovered buried treasure.
"Hahaha! I caught food!" the boy declared proudly. "I'm gonna eat you!"
"...PIKA?!"
My brain completely shut down. Without thinking, my cheeks crackled violently.
Thunder Shock!
Bright yellow lightning exploded from my tiny body, completely engulfing the boy in crackling electricity. For a glorious fraction of a second, I felt relieved.
Then the smoke cleared.
"Hahahaha!"
The kid wasn't screaming nor any affect seemed to have had on him. Instead, he stood there laughing so hard that tears were forming in the corners of his eyes, as though I had just performed the funniest trick imaginable.
"...Pika?"
And finally that the beginner panic went away, I saw the boy who had taken hold of me. A boy with buttoned sleeveless shirt with deep cuts around the shoulders, a blue pant that went just after the knees and the iconic straw hat. I knew who he was.
Monkey D. Luffy.
The realization sent another wave of panic crashing into me. If he kept holding me like this, he might just go and eat me. I knew how Luffy was, and there was almost nothing in the world that he couldn't eat. He would even be fine with poison, and I was just electricity, his bread and butter, sorry, his meat.
"Pika.." ( I guess there is only one way)
I immediately willed the transformation to end. Golden light burst from my tiny body. Luffy's eyes became perfectly round.
The little yellow mouse rapidly grew larger within his hands. Fur receded into skin, tiny paws stretched into human arms and legs, and within only a couple of seconds, a teenage boy had replaced the Pikachu he had been holding moments earlier.
"Whoa! This is amazing!"
Startled beyond belief, Luffy instinctively let go. I barely managed to land on my feet atop the wooden platform instead of tumbling off the side of the treehouse. Luffy just looked at me and I looked at him, and this went on for several seconds.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
He doubled over laughing, clutching his stomach so hard that he nearly rolled across the wooden floor.
"That's amazing!"
"You turned from food into a person!"
"Hahahaha!"
"I've never seen anything that cool before!"
I was both petrified and happy to see Luffy. Petrified because it was Luffy, and happy because it was still Luffy. And from the looks of it, he hadn't set sailed yet but Ace must have already left, if my age predictor was right. But this guy needed to calm down.
"That is your reaction?" I asked, still a bit awkwardness remained since now I was speaking Japanese.
Luffy immediately bounced back to his feet and rushed over, completely invading my personal space. He poked my arm, squeezed my cheek, walked around me in circles, then suddenly grabbed my shoulders while wearing the expression of a child who had just discovered the greatest toy in the world.
"Do it again!"
"Huh?" I was confused, what was this guy even doing.
"The fluffy one!"
"The yellow one!"
"Turn back!"
His eyes sparkled with so much excitement that it became painfully obvious. There wasn't even the slightest trace of fear. Well the electric shock didn't seem to do any damage as expected, not even in the brain, though I fear there was almost nothing in his brain.
"...Yep."
"This is definitely Luffy."
Luffy continued bouncing up and down on the wooden platform, pointing at me with both hands. Seeing his enthusiasm, I couldn't help but sigh. I didn't think I would get handed to Luffy but that was fine.
"...You're not going to let this go, are you?"
"Hm-mm!" Luffy nodded so vigorously that his straw hat nearly fell off. "Do it!"
"...Fine."
Golden light enveloped my body once more. My limbs shrank, bright yellow fur spread across my skin, and within moments I was once again standing on the wooden floor as a Pikachu.
"...Pika."
Luffy gasped dramatically before his entire face lit up.
"HAHAHAHA!"
"So fluffy!"
Before I could react, he scooped me into his arms again. Thankfully, this time there was no mention of eating me. Instead, he happily rubbed his cheek against my fur while laughing like a child who had just received the greatest birthday present imaginable.
"So cool!"
"You became tiny again!"
He gently stretched one of my ears before setting me back onto the floor, his eyes never leaving me for even a second.
"Again!"
"...Pika."
"You know," I thought while staring at him, "you're lucky you're immune to electricity."
The golden light appeared once more, returning me to my human form. Luffy watched the entire transformation with sparkling eyes, circling around me several times before finally stopping right in front of me.
"That's awesome! I've never seen anyone who can do that!"
Then, as though only just remembering basic manners, he proudly puffed out his chest.
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy!" He flashed a grin wide and said. "I'm gonna become the Pirate King someday!"
"...My name is Alakaʻi Kekoa."