The sunlight sliced across Pikachu's body, making its eyelids twitch before it instinctively shut them tight.
The first thing it noticed was how stiff it felt—like a dried salted fish, as if it had just been pulled out of a freezer… wait, what even was a freezer?
It didn't hurt exactly, but the numbness was strange enough to make one—no, make a mouse—start questioning its very existence.
With an awkward roll—harder than it should've been—it managed to land on all fours.
Slowly, Pikachu pushed itself up.
"Piika....chu."
Its head felt heavy, like it was packed with lead, so standing on two legs didn't seem like a good idea right now.
It tried to clear its thoughts, but something felt… off. Like a piece was missing. That hollow feeling gnawed at it—worse than having an empty wallet.
Pikachu looked itself over.
Paws? Check.Ears? Check.Tail? Still lightning-shaped.Fur? Yellow and fluffy as ever.
Nothing seemed wrong.
"Pikaaa..." it exhaled.
And yet… something definitely was.
There wasn't a single scratch on its body, which should've been reassuring. But that nagging sense of something missing refused to go away.
What had happened to it?
Where was it?
It stood on a long bridge-like thing… was this a pier? Ahead loomed a massive structure.
Pikachu took a step back, realizing it wasn't a building—it was a ship.
A ship at anchor. It wasn't moving.
On its side, a name was clearly painted:
Baratie.
It sounded familiar… but at the same time, completely foreign.
"…Well, no point standing around," Pikachu thought.
"Pika pi. (Might as well look around.)"
It started walking along the pier, its legs weak, like it had just run a marathon twice. Its mind was a mess, like someone had stuffed a universe worth of information into its head—yet it couldn't remember a thing.
(Gojo: hey, don't look at me, it's not me this time.)
"Pikaa..?(How did it get here?)"
"Pika, pika piii? (Wait, where even was here?)"
It couldn't make sense of anything.
Though it didn't remember anything, it felt like it had lost something very important.
The feeling was awful—like being abandoned by its owner, completely out of place in a world too big for it.
"I'm stuffed!"
"Yeah, this place is heaven!"
Humans!
Pikachu reacted instantly, springing aside just in time to avoid being stepped on by two people who had just gotten off the ship.
That was close—any slower and it might've been flattened.
'Wait… are these even humans? Why are they so big?' it thought.
They both looked down at it, curious.
"What is that?" the woman asked, eyes wide.
"No clue… some kind of mouse?" the man shrugged.
The woman stepped closer, but Pikachu had zero interest in starring in some weird "mouse and giant human bonding moment." It darted away immediately.
Slipping past them, it rushed through the doorway they had just come from—
—and abruptly stopped.
Inside was packed.
People everywhere.
For a moment, Pikachu felt a flicker of excitement—it had never seen so many humans before.
But that excitement quickly turned into caution.
Surprisingly, no one made a big deal out of it. A few glanced its way, but no one stopped or questioned it.
Keeping low, Pikachu carefully weaved through the crowd.
For something its size, a place like this was basically nightmare difficulty.
Then—
A smell hit it.
No, not just a smell. An assault.
Its nose twitched uncontrollably.
Pikachu closed its eyes and inhaled deeply.
The aroma seemed to reach straight into its soul.
Only then did it notice the tables around it, each one carrying its own mouthwatering scent.
This was a restaurant!
And suddenly, it realized—
"GROWWLLLL~~~~."
It was starving.
Completely, utterly starving.
When had it last eaten? It had no idea.
Driven by that irresistible scent, Pikachu dashed toward a spiral staircase and climbed up, dodging people along the way.
Food. Nothing else mattered right now.
At the top, it found the source of that heavenly smell and slipped through a pair of swinging doors.
Inside was chaos.
Chefs moved like spinning tops, constantly in motion.
The space was tight, and sneaking in unnoticed felt nearly impossible.
But luck was on its side.
A chef placed a freshly prepared dish right on the counter above Pikachu's head.
The smell was incredible.
Its mouth watered instantly—drool practically forming a stream.
Now or never.
It glanced around.
Everyone was too busy to notice.
In one swift motion, Pikachu jumped, grabbing onto the counter and hauling itself up just enough to reach the plate. It snatched a piece of food—
—and dropped back down.
Curling into a small gap between the counter and the wall, it devoured the meat in seconds.
The flavor exploded in its mouth.
"PIKYAA! (SOO GOOD!)"
So this was human food?!
It was amazing.
Still hungry, it jumped up again for another bite—
"Hey!"
Pikachu froze. Σ(ﾟ口ﾟ;)//
The food slipped from its paws.
Every chef in the kitchen was staring at it.
'Shit, shit, shit! I got caught.' Its thoughts raced.
"What is that thing?!"
"A mouse?!"
"It's eating the food!"
"That dish is my masterpiece!"
"Who cares if it's your masterpiece—get it out of here!"
A tall, muscular man with a strange blue, jellyfish-like hairstyle stepped forward.
"Don't just stand there! Get that thing out of the restaurant!"
…This was bad.
Really bad.
Pikachu dropped down and bolted.
Footsteps thundered behind it.
"Get back here, you little pest!"
It glanced back—
—and shrieked.
Knives.
They were all holding knives.
If it got caught… they might eat it. No, they would eat it.
It darted under tables and chairs as customers scrambled out of the way.
Thuds echoed behind it—blades embedding into wood.
They were playing a full-on knife-throwing game, with it as the target.
"PIKA, PIKA, PIKA, PI PIKACHU! (Don't hit me, don't hit me, please don't hit me!)"
What shocked Pikachu most was how ruthless they were—destroying tables without hesitation, even with customers nearby.
They were trying to corner it.
"Pikaaa… pikaaa…" it gasped as it ran. Its body still felt weak, like someone had strapped a 100-pound (45 kg) weight to its back.
Then Pikachu smirked while looking at them.
But too bad for them.
Because it was still faster than all of them combined.
They could never catch it at their speed—
Suddenly—
Something grabbed its tail.
Hard.
Pikachu was yanked into the air with a pained squeal, left hanging upside down.
"PiiKaa! (Ahh, it hurts!)"
Face-to-face with a muscular man.
"Got you, you stupid mouse!"
"Nice one, Patty!" someone cheered.
Patty grinned.
Pikachu growled low, its eyes narrowing.
"Pika… chu…"