Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Of course he noticed. It was impossible not to notice that something was wrong with the poor kid. Lucy was asking about him. Lieutenant Yoshida was asking about him. Even some other Pokemon were asking about him.

And yeah.

It really %#!%ing sucked.

Sometimes days would go by without a word from Tim. He’d hole himself up in his room and would only come out for food and water; sometimes Pikachu could hear him crying at night, abruptly, after what he assumed was a nightmare.

Humans weren’t made for the kind of combat that Pokemon were. And since Tim had been attacked by many Pokemon on the day of the Parade, when they’d go out in public Tim would glance around nervously at every Pokemon they’d pass by (though he tried to make it discreet). Sudden noises would send him into a panic, though Pikachu hadn’t personally seen Tim past anything beyond being shaky and hyperventilating. Every time, Tim would walk away and come back red-eyed, tired, and very out-of-sorts.

After the Parade (they’d decided to start calling that day the Parade, to make sure they didn’t directly address it. Also, Pikachu thought it sounded badass), he had decided to stay in the city with Pikachu and finish the work his father had started. Because, even though Harry was technically Pikachu, he was gone. His memories and body were both wiped, now all that was left was his soul fused with Pikachu. There wasn’t much else to it. The kid had good reason to be upset, and Pikachu was just a constant reminder that Tim’s parents were both dead.

So, yeah. Pikachu was definitely worried for Tim.

Probably should have been obvious by now.

Every morning they had had a routine. They didn’t need to tell each other, but they always knew what it was subconsciously. Go out in the morning, get coffee, work on the case they were assigned, and then go home and have dinner. It was repetitive, but repetition was something Tim seemed to cling to for dear life after the Parade. Sometimes they’d do something different, of course, to ease Tim out of his shell slowly, but after that, Tim would need days, sometimes weeks, to recover from the new things that came from the change in schedule.

Today, Pikachu had made sure they got the whole day off so he and Tim could have some time to just talk about what he was going through. After a small trip to a special place.

They were out for coffee at their favorite coffee place. Jigglypuff, seemingly never offstage, was singing in the background, and there was a Kadabra behind the counter on shift with the regular bartender. Just their perfect, normal routine.

Pikachu looked up from his empty glass of coffee and turned on his barstool, looking to the left. Tim sits to his left on a barstool, looking down at his coffee. Spaced out, unmoving, tuned out, whatever you wanna call it. He wasn’t all there. Which only increased his own concern about his partner’s well-being. If the night before was concerning, well, this was just making it worse. To put it very lightly.

“Hey, kid, you wanna go to the Flea Market after this?” He didn’t mean to speak so suddenly. Whatever. At least his voice was gentle as to not startle Tim. The boy sitting next to him looked up from his coffee cup with a confused expression on his face.

“Flea Market? Don’t we have work to do?”

“Nah. Figured we’d take the day off. You can call in, right? I’m kinda…” The yellow Pokémon motioned to his own body and chuckled, but his face fell when he saw a look of hurt on Tim’s face.

”Right. Sorry, that was uh, insensitive of me…”

Pikachu shifted around his seat in discomfort and felt his ear twitch a couple of times. Yeah, the whole dad-dying thing wasn’t the greatest thing in the world. Could probably live without that. But something didn’t sit right. Tim’s sleeping habits lately have been absolutely atrocious. Okay, okay, yeah, that was hypocritical considering he himself hadn’t slept well in weeks. But that was beside the point. Pikachu had noticed how the kid’s eyes had grown noticeably darker with each sleepless night that passed by. He had also noticed the messy hair, mismatched socks, jagged nails, and unbrushed teeth. Oh, and also the fact that Tim had worn the same jacket now for months, and he wasn’t even the one that did the laundry anymore.

Nail biting, insomnia, carelessness, and extreme levels of apathy! Awesome.

...God, he sounded like a dad when he said all that together. Maybe Harry wasn’t totally gone after all. Haha.

He was startled out of his thoughts by Tim mumbling a response.

“Sure. Let’s go.”

Giddiness filled Pikachu’s tiny heart as he jumped out of his seat and hopped up on Tim’s shoulder eagerly. The 21-year-old stood up from his red barstool, tossing some cash on the counter for the barista and sluggishly pulling on his backpack. Pikachu sits on his shoulder in silence, patiently waiting for his partner to get ready. It takes about five minutes to gather everything, with Tim’s body moving very slowly, like Tim’s mind was already working overtime on something else, and this was just a background to whatever-the-hell was happening up in that brilliant mind of his.

The two detectives hop in their car and begin the trip to the Flea Market. The city flew past as the rolled on down the highway, buildings blurring into block of colors whizzing behind. Even simple things like that put Tim in distress, Pikachu had figured out. Tim missed his hometown a lot recently, staring out subway windows longingly at the rolling fields they would pass. Especially since the Parade, he had also seemed hesitant to set foot anywhere close to central Ryme City.

The Flea Market seemed perfect for a small trip. At least, Pikachu hoped it would be.

___________

Pikachu beamed with joy as they got out of their car, and began walking from the parking lot to the Market. His red cheeks crackled happily with electricity as he crawled up Tim’s back, his small fuzzy body draping itself his shoulders and burying his nose into his neck. He let out a small sigh of comfort as they made their way around the farmer’s market. The sun was still rising, and the concrete looked orange from the glow. Not a cloud in the sky as the crisp air bit the tips of Pikachu’s ears. This was very refreshing weather. He hoped that Tim felt the same way.

They stopped at the item booths first. Once in a while Pikachu would perk his head up at a small trinket, to which Tim would notice and make an offhand comment to Pikachu about space in the apartment, mostly along the lines of,”If you buy this we’ll have to clear out a path like they do in Hoarders,” and other witty one-liners. It was nice, finally seeing Tim come out of his shell. It may have been due to the kid missing his hometown that he’d opened up at the market in particular.

Pikachu felt his eyelids droop. It had been at least two hours since his last coffee and a small crash was beginning to settle in. Maybe he shouldn’t have stayed up all night. He grabs a dollar bill from Tim’s wallet and jumps down to the ground.

“Hey, would you be good here for a minute while I go get a coffee from that booth over there?”

Tim shrugs,”Whatever, man, go do your thing, I’m all good.”

Pikachu gives him a nod and hops away to the booth. He hands the crumpled-up dollar bill to the Kadabra behind the counter, who grunts and turns to make the coffee. The entire area had the scent of coffee wafting throughout, which was just what Pikachu needed to perk up his day. The constant issues Tim was having exhausted him, but this was his son (???) he was talking about. He’d give up so much more than just this for the kid in a heartbeat. There was something good on it’s way for them, he just knew it.

He grabbed his coffee, nodding a small thank you to the Kadabra, and waddled off to find Tim when he heard something interesting. The whoosh of flames around the corner, then a yelp of surprise. In curiosity (and also slight worry), Pikachu rounded the corner of the booths and almost choked on his coffee. Tim was standing next to a booth, standing up very rigid, his arms folded around his torso. A Charizard sat behind the booth, smoke still twisting out of its mouth.

“Oh, jesus christ.” Pikachu breathed

Pikachu trotted up to Tim and tugged on his pant leg, but Tim was rigid, staring nowhere in particular, his eyes glazed over. Dammit, he’d probably started panicking again. He hopped up on Tim’s shoulders and stroked the kid’s hair, leaning close to his ear.

“Hey, kid, I know you may not hear me, but we should go to the car, okay?”

Tim, surprisingly, nodded, and started walking in the direction of the car. Thank god. Pikachu hopped off Tim’s shoulder and onto the counter with the Charizard.

“It’s not your fault, don’t feel bad, alright?”

“Thank you. I hope your partner is okay.”

“Me too. Me too.”

___________

It had been a good hour since the event with the charizard. Tim was just sitting, doing nothing, in the driver’s seat of the car, staring forward through the windshield. Pikachu sat in the passenger seat, staring up at him in worry. They’d left the house at 10:00. Now it was 2:00. Yikes.

Pikachu had many questions. A lot of which would be considered insensitive and extremely inappropriate for the situation they were currently in. He could say a lot of things. Should he even say anything? He wasn’t sure. The one thing he was sure of was that he’s wanted to help Tim, but now, in the moment, he was absolutely terrified that he would mess up or make things worse. So he settled on an apology instead.

“Tim. Listen.. uh.. I’m sorry for bringing you here. I really..” He sighs,”I, ahh.. shouldn’t have left you alone like that.”

Silence, then.

There were a lot of times where people use the phrase ‘burst into tears.’ Pikachu never really understood that phrase. But when he blinked and Tim was shaking with tears, he suddenly understood. Tim’s hands were balled into fists, pressing into his eyes and wiping them with so much pressure that, sooner than expected, his eyes were puffy and red. He kept sniffling and shakily inhaling in between sobs. Pikachu felt a pang of guilt. He hopped onto Tim’s lap, the other immediately wrapping his arms around him and lifting him up to his chest, against his neck. Pikachu sat there in the embrace as his partner shook.

He didn’t know how much time passed before he finally calmed down. He didn’t honestly care. All that he was worried about right now was Tim.

“I’m sorry, kid.” He mumbled.

“Not your fault. I got scared, not a big deal.” Tim sniffled. Pikachu leaned back against the steering wheel.

“You’re crying. You dissociated earlier. There’s something wrong, Tim. Is it because of the Parade, or..”

“The Charizard... It just reminded me of everything that happened… I dunno…”

Pikachu made eye contact with Tim, this kid who saved his life, this kid who practically saved all of Ryme City, and felt something between pride and disappointment. Not disappointment in Tim. Of course not. He felt disappointment in himself, in Tim’s friends, in this city, for not seeing that the person who’d saved them all was hurting as much as he was. But also pride, that despite this, despite everything, Tim was still here and alive and willing to let Pikachu see him like this even if he didn’t want to.

“Tim…”

“Dad. There’s something wrong with me.” A tear ran down Tim’s cheek. The yellow Pokemon reached up and wiped it away.

“I know, kid. I know. You’ll be okay. Maybe not now, but one day. I promise.”

He had to get this kid some help.