Chapter 2: A New Friend?

The next morning I open my eyes to sunlight streaming through the window. It takes me a minute to remember where I am; big boat, serves food, crazy cooks, fell asleep in Sanji's room. Oh, so that's where I was. I feel something shift next to me and I look through tired eyes to see Sanji just waking up as well. I rub my eyes before stretching and yawning and Sanji sits up.

I'm honestly surprised he didn't kick me out of his bed, but then again, I didn't take up that much space. Sanji gets out of bed without even sparing me a glance and goes to the bathroom. After a while he reemerged, dressed and refreshed, wearing a similar black suit like the one yesterday. He eventually noticed me staring and looked at me, "Still here?" he asks.

I give him a look. 'Where else would I be?'

He sits down near me on the bed, "May as well get this over with," he says to himself before addressing me. "What are you?" Ah, there was the question I was waiting for.

I answer him in the only way I can. "Pikachu."

Sanji tilts his head, "So, you're a Pikachu?" he asks. "Or is that your name?"

I give a shrug. 'Both I guess.' Wait...that didn't sound right...Was my name my species? No...I had a name. To others, like humans, my species was my name but not to those like me. But...what was my name?

It then hits me; that thing I thought was missing...it was my mind!

My memories are a complete blank slate! My name, my home, they were gone! Hell, I couldn't even remember where 'home' was! Or even how I ended up here!

"You alright?" Sanji's voice causes me to look at him; I hadn't realized how deep in thought I was. I nod and that seems to satisfy him. "So you can understand me." he comments.

I frown and nod again; what was he implying? I wasn't some stupid animal. "Pika pika."

"Is that all you can say? Your name?" Sanji asks. I nod, inwardly sighing at all the silly questions; I didn't know humans were this curious about things. Sanji nods and takes a drag of his cigarette. "So, are you someone's pet that got lost?"

I bristle and scowl at him. "Pika pikachu!" 'I'm no one's pet!'

Sanji held up his hands in surrender, "Okay okay, calm down." he said. "So, you're some weird yellow mouse and you don't belong to anyone-" Watch it, buddy. "-do you even have a home?"

I frown and shake my head. I guess that pretty much meant I was getting thrown out. If I belonged somewhere I probably would've had a chance to stay until my non-existent family picked me up, but that wasn't going to happen. Even though I couldn't remember, I had a gut feeling that whoever I belonged to wouldn't come looking for me anytime soon.

Sanji gets up, taking another drag, "Guess that means you're out of my hands." he says matter-of-factly. I look at him in confusion. "If you wanna leave, do it." he smirks at me. "Just don't steal from the kitchen again." I frown at him and glance look at the window. I turn back to Sanji as he exits the room. "Now, if you'll excuse me Pikachu, I've got work to do."

And with that, he exits the room. I stare at the door, still feeling a bit shocked. He really wasn't going to throw me out or eat me? I was just free to do what I pleased? But if that's the case...what can I even do? I go back over to the window and glance outside, seeing boats and ships dock with people holding umbrellas or something to block the rain, getting off and entering the restaurant.

I guess I could just hitch a ride on a boat...but where would I even go? I have no freaking idea where 'home' is or even how I got here! I try thinking back to before but all I can remember is a giant storm. Well, that certainly helps; a storm could've happened anytime!

Speaking of storms, the sky looks pretty cloudy right now...maybe I could stay here for the time being. At least until I figured out what I was going to do, and until the weather was nice enough for travel.

Ugh, I am so BORED! I've been cooped up in this room for hours and I have nothing to do! I've done everything that this little room had to offer. I explored, paced around, watched the rain fall, and even jumped on the bed. Plus, I haven't recovered any memories. I had hoped that I only had temporary amnesia, but that clearly wasn't the case.

Sanji hasn't come back into the room either; I guess he figured that I had just jumped out the window and hitchhiked onto a passing ship. Like I was gonna do that in the rain! I flop on the bed; I was pretty close to dying of boredom at this point. I grimace as my stomach growls; I'm getting pretty hungry too. Sanji's warning echoed in my head and I looked at the door.

I went up to it and gently pushed it with my paw, making it creak open. I peek out into the empty hallway and cautiously step outside Sanji's room. I smile to myself as I head towards the sounds of the restaurant's customers. Sanji said not to steal food, but he didn't say anything about staying in his room all day.

Wait, why am I even doing what he says? I'm an independant Pikachu, I can steal whenever I want! But then again, I really don't want to be chased around the restaurant with knives and cleavers again. Sanji would definitely throw me out after that, or that Boss guy would chop me up.

I creep down the hallway until I arrive at the kitchen. I hug the wall so none of the chefs entering and exiting notice me before quietly scurrying into the kitchen. I hide in the same corner as last time and peek around, trying to conceal myself as much as possible. I eventually spy Sanji near the back of the kitchen, flipping something in a frying pan. He's my best bet. He was the only chef here that gave me food so I knew he wouldn't freak out upon seeing me. Now to get over there… Long story short, it was a very stressful stealth mission involving a lot of hiding under counters and carts, but I eventually ended up in the corner on the opposite side of the kitchen, that happened to be right next to Sanji. I peek up at him and the thing that he's cooking. It looks like some kind of omelette or tortilla, but whatever it was, it was making my mouth water. There's no way I can jump up on the counter without alerting the other chefs, so I stay put. "Pika?" I ask softly.

Sanji turns slightly before doing a double take and looking at me. "What are you doing in here?" he asks. He doesn't sound panicked or annoyed, just curious. This guy was a real mystery compared to these other chefs.

I glance between him and the food in the pan making a conflicted and embarrassed expression. Basically the look said, 'I'm hungry and you told me not to steal, sooooo...'

"Hungry?" Sanji asks. I look at the ground guiltily. Sanji doesn't say anything, but goes back to finishing up the meal he's preparing. Once he piles the meal onto a plate he looks at me again, "Stay there." he says, pointing at the corner I'm hiding in. I hesitantly nod and back into the corner as far as I can while Sanji walks away. All I can do is hold my breath and wait for Sanji to return and hope that none of the other chefs see me.

Thankfully, my luck seems to turn around as Sanji is back after a few minutes. Now I feel ten times safer; Sanji is the only sane person I've met here so I'm better off sticking near him for the time being. I look up at him as he starts cooking again, but it seems to be something smaller, like soup. After a few more minutes, he takes out a bowl, puts the meal in it, and places it in front of me. "Eat up."

It is soup! And Arceus, does it smell good! I immediately start digging in and Sanji crouches in front of me. "Hungry little thing, aren't you?"

Well, considering that my mind is the equivalent of an empty jar and I don't even remember when I last ate, I think I'm justified. I give him a small smile as thanks and go back to eating. After a few minutes, I've licked the bowl clean and Sanji takes it. But the minute Sanji stands up straight…

"Hey! That rat is back!"

Oh Arceus, not again…

Sanji turns towards the burly chef (His name was Patty, right?), "Relax, the little guy just wanted some food." I hide behind Sanji's legs as I can see the other chefs pulling out their knives again; did they butcher every animal that stumbled in here?

"You're letting that rodent steal food again?! You saw what that pest did yesterday!" The chef with dark glasses yells.

"It isn't stealing if someone gives it to them." Sanji says calmly, taking a drag of his cigarette. "And if I'm not mistaken, it was you clumsy morons who trashed the place, not our little friend." I look up at Sanji in slight surprise; he was actually defending me?

"You've got to get rid of that thing Sanji!" One of the chefs yells. "If Boss Zeff catches you with it-"

"Catch you with what, Sanji?" I squeak softly and cower behind Sanji in fear as the Boss enters the kitchen. I don't know why, but this guy just terrifies me; it's probably the mustache. If this guy was the boss, Sanji was probably really in trouble; I really hope this guy doesn't lose his job because of me, I wouldn't be able to stand the guilt.

"Boss Zeff!" Patty exclaims. "Sanji's been feeding and hiding that little pest who wrecked the restaurant yesterday!" Hey, I thought we established that it wasn't my fault! I tried my hardest not to knock anything over!

Boss Zeff walks towards Sanji, his peg leg making loud clacks on the floor. He glares down at me making me hide behind Sanji even more. "What's that rodent still doing here?" he asks gruffly. "Didn't I tell you to get rid of it?"

To my surprise, Sanji is totally calm; he's acting like he has absolutely nothing to fear. "You told me to take care of it, not get rid of it." he answers coolly. "This little guy doesn't have a home or owner, so as far as I'm concerned, this thing isn't my responsibility." I look at him and he glances down at me.

"Then what's it doing in my kitchen?" Boss asks. "You know better then to allow animals to steal food, especially dirty rodents." Hey, I resent that statement! You would know if I was dirty, I have yellow fur for Arceus' sake!

Sanji puts his hands in his pockets, "It was hungry; as a chef, it's my job to feed someone if they're hungry, even if they're a mouse."

I can't help but feel moved by his words; that explained why he gave me the rest of the food I stole yesterday. I had never seen or interacted with humans before yesterday, but I had no idea they could be so...open hearted towards other species like me. I had just met this guy and he was standing up to his boss for me? A little mouse that had amnesia, couldn't speak their language and even stolen from his workplace? I honestly didn't know what to say (even though he couldn't understand it anyway).

Boss looks like he's about to retort when a loud crash is heard from downstairs. A cook pokes his head into the kitchen."Boss, some pirates are causing a ruckus again." he says, sounding pretty irritated. "They're starting to pull out firearms on the waiters."

Boss sighs, "Patty, Carne, get down there before they make a mess of the place." he says gruffly. Patty and the chef with dark glasses nod firmly and exit the kitchen. "All of you get back to work!" he barks and the chefs comply. I shudder as Boss turns his glare back to me, "That rodent causes anymore trouble, I'll cook it up myself."

I realize that now, I'm gripping Sanji's leg in fear; the thought of being cooked and eaten by this guy was seriously nightmare worthy. I nearly fall as Sanji moves back to his station and continues cooking along with the other chefs. I simply move back to my corner and sit on the floor; nothing really to do. A few minutes pass and a loud crash can be heard from downstairs; sounds like the fight is getting more intense.

"Sounds like trouble down there." A chef comments.

"Those pirates must be putting up one hell of a fight." Another comments. "Maybe we should go down there and make sure they don't completely wreck the place."

All the chefs put away what they're doing and file out the door. Sanji sighs and exits last, sparing me one last glance. "Stay out of trouble." he says simply, leaving me behind in the kitchen.

Well...now what?

Don't worry, our little friend isn't gonna sit out on the action! I mean, it's a Pikachu, they're practically made to fight! Pokémon would honestly fit in pretty well in the One Piece universe...

Review please! And if you have questions, ask 'em!