Prologue
Being on a cruise ship for a day and a half is exhausting, but being on a cruise ship in the body of a shiny Eevee is even more exhausting. Spending the entirety of a day-and-a-half boat trip running from curious, tail pulling fillies and colts was just about enough to make Maika consider throwing himself off the boat.
Maika placed his paws on the painted wooden railing and poked his head off the side of the ship. He took a moment to catch his breath, gulping the fresh smelling ocean air. It was hard for Maika to believe that just yesterday he had woken up in this boat’s cargo hold with no idea where any of his teammates were. He had since found out that he was on a two-weeks long cruise vacation from a city called Las Pegasus to the island paradise of Hawhinny. Maika wanted to believe he was dreaming all of this up, but if he was then this was certainly the longest and most complex dream he ever had.
A splash of seawater shook Maika from his thoughts. A Lapras breached the waves and the tourist ponies around Maika oohed and aahed, snapping pictures as it matched the speed of the ship. A crackle of audio static startled Maika as the captain spoke over the speakers.
“Ladies and Gentlecolts, we're about half an hour from Hawinny. If you look off to the left you can see a large Sea Serpent, and on your right a monster that is much smaller than the Sea Serpent with a smaller monster on it making their way to the archipelago.”
The young trainer turned Pokémon stared in awe as a Lapras swam by carrying a Popplio, smiling for the cameras as they passed.
“Cool. I haven't seen a Lapras this close since I moved to Alola.” Maika said aloud as the Gyarados dived under the boat and resurfaced a few meters away from the Lapras. “Water Pokémon are awesome.” Maika sighed as they headed back to open water and faded into the distance.
Maika couldn’t tell, but twenty five minutes passed as he looked towards the horizon at the setting sun. The captain announced over the speakers that they were about to dock, and the tourist ponies trickled away from the observation deck to pack their things. Maika had no such responsibilities, and jumped on top of the railing to get a better view.
“This place looks sorta like Alola.” Maika said aloud as they docked. The beach was full of Ponies, Pokemon, and other animals playing and relaxing as if there was nothing wrong in the world.
Near the port, some sort of party was going on, complete with poles of fire, food, and ponies dancing with some Pokémon. Maika was in shock of how well the Ponies and Pokemon got along. The whole trip here Maika had been treated like a pet cat or a rabid dog, but on the beach a pony and a Marowak were dancing in complete harmony to a cheering crowd. Maika’s gaze wandered back to the water until he spotted a single pokemon surfing in the last minutes of sunlight.
“The way that that Raichu surfs looks familiar.” Maika murmured to himself. He leaned forward, squinting through the pink-orange sunset to see--
Maika didn’t have time to scream as his paws slipped and dunked him into the water.
I’m going to drown Maika thought as he flailed in the water, breaking back to the surface and struggling to stay there. I just learned to walk, and now I’m going to drown.
A strong yellow paw suddenly hooked under Maika’s ribs and hauled him into the air. “I gotcha little dude!” Maika gasped and shivered as the most stereotypical surfer voice imaginable boomed in his ears. Maika looked up at his savior and realized he’d been picked up by the surfing figure: an alolan Raichu. The Raichu slung the little eevee over his back as he surfed to the shore.
Maika soon caught his breath for long enough to realize what was happening. The Raichu that had scooped him up was taking him to shore, but also showing off until he got there. Maika gripped the back of the Raichu’s neck best he could as they crested over waves and left a trail in the water.
For a few moments, Maika could only hold onto the Raichu for dear life. But soon, as Maika caught his breath and let the wind dry his fur, he started to realize....this was fun. The Raichu noticed that his passenger was awake, and aimed towards a big wave. He leaned forward to pick up speed, then just before they crashed he swung his legs up and rocketed them both out of the water.
Maika couldn't even breathe in the time that Raichu took to casually grab his board/tail with one paw. But Maika caught his breath at last, whooping and cheering as they plummeted back to the water, making another wave to ride as they finally made it to the beach. The Raichu leaned down and Maika rolled off his back and onto the sand.
That...that was amazing! This Raichu had some mad skills! It almost reminded him of… Maika looked at the top of Raichu's head to see...yes! That iconic tuft of fur sticking up in the front. It was his Raichu.
“Raichu! Raichu, my main Mon.” Maika laughed as he get to his feet “How's it been since coming to this weird place?” Maika asked him in a way that Raichu would notice his voice.
“Um… Do I know you brah?” Raichu asked as he jumped up to sit on his floating tail, wringing seawater from his paws.
“It's...me.” Maika said, taken aback.
“Well. Hi there Me. Nice ta meet ya.” Raichu said rather bluntly, but with a joking smile. Maika was a bit offended, and tried one last time.
“Raichu… Do you not recognize me?”
“It's kinda hard ta say brah… I haven't seen many Shiny Eevee around.” Raichu said with a shrug as it finally clicked in Maika's mind.
“That's why you don't recognize me. It's Maika. Your trainer?” Maika turned around in a circle, letting Raichu see every angle of him. "I know I look like an eevee right now...but you have to believe me."
“Uh…” Raichu says getting a closer look at him. “Nope, I don't see it little dude.” He says to Maika. “I mean you sound like my bro, but you look nothing like him, brah.”