This is it...the last chapter! It's always sad saying goodbye to a story that you worked on for a while, and these last few months have been great. It's hard to believe the movie is out on DVD/Blu-ray now! Thank you once again everyone for your support ^^ I'll never forget it and I always keep your comments close to read over and over!

I guess we can only hope that in the sequel, they'll somehow have Harry merge back into Detective Pikachu, even though I have no idea how that could happen...which is what inspired this story :)

One last thing...I know there's a headcanon that Harry's Pikachu was actually meant to be for Tim and that Harry was going to give Pikachu to him when he got to Ryme City (but never arrived, so he became Harry's partner instead.) It's one of my favorite headcanons, but I wanted to share my own of how Harry and Pikachu might have become partners ;)

xxxx

One last thing...I know there's a headcanon that Harry's Pikachu was actually meant to be for Tim and that Harry was going to give Pikachu to him when he got to Ryme City (but never arrived, so he became Harry's partner instead.) It's one of my favorite headcanons, but I wanted to share my own of how Harry and Pikachu might have become partners ;)

Tim isn't exactly surprised when the location of Sebastian's exchange turns out to be somewhere that he's been once before, dark shadows enveloping himself and Lucy as they move slowly among the numerous tall crates around them; perfect if anyone wanted to hide themselves from someone or something specific, like the police.

He'd insisted on coming alone, but Lucy had insisted even harder that she should come too along with Psyduck, and Tim had no choice but to agree. Sebastian had warned not to bring any cops or Pokémon, but he'd promised Yoshida that he wouldn't do anything stupid. Bringing someone along with him was probably one of the least stupid things he could have done. Of course it's still stupid as Yoshida has no idea the three of them are here so they don't have any backup in case things don't work out, but Tim is hopeful.

Pikachu is here. They'll be together again soon, and that's worth the risk.

Sebastian takes a small step forward. Tim looks down at his hands, but his grip is empty.

"I don't exactly have him anymore..." Sebastian murmurs. He looks to Tim expectantly, his face falling when he sees that Tim doesn't have what he's expecting, either.

"What are you talking about?!" he shouts before he can stop himself.

"He got away," Sebastian says simply, shrugging his shoulders. He takes notice of Psyduck and frowns. "I thought I said no cops, no Pokémon."

Tim ignores him. Despite not really being the answer he wanted, relief pours into him. Pikachu got away, he's safe and that's all that matters.

Unless...

"Did you hurt him?" he demands, resisting the urge to grab him by his coat. He'd promised Yoshida that he wouldn't do anything stupid, even though the lieutenant doesn't even know he's here right now.

"I barely laid my hands on the rat. Just used a little rubber so he couldn't hurt me."

Tim frowns, still not liking the idea. Pikachu must have been so afraid and if Sebastian had used rubber, that meant he couldn't have done anything to try and escape. But somehow, he had and Tim is more than grateful.

"It looks like you don't have Charizard, either," Sebastian points out, looking behind and around Tim just to make sure that he really isn't there. "Where is he? I just want him back..."

To Tim's surprise, Sebastian is close to begging.

He hesitates for a moment, considering his options. He of all people should know how it feels to lose a partner, and it seems like Sebastian misses Charizard just as much as he misses Pikachu. Under different circumstances, Sebastian had Charizard taken from him when the police arrived unexpectedly at the Roundhouse, almost like when Detective Pikachu had been taken from him after being changed back into Harry.

He holds out a small, folded piece of paper that contains the right information and Sebastian reaches for it, but then Tim pulls it back sharply.

"Since you don't have Pikachu, you have to promise one thing," he says firmly, hoping that it will work.

"What?" Sebastian asks, reluctant but willing to listen if he wants his partner back badly enough.

"You'll give Charizard enough time to recover no matter how long that might be," Tim says calmly, "you won't use R or anything else like it on him again."

Sebastian glares, but he remains quiet. Tim continues, his heart thudding against his chest. If Pikachu isn't here, he could be anywhere by now...they were so close to getting him back, but now he's gone again.

Tim keeps going, if only to distract himself for a few moments from what could be happening to Pikachu.

"Then you can send someone to re-adopt him or try to disguise yourself, I don't care," he finishes. It seems like a solid enough plan that won't cause Yoshida to be suspicious once he's reunited with Pikachu...if that's even a possibility. He tries hopelessly to push the awful thought into the back of his mind. "Pokémon are amazing and his bond with you is strong. You need to put in a little effort and not try to cheat your way through."

Pokémon are amazing. Something that Tim never thought he'd hear himself say, but it's true as Harry and his Pikachu had shown him more than once. As Detective Pikachu had shown him more than once, and all the other Pokémon they had met along the way including Charizard, even if he had tried to kill them both during the rematch and when the R had worn off.

"...I'll see what I can do," Sebastian says. It sounds more like his way of agreeing, however reluctantly, and Tim holds out the piece of paper for him to take.

"Thanks," Sebastian murmurs, holding the paper tightly. He leaves the three of them including Psyduck alone among the large crates, and it takes Tim everything he has not to fall to the ground and sob. His partner is still missing...what if they never find him? What if he doesn't even want to come back?

He turns to Lucy, eyes pleading, and she stares back sympathetically. All that commotion spilling coffee over Yoshida's desk just to get the time and location of the exchange as well as where Charizard is being kept, and Sebastian hadn't held up his end of the deal. Technically, he would have if Pikachu hadn't gotten away. It isn't really his fault.

Either way, they're back at square one with no clue where Pikachu is.

The most important thing is that Sebastian hadn't hurt him if Tim believes what he'd said, and he hadn't really sounded like he was lying—especially if he wanted to get Charizard back.

"Maybe now that he escaped, he went back to the apartment," Lucy suggests. "We can search on the way back, too."

"Psy," Psyduck whispers.

Tim agrees, and they begin to leave. His chest is heavy, but he's still hopeful that maybe they'll get lucky and Pikachu will be back at the apartment like Lucy thinks.

"Wait..." a voice hidden in the shadows makes itself known. Tim thinks for a second that Sebastian came back, but it doesn't exactly sound like him. He hadn't noticed anyone else watching them as he'd given Sebastian the paper with Charizard's information.

He notices that he stops before Lucy does, able to understand in a way that she can't.

Tim turns back around, his legs morphing into jelly almost like a Ditto.

His eyes widen, and his breath nearly leaves him as a small shape steps forward slowly. It's almost like it's unsure of whether it should keep coming towards him, ears drooped and moving hesitantly.

It's...

"Pikachu!"

Before Tim knows it, he's running. A yellow blur shining brightly against the night crashes into him before he can even reach the Pokémon himself.

"Tim..." Pikachu chokes, squeezing his eyes shut tight. He buries himself into his partner's jacket and stays huddled close, refusing to budge for anything. After learning the truth and getting scared, after running away and getting caught by Shirtless along with Mr. Mime and Ditto...they're finally back together where they belong.

He's never leaving Tim again, and this time he means it. His little body trembles and Tim holds on tighter, his own eyes shut tight as if to try and make the moment last as long as possible. Lucy watches from a respectful distance, smiling softly. She steps back into the shadows to wait and give them space, motioning for Psyduck to follow.

"Pikachu," Tim says again, but his partner doesn't answer and for a moment, he fears that he's lost the ability to understand him again.

Tim opens his eyes and tries a second time.

"Dad."

Pikachu blinks rapidly and looks up at him, eyes wide and fearful, but then he looks away.

Tim is his son. He was the father they had been searching for all along. It just can't be possible...

"I don't know who I am anymore," he whispers, voice cracking just the slightest as he tries to hold back tears. "I don't know what I am."

He's a Pokémon, yet he also has the soul of a human inside him, just as Ditto had said. He wishes more than anything that he had the power to transform into a human like Ditto, even if it wasn't able to completely transform sometimes. At least it had the free will to be able to choose.

He can never change back into Harry. He doesn't even have any of Harry's memories.

"You're my partner. My best friend," Tim reassures him softly, yet firmly enough so that Pikachu knows he means every word.

The bundle against his chest shudders.

"You're Pikachu," he says, never having been more sure of anything in his entire life.

Pikachu shakes his head, his tears close to escaping. He looks down, his paws trembling slightly. The warmth in his chest is too great to ignore. It's warm, but not too hot. It doesn't hurt, but he's more aware of it now than he ever has been.

"I-I can feel him. Why didn't I feel him before? I should have known!"

He closes his eyes again tightly. This is different than jellies. He had known that he was a detective; he could feel he was a detective, but something had prevented him from fully remembering who he really was.

Tim gives him the answer, but it shouldn't be an excuse. There had been so many hints right in front of them...

"You didn't know. Neither of us did."

Neither of them could have guessed it without Mewtwo's help, despite however many clues there were from Pikachu being addicted to coffee, them being able to understand each other and even that he'd forgotten how to use his powers, because he's not really a Pokémon. At least not one completely. He's not completely human, either.

Tim's grip tightens and Pikachu finds he doesn't mind, only leaning in closer and clutching his jacket.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I took Harry away. He's never coming back..."

He's gone.

Permanently.

He'll never separate from his Pikachu and change back into a human again.

Tim pushes a hand up against his soft and white chest. "He's right here. You didn't take him away. This?"

Pikachu hiccups, heaving as he tries to catch his breath and form words. Harry is—was—a great detective. If he had been able to find another way for him and Pikachu to live separately, he would have. But...

"There was no other way. It's permanent, but this is what he wanted..." Pikachu whispers, willing himself to open his eyes once more and stare back at his partner.

"I want this," the faintest echo of a memory tugs at his heartstrings. "Pikachu wants this..."

It's what they had both wanted, and they had merged back together into what he is now.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I left again."

It seems like he's sorry for a lot of things lately, but Tim only shakes his head.

"Let's go home."

"I'd like that. I'd like that very much," Pikachu agrees.

Home sounds nice, though he's no longer sure where that is.

xxxx

"I...thought you might want this back," Tim says, holding out a certain detective hat for Pikachu to take when they reach the apartment at last.

Lucy and Psyduck had left to allow them time to figure things out and take their time processing the truth that Harry is really gone, and gone for good. Tim has already had time. He's had time ever since Mewtwo had shown him the truth, but Pikachu even less since that particular memory had been wiped. Mewtwo had chosen to withhold it from him as well after changing him back into Pikachu, allowing Tim to tell him in his own words.

Eyes widening, Pikachu stares at the hat until he can't take it anymore, looking away. He'd thought that the hat was the only thing he had left of Harry, but it had turned out to be far from the truth when he's actually...

He can't be. He's not a human, and he's not a father who was once a great detective.

Tim understands. He'll keep it close until Pikachu is ready, however long that might be. He'll give him all the time he needs.

Pikachu is quiet through most of the night, and Tim doesn't pressure him. If he wants to talk, he will. He may not want to talk, but he does stay close. Tim puts on an old detective movie, the one that had been playing when he'd first arrived, but it mostly serves as a distracting kind of background noise until they both agree to turn it off and go to bed.

Tim can't bear the thought of sleeping in his father's bed—not where he had recently been permanently transformed, preferring his childhood bed over the couch. Pikachu chooses to curl up at the end of the bed, and Tim can't help but feel a sense of déjà vu; it's just like when he had been sitting with his father's Pikachu before leaving on the train.

Before everything had started to go wrong and Pikachu began feeling pain because of the physical distance that had grown between him and Harry. Bringing them back together had worked just as he and Jack had figured out, but only for a short time before Harry began feeling pain again from his psychic, unseen injuries that were still present from the crash.

Time crawls by slowly and Pikachu is still restless, staring at the pointy and yellow ears ahead of him. Tim shifts, not asleep like he'd thought. He must be having a hard time trying to fall asleep, too.

"Can't sleep?" Tim questions his partner wearily.

He shakes his head.

"I can't, either," Tim admits, staring up blankly at a battle poster on the wall of his bedroom. He's not sure if he'll ever be able to take the Pikachu ears or other posters down.

Had Harry changing back into Pikachu really been the right thing to do? This is just one of many days of his permanent life as a Pikachu. If only there had been another way, but there hadn't. Harry wasn't able to live without Pikachu's body, and his Pikachu had been in too much pain because Harry's injuries from the crash had been transferring over to him. It had been terrible on both ends until Mewtwo had found them, giving Harry the option of merging with Pikachu again or breaking their connection and having his partner pass on, something that Harry never would have agreed to.

In a way, his father hadn't really had a choice at all...

He just can't get the ifs out of his head. If he had just gotten on that stupid train, maybe things would be different. Maybe his father never would have gotten in a horrible wreck. Tim knows one thing for sure; Harry wouldn't have had to live out the rest of his days as a Pikachu. He tries to push the horrible thoughts away, forcing his mind to be quiet.

It was the only way, he tells himself again firmly. It's what had been best for both his father and Pikachu. They're not in pain anymore, and they both get to live on...just in a different way through Detective Pikachu.

Pikachu himself can sense that Tim is having just as many doubts as he is. Getting up from his curled position he inches closer, hesitant, until Tim lifts an arm and invites him under it, bringing him close to his chest.

"I just wish I could remember," he says so softly that Tim almost hadn't heard. It's one of the only things he's said since coming back to the apartment. "I still can't remember anything...not even how we became partners..."

He's asleep within seconds, the comfort of his partner's gentle breathing and grip lulling him to sleep, his words trailing off.

Pikachu doesn't need to explain any more than that. He's no longer in pain, but he still has amnesia. The only memories he has began once he'd woken up in the middle of nowhere, no clues as to what happened except that the address in his detective hat had led him to Harry's apartment. He can't remember being Harry, and he can't remember being Harry's Pikachu.

Tim can't recall Harry ever mentioning how they had become partners. He'd never had a chance to, but an idea strikes Tim and his eyes widen, a soft smile spreading as he finally manages to fall asleep too, holding Pikachu closer.

xxxx

Stepping on the train again sends a chill through Tim. He no longer has a reason to be nervous, but the last time he had gotten on a train, his father's Pikachu had been deathly ill. Harry at the same time had probably been in just as much pain as Pikachu at the time, neither knowing yet that they had still shared a connection with each other.

Pikachu tenses on his shoulders and it's clear that he's feeling the same way, if not worse. He can't fully remember the last time he'd been on the train, but he can sense that the last time 'he' had traveled on one hadn't been a pleasant experience. He sits on Tim's lap for the duration of the ride back to his home, something they had both agreed on just to get away for a while and visit his grandmother to see how she's doing.

Tim glances down at his lap every few minutes, just to make sure that Pikachu is still feeling okay.

"I'm fine," he reassures Tim, gazing out the window at the world speeding quickly by them. It certainly had for him. "Not even a little nauseous."

Tim smiles, thankful and satisfied with his answer. Now that Harry and Pikachu are back together, any kind of distance doesn't affect them. He can just ask Pikachu how he feels without otherwise worrying if he's in any pain.

"He looks a lot better," a voice breaks him out of his thoughts. He turns his head to the side to see the same lady that had been the first to notice something wrong with Pikachu. She must get on the train daily to get to and from work.

Tim smiles, scratching Pikachu under the chin and causing his back leg to thump up and down.

"Arceus," he murmurs, eyes closed. "Give me a warning next time, would you?"

"He's doing a lot better," Tim confirms, and the lady smiles back.

When they get off the train, Jack is waiting for them. He says that he's finally found a job, and one that's not too far from home. Tim is happy for him and it makes him wonder about his own future...if he'll follow in his father's footsteps as Yoshida had said. It's something that both he and Pikachu will have to decide together.

Jack's gaze lands on the electric mouse sitting atop his shoulders.

"Hey, little guy," Jack says gently, reaching a hand up. "I'm glad you're feeling better."

Pikachu nods, a smile trailing across his cheeks as he sniffs Jack's hand.

Ever since he and Harry had merged back into one, he hasn't felt any kind of pain.

"Pika, pika. Chu. Pikachu," his words reach Jack's ears in a way that only Tim can understand. He looks back to his friend.

"He says nice to meet you. He likes your hat," Tim is happy to translate. This is technically his first time meeting Jack, after all.

Jack laughs softly, amazed that Tim can actually understand him and the reason behind it.

"I like your hat a lot, too. Well, I did. Where is it?"

Pikachu goes quiet, and Jack realizes that he must have touched a nerve by accident without really meaning to.

He's silent the rest of the way to Tim's house.

xxxx

His grandma hugs him with near the same amount of force that she'd had when Tim had told her that Harry's Pikachu was sick.

He has to remind himself once again that since she never knew the full truth, her memories had also been reverted by the world's most powerful Pokémon.

"Your father was a good man."

Tim gives her a forlorn smile, but he means it and she smiles back, surprised and not really understanding what had changed his mind.

"I know."

She gets out an old photo album, no longer afraid to bring up old memories of someone who had been gone and out of his life for so long, and who he'd claimed that he hated.

He doesn't anymore, and a big part of him wishes that he never had—that he had just gotten on that train. He'd never kept any photos or videos of Harry, and so his grandmother's photo album is a nice surprise that she must have kept hidden over the years until now.

Pikachu takes in every picture as they sit on the couch together with him in Tim's lap, staring intently at each and hoping that maybe one or two will jog his memory and possibly spark more of his life as Harry.

Tim lands on a photo of Harry's wedding, his father holding his wife close and wide smiles on both of their faces while she lifts up her hand to show a bright ring on her finger.

Pikachu has a feeling that all of this is what he'd forgotten, never to remember again.

It's strange to think that he once had a wife.

"All I can say is that I better be the best man at your wedding, kid," he tells Tim, poking his partner in the arm.

Tim jumps, almost causing the album to topple out of his lap.

"What wedding?!" he begs to know, and Pikachu just gives him a knowing smirk.

"There's not going to be a wedding," Tim deadpans dryly. "We haven't even gone on a real date yet."

"But you knew exactly who I was talking about," Pikachu quips, his grin never leaving.

There's definitely going to be a wedding, Pikachu is sure of it. It might not be now but in the far off future, and he'll be there.

He'll still be a Pikachu too, but the thought is no longer subconsciously as frightening.

xxxx

"What is it?" Pikachu inquires, curious when Tim nearly drags him into his childhood room back at Harry's apartment. Getting away for a while had been nice, but they needed to come back home.

"It's a hologram recreated from train station security footage that Yoshida found. He said it shows something about Harry that we might want to see," Tim answers, excited, and his heart thuds harder.

Pikachu had never been sure how the holograms worked. The first one they had seen seemed to be connected to Howard's wheelchair in some way, and all he'd had to do was wave a hand over it so the hologram would activate. At the lab where Mewtwo and the other Pokémon had been experimented on, they'd had to press buttons to activate the holograms that they found there.

This time seems to be similar to Howard's hologram with Tim just waving his hand over a strange-looking device that glows and activates soon after.

Pikachu backs up hesitantly on the bedroom floor that suddenly shifts, changing Tim's childhood room into another location entirely: the Ryme City train station.

It's dark, and a lone figure is sitting on a bench near the tracks. Once Tim is close enough to see the figure's face, he realizes with a start that it's a face he recognizes.

Harry is sitting all alone at the station, looking like he doesn't really know what to do with himself after waiting for such a long time...only to be disappointed. Tim has an idea of what...or who he might have been waiting for. He's holding something in one of his hands, but Tim can't make out what it is.

Just when it seems like he's given up, like he's finally realized that whoever he'd been waiting for isn't going to come, a whimper interrupts the dark quiet. Harry turns to look behind him in the direction of a dark corner where the sound had come from.

The detective gets up from his seat, moving closer to the dark corner.

Pikachu follows, Tim beside him.

Harry seems confused at first, but then he bends down to get a closer look. There seems to be a cardboard box, and inside the box is...

Himself?

"It's me," Pikachu gasps quietly, glancing up at Tim with wide eyes. He looks back towards the hologram-version of him, reaching his arms out only to have them disappear into static. He pulls them out again so the hologram becomes clear once more. At least, it's the version of him that he had been before Harry had merged into Pikachu.

"Hey there," Harry says softly. The Pikachu looks up at him, big and brown eyes tired yet wary and distrusting at the same time. He backs up against the box, cheeks sparking faintly in warning.

"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you," Harry reassures him. It always breaks his soul bit by bit every time he finds that a Pokémon is lost, injured or worse...abandoned, which is what this Pikachu seems to be. He glances up, looking around and across the tracks, but hardly anyone else is here this late at night.

Pikachu sniffs at the tiny hat that Harry is still holding in his other hand.

Harry looks back down at him.

"This was supposed to be a present for my son. To...to help bring back some pleasant memories. We used to pretend we were detectives, solving all kinds of mysteries when he was younger."

The Pikachu tilts his head to the side, becoming more curious the more that Harry tells his story. Harry isn't sure how much he understands, but he seems to like the sound of his voice. He continues on, keeping the same gentle tone so as not to spook the little yellow Pokémon any further than he already is.

"He was supposed to come and start living with me today, but then he decided not to. I can't really blame him, and I don't want to force him."

The Pikachu coughs, startling him out of his thoughts for a moment. He must be sick, too. This can't be good...maybe if he gains enough of his trust, he'll allow himself to be taken to a Pokémon Center to help him get better. Harry cannot in good conscience leave a Pikachu here to fend for itself, especially not one that's sick.

"I was never there for him after his mother passed. I came here to the city, and now I actually am a detective. What a coincidence."

"Pika," the Pikachu seems to agree, unexpectedly snatching the hat out of his hand.

"Hey!" Harry almost shouts, but then lowers his voice when the Pikachu cowers for a moment.

He gestures to the hat, pointing back at himself, and Harry has to do a double take.

"You...want to be partners?"

What else could Pikachu be trying to say? Harry had never considered having a Pokémon for a partner until now, only because the thought of one would only remind him of how far apart he's grown from his son.

Today had only served as a harsh reminder that he's not as close with Tim as he used to be.

"Pika, pika!" the Pikachu squeaks, enthusiastic at the idea and placing the hat over his head.

Harry sighs. How could he say no to that face?

"That's not really what I had in mind, but it does look pretty good on you. Alright, I guess I have my own little detective again," Harry says, smiling at the thought. "I'll have to write down my apartment's address inside it so you don't get lost. Or the hat, since you seem to like it so much."

He can't stop smiling. The Pikachu is pretty cute, and his son's favorite childhood hat does make him look even cuter.

Then it hits him as the Pikachu stares up at his forehead, very proud of his new hat. Tim's favorite Pokémon is Pikachu. His bed at home has tall Pikachu ears built into it, and he's just found this stray Pikachu.

Maybe this was meant to be.

The scene switches to Harry holding the Pikachu in his arms. He struggles and Harry is confused at first, but then he smiles when he realizes that all Pikachu wants is to sit on top of his shoulders as they make their way to a Pokémon Center. Afterwards, Harry certainly has plans to bring him home to his apartment. Tim might not have come to live with him today, but his new partner makes up for it almost like an unexpected twist of fate. Harry wonders how the Pikachu will react to the ears that he'd built in honor of his son's original room.

The hologram begins to fade around them until they're back in Tim's room. Pikachu looks up at his partner, his eyes glistening. Tim isn't faring much better.

"So that's how we became partners," he whispers in awe, staring back at Tim. "If you hadn't decided to stay home, then..."

Then Harry might have never found Pikachu. He wouldn't have stayed at the train station so late, and someone else could have come across him and taken him home, or someone not as kind.

If Harry hadn't found Pikachu, then...then maybe he wouldn't even be here right now. Maybe Harry would have truly passed on in the crash.

"It was like..." Tim isn't able to finish, looking to Pikachu for help.

He already knows exactly what to say, recalling when he had been trying to convince Tim the same thing.

"Destiny," Pikachu finishes for him. "I can feel it in my jellies."

Tim smiles at the familiar phrase that he's come to know so well.

Pikachu may not remember his life as Harry. He may not even be Harry anymore, but he's still himself.

He's Pikachu, just as Tim had reassured him. Harry had sacrificed his life, and he's going to make the most of it.

The new memories he's going to create with his partner are what matter the most.

Tim already knows what he's thinking. He can feel it, taking a small detective hat out of his pocket. He holds it out towards Pikachu, and his partner hesitates for just a moment before reaching a paw out to take it and place it back on his head where it belongs.

It feels...right. Something he hasn't felt since learning the truth. He doesn't feel so trapped anymore. He never really was.

He just needed to understand and now he does, realization dawning on him.

"It's good to have you back...partner," Tim says with another smile, and Pikachu smiles back widely in return.

Tim is his best friend. His partner.

He's Detective Pikachu, and he's here to stay. Home is wherever Tim is, and he can see that now.

As long as they're with each other, nothing else matters.

Together, they'll do what Harry would have wanted, following in his footsteps and holding onto the magic that had brought them both together.

Carry on.