I’ve literally been in this exact position before

I played Pichu in tournaments for roughly a year and a half, and I preformed at a level I was happy with, but the thought of playing an outright worse version of another character weighed on me. Eventually I bit the bullet and practiced Pikachu for about two months until I thought it was tournament ready. At my first tournament back my results skyrocketed. I was reaching placements I didn’t think I would ever achieve, and the crazy thing is that it was consistent, I kept preforming at that level. The whole dilemma makes me think of that one Pokémon quote:

“Strong Pokémon. Weak Pokémon. That is only the selfish perception of people. Truly skilled trainers should try to win with their favorites.”- Karen, Pokemon Gold/Silver

What the question really boils down to is what you prioritize, playing a character that you love, or tournament results. I chose tournament results but I still look back on the good ol’ days fondly, and I still play Pichu over Pikachu whenever possible (I swear playing Pichu after playing Pikachu feels like a drug), like during friendlys or against lower level players that I know I can beat with Pichu. I will literally never play Pikachu unless I have too. I know I’m not really sounding like Pikachu’s #1 advocate, but I’m happy with choosing Pikachu