It's Been Such A Long Time!!!

~~~******~~~

"Pikachu?! Where are you, buddy?!" Ash Ketchum called out, brushing aside some ferns that stuck out from the tree beside him. "Pikachu!!" He called out again, worried for his best friend and partner.

"Any sign of Pikachu?" asked Clemont. He, Bonnie and Serena ran over to the teen from Pallet Town, looking at him with concern.

"Nothing..." murmured Ash, casting his eyes down towards the dirt road. He balled his hands into fists and felt his body shake with anger. Damn that Team Rocket! They just couldn't leave him alone, could they?!! They still hadn't obviously learned their lessons from all the times that they failed at catching Pikachu. And now this time, Pikachu got 'blasted off' in a completely different direction.

"Oh Ash..." Serena sighed, clutching her hand to her chest.

"Maybe Dedenne can help us!" Bonnie piped up. The other three turned to her in surprise. Ash smiled at her, nodding his head. It was worth a try after all. "Dedenne!" the little blonde girl exclaimed, opening up the flap on her bag. The small Pokémon in question sat up sleepily, rubbing his eyes with his small paws. He looked up at Bonnie and blinked. What did she want him for?

"That's a great idea, Bonnie! Dedenne should be able to locate Pikachu by sensing Pikachu's electricity!" Clemont nodded, pushing his glasses up on his nose. Bonnie smiled, sticking her tongue out happily.

"Dedenne, do you think you can find Pikachu for us?" Ash asked, kneeling beside Bonnie to look at the small electric/fairy type.

"Denne!" Dedenne squeaked, nodding his head as he jumped down onto the ground. He began to focus his electricity and stood still, waiting to pick up on Pikachu's electrical waves. Ten minutes had passed. Fifteen. Twenty-Two and a half... There! "Denne!!" Dedenne cried, feeling his whiskers vibrate, he took off down the road.

"Dedenne's found Pikachu!!" Bonnie exclaimed happily, running off after her friend.

"Bonnie! Wait for us!" Clemont sighed, and started chasing after his sister. Serena followed behind him.

'I'm coming Pikachu!!' Ash thought, and raced after his friends to find his beloved partner.

~~~******~~~

'I don't get it, Pippi was right here one minute and then the next, she just takes off!' Jericho sighed, thinking to herself as she tried to find her missing partner. It hadn't been all that long since the two of them made their way to the Kalos Region, in fact it had only been a couple of weeks at the most. Having spent a whole year in Hoenn again had brought back so many memories for Jericho, she remembered when she first arrived there with her childhood best friend, Ash Ketchum. The young teen focused her eyes on the fallen leaves around her as she walked, remembering that Ash had left Pallet Town quite a while before she got back. She really wanted to see him. Even though she'd never admit it to his face, she really missed the energetic knuckle-head of a trainer.

"Hmm..." she smiled, looking back up as she continued forward. "I wonder if he's changed at all since I last saw him..." she mused to herself, laughing lightly. "I doubt it though, he's probably as hyperactive as ever!" She brushed a strand of her honey brown hair and tucked it behind her ear. "Seriously though, where did Pippi run off to?!" she sighed, placing her hands on her hips. "She knows better than to just take off like that! I wonder what's gotten into her?!"

Suddenly, a bush nearby started to move. Jericho paused, reaching her hand towards a Pokeball on her belt, just in case someone or something was going to attack her. When the creature finally emerged from the brush, she lowered her hand and her eyes went wide.

"Pika..." A Pikachu grunted, holding a paw towards his left side. His ears twitched nervously and he immediately jumped into a defensive stance, spotting a teenage girl in front of him. He really didn't want to have to deal with having someone else try and catch him, especially after being trapped and blasted off because of Team Rocket. Electricity started sparking from his cheeks as he eyed the girl, waiting to see what she'd do.

"It's not Pippi..." Jericho noted, immediately recognising this Pikachu was a male. "But... it looks like it's been in a rough battle..." she knelt on the ground and slipped her fanny pack off from her hips, digging through the contents until she found what she was looking for. A Hyper Potion!

Pikachu's ears twitched again, seeing some medicine be pulled out of the girl's bag. He didn't quite know what to do, but he felt there was something familiar about this girl. Something he couldn't put his paw on. He blinked in shock when he realised she was already beside him, tending to his injuries. He flinched when the Hyper Potion was sprayed on at first, but soon relaxed when the stinging went away.

"See? You'll feel so much better after you've been taken care of!" Jericho smiled, pulling out a Pecha Berry and an Oran Berry from her Berry Pouch. "Here, these will help you feel better too, after all, you look like you could use a bite to eat!!" She handed half of each berry to the electric mouse, while she ate the other halves.

Pikachu tilted his head to the side, then smiled. "Pikachu!!" he squeaked, taking the halves he was offered and began to eat them. This girl somehow, reminded him of Ash's childhood best friend, Jericho. She always used to take care of Pikachu like this, whenever Ash had been separated from the rest of the group, or when they'd just finished training for a Gym Match. He suddenly felt something soft on top of his head. He looked up and saw that the girl was petting him. And she knew just how to pet him too, normally a stranger would receive a rather shocking reception from Pikachu, but this girl... She had started scratching behind his ears gently, then moved to his chin and scratched there. Pikachu couldn't help but coo at the attention, flicking his tail to the side happily. This also reminded him of Jericho, he always loved it when she petted him or scratched his ears.

"Huh. I guess Ash's Pikachu isn't the only one who likes being scratched like that.." Jericho laughed, but stopped when the Pikachu froze underneath her hand and looked at her with wide eyes and a huge smile. There was something she was missing, something important, and she couldn't figure out what it was that made her feel like she knew this Pikachu somehow... Then, it clicked! Her eyes went as wide as saucers and she looked at the now grinning Pikachu. "No... way..." she murmured.

~~~********~~~

"Dedenne's just up ahead!" Ash called back, chasing after the little mouse Pokémon.

"That's great..." Serena groaned, trying to catch up to him. Ash sure was fast, she had to admit.

"Ohh Clemont! Will you hurry up!" Bonnie yelled, looking at her brother as he slowly caught up to them.

"Be... right... there..." Clemont wheezed, finally having caught up to the others as they stopped. Dedenne stopped too, not too far ahead of them. He was sure he felt Pikachu's electricity around here somewhere. His ears twitched and he looked at the bush beside him with a smile. He found him!

"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed, running towards the bush. The Pokémon that came out of the brush was indeed a Pikachu. However, it wasn't Ash's Pikachu...

"Pikachu! Finally!" Serena smiled, walking over to Ash's side. Clemont and Bonnie also came over to see Pikachu.

Pippi stared at the four trainers with worry. She thought she'd found Pikachu and Ash, and was so excited that she took off so she could bring them to Jericho. But these trainers weren't who she was looking for. She backed away nervously, ready to run as soon as they made a move.

"Huh? Wait... Pikachu looks a little different..." Bonnie pointed out, picking up Dedenne.

"You're right, Bonnie. That's because this Pikachu is a girl." said Clemont.

"A girl Pikachu?" asked Serena. Clemont nodded.

"You see, male and female Pikachu are quite different. You can pick out a male and female just by looking at their tails. A male Pikachu has a lightning bolt shaped tail, while a female has a heart shaped tail." he explained.

Serena looked back at the Pikachu in front of them and took a closer look. The Pikachu had a tuft of fur on her head, along with different shaped ear markings, and Clemont was right, there was a heart shaped tail too. "Wow! I didn't know that before!! She looks so cute! I reckon I'll try and catch her!" she exclaimed, pulling out a Pokeball. "Let's go, Fenniken!" She tossed the ball into the air. A bright light burst from it, and Fenniken emerged in front of her.

"Fenniken!" The Fire Starter yipped, standing in a battle stance. Pippi looked at the girl and her Pokémon nervously. They wanted to catch her? She didn't want to fight, especially having used up her electricity earlier when she chased off some Beedrill. She hadn't had enough time to recover her energy, when the first attack was called out.

"Alright Fenniken, use Flamethrower!!" Serena commanded. Fenniken built up heat energy inside her body, before releasing a powerful stream of fire from her mouth. Pippi growled, placing one paw in front of the other, with her ears perked upright and her tail flicked to the side.

Ash, who had been silent the whole time since this Pikachu showed up, looked at her in shock. 'Wait a second!' he thought, watching the female Pikachu's stance change. There was only one Pikachu he knew of that used that pose. 'It couldn't be... could it?'

Just before Fenniken's Flamethrower hit it's target, Pippi leapt into the air so fast, Serena and Fenniken didn't have time to register what had happened. Pippi's tail suddenly started to glow and became as hard and rigid as steel. She used the height of her jump to start spinning rapidly, building up momentum before she struck Fenniken on the head with Iron Tail, dispersing the flames as she came down, then jumped back to create enough distance between herself and her opponent.

"Oh no, Fenniken!" Serena cried, running to her fallen Pokémon. She didn't think it was possible for a Pikachu to move so fast. Not even Ash's Pikachu was that quick!

"Woah! That Pikachu was so fast, she looked like a yellowy orange blur!" Bonnie announced. That got Serena's, Fenniken's and Clemont's attention.

"Did you say, 'yellowy orange blur'?" Clemont asked his sister. She nodded.

"Didn't you look closer at the colour of her fur?" she asked back, pointing to the female Pikachu.

Clemont followed his sister's finger and looked at the female Pikachu again. This time, he noticed that it wasn't just her ears, tail and hair tuft that made her stand out, she did in fact have an orange colour to her pelt. "I guess I didn't notice it before..." he answered.

Serena blinked, then stood up again. 'She's incredibly fast, and took down Fenniken with only one move!' Fenniken was returned to her Pokeball, while Serena grabbed another. "Alright Pancham, it's your turn!"

"Pancham!" Pancham exclaimed as soon as he appeared on the field. Pippi sighed, lowering her head and started to build up energy within her paws. She had to end this quick so she could get back to Jericho.

~~~********~~~

"I'm so sorry I didn't realise that it was you before, Pikachu..." Jericho smiled apologetically, as the electric mouse curled up in her arms happily.

"Pika, Pikachu!" Pikachu shook his head. He didn't blame her, after all, he wasn't entirely sure it was her in the first place. He was just glad he found someone he knew and could trust. He was however, curious as to why Pippi wasn't with her. "Pikachu, Chu, Pika Pika?"

"Hm? Oh, Pippi! Well, I'm not sure where she is. She ran off a while ago, I guess she picked up on something. But now, I have no idea where to find her... I just hope she's okay..." Jericho answered, as she continued walking through the forest.

"Pika..." Pikachu agreed, hoping she was okay as well.

~~~********~~~

"Pancham!" Serena cried, seeing her Pokémon get knocked back with only one move, again! She looked at the Pikachu in amazement. 'Not only is she really fast, but super strong too! What am I supposed to do?'

"Serena, call off the match!" Ash called out to her.

"What?" Clemont, Bonnie and Serena exclaimed in shock.

"Denne?!"

"Cham?!"

Pippi was completely exhausted, she could barely stay on her paws. She looked over to the boy with the red cap on his head in wonder. He seemed familiar to her.

Ash just smiled a little at his friends, before turning to the electric mouse in front of him. "If you keep battling like this, there's no way you'll beat Pippi..." Pippi's ears twitched in excitement, it had to be him!

"Did you just say... Pippi?" asked Bonnie. Ash nodded his head again, looking at Pippi again.

"Pika, Chu, Pika Pi!" Pippi cried happily, and started running to him but her legs gave out under her and she was sent crashing towards the ground. However, she didn't hit the dirt, instead, she landed in someone's arms. She looked up and saw Ash smiling down at her.

"Always battling with everything you have..." Ash laughed, holding Pippi in his arms. Pippi smiled up at him with a faint blush on her face, letting exhaustion wash over her. She slowly closed her eyes and fell into a deep slumber in his arms.

"Ash... do you know this Pikachu?" Clemont asked, as he, Bonnie, Serena, Pancham and Dedenne walked over to him. Pancham soon got returned to his Pokeball, for having battled so well. Ash laughed a bit, turning towards his friends.

"Of course I do, she happens to be the partner of a very close friend of mine."

"You mean, she already has a trainer?" Serena asked, feeling horrible for trying to steal someone else's Pokémon.

"Yeah, she has a purple ribbon attached to her left ear, didn't you guys see it?" asked Ash, pointing to Pippi's left ear. Indeed, there was a purple ribbon attached there.

"How did we not see that before?" asked a bewildered Clemont.

"My guess, is because you were all focused so much on the rest of Pippi's appearance. She's not like Pikachu, or any other Pikachu for that matter."

"She isn't... how come?" asked Bonnie. Ash smiled at her.

"She's been trained specifically for speed and power battles. She actually participates in Pokémon Contests!"

"I've heard of those, they're said to be held in the Johto, Kanto, Hoenn and Sinnoh Regions. Coordinators train their Pokémon to show off their abilities and beauty, right?" Clemont asked, pushing his glasses up further on his nose.

"That's right! And Pippi has competed in plenty of Contests, but she's also battled in Pokémon Leagues too." Ash explained.

"Really?" Serena asked.

"Yeah, before Pippi's trainer decided on becoming a Coordinator, she used to battle Gym Leaders like me. Heh, we were even rivals back in the day. But, she had her reasons as to why she wanted to become a Coordinator when she found out about them, and I supported her decision."

"Pippi's trainer is a girl?!" Serena exclaimed in shock. Ash looked at her with a nod.

"Yeah, is there something wrong, Serena?" he asked.

Serena shook her head, waving her hands in front of her quickly. "No! Not at all, Ash! I was just curious!!" she insisted. She quickly looked to the side in embarressment. 'Wow... I didn't think that Ash would have a girl as such a close friend... And the way he's talking about her, he must care about her a lot... She seems really important to him...'

"So, if Pippi has a trainer, then why is she all the way out here on her own? And how come Dedenne couldn't find Pikachu?" Bonnie asked, hugging Dedenne close to her.

Ash looked stumped by that question. Honestly, he couldn't think of a reason why Pippi and Jericho would be separated from each other. Unless... His eyes went wide at the thought.

"I guess Pippi's electrical waves are so identical to Pikachu's, that Dedenne got mixed up." Clemont told her.

"But she has a point about Pippi, where is her trainer?" Serena asked, standing up from the ground.

"There's only one reason why Pippi wouldn't be with her trainer, and that would be because she's in trouble!" Ash exclaimed. He held onto Pippi with one arm, and was ready to call out Fletchinder to go and find Jericho, but stopped when he heard some familiar laughter. 'Oh great! Not these guys again!! They never learn!'

~~~********~~~

"What was that?" Jericho asked out of the blue. Pikachu looked up from her arms, feeling his ears twitch in anger. Did it have to be Team Rocket?! Of all times, why do they need to show up now and ruin everything?!!

"Pikachu!" he growled, feeling sparks fly from his cheeks. Jericho held onto him a little tighter, feeling her own annoyance flare up.

"So, they still haven't learned their lesson, huh?"

Pikachu nodded, then his ears twitched again, this time, in concern. "Pikachu! Pika Pi, Pika Pika!"

"What?!" Jericho gasped, looking in the direction of where a battle was taking place. "Both Ash and Pippi?!"

"Pika!"

Jericho's face hardened into a look of determination and anger. She wasn't going to let Team Rocket keep messing around with Ash any longer! And to have Pippi thrown into the mix, well, that really got her blood to boiling point!! "Alright Pikachu, since you're still recovering from the battle you had earlier with them, you'll have to stay with me. I'll handle Team Rocket..."

Pikachu looked at her, seeing just how annoyed she was. He knew it was better to agree with her than to disagree, especially when she was so hot-tempered like this.

"Alright then..." She pulled a Pokeball off her belt and held it in her hand. "Let's go!"

~~~********~~~

"Ash!" Serena, Clemont and Bonnie cried. Ash was trying to battle against Team Rocket, while holding onto Pippi with his arm. She was completely exhausted, having to battle against Serena's Fenniken and Pancham, not to mention she looked like she'd been in a tough battle before they found her, and now she was trying to battle Team Rocket, but she still needed to recover her energy. And he couldn't reach his belt to call out Fletchinder, Frogadier, Sligoo or Hawlucha, because he was trapped in Team Rocket's machine's claw-like hand thing.

Clemont didn't know what he could do. Chespin, Fenniken, Luxray and Pancham's attacks weren't having any effect against Team Rocket, instead, Ash took all the damage!

"Clemont, what can we do?!" asked Bonnie.

"I don't know, Bonnie... I don't know..."

Ash groaned, feeling his airway start to close from the smoke inhalation of Fenniken's Flamethrower attack. He didn't know how much longer he could hold on like this.

"GIGA IMPACT!!" a voice yelled out. Ash blinked, he knew that voice... A large, dark silhouette of a Pokémon came crashing down into Team Rocket's machine, separating Ash and Pippi from the criminals. Ash landed softly onto the back of a large, dog like Pokémon with black stripes across it's orangeish brown fur.

"Arcanine?" Ash murmured, seeing the light finally shine onto the Pokémon. Arcanine bowed his head in acknowledgement.

"Nine!"

"ASH!!" Clemont, Bonnie and Serena exclaimed, running over to him. He hopped down from Arcanine's back and stepped away as the Fire-Type turned back to Team Rocket's frozen faces.

"D-Did you see that, J-Jessie?! That Arcanine, it looks strangely familiar..." James stammered, holding onto Inkay for dear life.

"Of course I saw it, James! I'm not blind!!" Jessie growled, turning to her Pumpkaboo. "Pumpkaboo, use Dark Pulse!!"

Before Pumpkaboo could even have enough time to start his attack, the Arcanine leapt into the air, building up an immense amount of energy in his mouth.

"Uh.. guys... Something tells me we're not gonna even have a chance here..." Meowth trailed off nervously.

"HYPER BEAM!"

Jessie turned towards the feline, about to bark back an order at him, but it was too late... Arcanine's Hyper Beam hit them so fast, they didn't have time to blink. The machine exploded and the three were tossed into the air.

"WE'RE BLASTING OFF AGAIN!!!" Jessie, James and Meowth cried.

"INKAY!"

"KABOO!!"

"WOBBUFFET!!!"

Arcanine landed back down beside Ash and his friends, and looked at the relieved Pippi that was sitting in Ash's arms. "Nine, Canine."

"Pikachu!" Pippi nodded happily.

"Wow! Such a cool Arcanine!!" Bonnie exclaimed, running up to him. Arcanine quirked his right eye in a weird way, as to say 'what's this?'. Pippi just nodded at him, so Arcanine bent his head forward to let Bonnie pet him.

"And really strong too, he must have an exceptional trainer if he knows how to use Giga Impact. Arcanine don't normally learn to use that move, so this is the first time I've seen one know it." Clemont pointed out.

"That's true... And as for me being exceptional, well... now you're making me blush!" a girl's voice broke everyone's thoughts. Clemont, Serena and Bonnie looked to where the voice came from in shock. Ash and Pippi look too, but the look on Pippi's face grew into a huge smile.

"Pika Chu Pi Pi!!" she cried happily. Ash looked at a young teen girl as she jumped down from the tree branch she was sitting on. And in her arms... was Pikachu!

"Pika Pi!" Pikachu cried, seeing Ash.

"Pikachu! You're alright!!" Ash exclaimed. Pikachu nodded. Ash then looked back at the girl who had a teasing smile on her face. That smile reminded him of only one person, and he suddenly felt a weird vibe in his stomach.

"Of course he is, I mean, after all, I do know how to care for him, Ashie-Boy!" the girl teased, laughing as the tips of Ash's ears turned bright red.

"There's only one other person, besides Gary, who calls me that..." Ash growled lowly, but he soon grinned, finally being reunited with his childhood best friend.

"It's been a long time, Ash!" she smiled, closing her eyes and tilting her head to the side. Ash couldn't help but laugh, yep, she definitely hasn't changed that funny quirk of hers.

"Too long, Jericho. Too long..."

~~~********~~~


Okay!! I am so proud of how this turned out!! And honestly, there's really not much else for me to say!


Poses:

Ash's pose was referenced from an actual pose he was in when he was holding Pikachu and had Piplup on his shoulder and was in his Sinnoh clothes. I don't know if it was in an actual episode in DP or not.

Jericho's pose is referenced from May's pose in the Advanced Generation arc where she's holding Pikachu for Ash.


DISCLAIMER NOTICE

I DO NOT OWN THE CHARACTERS, ASH KETCHUM OR PIKACHU, OR POKEMON - SATOSHI TAJIRI AND GAMEFREAK DO
I ONLY OWN JERICHO AND PIPPI. AND THE PICTURE DISPLAYED OF COURSE.

PLEASE DO NOT STEAL, BORROW, TRACE, COPY OR UPLOAD MY ARTWORK WITHOUT MY EXPRESSED PERMISSION. I WORK HARD ON ALL OF MY DRAWINGS SO PLEASE, RESPECT MY WISHES AND MY ART.
THANKYOU!!!

Kisses