Rivals Chapter 2:

Finding Pikachu

Kisshu, Ash and Brock reached the edge of a cliff, and looked down. There was no sign of Pikachu, so they kept walking.

An hour later, there was still no sign of Pikachu. "Are you sure this is the right way?" Ash asked Kisshu.

"This is where I sensed Pikachu," Kisshu replied. "I guess we have to keep going."

Ash sighed. Suddenly Kisshu's ears twitched, and he said, "Someone's calling for help, and it's not Team Rocket."

"Maybe it's Pikachu!" Ash said. "Which way?"

"Straight, then around the corner," Kisshu said. Ash ran off.

Kisshu turned to Brock and said, "Are those two close?"

"Sometimes I think that they're bonded, that's how close they are," Brock said. He and Kisshu kept walking as Brock continued, "Ash gets really depressed if they're apart for too long. One time, Pikachu got really badly injured, and while Nurse Joy was caring for it, I had to keep Ash from having a nervous breakdown. He's hotheaded, and reckless, but he cares very deeply about Pikachu, and from what I've seen, the feeling's mutual."

"It must be nice to have a friend like that," Kisshu said.

"You don't?" Brock asked.

"No, not really," Kisshu said. "I guess the closest friend I ever had was Emiko."

"What about Pai and Taruto?" Brock asked.

"They're actually my adoptive brothers," Kisshu said. "Their parents adopted me after my parents died, and we grew up together. We're close, but we fight a LOT."

"Pikachu and Ash almost never fight," Brock said. "Have you ever fought with Emiko?"

"No," Kisshu said. "I guess I should have realized that meant something, but at least we're together now."

"You are?" Brock asked.

"Yeah, didn't Ash tell you?" Kisshu asked.

"No, but now that you mention it, he did seem a bit depressed after you left when you brought him back," Brock said.

"He told Emiko that he had a crush on her," Kisshu said. "That's probably why. Emiko informed all of us that she had been in love with me almost since she met me, and I guess Ash wasn't too happy about that. He said they could still be friends, though."

"He actually had to say that, even if it wasn't exactly the complete truth," Brock said. "Pikachu is way too attached to Emiko for Ash to say that he wasn't happy with her."

"Would Pikachu leave Ash if he did say something like that?" Kisshu asked.

"I'm not sure," Brock admitted. "I don't think so, but you never know. What I'm worried about is that Emiko and Pikachu are so close."

"Why is that?" Kisshu asked.

"It's the same as if Ash and Emiko were that close," Brock said. "Emiko told us that dimensions shouldn't be mixed. If Ash did say something about Emiko that caused Pikachu to leave, Team Rocket would have him in an instant. And then everything would go straight down the gutter."

"Not necessarily," Kisshu said. "While it's true that dimensions shouldn't be mixed, that really only applies to people from different dimensions. Smaller objects and living creatures shouldn't be a problem. Remember when Ash and Taruto had that eating contest, and Emiko gave him that thing she stole from Pai?"

"Yeah," Brock said.

"It hasn't affected either dimension, has it?" Kisshu asked.

"I guess you're right, but Pikachu's not a piece of technology," Brock said.

"True, but my dimension would be able to handle having Pikachu live there," Kisshu said. "My dimension is a bit different."

"Well, I just hope we don't have to resort to having Pikachu live there," Brock said. "Ash would be devastated if he left."

"Not to mention we don't know what Pikachu eats," Kisshu added.

"I would help with that, but let's hope this conversation never comes to reality," Brock said.

"Yeah," Kisshu said.

Suddenly they heard someone cry out, and ran to the sound. They rounded a corner, and saw that Ash was looking up at something, looking worried. They looked up, and saw Pikachu and some boy clinging to a small branch high overhead.

Kisshu flew up, grabbed both Pikachu and the boy, and floated back down. He set both of them down, and said, "How did you two get up there?"

"Sparky and I fell," the boy said. "Thanks for saving us. I'm Ritchie, by the way."

"I'm Kisshu," Kisshu said. "Who's Sparky?"

Ritchie pointed to the Pikachu on his shoulder. "I thought that was Ash's Pikachu," Kisshu said.

"No, we haven't found Pikachu yet," Ash said. "Ritchie and Sparky are friends, though.

"Ash, Pikachu's missing?" Ritchie asked.

"Team Rocket again," Ash said. "Luckily, Kisshu was able to find out that Pikachu was on this island somewhere, so we have a general idea of where to look."

"Do you want my help?" Ritchie asked- just as they heard Pikachu cry out. Kisshu teleported to the sound, and saw Team Rocket stuffing Pikachu into a cage. "OI!" he shouted. Team Rocket looked up, and then tried to run for it. Kisshu teleported in front of them and took out his Dragon Swords.

"You jerks are going down," Kisshu snarled. He lunged at James, who was holding the cage, and slashed his arm. Pikachu's cage fell, and Kisshu grabbed it one-handed, making one of his Dragon Swords disappear. Then he stabbed Jessie in the leg, and when Meowth tried to attack with his claws, Kisshu ducked, so Meowth scratched up Jessie's face.

Noticing that James was trying to sneak up behind him, Kisshu spun and kicked James's arm- the wounded one. He proceeded to knock Meowth out with the hilt of one of his swords, and then he cut the bars of the cage and took Pikachu out.

"Thanks," Pikachu said.

"You're welcome," Kisshu said.

"You can understand me too?" Pikachu asked. "And where's Emiko?"

"Emiko's still too weak to teleport, and she gave me her power to understand Pokémon for a while," Kisshu explained.

"Is Emiko going to be okay?" Pikachu asked.

"Most likely, it's just taking a while for her to regain her strength," Kisshu said.

Pikachu sighed. Ash came over and said, "Pikachu, are you okay?"

Pikachu nodded, but didn't seem very happy. Kisshu noticed and said, "Pikachu, is something wrong?"

"Ash is mad at Emiko," Pikachu said. "I don't like that. It's not her fault she's in love with you rather than him."

"Oh…" Kisshu said.

Pikachu continued, "Ash only talks to me about this, and it's irritating. I love Emiko, she's so nice. Why can't he see that you're the only one she'll ever love? He should know it wouldn't work anyways, not between different dimensions."

Kisshu sighed and turned to Brock. "You were wrong, we've got a problem," he said.

"Is it what we were talking about?" Brock asked.

"Yup," Kisshu said.

"What do we do?" Brock asked.

"Well…."

Cliffie!