"M-m..." The little newborn tried to speak, its yellow and black egg had barely just cracked, and it was already raising its stubby arms towards the parents.

The Pikachu and Sylveon looked pretty astounded. They were honestly surprised they were able to lay an egg together, have their own child. Apparently, their genes were able to blend well.

Into a small, female Pichu.

Pichu kept trying. "Ma..."

"What is she trying to say?" Hana and Pikachu chirped in unison, glancing around their tent.

Their daughter decided the best time to come to the world was straight in the middle of the night, when everyone was deeply asleep. Her parents were the only ones who noticed the shaking and glowing she emitted, which was admittedly subtle.

"Ma... ma..." She looked up to them with shiny celurean eyes. "Mama!"

Pikachu and Hana's eyes glittlered as well at their daughter's first words.

Hana was indeed touched down in her heart. Looking at her mother's glistening, soft eyes, Pichu giggled and, surprising them again, was ready to slowly waddle towards them.

Walking clumsily and waving her arms, she finally reached the Sylveon, and tried to climb closer to her, though her mother was obviously too tall for her.

So Pikachu didn't waste a second to pick her up by the scruff and Sylveon lowered her head slightly, getting on the same level as him.

The Pichu pulled one of her bows joyfully with her tiny paws. She really seemed to want them for herself.

"She was just born and you're her idol already!" Pikachu chuckled merrily, though a bit of disappointment crossed his voice. This was clearly a 'Mama's Girl.'

"Mama! M-Mama!" the baby Pokémon kept calling squeakily.

The Sylveon laughed softly, looking at her mate with a smile. "There's Papa, too."

"P-Papa?"

"Yes一"

"N-no! Mama!" the Pichu exclaimed, stubborn. She kept clinging into Sylveon's ribbons, and Pikachu started to understand.

"That actually seems fitting for her!" he expressed with a grin when their Pichu turned around to finally look at him.

"Huh?" Hana's head tilted to the side in confusion of the matter.

"Her name!" Pikachu explained, still cheerful. "Ribbon, it's a really cute name for her." He leaned in and nuzzled said baby Pokémon's nose playfully.

"R-Ribbon? Hm... I like it!" The mother approved, smiling at the prospect. "What about you?" she asked Pichu for her opinion, beaming.

"M-mama! Papa!"

Sylveon giggled at her naive words. "Ribbon, do you like it?"

Their Pichu, Ribbon, nodded a bit shyly, reminding them both of a certain timid Eevee.
-

"Oh! Look, guys, Pikachu and Sylveon's egg finally hatched...!" Those were the first words that echoed the next morning, awakening everyone in their tents.

Bonnie was indeed super excited at the event, and so were all of the Kalos Team Pokémon, after all, the reason they all managed to reunite again was so they could see the birth of Pikachu's kid all together.

Let's just say everyone was delightfully proud and surprised that morning.
-

Ribbon held onto one of her mother's feelers, clinging for the safety of Hana's warmth. "Mama... I-I don't like this," she muttered softly, with wide azure eyes.

"There's no reason to be scared, sweetie," the Sylveon reassured her with her usual friendly expression. "Papa's gonna go easy on you, right?"

She glanced over to her mate, who stood the other way of the training ground, facing them. Pikachu gave them a soft grin as his lightning-shaped tail sparked a little.

"There's no need to worry. I'm your Papa, you can trust me, Ribbon!"

The glinting fear left her eyes slowly, all while she unconsciously let go of her mom.

"I'd say you're pretty lucky, kid. Your dad is Ash's Ketchum one and only buddy after all!" her 'uncle' Bunnelby stated, looking at the family from the sidelines. "Any other little Pichu would give anything to get him to teach them."

Sylveon let out a gentle laugh. "Now that's true..." she confirmed. "I have yet to meet a Pokémon stronger than Pika!"

The Electric-type Pokémon began blushing pink at the compliments. "Aw, guys... that's a lot to say."

He then glanced back to his daughter with determination. "I bet Ribbon's gonna be way stronger than me when she grows up!" His brown eyes melted in a sweet stare.

Ribbon's eyes did, too, but that stopped as soon as Pikachu mentioned the reason of their encounter again. "Now, let me teach you how to battle一"

This time, little Ribbon fled in fear. She had seen plenty of times how motivated and intense her dad was in a Pokémon battle.
-

Light-hearted giggles were heard from inside the Pokémon Center: it was storytime night and the gang was reunited in a big circle, Pokémon huddled among them, telling tales that had happened to them and laughing or being amazed at them, depending on the situation of course.

It was finally Ash's turn.

"If there's any unforgettable time I know of, it was when I just started my journey, back in Kanto!" The raven-haired trainer started his tale, holding a pillow under the makeshift blanket fort everyone was sharing. "I remember like it was yesterday..."

Serena let out a short laugh, letting her head rest on one of her hands. "Um, Ash, if you started telling all the things that happened in Kanto, I'm pretty sure we'd never finish."

"I know." He gave his girlfriend a playful smile. "That's why I chose a story in particular. I'm sure Pikachu and Sylveon will like it, maybe Pichu, too!"

He tickled the baby Pokémon with his finger, and she immediately fell on her back, laughing. "Pi Pichu! (Ash, stop!)"

The teenager did so, keeping his eyes on her as he began to speak again; she already reminded him so much of Pikachu just listening to the sound of her laughter.

"Back then, Pikachu and I... didn't really get along," he admitted with a bit of embarrassment, touching the back of his head. "I was really immature and Pikachu was really moody, and mixing us together often resulted in electrocution..."

Almost everyone in the fort let out a snort of amusement.

Ash chuckled a bit himself, Pikachu smiling warmly next to him. "But at the time I didn't really think much about it. I was more focused on catching as many Pokémon as I could and becoming a Pokémon Master, meanwhile, Pikachu, had different thoughts..."

Thoughts I didn't know I had myself, Pikachu remembered sheepishly.

"One day we got into a real bicker, and the next thing I knew, Pikachu disappeared!" Ash's face darkened at the mention, obviously feeling guilty again from the past.

At the sight of this, Pikachu laid a comforting paw on his trainer's arm, reassuring him of their reconciliation.

"The worst thing is that I didn't realize until it was nighttime and Pikachu wasn't curled up next to me as usual..."

"Misty tried to convince me that maybe Pikachu was still mad at me and slept somewhere else, but by the time it was morning... I couldn't take it anymore," he murmured, glancing to the side.

"I couldn't believe Pikachu might have abandoned me, after all the things we went through together..."

Pikachu's ears lowered: he noticed he wasn't the only one hurt in the argument, when Ash irritated him, Pikachu felt abandoned, but when he ran away, Ash felt abandoned.

They basically abandoned each other and hurt each other just the same.

Noticing the slight hurt in his eyes, Hana caressed his cheek with one of her feelers, nuzzling him with her head as she tried to make him feel better. It thankfully worked.

"So I searched and searched and searched, and soon, Brock joined me. Then, Misty. We looked everywhere, but we didn't find him for a month..." Ash said, scratching his cheek while he pondered.

"After a week of searching, Misty and Brock were telling me we had to go, since we'd lasted way longer than we should have at the forest already..." His sepia-colored eyes seemed strong like they always did whenever he was determined.

"But that's when I decided I'd never give up on Pikachu. Ever."

N-never give up... on someone? Was something that made Ribbon think heavily. Could there ever be something in the world that could ever make me... as b-brave... as Papa?

Thinking it better, the Pichu shook her head, light blue eyes closed. No... I'm not brave.
-
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