Wildstar93: Hey there, everyone, and welcome to my new Fanfic. This is a special one because it's to celebrate 20 years of Pokémon. How the years fly by, huh? It was as if it were only yesterday that I started liking it. It was actually the anime that got me liking Pokémon, but I really enjoyed the games, and Ruby version was my first Pokémon game I ever got.

Anyway, on to the point of what I'm doing. This came to me when I read up on Garfield's 25th birthday. That was when his 2003 self met his 1978 self, and they shared their birthday together. So I was thinking if I can make something for Pokémon too.

I know tomorrow is the 6th Anniversary for Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls Of Ga'Hoole, but I'm doing this first. And I hope you all like this story. By the way, this will be slightly AU, where Ash has won the Kalos league and Serena becomes his girlfriend.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. Everything about this franchise belongs to Satoshi Tajiri. I'm writing this Fanfic for fun.

Publishing Date: September 23, 2016

Enjoy!

...

A Birthday Blast From The Past

Six years. Six years had passed ever since Ash Ketchum had started his long journey from Pallet Town. He had gone through a lot of regions, caught plenty of Pokémon, faced plenty of danger, and fought many battles. Now he was going to rest for a while before he could go to the Alola region with his Kalos girlfriend, Serena.

He wasn't the only one excited. His ever-faithful Pokémon companion, Pikachu, was wondering on how the day was going to go. Pikachu had fought alongside Ash and his fellow Pokémon for many years, growing stronger and wiser with each passing day. They had come so far, and they were not going to throw it all away.

"Twenty years," he remarked as he looked over at the trophy case. There were the fifty-two badges and seven Battle Frontier symbols his trainer had gotten over the years; there were even the trophies he had gotten from beating the Orange Islands league and the Battle Frontier. "Man, look at how time flies by so fast."

"Hey. Where's the kitchen at?" a new yet familiar voice asked from the living room.

"That way," Pikachu said, twitching his ears. "Walk through the living room, and you'll get there."

"Thanks for the tip. I'll be in the kitchen if you need me...me."

Hearing this made Pikachu's ears prick up. Had he heard that right? He decided to check and see who this stranger was.

When he got to the kitchen, he saw something that made his eyes nearly bug out. The stranger looked very familiar, a fat Pikachu that had the faintest scent of Ash on him. Right now, he was licking some cream cheese off of his forearm as if having gotten into a desert.

"Hey there. Do I know you?"

The strange fat rodent looked up and nodded. "You should. I thought you'd know by now. Do you remember the Spearow attack?"

Pikachu felt a shiver go down his spine. "As clear as my electric red cheeks. Those things hurt like a Beedrill sting. Wait a minute..." He peered closely at the fat rodent. "Are you...me?"

"Sure am," said the rodent with a smile. "I was you all the way back in 1997, when the anime first came out in Japan."

"Really?" 2016 Pikachu could clearly remember this plump mouse Pokémon as himself. He smiled and exclaimed, "That's so cool! So I'm the new you?"

1997 Pikachu shrugged. "Call it what you like. But basically, I think you're the new me. And your opinions are my opinions and vice versa." Then, out of nowhere, he asked, "You still like ketchup?"

2016 Pikachu nodded. "You bet I do. If I were stranded on an island, that would be the only food keeping me going."

So the two dove into the fridge and tried to find the ketchup bottle.

...

"Man...I can't believe I'm talking to my past self," 2016 Pikachu said happily. They were watching the other Pokémon at Professor Oak's lab play around while they drank some soda. "I got a lot of questions to ask."

1997 Pikachu twitched an ear. "Okay. Shoot the first one in your mind."

2016 Pikachu pointed a paw and asked, "First, how did you get so fat?"

"First, tell me how you got so skinny," 1997 Pikachu retorted. "Joking aside, what's one of your questions?"

"How'd you get here?" asked 2016 Pikachu. "Unless if there's a kind of mirror like in the Mirror Caves..."

1997 Pikachu shrugged and said, "If I knew where that was at, then that's as close to a 'yes' as I can get. We're camping out here in the future until we can go back to the past."

"Well...what do you think of the pairing between Ash and Misty?" 2016 Pikachu asked. He knew that Ash and Misty still talked together on the phone, and though Misty was not happy with Ash getting together with another girl, they were still friends.

That was when 1997 Pikachu took the chance to take a soda and sip on it. "I like it. I don't like how Misty treats Ash, but I think they're hiding their feelings from each other. And I do like feisty girls who aren't afraid to speak their minds."

Fiddling around with his own soda can, 2016 Pikachu admitted, "I actually think he's going great with this one girl from Kalos. Her name's Serena, and she's more even-tempered, sweet, and pretty cute." 1997 Pikachu nodded (though he was not entirely convinced), and 2016 Pikachu added, "Do YOU have any questions, new-old buddy?"

"Yeah, I got one," said 1997 Pikachu. "Has Ash gotten better as a trainer? I'm thankful for my Ash saving my life, but he doesn't seem to know how to be a good trainer. Did he get better over the years?"

2016 Pikachu nodded. "Oh, HECK yeah. He was okay in Johto, but he got better in Hoenn, and he was at the top of his game in Sinnoh. I'm not gonna talk about our Unova adventure, but you should've seen him in the Kalos region. He was tearing through the region like a small twister." With a smile of his own, he added, "And didn't you see all the badges and few trophies he got on that trophy case? He went through a lot of battles to get them besides his first badges."

1997 Pikachu's eyes went pretty wide as he said, "Dang. Looks like Misty, Brock and I've been underestimating Ash this whole time." He tossed the soda can into the nearby trash can and asked, "What kind of games do you guys have in the future?"

"Glad you asked," said 2016 Pikachu. He also threw his soda can into the trash and said, "Follow me!"

So they went inside and played on Ash's new Nintendo Wii U, playing Super Smash Bros. 2016 Pikachu had forgotten about this game too and how it had developed over the years. Of course, both Pikachu chose the same character (who was, of course, a Pikachu) and did many tag matches.

As they turned off the Wii U, Pikachu asked, "So old self, what'd you think of the new Super Smash Bros game?"

"The game's fine," said 1997 Pikachu. "Good graphics and stuff. But things were a lot better in 1997."

"Better than improved graphics?" 2016 Pikachu asked with a smirk, holding up a Nintendo 3DS and an Omega Ruby game. "You remember Red and Blue, right?"

1997 Pikachu snorted. "How can I not forget? You and I were based off of the Pikachu from there. And the old games were really fun: exploring the Kanto region, collecting badges, and facing Team Rocket."

2016 Pikachu started up the 3DS. "Then check this out. You gotta check out how farther our games have gone in the future."

He put in Omega Ruby and handed it to 1997 Pikachu. Since 2016 Pikachu had already beaten the game, all 1997 Pikachu had to do was just battle random Pokémon and explore the Hoenn region.

"That...is awesome," 1997 Pikachu gasped as he kept playing the game. "My favorites are still Red and Blue...but this is really great. Though," he added, his smile fading, "I wish you can bring old Pokémon to this game."

"About that," said 2016 Pikachu, "the new games called Sun and Moon can do that. They can let you bring over Pokémon from Red and Blue to the seventh generation."

1997 Pikachu put the 3DS down and said, "That's really amazing! It kinda makes me want to get those too." He pushed the 3DS back to 2016 Pikachu and said, "But you gotta admit that the older games were the start of Pokémon; it's got its flaws, but so does every game. So that's why the old games are my favorite. Nostalgia and stuff like that."

2016 Pikachu replied, "That's definitely true. That doesn't stop us from being friends, right?"

"Nope. We're a part of each other no matter what." A rumble came from their bellies, and 1997 Pikachu added, "Now how about we go get us some pizza? I learned Professor Oak's credit card code, and I can get us some."

"Sure," said 2016 Pikachu. "Pizza's my favorite non-liquid human food."

They walked up to the door to Professor Oak's office before the older Pikachu paused. "Go ahead of me. Age before beauty," he said with a grin.

2016 Pikachu tilted his head to one side. "Excuse me?"

Now 1997 Pikachu smirked. "Hey, who's gonna be the birthday boy with his trainer tomorrow?"

"Ha ha. I forgot how to laugh," 2016 Pikachu snarked back.

...

Finally, Ash's seventeenth birthday had arrived the next day. And that meant the seventh anniversary that Ash and Pikachu had first met. The party in the Ketchum house was doing great so far, inviting old friends and new. Heck, even the Team Rocket trio had come over, refraining from stealing Pokémon for that day.

"This party's in real swing today," said 2016 Pikachu. "I'm surprised a lot of people showed up. We're gonna party like it's 1997 all over again!"

"Oh, that's not the only surprise," said 1997 Pikachu. To the front door, he called, "Come on over, everybody!"

And with that, the front door opened, and a crowd of people came into the room. Joining the Kalos Ash and Pikachu, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie were the Kanto Ash, Misty and Brock along with Tracey. After them came the Hoenn Ash and Pikachu, May, and Max, and behind them were the Sinnoh Ash and Dawn, along with their Pikachu and Piplup. Finally, there came the Unova Ash, Iris, and Cilan, along with their Pikachu and Axew.

2016 Pikachu whistled. "Dang! Now this is what I call a full house!"

1997 Pikachu grinned. "You better believe it, and we're gonna have the party of a lifetime. Let's get this party started!"

All six Ashes and all six Pikachu crowded around two cakes. One was large and rectangle-shaped and had the candles shaped like a 1 and a 6, showing the age the current Ash was going to be. The other was small, round, and had candles shaped into a 2 and a 0.

"And to everyone reading this," 2016 Pikachu said, breaking the fourth wall, "I wanna thank you all. Not just the readers, not just the fans of the anime and games, but every fan of Pokémon ever. Thank you!"

"And Happy 20th Anniversary!" added 1997 Pikachu.

"From all of us!" all the Pikachus and Ashes announced.

The End

...

Wildstar93: There we go, folks, and I hope you like this little story of mine. If there is anything wrong with it, just let me know, and I'll come back and fix it. Constructive criticism is always welcome as long as you're polite about it.

One of the parts here is a nod to arguments between which generation is better. My favorites are the third, fourth, and sixth generations, but I kinda have a fondness for the first generation. It was flawed, but every generation has its ups and downs. Then again, why should I blame the first game for many flaws when it was just beginning the franchise? I didn't start liking Pokémon when it first came out until the second generation, but I can see why a lot of people love the first one.

Anyway, I hope you all like this story, fellow Pokémon fans. All those battles fought, all the friends made, and all the amazing moments from this franchise, remember them all in its 20th year. Remember to gotta catch 'em all, and train on.

See ya next time! And Happy 20th Anniversary, Pokémon!