Emotions

Looking Within is the second story in the PikaShipping Trilogy by Matkin22, following Raikou's Test and preceding Looking Within. The story is a oneshot and is unusual in that it was one of only six PikaShipping fanfictions on Fanficton.net at the time it was posted. Reviews were generally more positive than those for Raikou's Test.

Origin
Though Raikou's Test was intended to be a standalone story, during the writing process the author decided to create a sequel, which would ultimately be the second part in a trilogy. Keeping in spirit with Raikou's Test, both PikaShipping and human-Pokemon transformations were kept as elements for Emotions.

Humans

 * Ash, Brock, Dawn, Pikachu, Unnamed trainer

Pokemon

 * Buizel, Gloom, Pikachu, Piplup, Sudowudo, Suicune

Plot
Several weeks after the events of Raikou's Test, Ash and Pikachu are in battle with a trainer and his Gloom; the Gloom seems to have the upper hand when it uses Stun Spore, but Pikachu's Thunderbolt accidentally ignites the powder. Using Buizel, Piplup, and Sudowudo's Mimic, Ash, Brock, and Dawn are able to put out the fire and save the Gloom from burning. After thanking them for saving his Gloom, the trainer rushes to the nearest Pokemon Centre while Ash tried to cheer up a dejected Pikachu by telling her the fire wasn't her fault, just a freak accident. He scratches her behind the ear but is thrown backwards when Pikachu begins to glow. Dawn assumes that Pikachu is evolving into Raichu, but when the glow fades it reveals a young woman in Pikachu's place who can only speak in the Pikachu language.

At the Pokemon Centre, Brock explains to Dawn how Ash was transformed into a Pikachu in Johto, but Ash interrupts him and recounts what happened during Raikou's Test. Brock wonders why Raikou would give Ash a test, and then what a Raikou would be doing in Sinnoh in the first place. Dawn's suggests that since Ash turning into a Pikachu led to one test, Pikachu turning into a human might be leading into another. Confused, Ash decides to go to bed and is shocked when Pikachu slips into his room and curls on top of his chest like she usually does as a Pokemon. Surprised, Ash is adamant that Pikachu can't sleep with him like she normally does, and she leaves the room crying.

The next day Ash is confronted by Dawn; she tells him how after he had gone to bed she had reassured a worried Pikachu that nothing would have changed between her and Ash, and that she was sure Pikachu would be able to sleep with him like always. She then informs him how Pikachu had gone to her after Ash sent her away, and she was up half the night trying to make her feel better. Abashed, Ash goes for a walk in the forest and stumbles on Pikachu crying at the side of a stream. He hugs her and apologizes for his actions. Pikachu reciprocates his hug and is suddenly transformed back into a Pikachu. Looking around they both see a Suicune by the stream, and she explains that by comunicating without a common language and finding forgiveness in each other, they have passed her test of the heart. The Suicune vanishes, and Ash thanks Pikachu for always being by his side.

Shipping
As with Raikou's Test, the sole ship in Emotions is PikaShipping. Hints towards this are far more numerous in this story, and the theme becomes a central plot when Ash, feeling awkward with Pikachu's transformation and his sudden feelings for her, hurts her feelings by sending her out of the room. These feelings from seeing Pikachu in a human form would go on to play a key role in the sequel, Looking Within.

Trivia

 * Wanting to keep in the element of human-Pokemon transformation that began in Raikou's Test, the author immediately decided to have Pikachu turn into a human for a previously unexplored concept when dealing with Ashachu fanfics. This was labelled as "Ashachu in reverse", referring to how the transformation was the opposite to what happened with Ashachu.