Apple Pencil not working with iPad Pro

Hello,

I bought my iPad pro and my Apple Pencil about 18 months ago, but I've used my Pencil

just some times for a few minutes (!), and now that I want to really use it, I got problems:

After loading my Pencil I connected it to the iPad pro, and it appeared under "My Devices",

but after tapping "Pair" it said "Not Connected", but then it also appeared under "Other Devices".

After trying some times, I got the message:

"Pairing Unsuccessful - Pairing took too long. Make sure "Apple Pencil"

is turned on, in range, and is ready to pair."

I'm afraid I can't turn it on - what else can it be?

I wouldn't want to buy another new pencil now!

Many thanks.