Arc I: The Game Begins
Chapter 1: Fights, Cheers and Good Eats
Pikachu jumped out of the way of a barrage of leaves. They shredded apart the grassy ground he'd been standing upon mere moments ago. Landing elsewhere on his four paws, the yellow mouse turned to face his opponent, Turtwig, who frowned at him determinedly.
Panting, Pikachu shook some sweat off his face. Man, for a newbie, that green tortoise sure was putting up quite a fight. While Pikachu wasn't putting his all into the battle, considering that it was just a training session, he was still impressed.
"Awesome!" his trainer, Ash, exclaimed before pointing at them. "Now, Pikachu, it's your turn! Counter with Quick Attack!"
Nodding, the yellow mouse began to run towards the tortoise while yelling, "[Quick Attack!]" Soon afterwards, he felt light as a feather, allowing him to zip forwards at a lightning-fast speed.
"Alright, Turtwig, dodge it and use Bite!" Ash ordered energetically.
Just as Pikachu was about to ram into Turtwig, the tortoise barely dodged out of the way at the last second. Then, with surprisingly good precision, he managed to clamp down onto Pikachu's tail with his powerful jaws.
Still running, Pikachu cried out in pain. Ugh, why did Turtwig have to cling onto his sensitive tail? Again? Pikachu was starting to get déjà-vu…
"Great job!" Ash exclaimed. "Pikachu, shake him off!" He scratched his head and scanned the fields before shrugging. "… Er, somehow."
Gritting his teeth, Pikachu gave his trainer a befuddled look. Just how the heck was he going to manage that? Unlike last time, the mouse didn't have any trees in the area to slam Turtwig against. Still, he continued to run around the field, constantly changing directions to try and free his tail. However, no matter how fast he ran, the tortoise refused to let go, allowing himself to be dragged along.
"[L-Leggo, Turtwig!]" Pikachu pleaded, his speed starting to slow as the pain in his tail threatened to overwhelm him.
He honestly didn't expect the tortoise to comply, though he hoped that Turtwig would accidentally open his mouth while saying no. Unfortunately, all the grass-type did was mumble something, mouth still clamped shut. Drat…
His pain continuing, Pikachu slowed as the thought of forfeiting the match crossed his mind. This was only a training battle, so it wasn't worth the agony of his poor tail. Not again, anyway. He'd walked funny for hours after the last time he'd tried too hard to remove the tortoise from himself. Just as he was about to cry uncle, however, he heard someone calling his name.
"[C'mon, Pikachu, you amazing mouse! You can do it!]"
He recognized that squeaky voice. It was the quirky rabbit girl Dawn had caught the other week, wasn't it? What was her name again…? Buneary?
He glanced in her direction and noticed her hopping up and down excitedly, while shouting praise. Man, she was so strange. She'd only been on the team for a little while, yet she already seemed like a huge fan of his. Often giving him praise and encouragement for random reasons. More so than Ash, even. He didn't understand her at all.
As he continued to glance over, he noticed the other pokémon giving her weird looks. He even saw a few of them sniggering at her antics, namely Aipom and Starly.
He began to feel horribly embarrassed. Oh, dear lord, why did she have to start causing a scene? He wouldn't have minded if she was just cheering for both him and Turtwig, but she was being very specific with her extreme praising. He wasn't going to deny that he felt flattered, but he could really do without the warmth in his cheeks right now.
"[You've got this in the bag!]" she cheered, continuing to energetically jump in place. "[I believe in you!]"
… Heh. Despite the pain and the warmth, he couldn't help but manage a small smile at that.
Oh, screw it. He'd planned on giving up, but just how could he when he had that much support pouring in? He was probably going to get teased for having such a fangirl, but so be it! Biting his lip, he once again upped his speed, though without using Quick Attack. He didn't want his tail to be torn off, after all. Once fast enough, he tried tightly swerving around several times, eventually ending in an insanely sharp turn. The painful feeling of almost losing his entire back end followed, so he decided not to do that anymore.
Ughhh, how exactly could he do this without anything to hit the guy against? He just wished he could remember more details from his previous battle against him. His pained tail and concentrating on running was making things hard to remember, however.
He considered starting up a Thunderbolt, though he remembered Brock saying that Turtwig's species is part ground-type. The tortoise hadn't seemed like much of one, but Pikachu didn't feel like testing things. Not until Turtwig was weak enough, anyway.
Before he could think up any more ideas, Ash continued. "Now, Turtwig! Razor Leaf! And Pikachu! Find a way to dodge it!"
Pikachu felt his heart dip. Especially as he heard activity coming from the tortoise. Frowning, he stepped to his left as he ran, missing the leaves that shredded the floor to his side. He sidestepped again and again as Turtwig shot a few more rounds of leaves. After his sixth dodge, sweat began to blur his vision. If he didn't shake this guy off soon, he had no chance.
Buneary's cheering suddenly caught his attention. "[Your iron will can beat any pokémon! Yeahhh!]" she exclaimed, sounding surprisingly hot-blooded.
Dodging another set of leaves, his ears pricked. Wait. Iron. Of course! Just like in his previous fight with Turtwig! Dang it, how could he have forgotten such an integral step of the last battle? Then again, Ash seemed to have done so, too, so… hey.
With a cry of "[Iron Tail!]" his tail suddenly became coated in steel. He felt instant relief as the spot Turtwig was chomping on solidified. With a yelp of surprise, Turtwig tried biting down even harder, but Pikachu barely felt it. Smirking, he began to spin around on the spot, quickly getting faster and faster. Turtwig began to slide off his now-slippery tail as a result. Once he reached the tip, Pikachu jumped and did a back-flip, flinging him into the air. Landing and jumping again, the mouse did a forward flip and slammed his tail into him, knocking him a fair distance away into the ground.
"Alright, Pikachu, you did it!" Ash yelled energetically. "Now… you know what to do!"
After spring-boarding backwards from striking Turtwig, Pikachu's cheeks began to spark. "[Payback time! Thunder… BOOOOOOOLT!]" Wanting to put on a show, he let loose a huge stream of electricity towards the ground. It ricocheted off and arced towards Turtwig, striking him in the shell.
Held aloft by the force of his attack against the floor, Pikachu continually pumped the tortoise full of electricity. He hadn't expected his stylish Thunderbolt to do too much damage… but, much to his surprise, Turtwig was crying out in pain.
After much zapping, the tortoise's cries ceased, a dizzy look in his eyes. Stopping the attack and dropping back to the floor, Pikachu furrowed his brows in confusion. Gosh, was his electricity really that powerful? So much so that he could knock seemingly electric-proof pokémon unconscious?
Well… it wasn't a massive stretch, he supposed. After all, he had taken out ground-types in the past. Still, to beat a grass/ground pokémon? He must be getting really powerful! His father would be so proud.
… He shook that thought from his mind before it was followed by other, less happy ones.
"Looks like Turtwig's down for the count…" Ash's new companion, Dawn, began, "which means Pikachu wins!"
Everyone in the small crowd gave Pikachu a praising cheer. Especially Buneary, who was easily the loudest of them all, much to no-one's surprise at this point.
Bashfully rubbing the back of his neck, he gave them a happy wave. However, he winced as a stab of pain shot through his now-normal tail. Ughh, had Turtwig really needed to bite down so hard…?
"Alright! Great job, Pikachu!" Ash praised. Then, moving over to Turtwig, he pet him on the head. "You did good, too, Turtwig."
Slowly picking himself up, the tortoise gave him a meek smile. "[Thanks…]" he replied, despite not sharing Ash's language.
With Piplup on her head, Dawn walked over to the group. "Y'know, Ash…" she started, "I still don't understand why you made them both battle each other like that."
"What's not to understand? It's for trainin', of course!" Ash responded. "You don't become a good trainer unless you… well, train! It's good for exercise and teamwork-buildin' and stuff like that."
She shook her head. "Yeah, I get that, but wouldn't it be better to train with a friend, like me, instead of by yourself?"
"Oh. Well… err…" He put on a contemplative look, as if the idea had never occurred to him.
Still balancing on her head, Piplup put his flippers to his hips. "[Hmph, yeah! I would've been a much better opponent.]"
Turtwig raised an eyebrow at the blue penguin. "[You kidding? One zap from him or one leaf from me, and you'd be blown into next week,]" he said, loudly enough for Piplup to hear.
"[He has a point, y'know…]" Pikachu added, shrugging.
Piplup huffed before crossing his arms. "[Yeah, well… I'm so amazing that none of you would even get the chance to hit me!]"
Turtwig looked unimpressed. "[After you've finished stumbling to the ground, maybe…]"
Piplup began frantically moving about on the spot, in what appeared to be one of his trademark 'flustered dances'. "[Heyyyy! That happened one flipping time, you jer- Wah!]" During his flustered dance, he fell off Dawn's head, though the girl was quick to catch him.
"Whoa! Careful, Piplup," Dawn chided.
Pikachu couldn't stop himself from laughing along with Turtwig. Despite his intense pride, Piplup could be so goofy.
The penguin groaned. "[Quiet, you guys…]"
"See? Even Piplup was ready to take the spotlight," Dawn said to Ash, the water-type in her arms.
"Well…" Ash began, scratching his hat.
Her face lit up. "Oh, unless you did it for practice with double battles! After all, you did have to give them both orders at the same time." She winked. "That's real smart of ya!"
He chuckled sheepishly. "Thanks, but that ain't it. Honestly, I just did it 'cos I thought it'd be fun."
Dawn gave him a blank stare. "… You thought battling with yourself would be more fun than doing it with someone else?"
Ash gave an exaggerated shrug. "Well, when you think about it… this way it's impossible for me to lose! So I can only get better, right?"
Everyone exasperatedly flopped to the ground, as people often did whenever Ash said anything these days.
"[Only Ash…]" Pikachu grumbled.
"Alright, everyone!" Brock called out from his cooking area a short distance away. "Food's ready, so come and get it!"
Back on their feet, everyone made a noise of delight. Especially Ash, who had quickly run off in Brock's direction at lightning-fast speeds. Shortly after, with many looks of exasperation, everyone slowly followed behind him.
Pikachu also moved along, suddenly feeling excited. He was really hungry, and any distraction from his sore tail was welcome!
As he began to travel towards where the food was being served, he found himself walking next to Turtwig, who'd moved closer.
He smiled at Pikachu. "[Hey there. Nice battle!]" he praised.
The mouse smiled back. "[You too! I would've lost if it weren't for my Iron Tail.]"
"[Maybe! Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't use it sooner. 'Specially after you did it last time.]"
Pikachu chuckled sheepishly. "[Would you believe it? I actually forgot about that part of the battle…]"
After an odd glance, Turtwig began to laugh. "[Tsk. Oh, you…]" He grinned. "[Well, good job you listened to that girl who likes ya, then, eh?]"
Oh no, not again… "[Ugh. Um, y-yeah, sure…]" Pikachu groaned embarrassedly.
Ever since Buneary had shown up, everyone had been quick to mention how she much she 'liked him', even though that was probably a load of phooey. She was extremely praising and quirky, sure, but she was no Brock. Everyone must have just been teasing him. After all, it happened often with most of his friends…
He always made sure to keep telling himself all of that.
"[So, er…]" he began, trying to get out of the awkward topic as quickly as possible. "[... Oh, yeah, are you alright? You're part ground-type, sure, but I did zap you pretty bad.]"
Turtwig tilted his head questioningly. "[Huh? Well, yeah, thanks, but I'm not ground-type. Not 'till I evolve a few times, anyway.]"
Pikachu blinked. "[… Oh.]" He smiled awkwardly as a bead of sweat dripped down the side of his head. Dangit, he really needed to stop taking Brock's advice. "[S-Sorry. Brock said you were, so I just thought… well, y'know.]"
Turtwig chuckled. "[No worries. Heck, I'm flattered you think I'm so mature. Kind of.]"
"[Eheh, um, alright, cool,]" Pikachu replied, still feeling a little embarrassed.
Turtwig looked like he was going to say something else, though he stopped. Then, with what appeared to be a small smirk, he began to quicken his pace towards the others ahead. "[Welp, I'll leave ya to it. See you later!]"
The mouse gave him an odd look. "[Er… okay then? See ya later, I gue- Wah!]"
Before he could finish, he was suddenly tackled into a hug from behind. The sudden contact made him stiffen.
"[Heyy, Pikachu!]" a somewhat girly, if not tomboyish, voice from behind him cried out, giggling. "[Guess who~? Ahaha!]"
Oh no… he recognized that voice immediately. "[O-Oh, um, hey… Buneary, right?]" he greeted.
"[That's me~]" she murmured happily.
His breathing quickened. Oh, dear lord, he really wasn't used to such affection. Especially not when everyone else was watching...
On that note, he checked to make sure he wasn't being watched. Thankfully, nobody in the group seemed to be looking at them, though he saw Turtwig giving him a knowing gaze before looking away again. Ugh, no wonder he'd been so eager to break off their conversation...
Eventually, Buneary let go, allowing him to move a safe distance away. Turning to face the strange, brown, fluff-covered rabbit, he saw that she was beaming widely.
"[So, er… anything you wanted from me?]" he asked, giving her a strange look.
She smiled pleasantly, swaying from one foot to another. "[Nothin' really, Cutie~. Just thought I'd say hi!]"
He exhaled quietly, trying not to show too much displeasure. 'Cutie'… Man, this girl just loved to use weird phrases like that, didn't she? It was no wonder that everyone thought she liked him. She almost sounded like she was freaking flirting. Heck, he was half-convinced that she was… N-Not that she was, of course. No way.
"[Oh… okay, then,]" he replied awkwardly.
She gestured towards Brock and the others. "[C'mon, let's go get a bite to eat!]"
He gave a small nod. "[Yeah, that sounds-]" Before he could finish, she'd gripped onto his paw before beginning towards their friends, dragging him along. "[… u-um… good?]"
She sent a pleasant look his way. It faltered, however, once she noticed him grimacing. "[What's the matter?]" Stopping, her face fell slightly as her grip on him slackened. "[O-Oh. I'm not… creeping you out, am I?]"
He sighed before forcing a smile. "[No, you're good! Sorry, I'm just-]" His stomach growled loudly, as if on cue. "[… hungry.]"
After a small pause, she giggled loudly. "[Wow, no kidding.]"
He grinned sheepishly, rubbing his belly. "[Eheh, yeah. Guess I worked off a little too much energy from that battle. I'm famished.]"
She excitedly set off walking again, gently pulling him along. "[Then let's get some food down ya, Mister Big Battler~]"
Smiling exasperatedly, he walked alongside her. "[Alright, then. Great idea.]"
With a happy noise, she continued to lead him along towards their waiting meals.
He tried to ignore all the looks he began to receive as they drew closer to the group. Feeling the rising heat in his cheeks, however, he knew it was a lost cause.
He barely held back a sigh. This day was only going to get more awkward, wasn't it?
Pikachu made a satisfied noise as he gorged on his pellets along with the rest of his teammates, who were dotted around the area.
Next to him was Buneary, who'd, unsurprisingly, decided to eat next to him. He'd minded a little at first, considering how quirky the rabbit could be, but he'd gotten used to her presence soon enough. Especially since everyone seemed too hungry to be paying them any attention, anyway.
As he ate, he kept noticing her stealing glances at him. After the third or fourth time, he actually turned his head to look at her. The second he did so, their gazes locked for a moment.
They both blinked. Then, seemingly embarrassed, she looked away immediately, a small blush forming on her face. "[Eep! Um, sorry,]" she muttered.
"[Er, that's... okay,]" he replied, trying not to sound too weirded out. "[Do I... have some stuff on my face, or something?]"
She looked back towards him. "[Nah, I was just… um... thinking about that amazing battle of yours! Yeah, you looked so cool out there, y'know.]"
"[Oh, well… thanks!]" He bashfully rubbed the back of his head. It may have sounded like flirting, even though it wasn't… but he'd never turn down a compliment! "[I didn't do all that great, really, but I'll take it.]"
In amusement, she held a paw to her mouth. "[Ahaha, d'aww, you're so modest~]"
"[Barely. All that happened was me getting my tail bitten.]" As he mentioned that, he was suddenly reminded of how sore his tail was. Darn it, and he'd been successfully ignoring it up until now, too…
"[You still managed to get him off. And you did it without Ash telling you what to do, either! You're so incredibly smart~]"
He chuckled, his pride starting to swell a little. "[Oh, c'mon, Buneary. You're just flattering me, now.]"
"[Hardly~. I'm just telling the truth!]"
Shaking his head in amusement, he picked up another food pellet and took a bite out of it. "[Besides, I only got the idea to use Iron Tail after hearing you cheer for me.]"
She tilted her head. "[Huh? You did?]"
He nodded. "[Yeah, remember? You yelled something about me having an 'iron will'.]" He gave her a happy look. "[Reminded me to stop being a doofus, so I'm grateful. Thanks!]"
"[Huh, gosh…]" It was her turn to stroke the back of her head. "[Ahaha, well, glad to be of service, I guess!]"
Content, they both went back to eating for a while.
Heh… he wouldn't lie. This was kind of nice. When she wasn't acting as if she liked him, anyway.
Eventually, she spoke up again. "[Say, Pikachu?]"
"[Hm?]" he asked, head tilted.
"[Speaking of Iron Tail…]" She pointed towards something behind him. "[Has anyone ever told you how fabulous your tail is?]"
His head jolted back slightly. "[Huh? My tail? Fabulous?]" He moved it between them. "[You… think so?]"
"[Absolutely! It's so pretty and long. Not to mention super tough! Wish I had one like yours…]"
He began to blush. Gosh, people didn't often comment on his tail… "[Oh, well… thanks.]"
He flinched as she reached out to gently stroke it, hissing in pain.
Hearing that, she snapped her paw back. "[Ah! Oh, sorry...]"
Pushing back a pained grimace, he gave her a reassuring look. "[Eheh, it's alright. Turtwig's bite just left it a little tender, is all.]"
She immediately gave him a concerned look. "[Oh, darn, really? Will you be alright!?]" she exclaimed.
He jolted back in surprise, not expecting such a reaction. "[Ah! Er, y-yeah. I'm guessing so.]"
She frowned angrily. "[Hmph! Turtwig shouldn't have bitten you so hard. That jerk…]"
He shook his head. "[Nah, it's alright. We were battling, after all.]" He picked up a pellet and bit off a piece. "[Besides, my tail's been through worse. Like a week ago, when it was, well, bitten. In the exact same way, by... er, someone.]"
"[Oh no, really? You mean this happened again recently!?]"
Letting go of the pellet, he held his paws up to calm her. "[D-Don't worry about it. It was only sore for a teeny while, and this one's no different. I promise!]"
She gazed at it, seeming unsure. "[I dunno… it does look awfully red. Especially in the middle, where that turtle's tooth… thing was.]"
He chuckled lightly. "[It's nice of you to worry so much, but really, it'll live!]" He tapped his chin. "[…Also, I think Turtwig's a tortoise, not a turtle.]"
She gave him a confused glance. "[Huh? Then why's he called Turtwig?]"
"[Heh, yeah, I wondered that myself…]" He shrugged. "[Ah well, who knows? You should ask him one of these days.]"
She gave an amused huff. "[Maybe.]" She rubbed her chin, seemingly contemplating something. "[Hmm…]"
He gave her a questioning look, though he didn't say anything as she kept her thinking pose.
Eventually, she batted a paw into her other one, as if coming up with something. "[Alright, I've got it!]"
"[Huh? Got what?]" he asked.
Not responding, she held her paws out in front of her. Then, in a surprisingly gross act, she spat onto them.
He grimaced slightly at the display. Man, she may have been amazingly graceful while contesting, but that didn't stop her from being crude when she wanted, he supposed. Still, being used to Ash's usual antics, he didn't really mind all that much, though he did wonder what she was up to.
Bringing her paws closer to her mouth, the rabbit began to rub her them together while sharply blowing onto them. Soon after, she brought them away, revealing a somewhat thick layer of ice covering them.
At first, he was extremely confused. However, he made an 'O' shape with his mouth as he remembered that, for whatever reason, she had the ability to shoot ice out of her mouth. Well, an ice-cold laser, anyway. It was a cool ability, no pun intended, though he couldn't figure out why she had it for the life of him.
He gave her another curious look as she stood up and moved behind him. "[Er… what're you up to? Why'd you freeze your-]"
Before he could finish, she'd placed both of her frozen paws onto his tail's sore spot. "[Here's your answer~]" she chirped.
Almost immediately, he let loose a loud high-pitched sigh of content as he felt the pain in his tail melt away, only to be replaced with bliss. Oh, good Lugia, that was nice…
… He slapped his paws over his mouth. Oh no, had he really just done that!? Looking around, he suddenly saw several different faces look in his direction. Listening, he could even hear Buneary quietly giggling.
"[… Er…]" Turtwig started, "[you alright over there?]"
Aipom began to snicker. "[You two should probably head for the bushes if you're gonna be making noises like that,]" she teased.
Pikachu could feel himself glowing bright scarlet. "[W-We're not… Ughh…]" he muttered, covering his face with his paws.
Starly gave the purple monkey a stern look, though it was hard to take him seriously with the amused smile creeping onto his beak. "[Pft… Er, hey, don't be so mean, Aipom.]"
Aipom continued to snicker. "[Just sayin'!]"
Still soothing Pikachu's aching tail with her icy paws, Buneary huffed in annoyance. "[Yeah, well, for your information, I was fixing up his injured tail, you cheeky monkey.]"
"[Yeah, you did kinda overdo it with the biting…]" Starly added, looking at Turtwig. "[I thought you were gonna take his tail off.]"
"[Hm. Poor guy. I'd never live without my tail...]" Aipom agreed.
"[Oh, eheh, I guess so,]" the tortoise replied sheepishly, turning to Pikachu. "[Sorry, man. Guess I got carried away.]"
"[Again...!]" Aipom added, rolling her eyes.
Turtwig sighed. "[Yeah. Again...]"
Cheeks still burning, the mouse offered him a reassuring smile. "[It's alright. Could've been worse…]"
Bonsly sniffled. "[W-What a horrible thought. Having your tail bitten off. Th-That's so horrid!]" he whimpered before bursting into tears.
Immediately, the others began to try and comfort him, even though the little rock-tree often liked to cry for no reason. Pikachu, however, breathed a sigh of relief at the distraction. "[Thanks, Bun. Last thing I needed was their teasing…]"
Still rubbing his tail, Buneary made a happy noise. "[No problem! You okay, though?]"
"[Yeah…]" he replied, rubbing a paw on his cheek. "[Gonna take a while for my cheeks to stop burning, though…]"
"[Ooh, I can help with that!]" She took her paws off his tail and, reaching around his head, placed them onto his cheeks instead.
Allowing his tail to go back behind him, he sighed in content, though much more quietly than before. It was honestly amazing that steam wasn't pouring off his face at this point. "[Man, that's nice…~]" His brows furrowed as something occurred to him. "[…Though you are basically just putting spit on my face at this point, aren't you?]"
"[…Ahah, well, I guess…]" she sheepishly replied. "[I froze it, though, so it'll be nice and clean. I think.]"
Mulling over that, he shrugged. He wasn't entirely convinced, but it made sense. "[I guess… but why do it in the first place? Why not just go straight to freezing?]"
"[Well, if I didn't use this technique, I'd have to straight up use Ice Beam on my paws. And that's a rabbit hole I don't wanna go down.]" She paused. "[... Again.]"
He chuckled, and not just at her pun. "[Oh dear. Dare I ask what that was all about?]"
"[Well... I got into a big fight one day, and then I had the oh-so-very bright idea of putting ice on one of my bruises.]" She laughed awkwardly. "[Needless to say, it took a while to melt most of the ice. So yeah... I'm a bit more careful, now.]"
He chuckled even harder. "[Huh... good going.]"
She huffed slightly. "[Heyy... I didn't have Ice Beam for all that long, back then, so I wasn't used to its strength.]"
He finished off the half-eaten pellet from earlier. "[Heh, I can imagine.]"
"[In any case, that's why I do the whole spitting thing. I can stop if it grosses you out too much, though...]"
He shrugged. "[Nah, it's good. Just don't shove your paws into my mouth, and it'll be fine with me.]"
He felt her move about, as if nodding. "[Roger that~]"
She continued to work on cooling his cheeks. A short while later, he felt her front press against his back as she leaned forwards slightly. As a result, he could feel her heart beating. It seemed to be going fast, for some reason. Considering how energetic she usually was, it wasn't all that much of a surprise, really.
A part of his brain kept nagging at him that it probably looked like she was hugging him from behind. However, he couldn't bring himself to tell her to stop. She was just too good at this! Besides, looking around, everyone seemed preoccupied with eating, or talking, or with cheering Bonsly up, so he allowed it.
As she began to make a slight rubbing motion, however, something suddenly occurred to him. "[Er, careful with the cheeks, though. If you don't watch yourself, I might zap ya.]"
She immediately withdrew her paws. "[Y-You're gonna zap me? Oh no, am I upsetting you that much? I-I'm sorry!]" she apologized, sounding distressed.
He frantically shook his head in alarm. "[N-No! That's not what I meant! They're my electric sacs, so they might get… I dunno, electrical if I don't watch 'em, y'know?]"
After a small pause, she gave a relieved-sounding exhale. "[Ahh, okay. Sorry…]"
He turned his head to look at her. "[Hey, that's alright. I should've phrased things better.]"
"[No kidding. For a sec there, I thought I'd overstepped some boundaries, or something.]"
He chuckled sheepishly. "[Yeah, my bad... Oh well, don't worry. You're too nice for a zapping, so I wouldn't dream of it.]"
"[Hee, you're so understanding…]" she mumbled before rubbing his cheeks again, though far more gently than before. After a small while, she made a noise of contemplation. "[How do they work, anyway? Your sacs, I mean.]"
He blinked. "[Oh, err… they… um…]"
"[…You do know, don't ya?]"
"[Y-Yeah, 'course! They work by… taking all the electricity from the air around me, and then they… er, capture it.]"
"[Huh? Capture it? Y'mean, like... a pokéball?]" she asked, sounding confused. "[That... doesn't really make much sense.]"
He began to sweat. "[N-No, I mean… it gets attracted to my cheeks, where it gets… stored, like a... shaggy carpet does with static electricity.]"
She paused for a short while. Soon after, she burst out laughing. "[What? So you're calling your cheeks shaggy carpets? Are you sure about that?]"
He groaned. "[Alright… not really. Honestly, I have no idea how my cheeks work. When I wanna zap stuff, they just… do it.]"
"[Ahaha! Oh, you're such a silly mousey... Y'know that?]"
He crossed his arms. "[Hmph. Yeah, well, I'll bet you couldn't tell me how your… I dunno, how your ears work.]"
"[Huh?]"
"[Like… why do you always have one rolled up?]"
She made a sound of realization. "[Well, if I kept both of 'em poking up all the time, I'd probably go deaf. My hearing's sensitive, y'see.]"
The quick answer surprised him. "[Oh... so there actually is a reason for that?]"
"[Uh huh! It's not just for show~. Contrary to some people's popular beliefs.]"
"[Hm... well, it certainly explains why you heard Team Rocket coming before me and Starly did that one time…]" He tilted his head slightly. "[How do you not get a headache every time you punch stuff, then? I can't imagine that being good for your hearing.]"
She made a quick movement, as if shrugging. "[It's not all that bad, really. The noise is dampened by the fluff on my ears. Especially when it hardens with Dizzy Punch.]"
"[Huh… that so?]"
"[Uh huh!]"
A bead of sweat dripped down his head. "[Oh, well… drat. Honestly, I was hoping you'd be just as clueless about yourself as I am about me.]"
She giggled again. "[No such luck, I'm afraid~. Unlike a certain someone, I actually know a thing or two about myself.]"
He lightly rolled his eyes. "[Tsk, if only you weren't so intelligent. It'd be nice to have the big brains that you've apparently got.]"
She gave a light gasp. "[You think I'm super brainy? Really?]"
Uh oh. He knew that tone. "[Um… y-yeah?]"
There was a short pause. Before he could turn his head to see what she was up to, she suddenly gave him a huge hug from behind. "[D'aww, how kind of ya! Ahaha~]"
"[Er… n-no problem?]" Oh, dear lord. He kept forgetting about how easy she was to flatter. Being complimented often made her go all starry-eyed or bashful. Either way, there was usually some nuzzling. Or lots of hugging. Or both.
Not being used to affection from anyone but Ash, the mouse still found it hard to adapt to. Especially since everyone often liked to make teasing comments about it. Heck, the first time Buneary ever nuzzled against him, even the humans were making some strange comments about 'crushes' and 'love' and stuff like that. All because she was an affectionate girl and he was a boy. How embarrassing…
… Oh dear, and now his face was hot again. Even her Ice Beam wasn't cold enough to cool down his raging cheeks, it seemed. Ugh…
In all fairness, though, the ice on her paws seemed to have melted away. It was probably for the best, though. Considering where her paws were wrapped around, currently, he didn't want his neck to feel like ice while his cheeks felt like bonfires.
Hmm, speaking of Ice Beam, he suddenly found himself curious about something. Plus, it was a good excuse to get the girl off him before anybody started looking at them, so... "[H-Hey, er, so… how's about that Ice Beam, huh?]" he asked.
She got off him. "[Oh, you wanna know how that works, too, do ya?]"
With a small breath of relief at being released, he shook his head and looked up at her. "[Nah, I was just wondering... how'd you learn it? You don't look like much of an ice-type to me…]" He scratched his chin. "[…At least… I don't think you are…?]"
She giggled and sat down next to him. "[Nope! Normal all the way, baby~]"
He made a noise of amusement. This rabbit was the quirkiest 'normal' pokémon he'd ever seen…
"[So, yeah...]" she continued, "[I learned Ice Beam from a TM.]"
He gave her a quizzical glance. "[A… TM? What, like, a trademark?]"
She shrugged. "[Beats me. I just saw the word on the front, next to some random numbers.]"
"[Ah, alright then. Well, what was this TM thingy?]"
"[It's a special disk… thingy that teaches you moves if you hold it to your forehead for a little while.]"
Pikachu's eyes lit up. "[Oh, cool! Man, I hope Ash gets one. My old moves are getting a bit stale.]"
She suddenly looked apologetic. "[Ah… well, you might be outta luck, I'm afraid. I think they're pretty gosh darn rare...]"
His ears dipped slightly. "[Aww, really?]"
"[Yeah. And even then, they only have one move on 'em, each. And they're one-use only. And they only work with certain pokémon, I think. Tate tried giving me a pretty pink one, but it didn't do anything.]"
He clicked his fingers in disappointment. "[Drat. Talk about too good to be true. I was almost excited for a minute, there…]"
"[Ahah, sorry. Oh well, maybe you'll luck out and find one that works for you, someday. And who knows? Maybe you'll be able to use it more than once in the future, too.]"
"[Yeah, here's… hoping?]" Suddenly, something occurred to him. "[Wait a sec, who's Tate?]"
Her eyes widened slightly. "[I, um… it's… someone I knew a long while back.]"
Her flustered reaction surprised him. "[Er… not someone bad, I hope?]"
"[Ahah, nah. It's just an… old friend,]" she said, staring downwards.
He frowned concernedly. Was that a hint of… somberness? Gosh, he wasn't used to this sort of calm tone from her. Had something happened between her and this 'Tate'? Was it an old trainer of hers, or a sibling, or something? Heck, was it the gym leader from Hoenn? Either way, it was very strange…
Before he could ask her anything, she gave a sharp shake of the head and beamed in his direction. "[Ahaha, oh well. That's ancient history, anyway, so who cares, right?]"
He raised an eyebrow at her strange behavior. "[Oh… are you sure?]"
She nodded happily. "[Eyup! So, anyway, how're the cheeks 'n' tail? Feelin' less fiery?]"
He paused at the blatant change of topic. However, he soon shrugged to himself. If she didn't want to bring up past events, then who was he to push for them? "[Er… yeah, they're good, thanks. Hey, in fact…]" He brought his tail out for them to look at. It was looking far less red than before, and it wasn't anywhere near as sore, either. "[Yeah, you've worked wonders on 'em! You're a miracle worker, y'know that?]"
She bashfully fiddled around with her fluff. "[Naww. I didn't do that much, really.]"
He smirked. "[Heh, now who's the modest one? Thanks to you, my tail feels miles better, so I owe ya one. Heck, I might even owe you double, for that Iron Tail inspiration from before.]"
"[You owe me double, do ya? Ooh…~]" she murmured, stroking her chin.
A bead of sweat dripped down his head. "[Er… within reason, of course.]"
She mulled it over for a short while. "[Hmm… would you… maybe…]" She pulled her waist fluff up to her face. "[… like to go out with me?]"
His mind immediately screeched to a halt. "[W-Wait, what!?]"
"[F-For a walk! To a... lake I know! A friendly walk!]" she finished quickly, eyes going wider.
"[... Just a… walk?]" he asked, his heart still beating frantically.
She nodded. "[Yeah. Just that.]"
After a small pause, he relaxed. Oh, thank goodness. It would've been amazingly awkward if she'd meant… well, yeah. "[Ahh, right. Eheh, sorry, I… thought you meant something else.]"
She let go of her fluff, letting it fall back into place. "[Oh, okay.]" She began to fiddle with it again. "[I wonder what you thought I said. Ahaha…]"
"[Um… n-nothing special.]" He gave her a pleasant look. "[Anyway, yeah, I don't see why not. Sounds fun enough!]"
With a small exhale, she nodded and beamed back. "[Hee, fabulous~!]"
"[Er… you won't start spinning me around again, though, will you?]" he asked concernedly, remembering one of their first encounters.
"[I'll try not to~]" she responded, not exactly reassuring him. "[Either way, should we get going, then?]"
"[Yup, let's… Oh, wait.]" He stopped as he noticed that neither of them had finished their food yet. "[Ah, whoops. We were so busy chatting that we forgot to eat,]" he added, snickering.
Raising an eyebrow, she glanced down at their bowls. Upon seeing the food, she smiled sheepishly. "[Oh… ahaha, yeah, you're right. I've barely even touched mine!]" she replied, snickering alongside him.
"[Alright, well, how about we go after we've finished our food? We usually have an hour or so after eating before we start travelling again, so we'll have plenty of time.]"
She nodded. "[Okie dokes!]"
The two of them once again started on their poké-pellet meals, enjoying Brock's exotic, if not bland-looking, cooking.
Swallowing a mouthful, Pikachu looked toward Buneary. He saw that she was still nomming away at her pellets.
"[Taste good?]" he asked.
With a mouthful, she nodded. "[Mm-hmm!]"
"[Alrighty, cool.]"
She swallowed. "[Um, how's yours? Any good?]"
"[Sure is! I've always loved Brock's food.]"
She looked at him with keen interest in her eyes. "[Ooh, is it your favorite thing to eat?]"
"[It's certainly up there, yeah.]" He tapped his fingers against the pellet he'd picked up. "[... That said, I'd prefer it with a little ketchup, but hey ho.]"
She tilted her head. "[Ketchup...? Huh. Never heard of that. Is it foreign?]"
He gasped lightly. "[You've never heard of tomato ketchup? Really!?]"
Her un-rolled ear perked up. "[Oooh, tomato, eh? Now you've gotten me interested!]"
"[Yeah, it's the greatest thing on our planet, bar nothing!]"
"[Ahaha, you sure know how to sell it~]"
"[The stuff sells itself. It's pure bliss.]" Pikachu cocked his head as he realized something. "[Wait... tomatoes interest you, do they?]"
"[You betcha! Especially cherry tomatoes. They're delish~]"
"[Huh, okie dokes, then.]" He nibbled on the pellet he was holding onto. "[Y'know... I don't think I've eaten a normal tomato before, come to think of it.]"
Buneary gave a gasp of her own. "[Not even a cherry one!? But they're awesome, though!]"
He laughed. "[Gosh, for two mons who really love tomato-based stuff, we sure are missing out on the best of 'em, ain't we?]"
She laughed along. "[No kidding! We've gotta share 'em, sometime!]"
"[Hah, yeah! Sounds like a plan.]"
She made a happy noise. "[Welp, until then...]" She went back to eating the pellets in front of her.
Smiling, he also went back to work on his. He had to admit, as strange and overly-affectionate as she was, she could be a cool friend at times. She would take some getting used to, but he could easily see things working out between them.
Before too long, Pikachu found himself swallowing the last of his pellets. Then, with a happy sigh, he leaned back against his paws. Looking over at Buneary, he saw that she was still digging into hers, having more than half-way to go, still.
"[You struggling there, Buneary?]" he asked.
Swallowing, she gave him a curious gaze. "[Huh?]"
"[You've still got quite a lot left to get through.]"
She looked at her bowl. Then at his, as if comparing the two. Upon seeing the big difference, she frowned dejectedly. "[Aww, man... all that cheek massaging made me lag behind.]"
Pikachu rubbed the side of his head. "[Eheh, yeah. Sorry.]"
"[It's alright, Cutie.]" She winked at him. "[I'll forgive ya this time~]"
"[Um... th-thanks...]"
Her eyebrows dipped as she eyed up her bowl. "[Man, it's gonna take forever to finish this, though.]"
"[That's alright. You've got plenty of time to eat, so don't fret.]"
"[I guess...]" She picked up another piece to eat it. Before she did though, a thoughtful look spread over her face. Just as he considered asking what was wrong, she pointed forwards. "[Oh, er, hey, what's Ash doing?]"
With a tilt of the head, he glimpsed over. However, he didn't see anything special. Just Ash begging for more food, as always.
Done staring, he looked back at her. "[What's up? I don't see anything out of the ordin- … H-Huh!?]" He noticed that her bowl was completely empty. Aiming his gaze towards her, he burst into laughter. Her mouth was utterly filled with food, to the point where her cheeks were bulging. "[Umm… hungry much?]"
With a strain, she swallowed the entire thing before grinning sheepishly. "[Ahah, a lit-]" Without warning, she let loose a surprisingly decent belch. "[... -tle.]"
He couldn't help but laugh even harder. Oh, how shameless…
Going red, she covered her face with her fluff. "[Ohh nooo, how embarrassing…]"
"[D-Don't worry,]" he reassured, his laughter dying down. "[I don't think anyone else noticed.]"
Her eyes poked out from her fluff. "[Ohh, but you probably think I'm gross, now…]"
He shrugged. "[Hey, I just had frozen spit on my face. You think I mind?]"
Her fluff went lower. "[I-I… guess not.]"
He gave her a pat on the back. "[Exactly, so don't worry about it. Besides, better out than in, right?]"
Hesitantly, she let her fluff fall to her sides. "[Well… o-okie dokes, then. Thanks.]"
"[No probs! Besides, you should see Ash after finding a burger stall. Things get real ugly real fast, then...]"
She giggled. "[Oh, dear... Does he become a poison-type for the day?]"
He let another laugh escape his lips. "[Yeah... unfortunately for everyone else.]"
Their amusement continued for a little while. Eventually, Buneary quizzically rubbed her chin. "[I wonder what meat tastes like, anyway...]"
"[It's okay... but I prefer it with ketchup,]" he replied.
"[Ahaha, somehow, I'm not surprised.]"
He shrugged bashfully. "[Well, y'know...]"
"[So... you're a meat-eater, huh?]"
"[I guess so. I haven't eaten anything like that for a really long while, though. It's pretty fattening.]"
"[Ah, okay, then.]" Buneary fiddled with her fluff. "[I'll bet you've never hunted anything to get some meat before, though... right?]"
Pikachu raised an eyebrow. "[Huh? That's a bit of an odd thing to ask.]"
"[Well... it's good to know where you stand with all your teammates, y'know?]"
"[Makes sense, I guess. Well, I haven-...]" He paused and rocked his head from side to side before grinning. "[Oh, actually, yeah! I totally have! Man, you should see all the wurmple I've nommed on throughout the years!]"
He noticed the color immediately drain from her horrified face. "[Wh-What? Really?]"
His grin grew slightly evil. "[Yup! My best haul was the time I caught an entire clan of 'em with one swipe of my tail. It was sooo satisfying!]"
She began to look oddly green. "[O-Oh... I-I... um...]"
He briefly held a pause before cracking up and waving his paws dismissively. "[Alright, no, no, not really. I haven't hunted a single thing in my life.]"
She blinked. "[... R-Really?]"
"[Hah, yeah. I mean, I have heard of some chus that do that, but I ain't one of 'em. I promise!]"
She blinked again before letting loose a huge sigh of relief. Soon after, she frowned. "[Hmph! Oh, you jerk, Pikachu...]"
He grimaced apologetically. "[Ehehe, s-sorry... it's always too hard to resist that one.]"
With a roll of the eyes, she chuckled and lightly nudged him in the arm. "[Oh, I'll bet it is, mister...!]"
"[Am I safe with guessing that you're not a meat-eater, yourself, then?]" he asked, scratching his chin.
She nodded. "[Yeah, I wouldn't dream of it. Even if I wanted to, I just can't, or I'll be violently ill.]"
"[Ah, I get it. Because you're an herbivore pokémon, right?]"
"[Oh, heck, no. It's because I'm allergic.]"
He stared at her. "[... Huh? Then why did you look so sick when I was talking about the wurmple?]" He paused again. "[... And how did you find out about an allergy like that in the wild, anyway?]"
She tapped her paws together. "[Well... let's just say that I did a lot of picnic raiding back in the day. And one raid in particular had meaty sandwiches from some non-pokémon thing.]" She shivered. "[I was so sick afterwards, it felt like the world was going to end.]"
He gave a sympathetic look. "[Ah, um, oh dear. That sounded horrible...]"
"[It was...]" She pulled a face. "[Things were so bad, I don't even remember what it tasted like...]"
"[Dang...]" He let several seconds pass before tilting his head. "[Oh, yeah... and the wurmple story? Why was that so bad?]"
"[Well, eating something that's already dead and killing something are two totally different things.]"
"[Hm, well, you've got me there, I guess.]" He clicked his tongue. "[Taking food from people, though... Tut tut...!]"
She rubbed the back of her head. "[... Human food's real good, what can I say?]"
He grinned slightly. "[Hm. Ah well, don't worry. I'm not exactly a saint myself.]"
She made a noise of amusement. "[Lemmie guess. Ketchup?]"
"[Yup. Guilty as charged...]"
"[Ahaha, oh you~]"
He made an amused noise of his own. Then, with a stretch, he stood up. "[Alright, you ready to head off, now we've finished eating?]"
She hopped onto her feet. "[You bet'cha!]"
"[Okay, cool.]" He gestured towards some bushes. "[Let's meet up in the bushes over there, then. I'll go and let Ash know we're off to explore.]"
"[Sure thing! He won't mind, right?]"
He shrugged. "[Doubt it. He usually doesn't care, so long as we stay close enough to warn 'em of danger.]"
"[Fair enough. Alrighty, see you soon, then, Cutie~]" She moved over to give him a quick nuzzle before hopping away towards the bushes.
He swallowed as yet another bead of sweat dripped down his head. "[Um… y-yeah, bye.]"
She began to hop away. He watched her as she did so. Tsk… why did she have to be so affectionate? So embarrassing…
Oh well, it was fine. After all… she didn't have a crush on him, so it didn't matter. It didn't matter at all…
He sighed and began towards Ash. Honestly, they could have 'spoken' to their trainers together… but he could do without having even more lovey-dovey accusations thrown his way. Besides, he didn't want to be seen walking away with her in tow. Especially not into the bushes. What would people even think? Aipom, especially.
Still, he didn't mind taking the bunny on a trip to the… lake, was it? Yeah, it sounded interesting enough. Nearing Ash, he wondered what he was in for on his friendly 'date'…
Finishing his pretty adequate meal, Piplup pushed his bowl away and lay down on the grass. Near to him were his trainer, Dawn, the other humans, and Croagunk. Everyone was sitting on a table, though Croagunk was just sitting on the grass nearby.
Having eaten, Piplup found himself bored, so he wondered what to do. Maybe brag about himself to someone? That was one of his favorite pastimes, after all. Saying all of the reasons as to why he was amazing, so that everyone would praise him, appreciate him and, um… like him. Not that they didn't like him already, of course! He was the team mascot for a reason! But… it never hurt to have people like you more. Of course.
He nodded to himself. Yes, that was exactly what he would do! All he needed now was someone to brag to.
He half-considered talking to Dawn and the other humans. They all loved every second of his presence! However, they wouldn't be able to understand him, due to the language barrier, so… eh. Maybe not, as much as he wanted to. Tsk, those poor people. They were missing out!
He looked around to see if Pikachu was about. That guy always seemed to listen whenever Piplup talked about himself. He was really friendly, too, if not a bit easy to embarrass.
… Drat. He didn't seem to be around. Where the heck had he gone? Oh well… maybe someone else, then.
Remembering that Croagunk was next to him, he decided to strike up a boastful conversation with the guy. "[Say, er… Croagunk?]" he asked, turning to face him.
The frog said nothing in response, still staring ahead blankly.
Piplup smiled. Perfect! A listener! His favorite kind of person. They never responded with anything sassy, or with a 'shut up'! "[Do you remember the contest from a few days back?]" he continued.
The frog said nothing in response. He didn't even move his head.
"[… Well, er, yes.]" Piplup cleared his throat. "[I was awesome, wasn't I? Like… really awesome!]"
… Nothing.
"[… Like, um… I… I did that thing with the bubbles, and-]"
"[Penguin,]" Croagunk said sharply.
Piplup stiffened out of surprise. "[O-Oh, um… that's not my name, but… yeah?]"
"[… I'll be straight with you.]" He looked straight at Piplup, expression unwavering. "[… I don't give a crap.]" He looked away again.
Piplup blinked. He blinked again. He felt a sad, crushing feeling overtake him, but he quickly replaced it with a fiery rage. "[What the flipping hell, man!? What do you mean by that!?]" He stomped his foot on the ground. "[Damn it, and here I was, wanting to be your friend! But I forgot, you don't like having friends, do you!?]"
"[… Oh, I love it… don't worry.]"
Piplup huffed a few times and crossed his arms. "[Well, you have a very funny way of showing it, you jerk! Maybe next time, don't be such a flipping jerkhead, and maybe you will get friends for once in your life!]"
"[… Duly noted. Go away, please.]"
"[Aghhhh, gladly!]" Piplup exclaimed, storming off. Grr, that lousy, flipping, stupid, frigging froggy bastard! What a jerk! What a lousy, freaking jerk!
He kept angrily stomping away until he was secluded away inside the bushes. Once inside, he looked around to see if anybody else was around.
When he was sure he was alone, his anger quickly faded away. As it did, crippling sadness filled him, instead. Damn it… why did that always happen? All he'd wanted to do was impress someone so that they'd want to be his friend…
… Hmph. Well, whatever. He wiped his eyes before they could sting and walked away elsewhere. He didn't need anybody. He was great and excellent enough on his own. Yeah…
Noticing a nearby river, he decided to go into it and lie on his back. He began to slowly float downstream as a result, but he didn't mind. It was… relaxing.
He allowed the river to carry him for a while. Even as it dumped him into a huge lake.
TO BE CONTINUED!
Finished:
Battle segment (Old): 15/06 (June)/2016
Battle segment (New): 18/06 (June)/2017
Lunch segment: 18/06 (June)/2017
Piplup segment: 17/09/2018
Word count: 8,587
Older chapter names: 1: Flaming Spirit, 2: Eat and Greet
VGS2's pointless notes: And so begins the beginning of the new and improved Game-Changer! Again! I swear to God, if I ever have to fix this fic up again, I'm going to start a bloody fire at Oak's place. XD For added points, I'll even blame it on Ash, too, like they do in most betrayal fics. For some reason.
By the way, I had to do a lot of Frankenstein-esque fixing up with all the chappies, so there may be a few oddities dotted about that slipped my attention. I'll make sure they're fixed in time, but if you see something odd or whatever, please lemmie know, won't'cha? :P
Shameless promotion: Yo, go and give ravengal's story, A Gracious Gift, some reviews. It's the best lagomorphshipping story I know of, involving some of the best bonding you'll ever see!
It involves Pikachu and Buneary starting a relationship to see how well they'll do together. It's not all sunshine and rainbows, however. There'll be hardships, misunderstands, secrets and general comic mischief all throughout. However, despite everything… they'll try and make it work.
It's real good, so go review it, already!
Fun mistakes of the day #1: "Great job!" Ash exclaimed. "Pikachu, toss him off!"
(Oh dear. And then, suddenly, Pikachu x Turtwig was born.)
#2: Ash continued. "Now, Turtwig! Razor Shell!"
(Whoops! Wrong starter pokémon.)
#3: 'Falling, Pikachu's cheeks began to spark.'
(The way I worded it makes it sound like Pikachu's cheeks fell off him while sparking. No more electricity for him. Just like in the start of Unova!)
#4: 'Dodging another set of ears, his ears pricked.'
(Someone's throwing ears at Pikachu! Appropriate, considering who his future lover will be.)
#5: '"See? Even Piplup was ready to take the spotlight," Dawn said, Dawn in her arms.'
(And then suddenly, every character was Dawn. *Plays 'At Dawn' from Sonic Adventure*)
#6: 'Oh well, it was fine. After all… she didn't have a crush on him, so it didn't mater.'
(If she did have a crush on him, however… *MatingSeason .gif*)
#7: "[And hey, you gave me the idea for using Iron Tail, too, didn't I?]"
(Oh, Pikachu, you little credit stealer…)
#8: 'Pikachu made a satisfied noise as he gorged on his pellets, along with the rest of his teammates.'
(Nuu! Pikachu's begun to eat all of his friends! That maniac! He must think they're all wurmple, or something...)
#9: 'He stared ate her'
(Speaking of Pikachu being a predatory beast, he's going for Buneary! Unless... he means something else...)
#10: "[… I be straight]"
(No homo, bro!)
#11: '… Hmph. Well, whatever. He wiped his eyes before they could sting and walk away elsewhere.'
(No! Come back, Piplup's eyes! O,o They're running away from him, just like his penis in those fics that decide to remove it and turn him female, instead… XP)
Alright, and with that said, I'm off to play [game that I'm playing right now]! Tata for now! c:
Next up: Larks At The Lake!