Author's note: Hey, guys!

Well, since a certain someone said they were 'salty' about me not lagomorphing hard enough, I tried to come up with a fic idea... and then this was born!

It won't be a terribly long fic, I imagine, but I hope you enjoy it, regardless! ravengal's going AU with canon, baby!

Maybe it'll help me get back into the lagomorphing spirit. Coz I'm kind of obsessed with other pairings at the moment. Haha.

*waves rainbow flag*

... Plus, the latest chapter of ITOD (with its five-mightyena action scene) is very intimidating to write. Hence why I've put it off for so long. XD

That and the Hetalia obsession.

Anyway! Onward!

Chapter One: Connections

"Awesome job, guys!" Ash said, giving his team a thumbs up. "You all did great with your training!"

"(Yay!)" the pokémon replied all at once.

"Looks like you'll have no problems at the next gym, Ash," Brock said from where he was stirring something inside a pot.

"Yeah!" Dawn said, brushing her hair on the grass near Brock. "No need to worry! You've got this in the bag!"

Ash glanced over his shoulder. "Thanks, guys!" he replied. Looking back at his pokémon, he gave a determined smile while clenching a fist. "We'll win for sure, won't we?"

"(Heck yeah!)" his team replied.

Brock chuckled. "Now, don't get too big a head, Ash..." he said.

Ash glanced back at him. "I know, I know!" he replied. He paused. "So, when's the food gonna be ready?"

"Soon."

"Aww... but I'm hungry now!"

Dawn took on a sagely pose. "Patience is a virtue, Ash!" she said with a smug grin. "How do you think I tame my wild beast of a hairstyle in a morning?" She winked. "Tenacity and lots of hair gel!"

"Yeah, yeah..." Looking back at his pokémon, Ash smiled. "Alright, guys, take five until lunch is ready!"

"(Okay!)" the pokémon replied.

The moment Ash turned around and walked off, Pikachu felt something warm and fluffy attach itself to his side. Not expecting the contact, he jumped.

"(You were amazing, Pikachu...)" the intruder said.

He sighed, shooting his assailant an exasperated smile. Of course.

"(Uh, thanks, Buneary...)" he replied.

As she nuzzled into his fur, he tried to ignore how it made his heartbeat increase.

"(I'm so proud of you...)"

... She was? What on Earth for? Well, he supposed he'd done pretty well in training today, but hadn't everyone else?

"(Aww, isn't that cute~?)" Buizel said. Horrified, Pikachu turned to the weasel to see him smirking.

The other pokémon around him began to cackle, including the ones from Brock and Dawn's teams that had wandered over.

"(It's adorable, is what it is~!)" Sudowoodo replied, cupping his branches together by his face.

"(A real pair of lovebirds!)" Piplup agreed.

"(I ship it!)" Pachirisu said.

Pikachu felt his face burn. "(C-Come on, guys...)" he said pleadingly.

"(Aww, we're only teasin' ya,)" Buizel replied.

"(Yeah,)" Sudowoodo agreed. "(Now, who's up for tag?)"

"(I am!)" most other pokémon replied.

"(Piplup's it!)" Pachirisu cried, tagging Piplup and running away.

Everyone else ran off, grinning.

"(Wait, what?!)" Piplup cried. "(Heeeey! Get back here, you-!)" He promptly tripped and fell on his face. After a moment, he got back up and raced after them. "(I didn't ask for thiiiis!)"

Pikachu sighed to himself.

Once all the pokémon were gone, he looked back over at Buneary, who seemed to have ignored everything around her to continue nuzzling into his fur.

... Just why did she do this all the time? And so shamelessly, at that? Not that he didn't appreciate it, but, legends above, it was embarrassing...

He really hadn't done anything particularly amazing today. Certainly nothing that the rest of the team hadn't done. Yet he was the one getting the congratulatory nuzzle.

... Then again, it was always him who got all the attention from her, wasn't it?

As he continued to observe her - smiling contentedly against him - he had to wonder what made him so special. After all, he was just one pikachu. It wasn't like he'd saved the world, or anything. That job usually fell to Ash. The guy had even been labelled a chosen one once, a long time ago. So, why was Buneary so fond of him?

There was always the possibility that she was just overly affectionate, or something, but, again, she never hugged or nuzzled anybody else. So there had to be something special about him, right? But he could never quite work out what it was.

... Most of the humans and pokémon seemed convinced that she had a crush on him. As embarrassing as that thought was, he had to admit that it quite often looked that way. He could never be entirely sure, though, because, again, what made him so special?

"(... Hey, Buneary?)" he asked.

"(Mmm?)" Buneary replied.

"(You wanna go play tag with the others?)"

"(Hmm?)" She opened her eyes. After a moment, she moved away from him and beamed. "(Okay, sure!)"

It felt oddly cold where she was no longer leaning against him. Trying to ignore it, he smiled.

"(Alright then, let's go!)"

After their fun-filled game of tag, it was time to eat.

While the humans gathered around the table to dine - Ash almost missing the chair in his haste - Pikachu sat down by a bowl of pellets. Buneary took the one next to him.

"(Hey, Buneary!)" he said with a smile. "(Great job in tag earlier!)"

Buneary giggled. "(Thanks,)" she replied, "(but Piplup still caught me in the end.)"

"(Yeah, but you made him work for it.)" He picked up a pellet and nibbled on it. "(Mmm, not bad!)" He chuckled. "(Seems Brock got experimentive with the flavour again.)"

Buneary did the same. "(Hmm, yeah. It's pretty good.)" She glanced over at the humans.

"(What's wrong?)"

"(Aww, our trainers are having rice balls...)"

Pikachu glanced over. "(Huh, so they are.)" He looked back at Buneary. "(What about them?)"

The rabbit pouted, puffing out her lips in a duck face. "(I wish I was having rice balls...)"

Pikachu couldn't help chuckling at the amusing sight. "(Yeah, well, you know how it is...)" He held up his half-chewed pellet. "(Gotta keep us pokémon fit and healthy!)"

"(Yeah...)" She nibbled on her pellet. After a moment, she pulled a mock-distressed face. "(It's so unfair, though! I can smell the red bean paste from here!)"

He chuckled again. "(Yeah, I know. But hey! We need these pellets to keep us on a balanced diet! And at least Brock makes sure to mix up the flavours every day.)"

She giggled. "(True.)"

They spent a few moments in comfortable silence, eating their pellets.

Swallowing his latest mouthful, Pikachu glanced in his trainer's direction with a wry smile. "(Though I do wish Ash would give me ketchup more often...)"

Buneary giggled again. Looking back at her, he felt a strange swelling of pride at her response. She always managed to make him feel slightly cooler, somehow.

After a moment, the rabbit picked up a fresh pellet, inspecting it. "(Say... what do you think's in these pellets, anyway?)"

"(Hmm...)" Curious, he mimicked her, picking up a pellet to study it. "(I'd say it's probably... berries and... vitamins and... stuff...)"

Real smooth. He looked so incredibly clever right now...

Buneary giggled. "(So, you've no idea, either.)"

He smiled embarrassedly up at her. "(Nope.)"

"(Well, they're apparently good for us! And, if they have vitamins, then they'd better make you big and strong for your next gym battle!)"

Pikachu gave a determined smile. "(Darn right they better!)"

"(Yeah!)"

Pikachu lifted his pellet into the air. "(To victory!)"

Buneary mimicked him. "(To victory!)"

They tapped their pellets together.

As Pikachu nibbled on his pellet, Buneary smiled softly at him. "(You really were amazing today, you know.)"

He gave her a bemused smile. "(Yeah?)"

"(Yeah. You've gotten so strong...)"

"(Well, I'm not bad, I guess...)" He clenched a fist. "(Though the real test will come in the Sinnoh League!)"

"(Yeah! I'm sure you can win it!)"

"(Well, let's hope so!)" He unclenched the fist with an embarrassed smile. "(I mean, Ash hasn't won any Pokémon Leagues so far, but maybe one day!)"

Buneary looked surprised. "(Really? None?)"

"(Nope. Well, apart from the Orange League, but that one didn't even have a tournament. Or an Elite Four.)"

"(Huh, really?)"

"(Yeah, it just had four gym leaders and a champion. Pretty simple, compared to the other ones.)"

"(Huh, no kidding.)" The rabbit nibbled on a pellet.

Pikachu did the same. Halfway through his pellet, he paused in thought. "(... I wonder how hard the Sinnoh League will be.)"

"(I'm sure you'll do great, no matter what!)"

"(Heh, well, thanks.)"

"(Heck, even if you had to fight a legendary, I'll bet you could still kick its tail!)"

He looked away in proud embarrassment. "(Well...)" He paused. "(Though I guess I did take down a Regice once.)"

"(Wow, really?!)"

He looked back at her in alarm, only to see her eyes sparkling in wonderment.

He suddenly felt awkward. "(Aheh, well... yeah.)"

"(Wow...)" There was a long pause. Eventually, Buneary's face melted into the softest smile he'd ever seen. "(I'm proud of you...)"

The expression was so startling that he couldn't help but stare.

He'd never seen that look on her face before. Holy Arceus, it was... rather cute. He felt his face go warm.

"(Oh, uh... thanks...)"

"(You're a lot stronger than I thought...)"

Unable to look her in the eyes, he glanced away. "(W-Well... thanks...)"

"(No problem, Pikachu...)"

Legends above, his heart was beating so fast right now...

Sometime later, the pokémon were back in their pokéballs and the humans were on the move again.

Riding on Ash's shoulder - as his trainer hiked across the open fields - Pikachu thought back to that look Buneary had given him earlier.

It had been an awfully soft look. One full of adoration and... affection. Was it possible that she really did have a crush on him, after all?

His heart did a weird somersault at the thought.

Glancing over at Dawn, his eyes drifted down to the small yellow bag on her back. The bag containing Buneary's pokéball.

... If the rabbit did have a crush on him, would it be so bad? Really?

... But did she, though? That was the question. And, if she did, what then? What could he - should he - do?

Groaning, he slumped against Ash's shoulder. He was no good at this kind of thing...

"Hmm?" Ash asked. "Something wrong, buddy?"

He shook his head. "(No...)" he replied.

"Oh. Well, if you say so!"

It wasn't as if he could talk to his trainer about this, anyway. For one thing, the guy could barely understand pokémon-speak. For another, he was like a fire-type to water when it came to romance.

... He'd had that one 'will-they-won't-they' relationship a long time ago, but he hadn't really seemed to care since.

There was Dawn, but he wasn't sure she even cared about romance. Had she even had a crush before? He had no idea.

As for Brock... he'd rather not take any advice from him, if he could help it.

Glancing upwards, his eyes locked onto the pokémon riding atop Dawn's head.

Huh. Now that he thought about it, Piplup had had a crush before, hadn't he? On that one marill who'd left him for an elekid.

His mouth crinkled in thought. As unappealing an idea it was to ask for advice from someone with such a large ego, he had to admit he didn't have many better options. No one else on the team even remotely had any experience with this, did they?

He sighed. After a moment, he opened his mouth to call out to the penguin, but one glance at Dawn's bag made him close it again.

The humans might not have been able to understand, but, from this range, there was no way that Buneary wouldn't be able to hear him.

That would be awkward and embarrassing to explain to her.

Slumping against Ash's shoulder again, he opted to wait until later. He just hoped the penguin would have some semi-decent advice for him...

... He should probably create a list of back-ups, though. Just in case.