ML54: Hey guys, just dropping another one-shot for you!
Pikachu: Man, where'd the old MewLover54 go, you've been updating and doing stuff quite regularly!
ML54: I know! It feels good to be getting back into the swing of things! I've just given myself time to write every couple of days and I get stuff done!
Pachirisu: That's great, now... MewLover54 doesn't own pokemon!
Miscommunication
Buizel stood on the edge of the battle ring, the sun hanging just above him, showing it to be mid-morning, staring down his opponent with a narrowed gaze, as if daring said pokémon to make the first move.
The pokémon, Piplup, narrowed his own eyes, but more out of concentration than anything else, stepping to the right to try and find an opening, Buizel doing the same but to the left.
The two of them had decided to have a friendly match against each other, for no other reason than Buizel had said that Piplup 'wasn't all that great a battler' and, to Piplup, there was no greater insult then daring to say he wasn't perfect at everything.
Some of the pokémon in Professor Oak's lab had formed a small audience for the pair, all interested in where this was going. Pikachu decided to be the referee, sitting in a small group which consisted of: himself, Buneary and Pachirisu.
"[C'mon Pip! You can do it!]" Buneary cheered, deciding along with Pachirisu, to wear the cheerleader outfits that they used to wear with Dawn to cheer Ash on in his gym battles.
Buneary did this just to get a reaction out of Pikachu, who was sitting next to her. And his reaction was to steal glances every now and again and blush heavily, causing her to giggle.
Pachirisu, however, decided to wear it because Buneary did. Plus, she liked the outfit, she thought it was cute.
"[Go, go Pecky!]" Pachirisu cheered as well, jumping up and down, wiggling her tail enthusiastically.
Piplup grinned at the attention, despite it being from his team mates, and puffed out his chest proudly. "[Alright Buizel, take this!]" He declared, taking a large breath and pulling his head back. "[Ice Beam!]" He then fired the ice-cold laser towards Buizel.
Buizel dived to the side, causing the area he was standing to freeze, and he declared. "[Water Gun!]" Right back, firing a burst of water out of his mouth toward the penguin, who turned towards it, his beak glowing.
"[Drill Peck!]" He said, before charging right through the water, causing the water to bounce harmlessly off him as he started to spin his whole body as he moved.
"[Ice Punch!]" Buizel declared, quickly cutting off his water gun and slammed his fist, which had been coated in ice, into Piplup's beak. This caused the penguin to stop spinning, but he refused to back down, pressing into the weasel's fist.
Buizel flinched, feeling himself start to give in to the full force of Piplup's attack. [Ah jeez, when did Piplup get so tough!] He thought to himself, grunting as he tried to push back.
"[That's the way, Piplup, you got it!]" Buneary cheered, putting her pom-pom's in her ear fluffs, alternating between extending and retracting each ear to free her paws, so she can clap them together.
"[Yeah, way to go Pecky!]" Pachirisu cried out in support, waving her pom-poms in the air happily.
This caught Buizel's attention for a second, gazing at how…well, adorable Pachirisu looked in the outfit, the wide happy smile and sparkling eyes as her excitement for the battle built up…
Though, it might have distracted him a little too much as he felt the ice on his fist shatter and Piplup's beak slam right into his chest, painfully.
Buizel grunted as he jumped back once he felt Piplup relent a bit. He grabbed his chest, flinching as he felt a bruise start to build there.
Piplup, conversely, tilted his head into the air, folding his arms and grinning, smugly. "[Take it back yet, Buizel?]"
"[Not on your life, shorty!]" Buizel growled back, building up some wind energy in his tails, before spinning and shooting out blades of wind towards the penguin. "[Sonicboom!]"
Piplup rolled his eyes, before using a Drill Peck directly at the air, using the momentum to spin in the opposite direction that Buizel went, cancelling the sonicboom out as it bounced off him.
Once the two had finished spinning, Buizel realised that his attack had no real effect and frowned, annoyed. "[Well, alright, that was a dud…]"
"[You're only embarrassing yourself, Buizel!]" Piplup shot back, cockily, before he began to build up a large amount of water in his beak. "[Hydro Pump!]" And fired the highly pressurized water cannon, directly at Buizel.
Buizel built up his water again, and fired a water gun right back, luckily with just enough power to hold back Piplup's attack.
The two fired their water at each other for a few seconds, before Buizel flinched, realising that, to match Piplup's powerful hydro pump, he had to fire his water gun using three times as much energy…meaning his attack will cut off a lot sooner.
[C'mon Buizel! What would Ash say to do?!] He thought to himself, feeling his water reserves start to run dry.
He quickly looked in his memory, trying to find something that'd help him at this point. Soon, he started feeling something come back to him.
An imaginary Ash was kneeling in front of him, looking him right in the eye, almost as if the human were a coach. "Alright Buizel, if you find yourself having to hold your own against a stronger attack, just remember to…"
Suddenly, he heard another cry of excitement from a certain squirrel in the audience and all he could picture was how Pachirisu looked in her pink cheerleading outfit. The imaginary girl was giggling and bouncing around as if she had just downed an entire crate of pink poffins. "[Hey Tails, how do I look? I bet I'm adorable! Dawn always makes us all look great, I reckon! Hey, why's your face all red?]"
Buizel felt his water run dry and flinched as his water gun cut off, prematurely. "[Stupid, adorable squirrel…]" He muttered to himself as Piplup's hydro pump hit him, full force, in the face. Thus, causing him to fly out of the arena and slam into Torterra's back tree, said tortoise continuing to nap, undeterred.
Pikachu, who had been admiring how good his girlfriend looked, suddenly took notice and nodded. He then moved to the centre of the battle ring and took one of Piplup's flippers and held it up. "[Buizel has fallen out of the ring, meaning Piplup wins by ring out!]"
The crowd gave Piplup a cheer, said penguin holding his head up proudly to soak it all in, before they dispersed. Bulbasaur coming in to prepare the ring for whoever was going to use it next.
Buizel groaned, having heard the declaration, and crawled off Torterra's back. Said pokémon didn't even notice the weasel, only snorting and shuffling a little.
"[Hey Tails, you okay?]" He heard a slightly squeaky but recognisable voice say, a pair of white feet appearing in front on him. He looked up into the concerned, but happy eyes of his distraction.
"[Yeah…Peachy…]" He groaned back, getting back onto his feet, albeit wobbling slightly at the effort.
Pachirisu blinked, before tiling her head to the side. "[You sure? You look like you're in a lot of pain,]" She replied, looking over the scuff marks and the noticeable bruise growing on his chest.
He folded his arms and turned to the side, frowning with a small blush on his face. "[I'm fine, Peppy, thank you,]" He answered, adamantly.
Pachirisu blinked, before smiling, happily. "[Well okay! See you later!]" She said, running towards Piplup to congratulate him on the win.
Buizel grumbled to himself, turning to go train in the forest, hoping to challenge Piplup to a rematch, without a certain squirrel standing in the crowd, before he heard a chuckle.
He turned and found Glaceon grinning down at him from on top of Torterra. "[So…sure you don't have a crush…?]" She asked, tilting her head to side. "[…Tails?]"
"[I don't know what you're talking about,]" Buizel grunted, ignoring the ice-type as he marched towards the forest. Glaceon giggled and jumped down from Torterra to follow the weasel.
"[Oh c'mon, I think it's cute.]"
"[There's nothing to find cute because I don't have a crush!]" Buizel shot back, glaring at her. "[Now go away and leave me alone!]"
"[Not gonna congratulate Piplup on the win?]" She asked, shaking her head disapprovingly. "[Wow, what a sore loser.]"
"[I'm not a sore loser, he's a bad winner!]" He answered, already predicting that Piplup was going to rub his face in it, especially after what he had said to the penguin to instigate the battle. "[Besides, the only reason you want me to go over there is because Pachirisu is over there!]"
"[Pachirisu?]" Glaceon grinned. "[I thought her name was Peppy?]"
Buizel blushed, having been caught using the squirrel's nickname among the group. "[Slip of the tongue.]"
"[Oh hoho, thinking of her tongue now, are we?]" Glaceon pressed, bouncing her eyebrows up and down.
Buizel blushed red and pushed the eeveelution over. "[No! Now you're just putting words in my mouth!]"
Glaceon just grinned and opened her mouth to give another retort, before Buizel realized what was going to happen and made a beeline for Piplup and the group. "[You know what, I should congratulate Piplup, he's gotten tougher and he's not with you.]"
"[Aw, you know you love me-]" Glaceon grinned, before she winked and added. "[-Though not as much as you love Pachirisu!]"
Buizel's only response was to walk faster.
Once Buizel got to the group, he held a paw out for Piplup, his own head held down. "[Congrats Piplup.]"
"[Thanks, Buizel, you take it back now?]" Piplup grinned, accepting the paw to shake. The weasel sighed and nodded, causing the penguin to puff out his chest, proudly. "[Good, because I'm an awesome battler! And don't you forget it!]"
The rest of the group, consisting of Buneary, Pikachu and Pachirisu, sweat-dropped at the statement, but decided to let him have his moment. "[So, what were you and Glaceon talking about, Tails?]"
Buizel blushed and turned away from the squirrel, folding his arms. "[Nothing important, just seeing if I was okay.]"
"[Aw, that was nice of her! Maybe I should come up with a nickname for her! Frost, icy, snow-cap…nah, those kind of suck… I'll think about it!]" Pachirisu trailed off, before remembering something and rushing off. "[Oh yeah, I just remembered that I promised I'd help Marill with something, see ya guys!]"
"[Whose Marill?]" Piplup asked, suddenly curious, but looking a little put off.
"[She's Tracey's marill… But don't worry Pip, if you don't want to see her, you don't have to,]" Pikachu explained, Buneary looking a little sympathetic towards her team-mate.
Piplup shook it off and held his head up high. "[Pfft, nah! I'm so over that other marill! Who cares?! Not me!]"
Pikachu and Buneary both looked at each-other in concern while Buizel folded his arms, just as concerned but too proud to admit it.
"[Sounds like it bothers you a little, buddy,]" Buizel ended up saying, causing Piplup to give him the stink eye, and turn to leave, heading towards Togekiss and Dawn's Quilava.
"[Don't know what you're talking about, later!]"
The three watched him leave, really concerned but, at the same time, not wanting to pry. "[Um…well, Cotton-tail, I did say I'd show you around,]" Pikachu smiled at his girlfriend, offering her his paw, which she grabbed happily.
Buizel couldn't help but chuckle from beside them. "[Cotton-tail?]"
"[Oh, you can't talk,]" Buneary shot back, Pikachu blushing a little in embarrassment. "[Or should we remind ourselves who came up with Pachirisu's nickname?]" She grinned at him, almost as if daring him to continue the conversation.
Buizel frowned and blushed, deciding to ignore Pikachu's sudden chuckling. "[Just go on your date already!]"
"[Gladly!]" Buneary cheered, turning and leading Pikachu away, said mouse stumbling and trying to remind her that he was supposed to be showing her around.
Once they left, Buizel realized he was alone and grunted, going towards the forest, hoping not to be interrupted by Glaceon again.
"[Hey Pikablu!]" Pachirisu announced, skidding to a halt in front of Marill, who was playing with her adoptive son, Azurill.
She noticed the squirrel and waved her over. "[Hi Pachirisu,]" She said, turning to Azurill. "[Azurill, can you go play with Axew and Scraggy for now, mommy just needs to talk to Pachirisu for a little.]"
"[Okay mommy!]" Azurill cheered, jumping up onto his tail and bouncing towards the other two kids, who smiled and waved him over.
Once he was gone, Pachirisu grinned at her. "[Okay, so what did ya need, Pikablu? Did you need a poffin? Cause I could get one from Dawn for ya, but I might eat the pink ones! The pink ones are awesome-]"
"{A-actually…]" Marill interrupted, knowing that Pachirisu would probably keep going if she allowed her to. "[I…kind of…wanted to ask about…]" Marill mumbled at the end, meaning that the squirrel couldn't hear her.
"[Um…Sorry, couldn't quite catch that,]" She said, causing Marill to blush a little and bring her tail around to fiddle with.
"[Oh sorry…Um…I just w-wanted to ask…What's your friend Piplup like?]" She asked, causing Pachirisu to blink, confused.
"[Pecky's alright, why?]" She replied, her head tilting to the side. Marill blushed a little harder and look at the ground.
"[Well…It's just…I think he's…kind of cute…]"
"[Oh well, yeah, some people find the way he acts and the outfits he wears adorable!]" Pachirisu smiled, before raising an eyebrow. "[But what's that got to do with anything?]"
"[Oh…um…well it's just…I think…I well…he's really um…I might uh…]" Marill fumbled around, her face getting so red that she had to hide it behind her ball like tail.
Pachirisu blinked, noticing a couple of parallels between Marill and a certain rabbit she knows, and finally concluded: "[Oh! You have crush on Pecky, well why didn't you say so?!]"
"[Because it's embarrassing! I haven't even talked to him! I've only ever seen him in one magazine and at that Grand Festival but… Gah, he's just so cool!]" Marill said, her eyes sparkling, thinking about Piplup.
"[…Well, I don't know if I'd use the word 'cool' for Pecky. But why's it embarrassing?]"
"[I just…I don't know…Wouldn't he just call me a fan girl if I said I liked him? He doesn't even know me!]"
"[Well then, talk to him,]" Pachirisu answered, tilting her to the side again. "[Easy peas-y!]"
"[Yeah well…. Easier said than done! What would I even say?]" Marill asked, her ears flopping down.
"[Well… I hear hello is a good start,]" Pachirisu offered, smiling happily. "[Oh wait, is that why you were asking me about him?]"
"[Yeah… I wanted to know what he liked and, well, you are his team-mate and all…]"
"[I get'cha! Hm…]" The squirrel hummed to herself, giving it a little thought. "[He likes talking about himself a lot but…well, that probably won't help all too much. Oh, he likes clothes and contests and pretty things!]" Pachirisu blurted out, causing Marill to jump in surprise.
"[…Really?]" She asked, her eyes widening a little.
"[Yup! Though, uh… He may not admit to the 'pretty thing' thing at first. He likes to hold up a front of being a manly man!]" Pachirisu said, puffing out her chest and holding her chin up to mimic her team-mate's usual pose. "[So, don't open with pretty things. Try getting him to talk about his past contests or something and I'm sure it'll lead to something…hopefully. It's hard to tell with Pecky.]"
Marill nodded, eyes sparkling a little in excitement. "[Okay, great! I just have to get Misty to watch Azurill and I can go find him!]" She cheered, heading over towards the water-type gym leader.
"[Wait!]" Marill blinked and turned to the squirrel, head tilted to the side. "[Why did you ask me for advice?]"
"[Well, I figured you'd know how to talk to guys, since you're dating Buizel and all,]" Pachirisu's eyes widened and her flushed a little red at the thought.
"[W-what?! I'm not dating Tails!]" She cried, feeling the heat on her cheeks and using her tail to hide it. "[Why would you t-think that?!]"
Marill blinked and suddenly felt really bad. "[Oh uh… I'm sorry, it's just that Buizel usually doesn't talk so much and I saw that you get him to open up and…well I just thought…]" She rambled, before she hugged her tail to her chest. "[Oh, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have assumed, I'm sorry.]"
"[…It's okay,]" Pachirisu replied, suddenly at a loss for words, not even realising that Buizel did act differently around her.
"[I'm uh…I'm gonna go run up and down a tree now, good luck!]" She continued, not even waiting to hear a reply before rushing into the forest. Hoping to calm down a little and burn off the sudden, nervous, excited energy that built up.
Buizel, with his fist coated in ice, punched the bark of the tree in front of him, leaving an impressive dent in it.
He was in one of the clearings of the forest near the lab, training after his rather embarrassing loss to Piplup. But, at the same time, using it to clear any thoughts he had of a certain electric squirrel.
[Just get out of my head!] He thought, gritting his teeth in rage, his next punch actually freezing the tree about half way up the bark, coating it in a thick layer of ice.
"[Not bad,]" He heard and turned, finding Glaceon grinning at him teasingly, leaning against one of the trees opposite the frozen one. "[Though I bet I could've frozen it faster.]"
"[Go away!]" He grunted, moving to the next tree and started to punch that one instead.
"[Aw, what? Not happy to see me?]" She asked, tilting her head to give him a pseudo hurt look.
"[I'd rather Team Rocket suddenly turn up and lock me in a cage! At least then, I might be left alone!]" He shot back, giving up on the tree and turning to glare at her instead.
"[There's no shame in admitting you have a crush, Buizel,]" She reassured him, turning serious for a moment. "[Pachirisu's a nice girl… A little exhausting maybe, but friendly and cute enough.]"
"[Why don't you date her then?!]" Buizel grunted, folding his arms and narrowing his eyes at the ice-fox. "[Cause I don't have a crush! And certainly not on that annoying little poffin hoarder!]"
Glaceon's face suddenly turned much more serious, giving him a disapproving look. "[Hey now, no need to go and…]" She paused in her speech when she noticed something behind Buizel.
Buizel didn't notice, so decided to continue. "[Seriously, Pachirisu's loud, irritating, obnoxious, nose-y, childish…]" He finally took notice of Glaceon's face and blinked, before sighing. "[…and she's right behind me, isn't she?]"
He cringed, outwardly, when Glaceon nodded and turned to find the squirrel herself, standing stock still with a hurt look on her face.
His chest clenched painfully when he saw that, and clenched harder when he noticed that there were tears building up in her eyes. "[Pachirisu-]"
Before he could finish, she hiccupped and turned away, shooting out of the area at the relentless speed she was famous for. He would have run after her, but he knew that he'd never catch up, even if he wanted to.
He wiped his eyes when he felt his start to moisten, and then turned and found an angry looking Glaceon shaking her head at him. "[Well, jeez buddy! Being in denial is one thing, but that was straight out of line!]"
"[Um, excuse you?! You were poking me! I had to say something to get you to shut up!]" He yelled back, cringing as his chest clamped painfully again. "[Now, could you please go away! I have to find her and apologize!]"
He turned to leave before she could give an answer, shooting off in the direction Pachirisu did, hoping to explain himself before she starts to hate him…
…provided she hasn't started already.
"[-and he s-said I w-was ch-childish a-and annoying a-a-and…a-and…]" Pachirisu cried, tears running down her face, nuzzling her head into Buneary's arms, who was hugging the fragile girl comfortingly. Pikachu and Piplup sitting to the side.
The group of Pikachu, Piplup and Buneary were playing a game of eye-spy, Piplup having wandered over to the field of flowers that Pikachu and Buneary were resting in after the mouse had finished giving her the tour. That was when a white and blue lightning streak raced towards the rabbit and start babbling, sadly, about what had happened.
Buneary was incredibly concerned, cooing reassurances to the squirrel, Pikachu was also concerned and pretty upset with Buizel for the things he said...and Piplup.
"[…I'm gonna kill him!]" Piplup declared, his brow creased and his beak grinding in rage, standing up to go look for the weasel. "[I'm gonna take his floatation sack and shove it right down his throat!]"
Pikachu cringed at his friend's choice of words, grabbing the penguin's flipper before he could do just that. "[C-C'mon Pip, killing Buizel won't solve anything.]"
"[It'll solve the indescribable anger I'm feeling towards him right now!]" He answered, pulling Pikachu with him a little, startling the mouse, who dug in his heels to try and stop him going any further. Buneary would help, but she was busy trying to stop Pachirisu's tears.
"[…Well, as true as that is, it probably won't make Peppy feel any better,]" Pikachu reasoned, feeling his soles start to hurt a little with the friction on the soil as Piplup dragged him along.
Piplup turned his gaze towards his team mate and flinched at how upset she was and ultimately decided that cheering her up came first. And that, no, blood-shed probably would not help Pachirisu in the long run.
He sighed and folded his arms. "[Yeah, okay…I'm sorry, but…she's like my sister, you know?]"
Pachirisu sniffed, but smiled a little at Piplup's words, making her feel a little better. Buneary noticed this and gave her own smile. "[He's right, you know, you're our little sister and we'll help in any way we can,]" Buneary added, giving her one more reassuring squeeze, Piplup coming over to join the group hug.
Pachirisu's smile increased a little, looking up at her team-mates, the fur on her cheeks showing her river lines of tears, but that they had slowed down a lot. "[Th-thanks…You guys are the best…]"
Pikachu shuffled on the spot, feeling a little bit awkward since this was clearly a moment between team-mates. But couldn't stop his own smile growing at the sight of it. He remembers some of the times his own team shared moments like these. Like when Charizard needed help when he was frozen by that poliwrath. Or when Snivy had helped Pignite get stronger when he was just a tepig. Or even when Bulbasaur had his reservations about evolving and Ash had told him that he was okay to remain the way he was.
His thoughts were cut short when Pachirisu gave both her team mates one more, friendly nuzzle before releasing the hug. She had stopped crying, thankfully, but she was still clearly upset over what happened.
"[Are you feeling better, Peppy?]" Buneary asked, to which Pachirisu sniffed and rubbed her eyes.
"[A…a little,]" She replied.
Piplup put a flipper on her shoulder and smiled at her. "[Want us to go beat him up?]"
Pikachu groaned a little, giving the penguin a disapproving look. "[Piplup!]"
"[What?! We're not gonna kill him! We're just gonna nearly kill him!]"
"[Wait a minute, why am I being dragged into your murder scheme?!]" Buneary asked, incredulously.
"[The word nearly is doing a lot of work in my last sentence, you know?]" Piplup replied, putting his flippers on his hips. "[And your thunderbolt outta knock some manners into that cretin!]"
"[Oh no, I'm not being your accomplice here, mister! It was bad enough when you were trying to convince me to steal Dawn's hat yesterday!]"
"[I only wanted to borrow it!]" Piplup shot back, both their foreheads pressing against each-other as they argued, glaring at each other.
Pikachu and Pachirisu watched this for a little, before they sweat dropped at the sight, realising it probably wasn't going to stop any time soon.
Pikachu, seeing an opportunity though, sent a quick spark towards Pachirisu, which hit her in the cheek. [So, what happened again? I couldn't make out what you said through Piplup's seething.]
Pachirisu was a little surprised, but remembered that they could communicate via electricity, in private no less, and sent him a quick message.
[Well, after I talked with Pikablu-I mean Marill, I went for a run to burn off some energy. Then I saw Buizel training and decided to go talk to him for a bit, since he looked lonely. Then Glaceon came and started talking to him, so I decided to ease-drop a bit. I couldn't make out a few things, but Buizel suddenly got angry and started saying all these really mean things about me and…a-and…]
Pikachu panicked a bit, noticing Pachirisu's eyes starting to water again, so patted her shoulder in as comforting a motion as he could muster. [Hey now, it's okay…Maybe it's just a misunderstanding-]
[Or maybe that's what he actually thinks of me!] Pikachu flinched at the interruption, rubbing his cheek in slight pain at the sudden spark.
"[Peppy?! Peppy, where are you?!]" They heard in the distance, noticing Buizel coming out of the woods, now a little bit more panicked. Pachirisu gasped and hid behind Pikachu, shivering slightly.
Unfortunately, his calling had also attracted Piplup and Buneary's attention, and Piplup's eyes saw nothing but red. "[YOU!]"
Buizel blinked at the scream, before he cringed in pain as he was struck in the gut a very powerful drill peck, curtesy of a very angry Piplup. Thus, causing him to fall on the ground on his back, Piplup jumping on him to attack some more.
"[Piplup!]" Buneary cried out, bouncing towards the pair to try and separate them, Piplup smacking the weasel's face was his flippers at an alarming rate, said weasel trying his hardest to defend himself.
Pikachu turned and grabbed Pachirisu's tail before she could run away. "[Hold on, we need to straighten things out here.]"
"[B-but! I still need to wash my ears! My ears are just so dusty after my run!]" She cried out, struggling as he pulled her with him, towards Buizel. Who was currently trying to get Piplup off him, Buneary doing the same.
"[Don't make me do it, Piplup?!]" Buneary warned, but it fell on deaf ears as Piplup shot a hydro pump at his face.
"[How dare you make my sister cry, you jerk!]" Piplup growled, continuing the assault.
"[Alright, I warned you!]" Buneary yelled, bouncing back and charging up, before declaring: "[Thunderbolt!]" And struck Piplup with a powerful bolt of lightning…
...Unfortunately, the attack had also hit Buizel, causing both off them to let out a puff of smoke out of their mouths. Their fur had also gotten a lot darker, looking slightly charred, and Piplup fell to the side, twitching in pain.
Buneary sighed, noticing Pikachu dragging Pachirisu over, and grabbed Piplup, slinging him over her shoulder, and carried him out of the way. "[I did warn you Pecky.]"
"[I can't feel my anything…]" Piplup groaned.
Pikachu noticed Buneary doing this and felt a little bad. He had promised to spend the day with her, after all, but his conscience wouldn't let him do so, knowing that other pokémon were sad.
He was sure she understood, but she had waited months for this date and, right now, it consisted of: a tour of the ranch, playing eye-spy with Piplup and dealing with Pachirisu and Buizel's falling out.
It was enough to get on his nerves a little, thinking about how upset he would feel if something like that happened to him. He, after what felt like an hour but was more like thirty seconds, got to Buizel's side, still dragging Pachirisu by the tail.
Pachirisu had stopped struggling, opting to just sit on the ground, glumly. He sighed, knocking Buizel on the shoulder with his tail, getting a groan of pain from him. "[Ahhh…Buneary and Piplup hit like trucks…]"
"[Buizel, why were you saying nasty things about Pachirisu?]" Pikachu asked, folding his arms and giving him a disapproving frown.
Buizel had, slowly, sat up. Then, after he was in a comfortable sitting position, his shoulders slumped. "[I…I don't know…Glaceon was…No, I was being dumb…]" He turned and found Pachirisu sitting quietly and looking really down…
…though she was still wearing the cheerleading outfit, so it tugged at his heart strings even more. She was usually so happy and full of life and he was the reason she wasn't right now.
"[Pachirisu…]" He said, slowly reaching out to put a paw on her shoulder.
She looked down, avoiding his eyes. "[I'm really sorry, Peppy, I…I really didn't mean any of it…]"
Pikachu, noticing when he's not needed, rushed after Buneary to help her with Piplup. He just hoped that Pachirisu wouldn't run away.
She didn't and Buizel kept going. "[I was just really annoyed at the time…Not with you though, but…about other things…and G-Glaceon kept poking at me…and I just snapped…]"
She sniffed, finally looking up at him, but she wasn't smiling. "[Why would y-you i-insult m-me to stop her, Buizel? Do…do you hate me?]"
Buizel heart felt as if it had physically twisted, especially when he heard her snivel and sob, but, worst of all, when she referred to him as 'Buizel'. "[No! Of course, I don't hate you!]"
"[Then why?]" She asked, looking away from him again. Buizel cringed, but ultimately decided that he had to tell the truth. It may be embarrassing, but it was the only thing he could think of to do!
"[She…she thought that I had a crush on you…]" He explained, his face flushing a little. That seemed to get Pachirisu's attention and she looked up again, her own cheeks reddening a little. "[And she wouldn't leave me alone about it and… I thought if I said those things… th-that… I don't know… That she'd think I didn't…]" He stumbled, realizing how stupid it sounded when he said it out loud.
"[But…No, that doesn't make sense, nothing affects you like that,]" Pachirisu pointed out, her eyes narrowing a little. "[Torterra and Amibipom used to say you had a crush on Fluffy, but you just ignored it. Why wouldn't you just ignore Glaceon?]"
Buizel flinched, not expecting to be caught out this easily. [Guess…Guess I'll just have to come out and say it, then…]
"[Because…. Because she…was right…]" He sighed, causing Pachirisu's eyes to widen and her face to flush. "[I do have a crush on you…]"
"[What?]" Her paws coming up to her mouth, hoping to hide the red on her face.
Buizel's own snout was starting to burn with embarrassment, especially at having to repeat himself. "[I have a crush on you, Peppy…I…I have for quite a while now…]"
Pachirisu blinked, unable to really say anything as Buizel put his paws on her shoulders. "[I never meant to say those horrible things… I was just in denial… I'm so sorry, Peppy, I don't want… I don't want to lose you… I… I'll do anything. I'll get all of Dawn's pink poffins… Okay, that came out wrong but. Well, you get what I mean…]"
Pachirisu gulped a bit when she heard that, her chest feeling warm. She felt relieved when she heard that he didn't hate her… Quite the opposite, it seems by the look of him. He was still rambling and she couldn't help but crack a smile at how… cute it was.
She let out a shaky sigh and laid her right paw over his left one, aiming to get his attention.
She did and he looked at her, like a lost growlithe looking for food. She sighed and made her request.
"[Kiss me,]" Buizel's eyes widened and now, rather than his snout, his whole head seemed to go red.
"[W-what? Really?]" He asked, confused.
Her only response was to tilt her head up, close her eyes and purse her lips, waiting for him to make a move.
He gulped, his heart beating a mile a minute. He had imagined a couple of scenarios where he confessed his feelings for her, but none of them compared to this.
He gulped his nerves down, noting how frequent his gulping was getting, his own eyes closing and he leaned down to kiss her.
He soon found his lips in contact with something and hummed a bit, his heart exploding and his chest warming at the feeling.
"[Um…Tails?]" His mind felt at ease when he heard her refer to him as 'Tails' again, but was a bit confused since he was kissing her, thus she shouldn't be able to talk.
So, he opened his eyes and groaned, while Pachirisu giggled one of her own eyes clenched shut. "[That's my eye.]"
"[S-sorry…]" Buizel mumbled, embarrassed. Pachirisu looked at his face and just couldn't help but burst out laughing at how silly he looked, causing him to clench his eyes shut, mortified.
But honestly, his heart warmed at the sound of her happy laughter, knowing that she was back to normal and that she was happy again.
"[You want to try that again, Tails?]" She said after she calmed down a bit, causing him to stumble a little in surprise. "[Except, you know, look where you're going this time?]"
"[Um uh… I mean uh… I uh…]" He stumbled, noting that she was, once again, tilting her head up, pursing her lips and had her eyes closed.
So, not wanting to miss the opportunity for a retry, he slowly brought his face closer to hers, pursing his own lips.
He got about half way there, before Pachirisu's paws came up to his cheeks to guide him to her, finally connecting his lips to hers.
He sighed through his nose, his heart exploding in happiness… again, and felt his lips curl into a smile. He brought a paw up to cup her cheek, rubbing away the tear stains from before, and melted into it a little.
Pachirisu's own, erratic heart had sped up significantly and her tail started wagging from side to side, much like how a dog-like pokémon's would. Her paws lowered from his cheeks to his shoulders, gripping his floatation sac a little, to draw herself up a little to get better leverage.
After a little bit, they disconnected the kiss, Pachirisu nuzzling her head into his chest, while his paws wrapped around her to bring her into a hug, nuzzling his snout into the fur on top of her head, between her ears.
"[I…I think I like you too, Tails,]" She mumbled, before she yawned a little, having been a little emotionally exhausted today.
Buizel smiled a little wider, happy to know that his feelings were returned, wondering why he was so opposed to them before. He let out his own little yawn, having been very physically exhausted himself.
"[Awesome…]" Was the last thing he said, before he fell backwards and fell asleep, dragging Pachirisu with him, who had already been snoozing previously.
"[Wow, that long huh?]" Pikachu said as he and Buneary watched what had happened with Buizel and Pachirisu, not too far away.
Buneary nodded. "[Yup, Buizel's liked Pachirisu since the Wallace Cup! He told me himself... After a little prying,]" She admitted, rubbing the back of her head, sheepishly.
Pikachu looked confused, but then remembered how Pachirisu had tried to cheer the weasel up after the loss, then how much of a better mood he was in afterwards, came to mind. "[Okay, yeah. In hindsight, I could see that. But what about Peppy?]"
Buneary hummed, not too sure herself. "[You know, I don't know…]"
Piplup, who was still recovering from the powerful thunderbolt he received earlier, rolled his eyes. "[It was a recent thing. Like, maybe, a couple of days ago.]"
"[How'd you know?]" Buneary asked, folding her arms.
Piplup sat up, putting a flipper to his chest, proudly. "[Simple deduction! Every time we'd play a game, she'd invite Buizel and, if he refused, she'd spend time with him. They spend most of their time together and, mostly, because of the little twinkle in her eye when she spots him.]"
The two blinked at him, surprised that the penguin noticed all of this. In response, he folded his arms, frowning. "[What?! A big brother notices these things about his little sisters!]"
Buneary merely rolled her eyes, just blaming her excitement about Pikachu for not noticing these things. Pikachu, however, decided to change the subject. "[Hey, Pip? If you're that protective over Pachirisu and Buneary, how come you haven't given me the 'big brother' speech yet?]"
"[You kidding?]" Piplup asked, putting his flippers on his hips. "[I don't think you have a bad bone in your body, you'd never do what Buizel did.]"
Pikachu did smile a little at this, before Piplup continued. "[Besides, you're too much of a doormat to hurt Buneary in any way!]"
Pikachu sagged a little as Buneary jumped in front of him, glaring at Piplup. "[Hey, you take that back!]"
"[What?! It's not a bad thing, per say-]"
Pikachu sweat-dropped as his girlfriend and penguin friend started arguing again, and turned to smile at Buizel and Pachirisu, who were still asleep on the ground. I'm happy for you guys… Though I probably should warn you to steer clear of Piplup for a bit… He might still be a little mad at you, Buizel…
ML54: Well, I was going to make it a little angsty... Then I remembered I was awful at it so... One little romance trope is all you get! XD
Buneary: Eh, it ends at a weird place...
ML54: I know, I had no idea how to end the story and this was what I ended up with! Anyway, this was one-shot number three! Please review if you liked it and keep on keepin' on, people! :D