Pikachu had just finished his morning training match against Piplup. As he walked off of the makeshift arena he saw Buneary run up to him with her arms out "(wow, you were amazing out there!)" she said while latching onto him. Pikachu scratched the back of his neck and laughed awkwardly. Buneary nuzzled into his chest "(you're so cool!)" she said. Pikachu saw that Buizel and Pachirisu were taking the next match. He loved to watch and analyze battles so he forgot that Buneary was attached to his waist.
"Pachirisu is unable to battle, Buizel is the winner!" Brock said. Ash and Buizel celebrated while dawn consoled Pachirisu. Brock got everyone's attention "hey, why don't we take a break for lunch." he said. Everyone cheered and started walking over. Pikachu tried to do the same but was being held back by something. He looked back to see that Buneary was still holding on to him. "(uh..)" Pikachu started to say. Buneary released him and giggled "(sorry.)" she said. Pikachu smiled at her "(no problem. Now let's get some lunch.)" he said.
He caught up to everyone else and got a bowl of food from Brock. He took a seat in his usual spot and Buneary wasn't far behind. Buneary sat next to him and gave him a quick smile before nibbling on her pellets. After a few minutes of eating in silence Pikachu wanted to start up a conversation "(so, what did you think of Buizel's match?)" he said but was met with no reply. He glanced over to Buneary to see that she had a contemplative look on her face "(are you okay?)" he asked. Buneary jumped and blushed slightly "(oh, sorry what were we talking about?)". Pikachu was slightly concerned "(is something wrong?)" he asked. Buneary smiled warmly at him "(aww, thanks for worrying about me!)" she said as she stood up to bring her empty bowl to Brock. Pikachu decided to drop it for now.
The humans finished packing up their camp and all the Pokemon except Pikachu. Ash turned to Brock "hey, how far away is the next city anyway?" he asked. "we won't make it today, but we should get there tomorrow afternoon." he replied. Ash sighed "i wish we didn't have to walk everywhere." he said. Dawn giggled evilly "maybe if you weren't so lazy you would've won a pokemon league by now." she teased. Ash raised his fist at her "you have no room to talk, want me to remind you how your last contest went!" he argued. Pikachu tried to think of something to distract him from their argument. His mind went back to lunch and how strangely Buneary was acting. He really wanted to talk to her about it, but he couldn't now that she was in her Pokeball. He guessed that he'd have to wait until later.
Once the sun started going down everyone else was released for dinner. Pikachu got his food and waited for Buneary. After about a minute he started looking around for her. He spotted her by a bush alone, so Pikachu left his food to go talk to her. It seemed as if she hadn't noticed him yet so he tapped her on the shoulder. She yelped and jumped "(oh, hey Pikachu.)" she said as if nothing happened. Pikachu had a apologetic look on his face "(sorry, but why aren't you eating?)" he asked. She just blushed slightly "(I'm just not hungry, don't worry about it.)" she said.
Pikachu decided to get to the point "(i just wanted to know if something was wrong because you seemed off today.)" he said. Buneary immediately frowned and looked down "(um...is it okay if I talk to you about something...important?)" she asked. Pikachu nodded his head "(of course.)" he said. Buneary started mumbling under her breath "(i promised myself I would do this.)" she mumbled. She gathered as much courage as she could "(i...have a crush on you.)" she announced. Pikachu's mind broke. He had no idea she had a crush on him. Sure she was nice to him, gave him complements and hugged a lot but that couldn't be flirting could it. Pikachu was about to reply but Buneary interrupted him "(you never picked up on my flirting so I decided to put it all on the table today.)" she said shyly. Pikachu still couldn't respond, his brain was starting to hurt. Since he wasn't responding Buneary continued "(i just want to know...d-do you want to try d...dating?)" she asked. Pikachu's heart was racing, how was he expected to process all this information and make a choice like that. He started talking without thinking "(no-I mean not no-i mean I have training and battles to think about- I mean I can't ri-well I mean.)" he hung his head in shame "(i don't know how I feel.)" he said. She just nodded at him "(okay.)" she said. He looked up at her expecting her to be sad but she seemed very neutral "(a-are you mad?)" he asked. Bunaery shook her head "(no I'm not mad, or sad. I'm just done.)" she said. She seemed so indifferent and somehow that hurt more than if she were mad or sad "(what do you mean...done?)" he asked nervously. "(it means I'm done chasing you, I'll stop flirting with you and we can stay friends.)" she said. Pikachu was speechless he didn't know how to react, he didn't even know if he wanted her to stop or not. Buneary smiled at him "(I'm going to see what Piplup is up to. See ya later.)" she said as she walked away. Even though she said she wasn't mad or sad, Pikachu felt like he messed up badly.