Arc III: The Milky Way

Chapter 7: Maids, Aprons and Milk


"Oh, cool, we get to wear one, too?" Dawn asked excitedly, holding up a frilly maid outfit. It contrasted oddly against the brown hues of the barn-like café around her, but was otherwise quite pretty.

"Yup!" Autumn, their friend of the day and an employee of the café they were in, replied. "If you wanna help out at our café, you've gotta look the part, y'know!"

Ash stared at the maid outfit in his hands with wide, horrified eyes. "Oh, man, you've gotta be kiddin' me!" he whined.

"Nope!" the brunette responded.

He slumped his head. "Aww…"

Sitting on Ash's shoulder, Pikachu couldn't help but laugh at him. He was so glad he had nothing to do with this. Well, aside from helping, of course, but he wouldn't need any clothes, being a pokémon and all.

Either way, out of all the days he'd spent in Sinnoh so far, this was already set to be one of the more… interesting ones, he could already tell. Even after the one from over a week ago, involving him sleeping next to Buneary and Aipom - well, Ambipom, now.

Thinking of Aipo- er, Ambipom, he began to remember the odd feelings that had plagued him about her earlier in the week. He'd already found himself unused to the idea of her being Dawn's pokémon instead of Ash's… but now, she was, like, slightly more than double his height. She'd certainly come a long way since Pikachu had met her in Kanto. Something that, sadly, couldn't also be said for her maturity. She seemed to be getting more and more tease-happy as time went on. Not that anyone was surprised at all…

"Don't you have a butler outfit I could wear, or something?" Ash asked, still grimacing at the maid outfit he was carrying.

"Ash, it's called a maid café for a reason, y'know," Dawn explained.

Spring, the brown-haired sister of Autumn, looked apologetic. "Yeah. We don't have any other uniforms, I'm afraid…" she said.

Ash looked dejected. "W-Well… darn."

"No need to worry, Ash," Dawn reassured. "If you don't help out, then you won't have to wear one!"

Hearing a gasp escape Ash's throat, Pikachu quickly hopped off his trainer's shoulder. He knew Ash well enough to know what was coming next.

"Not help out!?" Ash wailed right on cue. "Never mind, I'll wear it!" Still holding the maid outfit, he dashed into a separate room while tearing off his jacket. He threw it in a random direction, accidentally hitting Piplup with it in the process, though not seeming to notice.

As everyone either amusedly or worriedly glanced in Ash's direction, the mouse shook his head exasperatedly. If he had to, Ash would seriously jump off a plane in order to help out a stranger.

… Actually, that wasn't far from what he usually did, already. Much as he loved him, Pikachu really had to worry about the guy, sometimes…

Autumn's purple-haired sister, Summer, was the first to break off the awkward silence. "Well… in any case, I guess we'd better get the rest of you geared up."

Dawn tilted her head as she picked up an irritated Piplup. "Huh? The rest of us? D'you mean Brock?"

"Nope. He'll be too busy helping Autumn bond with her miltank, Ilta, for that. Once he… recovers from his croagunk's punch, anyway." She inclined her head towards the doorway the frog had dragged the pokémon breeder through mere moments ago.

Dawn stared at her in confusion. "Huh? Then what do you…?" She clicked her fingers, seemingly catching onto something. "Oh, right, I get'cha! Do you mean…?"

Summer beamed. "Haha, yup! After all, it's just like Autumn said…" She collected some miniature maid outfits from a nearby table and held them up, "… everyone's gotta look the part!"

Pikachu tilted his head. What in the world were they even talking about?

… His eyes went wide. Oh, dear legends, no! Anything but...!


Pikachu's face felt like it was on fire. Why? Why did he have to go through this again? Had Annabelle tracked him down and sentenced him to this horrible fate, or something? He was starting to flipping wonder.

"D'aww, it looks great on you, little guy!" Autumn praised, looking at Pikachu.

Flinching, he glanced to the side to stare into a nearby mirror. Seeing the frilly maid outfit he was wearing, he grimaced heavily. Ugh, yeah, if he were a girl, then maybe…

... Well… alright. He… couldn't deny that he looked a… little good in it, b-but still…!

Ash laughed at him, despite looking equally as ridiculous in his own maid outfit. "Hey, y'know what? That actually really suits ya, buddy!" he said, holding a metal tray to his chest.

Making a noise of displeasure at the teasing, Pikachu used the apron on his front to cover his burning face. "[Oh, quiet, you…]" he muttered.

Turtwig, who was wearing just the apron and frilly head lace of the outfit, walked over to the mouse's side. "[Eheh, don't worry, man. I feel ya,]" he said, a blush of his own forming.

"[Ughh, I'm gonna get made fun of for this, aren't I?]"

"[C'mon, man. Just act natural, and you'll be alright.]"

Pikachu took a deep breath. "[… H-Here's hoping.]"

Spring went over to stand beside the door of the room Dawn was changing in. "You and your pokémon almost finished in there?" she asked.

"Yup! We're coming out now!" the coordinator's voice responded. Soon after, she and all of her pokémon poured out of the room and filed into position.

Following Turtwig's advice, Pikachu had to try his hardest to repress his shudders. Upon spying Piplup rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, however, the mouse couldn't stop himself from doing the same. Dang it, awkwardness was contagious…

The rest of the team seemed happy enough to be wearing their outfits, though. Most of them were smiling brightly, including Dawn, who was pulling off a pretty pose.

The most eager of them all, however, was Buneary, who was dancing about excitedly. "[Heee~! A mirror! Where's a mirror!? I gotta see how I look in this!]" she exclaimed gleefully.

Ambipom pointed towards the mirror. "[Over there, next to those two pretty girls!]" she replied before giggling.

… Nope, Pikachu had failed. There was the shuddering he'd come to know and hate…

Turtwig groaned before moving elsewhere, head slumped. Not that the mouse blamed him.

Before he could consider following him, he noticed Buneary glancing over in his general direction.

"[Ooh, okay then- … Huh?]" she started, stopping as she spotted him, eyes going wider.

He suddenly felt on edge. Oh no, was she going to get in on the teasing, too?

She hopped over and stopped in front of him, eyeing him up and down with her paws to her mouth.

"[Yeah, yeah… l-looks ridiculous, right?]" he asked, fiddling with his fingers.

"[Oooh, not in a million years! You look… so…]" Her paws flew to her chin with a look of admiration in her eyes, "[… adorableeee~!]"

He was really taken aback by that comment. "[Uh… for reals?]"

"[For reals! You pull off the look so freakin' well!]"

Huh… he wasn't used to hearing such sincere compliments when it came to him wearing this sort of girly stuff. Heck, her comment even felt… ego-boosting, despite everything.

Feeling bashful for an entirely different reason now, he turned his gaze away as his face warmed. "[O-Oh, well… thanks, Bun.]"

"[Man, I hope I look half as good as you,]" she said, paws to her cheeks.

"[Eheh, well, why not look for yourself?]" he responded, turning his gaze towards the mirror.

When her eyes drifted towards it, she gave a loud gasp. Looking herself over, she trembled in excitement. "[I look so darliiing~!]"

Pikachu let a tiny chuckle escape his lips at the eccentric display. Still, he couldn't deny it; she did look pretty good in a maid outfit.

… He was glad his friends couldn't read his mind. He knew for a fact that they'd take a comment like that the wrong way entirely. Regardless, he nodded and smiled. "[Y-Yeah. Not bad at all, Bun,]" he praised.

"[Hee, thanks~]" she replied, removing her paws from her beaming face. As she did so, Pikachu could have almost sworn he saw a big blush on her. Gosh, she must have really liked what she'd seen.

Piplup, who was blushing madly himself, drew closer. "[Er… sh-she d-doesn't… look as good as I do in… th-th-this, though,]" he mumbled.

Pachirisu, who didn't seem to mind wearing the outfit, came over. "[That implies you think you look the best in girly clothes like these!]" he noted, amused.

The penguin jolted back in shock. "[What!? N-No it doesn't, you jerk!]" He put his flippers to his hips and stuck his beak up high. "[I'm just saying that I'm so good, I can even make clothes like this look manly!]"

"[I don't think that's what everyone else is thinking~]" the squirrel replied, giggling.

Piplup started to dance flusteredly, which only served to make him look even more flamboyant. "[Ughhh, q-q-quiet, you!]"

Pikachu and the others chuckled. How typical.

After their merriment ended, Buneary moved closer to the mouse to mutter something to him. "[… He looks nowhere near as manly as you do in yours, though…!]"

He blinked. "[… Really?]"

"[Ahaha, better believe it~]" she replied, winking.

"[Oh… well, th-thanks,]" he replied, his confidence soaring. Dang, she was good at doing that…

Ash looked over at everyone crowding near the mirror. "Huh. I'm surprised everyone over here's taking this so well," he said, scratching the top of his lace-laden head.

"Of course they are," Dawn replied happily. "They all suit their little uniforms so wonderfully~"

He shrugged. "Er… guess so, Dawn."

Hearing that, Pikachu glanced at himself in the mirror again, smiling softly as he did. Things could've been worse, he supposed. At least he wasn't being forced to wear a flashy pink dress, or anything along those lines. Stuff like that would've started giving him unpleasant flashbacks…

Feeling strangely invigorated, Pikachu nodded to himself. Yeah, he could do this! He just had to believe in the heart of his maid skills!

Suddenly, a ringing noise could be heard. Turning to face it, Pikachu saw the café's front door open. Two boys of varying sizes entered the building shortly after. "We're baaaack~" they sang.

Ash turned towards Pikachu and the others. "Alright, Pikachu, Turtwig... you guys ready?" he asked.

Turtwig, who'd gotten into position nearby, shrugged. "[Ready as I'll ever be…]"

Pikachu pumped a fist. "[Yeah, let's do it!]"

"Awesome!" Ash exclaimed, throwing some drinks onto his tray and running towards the customers. "Then let's show 'em some real service!"

Pikachu and Turtwig rushed behind him, girly appearances be darned. If they were gonna be maids, they were gonna be some frigging good maids!

"[Welcome to the café~!]" Pikachu shouted enthusiastically. "[Please enjoy our lovely milk!]"

"[C-Can we take your coats?]" Turtwig forced out, squinting his eyes shut.

"Welcome home, masters!" Ash yelled more than a little too eagerly. "We'll give you a service you'll never forget!"

Before the trio could even reach them, the customers both screamed and ran away, slamming the door shut as they left.

With a panicked expression, Ash opened the door and rushed after them. "Hey, wait a minute! We haven't served ya yet…!"

Pikachu and Turtwig simply stood in front of the door. Huh, how rude. Pikachu thought the three of them had done such a great job, too. Well, neither of the customers were wearing coats, but still.

… Wait. What the heck had he just done!? Along with Turtwig, he slowly turned to face all the others. As he did, he saw a whole manner of different expressions. They ranged from perturbance, to great amusement, to, in Buneary's case at least, admiration.

Pikachu paused for a long time. Eventually, as the blood in his cheeks felt like it was about to boil, he pulled his apron up to cover his face again. Especially after hearing a wolf whistle from someone in the room. Nope. His confidence boost was now deader than a ghost-type. Especially as Ash returned with the customers in tow, who both looked incredibly awkward.

"[Ughhh, never again…!]" Turtwig mumbled next to him.

"[… Yeah…]" Pikachu replied. "[N-Not in a million years…]"

"Alright, everyone!" Summer proclaimed suddenly. "It won't be long until they start pouring in, so let's get to work!"

Everyone cheered and scattered away, ready to help out. Pikachu and Turtwig, however, just stood where they were, still reeling from the embarrassment.

"[So much for that…]" the tortoise said, sighing.

"[Yeah…]" Pikachu replied, steeling himself.

Turtwig slowly wandered away in a direction. "[Well, maybe we'll get used to it.]"

Exhaling through his nose, Pikachu nodded, heading away into the direction of the café's counter. Turtwig was right. At least he wouldn't be yelling girly stuff at the top of his lungs, again. Besides, it seemed fairly quiet today, so it wasn't like there would be much in the way of mishaps. He could only hope, anyway.


"[Pikachu, three regulars for table six!]" Chimchar yelled out from atop the counter, waving him over. She was barely audible over all the noise in the café.

With a pant, Pikachu ran over on all fours, balancing a tray on his tail. "[Coming!]" he called back. He weaved in-between the dozens of patrons who were walking about the busy café. He almost dropped the tray after nearly bumping into Turtwig, who was running in the opposite direction, a tray of chocolate milk balanced on his shell. Shouting out a response to Turtwig's apology, the mouse scrambled to keep his tray steady. Recovering his balance, he breathed a sigh of relief and shot off again.

Once he got close enough to Chimchar, the monkey dropped a few glasses of milk towards him. Catching them with his tray, he thanked her and ran in table six's direction. He had to admit, he was really grateful Chimchar and Staravia had come out of their pokéballs to give them a hand. It would've been nice if Buizel had come out to help with this humongous rush hour, too… but that was a bit of a tall order for him, so whatever.

Upon reaching table six, he picked the tray up with his paws and threw it directly upwards. Jumping onto the table, he caught it with his tail, ensuring none of the glasses spilled any milk. With a breath, he bowed towards the three boys who were seated as they stared at him in awe. "[Thank you for waiting, masters! Enjoy your milk!]" he said, carefully putting their drinks in front of them.

"Awww, it's so cute!" one of the boys cooed, reaching forwards to stroke him on the head.

Smiling with only a little exasperation, he made a happy noise as he was rubbed behind the ear. As much as he enjoyed his little 'tip', however, he couldn't stay. He could see a table with empty glasses! Readjusting the lace on his head and taking his tray, he jumped to the ground and ran over to that table.

Once he made it there, after much slaloming around the legs of the customers, he jumped onto the table. While he put the empty glasses on his tray, a woman seated at the table made a delighted noise. "D'awww, she's such a hard little worker~" she cooed, hands to her cheeks.

Hiding his tail and trying his hardest not to groan, he forced a smile. "[Hee, thank you…!]" He balanced the glass-filled tray on his tail while hopping off the table and dashed towards the counter. Running along, he briefly saw Ash at the other end of the café. He seemed to be attempting to carry a huge milk can to some table on his tray, which seemed tiny in comparison. Unsurprisingly, the poor trainer looked about ready to faint. It made Pikachu all the happier that he hadn't been asked to make that delivery.

Upon reaching the counter, he hopped up onto it. "[Got some glasses!]" he shouted, taking them off his tray and putting them down.

Ambipom ran over. "[Hah… thanks, lady maid!]" she joked, wiping some sweat off her face with her paws. She picked the glasses up with the hands on the ends of her two tails at the same time.

He pulled a face . "[H-Hey… I'm not ladylike at all! I'm just dedicated to the business!]"

She giggled. "[You keep telling yourself that, laaaady!]" she replied, running towards the sink with the glasses in tow.

Grumbling, he turned away, deciding to try and ignore her. Doing so, he got a good view of the entire café. Chaotic didn't even begin to cover things. All the tables were stuffed full of customers. Some pokémon, most humans. Many of them had taken to walking about while drinking their milk, making maneuvering the café floor a problem. Still, the gang were trying their hardest to keep up.

Suddenly, Pachirisu ran across the long table directly in front of the counter. Balanced on top of the squirrel's head was a tray, filled with banana milk and pecha milk. Soon, Pachirisu stopped in front of some customers, put the tray down and bowed. "[Blah, blah, milk, blah, blah!]" Pachirisu chimed.

"Hey, dude, she's, like, saying something cutesy to ya!" the boy in a hat sitting nearby said.

"Awww, you're welcome, cutey!" a boy without a hat sitting next to him said, stroking Pachirisu on the head.

The electric-type made a happy noise while putting the glasses on the table. One that sounded suspiciously like holding back laughter. "[Cheese bagels!]"

"Dude, so cute!" the hatted boy cooed.

Shoving the tray back into place, squashing ears in the process, Pachirisu ran over to another group of patrons nearby before carefully bowing towards them. "[Something, something, gimmie the goods!]" the squirrel said, pointing at some empty glasses.

"Oh, you want my glass?" a female customer asked. As Pachirisu nodded, the woman beamed. "Well, how can I say no when you've asked so nicely? Here you go!" She, along with the other nearby customers, placed an empty glass onto the squirrel's tray.

"[Cranberry waffle irooons~]" Pachirisu responded, running over to the counter.

Pikachu stared on in disbelief. When the squirrel ran past, he called out. "[Hey, hey, hey, Pachirisu!]" he shouted.

Pachirisu stopped and looked up at him. "[Hey, Mascot Man! What's up?]"

Pikachu pointed at the customers from before, who were now leaving their seats. "[The heck was that?]" he asked.

The squirrel raised an eyebrow. "[What? Don't worry, I can balance 'em.]"

"[No, not the tray, that was great! I'm talking about you speaking nonsense to the customers.]"

Pachirisu's lips made on 'o' shape. "[Right. Well, I don't see the problem! They don't have a clue what I'm saying, and it saves me from wasting time thinking up pleasantries!]"

"[B-But… you…]" Pikachu sighed while rubbing the bridge of his nose. "[Actually, fine, whatever works. Just… watch out for pokémon customers, alright? They'll understand you.]"

The squirrel stared at him blankly. "[… Oh, y'know what? That might explain why that shinx was looking at me all funny, earlier. Whoopsie.]"

Pikachu cringed. "[Pachirisu…]" He sighed before smiling faintly. "[Well, now you know, I guess. Just try and be careful in the future, alright?]"

Pachirisu smiled sheepishly. "[Eheh, right you are, M-M!]" The squirrel turned towards Ambipom's direction and shot off, still equipped with the tray and the empty glasses.

Exhaling through his nose, Pikachu began to scan the café for something else to do. Noticing Chimchar and Piplup talking about something at the other end of the counter, the mouse dashed over, still balancing his tray on his tail. As he got close enough, he could hear their conversation.

"[… So you're absolutely sure you've got it, this time?]" Chimchar asked.

"[Yeah, yeah!]" Piplup retorted, irritably putting different milk glasses on his tray. "[It'll be easy! Because being a maid is easy! Easy as-]" He screeched as the glass in his flippers almost slipped out of his grip. Grabbing it and holding it to his apron, he took a breath. "[… Easy as one, two, three!]" he proclaimed, frowning determinedly.

A worried frown crossed the monkey's face, as well as Pikachu's as he stopped in front of them.

"[… Uh huh,]" Chimchar replied, fiddling with the lace on her head. "[Well, whenever it doesn't crash to the ground constantly or go to the wrong customer… or get drunken by the pokémon who's supposed to be serving it, then yeah. Easy.]"

Pikachu's eyes widened. "[Huh!? Who keeps doing all of that!?]" he asked, putting his tray down to the side.

She sighed, eyes rolling in Piplup's direction. "[I'll give you one good gue-]"

"[No, nope, nobody! Nobody does that!]" the penguin interjected, face red. "[J-Just lemmie do my flipping job, and stuff.]"

"[Alright… well, you only have to go over there, I suppose,]" she said, pointing at a nearby group of customers. "[It'd be hard to screw that up, surely.]"

"[Yes. Especially for me!]" he retorted, picking up his tray of milk glasses and carefully moving over to the customers.

Pikachu smiled in his direction. "[I believe in you, pal!]" he cheered.

Piplup paused, still turned away. Shortly after, he huffed. "[Me too!]" he said, proudly. He briefly paused again. "[… Um, thanks.]" He continued on his short journey.

While the penguin got to work on walking down the long table, allowing the customers to pick drinks off his tray, Chimchar sighed again. "[Good lord…]" she muttered, straightening her maid apron.

"[Hey, at least he's trying his best, Xerneas bless him,]" Pikachu replied.

She huffed amusedly. "[You're just biased. He's a flipping headache, seriously.]"

He chuckled. "[I've seen worse.]"

She grinned. "[A scary thought.]" She tilted her head. "[Also, what's a… whatever you said?]"

"[… Er, some foreign legendary,]" he replied, shrugging innocently. "[Anyway, got any jobs for me to do? I'm sure there's plenty!]"

Her head jolted back. "[Oh, yeah, right! Of course!]" She turned around to face some glasses of brown-tinted milk. "[There's a diet milk, whatever that means, and some chai milks here for table... um…]" She stopped dead in her tracks. "[… Wait, where's the third one?]" She paused again. "[And why is there a vanilla one… here… Oh no.]"

Some loud coughing and hacking erupted from the table next to them. Snapping to attention, Pikachu saw one of the patrons, a sneasel, dramatically clutching at his throat.

"[Oh god, the heck is this!?]" the sneasel exclaimed. "[It's so…]" An especially harsh cough escaped his lips, "[… spicyyyy! Agh!]"

"[Oh, s-sorry, madam!]" Piplup exclaimed flusterdly. "[I-I… Someone gave me the wrong milk! Yeah!]"

The sneasel's head sank to the table. "[… I'm a frigging guy…]" he wheezed.

The penguin's eyes widened. "[O-Oh, well… I knew that!]" He rapidly shook his head. "[I-I mean, I'm sorry, master…. but I knew that!]"

Chimchar slapped a paw to her face. "[… I swear, we'd better be getting paid for this.]"

Some sweat went down the side of Pikachu's head. "[Somehow, I doubt it…]"

Sighing for what seemed like the thousandth time that day, Chimchar shrugged exaggeratedly. "[Alright, I'm gonna go and try to fix things. Go get another chai milk from Staravia, and send it off to table one with the other milks, please. Won't ya?]"

He nodded energetically. "[On it!]" He picked up his tray with his tail, put the milk glasses on it and dashed to the other end of the counter. As he reached it, he flagged down Staravia, who was perched on a shelf. "[Hey, Staravia! I need some of that chai stuff!]"

"[Okay!]" the gray bird called back, flapping his wings and lifting off into the air. With surprising grace, despite his apron dangling beneath him, he flew over to the glasses and pulled one off with his talons. Leaving it on the side of the counter, he flew higher. Flapping his wings harshly, he whipped up a large gust of wind towards a shelf of flavoring packets. After rustling about, one came loose and rode on the wind to fly towards him.

When Staravia grabbed it, Pikachu applauded him, along with some of the patrons. "[Not baaad! Been practicing, much?]" he asked.

The flying-type grinned, throwing the flavor packet down towards him. "[Yup! Sure helps speed things along.]" He looked off in a different direction while pouting. "[… Still wish Ash would notice my efforts more often, though.]"

Tilting his head, Pikachu looked in the same direction. He saw Ash looking distracted by an octillery, who was angrily waving a glass of frothy milk around while complaining at him. Part of Pikachu hoped it wasn't as aggressive as the one he'd met once, at a certain lake…

When Ash was sprayed in the face with ink, Pikachu grimaced and looked back at Staravia. "[Er… maybe he will once he's finished being abused,]" he said.

Staravia exhaled slowly. "[Maybe…]" His eyes widened as he saw something further down the counter. "[Anyway, looks like Turtwig wants me for something. Later, Pikachu!]" He flew away in the direction of the tortoise, who was waving him over.

"[Later!]" Pikachu called back with a wave. Placing the tray of milks down, he grabbed a milk faucet and sprayed his empty glass full of the white stuff. Tearing open the packet of chai spices, he poured it in and began to stir frantically with a nearby spoon. He had to stir for ten seconds or more, so he had a brief moment to chill.

Looking around, he was finally aware of the dozens of plates lining the shelves. Huh… why were those there? He thought this was a milk bar, and he hadn't seen any food being served in the last twenty or so minutes they'd worked here. Then again, there were cakes inside some of the display windows lining the counter… He wondered if they were made of milk, too.

Speaking of milk… he also wondered if miltank minded getting milked. Did it feel unpleasant? If nothing else, it must have been embarrassing having their… um… udders on display at all times…

Feeling another blush coming on, he shook his head and took the spoon out of the now brown-tinted drink. Tossing the spoon to one side, he placed the glass onto the tray and picked the whole thing up with his tail. Jumping to the floor, he ran over to table one, dodging around the many pairs of legs in his way.

After running past Summer, who was busy taking orders, he suddenly heard some familiar chuckling. Looking to see what was going on, his eyes widened. "[Huh? Buizel?]" he exclaimed.

"[Looking pretty graceful, there, kid,]" the orange weasel teased, leaning against a table and smirking with his arms crossed. "[It's almost like you were born to be a maid, or something.]"

Pikachu frowned in embarrassment. "[W-What do you mean by that?]"

Buizel snickered lightly. "[Let's just say that I can see why Ambipom calls ya girly, now.]"

Pikachu's face began to reach an annoyingly high temperature again. "[Oh, come on! Even you're teasing me, now?]"

Smirk growing, Buizel shrugged. "[Ehh, y'know what? It seems fun, so how could I resist?]"

A groan escaped Pikachu's lips. Well, at least the guy was acting less serious than before, now. Even if he had joined the dark side. "[Yeah, well… someone's gotta play the part to keep the customers happy, so nyeh!]" He almost stuck his tongue out, but decided against it.

"[Heh. Something tells me that's not the only reason you're-]"

"Awesome, Buizel, you decided to help us out, after all!" Ash said, appearing next to him out of nowhere. Noticeably, his face was stained black.

Buizel's eyes widened. "[… Wait, wha-]"

"Good job I decided to carry a bunch of spares, after all!" Ash interrupted, pulling an extra maid costume out of his apron. "Here ya go, buddy!"

A panicked look overcame the weasel. "[N-No, wait, I'm not-]"

Before he could say another word, Ash slung the outfit over him, transforming him into a fellow maid.

Pikachu burst out into laughter at the sight of the flabbergasted weasel. "[Now who's pretty graceful?]"

"Ahehehe! Looking good, Buizel!" Ash praised.

"[… Shut up, both of you,]" Buizel muttered, grumpily pushing the lace on his head back into position.

While Ash left to do some other job, Pikachu grinned and put the tray in front of Buizel. "[Guess I'd better get you started with something to keep you on your toes!]" He pointed at the table near the entrance. "[This one's for table one over there.]"

Face reddening, the water-type picked the tray up. "[Alright, w-whatever.]" He made his way over, keeping his head down the entire time.

Pikachu watched him for a while. Eventually, he caught sight of Dawn out of the corner of his eye. Looking to see what she was up to, he jumped. Good lord, there were a lot of people hanging around the entrance! He saw mostly humans, who were being greeted by Dawn and Spring, but a bunch of pokémon were also gathering nearby. Noticeably, Buneary was in the middle of them, looking somewhat overwhelmed.

Seeing the distressed look on her face, he felt sorry for her. She was the sole pokémon maid tackling the greeting job. Something the humans couldn't help her with, either. Pokémon customers preferred pokémon maids, for obvious reasons. With that in mind, the mouse ran over.

As he came closer, he heard Buneary speaking to the pokémon around her. "[Welcome home, master!]" she said with a bow to one pokémon. She turned to face another one and bowed. "[Welcome home, master!]"

"[I'm baaaack!]" a chimecho chimed, popping his head through the door.

"[We're back!]" a group of bug-types exclaimed, pouring in.

An exasperated look briefly flashed across Buneary's smiling face. "[Welcome home, master! Welcome home, masters!]" she said, bowing in multiple directions one after the other.

"[I'm offf~!]" a chikorita sang, leaving with his trainer.

"[See you again, soon, master!]" Buneary called out to him, bowing with a wave.

Man, Pikachu felt exhausted just watching her work. Clearly, she needed some help. "[Hey, Bun,]" he said, stopping next to her.

She turned to face him and bowed. "[Welcome home, master-]" She jolted as she saw his face. "[Ah! O-Oh, er… hey, Pikachu!]"

"[Eheh, hey…]" he replied, trying to hold back an awkward smile. He suddenly found himself grateful Ambipom was elsewhere. "[Um, how goes it? You're looking pretty exhausted over here.]"

She slumped her shoulders. "[Oh, you have no idea. Ever since Turtwig had to stop helping me to go do other stuff… I've barely gotten a second to myself to think stra-]"

"[I'm baaack!]" a makuhita bellowed suddenly, coming through the entrance with his trainer.

Starting, Buneary spun on the spot and bowed towards him. "[W-Welcome home master!]"

Beaming with a faint blush, the makuhita went inside, following behind his trainer.

Exhaling, Buneary turned back towards Pikachu. "[… What was I saying?]"

He gave a look of sympathy. "[Something you've just proven…]" He gave her a reassuring smile. "[Don't worry, though. Buizel's very generously taken up my job, so I'm gonna help you out!]"

She clasped her paws together and stared at him with hopeful, sparkling eyes. "[Really?]" Her gaze became blank. "[… And really? Buizel did?]"

"[Yup!]" He rubbed the back of his head. "[Eheh, and yup! Whether he likes it or not.]"

"[Oh. Ahaha, okay!]" she replied, amused. "[Hee, and thanks, Pika! You're the absolute biggest life-saver…]"

Her appreciation began to poke at his bashfulness. Especially with that bubbly look she was giving him. Combined with the maid outfit, it was actually slightly cute. In fact, it kind of reminded him of that… dream.

… He shook his head and turned towards the entrance. "[N-No problem! Anyway, let's go greet some customers!]" he said, hoping she couldn't see what he assumed was another blush on his face.

"[Alright, let's do it!]" she replied. She giggled. "[Maybe not as enthusiastically as the last time you greeted someone at the door, though, maybe.]"

He suddenly found an excuse for his warm face. "[H-Hey… that was… well, you know…]"

"[Ahaha! Don't worry, I'm just teasing~]" she chimed. "[Anyway, time to welcome some masters home!]"

He sighed, though a small grin still worked its way onto his lips. "[Yeah… let's.]"

With that, he prepared himself for the next customer.

It was only then he realized the large crowd of patrons lining up outside, ready to enter.

… Oh no.


TO BE CONTINUED!


Finished-

Old stuff: 24/07 (July)/2016

New stuff: 22/06 (June)/2017

Word count: 5,434

Older chapter names: 12: Service With A Shudder

Times the word 'milk' was used: 26

VGS2's pointless notes: Welcome home, masters! Please enjoy our lovely milk maids!

… Wait. A milk maid is someone who milked cows for a living, back in the day. Sneaky, animators, sneaky… XP

Shameless promotion: Seeing as good ol' Buizel made an appearance, I think it's about time I mentioned the story known as Pokemon: Pikachu, Buneary, and Buizel's Adventure, by Dizzie HamHam Writer! It's a charming little read about Pikachu, Buneary and Buizel's shenanigans-filled journey back to their trainers, after Team Rocket does a naughty.

It's got some fun antics and interactions between the three mons, as well as a fun, imaginative battle involving ghosts, so it's worth the read! Try not to be too intimidated by the huge word count, though. It's a pretty big one-shot, for sure. Makes me wish it was split into chapters, honestly, but hey. I've seen far worse. XP

Oh, and did I forget to mention that it has shipping in it? I think I did! Please go offer it up a review after you've seen the fluff for yourself!

Fun mistake of the day #1: "[Ooh, okay then- …Huh?]" She stopped speaking started, stopping as she spied him.

(Apparently the maid outfit caused Buneary to have a mild stroke. Nothing new there!)

#2: "[Man, I hope I look half as good as you,]" she said, some of her face with her paws for whatever reason.

(Oh, good lord, her paws have fused to her face. I wonder if Pikachu will still find her pretty…)

#3: 'Some of them looked like they were holding back a cringe, especially Turtuwig.'

(Oh dear, Pikachu's gone full on Japanese. He's using horrible Engrish! Poor Turtuwigu…)

#4: "[Welcome hom, master!]"

(Buneary's been playing too much Xenoblade, clearly. She's really feeling it!)

Welp, tatty bye for now! c:


Next up: Partners in milk!