Author's note: Hey, peeps!

Whew, this chapter was a bit longer than usual... but that's okay, right? :D It's full of juicy content to read! So I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter Twenty-five: Various Views

"Hmm..." Cilan hummed to himself in thought, as he stirred stew around a pot with a ladle. From his place on Ash's shoulder, Pikachu watched the connoisseur pick up an ingredient. "Hmmm..." Cilan glanced at it, his eyes widening. "Oh, whoops." He quickly switched it out for another one. "Hmmmm..."

Ash chuckled from where he was sitting. "That's the third time you've done that, Cilan," he said.

"Yeah, where's your head at?" Iris asked in exasperation, from the next chair over. "You're gonna screw up our food!"

Sitting in her lap, Axew chuckled. "(Yeah, don't mess with their stew!)" he said.

Cilan gave them a sheepish smile. "My apologies," he replied. "Perhaps I shouldn't do cooking time while in the middle of my thinking time."

"Urgh," Iris replied, "you and your 'time's..."

"Whatcha thinking about, Cilan?" Ash asked.

Cilan frowned in thought. "Just that I wish I could figure what was wrong with Dawn's buneary," he replied. Pikachu stiffened at that. "I'd assumed that her lack of moves was due to her feeling unwell, and that some rest would cure it."

"Yeah," Iris agreed, "especially since she said herself that she was fine, right? Other than being sick, I mean."

"Exactly... and she seemed to have recovered in the first round, but then relapsed in the second. So clearly, she isn't fine at all. Now, whether or not she's still sick is hard to say. If she was still here..." He pulled out his brown cap and placed it on his head. "I would be launching a full-scale-" He swept his hand outwards dramatically, splashing stew from the ladle he was holding. "Detective time!" He paused, then looked at his ladle and shrieked. "My stew!"

"Hey, no wasting food, Cilan!" Ash chided in mild annoyance.

"Sorry." Cilan put the ladle back in the stew. "Yes, anyway!" He paused, then quickly put his hat away. "But I can't easily do detective time if she isn't here. Nor can I do evaluation time on a single pokémon. It requires a pair!" Pikachu flinched at that, knowing what it would mean. "Hmm... though I wonder if practicing it would get me closer to being an S-class connoisseur..."

"Who knows..." Iris replied in exasperation.

"Hmm..." Cilan frowned in thought again for a moment, before a smile lit up his face. "Iris! You can read the hearts of pokémon, can't you?"

Iris groaned. "That only works on dragon-types, Cilan... and, even if I could do it on Buneary, that doesn't change the fact that she's in Johto right now!"

Axew perked up suddenly, his eyes widening.

Cilan smiled sheepishly again. "Ah yes, of course..."

Ash heaved a sigh. "Man..." he said, "I just wish I knew what was wrong with Buneary..."

Cilan shot him a sympathetic smile. "We all do, Ash... We all do."

Axew's head turned sharply in Pikachu's direction, catching the mouse off-guard. "(Hey, Pikachu!)" he said. "(Can I talk to you a sec?)" He pointed down at the ground.

Confused, Pikachu tilted his head. "(Uh, sure,)" he replied, before jumping off Ash's shoulder.

Axew did the same from Iris' lap, landing next to him. "(Okay, I just got this great idea!)"

Pikachu raised an eyebrow at him curiously. "(What's that?)"

"(Iris can read the hearts of dragons, right? So she can read my heart! So how about I let her read my heart, and tell her that you rejected Buneary?)"

Pikachu's eyes widened, his blood turning cold. "(Wh... Why would you do that?!)"

"('Cause, 'cause! Hear me out! They wanna know what happened with Buneary, and I dunno what the problem is now, but...)" He frowned sadly. "(You're the one who gave her a broken heart...)"

Something inside Pikachu's stomach twisted at that.

Axew continued. "(So! I thought, maybe if we give 'em the only lead we have, it'll help 'em solve the case!)"

"(You...)" Pikachu looked away grumpily. "(You're starting to sound like Cilan, with his 'detective time'...)"

"(It's true, though! So, if I think real hard, and picture Buneary's sad face, and you rejecting her, and... how I felt hearing about it, I think it'll get through to Iris!)"

Pikachu squirmed, now feeling very uncomfortable. "(Um... can you not?)"

Axew blinked at him, looking genuinely surprised. "(Huh?)"

"(I don't wanna look like the bad guy here... and I will if they find out about that...)"

"(But-)"

"Alright, I'm almost done!" Cilan said, attracting Pikachu's attention. "Could you two pour out the pellets?"

"Sure thing, Cilan!" Ash replied, standing up.

"Yeah!" Iris agreed, also standing up. "It's, uh..." She paused a long moment, then cringed. "P... Pellet time?"

Ash laughed at her. "Man, that was lame!"

She blushed bright red, frowning angrily at him. "Sh-Shut up, you... kid!"

He laughed harder. Cilan, however, was beaming, as if something had really made his day.

As he watched Iris start placing down bowls, and Ash start pouring in the pellets, Pikachu glanced at the aspiring dragon master. He went over in his mind what she'd said. The admittedly lame attempt she'd made at fitting in. At sounding just like Cilan.

... Did she...?

No. Nope. No. He didn't want to think about that.

"Okay, we did it!" Ash called out.

"Great!" Cilan replied. "And just in time, too! Because it's dinner tiiiime~!"

Ash pumped both fists in enthusiasm. "Awesome! I'm starved!"

"I'll bet all of our pokémon are, too!" Iris replied, running to grab her pokéballs.

Ash ran after her to grab his own. "Yeah!"

Once they did, all three humans let out their pokémon. Each one materialised on the floor, some immediately heading for a bowl, while others looked for a friend to eat with.

"(Yay, food!)" Axew said, running for a bowl.

Pikachu sighed, about to go for one himself, when he saw Oshawott look his way. The otter paused, his expression turning awkward and sombre. This caught the attention of Snivy and Emolga, as they also looked in Pikachu's direction. After a moment, the girls also looked awkward and sombre. The three of them shared a quick conversation that Pikachu couldn't hear, then turned back to him with sad smiles, waving him over.

... Oh dear, what was this about?

He walked over, picking a bowl and sitting by it. The other three sat around him.

"(Hey, bud,)" Oshawott said.

"(Hey,)" Pikachu replied.

There was an awkward silence.

"(... We heard what happened with Buneary,)" Snivy said.

Pikachu's mouth twisted slightly. "(Oh, you did?)"

"(Yeah,)" Emolga replied. "(The girl lost her moves at the end of her match?)"

"(Yeah,)" Pikachu said, a small, worried frown forming on his face.

"(Man...)" Oshawott said with a sigh. "(Sounds rough... She had her moves back, then just lost 'em again...)"

Snivy nodded. "(Mmm-hmm,)" she agreed. "(And against a pikachu, no less.)"

"(Yeah...)" Pikachu mumbled. He picked up a pellet, absentmindedly chewing on it. "(... I dunno what's wrong with her, though.)"

All three of them stared at him.

"(... You can't be serious!)" Oshawott said in disbelief.

"(... Well, yeah.)" Pikachu glanced away awkwardly. "(I know I... caused it the first time, but...)"

"(Well, obviously, it's the same thing!)" Emolga said with an amused shrug.

He frowned lightly at her. "(No, it's not. She already got over that.)"

Snivy raised an eyebrow at him. "(... Who says?)" she asked.

"(Well, she got her moves back, so, obviously, she got over my... rejection.)"

"(Dude, are you serious?!)" Oshawott cried. "(You don't just get over heartbreak!)"

Pikachu turned his light frown on the otter. "(You did. And do. All the time.)

Emolga giggled. "(He has a point,)" she said.

"(H-Hey!)" Oshawott protested. "(I have felt every single rejection, I'll have you know!)" He pouted, looking sad. "(Each one breaks my heart just as much as the last!)"

"(Yeah, for about a day,)" Pikachu grumbled.

"(... He really does have a point,)" Snivy said, smirking.

"(Oh, quiet, you,)" Oshawott mumbled. Emolga giggled. "(And you, too.)" He folded his arms. "(I do feel each one... but it does no good to mope about it.)"

Pikachu heaved a sigh. "(Yeah, that's pretty much what... every person I've ever met says,)" he replied.

All three looked at him in intrigue.

Snivy raised an eyebrow. "(Hmm?)" she asked.

"(Yeah.)" Finishing off his pellet, Pikachu started counting on his fingers. "(Brock... Oshawott... Piplup... Totodile... Sceptile...)" He moved onto his other paw. "(Corphish... Marshtomp... Meowth... heck, even Ash...)" He put his paws down. "(Every single one got over heartbreak, either the next day... the same day... or a few days later.)"

"(... Wait, Ash did?!)" Oshawott cried out in surprise.

"(Yeah. He had a thing for this friend of his, called Misty. She left, and he was heartbroken for about a day.)" Pikachu pulled a brief face of disgust. "(Anyway, yeah. Same deal.)" He looked at them in all seriousness. "(It's been four weeks. I think Buneary will have gotten over me by now.)" He glanced away. "(They always do.)"

"(... But...)" Oshawott attempted.

"(Just like you and Meloetta. I thought for sure you'd be mourning her rejection much longer, but...)" Pikachu pulled a face. "(You got over it the next day.)"

"(Hey, I'm still not over that, man! But you can't keep moping! Especially since it'll get you nowhere!)"

Pikachu frowned again.

"(... You really think she's over you?)" Snivy asked curiously.

"(Even wi'h 'hat pihachu she was bah'ling?)" Emolga asked, sounding like her mouth was full of pellets.

"(That pikachu had nothing to do with me,)" Pikachu replied. "(I don't know why she lost her moves, but... it probably wasn't because of me.)"

"(... You really think that?)" Snivy asked, still sounding curious.

Pikachu nodded. "(Yeah. Besides...)" He turned back around, grabbing another pellet. "(Her crush on me has been shallow from the start.)" He pulled another face as he ate the pellet, though it wasn't because of the taste. "(I don't know why it lasted so long. I... should have just told her to cut it out from the start.)"

His three friends looked at each other awkwardly, not looking like they knew quite what to say. Emolga's cheeks were stuffed with food, which Pikachu might have found amusing if his mood was a bit better.

Looking back at him, Oshawott put on a grin, probably to lighten the mood. "(So I guess you never thought of her as your 'one' then, huh?)" he asked.

Pikachu's brows creased further, as he gazed down at his pellet. "(... Mmm...)"

"(Pity. Well... I dunno why you don't like her, but... you can't help who you don't like, I guess. You know, like a crush.)"

"(That's... surprisingly mature, Oshawott,)" Snivy said in surprise.

There was a loud gulping sound from Emolga, before she laughed. "(Yeah, no kidding!)" she said. "(Who are you, and what have you done with Oshawott?)"

"(Ohhh~?)" Oshawott asked, sounding intrigued. "(Are you ladies impressed~?)"

Sighing, Pikachu tuned them out. Instead, he continued to stare at his pellet, remembering the day he'd met Buneary.

Still nestled inside her pokéball, Buneary listened to the humans' conversation as they waited for Nurse Joy to finish making their dinner.

"Are you sure you're okay with eating at the pokémon centre?" Dawn asked somewhat jokingly. "The meal's probably not as fancy as your hotel."

"Yeah, it's fine!" May said cheerfully. "And sure, that hotel may do the best chicken noodle soup you've ever tasted, but there's nothing wrong with Nurse Joy's cooking!" She paused, before her tone became more sombre and gentle. "Besides, we wanna make sure everything's alright with you and Buneary."

Buneary winced, feeling guilty again.

"Yeah," Drew added. A smirk entered his tone. "And anyway, I'm sure May has room for seconds later. And thirds. Maybe fourths."

"Drewwww...!" May whined.

"What? You clean the place out when it's chicken noodle soup."

Buneary could almost hear the exaggerated shrug there.

"I'm... trying to cut down..."

Whereas, there, she could definitely hear the pout.

When Nurse Joy finally arrived with everyone's food, the humans let the pokémon out of their pokéballs. Immediately, Buneary was swarmed by all five of her teammates. She yelped in surprise.

"(Buneary, what happened?!)" Pachirisu asked in a panic.

"(Yeah, are you okay?)" Piplup asked worriedly.

"(Did something happen, dear?)" Togekiss asked in concern.

"(Why did your moves go away again?)" Quilava asked sadly.

"(... You still not feeling good?)" Mamoswine asked.

Buneary forced on a smile and a chuckle, waving them off. "(I-I'm fine, guys!)" she replied. "(Really!)"

"(No, you're not!)" Pachirisu retorted, frowning.

"(Yeah,)" Piplup agreed, "(you don't lose your moves if you're fine.)"

"(Yeah...)" Quilava agreed, nodding sadly.

Togekiss placed a wing on her mouth in concern. "(... Is it the same thing as before?)" she asked.

Buneary deflated, both her smile and ear drooping. "(Pretty much...)" she replied.

"(What?!)" Pachirisu cried angrily.

"(You still not over him?)" Mamoswine asked curiously.

"(Heh,)" Buneary replied. "(Guess not... There must still be some bits of it left, clogging up the ol' moves.)" She patted herself on the chest, where her ribcage was. "(Better shake 'em loose, huh?)"

Pachirisu threw his arms up in disbelief. "(You're darn right!)" he cried. "(Why are you not over him yet?!)"

"(Come on, man,)" Piplup said, shooting him a disapproving frown. "(She's liked him a long time. It's not gonna be that easy to get over it!)"

"(... Didn't you get over Marill, though?)" Mamoswine asked.

Piplup folded his flippers indignantly. "(That's irrelevant.)"

"(And Meloetta?)"

Piplup frowned up at him. "(B-Be quiet, you!)"

"(Still, though!)" Pachirisu said, interrupting to pout at Buneary. "(I dunno what you see in Pikachu.)"

"(But he was so nice to her...)" Quilava said sadly.

"(Not nice enough, the jerk!)"

"(Hey!)" a new voice said happily. "(What's going on over here?)"

Buneary turned to see that Skitty was standing next to Pachirisu. The squirrel immediately smiled at her.

"(Hey, Skitty,)" he said. "(We're, uh... talking to Buneary about the contest.)"

Skitty opened her mouth in understanding. "(Oh yeah, the contest, the contest!)" She smiled. "(Sorry you lost, Buneary!)"

"(Yeah, thanks...)" Buneary replied.

Skitty turned to Pachirisu, looking sad. "(And you! I won't get you see you battle now! I'm sad! So sad!)"

Pachirisu sighed. "(Yeah, I know,)" he replied. "(Sorry.)" He smiled again. "(Though I'll definitely cheer you on in your battle tomorrow!)"

Skitty hopped up and down. "(You better, you better!)"

"(Oh, I will! I'll get my cheerleader outfit, and everything!)"

Skitty stopped hopping to tilt her head. "(Cheerleader outfit?)"

"(Yeah! It looks great on me! You'll see!)"

She straightened her head, beaming. "(Okay! Can't wait!)"

He beamed back at her. "(Me neither!)" He watched as she nodded, then ran off to eat her food. He then turned his attention on Buneary, his expression turning more serious. "(Seriously, though... I dunno what you see in him.)" He pouted. "(But I hope you get over him soon. You deserve better.)"

Buneary couldn't help but smile a little. "(Thanks,)" she said.

"(It's such a shame...)" Togekiss said. "(You two always seemed to get along so well...)"

Quilava heaved a sigh. "(Did he really never like you?)" he asked. "(Like... at all?)"

Buneary shook her head. "(I don't think he did,)" she replied. "(I mean, I thought he did. I thought our wavelengths were matching and on the same page, you know? But... they really weren't.)" She paused, deep in thought. "(... Maybe I should've taken the hint from when we first met...)"

"(But things had improved since then!)" Piplup argued, lifting his flippers into the air. "(He never told you to stop flirting with him after that, did he? He even blushed a few times! It's crazy to think he never liked you!)"

"(Yeah, that's... what made me think he just... didn't get that I liked him, or he was too shy, or... something.)" She shrugged with an exaggerated grin. "(But I guess he just thought I was too annoying, right?)"

They all protested, moving in to give her a hug. Apart from Mamoswine, who, instead, gently lifted a leg and held it against her. She smiled, happy that she had teammates who cared.

"Aww, that's so sweet," she heard May say. "They're all trying to cheer Buneary up."

Dawn chuckled. "Yeah, they're all super close," she replied.

"Heh, clearly," Drew said, sounding vaguely amused.

"... So what happened with the battle, Dawn?" May asked in a more serious tone. "You said that Buneary's lost her moves before?"

Dawn heaved a sigh. "Yeah..." she replied. "It happened while I was in Unova, with Ash and his new friends. The first day, she seemed fine, but the second day, when we started our training for this tournament we were entering... her moves just stopped working."

Buneary flinched. At the same time, all of her friends stopped their hugging to give her sad gazes.

"They did?" May asked.

"Yeah... but, when I asked her what was wrong, she just... said she was sick." She paused. "About two weeks later, she had her moves back, so I thought she was fine again... but now they've gone away again..."

"Hmm..."

Buneary glanced over to see all three humans looking over at her. She flinched again.

"Could she really be sick again?" Dawn asked.

"I don't know..." May replied. "I've never heard of a pokémon losing its moves when its sick... Though anything can happen, I guess." She glanced up at the sky in thought. "The last time I heard of a pokémon losing its moves was Ash's sceptile..."

Dawn's eyebrows raised in intrigue. "Sceptile? You mean that thing with the meganium he mentioned?"

May looked at her, smiling. "Yeah, that's the one! See, Sceptile really liked this meganium... but the meganium liked a tropius... so Sceptile got heartbroken and lost his moves."

Buneary's eyebrows rose. So she'd been right. Sceptile had suffered rejection, too.

Dawn's head shot towards May, her eyes widening. "Heartbroken?!" She looked back at Buneary. "But why would she be...?" She paused, staring. Then she gasped. "Wait! Unless it has to do with Pikachu!"

Buneary couldn't help flinching a third time. Next thing she knew, her species name would change to Bun-flinch-y.

Dawn beamed at her, her eyes lighting up. "That's it, isn't it?! Though..." She paused. "Why would you be heartbroken...?" She paused, then gasped again. She beamed. "Unless you really miss him! That's it, isn't it?! Well, no need to worry! After the Wallace Cup, I'll contact Ash, and you can talk to Pikachu! How about it?"

Buneary didn't really need to think about it. Though it pained her, she shook her head vigorously.

Dawn looked confused. "Huh? No?"

Realising that her response had come across as way too negative, Buneary tried to smile, to avoid suspicion. "(It's, uh...) she said. She waved her paw dismissively in as casual a way as she could. "(Don't worry about it, Dawn.)"

"... Wait, so... it's not that?"

Buneary gave her head a light shake. "(N-Nope, I'm fine!)"

Drew raised an eyebrow. "... Pikachu didn't upset her, did he?" he asked.

Dawn whirled on him, looking shocked. "What?" she cried. "No way! Pikachu and Buneary are really fond of each other!" She smiled confidently. "There's no way he'd ever break her heart on purpose!"

Buneary restrained herself from flinching again.

"Yeah, I've seen them together," May agreed. "She likes him a lot, and he seems to like her, too." She smiled. "Though he's a bit shy about it."

Dawn giggled. "I know, right?" She gave a determined frown. "Still, though... no need to worry! We'll figure out what's wrong and fix it!"

May nodded, looking just as determined. "Yeah!" She smiled sheepishly. "Maybe she really is just sick, or something."

"Probably." Dawn gasped. "What if it's the mysterious pokérus that I heard about, while I was in Hoenn?"

May blinked. "Pokérus?"

Drew frowned in confusion. "What's that?" he asked.

"Well," Dawn replied, looking thoughtful, "no one knows for sure, since it's so rare." She smiled. "Though, if anyone knows, it's probably the poetry man!"

May and Drew gave her blank stares.

"... Uh," Dawn continued, "that is, Professor Oak. Maybe he can tell me something about it!"

May smiled back. "Yeah, maybe!"

Buneary heaved a sigh. Looking back at her teammates, she saw them all still giving her sad gazes, though they felt more awkward than before. They probably knew just as well as she did how Dawn would react if she knew the truth.

She'd probably get straight on the phone to Ash, demanding to know why Pikachu had done what he'd done. Which would only open several more doors of awkwardness that might have been better left closed.

After a moment, Piplup gave a light grin and shrug. "(... Hey, maybe we should get our food, or... something,)" he said.

"(Yeah...)" Quilava replied. "(Then maybe we play afterwards, or something?)"

With unanimous nods and mumbles of agreement, they cast one last look at Buneary, before trundling off to their food bowls. Sighing again, Buneary headed for one of her own. When she found a good one, she sat down. Plucking a pellet from the bowl, she began to eat.

As her mind began to wander, she couldn't help but remember her match in the Wallace Cup earlier. Which, in turn, reminded her of the day she'd met... him. The apple of her eye, her... golden angel of handsomeness, as she'd called him.

... Her tenth crush.