Author's note: Heyo!
Well! This one-shot has actually been waiting in the wings for a while, since... it was strangely hard to write. I partially wrote it, then lost inspiration, so I left it alone for a bit to work on other stuff... then I came back, fully inspired to finish it! So here it is!
The idea was inspired by one of Dirty98's fics. Check his stuff out! It's cute and amusing!
Also, the OC in this one-shot was (at the time) named after a character from a certain video game that I was watching a Let's Play of. He was done majorly dirty in its joke of a sequel, so let's pretend that it doesn't exist, shall we?
Well, hope you enjoy the one-shot!
To the Max
"Guys, I found an open field ahead!" Ash called out as he ran. He'd been running ahead of his friends for a little while, in search of one. "Looks perfect for training!"
"Slow down, Ash!" Dawn called out from somewhere behind him.
"No way! Not when there's training to do!"
"(I'm up for some training!)" Pikachu said from atop Ash's shoulder.
Brock chuckled. "Looks like Pikachu's geared up for battle," he remarked.
"Yeah?" Ash asked. "Then I'll make sure he does battle!"
"(Yeah!)" Pikachu replied, pumping a fist. At the same time, he tried not to fall off.
"In that case," Dawn said, "you wanna battle, too, Piplup?"
"(Eh...) Piplup replied from atop her head, "(I'm not feeling it right now, Dawn. Maybe later.)"
"Hmm. Guess not. No need to worry, though! I'll just get someone else to battle!"
"(Thanks! You're a bro, Dawn!)"
Once the group made it out of the forest, they entered a wide open space. Possibly one of the wider ones they'd seen. Slowing down, they looked around.
Pikachu's ears pricked up in intrigue at the sight of a strange brown, metal device a short distance away. It was a fairly large machine of some sort, which some man in a lab coat was carefully fiddling with. A flip of a switch here, a pull of a lever there, and a press of a button there. All while the top of it was puffing out steam.
"Hey, what's that man doing?" Ash asked curiously.
"Nothing shady, I hope..." Dawn replied warily.
"Let's go find out," Brock stated.
As they approached, the man turned around. "Hmm?" he asked curiously. His long grey hair, trailing down past his shoulders, was a tangled mess, and his eyes lit up upon seeing them. "Oh, hello there!" He rushed over. "And right as I was finishing up, too!"
"Uh, sir?" Dawn asked. "What are you up to?"
"Glad you asked, glad you asked! I'm- Wait, how rude of me. Introductions first! I'm Dr. Colossus! Though... no, no! You children may call me Joel!"
"Uh..." Ash replied, "okay, Joel. I'm Ash." He pointed to his friends. "This is Brock, Dawn, her piplup and my pikachu."
"Hello, hello!" Joel paused a moment, then gasped. "Wait. Does that mean you kids are trainers?!"
"Heck yeah, we are!"
"More like coordinator," Dawn replied, "but yeah. Basically."
"I'm more of a breeder, and less of a battler," Brock replied.
"Perfect, perfect!" Joel said. "Then could you two - Ash and Dawn, was it? - please test something for me?"
"Sure!" Ash replied enthusiastically.
"Yeah, sure!" Dawn added. "What is it?"
"Great, great!" Joel replied happily. He rummaged around in the pockets of his lab coat. "Let's see... I know they're here somewhere..." He hummed to himself as he searched. "Aha!" He pulled out his hand, which was holding two wrist bands. They appeared to be mostly white and black, with a red line around one end and a blue one around the other. He held them out. "Here you go!"
"Huh?" Ash asked, taking one.
Dawn took the other. "What's this for?" she asked.
"I need you two to wear them!" Joel replied. "Then I can finally test my invention!"
"Oh, okay..." Ash replied, sounding slightly confused.
"Speaking of," Brock said, as Ash and Dawn put their wrist bands on, "what does it do?"
"Ah, my invention?" Joel asked, his eyes lighting up. "I'm glad you asked! Its purpose is to-! Wait... No, it will revolutionise the-! No, no, wait. I should probably start from the beginning." He cleared his throat. "See, I come from the region of Galar! There, we have things called 'power spots'! A phenomenon unique to Galar! This machine - and the other ones I've dotted around this field - is meant to... I guess emulate the power spots! And, therefore, emulate..." He waved his hands in a showy manner. "Dynamaxing!"
"Dyna... what now?" Ash asked.
"Oh, you'll find out, don't worry! Now, Ash? Dawn?" Joel indicated the wide open space beside them. "Like I said, this area is surrounded by my machines! One on each side, which creates a battlefield! So pick a side, grab a pokéball and have at it!"
Oh yeah. Now that Pikachu was looking, he could see the machines vaguely forming a rectangle shape. Except...
"It's a bit big, isn't it?" Brock asked. "The battlefield, I mean."
"Of course! And you'll find out why, soon enough!"
"Well, alright, then!" Ash replied. "I'm game!" He glanced at Pikachu. "You ready to battle, Pikachu?"
"(Heck yeah!)" Pikachu replied. He had no idea what was going on, but he was always up for a battle!
"(No idea what you're doing, but go get 'em!)" Piplup said.
Pikachu smiled at him. "(Thanks!)"
"Ah, wait, wait!" Joel suddenly said. "Does your pikachu have a pokéball? You can't dynamax him without a pokéball!" He paused, thinking. "At least, a way hasn't been found yet... Regardless! Yes! You need a pokéball!"
"Aww... really?" Ash asked. "Guess I have to use someone else, then..."
Pikachu pouted. Aww, but he really wanted to battle... Especially since they'd be trying out this 'dynamaxing' thing, whatever it was. Of course he wanted to be the first to test it.
That would mean going inside his pokéball, which he wasn't happy about, but...
"(Urrrrrgh...)" he groaned. "(Fine. Fine. Just this once. Just 'cause I wanna try dynamaxing.)" He nodded to make sure he was understood.
"Oh. You wanna try it, buddy?" Ash asked.
"(Yeah.)" He nodded.
"Well, alright. You won't be in the ball for long, okay?"
He heaved a sigh. "(Okay...)"
Pikachu was now in his pokéball, ready to be called upon for battle. He really didn't like his pokéball, but it wasn't as if he completely loathed it, or it traumatised him, or anything. After all, he'd gotten inside it just fine when he'd belonged to Professor Oak. He just had a certain distaste for it, was all.
He paused as he felt the pokéball doing something strange. Expanding, maybe? Well, pokéballs did expand, but... it felt like it was doing it more than it should? But that couldn't be right.
"Whoa!" Ash yelped from outside.
"They're huge!" Dawn cried out.
"And... pink?" Brock added.
... They didn't mean the pokéballs, did they? Surely not...
"Yes, yes!" Joel called out excitedly. "Now... call out your pokémon!"
Pikachu suddenly felt the pokéball move. He hadn't felt this in a long time, but he knew what was about to happen. He prepared himself as it popped open, releasing him onto the battlefield.
Immediately, the first thing he noticed was Buneary opposite him, also leaving her pokéball. Behind her, he could see... the tops of trees? Had he been able to see those before?
Before he could think any more on the matter, the two of them landed on their feet. There was a thunderous crash, which rocked the entire forest.
They both yelped in shock. Their voices, deep and booming, echoed around them.
"(Wh-What the-?!)" Buneary screeched.
"(What's going on?!)" Pikachu cried, trying not to panic. He whirled around, looking for his trainer, the ground beneath his feet rumbling as his foot landed. "(Ash?!)" He didn't see anything.
Then he heard it. The faintest of cries from far below him. Glancing downwards, he saw a tiny figure sitting by his feet. Wait... was that Ash?!
He jumped again, then had to quickly correct his footing so he didn't step on him. Why was he so tiny?!
Wait... unless...
He spun around to face Buneary, who was turned to the side and looking down at her feet in horror. He followed her gaze, and his eyes widened at the sight of a tiny Dawn sitting on the floor. Lying next to her was an even tinier Piplup, who was flailing his flippers in panic. He looked like he'd fallen off Dawn's head, judging by how he was lying.
"(Wh... Why are we so big?!)" Buneary cried.
"(I... dunno!)" Pikachu replied. "(Is... this supposed to happen?)"
"(I dunno!)" She turned back, then paused, staring just above his head in horror. "(What are those?!)"
He blinked. "(Huh?)" Glancing upwards, he saw three red clouds swirling around his head that definitely hadn't been there before. "(That's... ominous...)" He looked over at her, now noticing that they were above her, too. "(You've... got them, too.)"
Her eyes widened. "(I do?!)" Her head shot upwards, staring at the swirling red clouds. "(Oh... my gosh...)"
Now a little bit worried, Pikachu looked down at Joel, who was jumping around in what seemed to be joy. So... this was good, right? The experiment had worked?
He knelt down, trying not to wobble from the excess weight. Holy moly, he'd never been this size in his life. It didn't seem to be an illusion, either.
He listened closely, as Brock pulled himself to his feet. Strangely, Joel didn't seem to have fallen over, and Pikachu couldn't even see Dawn and Piplup anymore, due to Buneary's massive frame.
He could hear Joel saying things like 'dynamax' and 'success', so...
"(I... think we're supposed to be this size. I guess this is dynamaxing?)"
"(Oh. I... guess so.)" Buneary shifted around awkwardly, the ground underneath her rumbling slightly. "(It feels weird.)"
He chuckled, just as awkward. "(Yeah, it might take some getting used to.)"
"(... It's not permanent, is it?)"
He paused, unsure. "(... Probably not.)"
Suddenly, he heard Ash call something out, but it was a bit faint. Argh, he couldn't even see him, due to how big he was. Carefully turning around, he leaned closer. "(What was that, Ash?)"
Ash was almost blown over from Pikachu's voice alone. Whoops. Being huge had such detriments...
He watched as Joel came running over, handing Ash something. The boy held the item up, which amplified his voice.
"Hey, Pikachu, can you hear me?" he called out.
Pikachu perked up. A megaphone! He nodded enthusiastically. "(Yeah, I can hear you!)"
"Great! Okay, now let's try battling Buneary!" Ash paused. "... Man, I can't even see Dawn from here..."
"I can't see you either, Ash," Dawn called out through her own megaphone.
"Wild... Anyway!" Ash pointed dramatically. "Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"
Pikachu smiled, straightening up. "(Okay!)" he replied. Jeez, he could only imagine how being this huge would affect his battling, but he'd signed up for this, so...
He turned to face Buneary, moving his large, lumbering body into position on all fours.
He paused. "(Um...)" He measured the distance in his head, as well as his new body weight. Actually, he'd just figured out exactly how this would affect his battling. "(... I don't think this is gonna work...)"
There was some quiet chattering below him. Eventually, Ash spoke up again. "... No good, huh? Okay then, try a Thunderbolt!"
He smiled again. That, he could do. "(Okay!)" Standing up, he clenched his fists, trying to gather electricity in his cheeks.
... Nothing happened.
He blinked. He tried again.
Nothing.
Then he heard the sound of Dawn's voice. "Uh... alright, Buneary," she called out, "let's try a Bounce!"
"(O-Okay!)" Buneary replied.
She put on a look of intense concentration. After a moment, she jumped up.
She didn't get very far before she crashed back down again, rocking the land below her. Pikachu faintly heard screaming.
Buneary blinked, looking at Pikachu in confusion. "(... Huh?)" she asked.
He looked down at where Joel and Brock were, also confused about why Bounce hadn't worked. He saw that Brock was sitting on the floor again, but Joel was still standing. Maybe he was used to giant pokémon jumping around...
"(Uh... why can't we attack?)" he asked.
He watched as Joel said something, then ran over to a bag and rummaged through it. A few moments later, he ran over to where Dawn was, presumably handing her something. Then he ran over to where Ash was, probably giving him the same thing.
Buneary turned to look at Dawn, which also allowed Pikachu to see her. He knelt down again, watching the coordinator flip through what looked like flashcards. She had what Pikachu thought was a confused look on her face, though it was a little hard to tell from such a distance.
Then he heard Ash's voice through the megaphone. "Uh... so..." he started. "Oh, whoops." Pikachu heard the faint sound of clattering cardboard. "... Joel says your normal moves won't work. Instead, they get replaced by something called... max moves, was it?" There was a pause as he listened to someone. "Yeah, yeah. Huh?" He listened again. "All of them? So I need to look up electric-type moves? Hmm..." Pikachu heard the sound of shuffling cardboard. "Okay, well, I guess... Pikachu, use... Max Lightning?"
Pikachu blinked. Max Lightning? He'd never even heard of that move.
... At the same time, though, it sounded... right? Like that was what he was supposed to be using, instead?
Shrugging, he decided to give it a try. Clenching his fists, he envisioned the move. Max Lightning... Max Lightning...
He felt the crackle in his cheeks. Grinning in triumph, he unleashed a huge bolt of electricity towards the sky. It shot into the clouds above, darkening them to black. A moment later, the lightning bolt shot back down towards Buneary.
"Buneary, dodge!" Dawn called out.
"(Ack!)" Buneary cried out, attempting to move out of the way. Her huge frame, however, seemed to make it impossible. She screamed as the lightning electrocuted her. Once it dissipated, her fur looked a bit singed. "(... Ow... Man, that packs a punch...)"
Pikachu chuckled sheepishly. "(Sorry...)" he replied. "(Guess it's more powerful than usual.)"
It was then that he noticed a crackling noise spreading across the battlefield, as sparks of electricity danced around the dirt and grass. It made Pikachu feel... even more powerful, somehow. Mostly in his cheeks.
There was a pause from Ash as someone spoke to him. "Hey, Pikachu!" he called out. "Joel says that's called Electric Terrain. It makes electric-type moves more powerful!"
Pikachu smiled. "(Oh, okay!)" he replied.
"We could take advantage of it... but I wanna see what your other moves can turn into!"
"Me too!" Dawn replied. "Alright, Buneary, use... uh, wait a sec..." There was a sound of shuffling flashcards. "Um... Max Airsteam?" A voice said something to her. "Oh, whoops! Sorry, couldn't read your handwriting, Joel!" She cleared her throat. "Max Airstream!"
Buneary put on a look of concentration. This time, however, wind started to swirl around her, from her feet up to her mouth. When she jolted forward, almost like she was using Tackle, the wind shot forwards in a tornado shape.
"Pikachu, dodge it!" Ash called out.
He tried to dodge it. He moved his whole body to the side to try and avoid it, but now he could see why Buneary had struggled. This huge body was just so heavy. So, instead, he felt the tornado smack him straight in the face, with the force of a train.
He slid backwards along the grass. Hearing a startled cry from Ash, he realised with horror that he might hit him, so he dug his heels into the dirt. Fortunately, he stopped.
"Jeez, you almost got me there, buddy..."
"(Sorry,)" Pikachu replied, wincing. "(Owww...)" Jeez, why had that felt less like wind, and more like a kick to the face?
"Huh? What's that, Brock?" Ash paused to listen. "He says there's not much chance of dodging, 'cause of your size... so I guess you've just gotta tank the attacks, Pikachu."
Oh, fabulous...
Well, Pikachu was always up for a new challenge. This was no different, he supposed!
He looked up at Buneary, ready to continue the battle, when he noticed that she was hopping from one foot to the other a little bit, and was... slighter faster than before. Or was he imagining that?
"Wow, Buneary," Dawn said, "you look all limbered up!"
"(Yeah!)" she replied, looking confused. "(Am I faster?)"
Oh. Maybe he wasn't imagining it, then.
Pikachu blinked as he noticed something else. "(Hey, Buneary, did one of your clouds disappear?)" he asked.
She blinked back. "(Huh?)" Looking up, her eyes widened. "(Hey, it did!)" She looked back down at him. "(... And one of yours did, too!)"
He glanced upwards, noticing that she was right. "(Huh... wonder what that means.)"
"Alright, Pikachu!" Ash called out. "Let's try... uh... Max Steelspike!" He paused. "What kinda weird name is that?"
Pikachu agreed that it was a weird name, but orders were orders. He charged up energy in his tail, making it glow with steel-type power. He got ready to swing his body around when he realised that he was far too heavy for that.
... Though his instincts were telling him to... smash it into the ground? He shrugged. Grabbing his tail with both of his paws, he pulled it in front of him and swung it downwards like a sword. It collided with the dirt, causing metal spikes to rise up from the ground around him. They formed a small barrier, before the rest trailed over to Buneary, one metal spike at a time.
"Ahh!" Dawn cried out. "Brace yourself, Buneary!"
Buneary quickly crossed her arms over her chest, clenching her eyes shut and preparing for the hit. When the attack connected into her lower torso, she was knocked back slightly with a grunt of pain, before wobbling and almost toppling over.
"(Whoa!)" she cried.
"(Oh gosh, careful!)" Pikachu called out.
Dawn wailed in horror. "Buneary, please don't fall over and crush me!" she cried.
"(S-Sorry, sorry!)" Buneary replied, straightening herself out. She sighed in relief. "(Man, that was a doozy...)" She beamed at Pikachu. "(You're really strong when dynamaxed!)" She giggled and danced around a little bit. "(Well, not that you're not strong normally, but you know what I mean~!)"
Pikachu gave a soft sigh at the shameless praise, though couldn't stop himself from smiling at the same time. "(Thanks,)" he replied. "(Though you're pretty strong, too!)"
"(You think so~?)"
He nodded. "(Definitely.)"
He watched as the spikes that had trailed over to Buneary sunk back into the ground, leaving holes in their wake. The ones that were barricading him, however, remained. They made him feel a bit safer, somehow. More protected.
He also couldn't help but notice that Electric Terrain was still active. He wasn't sure how long for, though.
"Cool!" Ash said happily. "Man, this is so much fun!"
"Yeah..." Dawn agreed wearily, "though it's hard to know how to counter things when we have no idea how max moves work."
Ash chuckled. "It's kinda weird how even Brock doesn't know, huh?"
Dawn giggled. "Yeah, Brock, not know something? Who'd have thought?"
Pikachu chuckled. Ah. So it seemed that even the worldly-wise breeder was learning something new today. He saw Buneary giggle, too, so clearly she was also amused.
Dawn huffed. "Also, Joel? Why didn't you just tell us how this stuff worked?"
Ash chuckled again, though more awkwardly. "Yeah, were you enjoying watching us flail around?" A voice responded. "... Yeah, I guess so! It's more fun if we see for ourselves, right? And I guess you were trying to see if the machines worked right, anyway."
Dawn huffed again. "He's totally enjoying watching us flail around... Alright, Buneary, let's try a... uh..." There was another shuffling of flashcards. "A Max Strike next!"
"(Okay!)" Buneary replied.
A look of concentration on her face, she jumped into the air as high as she could seem to go, which wasn't very high at all. The landing, however, caused a humungous shockwave, which rumbled all throughout the forest. Pikachu could faintly hear the screams of the humans and Piplup, and he, too, almost fell over. Then he felt the ground crack beneath his feet.
In pure instinct, he grabbed onto the spikes around him with his paws, holding on tight. In the next moment, a geyser of yellow and blue light exploded up from the ground, ramming into his lower torso with the force of another train.
"(Owwww!)" he cried.
Jeez, how did light manage to feel like a kick, too?!
He let go of the spikes, and suddenly felt a lot more sluggish than before. Urgh, had he somehow gotten slower?
... Well, that was just great. It was already impossible to move, jump and dodge, so being even slower would only make it worse!
"(Urgh...)" he groaned. Man, his body felt like lead.
"(... These, uh, max moves were made for not moving around much, huh?)" Buneary said.
Pikachu blinked, registering what she'd said. Max Lightning, Max Airstream, Max Steelspike and Max Strike had all been from a distance, hadn't they?
"(... Hey, you're right. I... guess we're not supposed to move around. Our moves cover the distance for us.)"
"(Yeah. 'Cause somehow a kick turned into a tornado that I shoot from my mouth!)" Buneary giggled. "(Which is cool and all, but I think I prefer the kick.)"
He smiled in amusement. "(Yeah, me too.)"
She stopped her giggling the moment she glanced upwards. Her mouth opened in surprise. "(... Hey, wait, you've only got one cloud left!)"
Blinking, he followed her gaze and looked above himself. She was right. "(Hey, yeah. I wonder what that means...)"
"(I dunno...)"
... Now he couldn't help but wonder what would happen when they all disappeared.
"Kay, Pikachu!" Ash called out. "Now we'll use... Wait, Quick Attack will just turn into Max Strike, won't it? Uhhhh..." There was a shuffling of flashcards. "... Will Volt Tackle just turn into Max Lightning again, Joel?" He paused to listen. "... Oh! Is that so? Okay, Pikachu, use a physical Max Lightning!"
Physical, huh? Well, okay. No time to worry about the clouds now. He had to focus!
Clenching his fists, he tried to pull from the power of Volt Tackle, while, at the same time, envisioning Max Lightning. As he felt his cheeks crackle, he looked to the sky. Instinct told him to jolt forward in a Tackle-like motion, just like Buneary had done with Max Airstream, so that was what he did.
The lightning shot towards the clouds, darkening them like before. Then a bolt of electricity shot down towards Buneary.
In that split second, Pikachu realised something. With Electric Terrain still active, this would really pack a punch, wouldn't it? Especially if it had a similar amount of power to Volt Tackle. Heck, it felt even stronger than Volt Tackle.
In that split second, he glanced at Buneary to see a look of utter horror on her face, as if she'd realised the same thing.
She yelped, dodging to the side as best she could. She couldn't get far, though the boost in speed made her just fast enough for it to barely miss. The lightning bolt struck the ground by her feet, exploding into sparks on impact. The sparks scattered, combining with the sparks on the battlefield, before hitting her. Each one made an impact noise as they landed, causing her many electric shocks. She shrieked louder and louder with each one.
Eventually, the assault died down, leaving her panting in exhaustion.
She winced. "(Owww, ow, ow...)" she groaned, before giving a deep inhale and exhale. "(Oh, wow... that coulda been so much worse if I hadn't moved...)"
Pikachu couldn't help but chuckle, impressed. "(Good job!)" he replied. "(Guess that extra speed helped!)"
She giggled back, still looking very tired. "(Guess so!)"
"Great dodge, Buneary!" Dawn said. "I'm glad it missed me... Now, let's get 'em back with a... uh... one sec..." There was a shuffling of flashcards. "Yeah! Max Hailstorm!"
As Buneary concentrated, icy cold mist forming in front of her mouth, Pikachu felt something strange. Almost like his body was pulsing with a gradually slowing beat. It was a worrying thought, but he felt fine, health-wise, so what was going on?
Before he could think any more on the matter, Buneary launched her icy mist up towards the sky. The clouds immediately turned a cold shade of blue. A moment later, giant balls of ice the size of meteorites rained down on the battlefield.
Pikachu's eyes widened in shock and horror. Clenching his eyes shut, he clung to the metal spikes around him for dear life.
When the ice balls struck him, they felt cold, hard and painful, yet strangely hollow? Almost like they were made of energy.
That was strange, though. Why had the wind and light felt solid, yet the ice hadn't? It would have made a lot more sense the other way around.
"(Ow...)" he groaned once the assault had finished.
He panted, now rather exhausted. It seemed the metal spikes hadn't done much to help him this time...
... Thinking about it, he'd managed to pull off two kinds of Max Lightning, hadn't he? One that had drawn from the 'special' power of Thunderbolt, and one that had drawn from the 'physical' power of Volt Tackle. So who was to say the same wasn't true for Buneary?
... Wait. Max Airstream had been physical, and so had Max Strike, but Max Hailstorm hadn't? Did that mean...?
His thoughts derailed as something small, cold and hard hit him on the nose. Then another one hit him on the head. Then another on the arm. He glanced up briefly, then back down to avoid getting it in his eyes. Was it hailing?
... Well, maybe he should've expected that from a move called Max Hailstorm, but, somehow, it hadn't occurred to him.
He glanced over at Buneary, who was flinching from the hail. One glance above her head, though, caused him to do a double-take.
"(Hey, all your clouds are gone!)" he cried.
"(Huh?)" she asked. Looking above him, she gasped. "(Yours too! What does that-?)"
Before she could finish, a weird feeling came over Pikachu. Around him, the trees started to get larger, and the ground started to get closer. Closer and closer, until he was suddenly surrounded by the metal spikes, and unable to see over the top of them. Had he shrunk?! Was he back to normal?!
A moment later, the metal spikes receded into the ground, leaving nothing but holes in their wake. Looking ahead, Pikachu could finally see Dawn and Piplup clearly, now that Buneary was her usual size.
"They're back to normal!" Ash called out through the megaphone.
"(Ack!)" Pikachu replied, flinching from the loud volume.
The sound of the megaphone quickly went away. "Oh, whoops... Sorry, buddy."
Pikachu glanced behind him, seeing his trainer at the correct size. The size he was used to seeing him.
He smiled happily, yet a bit sheepishly. "(It's okay. Glad to be small again.)"
Looking back in Buneary's direction, he could see her still being pelted by hail, the same as he was. It was a little painful, but nothing too bad. The Electric Terrain still seemed to be active, too, since the sparks were still dancing across the dirt, but they didn't seem to be painful at all.
"It worked!" Joel cried in joy, attracting Pikachu's attention. "It worked! My Sinnoh experiment was a success!"
"The machines worked as intended?" Brock asked.
"Yes! Perfectly!" Joel posed dramatically. "First Sinnoh! Then... the world! Everyone will come to know the glory of dynamaxing! And perhaps even..." He waved his hands in an equally dramatic fashion. "Gigantamaxing!"
Brock's eyebrows rose in intrigue. "Gigantamaxing?"
"Yes! Though I haven't quite figured out how to emulate that yet... but one day!"
"Oh... I see?" Brock looked confused, but seemed to let it slide.
Jeez, there was something beyond dynamaxing? Pikachu could only imagine what that was like.
He looked over at Buneary again with a smile, only to see her land flat on her face on the grass. He panicked. Oh no! Had the hail finished her off?!
Looking up at Dawn, who was outside of the hail's radius, it seemed she was distracted by Joel, completely oblivious to her pokémon fainting. Looking down by her feet, it seemed Piplup hadn't noticed, either. Clicking his tongue in disappointment, Pikachu got on all fours and ran over to the rabbit, shielding her from the hail.
"Oh! I guess the battle's over!" Joel said.
Dawn yelped. "Buneary!" she cried, having finally noticed, apparently.
"(Oh, crud!)" Piplup cried. "(Is she alright?)"
"No worries," Joel replied, "I've got this! Cramorant, Rain Dance!"
Pikachu looked to the side to see a flash of white light, which formed into a blue bird with wide green eyes. She danced around on the spot, her gaze unwavering as her wings moved in a rhythm. As the dance ended, she rose her wings to the sky. The clouds above rumbled, before Pikachu suddenly felt a drop of water on his face. Then another, then another.
... Well, now he was getting soaked to the skin, but at least it wasn't painful anymore.
He watched as the bird stopped in place, turning to look at him. She held her gaze, staring straight into his soul.
It... kind of unnerved him, actually. It was almost like she wanted to eat him, or something...
He felt movement underneath him. Looking away from the bird, he shifted positions, and gently lifted Buneary's head up.
As the rabbit's eyelids fluttered open, he smiled down at her. "(Hey,)" he said. "(You okay?)"
She blinked a few times, looking weary. Then her eyes snapped open and her face flushed. "(Oh...)" she replied, "(uh... yeah. Thanks.)"
"Don't worry about the Electric Terrain," Pikachu heard Joel say. "That'll go away on its own soon! And the rain will follow! Eventually!"
"(Heh,)" Pikachu said, still looking down at Buneary. "(That was a fun battle, huh?)"
She smiled bashfully up at him. "(Yeah,)" she replied. "(Though... I dunno if I'd... wanna do it again.)"
He chuckled. "(Yeah, I know what you mean. We could barely move, and our trainers had to use megaphones to talk to us.)"
"(Yeah, plus our moves were all weird. I prefer just using Dizzy Punch, Bounce and Ice Beam.)"
"(Yeah, me too. Not those moves, but you know.)"
She giggled. "(Yeah.)"
He paused. "(... I guess the type of max move depended on the type of move it was. Like... Ice Beam made a 'special' Max... Hailstorm, was it?)"
She blinked. "(Huh. I guess that makes sense.)"
"(Yeah.)" His eyes widened as a realisation came to him. "(Wait. You used three moves, and I used three moves...)" He glanced above her head briefly. "(And we had three clouds that kept disappearing...)"
She paused, then her eyes widened, too. "(So... we could only use three max moves?)"
"(I think so.)"
"(Huh...)" She giggled lightly. "(Sure makes for short battles, then.)"
He chuckled. "(No kidding.)"
"Hey, uh..." Dawn called out, "you okay there, Buneary?"
Buneary turned her head slightly. "(Yeah, I'm fine!)"
"(Can you sit up?)" Pikachu asked, still cradling her head.
Buneary turned back, hesitating for a long moment. "(Um...)" She glanced at his face, reddened and looked away again. "(Well... I guess so...)"
After another long moment, she pushed herself into a sitting position.
Pikachu smiled. "(There we go!)" He paused again, blinking, as he realised something. "(... Hey, you know... we don't tend to battle each other, do we?)"
"(Huh? Well, I guess not.)"
"(There was that one time with the double appeal battle, and...)" He strained his brain to think. "(... Was that it?)"
"(I... think so. Huh... I guess Ash and Dawn don't really have us battle much...)"
He beamed. "(We should change that! How about we get 'em to battle us more in the future!)" He smiled sheepishly. "(Except without the dynamaxing...)"
She beamed back at him. "(Sure!)" She embraced him in a hug, which nearly made him fall backwards in surprise. "(Sounds fun!)"
He felt his face warm at the contact, though his smile remained. "(That's great. I look forward to it.)"
"... So, you gonna call Buneary back to her ball, or what, Dawn?" Ash asked.
"Shh!" Dawn replied angrily. "Don't ruin the moment, Ash!"
"That's right!" Brock agreed with much emotion. "Don't ruin such a passionate embrace in a dramatic rainfall!"
"(You heard 'em!)" Piplup agreed matter-of-factly.
Joel laughed. "Ah, young love!" he said. "Reminds me of when I was a youngster back in Motostoke and-"
Pikachu's face got even warmer, as Buneary covered her face with her soggy fluff.
The End