Author's note: Yo, peeps!
I'm really getting into the Shallow Waters groove as of late! It's nice, writing angsty, drama-y stuff for once. XP
Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Sixteen: Fervent Feelings
The following day, Dawn's team did some more training. Once they were done, they arranged to meet up with May's and Drew's teams again in the nearby forest, to hang out some more.
Mamoswine was relaxing on the grass with Absol and Flygon. Togekiss was admiring the flowers with Butterfree and Wortortle. Piplup was bragging to Beautifly and Venusaur, Quilava was hanging out with Blaziken and Roserade, and Pachirisu was playing with Skitty. Munchlax seemed to have wandered off somewhere by himself.
As for Buneary, she was chatting to Masquerain.
"(It's a lovely sunny day today, isn't it?)" Masquerain asked with a smile.
Buneary smiled back. "(It sure is!)" she replied. "(It's bright as an evolution out today!)"
Masquerain giggled. "(What?)"
"(You know, 'cause of the glowing when pokémon evolve!)" Buneary paused in thought. She looked up at the sky. "(Say, if someone uses Sunny Day while it's raining, where does the rain go? Does it just dry up?)"
He giggled again. "(You're a strange one~)"
Looking back at Masquerain, Buneary chuckled awkwardly. "(Yeah, well... it's good to wonder these things!)"
"(I suppose so~)"
Hearing a squeal of delight, Buneary glanced over at the noise, only to see Pachirisu and Skitty running in a large circle, chasing one another.
She smiled. Daww, how cute.
"Aww, they're adorable," May said from nearby.
"No kidding!" Dawn replied. "The two of them seem to get along really well."
May gasped. "You know what? I've got just the thing for them! Wait here!"
Curious, Buneary glanced in the girl's direction. She was excitedly running off elsewhere.
Drew gave an exaggerated sigh as she left, but he was still smiling.
"(Coming at ya!)" Pachirisu cried out, kicking May's ball towards Skitty.
"(Got it~!)" Skitty called out, chasing after it. Once she caught up to it, she kicked it back. "(To you~!)"
"(Mine, mine, mine!)" Pachirisu raced after it.
"(Heh,)" Buneary said, watching them.
Nearby, Munchlax was shoving berries into his mouth. "(Shkitty shertainly sheems happy,)" he said through a mouthful of food.
Buneary did a double-take at him, seeing a massive pile by his feet. "(Uh? Didn't you have breakfast yet?)"
"(Yup.)"
"(But isn't lunch soon?)"
"(Yup.)"
"(Oh...)"
She didn't really know what to say to that. Then again, he was part of the snorlax family, wasn't he? That probably explained his bottomless pit of a stomach.
She chuckled to herself.
"(Go long!)" Pachirisu suddenly cried out, attracting Buneary's attention.
She watched him kick the ball as hard as he could. It went flying through the air, higher than the time he'd kicked Oshawott's scalchop. At least, from what people had told her, afterwards. Because she kind of hadn't been paying attention at the time...
"(I got it, I got it!)" Skitty cried out, racing after it.
When the ball hit a tree, however, it got stuck.
Skitty skidded to a stop, a smile still on her face. "(Oh, oops!)"
"(Whoopsie!)" Giving a sheepish smile, Pachirisu ran over to the bottom of the tree. He looked up at the ball. "(My bad...)"
Skitty giggled. "(Looks like your 'go long' went too long!)"
Pachirisu chuckled, still sheepish. "(No kidding...)"
Buneary giggled lightly to herself. Ah well, it was an easy fix! Five members of the group could fly, after all. Plus, she herself had Bounce. Not to mention, Pachirisu himself was really good at climbing trees. So it wouldn't be hard to get it down.
"(I got it!)" Absol suddenly called out, racing past her.
The wind from his speed blew her fluff around her face. Whoa...
She watched in fascination as he ran towards a neighbouring tree. Leaping, he twisted his body around, planted his feet on the bark and pushed off. Twisting, he did the same against the other tree. He kept this up several times, before launching himself into the air.
Now airborne, he made the dark blue scythe on his head glow white. Swinging his head, he sent out a crescent-shaped gust of wind. It hit the correct branch, easily picking up the ball and boomeranging it back over to him.
He caught it perfectly in his teeth.
Making himself glow slightly blue, he conjured a wave of water, which rose up from the grass. He landed on it, then rode it all the way down, where it was absorbed back into the grass. In a seamless motion, he landed on the ground.
Buneary stared.
Oh good... legends, that had looked awesome.
"(Wow, thanks!)" Pachirisu said to him.
"(Yeah, thanks!)" Skitty said, happily wagging her tail.
Absol gently placed the ball on the ground. "(No problem,)" he replied.
"Hmph," Drew said, sounding amused, "showing off again, Absol?"
Absol looked up at his trainer. "(Huh?)"
"(Yeah, some of us can fly, you know...)" Flygon said, sounding exasperated.
Absol blinked. He blinked again. "(Oh, right...)"
"(Urgh... get back over here.)"
"(Yeah, yeah...)"
Absol began to make his way back over to where Flygon was. As he began to pass by Buneary, she couldn't help but leap in front of him. He stopped, looking down at her in surprise.
"(Um...!)" she said eagerly. "(That was a really cool stunt! It looked really amazing! And I said 'really' twice, but it was really amazing!)"
"(Uh? Well, thank you...)" He glanced away. "(Though I could've done better...)"
Her eyes widened. "(Better?! But that was great enough as it was!)"
"(... You're exaggerating.)"
"(No way! The way you jumped up those trees, then picked up that ball, then rode the surf all the way down? It looked really cool!)"
"(Well... thanks.)"
"(Urgh,)" Flygon said, suddenly by Buneary's side. "(You're still trying to impress Drew, aren't you?)"
A very tiny blush appeared on Absol's face. "(Well...)"
Flygon heaved a sigh. "(Look, it was ages ago when he yelled at you... and he's apologised since... so why is this still bothering you?)"
Buneary blinked. "(Huh?)" she asked.
"(Because...)" Absol replied, "(I don't want it to happen again. I want Drew to be proud of me.)"
"(I'm sure he is!)" Buneary said enthusiastically. "(I know I am!)"
Absol looked at her in surprise. "(Oh. Well... thank you.)"
"(Got yourself a fan, I see~)" Masquerain said, flying over their heads.
"(Uh, apparently.)"
Giggling, Masquerain flew away again. Flygon and Absol decided to follow after him.
Now alone, Buneary was beaming to herself.
"(... A bit big for you, isn't he?)" Piplup's voice suddenly asked from nearby.
Buneary jumped in shock. Looking over at him, she could see a rather smug smirk on his beak.
"(H-Huh?)" she asked.
"(Yeah, he's, like, three times your size.)" He paused. "(Though, if you evolved, you'd be about the same height.)"
"(I... I have no idea what you mean.)"
"(Absol. Duh. You were drooling everywhere when he did that stunt.)"
Panic shot through her. "(I was?!)" She quickly rubbed at her mouth with her paws. It was dry.
Piplup sighed. "(I didn't mean literally...)"
Buneary blinked. "(... Oh.)"
Piplup paused. "(Good to see you moving on, though! I'm sure Pachirisu would be proud. I'd tell him, but he's a bit busy playing with Skitty at the moment.)"
... Moving on? Huh. Was that what she was doing?
She glanced over in Absol's direction. The large white cat was being petted by Drew, while Flygon was giving him a look of 'I told you so'.
"(Yeah...)"
"(Anyway, I'm off to chat to Roserade. She promised me some cool stories yesterday, so she'd better deliver!)"
"(Y-Yeah. Have fun!)"
"(Oh, I will! I've got a few cool stories to tell her, myself!)" He began walking away. "(See you later!)"
"(Yeah, see ya.)"
... Huh. Moving on. How nostalgic. She'd been focused on a single target for so long that she'd almost forgotten what it felt like!
It reminded her of the good old days...
Molly the buneary watched in amazement. She'd only come out here to find berries, but oh gosh! She didn't think she'd be getting a show, too!
She watched in awe as a teddiursa, an apple in his paw, jumped around, avoiding the grasp of an ursaring.
"(Give me that back!)" the ursaring called out angrily.
"(No way, ma!)" the teddiursa replied. "(You snooze, you lose!)"
"(Why, you little-!)"
She swung an arm at him. Molly expected it to hit, but, instead, he jumped on top of it and ran up, towards the ursaring's face. He seemed to have caught her by surprise.
Jumping again, he bounced off her head like a springboard.
Growling, she turned to swing at him again. He landed on her shoulder and ran down her back.
This kept up for a while, with the ursaring completely unable to hit the teddiursa. He jumped around her, avoiding every single swing.
Eventually, the ursaring collapsed to the ground, exhausted. The teddiursa did one final leap off her shoulder, landing perfectly on the ground. He casually bit into his apple, walking away.
... Wow. Wow! That had looked so cool! He'd looked so cool! Performing stunts that she'd never be able to do in a million years!
... What was this strange feeling in her chest? This explosion of excitement? This thudding against her ribcage?
He began walking in her direction, still eating the apple.
Heart pounding faster, she jumped in front of him. "(U-Um...!)" she said.
He looked up at her. "(Huh?)"
"(You were really cool! Before! You know, with the fight! And stuff!)"
Jeez, what was she even doing? She'd never felt so nervous before! Her heart was beating so fast, she could swear it was trying to escape her chest!
"(Oh.)" He took another bite of the apple and shrugged. "(Yeah, I guesh sho.)" He continued walking. "(Well, shee ya around.)"
"(Y-Yeah, bye!)"
Wow... this feeling was so unfamiliar! But she'd be lying through her teeth if she said she didn't like it!
Molly just couldn't stop thinking about the teddiursa. How he'd made her heart leap in her chest! Gosh, her face was warming just thinking about him!
"(You look happy, Molly~)" her lopunny mother, Hannah, said.
She smiled at her. "(Hee~)" she replied. "(I am.)"
Her floatzel father, Nathan, who was lounging nearby, gave a light smirk. "(What's up?)" he asked.
"(Oh, nothing~)"
"(Heh. Nothing, she says.)"
They paused, waiting for their daughter to speak.
"(Okay, okay, it's not~!)" Molly said. She giggled.
"(Ooh, what is it?)" Hannah asked. "(Spill!)"
She giggled again. "(Well~!)"
She told them all about the teddiursa's amazing stunts, and how watching them had made her heart leap in her chest. In excitement! In awe! In other things she couldn't describe!
When she was finished, her mother giggled.
"(Seems like someone has a cruuuush~)"
Molly blinked. "(Huh? A crush?)"
Nathan stretched. "(Sure sounds like it to me,)" he said.
... A crush.
A crush!
So that's what a crush felt like! Wow, it felt amazing!
She beamed to herself. "(Guess it must be~)"
"(Aww, my little girl's growing up~)" Hannah said happily.
"(Wait a while before giving us grandkids, though, won't ya?)" Nathan asked.
"(Tsk. Nathaaaan...)"
Molly's face burned. Oh gosh. Kids with that teddiursa? She... she barely even knew him, though!
... In that case, maybe she should get to know him!
Yeah! The first chance she got, she'd be sure to do just that!
... Heh. It had been a long time since anyone had called her 'Molly', that was for sure. Ever since joining Dawn's team, her name had been 'Buneary'. Her true name felt a bit foreign to her now, honestly.
Heck, she'd even heard that Ash actually knew a human called Molly. It would have been a bit weird meeting her and hearing her name, she wouldn't lie.
Glancing in the direction of Piplup, who was intently listening to some stories of Roserade's, Buneary decided to lose herself in the memory some more...
Molly gasped. Oh, gosh, there he was! The bear of her dreams! The coolest kid on the block! The combee's knees!
... Well, combee didn't have knees, but still!
She jumped in front of him, smiling up a storm. He looked at her curiously, stopping in place.
"(Hi, again~!)" she said happily.
"(Uh, hi...)" he replied. He paused a moment, studying her. "(Oh, wait, I remember you.)"
She gasped in delight. "(You do?!)"
"(Yeah.)"
He continued to look at her, making her feel increasingly bashful.
She fidgeted with the fluff around her waist, tilting this way and that. She averted her gaze from his.
"(So, um... you were really cool that day and... and you're still cool! Really cool! Cooler than an ice-type! So, um...)" Her face burned. She pulled the fluff up over it and danced around. "(Oh, I can't take it!)"
"(... Uh... you're not flirting with me, are you?)"
"(Eep!)"
Oh, gosh, he'd figured her out already?! But she'd been so subtle!
"(... You're totally flirting with me.)"
"(... Maybe,)" she squeaked.
The teddiursa sighed. "(... Look, thanks and all... but you're... not really my type.)"
She froze in place, the fluff slowing dropping back down. "(... I'm not?)"
"(Nope. You're a bit too... crazy?)" He shrugged. "(Thanks, though. Appreciate it.)"
Her heart dropped into her stomach. Ouch. Crazy? What was that supposed to mean?
... Wow, was this what rejection felt like? She'd heard tales about it, but she didn't think it could happen so suddenly. Or so painfully.
... She couldn't say she liked it. At all.
"(Oh... okay...)"
He walked past her, leaving her alone with her thoughts. She didn't follow him.
"(Molly?)" Hannah asked in concern. "(Why aren't you eating your berries?)"
"(Yeah, they're your favourite,)" Nathan added.
"(I'm not hungry...)" Molly replied.
"(Oh dear...)" Hannah said. "(What's wrong?)"
Molly didn't answer immediately. She just continued to stare down at her oran berries.
Hannah continued. "(... Did you see that boy again?)"
Molly sighed. "(Yeah...)"
"(Oh my... did it go badly?)"
"(Yeah...)"
"(Aww...)" Hannah paused. Then Molly felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at the lopunny's comforting smile. "(Hey. There's plenty more corphish in the sea, right?)"
Molly couldn't help a small smile from forming. "(He was a teddiursa, though.)"
Hannah giggled. "(Oh, you~! You know what I mean!)"
"(She's right, though, Molly,)" Nathan said. She turned to see the floatzel giving her a light smirk. "(You can always find someone else.)"
Molly's smile became brighter. "(Yeah,)" she replied. "(Yeah! You're right. Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Dad.)"
"(No problem, sweetie~)" Hannah replied.
"(Yeah,)" Nathan replied, "(no probs.)"
Buneary sighed to herself, feeling a mixture of nostalgia, amusement and melancholy. That day with the teddiursa had only been the start of her problems...