Author's note: Heyo!

Okay, better get this out of the way first...

Reviewing tip of the day! It's not good to pester people about pairings you want them to write. Instead, comment on the fic they are writing, and how you're liking it so far! That would be a million times more appreciated, as it shows that you actually care about the story they're putting so much effort into!

For example, just to clarify... I don't mind if you write Ash/Dawn. Heck, if you think it enhances Pikachu/Buneary, then all power to you. But it's not on my list of favourite shippings, so don't expect to see it in my stories, unless otherwise stated.

Remember, when pokémon fall in love, that doesn't mean their corresponding trainers have to fall in love with each other, too. XP They're their own people, after all, with their own hearts and minds.

Sure, it would most likely create complications down the line... but isn't that part of the fun? Think of all the ways you could come up with to work around the complications!

Sorry. This has just always bugged me, so I thought I'd mention it. Like I said, though, if you like Ash/Dawn, then all power to you!

With that said, I hope you enjoy the chapter!


Chapter Two: Enjoying Luxuries

Balancing on his tail, Pikachu pressed his paws against the window. He smiled as he watched the mountainous scenery pass by. It wasn't often at all that Ash travelled by train, so it was a nice change to walking everywhere.

This train, oddly, was rather small and slow, compared to other ones he'd ridden. Especially the last one, which they'd taken to protect a shaymin from a man known as Zero, and his team of magnemite, magneton and magnezone.

In fact, this train was fairly similar to the one they'd ridden across the Pastoria Great Marsh not long ago, except the seats had been much smaller in that train. Since only two people had been able to fit on each seat, Pikachu had ridden on Ash's lap. Not that he'd minded, as the view of the marsh had been really interesting. It was rare that he got to see marshes, after all.

His favourite train, though, had to have been the monorail in LaRousse City, back in Hoenn, with how high up it had been and how fast it had been moving. He hadn't been able to sit on the seats of that one, but he hadn't minded. They'd been too far away from the window, anyway, and he'd wanted to enjoy the lovely view.

Yep, it had definitely been his favourite. At least, so far. Hopefully, he'd get to ride more trains in the future.

"Enjoying the view there, Pikachu?" Brock asked from the seat next to him in an amused tone.

Turning his body slightly, Pikachu nodded back in response. "(Yeah, it's pretty good!)" he replied.

On the seat opposite, Ash chuckled at him. "It wasn't that long ago we last rode a train, buddy!" he said. "Two, in fact!"

"(Yeah, well... still.)"

The 'Shaymin and Zero' train had been a little while ago, since it'd been back when Mamoswine had still been a swinub...

"Pity we didn't get much chance to enjoy that last one, though, huh?" Dawn asked in slight amusement. "Thanks to the magnemite and all."

"At least you got to sit down, Dawn," Ash said, also sounding amused.

"Yeah," Brock added with a chuckle. "Must be nice for some."

Dawn giggled in response. "It was!" she replied smugly.

"(Man, you guys missed out!)" Piplup said. "(Those seats were way comfier than these ones.)"

"(Aww, really?)" Pikachu asked. He dropped down onto his rear on the seat. Despite being cushioned, it was surprisingly hard. "(I never got to sit on them...)"

"(Yeah. They were way better.)"

Pikachu exhaled some air in disappointment. "(Dang.)"

Ah well. Despite the train being small, slow and uncomfortable, he was still enjoying himself. He had plenty of time to do so, too, since it would be a little while before they arrived at the train station outside of Lake Acuity.

Ash had decided to set off a day early, to get there in plenty of time for tomorrow's battle. They'd get there, enjoy the sights, do some last-minute training, then stay at the pokémon centre for the night. Then they'd be well rested for their match against Paul.

Right now, though, Pikachu had time to spare. He glanced around at Ash, Dawn, Brock and Piplup. His gaze lingered on Piplup, as he remembered the events from a few days ago.

So far, he hadn't come up with an answer for Buneary. That said, he'd been rather busy with training the last few days, so there hadn't been much time for it, like he'd wanted.

... Then again, maybe he'd just been delaying it again. He'd spent so long burying his head in the sand over the issue that he'd grown rather used to it. 'I'll deal with it another day', he'd tell himself. Perhaps that was a bad mentality to have. Especially since Buneary had gone so long without an answer.

... Ohhh, but, then again, Ash's battle with Paul was coming up really soon, so shouldn't he be focusing on that?

Argh, he was doing it again. Whenever it came to something embarrassing, he'd avoid it like the plague. All because he didn't want to be a laughing stock, like before he'd met Ash.

He shuddered at the mere thought.

No. He hated being laughed at. Which was why he was always putting off answering Buneary's question. Maybe he really should attempt to answer it soon, though.

He had some time to kill before the train got to its destination, so maybe he should think about it now, while it was peaceful and quiet.

... As soon as he thought that to himself, Ash got up from his seat and loudly announced how excited he was for his battle. It scared a passing man in a trench coat so badly that he yelped, fell backwards and dropped his boxed lunches.

Pikachu huffed amusedly. Well, so much for peace and quiet...

The trench coat man introduced himself as Looker, offering them the boxed lunches that he'd dropped. He also offered some to the people sitting in the seats adjacent to the group.

Pikachu blinked. Huh. He didn't remember seeing those people before. Had they always been there? And why were they dressed in hats, trench coats, sunglasses and face masks? It wasn't cold anymore, after all. Since leaving Snowpoint City, Ash, Brock and Dawn had gone back to their old outfits, which weren't nearly as warm.

... Then again, maybe they all had really bad colds? It wouldn't surprise him if one of them had caught a cold at Snowpoint City and passed it onto the other two. Humans did tend to be really bad with the cold, after all.

It was then that Looker said he was going to give the remaining boxed lunches to the conductor, the engineer and the assistant pokémon.

"Assistant pokémon?" Ash asked.

"I think there's an electric-type pokémon working on this train," Brock explained.

Ash sat up straight, looking intrigued. "An electric-type? Sounds cool!"

Dawn smiled widely. "I wonder which pokémon it is!" she said excitedly.

Pikachu smiled. Yeah, he wouldn't mind knowing that, himself.


Pikachu watched in fascinated awe. An ampharos was using Thunderbolt to pump electricity into a generator through a lightning rod, in order to power the train. He was currently using it, at the engineer's instruction, to help the train climb a steep incline.

Sure, he'd seen much better technology back in LaRousse City, but the people living there were probably filthy rich, anyway. To see such cool technology in the less wealthy areas of the world was pretty neat, he had to say.

Suddenly, the engineer slowed the train to a stop. Apparently, there was a red light on the tracks. Confused, the man made a call about it from the phone in his cockpit. Once he was done talking, he put the phone down.

"According to the command centre," he said, swivelling around in his chair to face the group, "no trouble has been reported to warrant a red light... but there's no mechanical malfunction, either."

Huh. How weird.

Pikachu watched as the conductor began to exit the train to find out what the problem was, with Looker following behind him to take a walk in the countryside. Before closing the door, the conductor told the rest of them to wait in the train for now.

No one protested, which Pikachu had to admit was strange for Ash. Normally, he'd be really gung-ho and insist on helping out, but perhaps he didn't feel like it today? Either that, or he was still too busy thinking about his battle with Paul tomorrow.

Instead, as the engineer and his ampharos left to tell the other passengers about the delay, Ash, Dawn and Brock talked about having lunch. Huh. Actually, he was pretty hungry, come to think of it, so food sounded nice. He smiled. While they were eating, hopefully, the conductor would sort out the problem and they'd be back en route to Lake Acuity soon.

... Then maybe, finally, he'd get to ponder his answer to Buneary's question.

Argh. He wouldn't lie. He was sorely tempted to just bury his head in the sand again. It was warm, comfortable and familiar, this metaphorical sand. To leave the sand would mean exploring the unknown, and the embarrassing, and that terrified him.

... Still. He would attempt to grit his teeth and do it.

... After lunch.


Outside the train, there was a small incline by the side of the tracks. The group had carefully climbed down it, onto the rocky ground below, before setting up the food. There was plenty of space to eat here, and even a river on the opposite side, so it was a perfect place to eat lunch.

Once the humans were done setting up, they called out their pokémon and told them to enjoy the food.

Pikachu happily took one of the bowls nearest to Ash. Looking up, he saw Staraptor, Pachirisu, Buneary, Piplup and Mamoswine choosing bowls nearby. Glancing over at the other pokémon, he saw Chimchar, Grotle, Gliscor, Buizel, Croagunk, Sudowoodo and Happiny all sitting a bit further away, nearer to where Brock was.

Turning back to his own group, he began to eat his pellets. It was then that the noticed how close to him Buneary was sitting.

It only served to remind him of his after-meal task, but he'd worry about that later...

"So nice of him to give us this," Ash said.

"Mmm-hmm~!" Dawn agreed. After a moment, she sighed in delight. "It's so good, too!"

"Ah'll shay!" Ash sounded like he had a mouthful of food.

Brock chuckled. "Ash, empty your mouth before you talk," he chided.

There was a loud swallowing noise. "Sorry. It's pretty darn good, though!"

"Well, you're not wrong. Looker bought some high-quality lunches."

"Hmm?" Dawn suddenly asked. "What's that in your bag, Brock?"

"Huh? Oh, that?" There was some rustling around. "Well, back in the pokémon centre at Snowpoint City, I saw a chilli flakes shaker on the table... and I thought it might be fun to try making different flavours."

Intrigued, Pikachu turned his head around to look, as he chewed on one of his pellets. He saw Brock holding a shaker full of flakes, which were many different shades of pink.

The breeder shook it in his hand, and the flakes rattled around inside. "This one's candy flavour. I've been thinking about testing it, but it probably needs to go on desserts."

"(Candy flavour?!)" Buneary said in sudden interest.

Ash's face lit up. "Do we have any desserts?!" he asked excitedly.

"Not on me," Brock replied. "They'd take a while to make." He chuckled. "I'm no gourmet chef, after all, though maybe I should give it a try sometime."

Ash's face fell again. "Aww..."

Dawn giggled. "Is that what you were doing last night, while I was watching TV and Ash was training in the cold?" she asked. "Making candy flakes?"

"Hey, it wasn't that cold..." Ash muttered.

Brock chuckled. "Yeah, that's right," he replied. He held the shaker to his cheek lovingly. "I was in the kitchen with Nurse Joy~! She graciously lent it to me to use for the night and-!" He paused, glancing in Croagunk's direction. The frog was staring directly at him. "... She liked the candy flakes idea. That was nice."

The frog looked back down at his bowl. Brock heaved a sigh of relief.

"Either way," he continued, recovering, "I wouldn't mind if you two would test it for me to see if it's any good. It might not be good on the boxed lunches, though."

"Sure, I'll try some!" Ash replied.

"Me too!" Dawn replied.

Pikachu watched as Brock shook some candy flakes onto each outstretched hand. Ash and Dawn tasted the flakes, and their eyes lit up in awe.

"Delicious!" they both cried out at once.

"(It is?!)" Buneary cried out. Without warning, she zipped past Pikachu, coming to a stop in front of Brock. She held up her paws. "(I wanna taste test it! Lemmie taste test it! Uh, please!)"

Dawn giggled. "Looks like Buneary wants to try it, too!" she said.

Buneary nodded eagerly in response.

Ash's face lit up. "Hey, why not pass it around the pokémon?" he suggested. "Then you can get all the taste testers you want, Brock!"

"Not a bad idea, Ash," Brock replied. "Alright, here, Buneary." He passed her the candy flake shaker. "Let me know if it's worth making more of these."

"(Okay~!)" Buneary replied.

She quickly hopped back over to her bowl. When she reached it, she began to sprinkle the candy flakes over the pellets.

Pikachu stared. "(Um...)" he said, "(will that not ruin your food?)"

She stopped shaking it and turned to him, blinking. "(... It will?)"

"(Well... I dunno. Maybe?)"

She glanced down at her pellets. "(... I kinda assumed it'd be nice, 'cause it's sweet...)" Quickly grabbing a pellet, she nibbled on it. After a moment, her face lit up. "(I knew it! It's delicious!)"

He blinked. "(On pellets?)"

"(Yeah! Try some!)"

"(Well... okay, sure!)"

Moving a bit closer, she shook some flakes onto his pellets. Due to the pellets not being completely dry, the candy flakes seemed to stick to them perfectly fine.

"(Don't let your boyfriend hog it all!)" Piplup said. "(Give me some, too!)"

Pikachu jolted, his face reddening. Dang it, he'd been caught off-guard...

"(Yeah and me!)" Pachirisu added.

Buneary beamed at them. "(Sure!)" she replied, hopping over to them. "(Though he's not my boyfriend yet!)"

The two of them burst into laughter, making Pikachu want to crawl underneath his own food bowl and just stay there for a while.

"(Just a few in my bowl,)" Mamoswine said.

"(Sure!)"

Glad for the distraction, Pikachu glanced up, watching Buneary sprinkle a tiny amount of candy flakes into Mamoswine's gigantic bowl. Surely, with the bowl being so much bigger than everyone's else's - due to Mamoswine's mammoth appetite - the flavour would get a bit lost in there, but whatever suited him.

"(Anyone else?)" Buneary asked, hopping into the middle of the group.

"(None for me, thanks,)" Staraptor replied.

"(Same,)" Buizel replied.

"(Yeah,)" Grotle replied, "(I prefer sweets after a meal.)"

"(... Maybe a little bit,)" Chimchar replied. "(Not too much, though.)"

"(Lots for me, please~!)" Gliscor replied.

"(And me~!)" Happiny replied.

"(And a little for me~!)" Sudowoodo replied.

"(Okie dokes~!)" Buneary said, hopping over to them. She stopped in front of Croagunk. "(What about you, Croagunk?)"

He looked up from his pellets to stare unblinkingly at her. The air was silent and awkward for a few moments.

"(... I'll take that as a no!)" Buneary said cheerfully, before hopping past him.

After she was done sprinkling candy flakes onto the pellets of everyone who'd wanted them, she gave the shaker back to Brock.

"Looks like they really liked your candy flakes!" Dawn said.

"No kidding," Ash added. "They were a total hit!"

Brock chuckled. "Maybe I really should make more, then," he replied. He smiled in exasperation. "Though I didn't think they'd put them on their pellets..."

Buneary hopped back over to her bowl. "(Hey, hey, let's all bunch up for a bit!)" she said excitedly. "(I wanna talk about the battle!)"

"(The one with Paul?)" Pikachu asked.

"(Yeah! That one!)" She shoved her bowl across the rocky ground, towards where the other group was sitting. "(Let's all sit together!)"

"(Uh, okay!)"

Standing up, he began to shove his bowl along the ground. He heard the others do the same behind him. He could even hear the loud scrape of Mamoswine's gigantic bowl.

He could only imagine what Buneary wanted to talk about, regarding the match...