Chapter 4: Sweet Punch


Pikachu continued to give Buneary's apparent father a strange look as the man praised Buneary's dress.

The mouse was very confused. He could kind of see the resemblance between the two of them, but… well, just what the heck was her father?

He wasn't a lopunny, that much was for certain. Those pokémon were slender, had arms, and their ears couldn't function as operable limbs anymore, as far as he could tell. Her father had black 'eye-whites', just like a lopunny, but he lacked their unique red-ish, pink-ish irises.

For a moment, he wondered if it was just some sort of strange branching evolution, like the ones that kirlias had. Still… he didn't know. Why would they evolve into a flipping dog of all things?

Oh… then again, he had heard tales of a rabbit pokémon from some place called Kalos. Apparently, they evolved into a large… um, unique-looking rabbit creature with huge ear-arms. That said, it still didn't add up. He'd heard that they were mostly gray, and still kept their regular arms. This guy was almost entirely brown, and his normal arms were non-existent. Besides, again, he was a dog. Rabbits don't just become canines for no reason, do they? Not unless they were some kind of weird, chimera monstrosity from the island Pikachu's friend, Lucas, came from, or something.

It was so confusing. Clearly, Buneary's rabbit-y qualities were from her mother's side of the family. Whoever that was.

"So… where's yer lil' boyfriend, then?" the huge dog in question asked, taking his attention away from Buneary to look around.

Pikachu shook his head to clear away his thoughts and smiled. "[Um, hey, there! That would be me!]" he called back, waving and walking closer.

The dog gave a hearty laugh upon seeing him. "There's the lil' sparky, himself!" Once close enough, the dog grabbed him in a one-ear-armed hug. A very tight one-ear-armed hug. "Howdy, there, pardner!" He ruffled the fur on Pikachu's head with his other ear-arm. "So pleased to meet'cha at long last!"

"[Agh… the pleasure's… all mine…]" Pikachu wheezed, growing faint from the lack of oxygen, and feeling like his skeleton was about to pop out of his body.

"[Daddy, no! Muscles!]" Buneary scolded.

"Ah, whoops!" the dog said, letting go of him and allowing him to flop to the floor. "Ah'm always fergettin' mah own strength. Sorry, kiddo."

Wheezing, Pikachu slowly picked himself off the ground. After checking his suit for creases, Pikachu offered him an exasperated smile. "[Eheh, that's alright. Good to know you're so, um… friendly.]"

Buneary's father laughed again. "Wow, it ain't often I hear that one! Mah lil' bronto burt told me you were handsome, but polite, too? She weren't kiddin' when she called ya the best catch in the whole world." He briefly eyed Pikachu up. "Man, ya even dress good, too!"

Pikachu gave a slight amused huff. Trust Buneary to say something corny like that. "[Heh, well, thanks,]" he replied.

"[Hee! Glad to see ya both gettin' along so well!]" Buneary chimed, straightening out her green dress.

He and the dog happily agreed with her.

… Then it occurred to Pikachu. He didn't even know the guy's name! Ughh, his first mess-up. So far, so freaking good…

Oh well. It was an easily fixed problem. "[So, um… what was your name again, sorry?]" he asked.

Buneary's father smacked an ear-arm against his own side. "Gosh darn it all, where's mah manners? Ah knew Ah'd forget somethin'!"

"[H-Hey, that's alright!]" Pikachu replied, holding his paws up in a comforting manner. "[I didn't exactly tell you mine, either.]" He huffed in amusement "[I'm sure you've heard it plenty of times, though, huh?]"

The dog nodded, laughing again. "Well, 'sides from you sayin' it all the time, Ah'd reckon so. Ah've been hearin' loads of tales from mah little bun."

Pikachu shot Buneary an amused glance, which she playfully shrugged at.

"Anyways…" her father continued, "name's Box Boxer! The boxin' boxer from Jam Jungle!"

Pikachu's ears pricked. Box Boxer? Where had he heard that name before…? And where the heck was Jam Jungle?

Buneary giggled and rolled her eyes. "[Yer such a show-off, Daddy!]"

Box Boxer blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "Hah, well, it ain't often Ah get to toot mah own horn like this, so y'know…"

Brushing aside his thoughts, Pikachu chuckled and politely held a paw out. "[Oh, well, nice to meet ya, Box Boxer! Um… Mister Box Boxer.]"

The dog grabbed hold of his paw with an ear-arm. The mouse was taken aback by how freakishly huge Box Boxer's 'hand' was, compared to his. He yelped when the dog gave it a brief but aggressively firm shake. Aghh!

"Feelin's mutual!" Box Boxer chimed.

Letting go, Pikachu massaged his aching arm as it hung limply by his side. Dear lord, if the man had shaken any harder, his arm would have come clean off. "[Oh, c-cool…!]" he said, smiling as best he could.

The dog grinned. "And no need to be so formal, son! Just call me Boxer, or somethin' along them lines."

Moving his arm around to relieve the aching, Pikachu nodded. "[Duly noted, Boxer!]"

He heard Buneary make a happy noise.

"Say… the journey was a mite long, so… ya got anythin' to snack on?"

"[Um, oh, of course!]" He gestured towards the picnic by the tree. "[Dad's… er, that is, my dad, said he's gonna be late, so we can just help ourselves 'till he comes.]"

Box Boxer's eyes brightened. As much as they could, anyway, considering. "Ahh, don't mind if Ah do!" He quickly made his way over to the picnic. An impressive feat, considering he didn't seem to have any legs.

"[So far, so good!]" Buneary chimed. "[I think Daddy really likes ya!]"

"[Yeah…]" Pikachu replied, taking a breath. He rubbed the back of his head. "[Umm…]"

She gave him a curious look. "[What's up?]"

He shook his head and paws defensively. "[Oh, er, n-nothin'!]"

She put her paws to her hips. "[Now, Pikachu. I'd know that look anywhere. Somethin's worryin' ya, ain't it?]"

Pikachu paused. "[… Huh. And suddenly, I know where you got your cute accent from.]"

She blushed. "[Oh, um… heehee, yeah. Maybe Daddy had a hand in that. Or maybe an ear.]"

He chuckled. "[I hear ya.]"

She groaned and smirked. Shaking her head, she lightly frowned at him. "[Anyway, that doesn't answer my question, mister!]"

Pikachu exhaled. "[Yeah, um… it's just… I dunno.]" He looked off in Box Boxer's direction. He seemed to be eating a load of tomatoes. "[What… is your dear ol' dad, anyway? Like, what species?]"

Her frown disappeared. "[Ohh, I get ya. He's a dog.]"

Pikachu blinked. "[… Er, eheh, well, ya got me there! But… what pokémon is he?]"

She tilted her head. "[Huh? Well… he isn't.]"

They stared at each other. Pikachu's expression somehow felt blanker than hers.

"[… He isn't?]" he asked.

"[Not at all,]" she responded. "[Don't ya remember? I told ya a while back.]"

… She did? He quickly tried to strain his brain to remember.

"[I… think I was tryin' to learn how to punch better, back when I told ya, if that helps,]" she continued.

Punching better? Hmm… oh yeah, that was it! That one time, while Buneary was still relatively new to the Smash World…


"C'mon, you're almost there!" Captain Falcon yelled encouragingly. "Just remember what I said about crouching and putting your whole shoulder into it."

Panting, Buneary huffed in amusement. "[Hard to when my fists're all the way up on my head!]" she replied.

The racer clicked his tongue. "You call that an excuse?" he retorted, briefly readjusting his red helmet with a gloved hand. "Just try it however works best and you'll see the results!"

She wiped some sweat from her forehead and nodded. "[Well, if'n ya say so!]" She got back into position, facing the white sandbag with eyes in front of her.

Sitting on top of Donkey Kong's furry shoulder, Pikachu watched with intrigue. Man, Buneary was so eager to learn stuff from the other smashers. It was kind of admirable!

"(Jeez, Donkey don't get any of this…)" Donkey Kong - or DK, as everyone called him - said, looking confused. "(How can you make punching so complicated? All you gotta do is throw your fist and hit stuff!)"

Pikachu chuckled. "[That's only fine with freakishly huge muscles like yours, DK,]" he replied. "[Us weaker guys have to actually think about our punches!]"

Diddy Kong, Donkey Kong's chimp friend, giggled from DK's other shoulder. "(Yeah! No one can say they've ever punched the moon outta orbit like you, before!)" he said, his red cap sliding about on his head as he chuckled.

Grinning, the bigger monkey shrugged exaggeratedly. "(Well, you got Donkey there!)" he said proudly.

Readjusting himself on the ape's shoulder after the shrug, Pikachu's eyes widened. "[… What!? The moon!? Who are you, freaking Skull Kid!?]" he cried in surprise.

"(… Skull who?)" DK mumbled.

"(It's that guy that tried to kill Young Link's world with the moon, big buddy!)" Diddy Kong replied.

"(Huh… okay. Weird.)"

"[You're calling that weird?]" Pikachu asked in disbelief. "[At least that involved magic and not just punching the frickin' moon!]"

"(… Donkey don't see the problem,)" DK responded, pulling his red tie up.

Pikachu sighed lightly, half in amusement and half in exasperation. Mario characters, man…

Refocusing his attention on Captain Falcon's and Buneary's training session, Pikachu saw Buneary deliver another intense punch to the sandbag with one of her ears. It was sent a fair distance across the grassy ground.

He gave her an impressed glance. She was doing pretty impressive for a regular punch not fueled by any pokémon moves. He could only imagine what would happen if she used Dizzy Punch at the same time, or something.

"Yeaaah, you're getting it!" Captain Falcon yelled hot-bloodedly, throwing the sandbag back to her. "Now… feel the power and determination flowing through your veins, and go for it!"

"[Right… Okay!]" she responded, pumping a fist. Crouching, she pulled her head back, as if charging something up. After some focusing, she shouted, "[Rabbiiit…]" Her ear lit up in a fiery aura, surprising Pikachu, "[… Puuunch!]" She swung her head forwards and punched with her ear. A small explosion rang out, sending the sandbag flying and knocking Buneary onto her fluffy butt.

"[O-Oh, jeez, what the what!?]" Buneary yelped, staring at the sandbag she'd just launched.

Smirking proudly, Captain Falcon pumped a fist in the air. "Yes! Good work! You're on the way to becoming as great as me!" he said happily.

Pikachu and Diddy cheered for the rabbit. Wow! After just a few hours, she'd been able to do her own Falcon Punch! Either Falcon was the best teacher of all time, or that Buneary was something else. Maybe a bit of both.

The rabbit blushed brightly and bashfully pulled her fluff up to her face. "[Oh, g-gosh… thanks, everyone!]" she called out. "[And an extra special big thanks to you, Captain!]"

"Hah! Think nothing of it, Buneary. I'm always happy to help out a fan," Captain Falcon replied, giving her a quick, cheeky salute.

She kicked her feet excitedly. "[Ooh, I'm real honored~!]"

Jumping off DK's shoulder, Pikachu ran over to her, smiling brightly. "[How're you feeling, now that you got the official Falcon seal of approval?]" he asked.

"(Bet it sure feels good, huh?)" Diddy asked, following behind him.

"[Hee, sure does, boys~]" she replied, getting to her feet. "[Never thought I had it in me… but lookie at me, now!]"

"[Yeah, you were awesome!]" Pikachu replied. "[Jeez, was your dad a hitmonchan, or something?]"

"[Teehee, naww, ya flatterer! My daddy's a dog, actually.]"

Huh… a dog pokémon? How curious.

Before he could dig for more info, DK hummed in confusion. Looking behind him, Pikachu saw the ape scratching the top of his head with a finger. "(But… you're no dog! Donkey thought you were a rabbit!)" he asked.

"[Oh, pokémon are a bit weird with that,]" Pikachu replied. "[We have egg groups, so if we're compatible with each other, then we can make ourselves some kids. Even if we're… I dunno, penguins and squirrels, or fairies and balloons. Or, more appropriately, dogs and rabbits.]"

"(… Huuuh!? Alright, now Donkey's all confused,)" the ape replied, shrugging heavily.

Buneary chuckled. "[Don't worry yerself none, big guy,]" she said.

"(Donkey'd better not…)" he replied. He shrugged again and gave her a thumbs up. "(Anyway, nice punch! Won't be long 'till you better than Falcon!)" He grinned cheekily. "(… Not that Donkey's saying much.)"

"Hey, what was that?" Falcon asked, sounding annoyed. However, his helmet made reading his expression hard.

"(Donkey's punches make yours look like sissy slaps, that's what!)"

Falcon's lips curled downwards. He jumped into the air while doing a sideways flip, and did some kind of superhero pose in front of DK upon landing. "If that's how you feel… then come on! I'll show you my power in a one on one battle! No items, Yoshi's Story!"

Pikachu noticed that Diddy and Buneary had a hand or paw over their mouths, as if trying to hold back laughter. He didn't blame them. In Falcon's universe, doing large, over the top gesticulations was a normal thing. However, they weren't in his world right now, no matter how many times Pikachu told the racer this. It had caused many gut busters, back when Pikachu had first come to this world, but he was kind of used to it now, sadly.

"(You got it, Captain Lady Slaps!)" DK responded, vigorously pounding his own chest in a sign of power.

Huffing, Falcon pulled out his gun and, after twirling it a few times, fired a laser towards the sandbag. It missed, but it blew up the ground behind it, sending the sandbag flying towards him.

While it came closer, the racer held back his fist. It shook ferociously as flames began to envelop it. "Falcon…!" he started. When the sandbag was right in front of him, he threw an incredible punch, his fist enveloped in a huge, falcon-shaped flame. "PUUUUUNCH!"

He hit the sandbag with enough devastating force to send it sailing a great distance across the huge park. It kept going, even as it smacked into Wario in the distance, sending him flying just as far.

After chuckling at Wario's little predicament, Pikachu whistled in admiration. "[Getting good, Falcon!]" he called out.

"(Haha, what a show off!)" Diddy added, hopping from foot to foot.

"[Wow…]" Buneary said, looking starry-eyed. "[So freakin' cool~!]"

Holstering his gun with a twirl, Falcon said nothing to them, but he smirked smugly.

Sitting on the ground, DK aloofedly cleaned one of his ears with a finger. "(Ehhh, Donkey could still do better,)" he said, flicking his finger.

Falcon grit his teeth in annoyance. "We'll see about that…!" he retorted. He thrust his arm forwards and did a come hither gesture at the ape. "Come on… show me your moves!"

Grinning, DK produced a smash coin in preparation for their match. "Okay! (Get ready for Donkey's Banana Slamma!)" he yelled, punching the ground to push himself to his feet. He left a tiny crater in place as a result.

"[Oh for frick's sake… he actually referenced his cartoon show,]" Pikachu mumbled in exasperation.

"(Knew we shoulda kept it away from him~)" Diddy joked with a giggle.

"[No kidding.]"

"(Ah, welp… still better than the show they made about you!)"

"[Don't remind me…]" Pikachu muttered, rolling his eyes.

"[Huh, what do ya mean?]" Buneary asked. "[Pikachu just started showing me, and I think it's a real cool lil' show!]"

"[Like I said before… just you wait 'till it gets to Hoenn. Well… the Battle… something, Kanto-revisit, whatever. And I don't even wanna know what Sinnoh will be like in the thing.]"

"[You're exaggeratin'!]"

"[Heh. Only in my wildest dreams…]"

"(Drama queen!)" Diddy replied. "(Anyways, whatever. While those two're dueling it out, let's go pull a prank on someone!)"

Pikachu quickly glanced at Falcon and DK getting ready to square off. They both had their smash coins near each other in a big glowing ring on the ground, which they seemed about ready to step into.

"[Aww, but what about the match, though?]" Pikachu asked.

"(Just catch it on a replay later, c'moooon!)" Diddy pestered, grabbing them both by the paws and dragging them away.

"[Guess we don't get to say no…!]" Buneary mumbled amusedly.

Pikachu sighed in defeat. "[Alright, fine… but not Falco this time. I don't feel like running away while he shoots at us with his Arwing again.]"

"(Lucario it is, then~!)" Diddy chimed. "(Heck, maybe even Mewtwo, while we're at it!)"

"[We're going to die…]" Pikachu groaned, getting a giggle out of Buneary.

The three of them walked across the park for a while. Eventually, Buneary spoke.

"[Gosh, that Captain Falcon, though…]" she started, "[he makes my punches look like a baby magikarp's Splash.]"

"[Hey, you say that when you freaking copied it!]" Pikachu replied to Buneary reassuringly. "[You're more like a… I dunno, a... um…]"

"(A zinger versus that Ridley guy!)" Diddy completed.

Pikachu clicked his fingers. "[Heh, yeah, I guess so! Not quite a giant space dragon jerk thing, but still a bee covered in spikes! I wouldn't mess with it!]"

"(Same, same!)"

"[Hehe, d'aww, you boys flatter me~]" she chimed bashfully.

"(I don't think so! The only girl I ever flatter is my girl, Dixie!)"

"[Haha, he's right!]" Pikachu added.

Buneary gave a happy hum. "[Gosh, in that case, I can only imagine the sorta stuff she gets to hear!]"

Pikachu chuckled. He paused when something occurred to him. While they were on the topic of Buneary's punches, he remembered something he'd wanted to ask before he'd been interrupted. "[Oh yeah, Buneary?]"

"[Uh-huh?]" she asked, looking at him.

"[Well… when you said your dad was a dog… what kind did you mean, exactly?]"

"[Huh?]"

"(You mean what breed?)" Diddy asked.

Pikachu shook his head. "[No, not a Nintendog dog. I mean… like, was he a growlithe, or a houndoom, or…?]"

"[Oh, well, I dunno about breeds or anythin' like that…]" Buneary started, "[but he's a big ol', tough as nails dog! The roughest and toughest of the bunch!]"

"[Oh, so… a fighting dog, like Lucario?]"

"[Kinda… He's big and brown and has a very mean face… but his heart's pure gold!]"

"[… Ohhh! Right, right, so kind of like a granbull, then? A shiny one?]" It made sense. After all, those were scary-looking dogs with a nervous disposition. Usually, anyway. It was a perfect fit!

Buneary nodded. "[Eeyup! Exactly~!]"

"(That's all gobbledygook to me, but alright!)" Diddy replied.

"[Well, basically, all you need to know is that her old man is a special dog,]" Pikachu replied.

"[A big ol' muscular one, at that!]" Buneary added.

"('Kay! Neat!)" Diddy replied. He gasped loudly and let go of their paws to face them. He looked really excited. "(Oooh, y'know, that just helped me come up with a prank! You learned that punch move, yeah?)"

"[Yeah?]" she asked.

"(Well… we should dress you up as Captain Falcon and pretend that you're him, but you shrank! We'll convince 'em with the punch!)"

Buneary blinked. "[Huh? Ya call that a prank?]"

"[Yeah, that's pretty lame, Diddy,]" Pikachu snarked. "[They'll realize it's Buneary in seconds. We don't have many people here shaped like rabbits, do we?]"

"[Yeah! And I can't exactly stop sayin' my name, can I?]"

"[And what about her huge as heck ears?]"

"(Bah! Easy solution to all'a that!)" Diddy retorted. "(We'll make an extra good costume, and we'll just make the helmet bigger and more spacey! Oh, and just don't talk. Falcon's usually all cool and… like… 'I don't care 'bout anything', anyway, so they'll buy it!)"

Pikachu and Buneary sighed in amusement.

"[… Alright, I'm in,]" Pikachu replied.

"[Me too,]" Buneary agreed. She grinned brightly. "[Let's go get some Falcon gear!]"

"(Heck yeah!)" Diddy chimed, standing on a hand and clapping excitedly with his feet.

Buneary responded with an energetic cheer. Pikachu, however, just huffed out of his nose.

"[… We're so getting Falcon Punched later on,]" he mumbled to himself as he followed the others.


Having been trying to remember for twenty seconds or so, Pikachu's mouth widened as it all came back to him. Yeah, right, right. He'd forgotten all about that. Especially the part about her dad being a dog in the first place… but he remembered it all, now!

But… it had been such an offhand comment, though. It hadn't occurred to him to keep digging for info past the 'he's like a granbull' part…

"[Ooh, ya look like ya remembered!]" she said happily.

"[Y-Yeah, I do…]" he replied. "[Huh… always, um… thought you meant he's a pokémon dog or something, though.]"

She blinked. "[You did? Really?]"

"[Yeah.]"

"[… Have we really never talked about our families again since then?]"

"[I… guess not.]" He paused. "[… Is he… really just a dog dog?]"

"[They don't come any doggier!]"

He pulled a perturbed face. "[… Huh…]"

He was about to make a small quip, but he stopped when he noticed her lips quivering the slightest amount. "[Th-That ain't a problem, though, is it?]" she asked.

He gasped quietly and frantically shook his head. "[No! No, no, i-it's fine! I was just curious, y'know?]"

She inhaled and paused. After collecting herself, she looked at him hopefully. "[Yeah?]"

He smiled softly. "[Yeah. Besides, my dad's a way stranger case.]"

She wiped at her eyes while giggling lightly. "[That so?]"

He nodded. "[Can't wait to see the weird look on your face when you see him. There's a reason I never brought him up, much! Eheh…]" He gestured towards the picnic. "[Anyways, why don't we join your dad? I'd love to talk to him!]"

She nodded back, smiling. "[Yeah! Good idea.]"

Nodding back, he gently gripped her paw and began walking over to the picnic blanket with her in tow.

He tried to smile, but his worry was threatening to make a return. Oh dear, he didn't think she'd make such a fuss about his thoughts on Box Boxer's species…

That said, she was most likely just as stressed as he was. It was a little uncharacteristic of her, but this was about their fathers, after all. It was almost like a matter of life or death! A slip up would mean indescribably bad things for the family! So he could understand if she was in a bit of an odd mood right now.

Huffing out of his nose, he looked out on the horizon, watching the expansive ocean beyond the hills in the distance. So yeah… it'd be best to keep his mouth shut about any species questions he had. At least, for now.


TO BE CONTINUED!


Finished:

Older stuff - 27/11 (November)/2016

'Falcon Punch flashback' stuff - 03/10 (October)/2018

Word count: 3,798

Older title: Ponderings Aplenty

VGS2's pointless notes: (Falcon) Kick! (Falcon) Punch! It's all in the mind! [Etc…]

Either way, what a mystery! So he's not a pokeyman!? O,o How strange… what could he be, then!? Only one way to find out…! :P

Character highlight: Captain Falcon (from F-Zero) - A bounty hunter from Port Town, an intergalactic trades center. Aside from capturing dangerous criminals - such as Black Shadow and Falcon's evil clone, Blood Falcon - he is well known for his constant participation in the F-Zero Grand Prix. A life-threatening, high speed racing tournament in which participants from all over the galaxy attend.

He is very secretive, so not much is known about the captain outside of his two day jobs. The only thing that most know is that he is number #1 in everything he does!

Fun mistake of the day #1: 'He ruffled the fur on Pikachu's head the other ear-arm.'

(Oh god, is Pikachu growing ear-arms out of his head, too? I wonder if that'll make Buneary like him more.)

#2: "[At least that involved bagic]"

(What the heck is that? Badger magic?)

#3: 'He gave her an impressive glance. She was doing pretty impressive for a regular punch not fueled by any pokémon moves.'

(Her punch wasn't as impressive as the look he gave her, however!)

#4: "He thrust his arm forwards and did a comet hither gesture"

(The heck does a comet hither gesture look like!? Sounds rad, either way.)

#5: [They'll realize it's Buneary in seconds. We don't have may]"

(Pikachu comes to a shocking, life-changing epiphany after Hoenn ends.)

#6: "[Is he… really just a dog, dog?]"

(He sure is, dawg!)

#7: 'Gently gripping her hand, he walked over to the picnic table with her in tow.'

(Buneary apparently grew a hand! I imagine some fingers bursting out of her paw in a disturbing fashion. … Wait, and where the frick did the table come from!? O,o)

Welp, that's all for now, brohas! Tata for now! c: