Author's note: Well, it seems I was wrong yet again! XD This thing was, once again, too long, so it's now a three-parter! Hope you enjoy it! Maybe it'll extend again! Who knows at this point?

Chapter Two: Timidity

"You like the Meadow Zone Buneary?" Chikorita asked, her ruby eyes glittering with excitement.

Pikachu rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah," he replied.

"Wow, that's great! You're now the first of us to get a crush in the PokePark!"

Pikachu chuckled. "Yeah, I guess so."

"You really are," Charmander added. "The rest of us haven't found anyone we like yet."

"So, are you gonna ask her out?" Chikorita asked.

"Well..." Pikachu replied, "that's kinda what I needed help with."

"Oh?"

"See," Charmander said, "this gal hasn't got a clue that he likes her, despite how... 'subtle' he's being." Pikachu blushed at the comment.

"Ohhh, I see! Well, I can help you with that!"

Pikachu felt hopeful. "You can?" he asked.

"Of course! I had plenty of crushes before coming to the PokePark!"

Charmander gave a light smirk. "Yeah, we know," he said.

"My advice is to not just tell her how you feel, but show her how you feel! Take her places she's never been! Tell her things she's never heard!"

Pikachu chuckled awkwardly. "A bit of a romantic, aren't we?" he asked.

Chikorita giggled. "Who, me? Nahhhh!" She paused. "Weeeell, maybe a little!"

"A lot," Charmander added.

"Whatever! All I'm saying is, whatever you do or say should come from the heart. You're an amazing guy, Pikachu... everyone in the PokePark thinks so... so I think she'd be thrilled to be your mate."

Pikachu nervously rubbed his arm. "Yeah?" he asked.

Chikorita nodded. "Yep!"

"... Thanks, Chikorita. I'll keep that in mind."

"And good luck asking her out! I just know she'll go for you!"

"I second that!" Charmander added.

"Thanks, you guys," Pikachu replied.

"Look out below!" Piplup called out.

The three of them looked up to see the Pikachu balloon, which was carrying Piplup, slowly drifting towards the ground. Once it landed, Piplup jumped out.

"Hey, Piplup!"

"Hi, Pikachu! Hi, guys! You'll never guess what I found!"

"What?" Chikorita asked.

"There's a whole other PokePark out there that we haven't explored yet!"

"Wow, really?" Charmander asked.

"Yeah! I was playing on Seasong Beach all day! It was awesome! I made friends with all sorts of Pokemon! Even an Oshawott!"

Pikachu glowed with excitement. "An Oshawott, huh?" he asked. "I just have to check that out!" He paused. "Oh, but I have something else to do first."

"Right!" Chikorita said. "Because, if you go to this other PokePark, you might not come back for a while!" She giggled. "We all know how much you love to explore!"

Pikachu chuckled. "Yeah."

"Huh?" Piplup asked. "You have other stuff to do? Like what?"

Pikachu grinned and scratched his head. "Um..."

Charmander and Chikorita looked at each other. "Do you wanna tell him, or should I?" Charmander asked.

"Not it!" Chikorita replied with a bright smile.

Charmander sighed. "Fine..."

The next day, Pikachu woke up inside his giant treehouse home. After doing some stretching and yawning, he plodded over to the balcony and sat down, looking out at the gorgeous view. After a while, Piplup came over and sat beside him.

"Morning, Pikachu!" he said.

"Morning, Piplup!" Pikachu replied.

Piplup scratched his head with his flipper. "So, did I dream it, or did you really say you have a crush yesterday?"

A light blush appeared on Pikachu's face. Jeez, he was blushing a lot lately. "Yeah, I said it."

"Wow... and on the Meadow Zone Buneary? Why her?"

Pikachu smiled fondly into the distance. "She's just... special to me."

"You mean she's not like all the other Pokemon in the PokePark?"

Pikachu laughed. "Of course not! She's playful and adorable and really sweet."

"If you say so." Piplup paused. "Man... it's so weird seeing you with a crush!"

Pikachu chuckled. "Yeah, I know... but there's just something about her."

"Well, if you're planning on making her your mate, then good luck!"

"Thanks, Piplup."

"And then you can come visit Seasong Beach with me! You can even bring her along!"

"Sounds fun!"

"When you go," Chikorita suddenly said from behind them, "be sure to tell us all about it!" They turned to see both her and Charmander standing there. "Okay?"

"Wait..." Piplup replied, "you're not going?"

"It does sound like fun, but I've grown really attached to the Meeting Place! It wouldn't feel right, leaving."

"Yeah," Charmander agreed, "same here. The Meeting Place is my home, now. Plus, exploring's not really my thing. I only go the Lava Zone, occasionally, and that's to talk to Blaziken."

"You too?" Piplup asked, looking upset.

"Hey, don't let that stop you, though!" Chikorita said. "We'll be right here when you get back!"

"Yeah!" Charmander added. "And we'll be looking forward to hearing your adventure stories!"

Piplup smiled. "Okay!" he replied. "Thanks, guys!" He chuckled. "Now, we just need for Pikachu to ask out that Buneary and we can head out."

Pikachu blushed again. "Yeah..." he replied.

Once again, Pikachu was in the Meadow Zone, making his way over to the area near Bulbasaur's attraction, where she always liked to hang out. When he arrived, he immediately saw her, sitting on the grass, smiling and bobbing her head from side to side, while humming a random tune to herself. She looked really adorable doing that.

"Hey, Buneary!" he called out, bounding over to her.

She turned to him. "Hmm?" she asked. "Oh, hey, Lightning Strike!"

"How's it going?"

"Good, thanks! And you?"

"Great!" He paused to awkwardly rub the back of his head. He noticed that she was still smiling.

"So, did you wanna play chase again?"

"Not today. I was wondering if... maybe you wanted to... hang out, or something?"

Buneary suddenly looked curious. "Hang out? Sure! What did you wanna do?"

Pikachu faltered. It would have probably helped if he'd had a plan. "Uh..." He chuckled sheepishly. "Well, I dunno. Maybe just go for a walk?" Real smooth... he thought.

"Okay, sure!" She jumped to her feet. "Lead the way!"

They'd been walking for a while, over bridges and past various Pokemon, and Pikachu still had no idea where he was taking Buneary. He was growing more nervous by the minute, wanting to do something impressive, but coming up with nothing. What was he going to do? Meanwhile, Buneary just seemed to be enjoying greeting any Pokemon she walked past, completely oblivious to his plight.

"So, um... Buneary..." he said.

"Yeah?" she asked, her smile never faltering.

"Um..." He felt himself blushing again. "Well..." Now what, genius? he thought.

"Hmm?"

"I... kinda wanted to know if you... Well, that is, if you wouldn't mind..."

She blinked. "What?"

"Hey there, Lightning Strike!" Torterra called out.

He turned to the grass/ground-type. "Oh, hey, Torterra," he replied.

"I'm feeling a little out of shape lately. How about a battle?"

"Well, I-"

"Ooh, a battle?" Buneary said excitedly. "I'd love to watch you two have a battle!" He looked at her to see her dark brown eyes sparkling. "I've always wanted to see the great Lightning Strike in action! I heard you're really good!"

He chuckled with slight embarrassment. "Yeah, well..."

"Come on, then!" Torterra said. "Let's battle!"

"Well, alright, then."

"Okay!" Torterra moved a couple of feet away and turned to face him. Pikachu got on all fours in preparation. "You ready?"

"Yup!" He paused. "Buneary, you'd better move back."

"Oops!" she replied. "Sorry!" She hopped back a few feet.

"Alright. Three... two… one... go!" He sped off in a circle around his opponent.

"Razor Leaf!" Torterra cried, firing off three rounds of leaves in quick succession.

Pikachu ran underneath the first round, then timed his movements perfectly and did a forward somersault over the other two, gradually closing the gap between them by running in smaller and smaller circles. Soon enough, he was close enough to attack.

"Iron Tail!" he cried, charging his tail with steel-type power and swinging it. It hit Torterra, who cried out in pain, and he quickly ran further away from the grass/ground-type.

"Earthquake!" Torterra stomped his front feet on the ground, but the area of effect didn't have enough range to reach him.

"Dash!" Pikachu dashed forwards and slammed into Torterra, stunning him for a moment, then made sure to keep his distance for when it wore off.

He'd gotten used to the strange new moves of the PokePark. They were certainly different from the ones back in the world he'd come from. Earthquake had barely any range and Dash was very similar to Quick Attack.

"Razor Leaf!"

Torterra fired off three more rounds of leaves and Pikachu continued his song and dance a few more times, jumping over the volleys, using Iron Tail when he got close and using Dash when there was an opening. Eventually, Torterra collapsed on the grass.

"Alright! I did it!"

"Way to go, Lightning Strike~!" Buneary called out, hopping over to him.

He rubbed the back of his head. "Heh, thanks!"

"Urgh..." Torterra grunted, pushing himself to his feet. "What a great battle! I feel rejuvenated! Thanks for that!"

"No problem."

"Well, see you later!" Torterra moved away.

"Yeah, see ya!"

"Wow," Buneary said, "you were incredible! Torterra's the toughest Pokemon in the Meadow Zone, but you took him down without even taking a hit! I knew you were good, but not that good!"

He blushed, chuckling awkwardly. "Well..."

She giggled. "Then again, you did save the PokePark from being destroyed, didn't you? So, I shouldn't be surprised."

Gosh, this was embarrassing, but oh-so flattering. "Yeah, I did..."

"And I heard you defeated Mew in battle! I thought it was just a rumour, but, now that I've seen you battle, I'm willing to bet it's true!"

He blushed harder. "Well, yeah... He challenged me to an obstacle hop, a battle and a game of chase."

Her eyes positively shone. "And you beat him at all three?"

"Yeah. It was how he let me be his friend... and the battle was really long. He didn't go easy on me at all."

"Wow, that is amazing!" She paused, then gasped. "Did you do it twice to become his best friend?"

He chuckled, his heart beating bruises into his ribcage. "Actually, yeah, I did."

"Wow... that is incredible!" She beamed, blushing slightly. The sight caught him off-guard. "You really are the most amazing guy ever!"

Hope dared to blossom inside him, yet again. "Yeah?"

"Yeah, of course!"

"... So, then... would you, maybe, consider... um..."

"Hmm?"

Oh, he wanted so badly to say it. "Um, well, I was wondering if you'd..."

"Oh!" Oddish called out, waddling over to him. "Oh! Lightning Strike! I was just looking for you! Do you wanna play hide-and-seek with me?"

"Um, not right-"

"Ooh, hide-and-seek!" Buneary replied. "Sounds fun!"

Pikachu heaved a sigh. "Sure..." This was going to be harder than he'd thought.