Author's note: Hi there!

We have reached the penultimate chapter! Meaning that there's only one more after this! That's right! One more! It's been a long road, considering this was only going to be a one-shot at first, but here we are!

Please enjoy!

Chapter Five: Anxiety

Finally, they reached their destination. Once Drifblim touched down on the grass, Pikachu hopped off with a feeling of satisfaction. He was almost certain that Buneary would like this place, as it was one of his favourites. Not to mention, Buneary loved flowers and this zone had the most beautiful flowers of all.

He turned to his ride. "Thanks, Drifblim!" he said.

"No problem at all, Pikachu!" she replied.

Soon after, the second Drifblim touched down next to her, carrying Buneary. Pikachu's concern returned when he saw that she'd clenched her eyes shut and was shuddering slightly.

"Buneary? Are you okay?"

Her eyes snapped open. "Huh?" she asked. She glanced around, then heaved a sigh of relief. "Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine."

"Did you fall off at some point? Is that what's wrong?"

"N-No..."

"I can safely confirm that I never once dropped her, or even came close," the Drifblim that was holding her said.

"Oh..." he replied, observing her for a moment. Why did she look so scared? He didn't understand it. "Here, I'll help you down." He held out a paw.

"Thanks..." Buneary replied. She grabbed it and lifted herself down. He gently pulled on the other side to help and, soon enough, she was on the grass. She turned to her ride. "Th-Thanks for the ride, Drifblim."

"You're very welcome," the Drifblim replied. She tilted her head to one side. "Though perhaps you should consider taking a different route back to the Meeting Place?"

Buneary seemed to freeze for a second, then she gave a nervous laugh. "No, no, I'll be fine!"

"If you're sure."

"Yeah, I am!"

"Hey," Pikachu said, "if something's wrong, you can talk to me."

She turned to him. For a second, she seemed like she was about to say something, then she shook her head and smiled. "Don't worry about it, okay? I'm fine."

"Well... alright..." He wasn't convinced, but he'd go along with it for now. He grabbed her paw. "Come on, I'll show you around."

"Okay!" They turned around and began to walk. "Oh, wow..."

Before them was an open field, dotted with ancient pillars of unknown origin, and, behind those pillars, the sun was peeking out over the distant horizon. A Dragonite casually flew past, above their heads.

"It's pretty, isn't it?"

"Yeah..." Buneary turned her head to the right. "Wow..."

Pikachu followed her line of vision and saw the familiar dip in the landscape that led to the Granite Zone. "Your sister lives down that way."

"She does, huh?"

He chuckled at how big of a trance she seemed to have fallen into. "Yeah. Hey, lemme show you the flowers!"

"Ooh, yes, please!"

He walked her around the pillars and towards where the patch of flowers were. On the way, they passed Teddiursa, who was playfully chasing Cyndaquil. Smiling at how cute it looked, they continued onwards until they reached the flowers.

"Here we are."

"Ooh!" She let go of his paw and hopped around excitedly, observing the petals that were floating in the wind around her. "Wow... so pretty..." She looked around on the grass. "And so many flowers!" She plucked one and smelled it. "Hey, it's the same flower that grows in the Meadow Zone! Except..." She looked around again. "There's so many of them here..."

"That's right," Shaymin said.

Buneary turned in surprise, dropping the flower. "Huh?" She paused a moment, then her eyes started sparkling. "Shaymin? The legendary Shaymin?"

Shaymin giggled. "That's me! Although, you make it sound like I was the savior of the PokePark." She winked at Pikachu, who immediately blushed.

Buneary also giggled. "Yeah, I guess so... but still!"

"I'm much like Mew, in that I prefer not to be thought of as particularly special. I like to blend in with regular Pokemon."

"That's so cool!"

Pikachu felt himself getting angry again. "We're on a date, actually," he blurted out.

Buneary blushed, giggling again. "Pikachu!"

"Oh, is that so?" Shaymin asked. "Well, then, don't let me get in the way." She beamed. "Enjoy your date!"

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, suddenly feeling stupid for getting angry. "Thanks," he replied.

"Oh, what's that?" Buneary cried, hopping closer to something that was near Shaymin.

"Oh, that?" Shaymin replied. "That's a Gracidea Flower."

"It's beautiful... The most beautiful flower I've ever seen..."

"These flowers are very rare in the PokePark. I need them to turn into my Sky Forme."

"Huh?" Buneary was still staring at the flower.

Shaymin chuckled. "Just please don't pick it."

"Oh... Oh!" Buneary shook herself out of it. "Of course not!" She paused a second. "Oh, right! The date!" She turned to Pikachu. "Pikachu, can you show me around some more?"

"Sure thing!" He walked over and took her paw again, leading her away from Shaymin.

He continued to lead her through several stone arches and towards what he hoped would be the pinnacle of the date.

"Oh, wow! Is that a Rayquaza?"

Pikachu glanced off to the side to see Rayquaza talking to Dragonite. "Yeah, it is. He runs an attraction over there."

"Really? Wow. Gosh, I'm meeting so many legendaries today!"

"Yeah..." He changed directions slightly.

They'd almost reached the cliff edge, where he would finally get to show Buneary the second most amazing thing about the Flower Zone. He could hardly wait.

"Lightning Strike!" Lucario said, striding up to them. They stopped and turned to him. "It has been a while. I wish to play chase with you."

Pikachu sighed in resignation, about to let go of Buneary's paw and accept the offer, but he felt Buneary's grip tighten. He looked at her in surprise.

"Sorry, but he's on a date right now~!" she replied with a wink. "How about some other time?"

Pikachu looked back at Lucario. Lucario blinked, blinked again, then nodded. "I see. I wouldn't wish to disturb your date, Lightning Strike, so perhaps we shall play chase another time." He walked away.

Pikachu turned back to gaze in amazement at his mate. She merely giggled and pulled him along. He felt himself beaming as he walked beside her.

After a short while longer, they eventually exited the string of arches and approached the side of the cliff.

"Careful here, Buneary," he said.

"Okay." They stood on the edge, looking out over the highest point of the PokePark at the sun shining over the clouds. "Wow... it's... beautiful..."

"Yeah, isn't it?"

"I've never seen anything like it..."

He blushed in pure happiness and they fell into a comfortable silence, the two of them simply standing paw-in-paw, while looking over the horizon.

"... Thanks for saying 'yes', Buneary."

She turned and beamed at him, also blushing. "You're welcome... and thanks for taking me to such amazing places... Pikachu." She let go of his paw and hugged him, gently snuggling into his fur.

His blush deepened. "You're welcome, Buneary." After a moment, she giggled. The giggling continued for a while before he got confused. "What's wrong?"

She pulled away, fidgeting with the fur around her waist. "I think I'm crushing on you already."

His eyes widened. Had he been physically able to blush more, he would have. He also probably would have fainted from too much blood rushing to his brain.

After spending a while wandering around the Flower Zone – with Buneary continuously keeping the other Pokemon at bay – the couple were back at the patch of flowers and had made a game out of trying to catch the floating petals.

Pikachu laughed. "Almost!" he said. He jumped up and tried grabbing some, but missed again.

Buneary also laughed. "I nearly had one that time!" she said.

"Enjoying your date, Lightning Strike?" Bellossom asked.

Pikachu stopped jumping around to smile at her. "Yeah, thanks!" he replied. "It's been a lot of fun!"

"Sure has!" Buneary added.

Bellossom smiled. "That's great." She paused. "You know, watching you two reminds me of the bouquet you made me a while back!"

Pikachu paused, his eyes widening in horror. "Um..." He glanced at Buneary, who seemed to be confused.

"Bouquet?" she asked.

"Oh, yes!" Bellossom replied. "He made me a bouquet out of the Flower Zone flowers to become my friend! It was so sweet of him!"

Buneary turned to Pikachu, a slightly suspicious look on her face. "Pikachu?"

Panicking at what she could possibly make of this, he thought of something to say. "Well, um... you see... the thing is..." It was no use! His brain was malfunctioning!

"The thing is, what?"

"Uh..."

He glanced around for something to help him and immediately spotted Meditite nearby. Not even thinking straight, he quickly dashed over on his hind legs and grabbed Meditite by the arm.

"Wah!" Meditite yelped. Upon seeing him, he calmed down. "Oh... it's just you, Lightning Strike."

"Meditite~! Buddy~!" He dragged Meditite over to Buneary and Bellossom. "How about a quiz?"

Meditite blinked at him, then his face lit up in a smile. "Alright, sure! You ready?"

"Ready and waiting!"

"Okay, first question! What three things were you told to collect in the Granite Zone?"

"Um..." His brain would probably work better if he couldn't feel Buneary's eyes boring into the back of his head. "Uh, passwo- I mean, secret words!"

"Correct! Second question! Which of the following Pokemon is tallest? Um... lemme think... Munchlax... Meditite... or... Drifblim?"

He thought about that one for a second. "Drifblim!"

"Correct! Finally... third question! What place does the Pavilion Mirror show?"

How ironic that he'd get a question about this. "The Sky Pavilion!"

"Correct! You got all three right!"

"Yay."

"That was fun. Well, see you later!" Meditite walked away.

Pikachu slowly turned to face Buneary. She was staring at him, an incredulous look on her face. It was as if she wasn't sure whether to find the situation annoying or amusing.

"Um, Pikachu?" she asked.

"Y-Yeah?" he replied.

"What was that all about? Are... you not telling me something?"

Bellossom giggled. "Oh, the poor thing looks so flustered!" she said. "I guess I caused a bit of a stir with what I said. I probably shouldn't have mentioned bouquets in front of his mate." She smiled sadly. "I'm very sorry."

Buneary blinked at her in surprise. "Hmm?"

"I'll... leave you two alone." She quickly shuffled off.

Buneary turned back to Pikachu. "Pikachu? I... thought those flowers were only for me..."

"Th-They were!" he cried. "I just..." He stared at his foot as he awkwardly scuffed it on the grass. "Bellossom loves flowers... and she really helped me out with getting to the Sky Pavilion... so I made her a bouquet as thanks." He looked up quickly. "But it didn't mean anything! I swear!" His ears drooped. "I've only ever liked you that way..."

Her face relaxed. "You mean it?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I really really like you, Buneary... and no one else." His felt his face getting hot again. Man, he'd really have to find a way to control his blood pressure. This was getting ridiculous.

She gave him a warm smile, then giggled. "You're such a dork, you know that?"

He felt slightly offended by that remark. "Wha-?"

"All you had to do was say that from the start. The more panicky you got, the more things looked weird. Don't you trust me to trust you?"

He blinked, trying to process that question. Once he did, he smiled bashfully. "Well... I guess I should, really... I just, you know... I only just got you... I don't wanna lose you so fast."

She giggled again. "You won't, you big dork." She shuffled over and hugged him again. "Just so long as you keep trusting that I'll trust you."

He chuckled. "Alright, alright..." He could really get used to her hugging him. "So, do you wanna continue with our date?"

"Sure thing, Lightning Dork."

"Heyyyy..."

She giggled again. "Kidding, kidding. Of course I do, Pikachu."

"Alright."

She pulled away. "... And we'll start with this!" She gave him a quick shove.

Unprepared for this, he lost his balance. "Wahhh!" He fell over and landed on his back amongst the flowers.

She giggled again, then turned around and gently lay on her back beside him. "Wow, the Flower Zone looks just as pretty from down here!"

He felt mildly annoyed at her for a second, then laughed it off. Observing the bright blue sky and the mass of dancing pink petals above his head, he realising that he'd never viewed the zone from this angle before. "Yeah, it does." He folded his arms behind his head and glanced sideways at Buneary. "It really does."