Pikachu went up to the crowd of Pokémon, he now knows what Pokémon are fighting: a Raticate and a Yungoos. All the other Pokémon were all cheering on. They're even betting on who's going to win.
Half the Pokémon were cheering for Raticate while the other half cheered for the Yungoos. As for Pikachu, he doesn't care who he's cheering for, he just wants to see an awesome battle.
During this, he sees Piplup, Dedenne, Bulbasaur, Chespin, Pancham, Oshawott, and Snivy were also watching the battle. Pikachu decided to go to them.
Piplup noticed Pikachu and waved his flipper. "Hey Pikachu!"
"Hey there guys!" Pikachu exclaimed. "So what causes this fight in the first place?"
"I think they were just challenging each other to see who can win the fight." Chespin then turns to Pancham. "What do you think, Pancham?"
"I think they were fighting over a female Pokémon." Pancham said.
Oshawott nodded with agreement. "Probably. I would've done the same if anyone tried to take Snivy away from me."
Snivy crosses her arms and gives Oshawott a look. "Take ME away from you?"
Oshawott immediately starts stuttering. "O-or you c-can challenge the o-one t-trying to take m-me away from y-you." Snivy gives him a kiss on the nose which not only calms him down but makes him smile. "Thanks, Snivy."
Snivy smiles. "You're welcome. That would be really sweet of you. Though I would've handled it myself when you get knocked out in a minute." Snivy laughed.
Everyone also laughed along. Even Oshawott laughed with them.
But then Dedenne thought of something. "Wait a minute!" He turned to Pikachu with a confused look. "Aren't you supposed to be with Buneary?" They all started to look at him. They're just as confused as he is.
"Oh yeah! You were supposed to be with that Buneary girl. Why aren't you?" Chespin question too.
Pancham nodded with agreement. "Yeah! Nothing bad happened between you two again right?"
"Oh, don't worry guys! After our dance we heard noises and other Pokémon gathering. Which was the battle right now. So I went to check out the battle and see it." Pikachu explained.
"But what about Buneary?" Piplup worriedly asked.
Pikachu explains again. "She said okay and let me go see the battle and she was cool with it. I even told her to stay and I'll be back."
Bulbasaur gives Pikachu a glaring look. "Did you really say that you'll come back?" Pikachu nodded. "Was Buneary really cool with it?" Pikachu nodded again. "But did she really say she was cool and okay with it?"
This made Pikachu stutter a bit. "Uh…well…I…uh yes?" He said nervously.
Piplup, Snivy, Oshawott, Dedenne, Bulbasaur Chespin, and Pancham start giving Pikachu a stern look. Especially Snivy, she had the most stern look on her face, even Oshawott would know that look.
"Pikachu…did Buneary really say anything about you going to see the battle?" Snivy stern.
Pikachu looks down, starts fiddling with his tail, and stutters again. "Well…you see…"
"WHERE IS THAT MOUSE?!"
That loud shout alerted them. They looked around to see who shouted. It was Pachirisu. She was angrily marching towards Pikachu. Buizel was following behind her, trying to stop.
"Pachi, wait up! I don't think there's any need for violence!" Buizel exclaimed. For someone who likes fighting, he sure doesn't want any fighting happening right now. Especially Pachirisu. He has never seen Pachirisu this angry before.
Pachirisu finally went up in front of Pikachu with an angry look on her face and carried a couple of green grapes with her. This makes Pikachu both nervous and scared at the same time. "Uhhh? Is there something wrong, Pachirisu?" He questioned nervously.
"Yes! Yes there is, Pikajerk!" Pachirisu said angrily. Her sudden shout made him flench. "We need to have a very serious talk!"
"Uhh okay? But can it wait until the battle ends?" He said as he turned back to see the fight. But suddenly Pachirisu grabbed Pikachu by the tail and started dragging him away.
"No! We have to talk right now!" Pachirisu said angrily while dragging Pikachu by the tail.
"Hey! Wait a minute!" Pikachu said as he's being dragged away.
They all have bewildered looks on their faces. They have never seen Pachirisu this angry at Pikachu before.
"What was that all about?" Piplup said.
Err...you'll see. Come on!" Buizel said as he and the others followed Pachirisu and Pikachu.
XXX
Pachirisu dragged Pikachu all the way outside, Pikachu was still confused on why he's being dragged outside, it's honestly quite embarrassing to be dragged by an electric squirrel. She stopped dragging him, made him stand behind a tree, and still looked at him with an angry brow.
"So…what do you want to talk to me about?" He said nervously.
The others finally catch up. They are just as confused on why Pachirisu is very ticked off. Though Chespin can't take her anger seriously mostly because of her makeup she's wearing. He thought she looked funny being angry with makeup.
"Yeah, what did you want to talk to Pikachu about? And why are you so ticked off?" Piplup said curiously.
"Oh I'll tell you why I'm so angry! HE abandoned his DATE! That's why I'm angry! And by DATE, I mean Buneary! And by abandoned, I mean he left her all by herself!"
They all looked at Pikachu in shock. This made Pikachu incredibly nervous at how everyone stares at him. "IS THIS TRUE, PIKACHU?!"
"Well…I…uh…I mean…not actually cause I did promise I will…"
"Tell them what happened NOW!" Pachirisu said angrily and threw a grape at him.
But the grape she threw, accidently hit Pikachu in the groin. "D'OOHHHH!" He held his groin and fell forward with his ears down, cringing from the pain.
Even everyone cringes at his pain.
"Was that really necessary Pachirisu?" Snivy said as she cringed at Pikachu's pain.
"Why…would you…do that?!" Pikachu exclaimed in pain while still holding his groin.
"Oops! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that to you, Pikachu! I guess I overreacted a bit." Pachirisu apologized and blushed faintly.
"I think you need to calm down for a bit." Buizel said nervously.
"Ouch! That looks like it hurts." Dedenne said as he cringed at Pikachu's pain.
"Man! Glad I don't ever get hit there." Bulbasaur said as he cringed at Pikachu's pain.
"Me too." Pancham agrees while also cringing.
"Me three. I don't think he'll be having kids after that." Chespin agrees and cringes too.
"Are you alright, Pikachu?" Piplup said, concerningly
"Yeah, are you okay?" Oshawott said, concerningly too.
Pikachu kept holding his groin and cringes in pain. "Y-yeah, I…I think so. I'll tell you guys after my pain goes away."
XXX
Back with the trainers, Iris sits at a table, waiting for Emolga to wake up. After Pansage took the drugged Emolga to Brock, Iris became worried for Emolga, even asking what happened. Though it didn't take them long to find the tranquilizer dart on Emolga. Brock has to check on Emolga to see if she's alright while Clemont examines the tranquilizer dart. Brock just finished checking on Emolga and said that she'll be waking up any moment.
Suddenly, Emolga starts to stern a bit and moves around for a bit. She slowly opened her eyes and slowly got up. She rubbed her head to soothe the pain away.
Iris noticed this and got up from chair quickly. "Emolga! You're awake! Are you alright?!"
Emolga cringed at how loud Iris talked. Her head was still hurting badly. "Emol emol mo lga, emo! Em emo emo molg! (Hey keep it down, Iris! My head still hurts!)" She cringed.
"Oh sorry Emolga." Iris apologizes. "But I'm glad you're alright."
Emolga kept rubbing her head to soothe the pain. "Em…em emolga mo olga? (What…what happened to me?)" Emolga said.
Iris explains everything that happened to her. She told her she was shot by a tranquilizer dart. Then tells her that Pansage dragged her here and they were worried, she was worried. Then told her that Brock had to check on her to see if she's alright. And finally, she told her that they noticed the dart behind her, Clemont examining the dart, and her worryingly waiting for her to wake up.
Ash and the others see Emolga up and awake. So everyone goes to Iris and Emolga.
"She's finally awake!" May exclaimed.
Emolga cringed again at how loud May talked. "Keep it down, May. Her head is hurting a lot." Iris warned her.
"Oh sorry, Iris. We were all just as worried as you were." May apologize.
"It's okay."
"Well I'm glad she's alright and awake." Ash sighed with relief. "I think we all head back home, let's go find our…"
"GUYS! GUYS! GUYS!"
Clemont came running in panic towards the others, still having the dart in his hands. They all turned to where he's coming. He made it to them and tried to catch his breath.
"Is there something wrong, Clemont?" Bonnie said to her brother.
"Yeah Clemont, what happened?" Serena said in worried.
"Well…when I was examining the dart Emolga was shot by. I noticed a symbol on it. It's a big letter. Look!" Clemont said in panic and showed his friends the dart.
They even have to come closer to look at it better. And when they see the letter symbol, that's when they know what letter it is.
XXX
Back outside with the other Pokémon. After Pikachu recovered from his pain, he then explains what actually happened between Buneary and him. He told them that he wanted to go see the battle and told Buneary that he'll return. Everyone has the same thought, what he did was so selfish.
"That's all what happened. I-I mean, I didn't d-do any harm and I'm sure Buneary is cool with it." Pikachu explained with a nervous voice.
Everyone gave Pikachu a disapproving look. Especially Pachirisu, she was still angry at him. Buizel shakes his head sideways at what Pikachu said.
"Actually she isn't cool with it, because me and Pachi saw her all alone and looked very upset, she even looks like she's about to cry. We asked her where you were and she said you left to go to the battle that was happening. Which led Pachi to get very angry and marched to you." Buizel said with a stern look. "What you did was probably the most selfish thing you've ever done."
This was making Pikachu feel bad about himself but tries to shake it off and defend himself. "I-I mean…I wouldn't…say what I-I d-did was selfish. You guys d-don't think what I did was s-selfish, right?" Even making him stutter a lot.
Everyone went silent and looked around nervously. They really don't want to answer that. This not only made Pikachu feel even more nervous but a little hurt as well.
"Pikachu…you shouldn't have left Buneary let that." Piplup said with disappointment.
"He's right, Pikachu. That was a very wrong thing to do." Oshawott agrees as well.
"This is probably the most unlikely thing you've ever done, Pikachu." Bulbasaur said.
"Yeah, you shouldn't have done that." Dedenne said.
Pancham and Chespin didn't say anything but they nodded with agreement that Pikachu shouldn't have left Buneary alone.
Pikachu turns to Snivy. "Snivy…?"
Snivy starts to shrug. "Sorry Pikachu, but leaving Buneary like that was very selfish of you."
"Well…in my defense, I really wanted to see the fight so bad and you all know how much I really like…" Pikachu was then interrupted by Pachirisu, with her very angry voice again.
"SHUT UP PIKACHU! Quit saying that!"
This startled everyone from her sudden shout.
"You always use that one and only excuse for your problems. There's more to life than just battling, Pikachu. You never get it because you're too dense to know about anything." Pachirisu said angrily.
"I'm not that dense, Ash is much more dense than I am." Pikachu defends.
"But at least he caught up with things like realizing his feelings for Serena. He's even become a little less dense now. But you, you're even more dense than ever. Especially when around Buneary. You know what I think?"
"What?" Pikachu question.
"I think you're just afraid of your own feelings." Pachirisu said with arms crossed.
This made Pikachu a little offended by that. "I am not! I'm not afraid of my own feelings!" He then looks at the others. "You guys don't think I'm afraid of my own feelings right?"
Everyone just shrugged, not wanting to answer his question.
"You guys can't actually think I'm afraid of my feelings?" Pikachu said in a worried voice. They all nodded, making Pikachu's ears lower.
"You see. They think you're afraid of your own feelings." Pachirisu said.
Pikachu looks at Pachirisu and becomes a little angry. "But that doesn't prove anything!"
Pachirisu starts talking again with arms crossed again. "Actually it does. You're always pushing Buneary away from you. And all she ever did was care about you, cheer for you when you're in a battle, being nice to you, being your friend, doing nice things for you, trying to impress you, and like you. Maybe even love you, too bad you don't love her back. You've shot down a billion chances to have a girlfriend and possibly a mate. Me and the girls gave her a total makeover so she can impress you. I still don't get why she still likes you after all these years, especially after every bad thing you've done to her this whole week. You broke her heart twice, you yelled at her, calling terrible things to her, blaming her for distracting you from your battle with Piplup, and now, you just left Buneary all by herself just because you wanted to see a stupid battle. I think the damage has already been done. You just may be the most selfish and the biggest jerk you've ever been."
Pikachu was about to say something, but he was too speechless to say anything. He even starts to think about everything Pachirisu said. After thinking for a few seconds, his ears drooped down in sadness. He starts to feel the same guilt he had when he yelled at Buneary, but this guilt he felt was much worse than his other guilt.
"Don't you think what you said was a little too harsh, Pachi?" Buizel said.
"Yeah, that was kinda harsh to say to him." Dedenne said.
"Yeah maybe, I think I might've overreacted a bit." Pachirisu sighed and rubbed the back of her head.
"Well Pikachu, I hope those words didn't have an effect on…" Piplup stopped when he noticed that Pikachu was not here.
Everyone soon realized Pikachu was gone. "Wait where did Pikachu go?" Pancham said in worry. They all looked to see where he's gone. He wasn't anywhere in sight.
As Oshawott looked around, to find Pikachu, he looked up at the tree. He looked all over the tree until he saw something yellow with a little bit of brown and red. There was Pikachu, sitting on a branch, laying back on the tree and looking very sad as well.
"Guys! I found him." Oshawott gets everyone's attention and pointed up.
Everyone looked up at the tree and saw him.
"Why is Pikachu up there?" Chespin questioned.
"I don't know, but I am a little worried." Oshawott then looks at Piplup, Dedenne, Pachirisu, and Pancham. "Piplup, Dedenne, Pachirisu, and Pancham, let's climb up the tree to see if Pikachu is alright."
They all nodded with agreement and followed Oshawott to the tree. Dedenne, Pachirisu, and Pancham climbed up the tree quicker than Oshawott and Piplup. Oshawott and Piplup struggled to climb the tree a bit, but managed to climb up the tree.
As they continued to climb the tree, Pikachu was still laying back on the tree and still looking very sad. He's been feeling the same guilt he had days ago. But now, this guilt was much worse than before. He has never felt this guilt before.
He thinks about everything that happened this whole week, but he's been thinking about Buneary the most, especially their date they had together. The fun, the laughing, the dance they had, it would bring a smile to his face. Then the last part of their date would come into his mind: Him leaving Buneary alone just to see a battle. It would make him flinch every time he thinks of it. This kind of guilt he's having led to one thing: Regret.
The more he thinks of it, the more his heart aches. He doesn't know why his heart aches this much, sure he feels regret for what he did, but he never thought it would hurt this bad. But it reminded him of a feeling he had when he was with Buneary, only that one was more of a warm and pleasant feeling. He got it whenever he was close to Buneary, especially during their dance together. And that feeling seemed to intensify when he intertwined his paw with Buneary's paw and when they were almost about to…he didn't want to remember that moment. That led up to him making the worst decision of his life.
Every time he thinks of that moment, it makes him want to form tears in his eyes. He felt like the most selfish and biggest jerk he has ever been.
Pachirisu, Dedenne, and Pancham finally made it to him but Piplup and Oshawott followed behind due to how slow they climbed. It was very hard for them to climb due to them not having the ability to climb.
"Hey Pikachu! What are you doing up here?" Pancham said.
"Yeah, why are you up here?" Pachirisu said.
Pikachu hears them, but doesn't look back at them. This made them very worried.
"Are you alright, Pikachu? You looked a little…sad." Dedenne asked in worried.
"It's just…" Pikachu sighs depressingly. "I guess you guys are right about me. Maybe I am afraid of my own feelings. My feelings get confused on everything like this. I guess I really am this dense enough to not notice it. I shouldn't have left Buneary like that. I feel so incredibly guilty for what I did. I wouldn't be surprised if she already lost all her interest in me. Because why would she like me now after everything I did to her? I never realized how much I emotionally hurt Buneary. Not only am I the biggest jerk ever, but the most selfish Pokémon and the worst friend ever."
Everyone starts to feel bad, especially Pachirisu. She starts to feel really bad about saying all those things to him. Oshawott then thought of something.
"Close your eyes."
Pikachu looks at him curiously. "Why?"
"Cause that way you can figure out your feelings for Buneary. First you have to close your eyes, then think of every happy moment you ever had with Buneary, and listen to your heart. I did something like that when I was trying to figure out my feelings for Snivy and it worked. I realized that I love Snivy." Oshawott said.
"Are you sure?" Pikachu asked.
"Do what Oshawott is telling you to do, Pikachu. You might figure out your feelings for Buneary." Piplup said.
"Yeah! Maybe somewhere deep down inside of you, you probably always had deeper feelings for her." Dedenne said.
Pikachu looks down. "I don't know if I should…"
"Just do what they tell you to do. Just close your eyes, think of every happy moment you and Buneary spent together from beginning to end, and listen to your heart." Pancham tells him.
"Yeah! Think of every happy moment you two spent together and perhaps you'll find peace with your feelings." Pachirisu said.
And with that, Pikachu does what he's instructed to do. He thought this was a little dumb but he really needs to figure out his feelings. So he starts to think of every happy moment he spent with Buneary from beginning to end. The day they met, the contests he saw her in, the battles she saw him in, the time they got separated from the others in that maze, that other time they got separated from the others (Pikachu's Exploration Club), cheering for each other, and the times where they start to get very close to each other. Like all the times they ate together, her nuzzling him to make him blush, hugging each other, seeing her do the most amazing moves during contests, and their dance they had. That one was their most happy moment. It was a very elegant and beautiful moment. Every time he looks at Buneary, there are times where he stares at her. There were even times where he thought she was…pretty and…beautiful. In fact he thought she was more beautiful than a Beautifly, more beautiful than a Meloetta, more beautiful than her evolved form, and more beautiful than a female Pikachu. He even thinks she's more beautiful than any other Buneary. In fact he thinks she's a very special Buneary. Besides battling, eating, and being with Ash makes him happy. Buneary was the one that makes him very happy with her cheerful and happy personality.
Pachirisu, Dedenne, Pancham, Piplup, and Oshawott all looked at him as he continued to listen to his heart. They were all hoping he figured his feelings out.
But after listening to his heart for sometime, he opened his eyes with realization. "I finally understand my feelings now."
"What?" They all said at the same time.
"After listening to my heart for sometime, I think I've always seen Buneary as more than a friend. I guess...I've always been…in love with her since the day we met."
This made everyone gasp in joy.
"Maybe I should've known I would've had a crush on her, but never thought I would fall in love with her. You know, saying all of this makes me feel so…happy." Pikachu broke out a wide smile. "And I feel…AMAZING!" He starts to laugh happily. "I never had a feeling like this before in my life. I feel so warm and happy inside. I never thought I would experience love, but I was wrong because…I love Buneary. I love Buneary. I. Love. Buneary!" He exclaimed happily to the heavens.
Everyone laughs at his enthusiasm and are very happy that Pikachu finally realized his feelings for Buneary.
"Sorry for calling you a jerk and selfish. And I'm especially sorry for hitting you in the undercarriage, Pikachu." Pachirisu apologized.
"That's fine, Pachirisu!" He said happily. He then starts to climb down the tree. This made them confused.
"Where are you going?" They all said.
He looks back at his friends before climbing down. "I'm going back inside and apologize to Buneary while telling her how I feel." He climbs down the tree, runs past Snivy, Buizel, Chespin, and Bulbasaur, and heads back inside for Buneary.
The others also climbed back down the tree.
"So I'm guessing Pikachu finally figured out his feelings?" Snivy said to Oshawott.
"Yup! He sure did!" Oshawott said.
"Let's go back inside and follow him!" Piplup said
They all nodded and started following Pikachu back inside.
XXX
Back inside, Pikachu is still in the rush to get to Buneary. He had to push other Pokémon and the human's legs out of the way. This would make the other Pokémon telling to "WATCH IT!" or "WHAT'S THE RUSH?!" and something like that. The others who were following Pikachu, had to apologize to the other Pokémon who were angry at the way Pikachu was pushing out the way. But at this point, Pikachu doesn't care, he just wants to get to Buneary, apologize for leaving her, everything else he did to her and tell his true feelings for her.
He has finally made it to the spot Pikachu told her to wait at.
"Buneary! Buneary! Buneary, there's something I need to…"
He stopped talking when he noticed something wrong. The others finally catch up to him and they have the same reaction as Pikachu. All there was left was her heel shoes and the rose he gave her, on the ground.
She was gone.