Author's note: Hey, paisanos!
Before you ask, no, this is not the final chapter. I mean, you can pretend it is in an alternate universe, if you like. XP The bittersweet, nothing-gets-resolved ending. Then it would look more like the fic that inspired it!
For the more complete version, however, be sure to stay tuned!
In the meantime, hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Seven: Distant Doldrums
Buneary felt herself being pulled from her pokéball, molecule by molecule. Back in the wild, she'd often wondered if the sensation would hurt or feel weird at all. In reality, it was pretty relaxing. Like a massage, almost. Of the molecules, as weird as that sounded.
As she materialised on the concrete - along with her teammates - she looked around herself. They were standing around the back of a building that definitely wasn't Cynthia's villa. In fact, it looked like a pokémon centre.
Dawn stood in front of them, hands on her hips and a smile on her face.
"Alright, guys," she said cheerily, "as you can see, we're finally in Blackthorn City!"
Some of the pokémon had looks of awe on their faces.
Ah... so they were in Johto now, were they? Well, that explained that...
"Tomorrow's the day we start training for the Wallace Cup! Are you excited?"
"(Yeah!)" everyone cheered. Buneary tried to sound enthusiastic as she joined in.
Dawn glanced behind the group briefly, a cheeky smile on her face, before looking back at them. "Buuuut, as for today..." She winked. "I made you all a special treat!"
"(Treat?)" several of the pokémon asked.
"Yep!" She indicated behind the team. "Alright, Piplup, do your thing!"
"(Finally!)" Piplup replied exasperatedly from behind them.
Turning around, Buneary saw Piplup dragging a huge tarp off a large mound. Once the penguin pulled it all the way off, her eyes widened. Wow. Pink poffins. So many pink poffins. Plates and plates of them! They hadn't been given these in a while. Was Dawn treating them?
"(Poffiiiins!)" Pachirisu yelled, dashing towards them as fast as his two legs would carry him.
... Seriously, how was he able to run faster on two legs than on four? It broke the laws of physics! That would be like if Buneary was faster at walking than hopping!
"(Hey!)" Piplup yelled, running for a plate. "(I called dibs fiiiirst!)"
Heh. Those two had always been huge fans of Dawn's poffins.
Buneary made her way over to one of the plates, hopping past the huge one that was meant for Mamoswine. The mammoth always ate a ton more than everyone else and had never been good at sharing, so hey.
Landing in front of a plate, she picked up one of the poffins and bit into it. Mmmm... delicious. It was like eating a tiny cake. Except with a chewy outer layer.
It was mostly sweet and dry, with a bit of a sour aftertaste. She liked it a lot. Not as much as Piplup and Pachirisu did, but certainly a lot.
It could never compete with oran berries, though. Those were her favourites. A perfect balance of every flavour. She also loved sitrus berries, as they were very similar, but didn't have the spicy taste.
... Spicy.
Pikachu's favourite flavour was spicy...
She plucked off another poffin, slowly sitting herself down. She stared intently at it. Bright pink with little coloured sprinkles on top.
It had been... how many days? She counted.
... Eleven? Eleven days?
Eleven days since she'd put her plan into action. Her plan of being normal.
Not normal-type, obviously, since she'd always be that. She'd been born one, raised one and she'd probably die one.
No. The day she'd bottled up all of her quirks. The day she'd been calm. Mild. Pleasant.
... Normal.
Her plan had been simple. Be normal around Pikachu and he'd soon come to miss her quirky randomness. Because he liked it, right? There was no way he didn't, right? So he'd say it was okay to be herself, she'd drop the act and then something something happiness!
Except... her being normal had somehow made him happier.
He'd smiled more. Talked more. Seemed much more keen to spend time with her. It had been painful to see.
So he really didn't like her weirdness, after all...
... Heh. Well... at least she'd made plenty of friends during her time in Unova. She'd even managed to learn everyone's names, so she hadn't come away empty-handed. Or empty-pawed, as the case may be. So that was something.
The following day, the pokémon had a light breakfast. Soon after, they were lined up, ready to start training.
Dawn looked all six of them over with a thoughtful frown.
"Hmm..." she said. Eventually, her gaze landed on Buneary. It lingered there. After a moment, she smiled gently. "Hey, Buneary? What do you think? Are you up for training?"
The other five pokémon turned in the rabbit's direction.
"(Uh...)" Buneary replied. Well, she'd had plenty of rest up until now, so maybe things would be alright now. She smiled back. "(Yeah! Sure, let's do it!)"
Dawn's smile brightened. "Okay then! Everyone, clear a space!"
The other pokémon shuffled around, until they were all out of Buneary's way.
"Alright then, Buneary! Are you ready?"
Buneary gave a determined nod. "(Ready!)" She turned away from Dawn.
"Okay! Ice Beam!"
Buneary concentrated. She built up energy inside of her, felt the cold chill run all the way up her veins into her mouth. She felt it forming a ball.
... Then it stalled.
She poured more energy into it, willing it to grow in size and power. It did so, but very slowly. It felt like, if she let up for even a second, it would shrink again.
Frustrated, she poured even more energy into it. More. More. It grew slightly each time, but it was a struggle. She kept going.
"... Buneary?"
She kept going and going and going, desperately willing it to work. She wanted to use Ice Beam, darn it! She really wanted to!
Sweat began to dribble down the side of her head.
Dawn yelped in panic. "Okay, okay, Buneary, that's enough! You can stop now!"
She immediately let go of the Ice Beam. It disappeared into nothing.
"... Still no good, huh?"
Buneary heaved a sigh, wiping away the sweat. Yeah. Still no good. This was definitely the longest her moves had gone without working properly. Fourteen freaking days...
Dawn also heaved a sigh. "Man... you've been sick for two weeks now... I really wish I knew what was wrong..."
Buneary glanced away, not saying anything.
After a moment, she glanced back, only to see that Dawn had her wrists on her hips. She looked concerned.
"Maybe I should get Nurse Joy to have a look at you..."
Buneary laughed nervously. "(Y-You don't need to do that... I'm sure my moves'll come back in no time! You'll see!)"
"Hmm..." Dawn glanced away unsurely. "I just wish Ash had told me more about Sceptile..."
Ah, yes. Sceptile. She knew next to nothing about the guy - except that he was apparently strong enough to defeat a darkrai - but, from what she'd heard, he'd had the same problem.
Perhaps that meganium Ash had mentioned had rejected him, too...
"Argh!" Dawn suddenly cried out, gripping her head in frustration. "If only I'd thought to ask Ash to send Sceptile over, or something! Then he could have talked to you and... and..." She slumped with another sigh. "But it didn't occur to me..."
Buneary laughed awkwardly. Honestly, that was probably a good thing...
Dawn slowly looked up. "... Then again, it sounds like he had a different problem to you, anyway..." She sighed again. "I just don't know..."
Buneary couldn't help but feel bad for her trainer. As well as a bit guilty over the whole thing.
"Either way, I think we should see Nurse Joy."
Buneary's eyes widened. "(N-No, that's not really-)"
Before she could finish, Dawn stepped forward, scooped her into her arms and headed towards the pokémon centre.
Oh boy...
A while of examinations later, Buneary was being carried back over to Dawn.
"So, how is she, Nurse Joy?" Dawn asked anxiously.
"Your buneary is fit as a fiddle," Nurse Joy replied, placing Buneary on the counter. "I'm afraid I couldn't find anything wrong with her."
"But... but then why aren't her moves working?"
"Hmm... it's very rare that I see this in a pokémon, so I'm not actually sure..."
Dawn slumped. "You're not?"
"No... though I'd suggest keeping her happy and healthy and well-rested... and she should be alright again soon enough."
"Well... okay then." Dawn picked up Buneary. "Thanks, Nurse Joy."
"(There's... nothing wrong with her?)" Piplup asked.
All five of Buneary's teammates shot her suspicious glances. She chuckled nervously.
"That's right!" Dawn replied. "But no need to worry! Nurse Joy thinks she just needs to rest some more!" She looked up at Mamoswine. "In the meantime... Mamoswine, do you wanna do some training?"
The mammoth looked up at Dawn, back down at Buneary, then up at Dawn again. "(... Yeah, sure,)" he replied.
Dawn beamed. "Alright then!" She looked over at Buneary, her smile softening slightly. "Get well soon, Buneary, okay?"
Buneary smiled back. "(Y-Yeah, sure!)" she replied.
"And, if there's anything I can do to make it better, well... you just say so, okay?"
Buneary nodded. "(Yeah! Sure!)"
As Dawn moved elsewhere to train Mamoswine, Buneary could feel her teammates' eyes on her again.
As she looked at them, Piplup put his flippers on his hips. "(Alright, what's going on?)" he asked.
"(Yeah!)" Pachirisu added, looking hurt. "(You said you were sick!)" He scrunched his eyes in distress. "(You said you were sick, so we let you rest, but you weren't sick at all?!)"
"(Well...)" Buneary replied awkwardly.
"(What made your moves stop workin'?)" Quilava asked, tilting his head curiously. "(D'ya even know?)"
Buneary didn't know what to say.
"(... Dear?)" Togekiss asked.
... Then again, maybe it would be okay. Maybe it would help her. Plus, if she was going to tell them, it was much better doing it in Johto than Unova.
She heaved a sigh. Holding the silence, she composed herself.
"(Buneary?)" Piplup asked.
Straightening herself out, she smiled. "(Hey,)" she said. "(You know I confessed to Pikachu, right?)"
Everyone jolted in shock.
"(You did?!)" they all cried at once.
"(Yeah! And I asked him out, too!)"
"(No way!)" Pachirisu cried, his mouth open wide in shock.
Buneary glanced at Togekiss, who was slowly raising a wing to her mouth. Ah. It seemed she'd already figured it out.
"(It's about freaking time you did!)" Piplup said. "(... So, what did he say?)"
"(Yeah, what did he say?!)" Pachirisu cried. He rushed forwards, until he was right in her face. He hopped up and down, looking strangely distressed. "(What did he say, what did he say?!)"
Buneary leaned back slightly in surprise. "(Uh, well...)" she replied.
Quilava smiled. "(C'mon, Buneary, don't leave us hangin'!)" he said.
Taking a step back from Pachirisu, Buneary cleared her throat. "(... Well, he...)" She gave them a sheepish smile. "(He rejected me.)"
Piplup leapt back in shock. "(What?!)" he cried.
Removing her wing from her mouth, Togekiss looked down at the ground sadly.
Quilava stared at her, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. "(... He what?)" he asked slowly.
Pachirisu looked a mixture between shocked and offended.
Buneary's smile faltered for a second, so she forced into back into place. "(Yeah,)" she replied. "(I thought for sure he liked me, but I guess not, huh?)"
Piplup violently shook his head. "(Wait, wait, wait!)" he said. "(Really?)"
"(Yeah. Really!)"
"(But that doesn't make any sense!)"
"(Yeah, he liked her, right?)" Quilava asked, looking very lost.
"(Apparently not!)" Buneary replied.
"(I knew it!)" Pachirisu cried, scrunching his eyes in anger. "(I freaking knew it!)" He opened his eyes, frowning at her. "(I told you, didn't I? I told you!)"
"(Huh?)" Piplup asked. "(Told her what?)"
"(That he was no good for her!)" Pachirisu jumped up and down irritably. "(I told you, I told you, I told you!)"
"(But...)" Quilava said, looking lost and hurt.
"(I told you to go for someone else! I told you! But did you listen? Noooo!)"
"(Aheh...)" Buneary replied, smiling awkwardly.
"(He's stupid and a jerk and... and... dumb!)" Pachirisu pouted. "(Stupid, dumb jerk!)"
"(He's not that bad!)" Piplup said.
"(... He's still a jerk.)"
Togekiss heaved a sigh. "(I'm so sorry, dear...)" she said to Buneary. "(I thought something strange was going on, but I...)" She glanced away.
"(I-It's okay!)" Buneary replied, her smile straining. "(Really, it is!)"
Togekiss lowered her head sadly. "(Still...)"
"(I really don't get it...)" Piplup muttered to himself. "(I thought for sure he...)"
"(He didn't, 'cause he's a jerk!)" Pachirisu replied.
"(But he hung out with Buneary all the time! And played with you all the time!)"
Pachirisu stalled. "(Yeah, well...!)"
"(... So ya never had a chance?)" Quilava asked quietly.
Buneary gave him a sad smile. "(Nope, 'fraid not,)" she replied.
They all looked at her solemnly.
"(... Is that why your moves haven't been workin'?)" Quilava asked.
"(Yeah... 'fraid so.)" Buneary rubbed the back of her head awkwardly.
Piplup looked at the ground. After a moment, he scrunched his eyes in frustration. "(Urgh!)" he said. "(I can't believe I didn't freaking notice!)"
Togekiss placed a comforting wing on his shoulder. "(It's alright, dear,)" she said. "(We didn't notice, either...)"
"(Hey, so why didn't you tell us in Univol?!)" Pachirisu asked.
"(Unova,)" Togekiss corrected.
"(Yeah! That! Why didn't you tell us then?!)" Pachirisu looked up at Buneary with sad eyes.
"(... 'Cause...)" Buneary replied, "('cause I knew how you guys would take it. You'd probably yell at him, or hit him, or-)"
"(Well, yeah, 'cause he made you sad!)"
"(Yeah... well...)" She felt her ears droop. "(He doesn't have to like me.)" Everyone looked at her curiously. "(Well, he... he doesn't have to like me at all! So, if he doesn't wanna, then... then that's okay!)"
They all gave her sad looks. After a moment, they all rushed forward, embracing her in a hug. She jumped at the surprise contact.
She blinked. "(... Guys?)"
"(You stupid, stupid... dummy!)" Pachirisu said.
"(... Pikachu doesn't know what he's saying,)" Piplup mumbled.
"(Yeah, you're great!)" Quilava agreed.
"(I'm sorry he doesn't return your feelings...)" Togekiss said.
"(Th-That's... okay,)" Buneary replied.
"(He's a stupid dummy!)" Pachrisu said. "(I never saw why you liked him!)" He paused. "(Well... I guess he's nice... and kind and stuff... but...)"
"(Too stubborn,)" Quilava said.
"(Stuck in his ways, I guess...)" Piplup mumbled.
"(Yeah...)" Buneary replied, still too stunned to say much.
Eventually, they all broke away from the hug.
Piplup smiled at her. "(Hey,)" he said, "(I've got an idea. How about I get Dawn to take us shopping?)"
Buneary's eyes widened. "(Shopping?)"
"(Yeah! You like shopping, right? Maybe it'll cheer you up!)"
Pachirisu jumped up and down. "(That's a great idea!)" he said.
"(Yeah,)" Quilava agreed, nodding, "(sounds cool.)"
Togekiss stepped forward. "(It might be just what you need to... get over him, dear,)" she said.
Buneary looked between the four eager faces. They were all trying so hard to cheer her up. Did they... actually like her weirdness?
After some contemplation, a smile spread across her face. "(Yeah, you know what?)" she said. "(I do wanna go shopping!)" She put her paws to her face. "(We'll shop 'til we drop and hop 'til we pop, or... something.)"
All four of them chuckled.
She smiled wider. Maybe they really did like her weirdness! "(I want some accessories! Maybe a bow for my hair!)" She paused. "(Wait, I don't have hair... How about my ear?! Shall I get pink? Maybe blue? Maybe one of each? One for each ear!)"
They all laughed harder.
Stepping forward, Piplup placed a flipper on her shoulder. "(If you ask nicely, maybe Dawn will get you both,)" he said. He stepped away. "(Now...)" He smacked the same flipper to his chest. "(I'm off to talk to her!)"
"(As best a pokémon can?)"
"(... Yes.)" He headed towards their trainer.
Glancing after him, Buneary saw a knowing look from Mamoswine. Ah. Perhaps he'd heard the entire conversation. Well, that saved her a second explanation, at least.
... Still, she felt herself beaming wider with every second.
She was lucky to have friends like these.