Chapter 23: It Was A Good Day
Buneary hadn't stopped spinning for what felt like a very long time yet it must have only been a few moments since she started. The poor mouse who spun with her was utterly dizzy, his vision nothing but a blur of orange and gold mixed with her beaming smile.
When they finally stopped, she continued to hold his paws all the while giggling to herself. Pikachu meanwhile was mostly gripping her paws in an effort to not keel over.
"(Hee~! I just can't believe it!)" She squealed.
Trying to get his world under control, Pikachu focused on his paws in hers.
"(W-Well you better believe it!)" He managed to say with a little smile, his vision finally beginning to settle.
"(I mean it's just so hard to! I didn't know you felt this way!)" She giggled; releasing a paw to touch her cheek. "(When did you start thinking about this?)"
Caught off guard, Pikachu merely blinked at her with a dumbfounded look. "(Oh...well...)" He managed to say before releasing his own paw to nervously rub the back of his head. "(I-I guess since that dare at the lake.)"
Buneary looked quite confused before a sudden realization hit her and her mouth opened in a silent "ohh".
"(You mean when you jumped into that freezing lake?)" She asked.
"(Yeah.)"
"(In a maid outfit?)"
"(Yup.)"
"(And when you asked me-)"
"(Yup! Uh-huh that's the one! Guess you remember it huh?)" Pikachu quickly blurted out, his face getting redder by the second.
Immediately, Buneary turned away to suppress another laugh. "(Teehee~! Of course! How could I forget!)"
Pikachu let out a little huff as he turned away to look at the ocean. As soon as he did, he felt her arms wrap around him as she nuzzled her cheek against his.
"(Well I'm glad you did it, otherwise this wouldn't be happening right now!)" She beamed.
Trying to ignore the intense thumping of his heart at the moment, Pikachu cleared his throat.
"(Ahem, yeah...me too Bun.)" He awkwardly laughed.
"(But...)" She said before gently moving away from him and returned to holding his paws in hers "(...what took you so long then? I mean, that bet was a while ago!)"
Feeling whatever confidence he had evaporating, Pikachu tried racking his brain for a logical answer. After a few moments, he couldn't think of one and merely decided to continue following Piplup's advice.
"(I...I guess I was a little nervous.)" He finally managed to say as he rubbed his arm, unable to look her in the eyes. "(I mean, I've never done anything like this before and I was still kind of sorting through how I felt.)"
He mustered the courage to give her a quick glance. Buneary was staring at him, almost as if she was studying every movement he made although she was clearly listening with great care.
Shakily inhaling, Pikachu looked away. "(A-And I guess I wasn't too sure how you felt either.)" He said before giving her another glance. This time, he saw a flash of surprise cross her face. Then she began to smile a little.
"(Pikachu, I'm not sure if you know this...)" She started, clearly waiting for him to look at her. "(But I haven't exactly been subtle!)" She laughed.
Feeling his cheeks burning, he smiled and rolled his eyes.
"(Hey gimme a break! All of this is new to me!)" He squeaked.
"(Hee~! Well same here!)" She said, gripping his paw a little tighter.
Smiling at her, Pikachu stayed silent and they stood there for a moment, enjoying each other's company.
"(Well...)" Buneary said, causing him to look at her again. She turned to him; her smile wider than ever. "(How about we go tell the others the good news?)"
"(Oh uhm...a-alright!)" He said with a bashful chuckle as he grabbed their bag of mementoes.
With that, she led them down the stone stairway towards the beach. As they continued, Pikachu couldn't help but think about what the future was going to look like. How different were things going to be from here on out...
Well up until now Buneary had basically been his personal cheerleader and oftentimes it was true for the other way around. They already had fun whenever they hung out...plus everyone already sort of hinted at wanting them to be together anyway. So that being said...would things really change that much?
Come to think of it, all of his friends' teasing might actually stop. Now that they were actually together, what was the joke anymore? Who knows...things might be even better from here on out!
As they made their way to the beach, something caught Pikachu's eye off to the side: a newspaper stand. On the front page of the newspaper was none other than the Aerodactyl emerging from the Oreburgh Mining Museum with the title "CAPTURED". Silently, Pikachu huffed in frustration, trying to push away the very recent memory of one of the scariest moments of his life.
On the beach, Piplup was building a sandcastle with Pachirisu, the little squirrel often putting decorations wherever he could...even if there was no consistent theme. As the squirrel was busy working on his side of the castle, the blue penguin was determined to make his contribution as impressive as he could manage, carefully patting the sides to smooth it out and making needlessly complicated designs.
"(Just need a few more windows...)" Piplup muttered as he put the finishing touches on a sand balcony. He leaned over to the side to check on Pachirisu's progress. "(How's it looking on your end?)"
"(Great!)" Pachirisu beamed as he quickly patted the side of the sand monument. "(I just need a few dozen more seashells and I'm good!)"
Piplup had to do a double-take. "(A few more dozen? You sure you have enough room on your side for that?)"
"(Yeah! I'm gonna cover the entire wall with them!)" The little squirrel declared as he reached for a nearby seashell.
"(Huh...I'd like to see that.)" Piplup muttered as he returned to his duties. Before he could start working on making windows, he heard someone walk up next to him.
"('Scuse me!)" Aipom practically shouted, causing both Pokémon to look up at her.
"(Oh hey! Wanna join us?)" Pachirisu beamed.
"(Sorry Pachi, gotta borrow Piplup for a sec.)" She said with a soft smile.
Pachirisu merely stared at her. "(Ummm...)" He said before clearing his throat. "(Ahem...!)"
Aipom blinked at him before getting the message. "(Oh! Sorry, I just need to borrow Piplup for a sec Little Wing.)" She said before the squirrel beamed at her.
"(Hmm? Okay.)" Piplup replied as he got up before quickly whipping back to Pachirisu who was already putting on another seashell on his side of the sandcastle. "(And please don't put any seashells on my side!)" He commanded before turning to walk away with Aipom along the beach.
Once out of earshot, they came to a stop.
"(Alright, what's so important that you took me away from my very important duties?)" He sternly asked, flippers on his sides.
Aipom immediately pointed at the cliff which had a stone stairway coming down its side down towards the beach. "(That...)" She said, still maintaining eye contact with him.
"(Huh?)" Piplup wondered aloud as he saw two figures making their way down the cliff's stairway. While from here they looked like blurry little dots, the yellow and brown colors were enough to discern who was coming their way.
"(Looks like the happy couple is gonna be here in a few minutes.)" Aipom said.
"(Yeah? So?)"
"(Sooo...I figured it would be a little fun to mess with them! Just a bit!)" She beamed.
"(Hmm? How so?)" Piplup asked with a raised eyebrow, genuinely curious as to what the purple monkey had in mind.
"(Well we know that they got together right?)"
"(Right...?)"
"(But they don't, sooooo...how about we act like we don't know and get them to admit it themselves?)"
Tilting his head a little, Piplup looked utterly confused.
"(Huh? Why would we do that?)"
"(Because they don't know that we know but we'll act like we don't know you know?)"
...
Piplup merely blinked at her. "(...Yeah?)"
"(And Pikachu...you know...)"
Blinking, Piplup's eyes widened in realization. "(Ooohhh, gotcha!)"
"(Yeah it'd be pretty funny to see him stumble over himself!)" She laughed.
"(You really are an evil genius you know that?)" Piplup smirked.
"(Guilty as charged!)" Aipom beamed as she twirled in place.
As the new couple made their way down the stone staircase towards the beach, Pikachu continued to drift in a sea of his own thoughts, constantly going over what he should expect to do as a boyfriend. If he had some questions or concerns, who would he go to for advice? There really weren't too many people or mons that he knew who had any experience in this sort of thing. If something catastrophic happened, who could he turn to for-
Pikachu was jolted out of his thoughts as Buneary suddenly stopped in place halfway down the staircase. After a moment passed, she looked back at him, her paw still in his.
"(Say Pikachu...)" She said, looking him in the eyes.
"(Hmm? What's up?)" He asked.
"(I was thinking about what you said. About Piplup and Aipom teasing you about us.)"
"(Yeah?)"
"(How about we get back at them a little?)" She asked with a bit of mischief behind her voice.
"(Err...how do we do that?)"
"(Instead of announcing it to everyone, we make them figure it out!)"
"(Hmm? How would that be getting back at them?)"
"(Simple! I'll just act really flirty with you...)" She said as she held up their paws in the air to exemplify her point "(and they'll make some teasing remark only for me to say that we're actually dating now and then they'll look totally dumb!)"
Pikachu continued to stare at her. "(Oh, uhhh...okay.)" He said, still not entirely sure how this was supposed to be getting back at them. Well whatever, it was still pretty fun to concoct some harebrained scheme with her again, even if it was pretty minor compared to what they'd done in the past. Heh, there's that mischievous side to her again.
...
He'd be lying if he said that he didn't find it just a tiny bit attractive. Running around, carrying out some convoluted plan, doing things that they probably weren't supposed to in order to solve a problem. Sometimes those were just the best!
"(Great! Just follow my lead!)" Buneary declared as she turned back and once again led them down the staircase. As she did, he gave a little smile.
Yup, this was certainly going to be interesting. A little scary...but fun! Granted, he could already tell that it might be a while before he could fully settle into this whole "boyfriend role" thing.
...Especially if they were to show intimacy in public.
As the new couple arrived on the beach, several heads turned to greet them.
"(Oh hey!)" Turtwig called out with a smile.
"(Hey guys!)" Buneary said, her side pressed into Pikachu's as they walked towards the group.
"(Enjoy your day together did you?)" Buizel smirked, his arms folded over his chest.
"(You could say that~!)" Buneary beamed, nuzzling into Pikachu's side even more, her arms wrapped around his.
Gulping hard, Pikachu felt a shiver go down his spine as he realized that more and more eyes were focusing on them.
"(I'll bet it was a pretty good day judging by the looks of things!)" Staravia remarked, a little smile spreading across his beak.
"(W-Well...)" Pikachu managed to mutter before another voice rang out.
"(Hey you two!)" Piplup shouted as he and Aipom quickly walked over to them. "(Had fun?)" He asked with a noticeably sly smile.
Feeling his entire body heating up, Pikachu tried his best to suppress the urge to shake like a leaf. "(Y-Yeah…t-totally.)" He stammered as he felt Buneary clearly suppressing a giggle into his side.
"(Say...)" Aipom said, her paw up to her cheek in intrigue. "(Something seems different...)"
"(Huh?)" Pikachu wondered aloud as Buneary's grip on his arm tightened ever-so-slightly.
"(Yeah I can't put my flipper on it...)" Piplup remarked, rubbing the bottom of his beak.
"(Hee~!)" Buneary squeaked, waiting for her opportunity.
"(Oh I know!)" Piplup declared, his flipper raised into the sky. Immediately, everyone looked at him.
Both Buneary and Pikachu leaned in to hear what he had to say, ready for the teasing to commence.
"(You have flowers on your ears!)" Piplup announced, pointing at the aforementioned pink violets sitting atop the fluff on Buneary's ears.
"(Huh?)" Buneary muttered aloud, blinking rapidly in disbelief.
"(Oh yeah, she does!)" Staravia quipped.
"(Oooh how pretty!)" Pachirisu squealed.
Trying to hold back a frustrated frown, Buneary nuzzled even more into Pikachu's side.
"(Yeeaaahhh~)" She dreamily said. Immediately, her uncurled ear started caressing his head. Pikachu just prayed that nobody was looking at him...especially his face which was glowing brighter than the sunset at this point!
"(Still, something else seems...off.)" Aipom said, rubbing her chin.
"(Oh yeah? I dunno, does something seem off to you Pikachu~?)" Buneary asked as she batted her eyelashes at him.
Pikachu looked at her then at their friends, their expressions a mix of confusion and intrigue. What was going on? It wasn't like Aipom and Piplup to not catch on and start teasing him whenever Buneary did something like this...and she was being extra nuzzly right now! How could they not-
His eyes widened a little as he saw the faintest of smirks appear on both of their faces.
Wait...
Blinking, Pikachu's lightly bit his tongue. Oh those little...
He looked down at Buneary who stared at him with those same pretty eyes. Feeling his heart thump a little faster in his chest, he suddenly experienced a surge of adrenaline.
So they want to play it that way huh? Okay then!
Smirking, Pikachu wrapped an arm around Buneary, causing her to squeak a little in surprise. He looked over and saw several faces look at them in complete confusion.
"(I don't know, you tell me!)" Pikachu said with a smile, looking straight at Aipom and Piplup who actually seemed more shocked than anything else.
"(I...err...)" Aipom muttered, her head jolting back a bit.
"(Yeaaahhh...?)" Buneary asked as she leaned forward a little, taking Pikachu with her. In that moment, both of them had rather smug looks on their faces.
Piplup's eye twitched a little before he quickly shook his head and took a step forward himself.
"(Well something's different! Why not just tell us?!)" He confidently asked. All eyes turned to focus on him.
"(Well I dunno, do you think something's different?)" Buneary asked, leaning them forward a little more, everybody's gaze now turning on them.
"(Well that would imply that we know but clearly we don't know so we can't say!)" Aipom declared, joining Piplup in taking another step forward and causing everyone to look at her.
"(I dunno, you seem pretty convinced that something's different!)" Pikachu proclaimed, leaning forward so closely that all of them were practically in each other's faces.
"(Something is different with you two!)" Piplup practically yelled.
"(Oh yeah?)" Buneary pretended to ask.
"(Yeah!)" Aipom exclaimed.
"(And what might that be?!)" Pikachu asked as he hugged Buneary even tighter.
"(Y-You're-)" Piplup managed to say before another voice rang out.
"(Yay! Buneary and Pikachu together!)" Happiny cried out, jumping in place. Her sudden outburst caused everyone else to look over at her.
"(Huh?)" The four of them muttered in unison as they turned their heads in her direction.
"(Together! Couple! Yay!)" Happiny declared, still jumping in place.
Pikachu merely stared at her. H-How did she...?
"(Huh? Oh yeah you do look like a couple right now!)" Buizel remarked, his smirk returning in full force.
"(Oh yeah, now that you mention it...!)" Turtwig laughed.
Soon everyone, save for Aipom and Piplup, started snickering. All the while, Pikachu and Buneary stayed in place though Pikachu could feel her relax into his side a little. Regardless, he could feel his blush overtaking his face, growing darker by the passing moment.
As the laughter died down, there was a silent pause.
Soon, everybody's teasing smiles began to fade...
...And was replaced with shocked realization.
"(Wait...hold on...)" Buizel said blinking, completely taken aback.
Pikachu felt Buneary's arms wrap around his a little tighter. It took everything he had not to shake again as his cheeks began to feel like they were on fire.
"(Are you?)" Staravia asked, his eyes widening in surprise. "(Are you…?!)" He practically screamed, his voice cracking a little.
Feeling a rather sort of odd pride rising in his chest, Pikachu gave a bashful grin. "(Y-Yeah...we are.)"
"(Really?!)" Pachirisu beamed, his paws up to his cheeks. "(Oh that's so great!)"
"(Yeah I'll say! Congrats you two!)" Turtwig said with a proud smile.
"(Heh, knew he liked her back...)" Croagunk muttered, his low voice surprising everyone and causing them to briefly look at him.
"(For real though?! For real for real?!)" Pachirisu asked, giving the couple a rather starry-eyed look.
Buneary giggled. "(For real for real!)" She said, closing her eyes in complete content as she nuzzled her cheek into Pikachu's shoulder. With that, everyone in the crowd began to murmur, others cooed and more than a few began to even applaud them, Pachirisu being the most vocal.
Pikachu gave a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his head. He suddenly snapped out of it as he looked over and saw Aipom and Piplup give them rather unusual looks. Was that...satisfaction?
Blinking again, Pikachu remembered something. "(So I take it you two already knew?)" He asked.
Aipom giggled. "(Ooohhh, maybe just a little~!)"
Oh...right...
If he could, Pikachu would kick himself right now. From such an emotional rollercoaster of a day, he totally forgot that Piplup was the one who gave him that pep talk!
He momentarily locked gazes with the blue penguin who gave him a knowing smile and nodded his head. Tsk, of course.
"(Hmmph!)" Buneary huffed in exasperation as she turned away from them.
Before Pikachu could say anything back, everyone heard some approaching footsteps.
"Hey what's going here? Some kind of party?" Ash remarked as he, Dawn and Brock approached the group huddled around the couple.
"Yeah something seems up." Dawn said, eyeing the group.
Pikachu locked eyes with his trainer as Buneary did the same with hers.
"Hmm?" Dawn muttered. She gave what felt like a long, hard stare at the two. "Something's...different..."
Ash looked at her. "Oh yeah?" He asked, then looked back to the group. "You think so?"
His heart twisting in knots, Pikachu felt his paw grip a little tighter in hers. He swallowed hard. Ooh boy, how was he going to explain this?
"(Umm...y-you see...)" Pikachu nervously laughed when suddenly he heard a soft hum come from Brock.
"Well, well, well~" He said with a grin.
"(Huh?)" The new couple said in unison as they looked over at him.
"What is it Brock?" Ash asked, turning to the older boy.
"Just look..." Brock declared with the utmost confidence as he motioned towards the two, his smile only growing wider.
In that moment, if Pikachu's blush could get any bigger, his normally-red cheeks would be indistinguishable from the rest of his face!
Dawn's eyes widened upon realization.
"Buneary...are...are you two...?!" She squealed, her hands up to her face.
Buneary smiled brighter than the sun and laughed. "(Yup!)" She proclaimed as she took a step away from Pikachu and proudly held his paw in hers for all to see. Pikachu nervously laughed as he nodded his head in approval, earning some more clapping from around them.
If Dawn's squeals of joy could be any louder, everyone along the beach would've heard her! "AAAHHH I can't believe it! It finally happened!"
"I knew it! They said that this island is where miracles happen!" Brock exclaimed to the heavens; his arms raised to the sky. "And it's true! Love is in the air tonight!" He proclaimed, his voice breaking as streams of tears flowed down his face.
Pikachu nervously laughed as he rubbed the back of his head. "(W-Well...I...)" He managed to say amongst everyone's laughter. Suddenly, he felt a presence next to them. He looked over and saw Turtwig nudge his shoulder, a sly look on his face.
"(So when did it happen? And how'd she ask you?)" He cheekily asked.
"(Huh?)" Pikachu muttered; it was all he could say in that moment.
"(Oh I didn't ask him!)" Buneary beamed.
"(Hmm? You didn't? Then who...?)" Turtwig asked before all eyes turned on Pikachu.
If they looked hard enough, they would've sworn that it felt like steam was practically coming off of him! He averted his gaze elsewhere as he felt every pair of eyes staring right at him in bewildered shock.
"(No way...)" Buizel mumbled.
"(You asked her?!)" Staravia shouted in disbelief.
"(Really?!)" Pachirisu exclaimed, his eyes as wide as they could go, completely over the moon.
"(Y-Yeah.)" Pikachu finally managed to say.
"(That's so cool!)" Pachirisu cheered as many of the others started talking amongst themselves.
Suddenly, before Pikachu could respond, he could hear Aipom quietly laugh under her breath.
"(Heh...good man.)" She muttered, folding her arms over her chest. "(Though it's not really the first time is it?)"
First time? What did she-
...
Oh...yeah...the picnic date that was supposed to happen...that's right. Guess Buneary told her huh?
Unable to handle their gazes any longer, Pikachu turned towards his trainer who gave him a rather perplexed look.
"Soooo...you guys are dating now huh?" He asked.
Gulping hard again, Pikachu gripped his paw a little more firmly in Buneary's for support. Strangely as soon as he did, he immediately felt his anxiety melt away and was replaced with a faraway yet profoundly strong confidence.
"(Yeah.)" He said, nodding his head before locking eyes with his best friend.
"Well..." Ash said as he folded his arms with a look of contemplation. He stayed like that for a beat, causing Pikachu's stomach flip over, not knowing at all how the trainer would react. For a brief moment, his mind flashed back to that day in the Pokémon Center in Oreburgh. How Ash's face looked after getting the news of the mouse's condition. He didn't know why he thought of that, perhaps it was just his mind doing everything in its power to torture him in the worst way possible. He could only swallow hard as the young trainer stayed in place.
Suddenly a warm smile appeared on Ash's face as he lifted a determined fist in front of himself. "That great to hear! Congrats buddy! You treat her well!" He declared.
It took a moment for it to sink in but after registering the genuinely happy look on his best friend's face, it felt like an anchor was lifted off the mouse's shoulders. He blinked as he could hear Buneary hum in satisfaction, her grip on his paw tightening ever-so-slightly. Soon, a warm smile started etching its away across Pikachu's face.
"(Thanks Ash!)" Pikachu beamed.
"(Yeah, you'll have to give me all of the details later!)" Aipom smirked as she nudged Buneary's shoulder.
Buneary giggled. "(Will do!)"
Pikachu lightly rolled his eyes and smiled. Ooh boy well at least everyone was pretty supportive.
"Oh it's just so cute! I'm so excited!" Dawn beamed to which everyone gave the same proud smiles at them.
As the new couple looked between their friends, seeing each and every smile, their eyes rested on Happiny who was waving her tiny arms in the air in sheer excitement.
Suddenly, a thought came to Buneary.
"(Say Happiny...you said the word 'couple' before...)" She said, waiting for the baby Pokémon's full attention.
"(Yay! Couple!)" Happiny cheered.
"(Yeah couple! But...where did you hear that word?)" Buneary asked, causing everyone in the group to look amongst themselves.
Happiny looked rather confused. "(Oh...uhhh...)" She managed to say.
"(That is pretty weird actually.)" Buizel remarked, eyeing their group.
"(Yeah, I certainly didn't say anything like that around her.)" Turtwig said.
"(Well somebody must've said something because she wouldn't have-)" Pikachu said before a shrill voice rang out.
"(OKAY, OKAY IT WAS ME! I ADMIT IT! I CAN'T TAKE THE GUILT ANYMORE JUST STOP INTERROGATING ME!)" Pachirisu cried out in anguish, causing everyone to look at the little squirrel who immediately buried his face in the sand.
Well that was…unexpected.
Blinking, Buneary gave a little smirk. "(Et tu Pachirisu?)"
Pachirisu merely nodded in silence as he shoveled more sand over his face. Even under the sand, he was able to respond, albeit a bit muffled. "(She asked what a mommy and daddy was and I said it was kind of like Pikachu and Buneary because they were sort of like a couple already...)"
Pikachu and Buneary looked at each other. Then they started to giggle. Stepping away from her new boyfriend, Buneary walked over to Pachirisu and crouched down. Taking a moment, she uncurled her ear and gently pat him on the back of his head.
"(That's okay Pach...er...Little Wing! No harm done!)" She beamed, still trying to stifle laughter.
Slowly but surely, Pachirisu began to take his face out of the sand and glanced at her.
"(R-Really? So you're not mad?)" He asked, nervousness still in his voice.
Retracting her ear away from him, she gave a warm smile. "(Not at all! Why would I? You probably just figured that Pikachu and I would get together!)" She laughed before zipping back to her boyfriend and wrapped her arm around his again. He gave a surprised little squeak as he locked gazes with her. "(I mean...didn't everybody?)" She asked, batting her eyelashes at him.
Pikachu looked around only to see everyone nod their heads in agreement. Wow...was it really that obvious?
He looked back at her only to see her nuzzle into him a little more. Well...despite how embarrassing and strange it felt, he had to admit that it was also quite...nice. And hey, it was also pretty cool to see her handling kids better! Maybe dating her was an even better decision than he thought!
"(And you know what...)" Piplup said, waiting for the couple to turn their attention towards him. "(I say as their first act as a couple, they should walk along the beach!)" He proclaimed, pointing a flipper at the aforementioned beach which practically basked in the warm light of the sunset.
Not really expecting that, both of them stared at him.
"(The beach?)" Buneary asked.
"(Yeah! Apparently this beach is famous for couples. They say that any couple who walk along it are destined to be together!)" Piplup confidently said with a nod.
Buneary gave Pikachu a side-glance, a tiny sly smile creeping across her face. "(Oh really~?)" She asked as her arms wrapped around him a little tighter. "(Whaddaya say? Wanna give it a shot?)"
Pikachu nervously laughed. "(W-Well...)" He started to say, unable to find the strength to say no to that little smile of hers. Not to mention...he secretly wanted to do it too. He smiled back at her. "(Sure why not!)"
She laughed and nuzzled into him. "(Hee~! Okay let's go!)" She declared as she led them down the sparkling white beach.
"Aww now they're going for a romantic stroll on the beach!" Dawn squealed, her hands to her cheeks. "It's so cute! I can't stand it!"
"Yes! It's their first declaration of love!" Brock proclaimed; his fist raised to the sky. "Hold on to her Pikachu and never let go!" He shouted at them as they continued to walk away.
Ash merely looked at his friends, gave an exasperated sigh and shook his head. "This journey just keeps getting more and more interesting..." He said with a smile before looking back at them. His grin not faltering for a moment, he nodded his head in approval. "Good for you two."
And just like how they first arrived here, everyone smiled at the happy couple as they watched them from afar. Indeed, it looks like a new journey was just getting started!
Author's Notes:
And so ends Act I! Took a while to get here but sometimes it's worth the wait! But just because they finally got together doesn't mean that it's all sunshine and rainbows right? Only more adventures and mishaps await in Act II! If you're enjoying this fic so far, don't worry, there's still plenty of story left that I'm gonna deliver!
...At some point...yeah so the first announcement I have is that I'll be taking a teeny break from publishing chapters every week. I won't be gone long but I need some time to sit down and look up what happens in the anime from this point. Some characters come and go, some evolve (and apparently lose their personalities), not to mention the stuff that happens with Ash and Dawn's progress. Plus some of the chapters that I've done were written per week and while that's worked out so far, I think I'd prefer to write them out ahead of time like I've done for some other chapters.
Though I might take a little bit of time away, you can always send me a message to chat or better yet, you can join the discord server for fans of PikaBun! Just send a message to fellow fic writer Lenard here on this site and join in on the fun!
But that's not all! While I may be gone for a little while from publishing chapters, there's still more that I want to give to this community!
For my second announcement, I've decided to show this fic a little more love and so last month I started commissioning various artists to create artwork based on the chapters of this fic! The list of artists include the incredible Piyolondo, Lenard, J'LoBuizel and many, many more! With permission from every artist, I will be posting their artwork under my DeviantArt account: Carson55AllDay. Of course for each artwork, full credit is given for the respective artist and links are provided for their accounts/webpages. Unlike the chapters of this fic, the artwork has no schedule for being posted, they'll go up when they're ready but I want to post them in chronological order. So stop on by to check out some amazing artwork and while you're at it, absolutely go and support the incredible talent who made them! I'm also reposting this fic on Archive of Our Own featuring each commission, again will full credit and links.
Lastly, I just want to give a big shoutout to...YOU the reader! Thank you all so much for reading this far into my fic and giving my story a chance! Whether it's just one person reading this fic or hundreds, as long as there is someone out there who genuinely enjoys what I'm writing, I'll keep going! So thank you again for taking the time out of your busy lives to read the ideas that, for the longest time, only existed in my head! Hope you'll keep sticking around for the next round of ideas that I want to bring to light!
Anyway that's all for now! Until next time, Carson55 out!