Author's note: Heyo!

It's time for a new fic! Huzzah! One that I've been planning since around... when the DLC for Sword and Shield came out! Wow!

I'll be sure to keep up with my other running fics, too, so don't worry about that! In fact, this way, I can easily take breaks from one fic to work on another fic!

... And, one of these days, I should get back to A Gracious Gift. It's on my to-do list! Just need to read it through again to refresh my memory on things.

Anyway! That aside, I hope you enjoy this new fic! It's a bit more experimental than I'm used to, but it sure is fun!

Chapter One: A Different Wavelength

As she was let out of her pokéball, her feet now touching the cool grass, Buneary stretched, breathing in the fresh air. Hmm, did it smell fresher than usual? She looked around her, suddenly noticing her surroundings, and beamed. Today, the group were travelling through a forest, as usual, but, this time, it looked like it was in a mountainous area. There were hills everywhere, and barely a straight path in sight. It gave her a warm, nostalgic feeling.

Thankfully, the humans had found a spot of flat land to stop at and eat, so no one would go rolling down any of the hills while they were having lunch. She couldn't deny it would've been funny to watch, though. She giggled to herself.

Inhaling more lovely mountain air, she patted down her fluff to check if her precious keepsake was still there. Every day, she had to check, just to make sure.

Yep, there it was, right where it should be.

Satisfied, she straightened out the orange vest she was wearing. Dawn had recently designed this vest and asked her mother, Johanna, to make it just for Buneary. The rabbit loved wearing it, for multiple reasons.

She glanced around the area, soaking in the view. Only a few days ago, they'd been in Veilstone City, where Ash had earned his third badge. Dawn had also fought in a gym battle there, hoping to regain her confidence after her second contest loss in the appeal round. Despite losing to the gym leader, it seemed to have worked, although the girl still wasn't practicing any contest routines. Well, progress was progress, Buneary thought with an amused shrug.

Hearing the call to lunch, she turned to see her fellow pokémon rushing towards the bowls of pellets that Brock had laid out. As each one grabbed a bowl, they seemed to drift into groups.

She grinned lightly to herself. Time to amuse herself with her favourite people-watching hobby. She'd never told anyone this, because she wasn't sure they'd believe her, but she was a little bit of a special buneary.

Looking around herself, she first gazed at the humans, who were sitting around a table that was covered in sandwiches. Focusing her attention on Ash first, she felt the familiar waves of emotion pouring off him. On his face was an excited smile, as he talked about his upcoming gym battle in Pastoria City. The waves matched perfectly, as Buneary could feel nothing but excitement.

Turning to Dawn, she could see her smiling at Ash, though with a hint of trepidation on her face. On the inside, it was the same, likely due to her loss of confidence in her contest ability lately. Though Buneary could also feel hope mixed in there, too, so things were looking up.

Maybe Dawn would even start winning ribbons again eventually, adding to the one she already had. Here was hoping, anyway.

Turning to Brock, Buneary could see a warm smile on his face, with a hint of amusement, and his waves read pretty much the same. When he glanced at Dawn, there was a slight spark of concern, but it soon faded, replaced with warm confidence. Clearly, he believed in her ability to bounce back, too.

Stretching a bit more, Buneary made her way over to the bowls at a casual pace. Heh. She'd had this power for as long as she could remember. Heck, she even used to think it was normal, until she'd made friends that had told her it very much wasn't.

As she passed by a group, she saw Piplup bragging to Ambipom, Chimchar and Gligar. She focused on Piplup, who was emitting waves of pride.

"(So it's only a matter of time before Dawn does contests again,)" he said, "(and, when she does...)" He stood up, spun around and posed, "(I... am gonna kill it on-stage!)"

Ambipom chuckled. "(What, like you killed that gym battle?)" she replied, amusement pouring off her. There was also a twinge of guilt in there, meaning she'd probably taken some of the blame for Dawn losing motivation. Not to mention, she'd also lost in that gym battle.

Piplup sat himself down again, indignation and some hurt pride in his waves. "(Hmph! That lucario just got lucky.)"

Chimchar sighed. "(Nobody could freaking beat him...)" he mumbled, his waves betraying disappointment and frustration. "(Buizel managed to tie with him, but...)"

Heh. Back then, Buneary had actually been really excited to see a lucario. They were apparently a rarely-seen pokémon, and said to be rather powerful, but Maylene's had been a jerk. Waves and waves of anger, with only a splash of concern and disappointment, towards his own trainer. It had been such a let-down.

"(Wow!)" Gligar replied to the group, starry-eyed. "(That sounds so cool! I can't wait to try gym battles!)"

"(You should try contests!)" Piplup suggested, waves proud once more. "(They're much cooler than gym battles!)"

Gligar's eyes widened, his waves intrigued. "(Really?)"

"(Yes, and do you know why?)"

Chimchar sighed, exasperation seeping from him. "(Here we go...)" he mumbled.

Ambipom laughed, nothing but amusement in her waves.

Buneary couldn't blame her. Chimchar hadn't even been with the team for long, yet it seemed he'd already grown used to the penguin. She grinned in amusement at the thought.

Piplup stood up again, posing. "(The lights!)" he said grandly. "(The stage! The crowd! The razzle dazzle!)" He spun around and posed again. "(There's nothing like it!)"

"(Woooow!)" Gligar replied, full of awe, his pincers pressed together. "(That sounds cool!)"

A smug wave emanated from Piplup, who was still holding the pose. "(Doesn't it, though?)"

"(Good lord...!)" Ambipom said, still laughing.

Chimchar merely sighed again.

Giggling to herself, Buneary picked up the last bowl of pellets. Turning around, she headed towards where she wanted to sit.

Honestly, this ability of hers wasn't always useful. Sure, she could read the emotions of people, but oftentimes the person would show those same emotions on their face. Some would only show a tiny hint, and some - like Piplup - couldn't hide their emotions if their life depended on it. Either way, she'd gotten rather good at reading people.

Her gift was more useful for avoiding shady types, really. Two-faced humans and pokémon, who'd show one thing on their face and feel another in their mind. She'd known a whismur like that once, and they hadn't been friends for long. The girl had been all smiles on the outside, but quite devious on the inside.

It reminded her of people their trainers had encountered on their journey, who had usually turned out to be Team Rocket. She'd always been able to see past their smiles, but never their disguises. Sadly, she could only read emotions, not minds.

On the way to her destination, she passed by Pachirisu, Sudowoodo and Happiny, who were pulling funny faces at each other and laughing. Nothing but joy and merriment radiated from them. Croagunk was sitting nearby, but he seemed to be gazing into space elsewhere, completely ignoring the conversation.

His waves were unusual, in that there were none. It was like Croagunk's mind was completely blank at all times, except for whenever Brock flirted with someone. Then the frog would get a spike of agitation, before punching his trainer with Poison Jab. Immediately after, he would go right back to having no waves. Very strange.

Eventually, she made it over to the third group, where Buizel, Staravia and Turtwig were discussing how all three of them had either learned moves lately, or perfected them. They were deeply absorbed in a conversation with each other, which changed to talking about the recent gym battle. All three of them were oozing joy and excitement. Next to them sat Pikachu, who was giving them all a calm, pleasant smile as they chatted.

Ah, Pikachu. The biggest mystery that she'd ever met. Some people were easy to read, others less so, and others still were two-faced. He, however, was different.

On his face was a calm, pleasant smile, but his waves were powerful and chaotic. It was like a river that was smooth and placid on the surface, with a raging current underneath.

The very day she'd met him, she'd watched him catch a potato in mid-air, somersault three times and perfectly land on his feet. His only response had been to smile pleasantly, as if it had been a perfectly natural thing for him to do, and not strange at all. His waves, however, had told a different story.

The feeling had been overwhelming, like a plugged volcano that was desperately trying to explode. Pride. So much pride. Like an 'in your face' kind of pride, to nobody in particular. She'd almost been able to feel the aggressive victory dance.

Yet... it had horribly contrasted with the pleasant smile on his face. The one he'd worn while calmly handing the potato back to Brock.

It had intrigued her. Excited her. She'd never seen and felt anything like it. She'd wanted to follow him around and observe him more.

Then he'd nearly gotten himself run over, so she'd had to save him.

It should have been a simple task, but then something unexpected had happened. Despite the pleasant smile on his face as he'd thanked her, his waves had said something else. Something flattering, yet highly embarrassing. She'd sensed... attraction from him. Heavy, burning attraction, with absolutely no hint of it on his face.

It had turned her into a blubbering mess. A giddy fool. In her flustered state, she'd smacked headlong into a tree. Argh, it was embarrassing just remembering it...

Later, when Ash and Dawn had been trying to catch her, she'd felt it again. The burning attraction, as he'd faced her down in battle. She hadn't been able to keep her head on straight to actually do any battling!

So, instead, she'd tried flirting. The positive reaction from his waves had emboldened her, despite there still not being any telltale sign on his features. It had made her so curious about how he could hold such a poker face. Still, though, the attraction had gone to her head a bit, and she'd spun around with him after freezing the humans.

Then he'd gotten angry. Although the frown on his face had been light, and his words hadn't been very harsh, she'd been able to feel it. Barely restrained fury, mixed with a huge amount of disappointment. The emotions had cut deep, and upset her greatly.

As she observed him now, smiling pleasantly at his friends, she could feel something stirring underneath. A restlessness, combined with a fair bit of jealousy, as Buizel, Staravia and Turtwig talked about their new moves, Water Pulse, Brave Bird and Energy Ball. It spoke volumes of Pikachu wanting to train harder, and learn a new move himself. Buneary couldn't help but giggle to herself. Such burning passion on the inside, and not a hint of it on the outside. It was practically a comedy sketch.

Shaking her head in amusement, she carried her bowl over to where he was sitting. As she approached, she beamed down at him.

"(Hey~!)" she said.

He looked up at her with a smile. In an instant, all the burning jealousy was gone, and replaced with overflowing happiness. "(Hey!)" he replied.

"(Mind if I sit with you?)"

She felt a spike of pleased desire coming from him. "(Sure!)" He indicated to an empty spot on the grass next to himself. "(Feel free!)"

"(Thanks!)" She put down her bowl.

"(Oh, still wearing your vest?)"

Grinning mischievously, she twirled on the spot. "(Yeah!)" She posed, her paws placed cutely on her cheeks. "(Don't you just love it? It's super comfy and looks soooo good on me!)"

He gave her a very brief once-over, his smile never faltering. "(Yep! Looks good!)"

She had to fight to hide the growing smirk on her face. She could tell, by looking at Buizel, Staravia and Turtwig, that none of them had noticed, but she'd gotten the same reaction the first time she'd shown off this vest. A pleasant smile on the outside, and a whirlwind of attraction on the inside.

Oh, he thought it looked good, alright.

She giggled, posing with one paw behind her head and the other behind her back. Pushing her body forward, she attempted to show off the vest even more as she winked at him.

"(Why, thank you~!)"

Desire spiked in his waves, though the smile still didn't budge. "(No problem!)"

... It was rather embarrassing, admittedly, but very flattering at the same time.

Then she felt it. The strange set of emotions that always followed after her flirting. A tidal wave of awkwardness, guilt and sadness.

It always threw her off. Just what did he feel awkward, guilty and sad about? He liked her, didn't he? At least, that was what his waves had always suggested. She always had so much fun, prodding and poking him for reactions - and they were usually positive ones - so then why did these negative emotions always come afterwards?

Did he... not like her, after all?

Was the awkwardness due to him not wanting to date her, and the guilt and sadness due to him not having the heart to tell her? Was that it?

But... he was clearly attracted to her, so that didn't make any sense! Just why did he not want to go for her?

Was it something she'd done?

But then why would he be feeling guilty? Argh, she just didn't know!

He blinked at her, his smile fading, and concern exploded into his waves. "(Hey, you okay?)"

She blinked back, surprised that she'd let her guard drop. "(Huh?)" She put the smile back on. "(Oh! Yeah, I'm fine~)" Sitting down by her bowl of pellets, she got herself comfortable. "(Just thinking about something!)"

"(Oh yeah? What's that?)"

She paused, not expecting that question. "(... Secret~!)" She quickly grabbed a pellet and stuffed it into her mouth.

She felt a surge of curiosity and frustration come from him at that, but he stayed perfectly silent.

... If only her power could read minds, then she'd know exactly how Pikachu felt about her. But she wasn't psychic-type, nor was this a psychic-type power. So, instead, she had to be left in the dark, forever wondering.

Even more frustrating was the fact that the guy she was dealing with was impossible to read on the surface. She supposed she could just ask him, but would he tell her? Probably not, since he liked to keep his emotions under wraps. So what was she to do?

"(Yo, Buneary!)" Buizel suddenly said. "(Which one's cooler? Water Pulse, Energy Ball, or Brave Bird?)"

"(Brave Bird, right?)" Staravia asked, beaming. "(It's super powerful!)"

"(Yeah,)" Turtwig added with a smile, "(but it also does recoil. Energy Ball's a neat projectile that reaches a long distance!)"

"(Yeah,)" Buizel replied, "(but Water Pulse is real versatile. It can turn into a wave, and even confuse opponents!)" All three looked expectantly at Buneary, as Buizel continued with a smirk. "(What do you think? It's totally Water Pulse, right?)"

Buneary chewed the pellet in her mouth thoughtfully. Glancing briefly at Pikachu, she could feel his jealousy welling up again, like water swelling behind a dam wall. After a few moments, she swallowed her pellet, shrugging with a grin.

"(Dunno~!)" she replied teasingly.

Buizel, Staravia and Turtwig all groaned, their waves full of exasperation. "(Bunearyyyyy!)" they all managed to whine in perfect synch.

She giggled. Glancing again at Pikachu, she felt a surge of amusement come from him, all his jealousy having melted away again.

Hmm, maybe things weren't as bad as they seemed? She wasn't sure yet, but she definitely wanted to keep having fun like this! After all, she lived for Pikachu's secret reactions that only she was aware of.

It had become her new bread and butter in life.

The amused grin didn't leave her face as she picked up another pellet and nibbled on it. As she did so, Buizel, Staravia and Turtwig went back to talking amongst themselves.

Once she was finished with her pellet, she took another deep breath of air through her nostrils. She smiled calmly to herself, completely at peace.

"(Hmm?)" Pikachu asked. "(What do you smell?)"

Her smile brightened as she fully turned to him, sensing very curious waves. "(Oh, me? The mountain air, of course!)" She inhaled again. "(Doesn't it smell lovely?)"

He took a few sniffs around him. After a moment, he blinked, a wave of pleasant surprise washing over him. "(... I guess so.)"

She stretched her arms over her head. "(Mmm, it's so nostalgic!)"

"(Huh? It is?)"

"(Yep!)" She grinned at him as she put her arms down. "(I grew up on Mt. Coronet, you know!)"

His eyes widened slightly. On the inside, though, there was an explosion of shock and even more curiosity. "(... You did?)"

"(Yep!)"

Confusion. So much confusion in his waves. She fought down the urge to laugh at his secret floundering.

"(... But... didn't we find you near a forest? Near Jubilife City?)"

"(Well, yeah, but I moved since!)"

"(... All the way down the mountain?)"

"(Yep! I wanted a nice change from the cold, honestly... and the steep cliffs... and the rocky floors. So I moved to a warm, flat place with grass!)"

"(Huh.)" Pikachu paused a long moment, then there was a spike of shock in his waves. "(... Wait, weren't we on Mt. Coronet not long ago? Like... before we got to Solaceon Town?)"

"(Oh, you mean where that guy was trying to evolve his nosepass? Yeah, I noticed.)" She indicated with her right paw. "(But that was the east side, where the blue shellos live.)" She switched to indicating with her left paw. "(I lived on the west side, where the pink shellos live.)"

"(... There are blue shellos?)"

"(That's what I heard! Never actually seen 'em, though!)"

"(Huh.)" Despite his lukewarm reactions, she could tell he was utterly fascinated. It made her glow on the inside. He paused again. "(... Wait, weren't we on the west side a couple of times? Like... with Cycling Road, and... when we helped Gary with the shieldon? You... didn't wanna visit home any of those times?)"

She put on a contemplative face. "(Well, I could've... but the first time, we were busy, well, cycling... and the second time, we were dealing with Hunter J and her goons.)" She grinned cheekily. "(Plus, can you imagine me trying to explain that one to Dawn?)" She waved her paws around in an exaggerated manner. "(Please. Let. Me. Go. Home. For a bit!)" She pointed upwards. "(Allll the way up there!)" She lowered her arm. "('Cause I lived pretty high up, you know.)"

He smirked lightly, his waves very amused. "(Heh. I see.)" After a moment, his face fell, and his ears lowered a bit, his waves now very sad. "(... And yeah, I guess so.)"

She could hazard a guess as to why he was feeling this way, so she decided to try and cheer him up. "(Hey, no worries, though! I left my family to start a new life!)" She placed a paw over her heart for emphasis. "(Though I'll always keep a little piece of them inside me!)" She felt warm awe oozing from him. Removing her paw, she beamed. "(I got Dizzy Punch and Bounce from my dad, and learned Ice Beam from my mom!)"

Waves of intrigue rose up from within him. "(Oh yeah?)"

"(Yep!)" She grinned in the direction of Buizel, Staravia and Turtwig, who were still chatting amongst each other. "(So, if you ask me, those are the best moves.)"

"(Heh.)" Though she wasn't looking at him - and, therefore, couldn't read his waves - she could tell Pikachu was amused.

Suddenly, she heard a laugh coming from the humans' direction. Glancing over at them, she could see Ash - also clearly amused by something - putting pepper on one of his sandwiches. She smirked to herself, feeling a bout of mischief coming on.

Turning back to Pikachu, she put on a pleasant smile. "(Oh, hey!)"

She felt surprise come from his waves, almost like he'd been jolted out of his thoughts. "(Hmm?)"

"(The humans have pepper! You want some?)"

He gave her a slightly strained smile. On the inside, she could feel the utter distress. "(Oh, uh, no thanks. I'm good.)"

She had to fight down the urge to giggle. "(You sure?)"

"(Yep. I'm fine, thanks.)" More waves of distress poured out from him.

She tried very hard not to laugh. "(Oh, but you liked that cheri berry picnic we had last week. Maybe pepper's not spicy enough.)"

The distress only increased, reaching critical levels inside his head. "(Heh, maybe...)"

She was no fool, of course. She knew he hated spicy food. There'd be massive amounts of disgust if someone so much as brought it up. So she'd tested his resolve by inviting him to a cheri berry picnic last week.

He'd tried so very hard to hold his poker face that it'd been hilarious. Regardless, he'd pushed on, and they'd eaten up every last berry.

She'd been rather impressed. Trying desperately not to laugh the entire time, but still impressed.

She went back to eating her pellets, still fighting off a giggle. Oh, the fun never stopped with this guy!