Author's note: Hey, all!

I've decided to root through reviewer-requested one-shots and attempt some of them. Some of them got a bit buried, though, so feel free to send them again and I'll actually note them down. XD

Oh! Before I forget, the storyline of Quite Contrary was based off an episode of Ranma 1/2! What used to be my favourite anime, before I discovered the beauty that is Hetalia.

This short drabble is dedicated to ChristianDragon.

Feel the Rhythm

Buneary wasn't sure what had woken her up, honestly. Perhaps it had been the nap she'd taken the previous day. She should've known it would affect her sleeping pattern, but the weather had been so warm and the shade under that tree had felt so nice...

Realising that she couldn't get back to sleep, she decided to exit her pokéball and stretch her legs. As she materialised on the carpet of the Pokémon Centre, she quickly glanced around to see if she'd woken anybody.

Ash, Dawn, Brock and even Pikachu all seemed to be fast asleep, which was good. She took a moment to appreciate the sleeping form of her crush, curled up on his trainer's chest. She gave him a warm smile.

After a moment, her sensitive ears picked up something. Was that music? She looked around the room, trying to figure out where it was coming from. When she pinpointed the noise, she glanced out towards the balcony. Was someone playing music outside?

Curious, she wandered over to the large glass doors and pushed them open. Immediately, the music got slightly louder. Concerned for everyone inside, she stepped onto the balcony and closed the glass doors behind her.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she listened closer to the music. Orchestrated. Lyricless. Very beautiful and elegant.

... Wait, she knew that song. What was it called again?

Ah, that was it! The Blue Valor Waltz! She remembered hearing somewhere that it had been composed by a man who'd grown up in Pastoria City, just West of Lake Valor.

She smiled as she stepped closer to the edge of the balcony, unfolding both ears to hear it better. She closed her eyes, admiring the sound. Her usual preference in music was much more lively and upbeat, with lyrics to sing along to in her own language, but even she could appreciate classical music occasionally. Especially this song.

She couldn't help herself. She began to dance.

Pikachu blinked himself awake. He'd just had a rather unpleasant dream of Ash not being able to save him from Team Rocket. He'd been taken to their headquarters and about to be presented to Giovanni when he'd woken up.

Nestling back into Ash's chest, he was about to go back to sleep when he heard something. Was that music?

Lifting up his head, he listened carefully. Yep, he could definitely hear music. Pleasant music, from what he could tell. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he jumped down onto the carpet to see where the noise was coming from. As he glanced around, however, he paused. Was that Buneary on the balcony?

He was about to walk over to the glass doors when he halted. Was she... dancing?

She looked so happy. So serene. Despite knowing that he probably shouldn't, he hid slightly to the side and continued to watch her.

She was swaying to and fro under the night sky, lost in her own world. She twirled one way, then the other, looking almost like a ballerina. Holding her pose, she spun on one foot, twirling and twirling before pirouetting across the balcony.

Pikachu was mesmerised. He knew Buneary was graceful - as she'd danced around when they'd first met and he'd watched plenty of her contest appeals - but he'd never seen her dance like this. As she held out her arms and stepped in circles - in beats of three - he realised that she was waltzing with herself.

He never knew she was a fan of classical music, or that she could dance to it so well. Just where had she learned to waltz?

She closed her eyes, carefully dipping herself with a smile on her face, before continuing to step and twirl around the balcony. He couldn't stop staring.

Suddenly, his imagination began to take hold. He imagined her in a large, elegant ballroom, with gold lining the walls and a floor made of marble. He imagined her wearing a long white dress with a sparkling pearl necklace. He imagined many other pokémon couples dancing around her.

There was no other word for it but 'beautiful'.

Opening her eyes, Buneary happened to look through the glass doors and catch his gaze. She immediately jumped in fright, blushing ten shades of red.

"(Oh!)" she cried. "(P-Pikachu!)"

Smiling in embarrassment, Pikachu made his way over, opening the doors and stepping outside. For the sake of their trainers, he closed the doors behind himself.

"(Hey, Buneary,)" he replied.

She fidgeted. "(Um... h-how long were you watching?)"

He blushed slightly. "(Oh... well, um... a couple of minutes?)"

Making a distressed noise, she pulled her fluff over her face. "(How embarrassing...)"

"(H-Hey, you shouldn't be embarrassed! You're a really good dancer, Buneary!)"

She lowered the fluff slightly, peeking over it. "(... I am?)"

"(Yeah! I couldn't stop watching you! It was...)" He tried to find the right words. "(Really pretty.)"

Her eyes widened. "(P-Pretty?)"

"(Yeah! I didn't know you could waltz!)"

"(Oh, well...)" She shifted from one foot to another. "(I've always loved dancing, but there wasn't much chance to do it to music in the wild...)"

"(I'll bet!)" He paused as something occurred to him. "(Oh, but don't you usually have a partner for a waltz?)"

"(... Well...)"

He put his paws on his hips. "(Though I guess there's not many pokémon to dance with right now, huh?)"

"(... Would...?)"

He tilted his head. "(Hmm?)"

"(Would... you like to waltz with me?)"

His eyes widened. "(Me? Oh, but...)" He smiled awkwardly. "(Dancing's not really my thing.)"

She looked down, her fluff dropping back down to her waist. "(Oh...)"

... Gosh, she looked so disappointed. Now he felt guilty.

"(... Well, I suppose one waltz couldn't hurt, right?)"

She looked up at him in shock and amazement. Smiling encouragingly, he held out a paw.

Beaming brightly, she took it and pulled him into a waltz.

Pikachu had never been very good at dancing - especially something as complex as a waltz - but one thing he was good at was learning things quickly. In less time than one would expect, he and Buneary were stepping and twirling in perfect synchrony across the balcony.

He hadn't learned all of this in less than ten minutes, of course, which was the length of the song. It was just fortunate that whoever was playing the music had kept it on repeat. Someone down there really liked The Blue Valor.

He felt so elegant, dancing along to the music. So much so that he was beginning to imagine the ballroom scene again, but this time with him wearing a black tuxedo. As he imagined other pokémon couples waltzing around him, he kept his gaze on his dance partner.

She looked so very happy. Although dancing may not have been his thing, he was glad he'd agreed to it, just to see that smile. His heart warmed at the sight.

As the song came to a close once more, he turned around and gently dipped her. She giggled in delight.

He waited for the song to repeat again - like it had done the past several times - but there was a sudden silence.

He blinked. Had they decided to stop playing music for the night?

It was at this moment that he noticed how close his face was to Buneary's. She was staring at him with wide, glistening irises.

Feeling heat rise to his face, he quickly lifted her back onto her feet and let go.

He laughed awkwardly. "(Well, that was fun,)" he said.

She beamed at him. "(Yup!)" After a pause, she hugged him. "(Thanks for dancing with me, Pikachu~)"

He tensed for a split second, but relaxed. Somehow, the hugging wasn't freaking him out as much as it usually did. Perhaps it was because of how closely they'd been dancing all night. In fact, his head and heart were feeling unusually light right now. So much so that he did something he wouldn't normally do.

He returned the hug. "(No problem, Buneary...)"

The End