Warning. ALTERNATE UNIVERSE approaching.

Author's note: Heyo!

... Well, I wasn't originally going to write this one, since there's not much I can do with it. Looking back through my reviews, though, I saw that three people had requested it.

Plus there seems to be a lot of hype for this scanerio in general, so sure. XP Why not?

This one's dedicated to The-Nexu, PokeMaster64 and Zum1UDontNo.

... On that note, if there are future requests (which are always welcome, by the way!), I'd prefer them to be left in the review section, please!

Because I'm kind of a nimrod, I lost track of a lot of PM'd requests, so review'd ones will be much easier for me to find. Aheh...

Anyway! That aside, I hope you enjoy the one-shot!

Back to Front

Pikachu stared above him in shock and horror. Why had Croagunk thrown that potato?! And so high, at that?! If that hit the ground from this height, it would get horribly bruised, for sure! Maybe even smushed! Would Brock even still want to use it in such a state?!

... Or, even worse, it might hit a passing pokémon!

No. He couldn't let that happen. He had to jump and grab it!

Should he do it right away, though, or wait for a better opportunity?

The shoulder he was sitting on was shifting slightly. Was Ash walking backwards? Maybe he was planning to catch the potato, too?

Maybe he should leave it to Ash, then.

... No. He would catch it and save Ash the trouble. Right now!

He leapt off Ash's shoulder, straight towards the arcing potato. He was on a collision course straight for it, but it was okay. He could easily catch it, do a few somersaults, then land perfectly fine on his feet. Piece of cake!

Suddenly, below him, he heard an almighty crash as Dawn left her tent. It distracted Pikachu just long enough for the potato to slip through his paws.

It smacked him straight in the face.

Dazed and off-balance, he fell to the floor. He bounced once, then lay there in pain. The potato, thrown off its trajectory, fell after him and smacked him in the face a second time.

Owww...

Hiding in the tall grass, Buneary flinched. Jeez... well, that had been a complete train wreck.

She'd been drawn over here by the female human's screaming, but she never thought she'd be witnessing such chaos today.

Three bodies littered the floor, groaning in pain. The potato that had hit the pikachu lay on the grass beside him.

The tall human walked over, looking exasperated, yet sympathetic.

"Are you three okay?" he asked.

There were three pained groans in response.

The starly shook his head, the turtwig sighed and the aipom burst out laughing.

Also shaking her head, Buneary circled around the campsite, continuing on her merry way. This sort of stuff was why she avoided humans. They were crazy and weird! Her life would lose its sense of peace and tranquillity if she ever got involved with them.

... Now, what to eat for breakfast?

She hopped and hopped, searching for something to eat. She wasn't terribly hungry this morning, so maybe just an oran berry or two would do. Yeah, that sounded perfect!

She stopped just short of the dirt path that humans often walked down. Save for the ones who crossed the field, like the ones she'd seen earlier. Looking around, she tried to find an oran bush.

... Dang, no luck. She let out a puff of air in annoyance. It looked like she'd have to look elsewhere.

... Hmm? What was that sound?

Ahh, she recognised it now. It was one of those human vehicles. A... motorbike, was it? She'd sometimes see a blue-haired policewoman driving up and down around here. Probably patrolling the area, or something.

Suddenly, something landed on the dirt road nearby. She blinked at it. Huh. Wasn't that the pikachu from earlier? He seemed to have a cap covering his eyes.

... Wait.

She turned to look down the road. The officer on her motorbike was hurtling down it at high speed.

Spotting the pikachu, the woman hit the brakes, making the tires screech loudly.

... But there was no way that she'd stop in time.

Buneary looked back at the pikachu. He was staring straight at the motorbike like a deer in headlights.

Why wasn't he moving?!

She glanced back and forth between him and the motorbike, time rapidly running out.

... Screw it!

She had no time to use Bounce. Instead, she flung herself across the dirt path, shoving him out of the way. They rolled and rolled, eventually landing in a heap on the other side.

Oof...

Pikachu felt dizzy. Jeez, what the heck had just happened?

... Oh, right. He'd frozen in shock and fear, upon seeing that motorbike. How pathetic...

Something had shoved him out of the way, though. Or someone? And he couldn't feel Ash's hat on his head anymore, so it must have rolled off. Dang it.

... Also, what was pressing down on him? It felt kind of heavy.

He opened his eyes to get a better look. They snapped all the way open when he saw the girl that was lying on top of him.

A buneary. He recognised the species from the last time Dawn had failed to catch one.

He blushed at the close contact.

"(Um...)" he said.

The buneary blinked, looking down at him with the prettiest brown eyes he'd seen in a while.

"(Oh, you're alright?)" she asked. He nodded. She sighed in relief. "(Thank goodness. You're not hurt anywhere, are you?)"

"(N-No...)"

She beamed brighter than the sun. "(That's good~!)"

He felt his face burn hotter. Especially since she hadn't moved yet.

It was then that everyone else came rushing over to check on him.

"Buddy, you okay?" Ash asked.

"(Y-Yeah...)" Pikachu replied. He glanced at the buneary. "(... Um, miss? You're still, um...)"

She blinked at him. "(Huh?)" she asked. After a moment, her face lit up in realisation. "(Oh, right! Sorry!)"

She climbed off him. He breathed a sigh of relief and stood up, though his face still felt warm.

"Thanks for saving Pikachu, Buneary," Ash said, grabbing his hat from nearby and putting it on.

"(Uh...)" She hid behind Pikachu, looking wary. "(No problem...)"

Oh, was she not very comfortable around humans?

Suddenly, it hit him. She'd saved him!

He quickly turned to her with a smile. "(O-Oh yeah!)" he said. "(Thanks for that! I'd have been road kill if not for you!)" He tried laughing, but it came out sounding incredibly awkward.

She beamed at him, looking more at ease now. "(No problem~! I couldn't just let you get run over!)" She gave him a worried gaze. "(Just be careful next time, okay? Don't freeze up when there's a bike coming towards you!)"

"(I-I'll try...)"

She smiled. "(Good~!)"

As Dawn walked over and scanned the buneary - despite having already scanned one a few days ago - Pikachu couldn't help but admire the rabbit's smile. It was, strangely, the prettiest smile he'd ever seen. Not only that, but it was on the girl who'd saved him a trip to the hospital.

He couldn't help but smile back at her.

Once Dawn had finished scanning, the buneary turned to him. "(Well, I better get going.)" She waved. "(See ya around~!)"

... Aww, she was leaving? So soon?

His smile turned slightly sad as he waved back, but he tried not to show it. "(Yeah, see ya!)"

With a final beaming smile, she hopped away.

His ears dipped slightly, but her leaving made sense, he supposed. He barely knew the girl, so of course she wouldn't stick around...

Sometime later, Ash and Dawn were lamenting over the fact that they hadn't thought to catch the buneary. Ash wanted her because she'd saved Pikachu. Dawn wanted her because she really wanted a second pokémon, and she'd already failed twice at catching a buneary.

Thinking about it, Pikachu wished they'd thought to catch her, too. But, now, he'd probably never see her again.

Oh well...

... Then again, maybe she was still around here! He certainly wouldn't mind seeing her again. Not at all!

... That settled it. After he finished his pellets, he was going for a walk!

Pikachu wandered around the area, looking for the buneary. Ash already knew that he'd left for a bit, so he didn't have to worry about his trainer freaking out in his absence. Now he just needed to find that buneary!

Suddenly, a glass dome closed around him, lifting him off his feet and pulling him away. He yelped as it locked into place. Hearing laughter, he looked up to see Team Rocket beaming at him from inside a cockpit.

He slammed his paws on the glass. Of course...

Well, that explained who'd stolen the machine parts that Officer Jenny had mentioned. After she'd scolded him for not looking both ways on the dirt path.

Team Rocket gloated to him in singsong voices as the robot rolled on its way. He tried using Thunderbolt to break the glass, but no dice. It only made them laugh again. He tried Iron Tail next, but it kept bouncing off the glass.

Darn it! He couldn't bust it open! And Ash was elsewhere right now! He'd have to try calling for help, because he didn't think he could get out of this alone.

"(Ash!)" he cried out. "(Dawn! Brock! Somebody!)"

... Nobody came. He slumped in defeat. Was Team Rocket really going to capture him this time?

Suddenly, a beam of blue energy shot out from the bushes. It hit a section of the robot, creating a block of ice around it. Team Rocket squealed as the robot wobbled off-balance.

Pikachu blinked. Who had that been? He didn't know anybody in this region who had Ice Beam...

When the pokémon emerged from the bushes, his eyes widened. Oh gosh, was that the buneary?! Was she... here to save him again?!

He watched as she used Bounce, sailing through the air. On her way back down, she extended a foot. It crashed into the frozen section of the robot, sending ice shards everywhere.

The robot toppled dangerously.

Landing on the hood of the robot, the buneary came running towards his glass dome. She stopped just outside of it.

"(Are you okay?!)" she asked.

He stared at her. Wow, she'd looked so cool just now...

"(Uh, yeah...)" he replied. "(Thanks for saving me again...)"

She beamed that beautiful smile. "(That's good! Now let's get you out of here!)"

Using Dizzy Punch, she smacked the glass dome with her ears, over and over again.

Wow. She was pretty, graceful and powerful...

He could feel himself blushing again as the glass starting cracking. He blinked, realising what was about to happen, then yelped and covered his face.

With one final smack, the glass shattered, scattering shards everywhere.

"(Alright, grab my paw and let's jump!)" she said.

He blinked. Grab her paw?

"(Um...)" he started.

Not waiting for a response, she grabbed his paw in her own. He yelped as he was pulled from the glass dome and dragged across the hood of the robot.

Reaching the edge of it, she leapt off. Thankfully, they weren't too far off the ground, so the landing was fairly smooth.

Turning towards the robot, the buneary let off another Ice Beam, freezing the section of broken robot. It provided just enough weight for the robot to topple over completely and crash to the ground, smashing the cockpit open.

Team Rocket rolled out of the open windshield, landing in a heap on the grass.

It was then that Pikachu realised he was still holding the buneary's paw. Laughing awkwardly, he tried to ignore the heat on his face as he let go.

Focusing instead on Team Rocket, he used Thunderbolt. It electrified both them and the robot, causing an explosion which sent them blasting off again.

He breathed a sigh of relief. Close one...

Suddenly, the humans all came running over.

"Pikachu?" Ash said. "Are you alright? What was all the noise?"

"Oh!" Dawn said. "It's the buneary again!"

The buneary waved at them. "(Hi!)" she said.

"Did you save Pikachu again?" Brock said, glancing at the remains of the Team Rocket robot.

She nodded. "(Yep!)"

Ash beamed. "Hey, thanks, Buneary!" he replied. "Again!"

Wow... she'd really saved him again. Despite having never met him before. He stared at her in awe.

Brock huffed in amusement. "It looks like Pikachu's finally growing up, Ash," he said.

Pikachu glanced up at the breeder, confused.

"Huh?" Ash asked.

"It took him long enough..." Brock clenched a fist passionately. "But he's finally realised the joys of love!"

Pikachu's eyes widened and his face burned. Love?!

Dawn looked at Brock incredulously. "You think this is love?!" she asked. She looked back over at Pikachu curiously. She probably saw his burning red face, because her eyes lit up. "Well, maybe it isn't love... but it looks like he may have a crush on her. Am I right?"

"(Uh...!)" Pikachu replied. "(Um...!)"

"Huh," Ash said. "Is that true, buddy?"

"(Um...!)" He chanced a glance over at the buneary. She was staring at him, eyes wide. He started to panic. "(N-No, no!)" He laughed awkwardly. "(Don't be silly, guys!)"

He saw the buneary slowly lift up her fluff and hide behind it. She said nothing.

Ohhhh, good legends, this was embarrassing... Where was a good rock to crawl under when a guy needed it?

"Oh dear, that's so adorable!" Dawn said. She huffed determinedly. "That's it. I just have to catch that buneary now!"

"No way, Dawn!" Ash replied. "That buneary's saved Pikachu twice now! She's as good as mine!"

"Now play nice, you two," Brock said.

"(U-Um, wait!)" Pikachu said. "(She might not even wanna get caught!)" He looked at the buneary. "(Right?)"

She peeked at him over the top of her fluff. "(Well... I guess it might not be so bad.)"

He blinked at her. "(... Really?)"

"(Yeah, sure. Why not?)"

He felt happiness swell up inside him. He'd get to spend more time with her!

He smiled. "(Oh! Well... great! I'd certainly be happy having you along!)" He paused, then panicked. "(N-Not that I have a crush on you, or anything! It's just, you've saved me twice now, so... yeah...)" He paused, then panicked again. "(Plus you're pretty nice! And cool! And stuff! So yeah!)" He forced a smile. "(It'd be cool having you along.)"

"(... Okay, sure.)"

Turning away, Pikachu heaved a sigh. Dear legends, what was wrong with him?! He couldn't recall acting this way around a girl before...

... Maybe he really did have a crush, after all...

Darn it, he hated when Brock was right about that sort of thing.

Ah well. It'd certainly make the journey much more interesting, that was for sure...

... He smiled to himself, already looking forward to it.

The End